8 Comments

I rarely comment (sorry, trying to do better!!) but just had to say I got so excited when I saw you had an audio letter of sorts! I love a good writing podcast to listen to while I'm doing random things and I've listened to your revision of sightwitch compilation that you posted on YT multiple times for inspiration haha

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Oh yay!! Thank you for listening. I’m really enjoying the ease of this format! ☺️☺️☺️

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Luck Ms. Dennard. And never apologize, Isn't that a perk of being a writer? : )

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Jul 9Edited

I definitely prefer reading instead of the audio since I read these on my phone, having to find my air pods just adds too many more layers for this for me. And then to read the transcript it takes me to other links and then the app and then I have to login and then I’m sent a link to reverify me etc it’s too much for me to simply just read the content. I am also a very visual person who likes to go back and reread things, having audio takes that away.

( Safi and Merik are my otp btw and can’t wait for Witchlight! However, Ryber is my favorite character and Sightwitch is my favorite book of yours!!! )

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Ah, that’s really good to know about the Substack generated transcript. I’ll be sure to send it like before, as a text newsletter as well.

And thank you!!! I’m so glad someone appreciates Sightwitch and Ryber!! 🥰

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Thank you for answering my question! This is amazing. I love that quote you shared, that a book is a series of choices made. And I loooove your advice of developing the world to reflect or deepen the conflict. I often have a character and premise before everything else.

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It might not feel like a lot of concrete information, but I think hearing your personal take on "how much to build and when and how do you decide" is really useful. Especially when it seems like there are so many "use this tried-and-true method, it always works for me!" and "you MUST answer these questions before you begin writing!" how-to's out there. Sometimes it's nice to hear that "it depends" is a valid answer and it's okay to feel your way through and build and un-build and rebuild things as needed.

Thank you for the talk! (and sending love for Ryber and Sightwitch here, too.)

PS: Tolkien was a SUPER messy writer - his son published the receipts. I just find that reassuring to think about sometimes when I feel like I'm committing crimes against organized worldbuilding and plot composition. 😅

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Omg yes!!! Learning Tolkien was as disastrous and unwilling to just COMMIT sometimes to one direction or option for the story--i.e. frequently rewriting and changing things--was a real relief for me too.

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