This is loooooong but really worth the read.

Trung Le Nguyen@trungles.com · 2mo ago

So I’ve started Pride and Prejudice, and already I feel bad for Mrs Bennet.

I'm a "discovery" writer who's discovered that outlining will enable me to get stuff written. I want a tool that will let me update from anywhere, will help me rearrange & organize scenes, and that will work with more than just a single sentence (adding notes and thoughts) as the outline grows. 1/2

I get often backed up on my emails. There's folks I want to give answers to and also just connect with. Sometimes there's just too many and it feels like too much. To solve the problem, I have taken to calling, answering my emails "doing my correspondence" like a proper Edwardian lady. 1/2

#WritersCoffeeClub Aug 4: Do you consider yourself a writer, an author, an artist, something else? Why? I consider myself a software engineer who writes? I think "writer" feels the most authentic to me. It's a bit utilitarian, I suppose, but it works.

i'm reading this: manuscriptalchemy.co... lots of good nuggets and it's changing my perspective on extensive outlining. I've always been a "discovery" writer but if I want to actually get anything done with the way my life is now, that method just doesn't work for me anymore.

A Novel Approach: Strategies for ADHD Writers

A Novel Approach: Strategies for ADHD Writers will show you how to develop new habits and practices that work with, not against your ADHD.

manuscriptalchemy.com

There's some app on my machine that keeps dinging with a notification and I have no idea what it is. And in order to figure it out, I'll have to one by one quit out of applications and wait. And I just want it to stop.

Rewatching "No Maps For These Territories" and 26 years later, it's relevant all over again.

I am back to listening to Russian post-rock. I need to get my hands on some of these albums. www.youtube.com/watc... #amlistening

Russian Post-Punk Collection Vol1

VOL 2 OUT NOW! A collection of 27 of my favorite Russian-language post-punk songs, some post-rock in there too. Check out all of the bands here and listen to the rest of their music, it's worth it. Thank you for the views!! I truly did not expect this. Keep listening, no matter what it is. 0:00 Nü

youtube.com

#writersCoffeeClub 30. End of the month roundup: How well did this month go for you? Not well at all! I did get a great new story idea, but ideas are the easy part. Life is just life-ing at me right now and it makes the creativity harder to access.

i have a password requirement turned on now for any and all updates apps and the OS try to run. it really has made it very clear how often stuff is getting pushed to prod with very little fanfare. i can't imagine how non-techie end users are dealing with the sands shifting under their feet.

#WritersCoffeeClub July 29: Is there something you want to write, but don't think you yet have the skill? Yup. I have multiple book series in the planning phase and I no idea how to write any of them. I've written novels before but it feels like I've forgotten how to write in the last couple years.

#WritersCoffeeClub July 28. What's something about your own work which needs some polish? Endings. I always rush the damn endings.

#WritersCoffeeClub July 27: What's a writerly growing pain you're experiencing right now? Having too many ideas and weighed down by having a day job to keep myself and my family alive. Sometimes the writing just doesn't happen for long stretches of time. #amwriting #sortof

I love you Jimothy 🦝❤️ [ #cuteart #illustration ]

#WritersCoffeeClub 24 July. Should a reader be forewarned about any and all erotic content, no matter how small? Many would say yes and I come from fanfic where tags & filtering are a thing. But I've also read many stories that if I knew what was coming I would have skipped and been lesser for it.

Been sitting with this old gem from Ze Frank as I figure out how to go from 0 to 1.

An Invocation for Beginnings

Buy the poster (re-released): https://ze-true-store.myshopify.com/

youtube.com

#WritersCoffeeClub July 23. How much erotic content can a work have without being considered erotica? For me, it's less about the amount of content, more about the intent or where the focus is. Lots of books have graphic content without being erotica, because it's not what the book is about.

#WritersCoffeeClub 22 July: Are the limits of what is considered 'erotic' more or less universal? I know it when I see it, and so do you, and those two conceptions of it rarely match. So, no I don't think so at all.

#WritersCoffeeClub July 21: Do your works contain erotic elements? How far do you go? I'll be able to answer better soon since I've started writing my second romance book. The first had a few intimate moments but weren't particularly graphic. I honestly have no idea what the new ones will be like.

Doing research for a book I'm inspired to start working on and I found out that Germany has a semi-professional baseball league. #til

tfw you brainstorm an entire 5 book baseball romance series and have no idea how you’re going to write it when you can’t even write a short story right now. #amwriting

This week's work music has been the Bridgerton soundtrack. Regency-style covers of pop songs is making me magically more focused for some reason.

Today's working music: Russian post-punk

Russian Post-Punk Collection Vol1

VOL 2 OUT NOW! A collection of 27 of my favorite Russian-language post-punk songs, some post-rock in there too. Check out all of the bands here and listen to the rest of their music, it's worth it. Thank you for the views!! I truly did not expect this. Keep listening, no matter what it is. 0:00 Nü

youtube.com

I was never cool...in school.

Underground by Ben Folds Five

Listen now on your favorite streaming service. Powered by Songlink/Odesli, an on-demand, customizable smart link service to help you share songs, albums, podcasts and more.

song.link

At the end of the term I asked my college creative wriing students to submit anonymous thoughts on AI. No real surprises: Mood ranges from resignation to despair, capitulation from embittered erosion of standards to total, feelings of betrayal from deep to furious. 1/

Damn. I'm unemployed again. It was a good 3 months but my contract ended waaaay earlier than anyone expected. Still wrapping my head around this and figuring out what I to do next.

#WritersCoffeeClub Jul 6 - Do you offer critique to your fellow writers? Why (or why not)? I wish I had time to, but I have a full time job plus 2 side businesses and barely have time to write as it is. That said, I have critiqued in the past and it was an invaluable learning experience.

wrapping my week by managing Jira tickets and listening to Slipknot.

Reminder for my ADHDers: the shiny new life management system you just found was created for someone else’s needs at this point in time. What’s the problem you think it will solve? Take the parts that will help with that, what reduces the current friction. Leave the rest.

I'm slowly picking through my newsletter backlog. It's lovely finding all these little nuggets of wonder and thought-provoking essays and books without an algorithm in sight.