Welcome to the 20th writing club update! I can’t let the twentieth such club pass without giving props to that great generative tool to so many impromptu stories: the d20 die. How many stories, written or oral, have started from a group of friends gathering to tell a collaborative story–literally rolling with what chance gives them…
Speaking about rolling with what life gives you, some astute members and visitors (welcome!) with functioning calendars may notice that it is actually March, but I maintain real time does not resume until Sunday has finished. So in this liminal place of the week-end-almost, let us take stock of the year so far, and our hopes the coming months.
These last few months have been pretty much a wash in the writing department. We’ve just had too much on our plates to be able to maintain much sustained focus. Bunch of family health stuff that can be all-consuming, a lasting weather disaster, etc.
But I’ve been at least noting and outlining ideas and edits as they occur to me. Fingers crossed for a less complicated spring.
Family events can be tough. Something in that department made me skip more than an entire year of writing once, it happens. (Which is not something I’m known to do, usually I write or edit something every few months!)
Best of luck!
Compared to getting on with life, writing is a luxury, so I appreciate you taking the time to come check in. Here’s hoping for a breezy spring like you say.
Hi, I think I made okay progress this month. I kept up edits on the TTRPG campaign, mostly just spit-and polish stuff at the moment. I also did some work on our community worldbuilding wiki. I added two new pages - one on rough mounding and one on landfill mining. I also added a bunch of new links and examples to the existing pages.
I’m currently working on a page on phytoremediation (really a consolidated page for three related fields - removing contaminants from places using plants or fungus or bacteria), which is a massive topic and also a quite new field of study which I feel is a little harder than average to get a grip on as a layman (I’ve been doing my best to make sense of the options for my region for the last couple years of working on this campaign).
Unfortunately putting together a full collection of all known/potential phytoremediation species, the contaminants they help with, their ranges and invasive status really isn’t looking very doable with my work/life schedule (or maybe ever, that might honestly be worthy of its own academic research project!)
So I’m holding it down to basic facts about how phytoremediation works, different types, lists of contaminants, and where they come from etc. plus the steps I follow to narrow down which plant/fungus/bacteria fits and how to find useful tidbits for a scene without going insane from all the options and considerations.
If anyone knows anyone in that field, I’d love to run what I’ve got past them and ask them some questions
I’m completely clueless regarding that topic but I’m watching with fascination!
If you’re looking for a new topic, I’d be interested in learning how to deal with copper tailings! 👀
That probably fits phytoremediation but I don’t think I’ll be able to compile a list of specific contaminants/solutions just because there’s so many of them and the effective plants/fungus/bacteria have to be geographically appropriate. If you gather that info I’d love to add it! Someday I really would like to try and pull together a list of every known bioremediation option, it’s native range, and the contaminants it works on/how.
Oh this landfill mining article is actually a spot on match for a Twine game I’ve been tooling away at (for years lol)… 👀 Thank you for your continued contributions with these resources. It’s a rich mine of not just content, but story ideas, all on their own.
Good luck finding a nerd (compliment) to talk about phytoremediation with!
I’m so glad it’ll be useful!
It’ll take awhile to build out but I’m excited to add it, and very hopeful it can get some outside feedback since my current main project could also use a set of eyes on the phytoremediation content.
Here’s to 20 writing club update 🍻 and here’s to 20 more ! 🍻
As I’ve mentioned a few days ago, I’m in a rut. I’m brute forcing my way out of it, for now. I’ll keep y’all posted if anything changes.
good luck to you
im not yet even in the rut to get out of haha
You can do it!!!
Nice, and yeah, sometimes the direct approach is the best!
I’ve done lots of writing these past two months. Its all for my job, so not particularly creative. I also am taking some classes and it have sucked up alot of my free time.
I think for this upcomming month my goal is to get back into dream journaling. Its always been a good source of inspiration for me, and is a good way to stay in the habit of writing even when I don’t have lots of time to create more long form peices.
Dream journaling really is magical. No matter how memorable a dream might feel upon waking, you can almost guarantee it will fade away into the background of your mind if you don’t note or record it in some way. It feels almost like conjuring something from nothing.
I hope it goes great for you. :)
I’ve done lots of writing these past two months I was excited up until here, and then… 😅
But I vouch for the dream journal! I’ve done it some years ago and it really helps if you want to get into lucid dreaming. Not so much for story inspiration though 😅
Lol it definetly does help with lucid dreaming!
I do also find it good for practice with descriptions and capturing a mood. Its also a fun timed exercise because if im not quick enough I’ll forget the plot of the dream :p
“What a year, huh?” “Captain, it’s March”
…I’ve been swamped in university essays so I completely missed last month’s WC!! 😭
I’m slowly getting back in creative-mode-brain, and I did so with a quick not-so-solar-but-very-punk flash fiction. I’m planning to use this month to edit Kanteletar’s Section B before getting on to sketching Section C. I’ve watched a documentary on Gemeana’s copper mine, and I might write some hard-solarpunk story on the restoration of the valley’s ecosystem.
If all works out, it’s the last time I’m wasting my wordcount on dubious-utility academic essays!
Ooo hard-solarpunk sounds interesting. As someone who’s had their brain completely twisted by sci-fi and fantasy, I have a hard time with “harder” fiction, but I respect the hell out of it! Good luck. :)
I hope the academic year finishes well & you get more of that processing power for fun types of writing.
Also love the description of not so solar but very punk. Feels like a tag line or something
CW: tarot talk is enclosed in {{…}} moustaches, if you’d rather skip over that kind of woo. I honestly don’t blame you. :p
I still haven’t really hit my stride, this year, although I’m at least out of the deep rutt of doing nothing which is a huge relief. I continue to have some success with pantsing. And also, inspired by chatting with another member of this club, I’ve drafted a list of “rules” for the fanfic/bromance/short story I’m working on.
While I don’t have it as bad as some people I know, I believe I haven’t been immune to the dampening effect of the late Winter months. Maybe I already mentioned this, but {{February was my Moon month of my year spread, which is like kind of a major major arcana for creative weirdos who like playing with superstition (but not really–don’t worry), but it sure didn’t feel like a numinous/weird/creative/magical month, so}} while I was hoping to really lean into the Winter to get my creativity popping off, it’s actually just been OK. I think I’ve got to stop blaming the seasons, the weather, {{and cards}} for my spirits haha, and just… I dunno, either accept it, or try to do something about it. Maybe both??
For next month I’m going to try to write 1000 words. It might not sound like a lot, but it’s more than I got done in February, so I’d be happy if I landed anywhere near this target!
At least spring is around the corner. Hopefully a little sunshine will help with the winter weirds & you’ll hit your goal this month.
Also fun you do tarot. I think its a very useful tool for introspection and I do think there is some deep truth to the cards :)
:) yes! I’m very excited for the spring breezes already hinting at their arrival amid the winter briskness.
I was about to make the same mistake, mentioning I’m in a rutt, but checked the Webster at the last minute. Rut is spelled with a single t.
I’m only mentioning it because it’s fortuitous that we both reached for the same expression and both thought it was spelled with two t’s.rutt
Oh that’s too funny, and somewhat embarrassing. I feel so seeen 🙈 hahaha. That is a great note, though. I definitely have been spelling it wrong… probably for a long time.
