Benjamin X. Wretlind

Lost my mom yesterday.

I'm not sure what to feel, what to say, what to do.

I've run the gamut of emotions over the course of the last year, especially this past week as I kept her comfortable in home hospice.

As the saying goes, "Now what?"

Perceiving Emotions — Your Body Is Giving You Information You’re already using emotional intelligence when you write—that gut feeling when a scene works, the restlessness when it doesn’t. The difference between intuitive writing and deliberate…

Your body is already giving you information about your #wip. The first step in using emotional intelligence as a writer is simply learning to notice what it’s saying.

emotethis.net/perceiving-e...

#amwriting #WritingCommunity #authors #fiction

On Thunderstorms & Emotion The way nature uses thunderstorms to restore balance to an unstable atmosphere is akin to the way a plot is intended to resolve a conflict.

Have you ever used a thunderstorm in your writing to set the scene or even mimic the plot?

emotethis.net/on-thunderst...

#WriteSky #amwriting #WritingCommunity #WritingQ

Have never been to south Jersey, but I do love a story that uses fictional places that are a little too "obvious." It's like pulling back the veil on the author and saying, "I see what you did there."

Nice. I wonder how upset people would be if their real town was, say, hit by a meteor in a book they're reading.

On Precipitation & Emotion There are many forms of precipitation–from snow to rain to ice crystals and more–and therefore many ways a writer can use it for emotion.

Does it rain in your world? Snow? What does that feel like?

On Precipitation & Emotion emotethis.net/on-precipita...

#WriteSky #amwriting #WritingCommunity #WritingQ

That's one way to do it: the alternate plane of existence. I have a theory that, if there are infinite universes, all fiction is nonfiction. So maybe in one universe, that marina is there along with those hotels, restaurants, and stores. As authors, we're simply writing the truth of another plane.

Planet New Orleans! With naturally Cajun-flavored fauna. I love it!

Ah! I have to say I didn't think about that Dairy Queen dilemma. I'd have to set the story back in 2018, if that happened...and then the tech would be wrong. "Hey! That didn't come out until 2025!"

Newsletter Emote This Newsletter Emotional Intelligence for Writers, in Manageable Sips. This newsletter offers steady, thoughtful guidance for writers who want to understand the emotional side of their craft…

Emotional Intelligence for Writers, in Manageable Sips.

#Newsletter emotethis.net/newsletter/

#amwriting #writingcommunity #writer #writerslife

Do you use fictional towns in your work or incorporate towns you know well? Is it a mix of both?

For me: it's a little of both (sci-fi on a different world vs. sci-fi here) #amwriting #writingcommunity #WritingQ #writer

What the movies and television want you to believe regarding the last days of a loved one is ridiculous.

Watching my mother fade away for three straight days and dealing with some of the most bizarre shit is nothing like I expected.

It is the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with...and I'm old.

A Little Experiment with Weather & Emotions Earlier this year, I did a little study about weather and emotions. Here are some thoughts on what I found.

I did a little study about weather and emotions. Here are some thoughts on what I found.

bxwretlind.com/blog/2022/05...

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #writingadvice #writinglife #WritingQ #writingtip #writingtips

Maybe #authors could ask this instead of asking "Did you like it?" There might be a grain of something in there that's more useful and lands better.

I might consider this approach the next time I send a manuscript to a #betareader

hbs.edu/faculty/Page...

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity

#writingskills #writers #authors #writeaway #writinglife #creativewriting

Emotional Intelligence for Writers | Emote This Create emotionally resonant stories using evidence-based writing techniques.

Amid the fireball juggle of life (my #WIP, taking care of my mother in hospice, finalizing my research plan, working full time), I'm building something to help writers turn real emotions into resonant stories.

What if you could map emotional intelligence onto your characters?

emotethis.net

Going down the rabbit hole of concordant action versus altruism.

I could be napping, you know.

#research #WritingCommunity #WriteSky

Applies as well to non-scientific writing.

Writing is thinking.
Writing is feeling.

Writing is thinking how to make readers feel what you’re feeling & understand what you’re thinking.

#writing #writingcommunity

Writing is thinking

"On the value of human-generated scientific writing in the age of large-language models."

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

What idiot wrote this? Oh... I did.

Trying to get this first draft good enough that I can tack on "v1" at the end before other things take over my time. It's going better than I thought.

Eventually, I'll have TL_v34_final_final_really_final_v12.docx ready to submit.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky

Are you an #author with a #newsletter? Would love to see what other folks do (and yes, subscribe).

Share the details!

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity

Greek text of The Iliad, 1895

Today's reading... an 1895 version of The Iliad in Greek.

One. Word. At. A. Time.

#amreading

You got me! I knew I put that one component in the deep freeze of the Jack-in-the-Box behind the patties.

Very apt!

That might work! I love the cyberpunk dinosaur angle.

So last night's dream involved a biplane that crashed, a dinosaur, talking about my first job at Jack-in-the-Box, getting blood drawn for a heart test, and a newbie lab tech.

Interpretations, please. There's gotta be a novel in there.

#dream #WritingCommunity #WriteSky

I am good at baffling with bullshit

End of Movement II. Yes, my #WIP has Movements, not Acts, not Chapters. I want to say there's a reason for this, but I haven't yet come up with anything other than "I like movements."

Now I have some Madagascar song in my head.

Great.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky

It was 139°F in Houston yesterday.

In my dream.

On a weather map.

It's great when your obsession with whatever #writing project you're working on leaks into your subconscious and colors dreams.

#WritingCommunity #WIP

Cloud, Creek, Chateau - July 2020 - 24 x 24

Cloud, Creek, Chateau - July 2020 - 24 x 24, acrylic on canvas

Never was good at titles of anything.

#art