Emily Miller’s Ask Me Anything [about my stories] thread

[onehitwanda]

What does this mean? Do you mean online? What's an example? I typically draft documents in Word on my desktop and then upload the file. I don't ever use special formatting so it's not a big deal, but I've noticed that my stories seem to take a little longer to get published than those of some other published authors so I'm wondering if doing this in a different way would speed up publishing times.

When you respond, keep in mind that while I like to think I'm a fast learner I am not a techie person and you cannot assume I share any of your knowledge of techie vocabulary.

For my primary writing tool I use LyX which is a very complicated piece of software that sits on top of other complicated pieces of software and is typically used in academic circles etc for laying out scientific papers.

I use it because it is remarkably good at not trying to force dumb stuff on my formatting.

For a text editor (stage 2), I use Sublime Text: https://www.sublimetext.com/download

I write my draft in Lyx.

I then copy + paste it to Sublime Text because the change of application helps show errors.

I then copy + paste from Sublime Text into the Lit new story doohickey.

So for your flow:

1. write in Word for spellcheck + grammar
2. copy + pate to sublimetext (or notepad) to strip any and all formatting and nonsense
3. put italics between <i></i> and bold between <b></b>
4. <center></center> does just that
5. copy + paste to lit, click save draft, and then you can preview / tweak.

I've never used RTF upload and I won't ever do so having heard all the horror stories around it.

Does that give a better picture of what I'm doing?

 

[Euphony]

Of course I am. But that doesn’t mean the problem doesn’t exist.

Em

Of course it does. And umpteen others. But creating more problems or "other people problems" to fix one an individual author has placed at the top of their personal hierarchy is terrible precedent to set.

 

[SimonDoom]

For my primary writing tool I use LyX which is a very complicated piece of software that sits on top of other complicated pieces of software and is typically used in academic circles etc for laying out scientific papers.

I use it because it is remarkably good at not trying to force dumb stuff on my formatting.

For a text editor (stage 2), I use Sublime Text: https://www.sublimetext.com/download

I write my draft in Lyx.

I then copy + paste it to Sublime Text because the change of application helps show errors.

I then copy + paste from Sublime Text into the Lit new story doohickey.

So for your flow:

1. write in Word for spellcheck + grammar
2. copy + pate to sublimetext (or notepad) to strip any and all formatting and nonsense
3. put italics between <i></i> and bold between <b></b>
4. <center></center> does just that
5. copy + paste to lit, click save draft, and then you can preview / tweak.

I've never used RTF upload and I won't ever do so having heard all the horror stories around it.

Does that give a better picture of what I'm doing?

Yes, thank you! Even I could understand that.

 

[AchtungNight]

Drama much?

A clearly silly joke poking fun at a known downside to engagement is hardly my thesis on human interactions here.

And why the weird need to a defense of yourself (or those "like you") b/c of a rando meme post?

That's... odd?

Just tired of stereotypes and overblown assumptions.

 

[Euphony]

Just tired of stereotypes and overblown assumptions.

Offgrid cabin sans internet.

Anything less and I'm afraid you run into "humanity."

 

[EmilyMiller]

Of course it does. And umpteen others. But creating more problems or "other people problems" to fix one an individual author has placed at the top of their personal hierarchy is terrible precedent to set.

Drama much?

 

[Euphony]

Drama much?

You weighing in on other's need for attention is, charitably, "suspect."

 

[EmilyMiller]

Dear @EmilyMiller,
What first prompted you to put pen to paper (metaphorically)?

Hi,

I said that I’d come back and answer this. Here goes, but don’t expect crystalline self-knowledge. I’m not sure I understand all my motivations.

But let’s start with reading. I was an avid reader as a child. I find I have rather less time now, but I still try to read (and not just here).

Words. I’m kinda in love with words. I like learning new ones. I like knowing (or being able to find out) the precise one to use in a given context, as opposed to using utility ones. I like wordplay. Sentences that are cleverly constructed. Puns. Turns of phrase that are beautiful by themselves. And silly things like Limericks (thanks @TarnishedPenny ) and rhyming poems. I like the intellectual challenge of finding the right worlds.

Then actually writing. Before starting here a bit over a year ago, I had not written creatively since college (and not at all in grad school). But even when, in the past, I did write made up stuff, I wasn’t too good at it. I was (and am) science and math girl.

I ended up writing a lot in grad school and in my current job. But in both cases technical documents. Even so, I tried to write as eloquently as I could. Even if the subject matter would appear dry to an external observer.

I had always wanted to try to do more creative writing. But never had any ideas about what to write about. Then I had a phase where I went from having a very active sex life to being quasi-celibate. I ended up watching porn. Then reading porn (here). And then, one day, I thought, why not try yourself?

As I say, I had had a very varied sex life. I had material to leverage. So I started to write - rather naive / poorly crafted - semi-autobiographical stories. I got the bug and started to introduce more made-up elements. Over time I began to write wholly invented stories. Even going back to my IRL scenarios and using them as a back-drop to fabricated tales.

Along the way, I improved as a writer (though I still have a long way to go) and began to enjoy creating worlds and characters. And so here we are.

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

You weighing in on other's need for attention is, charitably, "suspect."

Merely using a phrase you introduced. This doesn’t have to become nasty does it?

Em

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

For my primary writing tool I use LyX which is a very complicated piece of software that sits on top of other complicated pieces of software and is typically used in academic circles etc for laying out scientific papers.

I use it because it is remarkably good at not trying to force dumb stuff on my formatting.

For a text editor (stage 2), I use Sublime Text: https://www.sublimetext.com/download

I write my draft in Lyx.

I then copy + paste it to Sublime Text because the change of application helps show errors.

I then copy + paste from Sublime Text into the Lit new story doohickey.

So for your flow:

1. write in Word for spellcheck + grammar
2. copy + pate to sublimetext (or notepad) to strip any and all formatting and nonsense
3. put italics between <i></i> and bold between <b></b>
4. <center></center> does just that
5. copy + paste to lit, click save draft, and then you can preview / tweak.

I've never used RTF upload and I won't ever do so having heard all the horror stories around it.

Does that give a better picture of what I'm doing?

This explains alot.

 

[EmilyMiller]

This explains alot.

If you take something seriously, it’s amazing how much this improves your chances of doing it well .

Em

 

[onehitwanda]

This explains alot.

I'm very broken. It shoes when I go boing

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

I'm very broken. It shoes when I go boing

Aw. Same

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

But to stay on topic. @EmilyMiller what's your formula for a successful tentacle story?

 

[AH_Mod]

For the record, I'm not going to engage in gatekeeping by moving threads because they could fit in a different forum such as story feedback. If I believe a thread is going to be disruptive, or could potentially get a more useful/stronger response elsewhere, I'll move it.

Don't let this discourage anyone from reporting threads that you believe should be moved, but just understand that if they don't move, this is why.

 

[EmilyMiller]

But to stay on topic. @EmilyMiller what's your formula for a successful tentacle story?

Probably:

You probably know that AH put me up to writing tentacle porn. I had two things that bothered me. I didn’t want it to be as rapey as most tentacle porn (I was sent links to videos for research). And I had this idea about it being a hard sci-fi story and I wanted to come up with some semi-coherent rationale for the monster.

Beyond that, I’ve read quite a lot of sci-fi and watched a lot. I basically stole liberally was inspired by 2001, Alien, Firefly and maybe less obviously, The OA and Stranger Things.

I suppose the other thing, like most sci-fi, was that all three stories were firmly based on Earthly concerns.

Oh, and a bit of dabbling with depth training in my youth might have been informative.

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

For the record, I'm not going to engage in gatekeeping by moving threads because they could fit in a different forum such as story feedback. If I believe a thread is going to be disruptive, or could potentially get a more useful/stronger response elsewhere, I'll move it.

Don't let this discourage anyone from reporting threads that you believe should be moved, but just understand that if they don't move, this is why.

Thank you.

And thanks also to whoever reported this. Do you not have better things to do with your time?

Honestly, this place sometimes.

Em

 

[SimonDoom]

Thank you.

And thanks also to whoever reported this. Do you not have better things to do with your time?

Honestly, this place sometimes.

Em

Seriously. My God, people.

You are punching above your weight in terms of contributing interest around this place. Just keep it up and ignore the . . . noise.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Probably:

Surely that's a formula for French werewolf stories?

 

[EmilyMiller]

Seriously. My God, people.

You are punching above your weight in terms of contributing interest around this place. Just keep it up and ignore the . . . noise.

I agree your blog idea would be infinitely preferable. But I’m not holding my breath.

If this thread becomes too much, I’ll ask @AH_Mod to lock it.

It’s just meant to be an experiment.

Em

 

[Bamagan]

Thank you.

And thanks also to whoever reported this. Do you not have better things to do with your time?

Honestly, this place sometimes.

Em

Uh-oh, sounds like you peed on someone's lawn! Probably after they waved their cane at you and told you to get off.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Surely that's a formula for French werewolf stories?

You know, you are right. My bad .

Em

 

[onehitwanda]

I see pi in the exponential section. That means it's a harmonic function, doesn't it? Is this the definite integral describing the plateau phase?

 

[SimonDoom]

I agree your blog idea would be infinitely preferable. But I’m not holding my breath.

If this thread becomes too much, I’ll ask @AH_Mod to lock it.

It’s just meant to be an experiment.

Em

Don't do that. Have fun with it. If everybody started the same kind of thread, it wouldn't work, but nobody else has, so who cares?

 

[EmilyMiller]

I see pi in the exponential section. That means it's a harmonic function, doesn't it? Is this the definite integral describing the plateau phase?

I love it when you talk dirty