Benjamin X. Wretlind

I finally (?) feel more organized than I have been in the last few weeks (months?). Current writing projects include (among other things) a final push to come up with draft 1 of my latest cli-fi novel (although it's really a novella).

Maybe March will be better?

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Connecting Emotions — Making Sense Across Contexts You’re stuck in the middle of your manuscript. The plot feels forced. Go back to a scene that’s working and notice what you feel as you read it. That feeling is your tuning fork. It sho…

When you recognize an emotional pattern in one place and apply it somewhere unexpected, you’re using a distinct emotional intelligence skill.

emotethis.net/connecting-e...

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Distractions. Not from #writing, though. From life.

In the last month I've been highly distracted from this thing called "life." It started when my mother passed.

I'm writing the grief in ways I never imagined.

Distractions can be healthy. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

#WritingCommunity

You are so correct...although it's feeling like an ultamarathon, when I'm really up for a Turkey Trot about now.

Fisher Price Lawn Mower

I wish I could share a #writing update. I have so many things in my brain's Fisher Price Lawn Mower that I'm annoying myself with the noise.

But I'm trying my best, damn it.

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On Wind & Emotion Just like clouds and emotion go hand-in-hand (with respect to literature, anyway), so does wind and emotion.

(Note: while dealing with the death of my mother and the complications of what happens AFTER, I'll post a few older articles and questions.)

How many novels have you read where the wind acts like a character?

emotethis.net/on-wind-emot...

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What Emotional Intelligence Really Means for Fiction Writers Emotional intelligence won’t get you published, but it will help you write characters who feel real and craft emotional arcs that resonate. Learn how the ability-based model of emotional inte…

Emotional intelligence won’t get you published.

But it might help you write something worth publishing.

What Emotional Intelligence Really Means for Fiction Writers emotethis.net/what-emotion...

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On Temperature & Emotion The emotions drummed up by your characters would also be the emotions that you feel when you are in that situation.

Have you taken the temperature of your world? Does the reader know this?

emotethis.net/on-temperatu...

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On Clouds and Emotion Clouds and emotion go together when you think about it. We have been trained since birth to recognize signs in the sky, whether we did so deliberately or not.

We have been trained since birth to recognize signs in the sky, so does your story look up?

emotethis.net/on-clouds-an...

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Connecting Emotions — Making Sense Across Contexts You’re stuck in the middle of your manuscript. The plot feels forced. Go back to a scene that’s working and notice what you feel as you read it. That feeling is your tuning fork. It sho…

When you recognize an emotional pattern in one place and apply it somewhere unexpected, you’re using a distinct emotional intelligence skill.

emotethis.net/connecting-e...

#WriteSky #amwriting #WritingCommunity #WritingQ

Thank you for your words. I did just that when my dad passed...the thing he loved to do. Now I need to refocus on living.

In the last year, I've lost my dad, my mom (two days ago), my oldest pup, and a friend at work. You would think that I could channel some of this emotion into my #writing, but I think I need to define what I'm feeling first.

Numb comes to mind right now.

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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...

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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...

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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/

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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...

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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...

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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