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Being a Better Writer: Live Q&A Today! – Now Concluded

Max Being a Better Writer , , , ,

Hello readers! If you’re looking for the usual in-depth post, today it shall not appear. Because today Being a Better Writer is going to be live! That’s right, we’re doing another Live Q&A session at 5 PM MST.

What is a BaBW Live Q&A, you might ask? Well, you’re already close with the “asking” bit. Rather than a traditional post, this evening, at 5 PM, the site’s official Discord Channel will be host to a live question and answer session concerning writing.

So yeah, it’s pretty much exactly what most of you were guessing. Using a channel built for specifically this purpose on Discord, readers and followers of the site will be able to ask writing and writing-related questions (it always starts out hyper specific but by the end of the hour usually turns to questions about upcoming books and whatnot) which I will then answer in real time using my actual and very human voice.

Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Well, save two things.

The first is that it will be held at 5 PM Mountain Standard Time. This means that if you’re in another time zone, you should use a quick internet search to figure out what time 5 PM MST is where you are, because very literally the last two or three times I’ve held one of these, between two to three people showed up just as it was ending, having gotten the time wrong. This is a natural byproduct of having a global audience with differentiated time zones, so it’s not something I can really fix, but if you’re wondering what time 5 PM MST is for you … just take the guesswork out and Google it so you reduce the chances of missing it.

Second: Where is the site’s official Discord? There’s no link on the sidebar (and that’s because it keeps the discord from being overrun by spambot crawlers). There’s not even a link for Patreon Supporters (though that will change soon) For that matter, a few of you might be wondering what Discord is.

The answer to that is that it is a message/chat board. Each “channel” can be further divided into rooms for discussion of topics, and you can run it right in your browser without need for downloading any apps, which is very convenient, especially as it allows for streaming and video chat as well. But you don’t need to know that. All you need to know is that the LINK to the Makalay Camp, Unusual Things‘ official Discord channel, is after the jump, and will be available for the next 24 hours.

So show up there today for the Live Q&A at whatever time is 5 PM MST for you, and let’s talk writing!

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Being a Better Writer: Live Q&A Tonight!

Max Being a Better Writer , ,

Hello readers!

If you’re looking for a new Being a Better Writer post today, you’re not going to find it. Oh, I’ll share a link to a classic post in a moment, but right now? Today there will not be a new installment of Being a Better Writer in written form.

That’s because today’s BaBW installment will be, as stated last week, a live question and answer section over on the Unusual Things Discord channel! That’s right, tonight at 5 PM MST I will don my headset and begin streaming live answers to questions asked from the audience. Usually these last about an hour to an hour-and-a-half depending on audience interaction, but they’re great fun (as many in the audience can attest). Questions are usually related to writing and publishing (because after all, that is the mainstay of this site) but branch out into questions about upcoming works and the like quite frequently.

So, if you’ve got a question that you’d like answered, come to the Q&A tonight! Use Google to make sure you’ve got the right time for your time zone, then join the Discord channel (using the link below the jump; today only) and enjoy!

Now, if you can’t make it, still would like your Monday morning/afternoon dose of Being a Better Writer, or just would like something to read while you wait for 5 PM my time to roll around, well I do have a classic post for you to peruse. While you wait, enjoy Being a Better Writer: Playing Out Your Puzzle Pieces.

But while that loads, be sure to hit the jump, and I’ll see you at 5 PM tonight for the live Q&A.

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Being a Better Writer: Live Q&A Event!

Max Being a Better Writer , , , ,

UPDATE: The event is now over, but you can still join the official discord for the next few hours!

Hello readers! And welcome back to something different! Not completely different, since A) we’re not doing that bit and B) we’ve done this before … But this will be only the second time.

To commemorate the end of yet another Being a Better Writer topic list (number 17), today at 3 PM mountain time I will be hosting a live BaBW question and answer session via the Unusual Things official discord channel The Makalay Camp. Which means that all of you can ask questions in real time and hear my melodious (?) voice give the answers!

Now, we’ve done one of these before and it’s generally a pretty relaxed and chill experience. As of right now, The Makalay Camp has two channels, Fireside Chat, and the Being a Better Writer Q&A voice channel. Participating in the Q&A will be pretty simple. You show up (we’ll talk about that in a moment if you’ve never used Discord before), join the Fireside Chat channel, and then join the Being a Better Writer Q&A voice channel by clicking on it. You may notice that you will not be able to speak in the voice channel. That’s by design. Otherwise there’d be a million voices competing. No, you join the voice channel to listen. That’s what I’ll be using to answer questions. Questions which will be typed in the Fireside Chat channel.

Now, if you’re familiar with Discord or already a member of the server, you know what’s up. For those of you that aren’t familiar with Discord or aren’t members of the server, hit the jump, and let’s get you set up with the link.

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Today’s Being a Better Writer Will Be Tonight … and a Live Q&A! TEST CLOSED!

Max Being a Better Writer , , ,

EDIT: Thank you to everyone who showed up, asked questions, and helped me test the stream! We went for an hour and a half, and it worked great!

All right people, pay attention to this post! We’ve got a special event happening tonight!

So, as most of you should know, this week LTUE 2021 is happening, or Life, The Universe, and Everything. It is the writing convention for Science-Fiction and Fantasy writers, and in a unique twist that makes sense as long as you haven’t been living under a rock, is online!

Yes, that’s right. Due to the coronavirus there will be no physical meet-up this year. Instead the entire conference will be held in digital space, with streams of the panelists up to watch for those that have registered for the conference.

So what does this have to do with today’s lack of a Being a Better Writer post? Simple. I’m one of the panelists. Which means I’ll be streaming my panel thoughts, comments, and knowledge out over the internet this Thursday-Saturday. However, I don’t want to do so without testing my system first.

To be more accurate, without stress-testing my system. I want to make certain that the camera, mic, headset, and everything else I’ll be using will be functioning properly when this Thursday arrives, both in the short term and over the course of an hour or so. I want to make sure that the tone is clear, that there’s no disruption or distortion from overlying cables … You know, the works!

How am I going to do this, you might ask? Simple! Tonight, at 6 PM, this post will gain a discord link after the jump. It will take those who click it to a discord server set up just for this occasion, where I’ll be using Discord’s streaming capabilities to stream myself and answer any questions people have about writing, my books, whatever! It’s going to be a bit of a free-for-all, and I’ll try to keep things running smoothly (bearing in mind that my goal is to test my mic and camera setup, as LTUE’s staff are handling their own server and streaming for LTUE.

So yeah, that 6 PM Mountain time. I know it’s short notice, and an odd time, but I just want to see how well my rig runs things and if there are problems. Note that if there are problems (like say, a BSOD), I’ve got multiple backups that should enable me to keep streaming. Same with LTUE. But the point of this stress-test is to make certain my system is up for this long term in advance. So we’ll go for an hour. 6-7.

So, come back at a little before 6 PM Mountain time tonight and look after the jump for a link to the temporary server. The rest of this post (also after the jump) will be some news for all of you to enjoy. But mark your calendars (or leave a note on your phone or whatever) so you don’t forget!

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