On October 15, 2022, Rex was back in the studio and Kasie was recovering from Fall Break so they didn’t prep the show as usual. Instead, they took to the internet for a Grab Bag episode. Here are the show notes:

Theme for the day

Internet Grab Bag

Agenda

• Rex is back! Tell us about the Odyssey
• Seven writing tips that are also good life tips
• Other internet suchness

Rex was in Buffalo last week, traveling all by his lonesome. How did that work out? Find any good stories out there?

Our Internet Grab Bag episodes are basically us going out to Twitter, searching the hashtag #writingcommunity and finding questions people have asked. Then answering them. If we can. To start us off, set the mood if you will, here’s this tweet from

Darran Summerfield @DarranSF

I’m sure that 90% of #writing questions can legitimately be answered with, “it entirely depends on the needs of the story.”

Ain’t that the truth? Longtime listeners have heard Rex answer at least one of my questions, per episode with, “It depends.” So let that be your disclaimer as we go about attempting to answer strangers’ questions.

Writers Digest tweeted out these seven writing tips that also apply to life. Let’s go yay or nay:

1. Be true – is this write what you know? Or be your authentic voice? Yay or nay?
2. Find your tribe – people who will support you, challenge you, help you grow and be a soft place to fall (and they’ll read your pages, too!)
3. Follow your curiosity – the places where you have questions can be the most interesting places for your work to explore.
4. Pay attention – the example is about driving and losing track of the mileage – a recent experience?
5. Know when to show up and when to walk away – pushing (forcing) rarely works, but you still want to be the person your dog thinks you are; so what’s the balance between committing and overcommitting? In our work, when do we say, “enough.” and walk away?
6. Make peace with the term “work in progress” – there is no grand finish line in life and in writing, even if it’s publishing, there’s always room for improvement
7. Be generous with your compassion – we can write the empathetic backstory for the harshest criminal and yet not cut ourselves any slack at all. Be more forgiving of yourself.

I liked those. Think they’re relevant and useful.

Don’t forget the return to the bar of Flash at the Bar: Halloween Edition. Wednesday, October 26th, Rex and I will take our best short spooky stories to The Aristocrat and share them with about eight other writers. The event begins at 6 p.m. and finishes up by nine.

Back to Twitter and Kerri Davidson @bagoflettuce asks, “What are you reading?”

Brett @writerBrettH says: “Time. Essentially a made up construct seen through the perception of humans. With that idea, it’s fun to manipulate it with writing. How do you play with time?”

Writing Our Way Our @wowopod asks, “What is your routine when you wake, before the words start flowing?”

LauraFrostWrites @LFrostWrites asks, “Where is the most unusual place you’ve ever written?”
BRCloth @brclothwrites asks, “What would you do if your dream agent wanted to sign you but you discovered they held opposing political views?”

We recorded this full episode and all the chatter during commercials for our patrons. If you’d like access to the full video, visit Patreon.com/WriteOnSC and become a patron.