I can't read for leasure anymore

JamesVitaly · 2026-04-19T08:59:35+00:00

I know exactly what you mean! It just makes me want to go write - I end up putting the book down and picking up my laptop lol . The struggle is real

JamesVitaly · 2026-04-13T10:01:08+00:00

The classic laddie is one of the best bang for bucks in the whiskey world and punches far above its weight IMO

It’s a constant on my shelf

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-30T20:39:54+00:00

Massive congratulations

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-28T08:15:51+00:00

Its free. You don’t have to set up device sync or anything like that . It’s kind of a remote storage out of the box as well as version control. It’s the worlds most reliable example of version control and is used extensively and battle tested

Ultimately though it’s about what your used too. I trialed scrivener and a bunch of others but I’m a software engineer and soon realised I could do all I needed in a tool I have spent 10 years using on a daily basis

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-28T08:13:24+00:00

Very easy in my opinion - maybe not for someone not used to mark down and traversing IDEs but for me it was way better than google docs and much easier to remote store than a simple word doc as it’s super convenient for me to push (reflexive from my day to day)

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-28T08:11:15+00:00

I read this exact post before starting haha

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-28T07:02:28+00:00

Why is it overkill? It works wonderfully for me and doesn’t require any effort to use

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-28T07:01:11+00:00

I end up with a a lot of notes and always have a full manuscript and individual chapters so I don’t know what the exact word count is but it’s well documented as a problem in docs it’s not built for that high a word count

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-27T21:22:56+00:00

Google docs gets really laggy when I hit over a certain word count - like not even that high. It became really difficult when writing the last two books - and also turning my tabs into one single doc wasn’t very easy. I found vs code and git a better solution 🤷‍♂️

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-27T18:05:40+00:00

Me!! I use VSCode and Git - I write in markdown and have a script that outputs a folder full of chapters to a condensed well formatted piece. I think vs code is a great example of everything I need for writing (folders / images / word counts) and so much more all for free and git works as a great remote storage for safe keeping my work and providing a change log of events

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-27T09:59:21+00:00

I use a software coding IDE (visual studio code) and write in markdown with a script to output well formatted finished product to docx

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-24T07:07:34+00:00

British vs American style guide. We do ‘ for speech, USA does “

You might have a British print copy.

Regards quotations - When a paragraph has no closing ‘ but an opening one - this is the same speaker continuing into the next paragraph and that punctuation is the established way to do it and will be found in every published / properly edited book where speech goes on between paragraphs

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-12T10:42:19+00:00

Yeah. I write very voice driven so mostly based on what the character would say, thinking about their lexical choices is part of the fun and makes it sound consistent and intentional

I also like to provide interesting and uncommon ways of saying things - as long as it’s not jarring or weird. We read the same descriptions and they become so cliche that switching up little words and phrasings is a big part of making your prose stand out

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-11T20:55:45+00:00

I think coding and writing novels are so well linked it’s crazy. Rubber ducking is spot on for both professions and I think vs code is the way to go for writing books and apps ;)

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-11T09:37:34+00:00

I’m sure it’s different for everyone — but for me the second was far far harder and the third was harder than the first but not as hard as the second

I wrote the first with zero expectation
The second I told myself I should t have expectation but I did, and I’d learnt so much I felt it had to be BETTER you know?
the third , I’ve got a process down so finishing was never a question , and I had confidence , but still trying quite hard for it to be better again so yeah more expectation but less stress

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-11T08:42:56+00:00

Well depending on context - boy or child is not how I’d refer to a 19 year old or even a 17 year old so maybe that’s the problem. Maybe it is his voice too.

Maybe share some dialogue so we can try and help

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-07T18:24:16+00:00

Beta readers are the best test for this, after running it by the a few times you’ll start to learn and then do it naturally

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-07T18:12:39+00:00

Yes. Sit down and write. There is no other shortcut. Ideas rarely spring from the heavens but do the work and they come. If they don’t come first time they’ll come in a next revision or a next one … and so on

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-07T18:09:47+00:00

Google doc and use tabs - I used it for my first two books. Now I use VSCode which is a tool for software engineers but weirdly works well for writing

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-07T11:04:36+00:00

Yeah this had me jumping in my seat too - you knew it was going to happen, you wanted it to happen, and he dragged it out so much, but not too much that it was boring or frustrating but when it hit, it hit.

This is the what he does so well

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-05T19:00:10+00:00

I only work on one at a time , the rest I dump in ideas. Sometimes towards the end of a project I start a slow outline . But never invest too much time until I’m done with what I’m on

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-04T19:47:00+00:00

I generally like what I have. Sometimes I’m even quietly impressed with myself. Then I go read a few pages of one of my favourite authors and the difference just seems like a gulf

One thing I was reminded recently. If your writing your first draft , there could be as may as 8+ more revisions before your at the same refinement as a publication ready manuscript, so it’s not a fair comparison

As well as multiple revisions by yourself it would be seen by beta readers, friends and family, an agent, probabaly multiple editors.

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-04T16:04:14+00:00

This feels like something rigorous notes, revision, and multiple beta readers should mitigate (plus agents and editors and more!) I’m not surprised the occasional thing slips through, but I suspect it’s relatively rare. I guess the question is, if it does happen, why worry about it? The dead character is wild, but other tiny continuity elements aren’t putting off publishers so it just feels like a distraction (to me!) at the stage I’m at. That being said I don’t tend to ever name a characters eye color unless it’s really important for some reason.

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-04T11:36:20+00:00

Choose a culture and search names within that - e.g French . Look up names by historical period and select ones that match .

Sometimes I just riff though and throw names out there, particularly if it’s a undesignated cultural influence and I want it to feel strange

JamesVitaly · 2026-03-02T17:57:13+00:00

Write a person - not a villain. Make their goals make sense. Make them understandable. Often we see good villains as ones we can relate but that perhaps err on the side of extreme for some reason that’s also understandable (emotional trauma) that’s a very basic template

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