KJ McGee
@kjmcgee.bsky.social
Author, Recovering procrastinator, Reader, Rescue-dog walker, Observer, One small voice, former Software Engineer, Coffee forward, Her partner and their father for as long as may be.
Happy anniversary, y'all...
No writer is a failure until they are dead. Full stop. A career in writing is built over decades. It's built like a house, brick by brick, book by book. Not published yet? Emphasis on YET. Book not selling? It's not selling YET. You're only done when you quit.
And I don't think you're ready to quit
And I don't think you're ready to quit
February 3, 2026 at 4:33 AM
Happy anniversary, y'all...
When drafting or editing, consider:
YOU (the writer/editor) are not the problem. The PROBLEM (the issue in the prose) is the problem. YOU can find and fix the PROBLEM(s). It's the job. That's the work.
~ adapted from The Story Grid, (Shawn Coyne, 2015)
#writing #editing #story
YOU (the writer/editor) are not the problem. The PROBLEM (the issue in the prose) is the problem. YOU can find and fix the PROBLEM(s). It's the job. That's the work.
~ adapted from The Story Grid, (Shawn Coyne, 2015)
#writing #editing #story
January 24, 2026 at 11:57 PM
Reposted by KJ McGee
Connections
Puzzle #952
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
Under a minute with an assistant (human) 🤷♂️
Puzzle #952
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
Under a minute with an assistant (human) 🤷♂️
January 18, 2026 at 11:38 PM
Connections
Puzzle #952
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
Under a minute with an assistant (human) 🤷♂️
Puzzle #952
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
Under a minute with an assistant (human) 🤷♂️
Reposted by KJ McGee
I think in a world filled with AI, hatred, and violence that stories and art made by real people in the service of community ARE the antidote.
January 10, 2026 at 4:13 PM
I think in a world filled with AI, hatred, and violence that stories and art made by real people in the service of community ARE the antidote.
Consider exposing the world as the characters engage with it, using it, battling it, puzzling over it. Trust the reader above all. 💪😎
Writing Tip:
The more complex your worldbuilding, the more you have to ease your reader into it. If you just dump your reader into a world that is completely alien to them without any context, they're not going to be curious and read on, they'll bounce right off.
#writing #writingtips #Booksky
The more complex your worldbuilding, the more you have to ease your reader into it. If you just dump your reader into a world that is completely alien to them without any context, they're not going to be curious and read on, they'll bounce right off.
#writing #writingtips #Booksky
January 10, 2026 at 7:53 AM
Consider exposing the world as the characters engage with it, using it, battling it, puzzling over it. Trust the reader above all. 💪😎
💯 First, write. Then consider “pace”; it can emerge from actually writing. 💪
Some writers can churn out a script every few days while some authors take ten years to put out a single novel. There is no set pace for writers, no amount of writing that guarantees success.
There is only what works for YOU and what doesn't. That's the only pace that matters.
There is only what works for YOU and what doesn't. That's the only pace that matters.
January 2, 2026 at 5:20 AM
💯 First, write. Then consider “pace”; it can emerge from actually writing. 💪
Looking back, I met my 2025 goal of a Novel Per Week (plus a handful of non-fiction books). Here are the authors that filled my head. I appreciate every single one of them.
Jane Austen
T. W. Bristol
Katherine Center
Becky Chambers
Shawn Coyne
Elizabeth Davis
Camille Di Maio
Michael Grumley
(cont)
Jane Austen
T. W. Bristol
Katherine Center
Becky Chambers
Shawn Coyne
Elizabeth Davis
Camille Di Maio
Michael Grumley
(cont)
January 2, 2026 at 3:05 AM
Looking back, I met my 2025 goal of a Novel Per Week (plus a handful of non-fiction books). Here are the authors that filled my head. I appreciate every single one of them.
Jane Austen
T. W. Bristol
Katherine Center
Becky Chambers
Shawn Coyne
Elizabeth Davis
Camille Di Maio
Michael Grumley
(cont)
Jane Austen
T. W. Bristol
Katherine Center
Becky Chambers
Shawn Coyne
Elizabeth Davis
Camille Di Maio
Michael Grumley
(cont)
Reposted by KJ McGee
"Amazing Grace" Hopper died #OTD in 1992.
+PhD in #Mathematics, Yale
+Rear Admiral, US Navy
+Invented the first computer compiler, foundational to modern software
+Co-developed COBOL, one of the earliest standardized computer languages
#WomenInSTEM #legend
+PhD in #Mathematics, Yale
+Rear Admiral, US Navy
+Invented the first computer compiler, foundational to modern software
+Co-developed COBOL, one of the earliest standardized computer languages
#WomenInSTEM #legend
January 1, 2026 at 5:07 PM
"Amazing Grace" Hopper died #OTD in 1992.
+PhD in #Mathematics, Yale
+Rear Admiral, US Navy
+Invented the first computer compiler, foundational to modern software
+Co-developed COBOL, one of the earliest standardized computer languages
#WomenInSTEM #legend
+PhD in #Mathematics, Yale
+Rear Admiral, US Navy
+Invented the first computer compiler, foundational to modern software
+Co-developed COBOL, one of the earliest standardized computer languages
#WomenInSTEM #legend
And don't forget the author of the source (book), Thomas Harris. Who only defined (if not minted) the subgenre.
PS. In the book it's not Chianti -- what was it? 😝😎
PS. In the book it's not Chianti -- what was it? 😝😎
"THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS" (1991) dir. Jonathan Demme
Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Ted Levine, Scott Glenn, Anthony Heald, Kasi Lemmons
🎬 Orion Pictures
Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Ted Levine, Scott Glenn, Anthony Heald, Kasi Lemmons
🎬 Orion Pictures
December 31, 2025 at 8:59 PM
And don't forget the author of the source (book), Thomas Harris. Who only defined (if not minted) the subgenre.
PS. In the book it's not Chianti -- what was it? 😝😎
PS. In the book it's not Chianti -- what was it? 😝😎
Not everything in 2025 went sideways. This, friends, is proof. 🎊🔥
I DID IT! Holy Moses I did it! Reedsy Discovery chose The Mermaid's Wrath as one of four winners for their 2025 awards! www.instagram.com/p/DS5VN0cFJk...
Reedsy Discovery on Instagram: "The wait is over! The winners of the 2025 Discovery Editors' Choice Awards have been crowned 👑
From a 16 book shortlist, 4 exceptional indie novels rose to the top to ...
7 likes, 4 comments - reedsy.discovery on December 30, 2025: "The wait is over! The winners of the 2025 Discovery Editors' Choice Awards have been crowned 👑
From a 16 book shortlist, 4 exceptional in...
www.instagram.com
December 31, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Not everything in 2025 went sideways. This, friends, is proof. 🎊🔥
Reposted by KJ McGee
“Music is a funny thing when you really come to think about it.”
December 24, 2025 at 10:12 AM
“Music is a funny thing when you really come to think about it.”
Reposted by KJ McGee
Writing Tip:
When you're done the first draft, reread, reread, reread. Just read it over and over again until you get sick of it. Edit as you go, like polishing a precious jewel. The quality of the work often depends on how many times you can reread it before you get sick of looking at it.
When you're done the first draft, reread, reread, reread. Just read it over and over again until you get sick of it. Edit as you go, like polishing a precious jewel. The quality of the work often depends on how many times you can reread it before you get sick of looking at it.
December 23, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Writing Tip:
When you're done the first draft, reread, reread, reread. Just read it over and over again until you get sick of it. Edit as you go, like polishing a precious jewel. The quality of the work often depends on how many times you can reread it before you get sick of looking at it.
When you're done the first draft, reread, reread, reread. Just read it over and over again until you get sick of it. Edit as you go, like polishing a precious jewel. The quality of the work often depends on how many times you can reread it before you get sick of looking at it.
Fiction sometimes as well… 🤷♂️
My songwriting friend and I have this saying…
“Sometimes the song gets there before you do.”
What we mean is that often times the writer doesn’t know what a song is really about until long after it is finished. Sometimes only in hindsight do we know what we were trying to say.
“Sometimes the song gets there before you do.”
What we mean is that often times the writer doesn’t know what a song is really about until long after it is finished. Sometimes only in hindsight do we know what we were trying to say.
December 8, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Fiction sometimes as well… 🤷♂️
Take up the challenge soonish:
"In the solitude of a book, we find ourselves a little more willing to be vulnerable to having our mindset challenged." - Nick Raines
The main difference between people who want to ban books and me:
They would feel threatened by that quote.
I feel *energized* by it.
The main difference between people who want to ban books and me:
They would feel threatened by that quote.
I feel *energized* by it.
November 27, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Take up the challenge soonish:
Within limits 😇 …
More than inspiration, writing a book requires discipline.
There are days I feel highly driven, only to get nowhere. Similarly, there are mornings I feel off, yet end up making massive leaps.
If you want progress, don’t trust your feelings.
Trust discipline ✍️
#WritingCommunity #WriteSky #BookSky
There are days I feel highly driven, only to get nowhere. Similarly, there are mornings I feel off, yet end up making massive leaps.
If you want progress, don’t trust your feelings.
Trust discipline ✍️
#WritingCommunity #WriteSky #BookSky
November 24, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Within limits 😇 …
Reposted by KJ McGee
Writing Tip:
Is your villain doing that terrible thing because they want to? Or are they doing it because it moves the plot around? It's an important question. So many villains are seen as idiotic because of this simple writing error, as it often causes their own end.
#writing #writingtips #Booksky
Is your villain doing that terrible thing because they want to? Or are they doing it because it moves the plot around? It's an important question. So many villains are seen as idiotic because of this simple writing error, as it often causes their own end.
#writing #writingtips #Booksky
November 23, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Writing Tip:
Is your villain doing that terrible thing because they want to? Or are they doing it because it moves the plot around? It's an important question. So many villains are seen as idiotic because of this simple writing error, as it often causes their own end.
#writing #writingtips #Booksky
Is your villain doing that terrible thing because they want to? Or are they doing it because it moves the plot around? It's an important question. So many villains are seen as idiotic because of this simple writing error, as it often causes their own end.
#writing #writingtips #Booksky
"Pretty much any sport can be fun, except golf..."
~ Jason Gay
"Do Sports Need to Be 'Fun'?"
WSJ, 21-Nov-2025
I assume he's speaking of his lived experience. 😝🏌️💩
~ Jason Gay
"Do Sports Need to Be 'Fun'?"
WSJ, 21-Nov-2025
I assume he's speaking of his lived experience. 😝🏌️💩
November 21, 2025 at 10:45 PM
"Pretty much any sport can be fun, except golf..."
~ Jason Gay
"Do Sports Need to Be 'Fun'?"
WSJ, 21-Nov-2025
I assume he's speaking of his lived experience. 😝🏌️💩
~ Jason Gay
"Do Sports Need to Be 'Fun'?"
WSJ, 21-Nov-2025
I assume he's speaking of his lived experience. 😝🏌️💩
Go make your difference—now…
Unsolicited writing advice, no. 1836:
Don't write the book you think 'people will buy'. No one knows for sure what people will buy, incuding the people who sell books. Instead, write the book you need to write. The book that makes a difference.
Don't write the book you think 'people will buy'. No one knows for sure what people will buy, incuding the people who sell books. Instead, write the book you need to write. The book that makes a difference.
November 20, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Go make your difference—now…
Normalize the effective things all the time. 💚
Writing Tip:
Training yourself to write regularly isn't just to get words on pages. It's to make that writing a habit. Making writing a regular part of your routine will normalize it. It won't feel as intimidating to sit down and write if you do it all the time.
#writing #writingtips #Booksky
Training yourself to write regularly isn't just to get words on pages. It's to make that writing a habit. Making writing a regular part of your routine will normalize it. It won't feel as intimidating to sit down and write if you do it all the time.
#writing #writingtips #Booksky
November 20, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Normalize the effective things all the time. 💚
"The fears you have in writing your story are identical in nature to the fears your protagonist has in the story."
~ Alan Watt [Founder, L.A. Writers' Lab]
#writing #writingcommunity
~ Alan Watt [Founder, L.A. Writers' Lab]
#writing #writingcommunity
November 8, 2025 at 7:43 PM
"The fears you have in writing your story are identical in nature to the fears your protagonist has in the story."
~ Alan Watt [Founder, L.A. Writers' Lab]
#writing #writingcommunity
~ Alan Watt [Founder, L.A. Writers' Lab]
#writing #writingcommunity
We know how. Just gotta do the work.🤷♂️💥
There are still a lot of hard times ahead, but remember this moment and what it means: We can win.
November 6, 2025 at 8:08 AM
We know how. Just gotta do the work.🤷♂️💥
Reposted by KJ McGee
The Laughter of the Sun series. We're WIDE. Book one is 99c 'cos I love you. 💕💙💕
books2read.com/u/4A06wq
books2read.com/u/4A06wq
November 5, 2025 at 3:35 AM
The Laughter of the Sun series. We're WIDE. Book one is 99c 'cos I love you. 💕💙💕
books2read.com/u/4A06wq
books2read.com/u/4A06wq
Bulk? 🤷♂️
November 2, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Bulk? 🤷♂️
