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Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

Audio Fiction! Story Now at Cast of Wonders

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I’m very pleased to announce that I have a story now up at Cast of Wonders, the speculative fiction podcast for young adults. The story is “Taxidermy and Other Dangerous Professions” (originally published as “Heaven’s Lot” in Not One of Us), and it is narrated by the marvelous MK Hobson. Free to listen or read along, check it out!

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Writing Objects, Not Ideas

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 2, 2014| 1 Comment »

Best writing advice I’ve read all week:

How to avoid abstractitis: “Write physically. Write with physical objects… No matter how abstract your topic, how intangible, your first step is to find things you can drop on your foot.”

“What is a concrete noun?” a student might ask.

“It’s something you can drop on your foot,” I always answer. “It’s that simple.”

“So if I am writing about markets, productivity and wealth, I am going to….”

“Yes indeed — you are going to write about things you can drop on your foot, and people, too. Green peppers, ears of corn, windshield wipers, or a grimy mechanic changing your car’s oil. No matter how abstract your topic, how intangible, your first step is to find things you can drop on your foot.”

From John Maguire’s 2012 essay in The Atlantic, “The Secret to Good Writing: It’s About Objects, Not Ideas.”

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How Science Fiction Leads to Science Futures

Posted in Likes, Science!, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Writer and editor Eileen Gunn has a new piece out on science fiction writers and the art of possibility. For Smithsonian, no less.

How America’s Leading Science Fiction Authors Are Shaping Your Future

The literary genre isn’t meant to predict the future, but implausible ideas that fire inventors’ imaginations often, amazingly, come true

An instructor at MIT’s Media Lab “laments that researchers whose work deals with emerging technologies are often unfamiliar with science fiction. ‘With the development of new biotech and genetic engineering, you see authors like Margaret Atwood writing about dystopian worlds centered on those technologies,’ she says. ‘Authors have explored these exact topics in incredible depth for decades…'”

Check out the full article for more on the role of science fiction in imagining, and creating, potential futures.

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Excising “To Be” With Applescript

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 28, 2014| 1 Comment »

I code sometimes. I also write. Occasionally the two come together.

As I’ve mentioned, coding helps me find new ways to think about my work. Here’s a new Applescript I whipped up to highlight instances of “to be” in my drafts, as well as certain filler words that don’t add much to the text. Open your document in MS Word, then run the following code. The selected words will be replaced with bold versions of themselves.

Alter the list as necessary, or use this as an example of how to do a list-based loop in Applescript (hint: the “repeat” line is key;). Enjoy!

set my_word_list to {"am", "are", "be", "been", "being", "felt", "had", "has", "have", "heard", "is", "looked", "was", "wasn't", "were", "weren't"}
repeat with each_word in my_word_list
	set FindWordsToReplace to each_word as text
	tell application "Microsoft Word"
		set GetTxt to find object of selection
		tell GetTxt
			clear formatting
			set its content to FindWordsToReplace
			tell its replacement
				clear formatting
				set its content to FindWordsToReplace
				tell its font object
					set bold to true
				end tell
			end tell
			execute find wrap find find continue replace replace all with match forward and match whole word without match case
		end tell
	end tell
end repeat

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Writing at Lightspeed

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Ah, that’s better! I’ve just finished switching over to a new computer, and it’s bigger better faster and all kinds of more awesome than the six-year old tower I had been using. This is it, still wrapped in the thoughtfully designed protective blankie covering in which it was delivered. Under all the styrofoam and cardboard, of course.

imac

I find there are always transition issues with a new computer, even when that computer is a Mac. Take, for example, the soul-crushing realization that a favorite app, DockStar from Ecamm, is not compatible with the new Mavericks OS. Granted, Apple’s Mail has a tiny bit of DockStar’s functionality built in, but I do mean tiny. Ecamm, I hope you find a buyer for the program soon. Alternatively, Apple needs to incorporate that functionality into its system, stat!

The new machine is so fast. Henceforth, all writing will take place at the speed of light. Or 99.9% of same (see, Neil deGrasse Tyson, I was listening to you in episode 1.04 of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, and not just because it included voice acting by SirPatStew;).

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April Fool

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on April 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Some days are just off, for whatever reason. Days when you hit all the wrong buttons on your computer, make foolish mistakes because your brain isn’t firing on all cylinders, fumble everything you touch and your nose won’t stop bleeding. Yeah, it’s that kind of day for me.

What to do in the face of such pitfalls?

Keep going.

Apologize to self and others for calls not made, for eating too much cake (or not enough), for not finishing the to-do list or not writing the perfect story. Do better next time.

Persist.

Even if it happens to be April Fool’s Day.

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Fireside

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I just pledged to support Year 3 of the excellent Fireside Magazine on Kickstarter. They’re close to the end of their funding cycle, so if quality fiction and terrific rates for authors are your cup of tea, check it out!

We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about. ― Charles Kingsley

Update 04.01.14: In happy news, the Kickstarter was successful!

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The Gains of Brevity

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

In writing, brevity works not only as a function of space on a page, but the time that an audience is willing to spend with you.

A friend sent me an excellent article this morning, with some of the most useful advice I can think of for writers. It can also be one of the least welcome suggestions:
Keep It Short.

Danny Heitman’s essay uses this pithy guidance to sum up a lot of bits writers hear when trying to improve their craft: be concise, be concrete, be on point, write for your audience, etc. This does not mean blindly banging away on the Delete button, mind you:

I frequently hear champions of brevity advising writers to cut their word counts by scratching all the adjectives or adverbs… The point of brevity isn’t to chop a certain kind of word, but to make sure that each word is essential.

Short version, keep it short. (Although I can’t help myself, here’s one more quote from the article, this time citing John Kenneth Galbraith):

The gains from brevity are obvious; in most efforts to achieve it, the worst and the dullest go. And it is the worst and the dullest that spoil the rest.

Draft your short story, essay, poem, novel or recipe, then if you have a little time, put it aside. When you come back to it fresh, make friends with that Delete button.

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Scrivener Deal Through AppSumo

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on March 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Here’s a deal for anyone interested in the (excellent) writing program Scrivener: for the next five-ish days, the deal site AppSumo is offering the program for $20. Scrivener usually sells for $45, and even the NaNoWriMo winner price is 50% off. (That’s how I got my copy and it was 20-odd bucks very well spent.) It’s also a wonderful way to write, in my experience. I used to write in Word. I’m much happier now.

No ties to either AppSumo or Literature & Latte, just a satisfied user of the latter. Still not sure if Scrivener is right for you? Check out the free trial versions for Mac and Windows, and bask in the joys of a program written by writers, for writers.

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Amtrak Writers Residency Is Officially Official

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Yes, after much social media back and forth, The Amtrak Residency for Writers Is Now Accepting Applications. Like the idea of riding the rails with nothing to do but be inspired by the scenery and write write write? I know I do:) Check out all the details at Amtrak’s site:

#AmtrakResidency was designed to allow creative professionals who are passionate about train travel and writing to work on their craft in an inspiring environment. Round-trip train travel will be provided on an Amtrak long-distance route. Each resident will be given a private sleeper car, equipped with a desk, a bed and a window to watch the American countryside roll by for inspiration. Routes will be determined based on availability.

A desk too? Heaven!

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