Today’s post-day job project is to start editing the final proof of my Writers of the Future story. Because words are magic, even when they have typos.
* * *
Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category
Work’s Progress
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, editing, Thoughts, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on January 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »
So Alive
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“Imperfection inspires invention, imagination, creativity. It stimulates. The more I feel imperfect, the more I feel alive.”
― Jhumpa Lahiri, In Other Words
* * *
Way to Go, Grandma
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, free fiction, genre fiction, Marissa Lingen, Nature's Futures, short stories, writing on January 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »
For today’s bit of fun, here’s a Nature‘s Futures story by Marissa Lingen: So your grandmother is a starship now- a quick guide for the bewildered.
Your grandmother is becoming a starship! She has gone through many phases in her life already — infant, child, teenager, young adult, student, worker, in many cases spouse, parent, retiree. She has had hobbies like knitting, volleyball and carbon mitigation. She has travelled in planetary atmosphere whenever her circumstances allowed. Now she is uploading her consciousness into a starship! The circle of life is beautiful.
I am now going to imagine that my grandmother is a spaceship.
* * *
On the Off Chance
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, genre fiction, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »
On the off chance that you’re having doubts about how you stack up against others, in writing or elsewhere, here’s a thoughtful quote. Follow the link for his whole piece, which is part of a series of posts worth reading.
…I think it’s clear our pop culture and what passes for our media discourse have a dangerously romanticized view of creative work.
“Oh, what a talented person,” our stories go, “oh, how powerful their inspiration must have been!” Talent certainly exists and inspiration certainly exists, but I fear our popular view of creativity artificially centers both, eliding struggle, practice, failure, and the investment of time. Too often, we talk about something akin to magic, about early purity of vision, about the notion that we are chosen or anointed for certain tasks, and while I cannot speak to how the secret machinery of the cosmos operates, I can testify that most of my own moments of lovely inspiration have been purchased with long hours of study, planning, and practice.
* * *
— Scott Lynch, The Post of Christmas Past
Write What You Like
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, Writers, writing on January 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »
If you can write beginnings and ends, you can make a nice living as a writer. If you write middles, you win Pulitzers and Nobel Prizes and stuff. But with beginnings and ends, you’re going to do okay.
— James Patterson
* * *
A Typical Day
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »
On a typical day, I usually have X number of words in me. On days when I use those words for, say, an epic treatise to friends on the efficacy of my experimental new toothpaste, I turn to the words of others. Time to make a start on 2023’s to-be-read list.
“Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.”
― Harvey Pekar
* * *
Handy Writing Tool
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, reference tools, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Today, an old tool with a twist I find useful: the visual thesaurus. My Writers of the Future editor asked for some last updates, and I got stuck on one that should have been simple but was not.
The problem was that beta readers didn’t quite understand the meaning of the phrase I used, and I had to replace it with a completely different word that still captured a complicated feeling. I don’t usually use a thesaurus, but sometimes needs must. My computer’s built-in options don’t handle phrases well, so online I went.
A quick search led me to stumble on one with a visual, as well as a list, interface. (Has this been around forever? Probably, but it was new to me. Perhaps to you too?) Here’s an example:
Care synonyms, care antonyms – FreeThesaurus.com
Each word’s multiple meanings are clustered with related words, antonyms and links. I can always read the options as a list, of course, but I found this presentation surprisingly helpful when it came to brainstorming options.
* * *
On the Road
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Thoughts, writing on January 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »
On the road again today. Strangely, I find I come up with some of my best ideas while distracted by traveling.
* * *
In All Its Glory
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, Fiction, genre fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape?… If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”
― J.R.R. Tolkien
* * *
Last Thoughts
Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, haiku, Thoughts on December 31, 2022| Leave a Comment »
We’re enjoying the holiday but our time this week has included a funeral. It left me with a thin veneer of sadness, and what better time to shake that off than the last day of the year? And so, a haiku to siphon those thoughts away and make room for the new.
Your first accidentfirst break first loss first body
and if becomes when.
Now, on to better days.
* * *
-
Recent Posts
She Said, He Said
-
-
Favorite Posts
Archives
Categories
It’s All So Random
What I’m Reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.