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Welcome to the New Normal

July 30, 2013 by J.R. Johnson

Tornado touched down in Ottawa Monday…

A funnel cloud. In Ottawa. And it’s the, um, 10th Ontario tornado of the season, according to Environment Canada.

Yes, Dorothy, the climate does seem to be changing.

A critical question: If a tree falls in the woods… do you have insurance?

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Knights of About Damn Time

July 25, 2013 by J.R. Johnson

What’s this, what’s this?

Knights of Badassdom Finally Gets Distributor (via Whedonesque.com)

Be still my heart. This movie looks hilarious and has a terrific cast that should be a blast to watch, including (but certainly not limited to) Peter Dinklage, Summer Glau, Ryan Kwanten and Steve Zahn. Thank you, EntertainmentOne. Can’t wait to see it!

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Sunrise, and All’s Well

July 24, 2013 by J.R. Johnson

Good morning!

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Geek Girls: Meet Your New Anthem

July 23, 2013 by J.R. Johnson

Love, love, love this!

Automattic Special Projects's avatarWhatever

“Nothing to Prove” by The Doubleclicks.

P.S.: The album it is on is now for sale. In addition to that link, you can get it on iTunes and Amazon and all the other places.

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Survival Hints for Creative Young Weirdos

July 19, 2013 by J.R. Johnson

Just in time for Comic-Con, Linda Holmes over at NPR’s Monkey See pop-culture column has written a lovely piece today. It’s framed as a letter to “young creative weirdos,” those who may be socially awkward now but who will constitute our next wave of creators, of thinkers, of innovators. Here are a few excerpts, but if you are interested in encouraging young people to do more, do better, do different, I suggest you read the whole thing.

On change, and the making of same:
Don’t confuse what people are getting with what people want…. If you had told people [100 years ago], “I am a young person, and I intend to create Superman,” they would have told you, “That’s nice, dear, eat your dinner.” Things change.
On feedback:
Only listen to it if it’s supposed to make you better, not if it’s supposed to make you stop.
On work:
Write a lot, paint a lot, shoot a lot of film, take a lot of pictures, dance a lot, sing a lot, whatever the thing you do is, do it a lot.
…
Keep going.

This is exactly the sort of letter I would have appreciated as a kid. Pass it on.

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Ooh, Tasty: Download Five Years of Tor.com’s Original Fiction for Free!

July 18, 2013 by J.R. Johnson

Tor.com is celebrating its fifth birthday this week. I’m glad that this bastion of quality speculative fiction has both survived and thrived, and that they are celebrating that fact with a collection of stories. View it online or download to your e-reader, as you prefer:

Download Five Years of Tor.com’s Original Fiction for Free!

Thanks, and Happy Birthday, Tor!

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David Mamet’s Writing Master Class

July 16, 2013 by J.R. Johnson

Today’s useful writing link: David Mamet’s Master Class Memo to the Writers of The Unit. Originally written in 2005, it remains as concise a discussion of dramatic writing as I’ve seen. Funny too. For those of you interested in writing, I highly recommend that you read the whole thing (it’s not long); here are a few excerpts to whet your appetite.
 
QUESTION:WHAT IS DRAMA? DRAMA, AGAIN, IS THE QUEST OF THE HERO TO OVERCOME THOSE THINGS WHICH PREVENT HIM FROM ACHIEVING A SPECIFIC, ACUTE GOAL.
SO: WE, THE WRITERS, MUST ASK OURSELVES OF EVERY SCENE THESE THREE QUESTIONS.
1) WHO WANTS WHAT?
2) WHAT HAPPENS IF HER DON’T GET IT?
3) WHY NOW?

Ignore the typos and the all caps to focus on the substance. This memo is terrific advice for any writer, television or otherwise. 
  
START, EVERY TIME, WITH THIS INVIOLABLE RULE: THE SCENE MUST BE DRAMATIC. it must start because the hero HAS A PROBLEM, AND IT MUST CULMINATE WITH THE HERO FINDING HIM OR HERSELF EITHER THWARTED OR EDUCATED THAT ANOTHER WAY EXISTS.
 
 
LOOK AT THE SCENE AND ASK YOURSELF “IS IT DRAMATIC? IS IT ESSENTIAL? DOES IT ADVANCE THE PLOT?
ANSWER TRUTHFULLY.
 
On that note, it’s time to get back to writing:)

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Roswell’s 66th Anniversary, or, “Wait, We Landed Where?”

July 8, 2013 by J.R. Johnson

I know, I should be working (and I have been and I will be) but! Google has a fun little Doodle in honor of the 66th anniversary of the Roswell incident, and it’s too much fun not to mention.

Google's Roswell Doodle

Need a break? Play the game and take a moment to feel for the little lost alien. Poor thing! Now back to work:)

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Writing Advice Mashup

July 8, 2013 by J.R. Johnson

It’s Monday, and I like to start the week with a healthy dose of motivation. This list is a mashup of writing advice from a number of sources, arranged in no particular order except that I believe the last one to be the most important. Bracketed initials at the end of each entry refer to the author key below. Today’s post is brought to you by the letter F (as in “finish!”).
  • Don’t use generic beginnings. [lb]
  • Don’t use slow beginnings. [lb]
  • Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. [kv]
  • Don’t try too hard. [lb]
  • Don’t use clichés. [lb]
  • Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for. [kv]
  • Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water. [kv]
  • Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action. [kv]
  • Start as close to the end as possible. [kv]
  • Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them-in order that the reader may see what they are made of. [kv]
  • Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages. [kv]
  • Structure, a.k.a. know where you’re going [jw]
  • Have something to say [jw]
  • Everybody has a reason to live, know who everybody is and why they’re there [jw]
  • Cut what you love [jw]
  • Listen to feedback [jw]…but also…
  • Don’t listen, and do the unexpected [jw]
  • Don’t sell out [jw]
  • Finish it! [jw]
Author Key and Citations:
[jw] Joss Whedon, adapted from Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips.

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Welcome to Diagon Alley!

July 7, 2013 by J.R. Johnson

Google Maps Street View now features an up close and personal tour through the Warner Brothers version of Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley. If that’s not fun for a Sunday morning, I don’t know what is. Thanks go out to the magical imagination of  J.K. Rowling, and enjoy!

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