Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #notwriting, adulting, writing on March 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I was all excited to work on a story but thought, “No, I shall do some quick adulting in the form of taxes, and then I shall feel worthy of fun times spent in Funlandia!”
You know how this story goes. I am chest-deep in forms, statements, receipts and more, with no end in sight.
Sorry, Funlandia, just one more mountain to climb.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, quotes, Thoughts, Writers, writing on March 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »
To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time.
— Leonard Bernstein
I found this line at a fun site that serves up quotes based on your mood: APLIFT. And given my lack of time today, it fits.
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Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, MIT, Thoughts on March 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Maybe you are already adept at converting inches (for example) to other units, but in case you are in the market for measurements made up of furlongs (real), or (somewhat less accepted) Mickeys, Beard-seconds, gkBs or Wheatons, well, this is the reference page for you.
List of humorous units of measurement
In related news, I recently received my MIT tape measure, with units listed in centimeters, inches, and Smoots. It is excellent.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, free fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Writers, writing on March 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »
The award-winning SFF magazine Clarkesworld recently released their Best Of 2023 list based on reader votes. While I don’t always love every Best Of story out there, I do like using those lists as starting points to explore new and interesting writers.
If you do too, check out the top 3 short stories and longer-form works.
Editor’s Desk: The Best from 2023
Best Novelette/Novella
3rd Place: “Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon” by Angela Liu (novelette)
2nd Place: “Light Speed Is Not a Speed” by Andy Dudak (novelette)
2023 Winner: “To Sail Beyond the Botnet” by Suzanne Palmer (novella)
Best Short Story
3rd Place: “Window Boy” by Thomas Ha
2nd Place: “Day Ten Thousand” by Isabel J. Kim
2023 Winner: “Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, Thoughts on March 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »
The only way to waste your life is to spend it doing things you don’t value.
— Jessica Stillman
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, Thoughts, today not so much, Writers, writing on March 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »
It’s the weekend and I feel I should be using my time for creative work, but instead I have a long and growing list taking up space in the back of my mind (and on Post-its fluttering from desk to pocket to pile). This list includes both the ignorable (“clean basement, for real this time”) and the not so much (“Taxes!”).
So I’ll just go take care of that, shall I?
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, Thoughts on March 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“I wanted what everyone wants. To be me, full-time.”
— Phil Knight
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Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, explainer, leap year, Thoughts on February 29, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Today is February 29th, the day that (usually) only comes once every four years. What is a Leap Year, why do we have them and how cool is it that our ancestors figured this out centuries ago?
How does leap day work? Your every-four-years refresher
“I think the significance of the leap year is that it’s a great reminder that the universe is really good at defying our attempts to devise nice and pretty and aesthetically pleasing systems to fit it in”
This video does a good job of illustrating why we leap, and what happens if we don’t!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, persistence, some days, Thoughts, Writers, writing on February 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent.”
― Steve Martin
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, espionage, Fiction, how to, master of disguise, spies, Thoughts, Writers, writing on February 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Today’s Now I Know (a fun free newsletter, recommended) talks about some of the fundamental elements of being a successful spy. Essentially, the key is to play a character as truthfully as possible.
When I moved to Canada I was suddenly surrounded by people and places that were just subtly different from what I was used to. The way people dress, talk, eat, smile, and yes, stand, are all signifiers of culture and place. It made me more conscious of what was the same and what was different, or what made me look at an actor in a commercial and immediately say, “Sooo Canadian!” when Mr Man didn’t register a difference.
Here’s the video referenced in the article, with Jonna Mendez, former CIA agent and Chief of Disguise:
What makes a character look “right” or not, or act as if they are rooted in a particular time and place? Understanding those fundamental cues is a great way to think about adding depth to stories and the characters who drive them.
While we’re here, Mendez also has a fun video critiquing scenes in spy movies, useful to anyone writing a story with espionage:
Alias for the win!
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J.R. Johnson 
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