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Posts Tagged ‘creativity’

Writer Goals

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on November 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »

“And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” 

― John Steinbeck

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Photo by Xuan Nguyen on Unsplash

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Today’s Fun Link Roundup

Posted in Entertainment, Likes, Science!, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »

I accumulate a lot of links. Work links, sure, but on my way to the data mines I often come across  fun, interesting, obscure or downright delightful corners of the web. They inform me when I need a bit of learning with lunch, cheer me up when the news is too newsy, and otherwise remind me that the internet, like the world, is not 100% terrible.

What sort of links? I’m so glad you asked:)

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Look Up! An Introduction to Identifying Raptors in Flight

  • Helpful, although I’ll probably continue to just say “hawk!” every time I see something predatory with wings. My bird enthusiast father’s reply is always (honestly, can he really be right all the time?*) “turkey vulture.” Just once I wish he’d say “dragon.”

* The answer is yes.

20 of the Best History Podcasts to Help Us Actually Learn From the Past

  • History is cool.

Honest Government Ad | Carbon Capture & Storage – YouTube

  • Is there swearing? There is. It’s warranted.

Introducing the Icelandverse – YouTube

  • Look out, Zuckerberg, Iceland is coming for you.

Bohemian Catsody – A Rhapsody Parody Song for Every Cat Queen and King! – YouTube

  • Since you’re already on YouTube. And like cat videos.

This man won a Guinness World Record for his tree that bears 10 types of fruit

  • “Hussam Saraf says his record-breaking tree with 10 different types of fruit is a metaphor for how he sees the world. … ‘[It’s] mother nature that’s united us all together. Doesn’t really matter how different we are in colour or culture or tradition. We are one, and we can respect each other as one.’” If that’s not nice then I don’t know what is.

rroll.to

  • Each time a user clicks on your generated link, there is a 50% chance that they will be rickrolled.

The True Story of the Blue People of Kentucky

  • Genetics, man.

Photos of the world above and below the sea by David Doubilet

  • Nature, man. These images are amazing.

Periodic Table of the Elements, in Pictures and Words

  • How many of these have you used today?

How to Identify that Light in the Sky

  • Brought to you by NASA and The League of Lost Causes, which is just about the most awesome name ever.

Scientists Create 3,000 TB Simulation of the Universe You Can Download

  • I don’t have the space for this, but maybe you do?

And since I’m a baker, here’s one last link:

All You Could Ever Want to Know About a Pumpkin Slingshot

  • I dunno, I want to know A Lot.

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Photo by Robert Katzki on Unsplash

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Baby Steps

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on November 16, 2021| 2 Comments »

I’m experimenting with reading/media deprivation. Gotta say I’m not loving it:)

I’m also terrible at it, especially where the reading is concerned. So let’s just say I’m trying to reduce, not eliminate. Baby steps!

It would be nice to have more time and get more done, though. I do love crossing things off my list.

Side note, my NaNoWriMo project wants to be a graphic novel. Surprise!

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Photo by Tim Hüfner on Unsplash

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Welcome, Fellow Weirdos!

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , on November 13, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Mayank Baranwal on Unsplash

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Fixing What’s Broken

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 12, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Seems to me like it’s free fiction Friday. Here’s a story from Josh Bales via Future Tense Fiction. I particularly liked the ending.

In the Land of Broken Things

The shop was a three-story brown brick building on the north end of downtown. The pawls on her bike clicked slower as she pulled up in front of it. Block letters in faded gold paint proclaimed REVERTE REPAIRS on the front window. Beneath that, in smaller letters: WE FIX YOUR BROKEN THINGS.

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Photo by israel palacio on Unsplash

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Today’s Perk Me Up

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , , , on November 9, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Did we think about building an elevator for our elderly and arthritic cat? Of course we did! Here’s someone who actually pulled it off:

* Note: Our elevator design would have required an indoor vertical lift with weight-sensitive call functionality, so a little different. Still fun to think about though!

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So Many Ways

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »

There are a lot of ways to tell a story. Out loud, on a screen, around a fire, on paper, you name it. And structure? Novels, plays, shorts, longs, movies, TV, take your pick, and new technologies mean new possibilities.

This Twitter-based choose your own adventure story is one fun example:

Metaverse Noir on Twitter: “START HERE” by Kathryn Yu

Would you like to know more? Here’s an article about the project.

There are so many ways to be creative, and it’s nice to be reminded that most limits are ones we put there ourselves:)


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Photo by Monica Silva on Unsplash

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I’m Doing It Again

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 7, 2021| 1 Comment »

Hey hey, dispatch from the NaNo mines here, and I’m sorry to say that I may be a tiny bit stuck at the moment.

I don’t want you to think that my projects are always a breeze so full disclosure, we’re talking stuck as in deep underground trapped between a boulder leftover from the Pleistocene and a jagged hole leading onto a tiny ledge winding down into darkness, from which I can just hear a river rushing over the sound of war chants echoing through the uncharted cave system in which I find myself trapped for all eternity!

Ahem.

I keep starting and restarting my project, which is a problem I have sometimes. NaNoWriMo’s word count is a tool to get beyond that issue, but my goal for this month is not just writing but finishing. So yeah. It’s time for more thinking, prepping, checking to see how my favorite authors did it, reworking my whole premise, stalling doing.

The good news is that I’ve noticed there’s a problem and now I can fix it. Go me:)

There’s a light at the end of every tunnel, even if you have to turn around to see it.

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Really, it’s fine. Photo by Daniel Burka on Unsplash

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How Is It Almost Noon?

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on November 6, 2021| Leave a Comment »

We got up super early and yet somehow the morning is almost gone. Lots to do today including NaNoWriMo, so here’s another obvious yet still useful quote!

Everything worth doing is hard.

— Wil Wheaton

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Keep huffing and puffing and you’ll get there, little hot air balloon! Photo by Jake Nackos on Unsplash

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NaNoFinMo

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 3, 2021| 2 Comments »

I like NaNoWriMo for a lot of reasons. It provides a useful set of constraints, a deadline, and a global group of fellow travelers with which to share the journey. It’s also completely bonkers, in a good way. I remember the sheer sense of glee when I realized that I could actually produce that many words in that short a time.

First question: Can I churn out 50,000 words in a month? Yes, yes I can. Go me.*

Next question, and one that most NaNo participants come up against as the first flush of success fades: Do those words mean anything? Are they useful?

In my case, and no surprise here, the first draft was not 100% terrible but certainly needed work. Writing to a tight deadline with a high word count left me, at least, with the sort of prose I don’t usually write in fiction.

  • Contractions? Nope, they only counted as one word, and why write one word when you can use two?
  • Blah blah blah descriptions that were far wordier than necessary? Absolutely.
  • Unnecessary plot detours? Oh yes. Have my character stop off at a roadside ice cream stand and discuss the relative merits of lemon lavender versus pomegranate basil flavors on the way to the dramatic shootout? Sure, if it helps me meet my word count target.

That part of NaNoWriMo wasn’t as helpful to me. This year, I’m rewriting the rules.

  • I know I can write a lot of words on demand. Check.
  • I know I can write every day. Check.
  • I don’t need more of that. What I want to practice now is finishing.

So this November I’m being a bit of a NaNo radical. Word count is not my focus. I’ve chosen one story idea and will work on it until it’s done. That’s it.**

The end:)

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Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

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* I bet you could do it too. Need a pep talk? Check out the NaNoWriMo archives.

** I may or may not also be participating in an imaginary mentorship program with Ilona Andrews. Because what good is imagination if it can’t take you where you want to go?

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