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Posts Tagged ‘creativity’

How to Win in Twelve Parsecs or Less

Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 17, 2021| 1 Comment »

Does everything have to be perfect in order for a story to work? Nope. 

Here’s the script and breakdown for Star Wars:

Star Wars: A New Hope Script — Screenplay Analysis and PDF Download

par·sec| ˈpärsek | (abbreviation pc) noun

a unit of distance used in astronomy, equal to about 3.26 light years (3.086 × 1013 kilometers). One parsec corresponds to the distance at which the mean radius of the earth’s orbit subtends an angle of one second of arc.

A parsec is a measurement of distance, not time. Twelve of those do not a winning Kessel Run make, but, as millions of fans (and yes, dollars) attest, no one cares. The story works.

These are the things I think about when I’m stuck on a plot point, or deep in historical or technical weeds.

Just keep going.

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Photo by Sam Balye on Unsplash

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What to Write About

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 15, 2021| 1 Comment »

Here’s a brief piece by Kate Wilhelm of Clarion Workshop fame, on writing and what to avoid. A little harsh? Possibly. But it still looks like good advice.

One year Damon and I arrived to teach the last two weeks of the six-week Clarion Writers Workshop with a list of stories we forbade the students to pursue. We explained each item on the list and said don’t do it again.

— OWW SF, F, & H Tips and Advice: Kate Wilhelm

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Photo by Melissa Askew on Unsplash

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She Who Seeds the Stars

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , on August 14, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Today, more adventures with photo composites. A few simple experiments to learn where all the tools are and how to use them:

And then a more complicated example:

She who seeds the stars. Based on this tutorial. The detailed selections were the hardest part, so that’s what I’ll work on next.

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That Explains A Lot, Actually

Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged , , , , on August 13, 2021| 2 Comments »

I’m on vacation today and thought I’d do some cool stuff. Instead, my afternoon looked like this:

  • lunch? lunch
  • read terrible book, give up on same
  • feel v. blah. stupid book. I hate bad books
  • think about a new story idea, make less than desired progress
  • research random topics of interest (mystery songbird illness, treasure maps, letterlocking methods, software stuff, etc.)
  • realize I should have worked out this morning, tired or not
  • start three projects, or was it four? nope
  • read about temptation bundling
  • attempt to learn a thing or two. maybe?
  • work on a new project
  • have the program crash at the last minute and decide, you know what? I think I’m done for the day

Plus Mr Man just came home with tales of unfortunate events, mysterious machine mishaps, and more.

Aaaaaand, I just realized that it’s Friday the 13th.

That actually explains A Lot.

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Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash

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On Action

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

“When we feel powerful, it leads us to act. When we feel powerless, we don’t act.”

— Amy Cuddy

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Photo by John Fowler on Unsplash

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Younger Every Day

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , on August 11, 2021| Leave a Comment »

My ancestors continue to get younger, it seems. My mother found a portrait of herself as a baby and sent it my way. I like both general and family history, plus I was happy to have another chance to practice my photo restoration skills:

So cute!

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Things Take Time, Sometimes

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , , on August 8, 2021| 1 Comment »

I had a lot of ideas for how today was going to go. I was wrong about most of it. It wasn’t a bad day by any means, I just didn’t get much done. I got caught in that trap where the to do list is massive and you’re surprised when nothing is completed. Too many ideas, not enough specificity. 

My list included (but was not limited to) the following:

  • make and freeze chocolate chip cookie dough
  • learn more photo compositing, make awesome chimera, floating fantasy city & light speed travel poster; yes, all of those things
  • do garden work
  • vacuum
  • make fresh pasta
  • try letter locking

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So, yeah:)

I started just about everything on that list, and finished none of them. Time to take a step back, pick one project, then break it down into the smallest possible parts and start crossing them off. And by framing the problem with more clarity. When I’m stuck, that’s how I move forward. 

(Also by not being too hard on myself when I have a day like today. Sometimes, things take time.)

On the plus side? We’ve still got ice cream🙂

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Quantifiable Awesomeness

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 4, 2021| Leave a Comment »

I love good writing. And humor. And science fiction. And epistolary fiction, because telling stories through letters is fun. Imagine how happy I was when I found this short story* combining all of the above:

There Will Be No Alien Invasion

by Sam F. Weiss, in Fireside

To be clear: I am busy. For at least the next two years. Because getting to do research in the super-techy lab requires a doctorate these days, an obscene pile of peer-reviewed publications, and the networking abilities of a ninja. I am busy with those things. Namely finishing the doctorate. Thwarting an alien invasion? Not on my to-do list.

So that thing where I came to the lab this morning to find your phosphorescent eggs floating in alien amniotic fluid in the vacuum chamber? Not cool.

— Sam F. Weiss

* For the young or those with delicate sensibilities, this piece contains swearing. Like, a lot. To be fair, I’d say it’s warranted. Grad school, you know. And oh yes, also aliens.

* * *

Random selection of other epistolary novels that I’ve read:
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Color Purple
Griffin and Sabine (Griffin & Sabine #1)
Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot (Cecelia and Kate, #1)
Code Name Verity

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And a picture of a not-at-all-an-alien-probably cat:)

Photo by Zoë Gayah Jonker on Unsplash

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Me & My Muse

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 30, 2021| 1 Comment »

Me: You know, I feel like we haven’t talked much lately. Was it something I said?

Muse: No, no, nothing like that. It’s just…

Me: It’s ok, I’m listening.

Muse: Thanks, this is hard for me. I just haven’t been feeling like myself. I know you want to write and I’m trying to come up with fun ideas, but I keep getting distracted.

Me: Interesting. What’s catching your eye?

Muse: Pretty things. Colorful things. Bright, shiny, fun, sometimes practical but maybe not always Things. 

Me: So you mean…

Muse: Yes! Concrete, physical items like turned wooden bottle stoppers are fun, or if it’s digital, something colorful. And self-contained. Writing a few pages in a big story feels so small, you know?

Me: I do know. Is that why we’ve been playing with photo processing?

Muse: Yep. I love it when you bring my ideas to life. Not in months or (god forbid) years, but right f-ing now. Pardon my Fffrench.

Me: No worries, it’s my second language. 

Muse: Heh. But do you see?

Me: I think so. You’re saying we should either write faster or stop focusing on writing alone. Shake it up a little. Stretch. Experiment. Do more and don’t worry about genre boundaries or shoulds or “Seriously? That is a crazy idea!” and see what happens.

Muse: Yes!

Me: Ok, then. Let’s do that:)

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Photo by Alice Alinari on Unsplash

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Today Was Weird Too

Posted in Entertainment, Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 28, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Busy day today, and none of the three ideas I had for this post came together. Instead, have some fiction, this time read to you by Levar Burton. (You know, the Jeopardy host, and oh yes, Roots and Star Trek and Reading Rainbow and a few other things as well;)

His podcast is Levar Burton Reads, and he picks some of the best speculative short* fiction out there. So when you have a few minutes, sit back, listen, and relax.

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Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

* Shortish, anyway. Reading aloud always takes a bit of time, so a typical episode is about an hour.

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