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Posts Tagged ‘fun’

Fun, No Nonsense

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 15, 2014| 1 Comment »

David Farland put out a nice piece last week titled Be Excited, and (unsurprisingly:) that pretty much sums up his thesis. Essentially, he says that the writers he sees who are the most productive are those able to get and stay excited about their work. That hit home for me, not just in terms of quantity, but also quality. I find that my best stories tend to be those I find most entertaining. Granted, I may be biased, but what’s more fun than… fun?

With that in mind, I recommend a short fiction from the September issue of Lightspeed.* Holly Black’s Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (the Successful Kind) is everything I love about a story: it’s funny, poignant, trying and triumphant. And fun.

* This story also appeared in the excellent Monstrous Affections anthology edited by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant, which I read on the strength of this piece.

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I’m Doing It. Are You?

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 10, 2014| 1 Comment »

I haven’t posted anything about National Novel Writing Month this year because I hadn’t quite decided whether or not to do it. I’m busy, I said. I’ve already proven I can churn out 50,000 words in thirty days, I said. I can do it when I’m happy. I can do it when I’m busy. I can do it when I’m sick. (I am, in fact, something of a freaking Dr. Seuss when it comes to NaNoWriMo.) Do I really need to prove that I can do it again? Would my time be better spent finding a new way to expand my writing experience?

Well, no. That’s what I decided. And when I committed to finding a new way to make the most of my 50,000 words this November, I had a mini breakthrough. Work on one thing, I told myself. Well, ok, work on 50,000 words and one other thing. That’s it. Practice high levels of word production while learning how to do better at *X* and see how that goes.

Turns out it’s going pretty well.

I’m traveling, and finding time to get my word count in has been a challenge. That’s ok. In fact, that’s a great part of this lesson. It is in fact possible to cram in that last 350 words in the ten minutes before dinner. Doing it while also remembering to focus on maximizing the conflict between your characters?

Priceless:)

Happy National Novel Writing Month, all!

 

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too… Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.

― William Hutchison Murray

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Why Not?

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 9, 2014| 1 Comment »

 Life, a good life, a great life is about “Why not?” May we never forget it.

— Danielle Steel

 

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Cake v.2014

Posted in Food and..., Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , on September 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Every year I make a cake for my birthday. This year I decided it was time to try tiered layers, plus butterflies, fondant flowers, pearls and gold dust (those last all technically edible but we know better; save your taste buds for the good stuff). What you see here are two 9″ layers supporting two 6″ layers, all in chocolate with a ridiculously decadent Grand Marnier frosting. Delicious!

Cake2014

/not a lie:) Also, what better fuel for writing than cake?

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Crap Day? No Problem!

Posted in Entertainment, Likes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 12, 2014| 1 Comment »

So there I was fighting with some work stuff and fixing to have a perfectly crappy afternoon when a little lightbulb went off over my head, just like in the cartoons. A few clicks later and all was once again right with the world. Go ahead try it, bet it will work for you too:)

Yeah, I saw Guardians of the Galaxy. If you haven’t, it’s a damn fine movie. Damn fine!

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Went Fishing

Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Had fun fishing. Thought up lots of story ideas while trolling the lake. Did not fall in.

Non-typical wildlife observed on this trip:
— a black bear galloping across the road
— loons and loon chicks
— Merganser ducks
— one heron, Great
— two Trumpeter swans and their four signets
— deer, grazing
— a fox, sprinting
— lake trout, swimming
— terns and/or gulls, I can’t tell them apart
— a bald eagle nest, but the parents were away and the chick was having a bit of a snooze

Also, I learned that reeling in 550 feet of steel fishing line takes ages and is not for the weak of arm!

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Gone Fishing…

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , , on July 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Literally. Time in the great outdoors will be good for all sorts of reasons, and we’ve even had reports of bald eagles nesting near the fishing spot. Have a great weekend!

 

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Orbital Derby

Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Mwahaha, now this is fun:) SuperPlanetCrash is a little online game by Stefano Meschiari that lets you build your own solar system and learn something about orbital physics along the way. The goal is to keep your planets orbiting for 500 years. Click to add planets, ice giants, brown dwarfs and stars, then watch as gravity undermines your best intentions! Use the game to simulate that system you sketched out for your epic sci-fi space opera. Ponder the effects of gravity and motion while earning points for the longevity of your system.

And if you just want to add Super-Earths until the whole crazy house of cards comes crashing down? Go for it:)

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Excising “To Be” With Applescript

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 28, 2014| 1 Comment »

I code sometimes. I also write. Occasionally the two come together.

As I’ve mentioned, coding helps me find new ways to think about my work. Here’s a new Applescript I whipped up to highlight instances of “to be” in my drafts, as well as certain filler words that don’t add much to the text. Open your document in MS Word, then run the following code. The selected words will be replaced with bold versions of themselves.

Alter the list as necessary, or use this as an example of how to do a list-based loop in Applescript (hint: the “repeat” line is key;). Enjoy!

set my_word_list to {"am", "are", "be", "been", "being", "felt", "had", "has", "have", "heard", "is", "looked", "was", "wasn't", "were", "weren't"}
repeat with each_word in my_word_list
	set FindWordsToReplace to each_word as text
	tell application "Microsoft Word"
		set GetTxt to find object of selection
		tell GetTxt
			clear formatting
			set its content to FindWordsToReplace
			tell its replacement
				clear formatting
				set its content to FindWordsToReplace
				tell its font object
					set bold to true
				end tell
			end tell
			execute find wrap find find continue replace replace all with match forward and match whole word without match case
		end tell
	end tell
end repeat

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Amtrak Writers Residency Is Officially Official

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Yes, after much social media back and forth, The Amtrak Residency for Writers Is Now Accepting Applications. Like the idea of riding the rails with nothing to do but be inspired by the scenery and write write write? I know I do:) Check out all the details at Amtrak’s site:

#AmtrakResidency was designed to allow creative professionals who are passionate about train travel and writing to work on their craft in an inspiring environment. Round-trip train travel will be provided on an Amtrak long-distance route. Each resident will be given a private sleeper car, equipped with a desk, a bed and a window to watch the American countryside roll by for inspiration. Routes will be determined based on availability.

A desk too? Heaven!

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