“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.”
― Beatrix Potter
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Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’
Tasty Tasty Words
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »
A Teeny Tiny Thimble
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #becauseMonday, creativity, drp, inspiration, Writers, writing on January 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Today I give you a funny animal photo, because it’s Monday and my current levels of inspiration could fit into a thimble.
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Ever Curious
Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creative writing ideas, inspiration, science on January 22, 2023| 1 Comment »
My mother, ever curious, wanted to know what all the “green comet” fuss is about. Here’s a quick guide to C/2022 E3 (ZTF), a visitor last welcomed to these parts by Neanderthals.
A lot has changed since then!
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See a rare green comet closest to the sun on Jan. 12 in livestream | Space
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs (NASA JPL) gives the period of this comet as 50,000 years. This means the last time the orbit of C/2022 E3 (ZTF) brought it so close to the Earth, our planet was in the midst of the last glacial period or “ice age” and early Homo sapiens and Neanderthals still shared the planet.
Pretty pictures: A dazzling green comet has stargazers thrilled in amazing photos | Space.
How to Watch the Green Comet During the New Moon – The New York Times
Comets are clumps of dust and frozen gases, sometimes described by astronomers as “dirty snowballs.”…
“They’re alive,” Laurence O’Rourke, an astronomer with the European Space Agency, said. “When they’re far from the sun, they’re sleeping, and when they get close to the sun, they wake up.”
[Nothing to worry about then. It’s fine!]
…
To catch the comet, look north.
On Jan. 21, the night of the new moon and thus the darkest skies, the comet will be close to Draco — the dragon-shaped constellation that runs between the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper.
Over the following nights, the comet will creep along the dragon’s tail. And on Jan. 30, the comet will reside directly between the Big Dipper’s “cup” and Polaris, the North Star. If you’re accustomed to finding the North Star by following the two stars on the end of the Big Dipper’s cup, then you should be able to spot the comet. Simply scan that imaginary line until you see a faint smudge.
…
For anyone living above the 35th parallel — imagine a curving East-West line running from North Carolina through the Texas Panhandle out to Southern California — the comet will be visible all night starting Jan. 22.
So C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is going to be visible for a while, but you might need binoculars. What did the Neanderthals think of it and its dramatic green halo, I wonder?
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Passport to Wonders
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, inspiration, libraries, Writers, writing, yay on January 20, 2023| 1 Comment »
“Libraries are a force for good. They wear capes. They fight evil. They don’t get upset when you don’t send them a card on their birthdays. (Though they will charge you if you’re late returning a book.) They serve communities. The town without a library is a town without a soul. The library card is a passport to wonders and miracles, glimpses into other lives, religions, experiences, the hopes and dreams and strivings of ALL human beings, and it is this passport that opens our eyes and hearts to the world beyond our front doors, that is one of our best hopes against tyranny, xenophobia, hopelessness, despair, anarchy, and ignorance. Libraries are the torch of the world, illuminating the path when it feels too dark to see. We mustn’t allow that torch to be extinguished.”
― Libba Bray
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Go Play
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, writing, yay on January 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“You are perfectly cast in your life. I can’t imagine anyone but you in the role. Go play.”
— Lin-Manuel Miranda
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The Ground Beneath
Posted in Likes, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, inspiration, random facts, travel, volcano lair on January 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Research for my supervillain lair: Welcome to Volcano Roots – volcanoroots.org
Scientists have been trying to image the intricate plumbing of volcanoes to help understand their dynamics and better predict eruptions… and plan better supervillain lairs.
They didn’t really say that last part. But they should have.
As an example, here’s a handy explainer showing the depths beneath Santorini, a beautiful but geologically unstable Greek island in the Mediterranean. The graphic shows why.
It also tries to give a nod to the volcanically disrupted Minoan culture, late of Santorini, but the Latin placeholder text is less than useful. Here’s a link to help with that: Santorini 1600 BC and the End of Minoan Civilization.
If you have a chance to visit the island, I recommend it. Because nothing says a supervillain lair can’t be pretty.
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On the Off Chance
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, genre fiction, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »
On the off chance that you’re having doubts about how you stack up against others, in writing or elsewhere, here’s a thoughtful quote. Follow the link for his whole piece, which is part of a series of posts worth reading.
…I think it’s clear our pop culture and what passes for our media discourse have a dangerously romanticized view of creative work.
“Oh, what a talented person,” our stories go, “oh, how powerful their inspiration must have been!” Talent certainly exists and inspiration certainly exists, but I fear our popular view of creativity artificially centers both, eliding struggle, practice, failure, and the investment of time. Too often, we talk about something akin to magic, about early purity of vision, about the notion that we are chosen or anointed for certain tasks, and while I cannot speak to how the secret machinery of the cosmos operates, I can testify that most of my own moments of lovely inspiration have been purchased with long hours of study, planning, and practice.
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— Scott Lynch, The Post of Christmas Past
A Typical Day
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »
On a typical day, I usually have X number of words in me. On days when I use those words for, say, an epic treatise to friends on the efficacy of my experimental new toothpaste, I turn to the words of others. Time to make a start on 2023’s to-be-read list.
“Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.”
― Harvey Pekar
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A Little Break
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, Thoughts on December 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Programming note: We’re taking a bit of a break this week, so expect more quotes and pretty pictures.
Oh look, a quote! And a pretty picture!
“If this book has a lesson, it is that we are awfully lucky to be here-and by ‘we’ I mean every living thing. To attain any kind of life in this universe of ours appears to be quite an achievement. As humans we are doubly lucky, of course: We enjoy not only the privilege of existence but also the singular ability to appreciate it and even, in a multitude of ways, to make it better. It is a talent we have only barely begun to grasp.”
― Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything
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Merry Merry
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, Thoughts on December 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime.”
― Laura Ingalls Wilder
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