“Just because things hadn’t gone the way I had planned didn’t necessarily mean they had gone wrong.”
― Ann Patchett
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Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’
Projects In Progress
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, design, inspiration, quotes, Thoughts, writing on August 23, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Books Neverending
Posted in Entertainment, Likes, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, Applescript, creativity, Fiction, fun, inspiration, libraries, Thoughts, Writers on August 21, 2021| 1 Comment »
In my roles as a writer and as a person, I read a lot. Some books I purchase, but many I access through my local library. How great is that?*
So I just spent a non-zero amount of time writing a little AppleScript to automagically run a search in any of the four area library systems that share e-book resources.
Was it necessary? No. I could click through my library portal and into each separate library system for every book I want to check, one stodgy button at a time. Ho hum.
Does this script save time and my wrists and open up new worlds of possibilities?
Yes.
Was it fun to make?
Also yes:)
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* I love books, and I’m lucky enough to live in a society that supports public libraries. In fact, I made a modest donation to my local library the other day, and hope it helps bring just a little more literacy and knowledge and enjoyment to my city.
The Devil’s Crutch
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, drabble, Drabble Dabble Do, family, Fiction, ghost stories, inspiration, the past, writing on August 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »
My father is going through old boxes of photographs and other memorabilia and sent me a story, one of my first, called “The Devil’s Crutch.” I couldn’t write or (as you’ll see) grasp the intricacies of grammar, geography, or complete sentences, but I dictated it to my mother.
First we have the story from when I was, what, maybe three years old? I‘ve changed since then (I can even hold a pen all by myself!), but I tried to understand at least a little of what might have been going through my head that day. Then for fun, I turned it into a drabble.
(My father seemed particularly taken by the word “smitchey.” I no longer know what it means but I kept it.)
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The Devil’s Crutch
Once upon a time there was a old, old house up in the south pole. There in the house there is a little room in the playroom and in the room there was a lot of dust. In the room there was a lot of dolls. The dolls didn’t have dust on them because a little smitchey girl had been playing with them. The house was haunted. And this couple moved in the haunted house and every night a ghost came out at twelve o’clock and every night when the ghost came out the couple woke up and saw the ghost and the ghost disappeared whenever the couple saw the ghost. The ghost disappeared. One night the father and the mother was sleeping on the sofa and the devil’s came instead of the ghost. And the owner of the crutch came to the house with the crutch and the owner of the crutch was the devil.
The End
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Once there was a haunted old house way up in the South Pole. It had a playroom of dusty dolls, a grandfather clock and a crutch like bleached bone.
A family with a smitchey little girl arrived. Every midnight the towering clock cried out. Even when the mother stopped the pendulum, and the father hid the key.
The girl saw a little ghost waving from inside the clock.
She slept huddled under the playroom table. The dolls said it was safer that way.
One night the clock stayed silent and the ghost hid.
And the owner came for his crutch.
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How to Win in Twelve Parsecs or Less
Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, movies, sff, storytelling, writing 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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Monarch Joe
Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, bees, butterflies, home, inspiration, pollinators, Thoughts on August 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »
The Joe Pye Weed is in full bloom and buzzing with big bees, small bees and not-bees, and look who stopped by!
I only wish we had the space and sun for a dozen more of these plants, plus scads of milkweed for this monarch and all of its friends. Until then, I’ll do what I can with what I have.
Cliché? Yes, but still a pretty good motto!
On Action
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, inspiration, life, quotes, social psychology, Thoughts, writing 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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It’s Not Over Yet
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #IPCC, climate change, inspiration, Thoughts on August 10, 2021| 2 Comments »
I’ve been trying to work up a positive post for today, but the recent IPCC climate report keeps popping into my head, and that’s anything but positive. So let’s take a moment to review.
If you want a summary (or two), to read the report, or to test out the interactive atlas outlining what we can expect by region (here’s the info for North and Central America), you can.
tl;dr: “Worst choose your own adventure book ever.”
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Or check out this cartoon:
Because bad news goes down easier from cute penguins.
That said, it isn’t all bad. We’re at the bottom of the final inning, yes, but the game isn’t over yet.
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Also. Humans are a lot of things, but we aren’t quitters.
We must not delude ourselves about the immense challenges the world faces, but we can’t let anxiety overwhelm and paralyse us. The world isn’t doomed quite yet – there is still a window of opportunity to change things.
— Yes, the climate crisis is terrifying. But I refuse to abandon hope
And if I learned anything from the Terminator franchise (aside from the many uses of a shotgun), it’s that there is no fate but what we make.
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Adultitude
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, family, inspiration, quotes, Thoughts on August 9, 2021| Leave a Comment »
My nephew is one of the thousands of young adults starting college this fall. I’ve seen a lot of “things I wish I’d known” and “advice for the college-bound” articles, some of which are on point for this thoughtful, capable, and confident kid, some not as much.
There’s the obvious, of course: be kind, don’t drink too much, call if you need bail money, that sort of thing.
All good advice.
But if I had to boil the foundations of a constructive mindset down to just one thing? I saw this quote the other day and thought it was pretty on point:
No matter who or what or where they are,
“Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.”
― Bill Nye
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Mostly Love
Posted in Favorites, Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, commencement, inspiration, kindness, Thoughts, Writers on August 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Do all the other things, the ambitious things — travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love, make and lose fortunes, swim naked in wild jungle rivers (after first having it tested for monkey poop) – but as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness.
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Me & My Muse
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, Fiction, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing, yay 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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