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Posts Tagged ‘Motivation’

Satisfy Your Soul

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Oh, I love this, and it’s just the sort of inspiration I need today. The text is an excerpt from a commencement speech in 1990 by Bill Watterson (of Calvin and Hobbes fame). The art is by Zen Pencils and is a beautifully done tribute to his inspiration, Watterson.

If you have a moment Read the Zen Pencils essay. I always enjoyed Calvin and Hobbes but didn’t know much about Watterson’s challenges as he made the strip or his history. I particularly like the part about persistence.

… Broke, he was forced to move back in with his parents and worked an advertising layout job he hated while he drew comics in his spare time…. Luckily Watterson didn’t quit…

Of all the things that could go on my tombstone, “Luckily, she didn’t quit” is right up there.

ZenPencilsWatterson

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Submit!

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 27, 2013| 1 Comment »

If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.
— Thomas J. Watson

Today I finish two new stories and submit them. At least, that’s my plan. It’s a good plan. Even if I lose, I win:)

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Coding My Way Out of a Corner

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2013| 1 Comment »

Some days I stand here at my desk trying to generate a creative thought (or even two!) and it doesn’t happen. If I can’t do the thing I set out to do I still try to do something, so on those days I look for alternatives to get my mind working. My latest filler project is a little Applescript (sorry Windows, I just don’t swing that way) that pops up a window with practice ideas for writing projects. Not what to write, but what to practice while writing.

Here’s the code with a sampling of my current list of practice topics. If this is your sort of thing, substitute your own practice topics as necessary:

set x to some item of {"*action*", "*all five senses*", "*catchy beginnings with a hint of the speculative*", "*characterization*", "*cliffhangers*", "*conflict*", "*distinctive dialog*", "*emotion*", "*grounding*", "*imagery*", "*immediacy*", "*openers*", "*scenes*", "*settings*", "*showing instead of telling*", "*smart science*", "*visual detail*", "*writing without 'was'*"}
set textToType to "Practice " & x & " in your story today."
set answer to the button returned of (display dialog textToType as string buttons {"Excellent idea, thanks!"} default button 1 with icon note)

So it’s code today, perhaps cake tomorrow. Chocolate. Triple tier. With Bailey’s icing:)

/unless that’s a lie

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Maximum Elmore

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 20, 2013| 1 Comment »

Crime Novelist Elmore Leonard Dies

Elmore Leonard died today, after a recent stroke and related complications. That’s sad in all sorts of ways, most importantly for his family but also for his fans.

That said, I have had it up to here with death.

Yes, it’s inevitable. Yes, you only have one life and then poof, gone. But what if you have an impact on the people around you that will last beyond your lifetime? What if you are thoughtful and kind and concerned about bringing the best to our shared world? And what if you are a writer with the sort of innate feel for dialog, story and character that Elmore Leonard had, dedicate your efforts to the constructive pursuit of creativity, and work hard enough and well on work like Get Shorty and Maximum Bob?

Then you earn a devoted following of fans who will not only remember your efforts but will see the world in a slightly different way, thanks to your work. I am such a fan. Mr. Leonard will be missed.

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Survival Hints for Creative Young Weirdos

Posted in Likes, Other, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on July 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Just in time for Comic-Con, Linda Holmes over at NPR’s Monkey See pop-culture column has written a lovely piece today. It’s framed as a letter to “young creative weirdos,” those who may be socially awkward now but who will constitute our next wave of creators, of thinkers, of innovators. Here are a few excerpts, but if you are interested in encouraging young people to do more, do better, do different, I suggest you read the whole thing.

On change, and the making of same:
Don’t confuse what people are getting with what people want…. If you had told people [100 years ago], “I am a young person, and I intend to create Superman,” they would have told you, “That’s nice, dear, eat your dinner.” Things change.
On feedback:
Only listen to it if it’s supposed to make you better, not if it’s supposed to make you stop.
On work:
Write a lot, paint a lot, shoot a lot of film, take a lot of pictures, dance a lot, sing a lot, whatever the thing you do is, do it a lot.
…
Keep going.

This is exactly the sort of letter I would have appreciated as a kid. Pass it on.

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Writing Advice Mashup

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

It’s Monday, and I like to start the week with a healthy dose of motivation. This list is a mashup of writing advice from a number of sources, arranged in no particular order except that I believe the last one to be the most important. Bracketed initials at the end of each entry refer to the author key below. Today’s post is brought to you by the letter F (as in “finish!”).
  • Don’t use generic beginnings. [lb]
  • Don’t use slow beginnings. [lb]
  • Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. [kv]
  • Don’t try too hard. [lb]
  • Don’t use clichés. [lb]
  • Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for. [kv]
  • Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water. [kv]
  • Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action. [kv]
  • Start as close to the end as possible. [kv]
  • Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them-in order that the reader may see what they are made of. [kv]
  • Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages. [kv]
  • Structure, a.k.a. know where you’re going [jw]
  • Have something to say [jw]
  • Everybody has a reason to live, know who everybody is and why they’re there [jw]
  • Cut what you love [jw]
  • Listen to feedback [jw]…but also…
  • Don’t listen, and do the unexpected [jw]
  • Don’t sell out [jw]
  • Finish it! [jw]
Author Key and Citations:
[jw] Joss Whedon, adapted from Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips.

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Quote for Today

Posted in Funny, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

“Write something, damnit! Send it in. Do it again.”
– Gardner Dozois

Because some days you (ok, I;) need a kick in the pants.

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Fauna Report

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on June 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

[written from The Bush, as they say]
Greetings from Northern Ontario, where I sit at a table in a cottage overlooking a broad grey lake. Most mornings the lake sits still and calm, its surface and the encircling hills a chalice in which to hold mist. Like so many others in this region, this lake is surrounded by birch and pine, underpinned by the heavy, flat bedrock of the Canadian Shield. A small grassy lawn surrounds the house, illuminated by daisies and orange hawkweed.

It’s beautiful here, in the stark, almost frantic way of northern climes in summer. The sky warms around five o’clock in the morning and doesn’t fade until almost ten at night. Local wildlife takes full advantage of the long days, and I try to do the same.

Speaking of local wildlife, in addition to the usual chipmunks, rabbits, hawks, etc. I have seen the following in northern Ontario:

  • tortoises (tortii?)
  • loons
  • beaver
  • elk (ok, just tracks, but still)
  • hummingbirds (brave little adventurers from the southern reaches of the continent)
  • wolves (including one gorgeous specimen with russet fur)
  • deer, a.k.a. walking wolf lunchies
  • moose, female or juvenile male, large (hey, it’s a moose)
  • mosquitoes (forget cicadas, these monsters should be the next major food group)

    • It’s raining now, providing me with the perfect reason to stay in and keep working. But even work is better in the woods!

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    Exciting News…

    Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on June 14, 2013| 2 Comments »

    Exciting news, I have the page proof for my forthcoming Nature story in my Inbox this morning. What, I forgot to mention that I had a story accepted for their Futures column? I’ve been busy so I’m afraid that fell through the cracks, but that doesn’t mean I’m not thrilled by the prospect, because I am. The proof looks great, and the artwork they commissioned for the piece is just terrific, capturing the essence of the story in one beautiful image. I look forward to sharing it with you soon!

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    Another Thought After Iain Banks, or, Origins and Destiny

    Posted in Other, Science!, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

    Now might be a good time to spend a little time with everyone’s favorite physicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, as he revisits the origins of the atoms that make up the human body.

    From stars we came and to the stars we must return.
    Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains Where Our Atoms Came From

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