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Posts Tagged ‘persistence’

Mini-Break

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I appear to be in a fallow period. Scary as that might sound, it’s probably a good thing even though it means I haven’t written much in the past couple of weeks. There’s nothing wrong with taking a bit of a break, so long as it doesn’t become a habit.

Breaks can be useful because you can’t produce if you don’t take in. It’s good to refill the well, give your eyes a break, take a deep breath and head out into the woods. And it’s good because hey, it’s the end of October and NaNoWriMo is right around the corner!

I haven’t decided what I’m going to work on this NaNo but I will do… something. And however that project comes together, it will require focus, and stamina, and excitement.

So I’m going to take these last couple of days to rest up and make ready. Stock up on snacks and tea and various forms of adult beverage. Then I will write.

Here’s hoping you are rested and ready too, for whatever projects you are planning. What’s that, you could use a little seasonal inspiration? No problem, here’s my father in a super-cool White Rabbit bunny* suit on some long-lost Halloween. Because awesome:)

BunnySuit

* My father would like it to be clear that he in no way neglected the Lewis Carroll portion of my education;)

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I Like a Little Fiction with My Science

Posted in Entertainment, Likes, Reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 13, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I finally got to see The Martian this past weekend, and if you’ve been following the reviews at all my reaction will come as no surprise: it was great. What’s that, you’ve been busy/off the grid/media fasting? Here’s a trailer.

I read Andy Weir’s book last year so the specifics weren’t a surprise, but in this case knowing the story did nothing to detract from the experience. The execution, whether in terms of writing, acting, directing, or visuals, was a delight. The movie compressed the story in exactly the right ways, maintaining dynamism and tension in what could have been a dull one-man alone setting.

Also, no stupid characters were required to move the plot. Yay! You may not agree with every decision, but at no point did the script make some hapless individual look down at a big red button under glass and say, “Gosh, I know they told me not to touch anything but I wonder what this does,” literally or otherwise. Also times two, smart, strong characters, women included. How refreshing is that?

 

A lot has been written about the movie, and about Weir’s journey from self-published indie author to Hollywood hit, and it’s both interesting and well-deserved (see here and here and here and here, for examples).

As an entertainment consumer both versions scored high for me. As a writer, I was impressed by Weir’s concrete attention to detail, his willingness to dig himself into seemingly impossible holes, and his facility at getting out of them in realistic ways. Drew Goddard did an excellent job translating the book into a screenplay (I’d expect nothing less from this Buffy/Angel/Alias+ alum) for Ridley Scott.

I came out of the theatre kicking myself for not studying more math in school. Astronauts are awesome, and while most of us will never make that exalted level, there’s nothing to say we can’t try. (Ok, fine, my eyesight is bad and I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that astronauts need to be able to do more than 10 pushups, but you get my point.)

Helping kids (and everyone else) see that science is about exploration, discovery, innovation, capability and (in this case) freaking outer space?

That’s exactly the kind of story I can get behind. Recommended.

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Motivation

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Ok, so I guess I wasn’t completely 100% back. I’m better now, mostly. I still have an annoying little cough and the feeling that I could use three solid days of sleep, but mostly better.

Writing is slow. Lulls like this happen, I just have to remember that they fade. They can also be a useful, if tedious, way to refill the well, restock the larder, choose your preferred metaphor.

I made what I believe is my very first cheesecake (Grand Marnier with strawberry puree, delicious). I went for a walk in the countryside with Mr. Man. We had friends over and I was able to carry on whole conversations without pulmonary complications. And drink wine! Speaking of mood-altering substances, I had caffeine for the first time in a month (o blessed nectar of the gods). Cared for the lawn, wrote my city councillor (that’s how they spell it up here), and hit the library; all normal life stuff, and it was good.

I also started thinking about new projects. I checked out recipes for code and food, researched the microbiome, design techniques, medicinal plants, editing, and cosplay armor. It’s great to be pushing ahead.

So, illness sucks, but coming out the other side can be very motivating. Here’s to productivity, and creativity, and to turning the crazy dreams in one’s head into reality.

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*Crappy Day Alert*

Posted in Entertainment, Funny, Other, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Hey, folks, it’s a crappy day here, rain and wind and grey skies. What’s that? It’s crappy inside too? It’s hard to get your work done and you can’t seem to focus? That’s ok, it’s just…

A Crappy Day.

Don’t fret if you can’t stand the thought of another to-do list, if every single thing you should be doing is annoying the crap out of you. Because it’s (say it with me) a crappy day!

So, what to do? I say go with it! Revel in the mediocrity of the day. Remember that today is Monday and it is a scientifically proven fact that 96% of all Mondays have a better-than-average likelihood of being crappy.* And then break out the big guns.

That’s right, take yourself over to KittenTown and remember, tomorrow will probably be better:)

* Not really, but tell me it doesn’t feel true.

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Busy, Busy!

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Between guests and work and the glorious arrival of Spring (finally!), I’ve been swamped. Now that the lemon thyme and rosemary and chives and tarragon and bush tomatoes and Scarlet runner beans and apple mint are planted and the fig trees are basking out in the sun and the lawn mowed (three times in the past week, three!), I may actually have a moment to edit the half dozen stories waiting impatiently on my plate.

Here’s a cover image I made for one of those stories (months ago, when I had time for such things), using the excellent and very fun Pulp-O-Mizer!

The T-4200

And here’s a bit of encouragement in case your life has been as busy as mine:)
I don’t know what you may presume impossible, but I can say that some of it will turn out otherwise.

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The Martian Diaries

Posted in Likes, Science!, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 5, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Oh, I love this*: the folks at the most excellent Science News have assembled a scrapbook of sorts for the Curiosity rover. It tracks the rover’s path from August 2012 to the present, and includes a date/sol-based timeline, rover tweets, photos, maps and commentary. Fun and educational. And fun!

* Partly for the same reason we love R2D2, no doubt; Curiosity is both awesome and adorable. Also, adventures in space!

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Failing Your Way to Success

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I came across a fascinating article by David McRaney on survivorship bias. The overall point, that accounting for failure is critical to success, is well made, and the author uses a series of pointed examples. Not incidentally, the post also lays out a new-to-me part of World War Two history that includes a cabal of geniuses, women mathematicians, and the Department of War Math (ok, that last bit wasn’t its real name, but it should have been).

In World War Two, for example, the U.S. military tracked damage to returning bombers and wanted to beef up the most frequently-hit areas. A statistician named Abraham Wald pointed out that the surviving planes made it back despite that damage. The spots where they were unscathed, the ones no one had thought to record, were in fact the most vulnerable; as McRaney sums up, “that’s where the planes that didn’t make it back were hit.”

I found the history interesting in its own right, and if you have ever been tempted by the (admittedly seductive) trap of thinking, “Well, my grandfather breakfasted on salt pork and hot gin for ninety years, so I can eat whatever I want and still live forever,” I recommend a read.

“You develop a completely inaccurate assessment of reality thanks to a prejudice that grants the tiny number of survivors the privilege of representing the much larger group to which they originally belonged.“

That same logic applies to evaluating advice from diet gurus, celebrity CEOs and millionaire app designers. Skill plays a part, of course, but it turns out that overall, what a lot of successful people have in common could be termed luck. That may be a bit discouraging, but the good news is that such luck can be courted if you’re willing to take a longer-term view.

“The lucky try more things, and fail more often, but when they fail they shrug it off and try something else. Occasionally, things work out.”

Instead of looking for that one big break, think of the world as a series of possibilities; the more options you try, the greater your chance of success. Resist tunnel vision, “wade into the sea of random chance,” and stay open to new ideas and situations. That sounds pretty good, actually.

If you’re interested in how survivorship bias applies to writers and writing careers, check out this post by Tobias Buckell and the related Writing Excuses podcast in glorious audio or text.

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Every Single Thing

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Author Anne Lamott is turning 61 and took the opportunity to write down “every single thing I know, as of today.”

It’s a lovely list, full of the poignant and practical advice for which she’s known. It can be moving and a little sad, as when she touches on the challenges of family and death, but she also brings out useful truths on such topics as the necessity of exercise and writing shitty first drafts, the beauty of life and persistence and the fact that any of us are even here at all.

I especially like #2:
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”

The original post was on Facebook, which I don’t use, but you can find the rest of her list and more on her thoughts in this Salon article.

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Sir Terry Pratchett, RIP

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series, dies aged 66

The Guardian reports that Sir Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series and many other books, has died at home “with his cat sleeping on his bed” and surrounded by family. His intellect, creative abilities and incisive sense of humor will be sorely missed.

I think I’ll read Good Omens next, to remind myself of Pratchett’s genius, the power of writing (and humor in the face of the apocalypse), and the pearls we can leave behind if we’re willing to keep pushing ahead.

Addendum: A lot of nice tributes are going up online but I thought I’d direct you to one in particular, Jo Walton’s “Reminiscence” at the Tor.com blog. She says it well: “The writing will live on. Death sucks.”

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Truer Words…

Posted in Funny, Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 3, 2015| Leave a Comment »

 

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