Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘work’

The First Pancake Problem

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I’m working on a draft of something today, and it helps to remind myself that the important thing, the first thing, is to get it down. I can fix it later, and even if I don’t to quite my satisfaction, I’ve still done something.

“Anyone who’s ever made America’s favorite round and flat breakfast food is familiar with the phenomenon of The First Pancake. No matter how good a cook you are, and no matter how hard you try, the first pancake of the batch always sucks. It comes out burnt or undercooked or weirdly shaped or just oddly inedible and aesthetically displeasing. Just ask your kids. At least compared to your normal pancake–and definitely compared to the far superior second and subsequent pancakes that make the cut and get promoted to the pile destined for the breakfast table–the first one’s always a disaster. I’ll leave it to the physicists and foodies in the gallery to develop a unified field theory on exactly why our pancake problem crops up with such unerring dependability. But I will share an orthogonal theory: you will be a way happier and more successful cook if you just accept that your first pancake is and always will be a universally flukey mess. But, that shouldn’t mean you never make another pancake.”
— Merlin Mann

Read Full Post »

Felicia Day on Deadlines, Social Media & Creativity

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 3, 2013| Leave a Comment »

In which Felicia Day goes to the Wharton School of Business, talks with B-school types, and tells them how she succeeded even when everyone told her she was doing it wrong.

I’m a better person now and, I think, a happier person having come out of some of the darkest times in my life, having gone through this process. So, I can’t regret one step of it. In retrospect, there are so many things I learned. And I guess in this life, if you’re not learning, you’re dying.

Lessons? Set deadlines. Sell the rights to your content with caution. You can’t do everything, but low budgets don’t have to mean low aspirations. Also, never underestimate the power of awesome. (Ok, that’s me paraphrasing, but I dare you to check out the geeky fun that is Geek and Sundry and tell me it’s not true;)

Read Full Post »

It’s Enough

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »

For a friend who is facing down a challenging project, here’s a quote I like:

“E.L. Doctorow once said that ‘Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.’ You don’t have to see where you’re going, you don’t have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice on writing, or life, I have ever heard.”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Who among us couldn’t use a little perspective, and some encouragement? I would add that it’s helpful to remember that whatever the undertaking, the work doesn’t have to be perfect. Heck, I can guarantee that it won’t be perfect, nothing is. That’s not the point.

To my friend, and to myself, and to anyone else confronting a difficult task, I recommend taking a breath, and just making it as good as you can.

It will be good enough.

Read Full Post »

Death, and After

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on September 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I’m back, the world is still turning, and suddenly it’s Fall. 

Death, like so many of life’s difficulties, serves to highlight what can be accomplished in the meantime and the short span in which we have to do it.

Time to get back to work.

Read Full Post »

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

Read Full Post »

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

Read Full Post »

David Mamet’s Writing Master Class

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Today’s useful writing link: David Mamet’s Master Class Memo to the Writers of The Unit. Originally written in 2005, it remains as concise a discussion of dramatic writing as I’ve seen. Funny too. For those of you interested in writing, I highly recommend that you read the whole thing (it’s not long); here are a few excerpts to whet your appetite.
 
QUESTION:WHAT IS DRAMA? DRAMA, AGAIN, IS THE QUEST OF THE HERO TO OVERCOME THOSE THINGS WHICH PREVENT HIM FROM ACHIEVING A SPECIFIC, ACUTE GOAL.
SO: WE, THE WRITERS, MUST ASK OURSELVES OF EVERY SCENE THESE THREE QUESTIONS.
1) WHO WANTS WHAT?
2) WHAT HAPPENS IF HER DON’T GET IT?
3) WHY NOW?

Ignore the typos and the all caps to focus on the substance. This memo is terrific advice for any writer, television or otherwise. 
  
START, EVERY TIME, WITH THIS INVIOLABLE RULE: THE SCENE MUST BE DRAMATIC. it must start because the hero HAS A PROBLEM, AND IT MUST CULMINATE WITH THE HERO FINDING HIM OR HERSELF EITHER THWARTED OR EDUCATED THAT ANOTHER WAY EXISTS.
 
 
LOOK AT THE SCENE AND ASK YOURSELF “IS IT DRAMATIC? IS IT ESSENTIAL? DOES IT ADVANCE THE PLOT?
ANSWER TRUTHFULLY.
 
On that note, it’s time to get back to writing:)

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »

Joe Hill Writes Like… How About You?

Posted in Funny, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 22, 2013| 2 Comments »

Joe Hill's Thrills.

I was feeling a little blue and I was looking for something on the internet to cheer me up and Warren Ellis has a post on his tumblr pointing to a website, I Write Like, so I thought, oh, hey, why not? Warren got David Foster Wallace; I was thinking, huh, maybe it’ll tell me I write like John Steinbeck! Hell, maybe David Mitchell!!!

Thanks to the above post by Joe Hill I’ve discovered an entertaining website called “I Write Like.” Unlike him, however, my stylistic tendencies seem to be more varied. Depending on the story, I apparently write like Cory Doctorow, J.K. Rowling, Ray Bradbury, and David Foster Wallace. I think the minds behind the site put this fun tool together to raise writers’ confidence levels; who wouldn’t want to be told they write like any one of the people on that list?

I don’t write like Stephen King, though. Joe Hill’s got that all wrapped up.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »