To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time.
— Leonard Bernstein
I found this line at a fun site that serves up quotes based on your mood: APLIFT. And given my lack of time today, it fits.
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Posts Tagged ‘Writers’
Achieving Greatness
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, quotes, Thoughts, Writers, writing on March 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Reading Clarkesworld
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, free fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Writers, writing on March 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »
The award-winning SFF magazine Clarkesworld recently released their Best Of 2023 list based on reader votes. While I don’t always love every Best Of story out there, I do like using those lists as starting points to explore new and interesting writers.
If you do too, check out the top 3 short stories and longer-form works.
Editor’s Desk: The Best from 2023
Best Novelette/Novella
3rd Place: “Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon” by Angela Liu (novelette)
2nd Place: “Light Speed Is Not a Speed” by Andy Dudak (novelette)
2023 Winner: “To Sail Beyond the Botnet” by Suzanne Palmer (novella)
Best Short Story
3rd Place: “Window Boy” by Thomas Ha
2nd Place: “Day Ten Thousand” by Isabel J. Kim
2023 Winner: “Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer
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Clearing the Decks for Creativity
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, Thoughts, today not so much, Writers, writing on March 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »
It’s the weekend and I feel I should be using my time for creative work, but instead I have a long and growing list taking up space in the back of my mind (and on Post-its fluttering from desk to pocket to pile). This list includes both the ignorable (“clean basement, for real this time”) and the not so much (“Taxes!”).
So I’ll just go take care of that, shall I?
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Thankful
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, persistence, some days, Thoughts, Writers, writing on February 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent.”
― Steve Martin
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How to Be Real, Writers Edition
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, espionage, Fiction, how to, master of disguise, spies, Thoughts, Writers, writing on February 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Today’s Now I Know (a fun free newsletter, recommended) talks about some of the fundamental elements of being a successful spy. Essentially, the key is to play a character as truthfully as possible.
When I moved to Canada I was suddenly surrounded by people and places that were just subtly different from what I was used to. The way people dress, talk, eat, smile, and yes, stand, are all signifiers of culture and place. It made me more conscious of what was the same and what was different, or what made me look at an actor in a commercial and immediately say, “Sooo Canadian!” when Mr Man didn’t register a difference.
Here’s the video referenced in the article, with Jonna Mendez, former CIA agent and Chief of Disguise:
What makes a character look “right” or not, or act as if they are rooted in a particular time and place? Understanding those fundamental cues is a great way to think about adding depth to stories and the characters who drive them.
While we’re here, Mendez also has a fun video critiquing scenes in spy movies, useful to anyone writing a story with espionage:
Alias for the win!
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Lost Sols
Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, books, free fiction, genre fiction, Mars, movies, Writers on February 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »
In a recent chat with my mother, I mentioned that I thought she would enjoy the movie version of The Martian. I don’t know if she was convinced by my sales pitch: “An astronaut is stranded alone on Mars and has to find a way home before he dies a horrible death. It’s hilarious!” but I hope she’ll watch it.
Andy Weir’s book is also a lot of fun. It was published ten years ago this month, and to celebrate he wrote a new chapter and shared it with us all.
Enjoy!
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Just Saying
Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #BlackAsSFF, genre fiction, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers on February 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I just finished the third book in N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth trilogy and have to agree with this article:
Dear Hollywood, Where Are the SFF Book-to-Movie-TV Adaptations From Black Writers?
Since 2014, approximately 500 books of all genres have been adapted to film or television. In total, just over four dozen of those books adapted were written by Black authors. Only four of those 50+ Black adaptations were speculative works.
Just saying.
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Thought I’d Share
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on February 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I just posted this to a writer’s group and then thought, what the heck, maybe other people would appreciate this too. And here we are.
I saw a writer on Twitter feeling not great about his work, of the “everything’s terrible, no one wants this stupid book, what’s the point, why am I even bothering?” variety. Been there, of course, who hasn’t, and I had some thoughts. Sharing in case someone else needs to hear it too:
Think of the last book you read that brought you joy, or showed you that there is light at the end of darkness.
Your book is you, repaying the favor.
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Even Tuesdays
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers on February 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »
You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It’s just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.
— Paulo Coelho
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Inspiration is a Fair Weather Friend
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, genre fiction, inspiration, Octavia Butler, quotes, Thoughts, Writers, writing on February 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won’t. Habit is persistence in practice. You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.”
― Octavia E. Butler
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