Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, genre fiction, imagination, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing, yay on October 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“Everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody — no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds… Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.”
― Neil Gaiman, A Game of You
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, genre fiction, Martha Wells, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Things I am currently in the middle of:
If you, too, have already started but not yet finished, perhaps you’ll appreciate Martha Wells’ new article on writing:
Getting Unstuck – Apex Magazine
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, Charlie Jane Anders, creativity, genre fiction, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing, writing advice on October 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Interested in writing advice? Perhaps you’re on the waiting list for Charlie Jane Anders’ new book, Never Say You Can’t Survive, and wondering how long it will be until Tor opens up the ebook to libraries?
Good news! The posts on which the book is based are available on Tor.com’s website. Reading them is a window into the voice of experience, and persistence, and a lot like a call from a friend when you’re not quite sure things are going to work out.
Spoiler alert: They will.
Never Say You Can’t Survive | Series | Tor.com
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, book bans, Fiction, open minds, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 22, 2022| 1 Comment »
This quote has made the rounds but deserves to be repeated.*
When books are run out of school classrooms and libraries, I’m never much disturbed. Not as a citizen, not as a writer, not even as a schoolteacher … which I used to be.
What I tell kids is, don’t get mad, get even.
Don’t spend time waving signs or carrying petitions around the neighborhood. Instead, run, don’t walk, to the nearest non-school library or the local bookstore and get whatever it was that they banned.
Read whatever they’re trying to keep out of your eyes and your brain, because that’s exactly what you need to know.
— Stephen King
* Although I do still find book banning disturbing, it is quite helpful to get a list of exactly what to read next.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Writers, writing on October 19, 2022| 1 Comment »
I’d planned to finish a drabble for today but got distracted, first by day-job work and then by a funny little project that popped up out of nowhere. A fellow Wordler compared my daily solution to hers and noted similarities in our starting words, then said it sounded like the opening of a story.
Challenge accepted.
So I’m writing her a story, adding a few lines each day, working in the words from her games. The process is fun and funny, and as with a 100-word drabble, it’s just another way to make constraints work for you.
Today she asked if I had a story in mind or if if the plot was purely spontaneous.
I had to admit that I was just winging it.
It’s more fun that way.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, kindness, Thoughts, Writers on October 18, 2022| 1 Comment »
“Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.”
― George Sand (Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, French novelist, memoirist, and journalist)
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, applied sci-fi, Fiction, future, genre fiction, problem solving, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
What can science fiction do for you? Help you think. Here’s an interview on Marketplace, better known for its discussions with economists, professors and policy wonks, with writer Neal Stephenson.
How sci-fi can make us smart – Marketplace
We’ll talk with Stephenson about how he thinks about big, complex issues like climate change and what this genre can teach us about the future and solving problems in the real world.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, inspiration, persistence, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »
For when you’re stuck on a project and thinking that everyone knows how to do this but you.
Hallelujah! Leonard Cohen’s almighty struggle with rejected song that became a classic
Hallelujah is one of the most famous songs ever written, yet a new film reveals it took Leonard Cohen 180 attempts over a decade to perfect – only for it to be rejected by his record company. Nearly 20 years went by before an animated ogre, Shrek, turned the song into a monster hit.
Is this a little nuts? Maybe, but you won’t always know what’s “worth it” ahead of time. Tastes change, editors are human, and in the end, you’re the artist. Stick to it.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, Fiction, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 14, 2022| Leave a Comment »
You know you’re a writer when you look down to see that your sleeve is soaked in blood* and think, “For your next action story, remember the sensation of blood-saturated fabric as it cools against the skin.”
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, cli-fi, creativity, Fiction, free fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 11, 2022| 1 Comment »
Tuesdays don’t have to be all bad. You may remember I mentioned a call for optimistic fiction about our climate future. Here is the resulting free collection.
Imagine 2200: The 2022 climate fiction collection | Fix
This year’s three winners and nine finalists bring new perspectives to the vital genre of climate fiction, with short stories that offer visions of abundance, adaptation, reform, and hope. Join us in celebrating an uprising of imagination with 12 stirring, surprising, and expansive looks at a future built on sustainability, inclusivity, and justice.
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