Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #writingscience, creativity, Writers, writing on November 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Typing monkey would be unable to produce ‘Hamlet’ within the lifetime of the universe, study finds
“It is not plausible that, even with improved typing speeds or an increase in chimpanzee populations, monkey labor will ever be a viable tool for developing non-trivial written works,” the authors muse.
So human writer monkeys can rest easy. In case you were worried!
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Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, books, classics, documentaries, fantasy, publishing, science fiction, Writers, writing on October 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Funny how something can play a big role in your life without you knowing all the details behind it.
My childhood bookshelves were filled with science fiction and fantasy, and a lot of those books were published by Del Rey.
I’m not sure I knew what was behind the publishing house name, or that it was a she, or that she was instrumental in promoting speculative fiction that did not feature hobbits or Conan. Reading through the list of Del Rey books is a walk through some of the classics. The Sword of Shannara, the reissued The Princess Bride, Foster, Heinlein, Hambly, Clarke, McCaffrey, Anthony and many more.
The woman who revolutionized the fantasy genre is finally getting her due
In publishing, the people who work behind the scenes rarely get their due. But on Oct. 1, 2024, at least, one industry pioneer got the limelight. On that day, PBS aired “Judy-Lynn del Rey: The Galaxy Gal,” the first episode of its new documentary series “Renegades,” which highlights little-known historical figures with disabilities.
A woman with dwarfism, Judy-Lynn del Rey was best known for founding Del Rey Books, a science fiction and fantasy imprint that turned fantasy in particular into a major publishing category.
Read the article or watch the PBS episode for more of the work she did to move this form of fiction into the mainstream.
Here’s the episode:
(Also, as a somewhat related aside, how did I never have a Star Wars Intergalactic Passport?!)
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, persistence, Thoughts, Writers, writing, writing advice on October 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Write. There is no substitute…But start small: write a good sentence, then a good paragraph, and don’t be dreaming about writing the great American novel or what you’ll wear at the awards ceremony because that’s not what writing’s about or how you get there from here.
The road is made entirely out of words. Write a lot…it’s effort and practice. Write bad stuff because the road to good writing is made out of words and not all of them are well-arranged words.
— Rebecca Solnit
So write bad stuff. Good stuff too, just try not to worry too much about which is which.
Just keep going.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, climate fiction, genre fiction, Writers, writing on October 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »
A fall Saturday with a side of free fiction, sounds like fun to me!
Who Walks With You by Premee Mohamed
With her glasses knocked off and, presumably, buried alongside her, it takes a while to realize what she’s looking at. Ah: light entering not through the usual place (the roof, which is transparent) but somewhere else (the wall, which is supposed to be opaque).
That’s right. She remembers now. The outside came in.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, inspiration, life, purpose, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“That thing that gives you butterflies, that lights you up. That world you see when you close your eyes. Chase that.”
— Eddie Pinero
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Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, do you have chill?, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Stretched out in bed as morning rays usher in the day, it helps to remember that
today’s weather
the world’s weather
what to write
note: look up major volcanic eruptions in the modern era
if the cat moved two inches to the right I could breathe
bills
donations
bills
ouch, why do my feet hurt
location of the Golden Spike
the garage is a mess
write write
the neighbor cut down the milkweed before it went to seed
odds of a power outage this winter
dinner
breakfast
a certain Tuesday in November and
what comes next
write write write
should have bought more than two boxes of Girl Guide cookies
but at least they’re mint
work work work work work
doesn’t matter
yet, just
Now.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, excerpt, free fiction, Writers, writing on October 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Read an Excerpt From Nnedi Okorafor’s She Who Knows
When there is a call, there is often a response.
Najeeba knows.
She has had The Call. But how can a 13-year-old girl have the Call? Only men and boys experience the annual call to the Salt Roads. What’s just happened to Najeeba has never happened in the history of her village.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, art, artists, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“The arts and sciences are avatars of human creativity. It’s our attempt to influence things, the universe internal to ourselves and external to us.”
— Mae Jemison, Doctor and Astronaut
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, inspiration, poem, Thoughts, winter, Writers, writing on October 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I am committing poetry today, apparently.
frost crawls down rooftops
cold crystals reach out for warmth
winter’s first trespass
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, inspiration, persistence, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“And so, does the destination matter? Or is it the path we take? I declare that no accomplishment has substance nearly as great as the road used to achieve it. We are not creatures of destinations. It is the journey that shapes us. Our callused feet, our backs strong from carrying the weight of our travels, our eyes open with the fresh delight of experiences lived.”
― Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
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