Creativity is abundant, it’s execution that’s scarce. — Adam Grant
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Posts Tagged ‘writing’
Note to Self, Monday Edition
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, #WriteMoreEraseLess, creativity, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing on March 23, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Humanity’s Next Top Ambassador
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, no submission fee, prizes, saving humanity a bonus, Writers, writing, writing contest on March 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Are you a writer in the “1,000 words or less” space? Do you care about the future of humanity? Harbor a secret desire to be named the new Ambassador of the Human Race?
This no-fee super fun writing contest may be for you!
The aliens are coming. Or at least they told us they were.
They asked us for just one item: a written document from humanity.
This is the only thing they are going to read before they arrive.
We have no idea what the document should be, so we’re asking you.
…
We’re giving $2,000 USD to the best submission. Second and third place get $250 each.
We’re going old school here. You’ll have to physically mail in your writing, and it needs to reach us before May 15, 2026.
(I bolded that last bit because prizes are nice, but also it’s been a while since most submissions had to use the mail, and while I love the whole concept of the postal service, it does not travel at the speed of the electron.)
We’d better get writing. And I for one am going to work on cultivating a slightly more positive outlook than I may have in the past (an example I still like, but would be a poor choice in this case! We Are Mirrors).
The fate of humanity may depend on it!
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Just Luck
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, a little magic, Writers, writing on March 21, 2026| Leave a Comment »
A brief short on what I call The Balance, used for good:
He was nervous when he left. Big day, a presentation that would be the culmination of months of work, weeks of overtime, uncounted hours of stress. It all came down to one day, and this meeting.
His grin slipped a little as he said goodbye. “Here’s hoping things work out.”
I reached out and touched his right hand, just above the silver circle I’d given him. He laughingly referred to as his magic ring. I felt a spark.
“You’ll be fine,” I said.
I could tell he wasn’t convinced, but I meant it.
My own day was a maelstrom of mishaps. I sloshed hot water on the stairs and watched helplessly as a raw egg slipped from my fingers to break over the fridge drawer, the freezer seals, and the floor. Emptying the dishwasher was a humbling lesson in the fragile properties of glass and ceramic.
That’s okay, I thought. Worth it.
He came home exhausted but happy. Everything that could go wrong, didn’t.
“Somehow,” he said.
I smiled.
“Just lucky, I guess.”
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The New Nebula Award Finalists
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, free fiction, inspiration, Nebula Awards, reading, SFWA, to be read, Writers, writing on March 19, 2026| Leave a Comment »
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association has released its list of finalists for the new Nebula Awards. These are some of the best stories, movies, games and more from 2025, and a great way to boost your to be read list. If you’re an SFWA member you have until April 15th to vote on your favorites.
The list is available in lots of places but I’ll link to Andrew Liptak’s site because he has already done the work of finding links for the stories that are available online. Thanks, Andrew!
I’ll copy the short stories here, but click through to Andrew’s site for links to the novelettes and more. And do I love that many of the top short story markets are open access? I do!
Here are the finalists for the 2026 Nebula Awards
Best Short Story
- “Through the Machine” by P.A. Cornell (Lightspeed Magazine, 5/25)
- “Six People to Revise You” by J.R. Dawson (Uncanny Magazine, 1-2/25)
- “In My Country” by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld Magazine 4/25)
- “The Tawlish Island Songbook of the Dead” by E.M. Linden (PodCastle 2/18/25)
- “Because I Held His Name Like a Key” by Aimee Ogden (Strange Horizons 6/16/25)
- “Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything” by Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots 5/25)
I’ve only read a couple of these stories so this promises to be a treat. Happy reading everyone!
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The Path to Greatness
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, AI, creativity, InquiringMindsWantToKnow, libraries, persistence, technology, thinking, Thoughts, Writers, writing on March 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »
There are a number of reasons why AI can be problematic, but lawsuits over stolen copyrights and the like don’t touch on one of the more interesting and important reasons why AI should be used judiciously in creative work.
It can undermine your skills. And who among us wants to fall victim to that most dreadful of problems, creative atrophy?
This essay by Storm Humbert goes deeper into the perils of cognitive offloading, skill atrophy, and more.
Not a Scab, But a Wound – Apex Book Company
Don’t be drawn in by the allure of never having to go through the “being-bad-at-it” phase of learning a craft. We must allow ourselves to be bad—to downright suck—for a little while. Outsourcing our infinite potential to limited tools is how we become limited ourselves. Instead, pick up a pencil. Sit at a keyboard. Contend with the blank page and the empty canvas—the unsullied slab of granite. It’s the only path to greatness.
Like any tool, AI can be good at some things and not great at others. Knowing the why and when and how is critical to making good use of such tools, and those decisions require thought and good judgement. And what’s the best tool for building people who are good at thinking?
Why, a library card! AI Literacy Starts With Reading Books, Not Prompts
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A Good Day
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, open books open minds, reading, Thoughts, Writers, writing on March 16, 2026| 1 Comment »
Today is a good day. Why, you might ask, and perhaps you have forgotten that today is Monday?
I stand by my statement, because I got this in the mail:
Three (quiet) cheers for libraries!
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Neurochemistry In Real Time
Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, reading, Thoughts, Writers, writing on March 10, 2026| 4 Comments »
Because it can sometimes be hard to keep a positive attitude with everything going on in the world, I thought I’d share this article. Also, books are just a good time.
How reading books regulates your nervous system – Big Think
Reading is relaxing, and many people do it as a counterbalance to our overstimulated age.
But what exactly is happening when we read? What’s going on beneath the surface that makes reading a book feel so restorative?
The answer lies in how reading changes our neurochemistry in real time. Reading isn’t just about decoding words on a page. It’s a complex neurochemical process that affects everything from our heart rate to our hormone levels.
Go ahead, change your neurochemistry for the better.
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On Art and Commerce
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, art, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on March 9, 2026| 4 Comments »
It’s Monday, which seems like a perfect time for a bit of wisdom on the intersection of art and commerce. This quote comes from sci-fi author John Scalzi, who has famously taken a stand on the importance of being paid for creative work, and knows a thing or two about building a viable living around art.
As a writer, and as a creator, nothing one ever does, professionally or personally, needs to be wasted. It’s all fuel for the creative engine…
Anyway: If you’re a writer or creator, never be ashamed of what else you do. It’s 2026 and this special flavor of gilded age we live in at the moment means that what qualifies as “selling out” has an extremely high bar. Making a living was very rarely “selling out” in any era. I think these days the phrase should be mostly reserved for writing things you absolutely don’t believe, for the sort of people you would in fact despise, with the result of your work is you making the world worse for everyone. Avoid doing that, please.
Short of that, get paid, have those experiences and develop new tools. All of it will be useful for the art you do care about. That’s not selling out. That’s learning, with compensation. — There Is No Selling Out Anymore
Now I’m off to do some more learning!
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Going Back? Plan Ahead!
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, English, history, inspiration, language, Thoughts, time travel, what to pack when going back, Writers, writing on February 28, 2026| 4 Comments »
This is fascinating, educational and fun. One of the things they may not tell you when they give you the keys to the time travel machine is that language is a living thing, and English is now very old.
Linguist and teacher Colin Gorrie decided to illustrate how the English language has changed over the last 1000 years by writing a post that slowly transitions from the modern day, in hundred year increments. How far back can you understand?
How far back in time can you understand English?
He arrives, he checks in. He walks to the cute B&B he’d picked out online. And he writes it all up like any good travel blogger would: in that breezy LiveJournal style from 25 years ago, perhaps, in his case, trying a little too hard.
But as his post goes on, his language gets older. A hundred years older with each jump. The spelling changes. The grammar changes. Words you know are replaced by unfamiliar words, and his attitude gets older too, as the blogger’s voice is replaced by that of a Georgian diarist, an Elizabethan pamphleteer, a medieval chronicler.
By the middle of his post, he’s writing in what might as well be a foreign language.
The last 300 years aren’t so bad, but then things start to get squiffy enough that I hope you’re planning to pack a fairly comprehensive dictionary. The success of your time travel adventures may depend on it!
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Can’t Compute
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, health, Thoughts, Writers, writing on February 27, 2026| 13 Comments »
Like so many of you, I spend a lot of my life looking at screens. I try to keep my eyes healthy but you know how it is, you start the day at the writing computer and then move to the work computer, and then you’re just about to take a break when an email comes in about an important work project, or family thing, or taxes. And when I do get time to take a break? I read a book.
By the end of the day, my eyes are frazzled. Just me? I’m betting the answer is no, which is why I’m sharing this happy little comic about taking care of your eyes.
How to prevent digital eye strain: An illustrated guide
Ophthalmologist Dr. Rupa Wong and optometrist Dr. Valerie Lam explain how to avert those symptoms with 5 eye care tips.
(Have I shared this before? I don’t think so and I couldn’t find it on my site, but it’s possible my eyes just too tired!)
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