"Wherever you are in your life, if you want to write, WRITE. It's hard work, and it doesn't pay as well as you think it will, and there will be days when you want to move to Hawaii and be the person that puts whipped cream on waffles, because that would be pretty easy by comparison, plus WAFFLES. But your lowest point can be transformative." Perseverance, that's the key. I may need to tape that up somewhere to remind me it's possible. Sometimes, in transformative actions, you need to hit that bottom and crawl your way back. Strange how that also works for addiction. (Grokked from John Scalzi, I think)
JR Johnson talks about blazing your own trail to publication. Note that trail is paved in rejection letters. Failure is an acceptable state when starting out. Hell, for several weeks I thought about quitting the reboot because I kept failing in clinicals. Last Tuesday was about the first day I can say I succeeded more than I failed. I'm still failing, but I'm failing better. And much of what I was failing, I've gotten better at. Writing is the same. My fail state is much farther along than it had been (and hopefully will be when I'm able to write fiction again).
Kristian Lamb reminds us not to edit prematurely. Or, your story parts maybe saying "I'm not dead, yet." She also gives two good tips. No editing, write as fast as you can. And, okay, you can correct typos, but everything else gets set in a different color and then you keep writing.
The Child on how to write like her Dad (who happens to be Jay Lake).
English is hard, let's go to the mall.
A fantasy reader's collection of fantasy novel maps. (Grokked from Genreville)
Some historic photos of a NYC past from the municipal archives. (Grokked from Dr. Phil)
"Sooner or later, solar will be woven seamlessly into the fabric of our lives." If we could just get to the magic price per kWh. This new tech promises it. As the article states, there's a lot that can happen between prototype and manufacturing. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)
"'Since Nov. 1, wind has been the top technology in the electrical system,' the (Spanish Wind Energy Association) said in a blog posting. 'The last time any technology exceeded 6 terawatt-hours of monthly generation was in 2010, when it was combined-cycle gas turbines.'" That represents about a quarter of the total power output. Strange what happens when you invest in infrastructure (I'm sure their economic crisis helped a little with decreased overall energy production). (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)
Just in case anyone forgets what the insanity of the 80s anti-abortion movement was like. You know, before courts rules that the protestors by exercising their free-speech right we infringing upon the rights of others. It's a lesson to learn for both the history (and why we don't want to go back there) and the limitations of rights granted in the Bill of Rights. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"In Washington state, one… 'good guy'… drew his gun in defense of others (and) paid a heavy price." Well, he did stop the rampage by taking 5 bullets (including one to the spine). Right after that the shooter took hostages, which the police then negotiated to safety. But there's some very good truths in that article, like that unless you have what is essentially combat shooter training, your whistling Dixie. Also those skills are perishable, so you need to keep training. Also, if you're in that situation and you pull your firearm, be prepared to shoot first.
"…but here's an even better tip: stop proposing legislation that says rape victims shouldn't have any choices when it comes to reproductive rights." Of course "The problem is, that it is not their talking points that are the problem, it’s the beliefs that inform the talking points that are the problem." Or in other words, the only real problem with conservatives speaking their minds is that most of the rest of us find that thought process that leads to their conservative positions to be morally reprehensible. But instead the GOP leadership isn't changing people's thoughts, they're continuing along the path set out in the GOPAC Memo, control the language. In this case, just don't talk about it. Note that they aren't really changing their positions or their thinking that leads to those positions. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
Tweet of my heart: @jonnypeace: "The average westerner looks upon an habitual carrier of concealed weapons as a coward prima facie ..." Ouray (Colorado) Herald, 1901.
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