Alex Bledsoe outlines some of the troubles when you write about the other. Cultural misappropriation is definitely something to avoid. Doing research helps with that.
"No, we must destroy those things that we love that also unfortunately don’t belong." Chuck Wendig on killing your darlings.
Kristin Lamb with a longish article on why some of us blog. There's the daily exercise at it (no comments on the daily part) and there is the brand building part of it. There's also the exercising the words, taking them out for a stretch before doing other writing. Also I'll point to the comment about advertising and just say, if you think (or someone tells you) advertising will sell an individual product, you have something to learn. Advertising can lead to a sale of an individual product (and for Internet advertising, if you're focusing on an individual product, when the reader clicks your link they better go to that product to order it or they're not going to waste the time on your site trying to find it, and you'll lose the game of advertising because that person will remember what a pain it was), but mostly advertising is to build brand, remind people you're still alive, or say, "you thought that product we made was great, look at this new thing". Advertising can work (and it can be damn effective in some cases), but if you're expecting to see a correlation between "I placed this ad, I got these sales", that's a grave misunderstanding of advertising (don't worry, people in advertising also make that mistake).
Daniel Hogan with the writing advice he posted over his computer.
On the SFWA brouhaha, "Need to point out that this too is evidence of disparity in power: men can always realign the conversation and suddenly it's the 50s again." And that doesn't just happen in SFWA, I've seen it at various businesses.
"News flash: Feeling heat for your ideas is not censorship. Having to defend your beliefs when challenged is not thought-control."
They say it's a comprehensive overview, but it's more like the lite theological overview of Good Omens.
And here's the interesting thing about SF, there are some who get it. Patrick Stewart, both our beloved Captain my captain (Picard and Prof. X), works hard for a charity that helps women leave abusive relationships, campaigns to raise awareness, and also works for a charity that works with those who suffer from PTSD, both from his relationship with his mother.
Electrically conductive paint. Oookay. (Pointed to by John)
Tobias Buckell with a chart showing the drop in price for solar generation per kilowatt.
"Perhaps once we have satellite images of an ice-free north pole we’ll see a change in public sentiment… My concern is that by the time that happens, it’ll be too late." Unfortunately I don't think it'll happen even then. However, having a discussion about why your house just blew away, the perceived increase in storms and their ferocity, that seems to get people's attention. Unfortunately, weather (except in the meta sense) is not climate, which is why you don't hear many scientists say, "this storm was a result of global warming" (except those who understand the argument and for the sake of expediency say, "Yes, this is global warming", mostly because people don't understand statistics). (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"Far-Right Extremists Chased Through London by Women Dressed as Badgers" Okay, that headline should get you to click on that. If not, could I interest you if I said Brian May was also involved? (Grokked from Joe Hill)
What soldiers do. The complicated history of the Greatest Generation in liberated France and what we won't be telling our children.
Speaking of WWII, the Ghost War that went along side. Faking out the enemy is a long held tradition. In the Civil War, the South faked out Northern Generals by marching the same troops around in a circle that looped in and out of a woods. So about 500 men kept the Union Army at bay while 25,000 Southern troops escaped. And don't for a second believe we aren't continuing the same tradition with both physical decoys and electronic ghosts. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Why do muslims have to keep explaining themselves? Because there's money to be made in keeping people angry and fearful. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Just a reminder, even so called progressives can be retro-minded bigots.
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