Tag: writers

If I Had a Dragon

If you could pick any fictional animal to be your lifelong companion, what would it be?

If I had a dragon

I would fly far over the horizon

I would ascend in the sky with my trusty companion

Spiral through the clouds and scream all the way down.

But I know my friend would never let me hit the ground

Nor so much as nick a knee or elbow

We would visit far off places high and low

Sample the cuisine, visit museums and parks

(If my friend could fit, at least)

And together engage in fun and funny larks

And though dragons are not real

A boy can still dream.

***

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.

A Trope That Annoys Me

What’s the most annoying trope in books or movies?

This is a trope that mostly concerns works of science fiction.

It is the habit of writers to treat planets like countries. To condense the vastness of space into something that serves as a rough analogy to Earth.

So, you get single planets run by single governments headed by either a single ruler or a small council of administrators. For an entire world. Ask yourselves, reader, how many countries, polities, states, provinces and cultures exist on Earth? Do you see our planet realistically being ruled by a single government? Easily? With no serious expenditure of resources?

I understand that if you’re writing a space opera, you don’t want to get bogged down in details nor become so mired in the worldbuilding that you can’t see the forest for the trees. But sometimes it stretches the audience’s suspension of disbelief to think that an entire planet is composed of a mere four tribes and two major cities. Contracting a whole world into such a simplistic portrayal just strikes me as … silly.

Practical, for reasons of saving time, but still silly.

***

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.

A Cat Named Flop

There was a cat in my neighborhood. My family and I would see him while going on walks.

He’d trot up to us and flop over on his back, demanding belly rubs.

So, we called him “Flop.” He was a friendly cat, if a bit presumptuous.

One day, we met his owner, who told us his real name was “Tiger.”

Tiger is a good name for a cat. But not a cute cat who flops on his back in front of strangers.

***

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.

A Million Tiny Moments

If you could go back and witness any historical event, what would you pick?

Something small, I think. Something quiet and brief, something that started as a whisper and built into a thundering roar in the present.

I think … the invention of the first instrument.

The very first time that a human made a device for the purpose of making sound and music. I would love to watch that clever person experiment and toy with their invention and show it off to their friends and family. I would love to see other people’s reaction to this strange new creation.

This is what I desire most to see in history. The million tiny moments with monumental implications. The first house. The first domesticated dog. The first plow. The first shoe. The first city. The start of things, moments for which there aren’t any records.

***

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.

Vacationing in the Mushroom Kingdom

Which fictional world would be the most fun to vacation in?

I would love to tour the Mushroom Kingdom, the world of Super Mario Bros. Strolling through a valley of giant mushrooms, snoozing on the sunny beaches of Gelato Beach, relaxing in Flower Fields … Such a vast, detailed world of make-believe to enjoy.

The folks are friendly, the sites are beautiful, it’s a fairly safe place all around, and the jerks and villains that do exist get beaten up by a pair of heroic Italian plumbers. Not bad, all in all. As long as I stay way from shady places like the land ruled by that nasty big turtle King Bowser, I think I’d do alright in the Mushroom Kingdom.

***

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.


Read, Read, Read

There are things that school can’t prepare you for. There are challenges that no lesson you’ve learned will make you ready to face. There are everyday struggles that are mere myths in childhood and imposing realities in adulthood.

Schools don’t teach everything. They’re meant to prepare kids to thrive in life, but schools are remiss in important things, like how to budget money or how to replace a flat tire. Practical things, things that we end up learning through other means. That we all too often end up having to learn on our own.

Isn’t it amazing, then, that we live in a world where such information is so readily available? In the second it takes you to pull out your phone, thousands of years of knowledge is at your service. We carry around the weight of history in our pockets. We can read. We can read everything. How to take care of your car, how to fix your computer, how to paint your bedroom, how to fix a broken chair. So much knowledge, so much teaching, and we barely have to look very hard for it. We just have to be willing to read.

Say what you will about misinformation and gossip online, but facts, the useful kind, are just as easily found. So read. Read everything. If in doubt about how to cook a meal, read about it online. Curious about the history of the city you live in? Read up on that, too. Read, read, read.

And if you’re concerned about possible misinformation, then read about the same subject in different sources. Use your head. Figure things out. We aren’t being kept in the dark as much as we might think. A lot is online, enough to make the Library of Alexandria look like the preschooler’s section at your local bookstore.

Don’t know what the Library of Alexandria is? Guess what? You can look that up right now!

And if you aren’t one for the Internet (although, seeing as how you’re reading this blog, well …), there are still plenty of options. Libraries, bookstores, garage sales, hole-in-the-wall shops. Books are still everywhere. Buy some, read them, learn, grow. Reading is learning. Learning is independence.

I’m completely biased in saying this. I’m a writer and reader. I love words. Though I grew up loving the tactile feel of a book in my hands, I recognize how useful the Internet is for learning stuff that isn’t just silly and random. There is so much to learn. So much of it can be found for free. You’d be surprised how much of it is just there. Not hidden, not obfuscated. It’s out there. We just have to be willing to look.

***

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.

How Writing a Novel is Like Cooking a Breakfast Scramble

Breakfast scrambles are really good, aren’t they? You cook upsome eggs, toss in some sausage, cheese, maybe green peppers, some onions and hashbrowns. Whatever’s lying around, whatever you’ve tried before that tasted good, gets thrown in the pan and mixed together. Delicious.

I’ve realized that writing a novel kind of works the same way. You take what you’ve learned from past writing attempts, all your successes in storytelling, your lessons in grammar and pacing, and then you throw in bits and pieces from your own life: Childhood memories, friends, strangers, events and images that left a lasting impression, a random trivia fact you read in a book five years ago. There are so many things I draw from for inspiration and guidance when writing. And I throw them onto the page together and voila! I have a novel.

Of course, breakfast scrambles don’t require revisions. Novels require more drafting and a bit more seasoning, if you will, then a one-and-done meal. But both work by combining disparate elements into a cohesive whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Both also involve a great deal more improvisation than one might expect. Indeed, for all my planning and forethought, I often find that writing is more chaotic than anything that occurs in the kitchen. Food is much more predictable than words. At least when you’re cooking an egg you know what the end result will be. Stories always surprise.

Better, I suppose, than the other way around.

***

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.

When’s the Last Time Anyone Used Cursive, Anyway?

What’s a skill you consider basic, that most people don’t actually know how to do?

Gather around, you young whippersnappers! Let me tell you what school was like back in my day! grumble grumble, dagnabbit …

I remember learning cursive in elementary school. “Fancy writing” that did serve a practical purpose despite how unintuitive and confusing it could be. Cursive allows one to write faster and more efficiently. The line of each letter flows into the next, creating a long string of interconnected symbols that aren’t slowed down by print writing’s need to lift the pencil and move it over to start the next letter.

It’s quite beautiful, actually, but cursive is hampered by a basic fact of modern life:

How often does anybody need pencil and paper anymore?

Typing is all the rage. Keyboard, smartphone, you name it. And those letters on the screen are in print, so how urgent is it to learn cursive? Do they even still teach it in schools nowadays? Well, you whippersnappers? Do they?

Truth be told, as basic and mandatory as cursive once was in my school days, it’s practical value was limited even then. I grew up in the dying days of cursive handwriting, and I certainly don’t use it anymore now. I could likely remember the forms if I was pressed to give a demonstration. Probably. Maybe.

Beautiful, but obsolete. Maybe in another ten years it will become a secret code of sorts. The kids won’t have a clue what you’re writing down in front of their eyes. It’ll be a whole new form of cipher. Faced with cursive letters, people will be at a loss to explain the strange, archaic glyphs. Hmm, that has possibilities …

Maybe the old can find a new purpose, after all.

***

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.

CDs Deceased, DVDs Done For

Which outdated technology do you miss the most, and why?

I miss CDs. I miss the days when my computer games were on CDs. I could go to the store and buy an oversized cardboard box that contained a small disc and maybe a booklet, then I went home and popped the CD in my computer. Those were the days.

I miss DVDs. I miss the excitement of the days when DVDs replaced videocassettes and all the possibilities that came with Digital Technology (!!). I miss DVD menus that had cast information and special features and documentaries in addition to the movie itself.

I miss the days when computers had CD and DVD ports. You slid the disc into a built-in player. Nowadays, you need a separate external player or you just stream things online.

More than anything, though, I miss owning my media. I miss having a tangible thing in my hand when I bought a movie or a video game. I miss my row of discs on a shelf and seeing what I own with my own eyes. Those days are gone. They’re just memories now. Should have recorded them on DVD.

***

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.

Farewell to Cents

If you could erase one trend from history, what would it be?

Farewell, paper money. Farewell dollar bills. Farewell pennies and nickels. You were good friends, but your time is over. The credit card now rules supreme.

I regret the trend of cash payments dying off. Credit and debit cards are handy in a pinch, no doubt, and paying for things online is a tremendous convenience. I’m not playing the hypocrite here, I use my credit card regularly. But I miss the time when cashiers expected you to pay with cash.

Cash is safe. Swindlers can’t steal your personal info from a dollar bill. They can’t swipe your identity from a dime. Cash takes time to use, what with counting out the bills and fiddling with the coins, but it’s more secure.

“But, Jake,” you might say, “what about counterfeit money?” Well, what about credit card fraud? Counterfeit money is a risk, but at least it doesn’t hand over your social security number, address and bank account to a perilous stranger.

I also like the tangibility of paper money. I like things that I can hold in my hand and know are real. Credit is too easy to squander. Numbers on a screen, nothing more. No sobering reminder that spending credit is spending money. Paying a hundred dollars in cash carries much more weight than paying a hundred by card. You see the money fleeing before your very eyes.

There are places that don’t accept cash at all, now. I’m sure someday paper money won’t exist in any shape or form. Transactions will all be digital. Numbers scrolling by on a computer screen. A shame. I like bills and coins, but I imagine that when I’m old and gray, the only place I’ll see them is in a museum.

***

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.