Tuesday, May 8, 2018

TWIC: Story of Sci Fi, Future of science writing, outlining and a surprising amount more

If you like James Cameron's tastes in Science Fiction, you will likely love his Story of Science Fiction. This link goes to a critique of the AMC show. If I can find a way, I'll watch it.
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Sci Am looks at the future of Science Writing.
Science now:
If stories are about belief, scientific stories are supposed to have an integrity that is important in the “post-truth” age as people seek science, facts and a basis for decisions. The post-truth age is another way to describe postmodernism, which has less to do with facts being relative as it does with pervasive cynicism, irony, changing levels of enthusiasm and commitment, and the framing of facts and the lens of stories. The trouble is science has never itself been entirely free of these literary trends.
Science future:
The future of science writing will not be free of tensions or contradictions, as compared to popular writing that is often based on a mythos of progressing to a complete picture of nature. It should therefore dispense with the idealism that permeates much of popular science writing—a belief that human nature is perfectible, a fashionable idea seeded by the Zuckerberg Chan Foundation when it says it will “cure all disease” in this century or when Microsoft says it will “solve” cancer within 10 years.
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Heller's outline for Catch 22. I posted a similar image of JK Rowling's outline. Here is a chunk of Heller's outline:
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An interview with author Liz Harmer.
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9 reasons  you novel might not be published.
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Writer decides write about learning to play poker but becomes so good at the sport, she keeps doing that rather than write.
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A Twitter thread about listening to 'BBC Dad' Robert Kelly. His daughter adorably interrupted his BBC interview discussing North Korea.The Kellys had to adjust to and control the fame that chased them.
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Larry Christopher is a local cafe owner and Neil Young Impersonator. Seems like an interesting guy. (Note: Local means in central Ontario, I moved from Korea two weeks ago.)
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This list of ways to avoid burnout seems pragmatic and not overly sensationalized. Just the facts, quickly delivered.
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Many ESL instructors feel that Korean students are not that creative. But I wonder if that is because we teach (or taught, in my case) mandatory, non-major classes. Our classes were not the ones they wanted to devote extra energy to. A study suggests that South Korea is one of the most innovative countries in the world.
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Stories, an app or media format that seems annoying to me but is growing in popularity. Kottke has the details.

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