Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts

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9 reasons  you novel might not be published.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.

Monday, April 23, 2018

TWIC: designing a workable UI, implications are everything, Scalzi, science fiction history, sound effects, business

Steve Schoger explains and demonstrates fixing the design of a user interface. This is the sort of lesson I need. I am the sort to make a workable device with cool features but without obvious design or planning for how it will be used.
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Never state what you can imply.
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Scalzi is socially conscious.
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Taking notes on how Stephen King writes. Each of the points below has examples and discussion that I snipped. Follow the link for all the details:

Stephen often writes about the antagonist and the protagonist. He follows both stories....
He dedicates chapters for character development. ...
He ends most chapters with a cliffhanger. ...
He shortens his sentences when there is action....
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Writing prizes for Canadians, by the CBC.
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I have Scapple, made by the same people who make Scrivener, the word processor that writer's rave about (as a wannabe writer, I only mention - it takes a while to learn how to use).  Ah, back to Scapple. It is a sort of mind mapping program. I am not sure how to use it efficiently - drawing such things on paper feels more natural for me. My internet friend Gord Sellar found a good use for it.
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Youtube series on history of science fiction writing. This is the most recent video. These videos run 6 to 9 minutes.


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Radio sound effects from BBC.
These 16,016 BBC Sound Effects are made available by the BBC in WAV format to download for use under the terms of the RemArc Licence. The Sound Effects are BBC copyright, but they may be used for personal, educational or research purposes, as detailed in the license.
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Surviving Creativity is a podcast by a trio deeply involved in making comics. The most recent podcast is about how superhero movies have made billions but super hero comics have not profited much thereby. The discussion is a deep dive into the subject and Scott Kurtz is upset. The main point I took from this episode was that creative businesses need to innovate constantly. Comic book distribution has not done so in the US.
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