Life Without the Interwebs
I’m addicted to the Interwebs. It’s probably pretty obvious for those of you who have any idea how much time I spend on the net and how much time I waste with net things—or don’t waste, for that matter. It didn’t really hit me until I flew in to London last week and spent the better part of a week gallivanting across the English countryside with my fiancé, net not included. Now, I’m not saying that I was having withdrawals. This post is more about the things involved in my writing that have become dependent on Internet access. Research, for example, is almost always done with Google. I can’t remember the last time I did research via another method, to be honest. While on vacation, I started writing a new short story (tentatively titled “Waking Odin”) and got to a point where I had to literally make things up because I had no way of getting access to mythological information (it’s somewhat difficult to drag around a collection of encyclopedias, after all). It put a block on my writing, because the information I needed was integral to the story, and without access to it, well, it was somewhat difficult to do anything with the characters. It forced me to re-evaluate not only how I write, but how I research for my writing. We’ve become a culture attached at the hip to the net, in more ways than one. So much of what we used to do manually (the old “dig it up in a book” method) has largely been replaced by a more “automated” method (the new “dig it up on the net” thing). Most of us do this, strangely enough, and it has to do with the fact that information has become so readily accessible via the net. We don’t really need encyclopedias anymore and most of us stopped using software-based informational programs a long time ago. But what would happen to us if the net were suddenly wrenched out from under us? Would we as a society (speaking primarily of western culture here) fall apart at the seams? I obviously found that my inability to access the information I needed for a character an impossible thing to work around. It drastically influenced my writing, because the character had to be vague, rather than fleshed out, something I’ll have to go back and change later. The result of all this is that I am resolved to find myself a software-based, thorough encyclopedia and mythological reference (something that auto-updates entries when you are online would be nice). We’ll see what I can find. Now I’ll point this to you: Look at your own writing. How has the Interwebs changed the way you write? Do you see an “addiction” too? Will thinking about this change how you write from this point on?
The Interview Questions Meme
I discovered this meme through Tanaudel some time ago and she sent me a series of questions to answer. Before getting to those, however, I need to tell you the rules for this meme. The Rules: Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me!” I will (probably, in my sole discretion, and reserving the right not to – can you tell I’m a lawyer?) respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions. You will post the answers to the questions (and the questions themselves) on your blog or journal. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. And thus the endless cycle of the meme goes on and on and on and on… If you’re interested, let me know in the comments and, if your email isn’t in your profile, provide me a way to contact you directly. And with that out of the way, on to my responses to Tanaudel’s questions: With what philosophy do you meet rejections (and why and whence derived)?I learned long ago (like four years ago) that if you let things like rejections and failures get you down in a significant way, it will stop you from doing the things you actually love. With writing, I used to get depressed and upset at not doing well at it. There was a point where I didn’t write for well over a year (compounded by the fact that I was fighting off cancer, which I beat the sh*t out of, by the way…that bastard cancer). This all probably had a lot to do with the fact that at the time I was a lonely teenager that hadn’t come into his own, felt lost in the world, didn’t have a purpose, etc. I didn’t have a fun time as a teenager, generally speaking (as much as I hated Placerville, it was probably the best time of my High School life because I started to get a bit more of that “accepted” feel there than anywhere else, but I still left school and teenage-hood with the belief that women were, by definition, put on this Earth to torment me).So, there came a point where I started taking my writing really seriously (probably around the same time I started this blog, actually, with WISB and all that–chapters viewable on the left sidebar) and decided that if I was going to get butthurt over rejections and harsh critiques, I might as well stop being a writer altogether. I later learned that Jay Lake had hundreds upon hundreds of rejections before his writing really took off, and still gets rejections, further proving that getting butthurt over it is a bad way to go.So, my philosophy is much more about simply accepting that you can’t win every time, that life throws you curveballs, and that learning from failure/rejection is better than mulling over it. It’s okay to get upset, but don’t let it control you. Right now I’m thinking of a silly quote from Mystery Men:Sphinx: Your temper is very quick, my friend. But until you can master your rage…Mr. Furious: …your rage will be your master? That’s what you were going to say. Right? Right?Sphinx: Not necessarily… You’ve talked about losing interest in a series between books. Do you find that you tend to enjoy reading books more when you know the whole series has been published?Not necessarily. Ha! I wrote that twice. Anywho.I can enjoy a series that hasn’t been finished yet, I just find that knowing I don’t have to wait 15 years for the final installment to be printed makes it easier on me. I hate waiting. Every week waiting for the next episode of BSG is murder. So, really, if a series is good, it’s good regardless of how much of it is already published; a series that isn’t all that good is going to be mediocre even if all twelve volumes are in the stores. Name five books you mercilessly inflict on everyone you meet (or would mercilessly inflict on people if you were that sort of person) – not necessarily your favourite books (although they might be) but the books you think people should read.Mercilessly inflict? To be honest, I don’t think I’ve intentionally done this. I guess the books that I push people to read tend to be staples in the genre: 1984 by George Orwell, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, and others. Newer books I suggest folks read are: Sly Mongoose by Tobias S. Buckell, The Innocent Mage/The Awakened Mage by Karen Miller, The Golden Cord by Paul Genesse, Spaceman Blues by Brian Francis Slattery, and dozens of others. It’s hard to pick just one book I push on folks, since I push a lot of books. Then again, I try not to push books on people, because I know that irritates me. What do you try most to avoid in your own writing?Maybe preaching, or making mistakes, or I don’t know. I’m still developing my craft. A lot of things I refused to do before I am now doing as experiments. Back then I didn’t do those things because I hated them, but something about me is changing. I enjoy writing in first and third person present. I like trying to infuse literary elements into my fantasy and science fiction. There are a lot of things I’m trying now that I didn’t try years ago. I still try to avoid writing stories that have nothing to say. That doesn’t always mean I succeed, but I tend to hate my stories when they are just cliches. I still write cliches, obviously, but the ones that are literally cookie-cutter crap tend to end up in a “forget” folder somewhere. Which artist would you want to design a book cover for your work?Stephen Martiniere would be a knee-jerk reaction, however
Twenty-five Things (About Me): A Meme
I was tagged on Facebook for this, but because I don’t feel like doing this list there, I’m doing it here. Besides, this is what blogs are for. I officially tag anyone who wants to do this. The point is to make a list of twenty-five things about you, presumably stuff most people don’t know (or at least isn’t clear). This probably is an attempt to make people on the interwebs human or some such. In any case, here goes: Total Recall is one of my favorite movies for absolutely no logical reason whatsoever. The Matrix Revolutions is possibly my favorite music soundtrack ever. I think Battlestar Galactica (the re-imagined show by Ronald A. Moore) is the best science fiction show ever made. Period. It has overtaken Firefly without even a struggle. I applied to Oxford without any expectation to get in (in fact, I don’t even have my hopes up for it). I have actually gotten an A in a class without reading anything on the syllabus or paying attention to the lectures (not at UCSC, though). This might mean I was a bad student, but you should consider that if a student can not pay attention or read any of the books and still get an A, then the course wasn’t all that well put together, now was it? I have enough books to make the proportion of not-read to read close to 100 to 1. I have 13 leopard geckos and three common musk turtles with me where I live; my mother and her partner are caring for my bearded dragon and crested gecko (both of which they apparently love to death). I despise the following words: intrinsic, billfold, and lozenge. And by despise, I mean that I actually get angry shivers when I hear them. I’m agnostic, despite what anyone may assume from my rants against religion. I am afraid of horses. I have no desire to have any sort of wedding, and neither does my fiance. We just want to be married and move on from that moment. I rarely watch the following movies because they creep me out way too much (mostly because I saw them when I was a kid first): The Neverending Story and Ernest Scared Stupid I think American Cheese is an abomination and should be destroyed for the protection of all mankind. I considered, in my youth, converting to Islam, and then to Hinduism, and then to Buddhism, and then to Zen Buddhism, and then to Christianity, and then to nothing at all. Needless to say that none of these religions/ideologies did anything for me at all. I write short stories because I have limited time to devote to writing and they are somewhat easier for me to write and maintain interest. I still work on novels and have every intention of continuing, but shorts are simply easier for me at the moment. I have been told by people close to me that I am both a good writer and a crappy editor. Obviously I value their opinions to put up with that. I have also been told by two professionals in the writing field that I am a good writer (something I’ll be talking about later, I’m sure). I am a cancer survivor. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma; survivor of almost six years now. No, I don’t want sympathy. It was no big deal. I don’t shave or cut my hair often because I despise the entire process of both (plus one hurts and the other costs money). I love to argue, so much so that I will even take up positions that are not representative of how I actually think just so I can keep arguing. I don’t know why. I believe that the U.S. Constitution is not all that hard to understand and that people who think it is hard to interpret are not very smart and shouldn’t be running this country. I am lactose intolerant, but refuse to drink or eat soy products because they are disgusting. I continue to drink or eat dairy products, even though I can sometimes have unpleasant reactions to them. I’d probably only quit if I found it it would actually kill me. I will be close to $21,000 in debt by the time I get my B.A. This is to preserve my ability to not have to waste money on a car or get a job so that I may focus on my schooling and other aspects of my life (such as trying not to go insane). I suspect that I will make someone else pay for it in exchange for me doing something nice for them. I am politically a moderate and believe that people who vote via party or religious opinion are idiots who shouldn’t be allowed to vote at all. Likewise, people who vote because Bill O’Reilly or someone equally as polarizing and moronic tells them who to vote for should probably be put in a mental institution or, at the very least, deemed mentally handicapped and sent to their own island without food or water. I am a member of the Modern Language Associate of America. And there you go! Hope you all enjoy.
School’s Back In!
I start school today at noon and, well, I figured I’d give you all a heads up. Things may be a little quiet over the next few days. The reason? Well, partially because school is back in and partially because I will be putting the finishing touches on my graduate school applications. I have officially turned in my applications to the University of Rochester, the University of Florida, the University of Oregon, and Oxford University. Oxford is completely done and I only have to send my supplementary materials (CV, statement of purpose, writing samples) to the other three. Those are only the most pressing applications as far as deadlines are concerned. Don’t worry, though. I won’t be putting off all the others until the deadline like those four. The others will get finished before February and all will be well.So, wish me luck, send me money, because I’m broke, and I look forward to spending another quarter with all of you, even though you’re not here!
Question to Readers About Content
Two things:First, I’ve recently discovered an interesting little widget that allows readers (and presumably passersby) to make suggestions for content. I’m down for it, but I would like your opinions on the matter. The widget is called Skribit and allows for anonymous suggestions and should be relatively unobtrusive. Would you use it to make suggestions for content? Second, are you satisfied with the content on WISB? What could you do without? What do you come here for? Your opinions are welcome. Criticism is good. I want to improve as a blogger and I can’t do that without your thoughts! Thanks!
New Years Resolutions for 2009 (Writing Edition)
I’ve never really done the whole “New Years resolution” thing, but I thought it would be fun to do this year for reasons that escape me. So, I’m doing it. The following are what I am going to do by the end of 2009: Write 200,000 words. This will include non-fiction and fiction, but will exclude blog posts (if I added up just my blog posts for the year I imagine it would come to well over 200,000 words). This year, by the way, I came up short by about 15,000 words (the meter on the side is not, at the time of this post, accurate as I’ve been too busy to add up some of the words I’ve written since the last time it was updated). Edit 200,000 words. I hate editing. It’s obvious if you look at my little list on the right sidebar. I’ve edited about 1/4th as much as I’ve written. I imagine if I edited more I’d get more work out the door. Which leads me to part three… Submit 26 new short stories by Dec. 31st. I only really became aggressive with my short stories about halfway through the year. Granted, I’ve been serious for a while, but I’ve only really started hammering down in a serious way in the last six months (give or take a month or two). I want to continue this trend even further by sending out 26 new stories throughout the year. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? Reach a total of 20 short stories in the submission queue at one time. This will probably be an easy goal if I keep up with number three. Right? Someone tell me yes so I feel like it’s doable… Get published (legitimately)! Doesn’t matter if it’s just once, or a dozen times. I just need to get one story published. This is the big goal! And there you have it! What are some of your New Years resolutions?