Writing The Histories (or, Crafting Totally Real Histories is Hard)
Some of you may know that I have been working on this silly project called The Histories on and off for a while now. For those not familiar with it, I’ll just point you to the very accurate description on the wiki. This project is now closing in on 30,000 words, and it features content spanning centuries, numerous real and tru-real subjects and peoples, and events both grand and minor (many of which are legitimately real or extrapolated from things someone thinks is real). There are jokes and quirky references, and there are serious linkages to real history. All of that takes a lot of work and time, and so I figured I could do a fun little thing where I tell you about my writing process for every entry. So, let’s talk about writing process, shall we?
Announcement: The Histories “I Need a New Computer” Write-a-Thon
Starting now, I’m campaigning to get at least 100 people to buy an entry in The Histories so I can buy a new computer. That’s 100 people sending $10 or more to my Ko-Fi or PayPal OR joining my Patreon at the same level. The Histories is my quirky encyclopedia project (now a wiki) wherein I write absolutely true short histories about real people. Lots of folks have already been included in the wiki, including my good friends Paul Weimer, Brandon O’Brien, Stina Leicht, and more, plus really awesome writerly folks like Premee Mohamed, T.J. Berry, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Diana Rowland, and more. These folks are wizards, space pirates, immortals, mad scientists, and so on! Anyone can get an entry for themselves or for a friend or family member OR expand an existing entry (your own or someone else’s). If that interests you, read the Buy an Entry page for how to get one and some of the basic rules (what you can request, etc.).
Fan Fiction vs. Tie-In Fiction: A Framework
Every once in a while, fandom is beset upon by a series of somewhat aggressive arguments about the function of accuracy in film/tv adaptations. The best of these follow my own path, which involves assessing the work on its own terms before going back to look at how it functions as an adaptation. The worst of these, however, fall into a familiar trap of damnation by comparison — typically by comparing an adaptation to fan fiction. Essentially, the argument goes, substantial deviations from the source material make a work more fan fiction than adaptation; by doing so, these works become worse off. Fan fiction, in other words, is, by implication, a lesser form of art. None of this, of course, is particularly surprising. While many fan fiction writers and the community which surrounds them find great value in fan fiction and its various related works (fan art, etc.), there has always been a side of the broader fan community which views such works as a lesser fan pursuit, artistically weak, or, in the most brutal rejection, contemptable garbage (sometimes verging on a kind of moral decay).
The Science Fiction Research I Didn’t Present This Weekend
As many of you know, the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA) has been cancelled. I am a regular attendee and have presented my research there several times. This year, I was set to moderate a panel and present an essay entitled “Postcolonial Thought, Decolonizing the Anthropocene, and Tobias S. Buckell’s Climate Change Novels.” That project is now on hold until I can find the time to put in edits and submit it somewhere. However, I will talk a bit about the research that went into this project. Strap in!
Academia During a Pandemic: Hunker Down Philosophy 1B
Almost as soon as I released yesterday’s post on things I’m planning to do in order to survive this pandemic we find ourselves in, things got made real at my university: classes have been cancelled entirely until March 30th. This presents some real challenges. For one, it looks like we’re going to lose two full weeks of classes. That’s a lot of classes. That’s a lot of interesting topics and conversations gone. Poofed out of existence by a totally reasonable response to an absolutely bananapants situation. And so here I am contemplating the types of changes I’ll need to make so the class still…functions. What assignments can I drop? What assignments can I move to “do it on your own”? What things must stay so students meet the intended learning outcomes?
Academia During a Pandemic: Hunker Down Philosophy 1A
COVID-19 is upon us in the good old United States of America. Like many totally great countries, we are really prepared for a global pandemic involving a virus for which there is no direct treatment and which kills vulnerable populations a tad too easily. We’re super prepared. Mega prepared. So prepared it’s like this country is run by very competent people. Believe me. Of course, the only true statement in that paragraph is the first one. COVID-19 is upon us. It is upon many people. And it’s here to stay for a while. In my dreams, the world rallies and kicks this ugly virus to the curb, minimizing the loss of life and paving the way for a glorious future where peoples and nations work together in harmony. They’ll build a new United Nations and form a global exploratory and scientific space organization and band together to revert climate change and pave the way for an era of nearly endless prosperity. We’ll discover new worlds, create amazing new technologies and art, and look back on the past as a shameful and pathetic time. Dream dream dream.