2014
The Future of the Book
or
"In which standards are always in steep decline, and things keep getting better."
I don't worry about the future of stories any more than I worry about the future of travel; people need stories the same way people need to go from Point A to Point B.
See, when it comes to travel, getting to point A to point B is usually the entire point, and if people argued non-stop that switching from horses to cars (or cars to trains, or trains to airplanes) was going to 'destroy travel', they'd been (rightly) seen as idiots.
Yes, switching to a car from a horse profoundly changes the "travel experience." Yes, I know it's just not the same for you without that 'horse smell'. Got it.
But you still got to Point B just fine?
And Point B is where you wanted to go? Yes?
Then shut up.
That's how the ebook versus paper debate strikes me: people debating the vehicle, when it's the thing inside that actually matters.
via +Mark Brueschke
The future of the bookPerspective
"We would worry less about what others think of us if we realized how seldom they do."
The Quotations Page: Quote from Ethel Barrett
“We would worry less about what others think of us if we realized how seldom they do.”
Stuff I’m Positive My Dad Never had to Tell Three-year-old Me, #6
"Kiddo, you’ll never impress anyone by referring to your junk as a volcano full of hot magma."
This is Why Zombie Outbreak Scenarios Work
You know, if I was going to write/run a zombie outbreak story (I'm not, but bear with me) and near the beginning of the story, I said "…and then one of the members of the news crew that 'US Patient Zero' was on decides to break quarantine to pick up some food at the local Peachy Keens Buffet," people's fairly legitimate response would be "OH COME ON."
Except this is, as we see, entirely plausible.
Because people are fucking stupid.
You can't count on much, but you can always count on that.
NBC Chief Medical Correspondent Nancy Snyderman, apparently not a fan of Ebola quarantines, is now under police surveillance after she was spotted out in public in New Jersey last week.
Don’t write action sequences
"Write suspense sequences that require action to resolve."
"[…] every action sequence has its own internal three act structure. Objective, complication, resolution. And not only that, but the complication needs to be something which forces a choice on the character, not just a complication in physical circumstances."
Via (and thanks!) +Rob Donoghue.
Writing: Action Scenes
Recently, our morphine-grogged friend (get well soon) Josh Friedman penned another one of his mini-masterpieces on writing sex scenes. Specifically, how he find writing sex scenes interesting, but he’s not all that sussed on …
Medieval Knight Hoodie
The main problem with this: Eighty bucks gets kind of spendy when I (clearly) need to buy at least three, in different sizes.
Check out this cool Medieval Knight Hoodie. With the convenience of a full-zip hoodie, it makes its wearer look like he or she is decked out in plate armor. The spaulders and visor are removable with snaps. The “plates” are reinforced with interfacing.
So Soft and… Shiny
I'd like one now, please.
Firefly Serenity Plush