Every writer, every once in a while, must stop, take a good look around, and ask him- or herself, "Why am I in the kitchen?" 

You can't write plausible near-future sci-fi any more.  The writing and publishing process are so slow, and the pace of technology so fast, that any idea a writer can come up with is more likely to be old news than futurism by the time it sees print.

Of course, while I was typing that, I'll bet a new technology development occurred which will ( Read more... )

Randall Munroe, the author of xkcd, apparently sick of financial news, put up a goofy short story on his blog.  An excerpt:

"Bernanke, trying not to slip in the patches of blood on the floor, struggled with Greenspan. The older man moved like a snake that moved like a former Fed Chairman who moved like a ninja. At last, Bernanke got a solid grip ( Read more... )

No document can contain the tortured writhings of a human soul.  Writers are all trying desperately to do that, but what of it?  Can any of them succeed?  Does the degree to which they succeed determine their level of skill?  Even if one could encode it, could anyone receive it? 

The one thing that gives me the most hope right now is that I am actually in compliance with Yog's first imperative:  Write Every Day.  I do.  I write every day.  Every morning I start a new datestamped scratch document in Google Docs, and periodically throughout the day, through whatever browser is handy, I squeeze my head out onto the page.  And ( Read more... )

'Cause buds'll kick you in the ass when you need it ( Read more... )

I haven't written anything new since Flutter By.  I can't remember how many months ago that was.

My slush count is currently zero.

If this turns out to have been a momentary pause, while I took stock and found my voice, then no worries.

But if it lasts, it is very very bad. 

When I read others' work, I should keep in mind where they were in their careers, and where I am in my career, and not despair.

This morning, I finished Dust. 

If you're a writer, even if just (just!) a blogger, everybody who reads your stuff, when they meet you, will already feel that they know you.  This is supposed to be the case.  In becoming a writer, you accepted it implicitly.  When you write something, and someone else reads it, you have voluntarily offered the contents of your soul to them.

(And ( Read more... )

So I have this personal information management system that I've been using since... let me check... April 2nd, 1998.  And by system, I mean a continuity consisting of a blob of data and a set of technological tools and personal habits and policies, collectively maintained now for just over a decade.  The set of tools has changed over those years, ( Read more... )