May 2010

The Best Way to Keep One's Word is Not to Give It

May 31, 2010

Let’s talk about promises.
Napleon loans us the title of this post, ”The Best Way to Keep One’s Word is Not to Give It“.  Another one I like a lot, is “Promises are like babies:  easy to make, hard to deliver.“  (Sorry, that one is anonymous.  I’ve got to wonder why?)
So, what do promises have to do [...]

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Give Your Reader the Gift of Vision

May 31, 2010

  If you have ever listened to a radio drama, raise you hand.  No, not you.  Audio books don’t count for this piece.  I’m asking if you have ever listened to a story that was designed to be told over the radio?
Hmm.  Not as many as I’d hoped.  That’s OK, I’ll explain the best I [...]

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World Building: Revisited – Part 20

May 31, 2010

Continued from Part 19
New to this project: Start with Part 1

  Part 20: Whence the People?
Terrestrial history shows us that nearly every culture has its own unique set of Creation stories.  As fascinating as those are, this time we want to discuss how the people actually came to being on your planet.
There is room for [...]

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Tenebrous: Word of the Day

May 31, 2010

 Tenebrous, adj.
Dark, gloomy.
The Choir Master’s tenebrous mood had begun to diminish the quality of the music at performances.
alternate usage:
“I think you may have the biggest family I’ve ever seen”
“Yeah,” he said gloomily.  “I’ve got six sisters, and tenebrous.”
How will you use tenebrous in a sentence today?
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Writing, and the Programmer's Syndrome

May 31, 2010

 Certainly, not everybody had tried their hand at computer programming, or has opened one up to gaze at, and perhaps mess with its electronic guts, but it is almost certain that anyone who has used a computer for any length of time has fallen prey to either—or both— of the two components of the Programmer’s Syndrome.
Briefly, [...]

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The Things You Have to Do in Order to Do the Things You Need to Do…

May 29, 2010

There really wasn’t room for the complete title.  It should have been, “Doing the things you have to do in order to do the things you need to do in order to do the things you want to do.”
Sometimes getting the clutter out is a trap, a way to keep from getting to the real work, the [...]

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World Building: Revisited – Part 19

May 29, 2010

Continued from Part 18
New to this project: Start with Part 1

  Part 19: Where do we stand?
     The first 18 days of our journey into World Building have brought us pretty far.  We’ve looked at stars, and made suggestions about planetary orbits.  We’ve considered gravity and touched on atmosphere.  We’ve looked at our planet from [...]

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Truculent: Word of the Day

May 29, 2010

  Truculent, adj.
Fierce; savage; ferocious; barbarous.
The gang members were truculent in the face of their enemies.
Alternate usage:
“I’m upset, Artie.  That truculent me was out of gas.”
How will you use truculent in a sentence today?
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We Won't Get Fooled Again

May 29, 2010

 
People who dwell in the land of the mind—am I being insensitive?  I don’t think so, not everyone does—are often hobbled by the fear that they’ll be made a fool of by a person or a notion.  In fact, that has, does, and will happen over and over.  Why?  Because we nearly always have to take [...]

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Book Review: Replay

May 28, 2010

  Every Reader (notice the capital R) that I know has a favorite book or five.  You know, the one that is so satisfying that you read it again and again.  One that you have to keep seeking out and buying, because the copy you’ve loaned out never comes home again?  I have a good [...]

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