Fiction gives us empathy: it puts us inside the minds of other people, gives us the gifts of seeing the world through their eyes. Fiction is a lie that tells us true things, over and over.
Category: Writing
Buying Your Speech for $2K
According to Reason, Senator Mitch McConnell is willing to go along with $2,000 checks for everyone – as long as he can backdoor changes to Section 230.
Section 230 has taken a lot of heat from both sides of the aisle. The left thinks it allows the amplification of hate speech, while the right asserts it allows “Big Tech” to silence them. They’re both wrong. Section 230 simply doesn’t hold websites liable for comments made on them by other parties. Removing the Section 230 protections will dampen free speech on the internet. It will silence radicals on both sides. I doubt even cat pictures will be safe.
Thank You Reader David and Some Writing Stuff
David Blackard, who blogs over at Blue Collar Prepping, is one of my alpha readers. He recently did me a great service by finding an old draft of the fantasy novel I’ve been working on and sending it back to me. It contained a bunch of writing that Scrivener swallowed in its updating between versions.
I like Scrivener, but there have been a few occasions when it syncs between my phone, my tablet, and my computer that it loses some writing. Mostly just a little bit, but sometimes a whole lot. I keep toying with the idea of switching to Word, particularly since I now have Office 365 and can write on my devices. I have this feeling if I were a more professional, or full-time, writer, I would like all the additional features of Scrivener even more. I may do a hybrid where I do a lot of the drafting in Word, and then figure out some of the editing in Scrivener. Not sure at the moment.
Anyways, David sending me my draft kickstarted my desire to write again. So, The Wife and I have agreed to at least one night a week devoted to our crafts. We purchased a Cricut for her back before everything went nuts, and she’s been using the hell out of it. With the holidays just around the corner, her projects list exploded. While my writing list hasn’t undergone the same expansion, it also hasn’t budged very much.
Friday Quote – themerrywriter
You can edit a bad book, but not a blank page.
2020 Goals
I looked back at what I wrote in January 2019, and I still stand by that I will make goals instead of resolutions. I did hit my goals for weight loss, but none of my writing goals. It’s amazing how much being married and being in Toastmasters cut down on my free writing time.
So, here are my goals for 2020:
- Toastmasters – Achieve Level 2 on Pathways in Toastmasters (I need to do two more speeches)
- Writing – Finish the third Irregulars story
- Writing – Re-post all of Zombie Strike (somehow in all of the blog issues the audio has gone into the ether)
- Writing – Put up blog posts four times a week
- Activism – Contact my state representative and state senator on all the bad gun bills hitting the 2020 Florida legislative session.
- Weight – Maintain my goal weight and keep my tracking streak for the year
- Professional – Improve my PowerPivot and Power BI skills with an aim at improving my standard reports
- Training– Get to one gun class this year.
Friday Quote – W. Somerset Maugham
There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
Black Man With A Gun Retiring
Kenn Blanchard, long time 2A activist, is hanging up his spurs after almost three decades of fighting the good fight. I wish him well in whatever he pursues next.
Kenn was one of the first podcasts I listened to. Not one of the first gun podcasts, one of the first podcasts period. His was also the first where I wrote the host. Then came him talking about zombies invading his Labor Day barbecue. That began the ball rolling to Zombie Strike and almost a decade of collaboration. First zombies, and then werewolves.
Kenn was the first time I got to meet one of the podcasters. He met me for cigars and talking more than once, and those are some good memories.
We’ve drifted in the last few years. My fault – as my life has taken some dramatic turns.
Thank you Kenn. For all of your hard work. For encouraging a geek in Tampa to write for you. For being my friend.
Happy trails.
Friday Quote – Larry Niven
The reader has certain rights. He bought your story. Think of this as an implicit contract. He’s entitled to be entertained, instructed, amused; maybe all three. If he quits in the middle, or puts the book down feeling his time has been waited, you’re in violation.
My Ice Breaker Speech For Toastmasters
I know I put the text of my Ice Breaker Speech a bit ago, but I finally got around to getting the video set up.
Speaking Geek – Educational Moment
This is the educational moment I gave to our Toastmasters club last night.
Speak Geek
Ba Weep Granna Weep Nini Bon. Klatuu Verada Niktuu May the Force be with you. Ah, that one you understand. Now, we’re cooking with fuel oil. I know some of you are thinking of course I understood the last one, it was English. If you spoke geek, you would recognize the references. I speak fluent geek with emphasis on the Star Wars, Star Trek, Transformers, 80s cartoons, and anime sub-dialects. I’m not telling you this to brag about my knowledge of obscure media, but to reinforce the concept of knowing your audience. If we are delivering a speech on a technical subject, we would reduce the jargon for people unfamiliar with the subject, but that jargon would have special meaning when talking to a room of subject matter experts. If we are going to us acronyms, it’s a good idea to make sure that the acronyms don’t have another common usage for your audience. Such as when your national program office shares the same acronym as the inpatient mental health ward. Ask me how I know. Another is watching what idioms and references we use using. Otherwise you’re standing up here wondering why people aren’t responding when you’re giving them the universal greeting from Transformers. Live long and prosper.