Saturday, October 30, 2010

how about that novel you've been working on?

Coming this November: Let the creative juice flow with some wild authorial action!

Have a great idea for a book? How about a bad one? Well, would you at least like to have one?

If you want to develop the writing habit, have I got the jump-start for you! Come join the National Novel-Writing Month this November. The goal is to write fifty-thousand (50 000 (50k)) words of fiction in thirty days. Nobody cares if you churn out a steaming pile by the end of the month. As long as it's 50k or more, you win! Quantity over quality, just write, write, write!

I've had one hell of a plot in mind for several years, but without any benchmarks, I was turning out a piddling page count each year. And thanks to my own hyper-criticism, I ended up trashing every bit of it. Since NaNoWriMo has given me a goal and pushed criticism from my mind, it's the perfect tool to focus me on my fiction-writing habit.

May the prose be with you.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

free speech and offense

Is regulation the best response to offensive speech? No. Well-planned counter-argument is.

One of the few mainstream notions to which I subscribe: I hate hate. Hate speech sickens me. It's disgusting, abhorrent filth that I wish never to hear spewed forth again.

But I will defend to the death your right to say it.

My reason is simple. It is not my right, nor anyone else's, to decide which ideas are worthy of the monicker, "Ultimate Truth."

the trouble with Ultimate Truth

People will lie to you. Your own eyes, ears, and brain will mislead you. And in pursuit of Ultimate Truth, you will learn that truth is neither grand nor absolute. As Ben Kenobi once said, "many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view." Truth is impure. Truth is unstable. But best of all, truth is free. Logic can only tell us which truths may stand together. Reason can only tell us which truths may fulfill our goals. But nothing in logic or reason can tell us which truths to start with.

Nothing in logic or reason can give us an iota of Ultimate Truth.

No one has privileged knowledge. No one's knowledge is better than everyone else's. Maybe there's some knowledge that works well for everybody, but I haven't published it yet.

As much as this precludes silencing others, it does not preclude speaking louder still. I drool over the concept of counter-speech. When you hear something you hate, say so! Honesty feels great! Counter haters' free speech with free speech of your own. Anonymously if you have to. Counter-speech is the almighty god of wiser discourse. What more can I say?

Fight speech with speech, fire with fire, and never, ever escalate!

Non-violence must never be punished with violence.

That means never arresting, hitting, slapping, pinching, or biting people because of what they say. Am I wrong? Let me know it in the comments!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

out-of-control noise got you down? add some in-control noise!

Are unfriendly sounds stressing you out? Here are some links that can help for free!.

I love peace. I love quiet. My family makes noise. It's unnerving. It breaks my focus. It slows my work to a crawl. My work needs focus.

Now I have Forest Mood and Rainy Mood. They're free-to-use white-noise streams. They give me control over what I hear, so my family's noise won't stress me out.

When I get tired of listening to those, I don't switch them off. I head over to Grooveshark and add my favorite songs to the mix. Only English-free songs, to prevent distraction.

Of course, there's always Pandora if I'm feeling adventurous. I prefer to stick with a set playlist while I'm working, though.

Am I missing out on a great strategy for dealing with noisy cohabitants? Please leave a comment and let me know!