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2015-03-01 · 18:00

Make It Stop!

If you’ve ever seen an author interviewed I can almost guarantee one question they will be asked. They will be asked: ‘Where do you get your ideas?’

I can’t seem to find a source for this but one answer I’ve come across is: ‘The problem is not coming up with ideas – the problem is making them stop!’

While this is not a problem I’ve had in abundance it certainly something to which I can relate. With so much going on from articles, anecdotes, Facebook status, and even mash-ups the possibilities are endless. That last one is of particular interest as a pitch for a new idea is ofter couched as a connection between two already awesome things: It’s Star Trek meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer – for instance.

When I see something interesting I bookmark it. I’ve got lots of bookmarked tabs with little snippets of things. Some might become short stories, some blog posts, and some as little more than just showing you that they exist.

Of course there are still times when the ideas don’t flow. This seems just ridiculous when you consider that the internet gives us access to the sum of all human knowledge.

Generally though ideas are easy. This brings me to another point. Ideas do not make a film (or novel ect)…

Some people seem to reckon that having an idea is doing most of the work. They tell you the idea and expect equal credit in making into an idea. They are wrong. They are very wrong.

While ideas for stories are always welcome they are a small part of the creative process. Take ER for instance. The premise of that show is simple. We can explore the doings of: doctors, nurses, administration staff, and the rest. We also have the opportunity to have episodic stories as patient’s lives intersect with the hospital.

To write the story…

I would need to know about: hearts, livers, kidneys, lungs, arms, legs, heads, brains, hospital procedures, legal procedures, administrative procedures, stethoscopes, recovery times, cancer, emphysema, measles, meningitis, hospital acronyms, and exactly what it would look like having your arm severed by a helicopter – must be why they call them choppers.

Yes, ideas are nice but they are only the beginning.

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2015-02-28 · 18:50

Leonard Nimoy 1931-2015

Leonard Nimoy died yesterday. I wanted in my own small way to pay tribute to him

I was born in 1987 so ‘my’ Star Trek series was Deep Space Nine. I have of course seen the original series too. Although it looks a little dated, both in terms of effects and cultural attitudes, it still stands out as an excellent series.

I always felt that Mr. Spock was a, to use exactly the right word, fascinating character. That of course was a lot to do with Leonard Nimoy. He came up with the Vulcan salute and suggested the finger touching, in The Enterprise Incident, as an alien alternative to kissing. This gave Spock a wonderful mystique. He was a wonderful character. I wasn’t born until eighteen years after the cancellation of Star Trek but Spock is still more iconic to me than any other character in any of the series.

I never got to meet Leonard Nimoy and always hoped I would.

In interviews it is obvious that he was a very thoughtful man both as an actor and a human being. In one interview he describes hearing Spock in his head – helping him to come to better ways of dealing with a problem.

Nimoy was aware of his condition before his death. Earlier this year he tweeted:

“I quit smoking 30 yrs ago. Not soon enough. I have COPD. Grandpa says, quit now!! LLAP”

I’d like to echo that. I know many people who smoke and it saddens me to see it. I’ve never smoked but I understand that quitting is a difficult thing to do.

Leonard Nimoy did live a long and prosperous life but, like Andreas Katsulas, died sooner than he might have due to a smoking related condition.

Like Leonard Nimoy says: ‘Quit now.’

In closing it only remains for me to say: Live Long and Prosper.

….

And quit smoking.

Please.

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2015-02-22 · 18:00

Pass it Forward

On Friday the 13th of February I went to Lush. I love going into Lush. They have lots of great products and their staff are always very knowledgeable. I will also admit the staff tend to be attractive.

Lush have good ethical policies. In writing this though I’ve realised that that is not unique as there is an EU ban on animal testing on cosmetics. Nevertheless I really enjoy Lush’s products and the mingling smells of the shop.

On this instance I was shopping for someone else. I assume you can work out, from the date, what I was shopping for. I bought a bath bomb, a floating flower, and a knot wrap for it all.

Now comes the time of embarrassment. I’d asked for the products to be wrapped up but when I got home I discovered something else in the bag. My first assumption was that the lady had only wrapped one of my items. After examining the knot wrap I discovered I’d been given something extra. Specifically it was a tisty-tosty. With it was the card you can see on the right. Like I said I’m embarrassed. I’d been given this extra something and my first thought was that some mistake had been made.

I must compliment the staff for their slight of hand. I didn’t notice her pick up the tisty-tosty or write her message to me on the back of the card. All I knew was that I’d asked not to have a bag and they gave me one anyway. I discovered this extra bomb when I was on the train.

With that sentence this post has been flagged by the FBI, CIA, MI5, and MDF or whoever.

The funny thing is that I’ve been living in a house without heating or hot water for the last few weeks. My dear old boiler died before Christmas and I’ve finally been able to get a new one. This meant no baths and no showers just a normal wash using a kettle. Well using water from a kettle actually.

So it was great timing to have a bomb for my bath.

I love the idea of pay (pass) it forward and should think of something to do. I did make a charitable donation afterwards, I was ambushed by one of the street people, so maybe that counts.

What’s your favorite Lush product?

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2015-02-15 · 18:00

Days

As you may have noticed there was no post last week. I wish I could give you some grand reason for this. There isn’t one. I could give you some excuses I suppose.

Last Saturday I went to my parents house for dinner, I finally had a Saturday evening off, and we played Bohnanza. This is a rather strange game with anthropomorphised beans. A good game though.

On Sunday we went for lunch. A proper Sunday lunch which I haven’t had in a very long time, with the exception of Christmas dinner I suppose, it was good food. Then in the evening I had to go into work for just an hour for a meeting – a pointless meeting – aren’t they always.

Those are the excuses but there is another story.

I had a bad day.

Looking back at my diary the bad day was actually Monday – I’d planned on the post being just a day late. I just didn’t feel like doing anything. Do you ever get days like that? I’m sure we all do. I slept for a long time and just watched Voyager.

Sometimes you just need to do nothing.

Speaking of my diary I’m still keeping up with it. The idea was to think of a happy thing for each day. I am doing that but also keeping a general record of what is going on. Some days my happiness for the day is seeing a particular person smile.

A smile is probably the first thing I notice about someone – a smile and eyes too.

***

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. I like Valentine’s day. Some people see it as overly commercial and generally silly. They may be correct but I still like it. It is an opportunity to show someone you care. Maybe if you’re in a relationship it matters less but if not it seems like the perfect opportunity to approach someone. If nothing else its nice to be nice. I know nice is a bad word for a writer to use but sometimes it works.

People can go over board with romantic gestures – but why would anyone have a problem receiving a card or chocolates or something. I’m assuming of course that we’re talking about two people who get on and not Gul Dukat giving a dress to Major Kira or something.

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2015-02-01 · 23:22

Short Stories and Shoe Horns

I’ve written a story. That is a rather redundant statement as I am a writer but its true.

Specifically I’ve written a story for a competition and I’m not sure its any good.

I’ve used a character I’ve used before and written a story for the competition. The competition simple asked for a story based around a provided opening line. I may have shoe horned an existing idea into place. It kind of fits. The story works. i.e: the protagonist has a problem, she discusses that problem, and comes up with a solution.

That is the basis of almost any story. The problem is it covers everything from walking in to Mordor to walking to the shops to buy an apple…

…

Problem: I’m hungry

Solution: Get food.

Once upon a time I was hungry and their was no food in the house. I got up off my lazy butt and went to the shops. I bought food. Several of the chocolate bars did not survive the journey home.

…

That is a story outline but unless you’re having to battle a dragon to get to the shop its not going to do too well.

There is something to be said for submitting anything and every thing. The simple act of writing can be an idea generation machine. So maybe I will. The entrance fee is £3 and the prize is £250. Which isn’t too bad really. Is there a point submitting when there isn’t much of a chance of winning? I’m not sure I have an answer to that.

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2015-01-25 · 21:59

Cardiff Farmers Market

Today was a day off. Having Sunday’s off is still quite rare and I went out – that is also quite rare.

I went to Cardiff Farmers Market. Its well wroth a look if you’re ever in Cardiff. I had a lovely burger and some excellent onion bhajis from Kimi Catering.

I met my parents at the market and afterwards we walked down to the bay.

Sometimes its nice to do simple things – like this post – its also nice to relax.

Only eighty-nine words this week but more coming soon.

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2015-01-18 · 18:00

It’s Time for Plan B

The other day I downloaded Scrivener. Scrivener is creative writing software. It is designed to bring a story all the way from idea to finished product. Its early days yet but I have high hopes that this will be useful.

The main feature I’ve used thus far is the cork board. Essential you write ideas in little boxes, these could be paragraph or chapter summaries, to get the overview of the story. You can then rearrange them to get a clear idea of the story in a simple form. This is invaluable if writing a novel as its easy to get lost in the hundreds of pages a novel can be.

Scrivener offers a 30 day free trial. What is great about this is that it is a true thirty days. i.e it’s thirty days of actual use so if you used it once a week it will last 30 weeks.

I should declare that this isn’t sponsored. There are many other creative writing programs out there. You could probably get more or less the same effect with a spreadsheet. Though a spreadsheet is not designed with this idea in mind.

I have no idea how many restarts I’ve had of my novel. It has been time for plan B for a long time. Time to plan and write the novel out in two hundred sentences before making it a 100,000 words or so. I used to think planning was boring – maybe it is – its also essential.

___

O’Neill:”It’s time for plan B.”
Carter: “We have a plan B?”
O’Neill: “No, but it’s time for one.”

Stargate SG-1 – Orpheus.

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2015-01-04 · 18:00

Year Anytime

I don’t know when you’re reading this. You might be reading it on the day of up load, it might be the middle of summer, you might be reading it in the year 4247 for all I know. Goodness imagine how many web pages their will be by then. Allow me to get to my point a year can start anywhere.

We all have those moments where we decide to try something new. It could be a diet. It could be anything. If you’re anything like me you might feel that a Monday or a Sunday are the only days to begin something. You might even feel like the 1st of the month is the only day. You might want to wait until a month where the 1st falls on a Monday.

At the start of a new year people set resolutions. The year though is arbitrary. I’d like to switch to a calendar starting in March, like the Roman calendar, because then winter would be over. That is, of course, a northern hemisphere centric view of the world – however that is where I live. To me it always feels like winter should be over with the start of a new year. With all the talk of new beginnings its strange to me that winter straddles both years.

If you do have a new plan start now. It might be Thursday. Poor Thursday the runt of the weak. Monday and Tuesday start the week; Wednesday is midweek, and Thursday is the annoying thing that prevents Friday coming sooner. Thursday is just as good a day as any to begin something. The Royal Navy practice battle maneuvers on a Thursday.

As it is a new year, this is a do as I say not as I do situation, I have started something new. Actually I did start it on a Thursday or rather Christmas Day. I started writing a happiness diary.

I heard of the idea through a friend. The idea is to write something that makes you happy every day. I know it may sound a little hokey but it can actually be quite effective.

For my diary I’m actually writing a bit more fully. So its not just the one happy paragraph but an account of the day too. Whether or not its helpful to remember bad things I don’t know. Maybe a happiness diary would be useful to you.

1st January 2015

Busy day at work and it rained. My God it rained.

Happiness day#1 Watched the BBC adaptation of Esio Trot. It was delightfully done!

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2014-12-28 · 18:00

The End of It

This is the last post of 2014. When 2015 comes around it will feel, once again, like a new period of hope. Then, before you can look round, you realise it’s February and you’ve already failed to keep up with any new year’s resolutions.

This blog is my success this year. I have posted on it every week. I think one or two posts were a little late but the average was one a week. I didn’t however manage to start doing You Tube. With that I was doing the classic thing of the procrastinator – waiting for the right time and thus never doing it.

Exercise is another slight fail. I went to the gym for a while, I joined in June, but lately I haven’t been using it so much. To be honest I live too far from the gym. It takes three hours to do a one hour gym session. That’s when you factor in the train journey, waiting for the train, showering, and going to and from the station. I realised though that if that is the case I could just go for a walk for a couple of hours. Two hours of walking would probably equal the exercise of half an hour on a rowing machine.

For the new year I’m not sure I want to codify my resolutions. One thing I have thought about is learning to drive.

Leaning to drive has never been a priority to me. Until the beginning of this year I was within cycling distance of anywhere I wanted to be. Now I live further away and have to rely on trains. That is fine most of the time. The only exceptions are: Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, the occasional Sunday, and when I want to be out later than the last train. Having a car would be more convenient. If you leave five minutes late, when getting a train, you miss the train and have to wait for the next one. If going by car you can basically stay five minutes late.

The idea of learning to drive though is rather terrifying. I might just be better off putting some money aside to afford a taxi now and then.

And I know I say this every year but finishing my novel is a priority too.

Happy New Year!

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2014-12-21 · 18:00

Best Sci-Fi Characters of All Time

This will be my last post before Christmas. I don’t want to talk about Christmas.

The other day the BFI uploaded its picks for ‘The Best Sci-Fi Characters of All Time.‘ At the top of the list was The Doctor. This to me is no great surprise. Doctor Who is probably the most versatile science fiction that exists. You can tell any story you can imagine in that universe.

What did surprise me was that Kerr Avon was number 4. This is not because I don’t like the character but rather because I’ve always thought as Blake’s 7 to be a little obscure.

For Star Trek Mr Spock was the highest ranked at number 10. Spock is certainly the most iconic of all Star Trek characters. For me he was always more interesting a character than Kirk. When watching TOS I always wonder why Spock isn’t in charge.

Babylon 5 was well represented too with: G’Kar, Londo Mollari, Susan Ivanova, Captain John Sheridan, Delenn (twice), Alfred Bester, Commander Jeffrey Sinclair, Lyta Alexander, and Michael Garibaldi.

For Stargate SG-1 we have the whole team with the exception of Cameron Mitchell, which I can understand, and Teal’c which I can’t.

So who would my top ten be? Well I’m going to limit myself to names on their list…