This is part 2 in a series of meta-writing articles referencing my experiences creating a (far from complete) online web novel. Admittedly, I am assuming both success and completion of the project and will be exploring from that perspective. Additional articles in this series will be posted as interesting milestones occur. Three-and-a-half months, nearly thirty episodes, and about twenty-five thousand words (not that I’m even really counting) and here’s where we are at: if you are a loyal reader of this blog you’ll have been wondering why every couple of days an automated post appears with that CGA yodeling dude proclaiming yet another fragment of some bit of writing I’ve been working on. If you’ve been brave and followed the links — I know some [...]

This is part 1 in a series of meta-writing articles referencing my experiences creating a (far from complete) online web novel. Admittedly, I am assuming both success and completion of the project and will be exploring from that perspective. Additional articles in this series will be posted as interesting milestones occur. Introduction: The Data Yodeler I’ve been meaning to do it for a long time, but it was in December 2008 that I decided that I was going to buckle down and — once-and-for-all — write a novel. There were obstacles to overcome, of course. For one, I had just recently and accidentally deleted the project I’d spent the previous couple of years developing leaving me both mentally scarred and severely lacking in researched ideas. [...]

We’ve all been through some kind of science class in our life. I am assuming most readers of this blog have traversed some part of the great education divide and within that journey there was at least a little bit of biology, chemistry, physics, and math. At one point in my life I was so singularly obsessed with the blend of science and education I wanted to be a teacher myself. Now I just settle for ranting about it on a blog. The problem is that we’re all — most of us are — through that “stage” in our lives. We’ve passed science. We’ve move beyond it, and into the “real” world. Yes, some of us have found professions that continue to delve into science-related [...]

Brought to you by the list of pointless topics, and the school of complex-thing simplification… So you want to write a blog, eh? Well, here’s the deal. No holds barred: 1. Come up with an idea. A good idea. Not one of your crappy, run-of-the-mill ideas. All those ideas are already used up. Find a niche that no one else is interested in writing about and… 2. Start thinking of articles. If you just sit down expecting to come up with genius content once the blog is online for public consumption, think again. That kind of pressure will melt your brain. No way, write down ten articles titles relating to your good idea and then… 3. Find somewhere to host your blog. There are countless [...]

I was thinking of writing an entry explaining two things: (1) my motivation for writing and posting as much as I do and (2) the apparent arrogance and self-importance that tends to come across in this blog. First, I write because I am as compelled to write as I am to breathe. And second, that WOULD be arrogance did sin number seven not apply. I am mindful of that, and my explanation — not directed at ANYONE at all but me, really — evolved into the following: Do you have a blog? Thinking of starting one? Seven years, multiple blogs, thousands of entries, and encyclopedic quantities of text later, I have the following advice… of how you can completely screw up. Those seven sins of [...]

I’ve become something of a tea connoisseur, juggling a small collection of loose-leaf blends in the drawer of my desk at work. Forty days without coffee, while not nearly a milestone, is definitely a point of reflection: the steadfast test came this weekend as I brewed a fresh, fragrant pot each morning for company, rich dark blends spreading an inviting aroma throughout the house while I, instead, drank an over-sweet cup of watered-down orange punch. What am I thinking? Hitting Starbucks for the first time in forty days, I ordered a venti green tea instead of the usual bold blend, sipping the not-nearly-as-satisfying brew as we wandered around the bookstore and thumbed through things I can’t buy right now because “it’s your birthday soon” or [...]