National Pi Day—March 14
Nice to see you again! Join in the discussion!Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a bit of a nerd, which is precisely why a holiday like National Pi Day would appeal to me.
As the Pi Day website explains, Pi is a number that describes the the relationship between a circle’s diameter and its circumference. You remember that from high school geometry class, don’t you?
There’s something kind of cool and esoteric about a number that can never be expressed exactly. Of course, you can take part of the challenge. How many places can you name? 3.1415926535897932, etc., etc., Coincidentally, it is also the birthday of Albert Einstein.
A pithy man, that Albert Einstein. Consider these quotes:
- “A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?”
- “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”
- “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
- “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”
- “I used to go away for weeks in a state of confusion.”
- “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?”
This year, enjoy Pi with a bit of Einstein wisdom. After all, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
My Writing Tool Kit
Concerns over the health hazards of sitting too long made me look at my writing routine for ways to insert some activity. This has to be a common hazard for writers. On the one hand, we want to stay in the moment and in the groove. On the other hand, there is that health thing.
To get myself moving, I use Eye Relax at 60-minute intervals to remind me to get off the chair. Whenever I get a call, it’s time to walk around the house. The activity helps clear my mind and relieve tension in my back from sitting.
I write articles in addition to my fiction writing. To help me evaluate my productivity, I use Klok to track my time. Like Eye Relax, it is free software. For me, knowing my output versus my pay helps me better grasp my productivity and gives me the information I need to realistically set my rates.
For non-fiction writing, the Fire Fox extension, Zotero, is my essential tool. Not only can I create collections of links, but I can also add notes that include citation information. That use alone saves lots of keystrokes and cuts down on typing errors. I cannot say enough good things about it, except I wish it had a Chrome version too.
Every one has their favorite tools and shortcuts. What are some of yours?
What Ecology Teaches You About Writing
Today’s writing tip is about what the science of ecology can teach you about improving your writing and your writing career.
Ecology teaches that organisms optimize their energy resources. We naturally follow the same course. The least amount of time and labor that we can invest to achieve our goal is a good strategy.
Invest your resources proportional to your gain.
In ecological terms, this principle is manifested in r and K-strategists. R-strategists include animals like mice and rabbits. Because of high mortality rate (read: kill rates, rejection rates), the optimal strategy is to produce lots of offspring or product. Generally, the parental investment is minimal.
Young are born helpless, requiring some upbringing (read: marketing) or able to take care of themselves. Small body size is typical. For the writer, this means high quantity of small articles.
K-strategists, on the other hand, invest a lot of time and resources in their few offspring. Offspring are typically larger, that is with a higher word content or better content quality. The offspring (read: articles) are long lived or evergreen.
The resource will move to a state of equilibrium.
Succession is the process by which a community (read: career direction) will be replaced by another, eventually reaching a point of climax or ecological equilibrium.
This may describe the way you work. You begin with low-paying jobs to gain experience. Eventually, as your writing improves, you are able to get better-paying gigs. Finally, you reach a point where you are writing for a wage commensurate with your talent and experience. You have reached your writing climax.
Ecology teaches us that we should make the best use of our resources whether they are energy related or monetary. Apply these principles to your writing and you will achieve optimal growth.
Writing Tip—Active Voice
Today’s writing tip is about making a vast improvement to your writing with one simple tip. Use active voice when writing.
Active voice is more powerful. It creates clearer images in your reader’s mind, helping to visualize the action of your writing.
Subconsciously perhaps, we gravitate to more active people. We may shy away from those passive individuals. We prefer to watch action rather than inaction. Thus, active voice is simply more interesting.
Of course, that is not to say that there is not a place for passive writing. However, its meaning is so much more dramatic if it is enveloped by active voice writing. The stark contrast interest us, draws us in to the plot. We are naturally more curious about what someone will do rather than what will happen to someone.
You’ll find that the more you are conscious of using active voice, the easier it will become. As you learn to recognize and correct it, your writing will improve dramatically.
Review: Blackberry Curve 8530
It’s been about a month since I purchased my new Blackberry Curve 8530. My faithful Curve 8330 bit the dust when it stopped taking a charge. The micro USB port with the 8530 is more stable, I’m told.
The difference using a phone that was 3G-network enabled was noticeable right away. Nothing like a fast network connection. My Pocket Express news loaded quickly.
The phone has a nice feel to it. Rather than the trackball, it has an optical trackpad. I admit that it took some getting used to, but I really like it now. The phone is both wireless and GPS-enabled, which is another plus if you have poor phone coverage. You can still get all of those work emails, don’t worry.
It comes with a 2 megapixel camera, with surprisingly no flash. That may be a major drawback if you’re taking a lot of pictures inside.
Now the drawbacks. Unbeknownst to me, the Curve 8530 uses the v5.0 operating system. That’s good for the all around upgrades, including OTA wireless updates. On the downside, several of my installed programs ceased to work. Incompatible with the new OS.
The most annoying of the OS issue was with Aerize Card Loader. I used to be able to download programs to my memory card. No more. The program is incompatible and the developer does not appear quick to solve the issue.
Another annoying OS problem was with glitch with the pre-installed version of the OS. The phone had this irksome habit of switching from the home screen to the Media app every few seconds. It tapped the battery quickly. Fortunately, an update fixed that particular issue. However, there still are issues with my AutoStandby program.
Overall, it’s a great phone. I like its slick design, even though I’ll have to sell my Otterbox that no longer fits. The hardware is much improved, the sound quality much better. I feel a bit miffed that I wasn’t alerted to potential software issues by the otherwise very knowledgeable salesperson with whom I dealt.
Despite the hassles, I believe it was a good purchase. Recommended!
Writers Must Embrace Online Retail
Today’s writers are in a very different place than writers of the past. We are more involved—and expected—to be involved with marketing. A web presence isn’t a luxury. It is an essential.
Since we will rely more and more on the web, it makes sense that we embrace the Internet. One key way to do so is to simply shop the Internet. It doesn’t matter what you buy from sporting goods to gourmet food.
The point is that you have to show your trust for buying online. Buy flowers for your spouse or golf clubs. Show that you have trust in online retailers. After all, that’s one source of your sales.
ShopWiki is a good place to start, especially if you are not quite sure what your favorite sports fan may want. It is also a good site to get you exposed to the variety of e-commerce out there.
As writers, we are expected to find ways to sell ourselves. What better way to know how we can make the sell than indulging in a little online shopping ourselves?
Give Me Some Gold
Writing mysteries gives you great insight into people. You must delve into a character to discover their motivations, what makes them tick. One of the best ways to do this is to study how they use money.
Of course, you’ll have those types that spend money as soon as they get it. Spending is a foreign word. Then there are those that are truly fascinating. They will take the opportunity to better their situation. They will invest, buy gold. Those characters will be the ones that know all about firms like Goldline International. They will know what to do with their money.
You have to appreciate these characters and their attention to their financial health. I enjoy reading about characters who are intelligent and plan well. The careless characters are just careless. The ones that succeed are the interesting ones.
As you write, think about your character and his concern for the future. Does he live day by day or is he always on the lookout for a way to achieve security?
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