C.B. Potts's Blog, page 12

One Foot In Front of the Other

I am up and I am moving. But every word that comes out of my mouth today is bitter, bitter, bitter. I don't want to give that space. I need to keep moving forward.

Unexamined Foundations

This bit is from George Ellis, who is a scientist:

Many scientists are strong reductionists who believe that physics alone determines outcomes in the real world, This is demonstrably untrue – for example the computer on which I am writing this could not possibly have come into being through the agency of physics alone.

The issue is that these scientists are focusing on some strands in the web of causation that actually exist, and ignoring others that are demonstrably there – such as...

Dumping Out a Box of Knives

So it's been a time. Not a good one, but an instructive one.

At the heart of it all is insufficiency: I'm not a good enough person - I'm certainly not nice enough; strangers tell me this - I don't pick up on things quickly, especially in social situations; I am not compassionate enough; I am not brave enough; I am not smart enough; I do not know enough; I am not energetic or hard working enough; I am not creative enough; I am not pretty enough; I am not resilient enough; I am n...

Thursday Morning

I have been thinking about politics and social policy a lot this week. I don't have anything eloquent or surprising or insightful to say. I am very worried that our country is sliding full speed ahead into a fundamentalist Christian theocracy. All of the factors that precede a social breakdown are manifest in our society right now: rampant economic inequality, high levels of unemployment, especially among the young, a deeply partisan leadership, immigration, environmental and economic pre...

Monday Morning - Writing Prompt Exercise

Bob did not believe in Pyrrhic victories. And I must be clear here: it's not an issue where Bob would strategically and logically engage only in those battles where the gains would outweigh the costs; it's an issue where he fundamentally, unequivocally, to the bottom of his soul did not believe that such a situation was even possible.

"If you've won, you've won. Victory is victory!"

Being young and stupid then, I believed that one could use historical events involving...

Friday Morning

And I feel like I've already lost control of the entire day. Hello, first day of summer vacation! If I accomplish NOTHING else today, I will write the three interviews that are almost a month overdue and get them out of my psyche. Sometimes I get stuck on things and they become this little tense burr under the saddle, poking, poking, poking me. I've learned how to moderate a webinar this morning. Proper post later, hopefully, if I can get today going in the general direction I'd l...

About Marion Zimmer Bradley

Maybe it's important to remember that some of us found value in her work *because* the odious situations she presented were many magnitudes better than realities one had experienced & the narrative had aspirational aspects. Less fucked up is better than a lot fucked up, especially when you have no knowledge of not fucked up at all as an option.

I mean, goodie for everyone who reads her stuff NOW and twigs on the abusive dynamics and stuff. Now try stretching out your brains a bit and i...

On Getting Bylines & Finding Sources

Bylines are important, because editors are a skittish and wary breed. They are often stressed out individuals, because they don't have enough time or money and deadlines are getting closer every single day: they don't want to make any decisions that leaves a space to be filled and no content to fill it. When an editor sees that you have successfully delivered good work to somebody else, it becomes a little easier for them to trust you.

I have found that it's the first few bylines t...

My Process for Selling Feature Articles

This may not be the proper way to do it. It's just how I do it.

I've found the easiest articles to sell are the ones that will help the readership of any particular publication solve a problem. People read stuff when it has an easily identifiable benefit for them - or the editors of consumer and trade magazines prefer to buy that type of article. This advice also works for the lifestyle, business, senior, family section of newspapers.

Think about what you'd like to write about. Idea...

Wednesday Morning

I'm working on a big piece about this, but just wanted to share some thoughts on the process of making a living as a creative professional, especially if you're transitioning into this rapidly and abruptly. It's been a little more than 10 years since I made that change. I think it's important to note that I got into writing as a career because I could not make anything else work successfully for me. I do not do well in office environments; childcare for one child was impoveris...