Steven Barnes's Blog, page 45

Is “Truth” useful?

Had an interesting conversation yesterday about the nature of Truth, and whether it is possible to determine What Is True.

Earlier last week, I had a disagreement with someone on a point of philosophy, and said: “good luck with that.  Let me know how that works out for you.”

 

He thought I was being insulting, or at least snide.  Well…maybe.  But the reality is that I was also being totally honest.

 

Is there reality?  Let’s assume so, because the opposite assumption ends the conversation.

Ca...

Looking back, the proto-“Machine” and Jerry Pournelle

One of the things I like about Facebook is that it dredges up past posts and references to you.  Buzz Dixon posted this back in 2013, an earlier version of “The Machine”.  As you can see, I’ve been refining this for a while.

 

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1) Create an output goal (a story a week, or a story every other week.  Or a thousand words)

2) Read 10 X what you write.

3) Read one level “up” from your writing goal.

4)Keep your stories circulating in the mail

5) Don’t try a novel until you’ve sold ten short sto...

“How Do I Sell My Book?” Wrong question.

I get asked that question by students all the time.  And the answer for most of them is: don’t.  Or more specifically: I’m not going to help you with that.  There are plenty of other people who will advise you to this or that approach, but I think it is the wrong question.

 

So…you want to run a marathon?  Don’t ask me where the best marathons are, if you have never run a lap.  Finishing a book involves juggling so many different skills: discipline, focus, structure, rules of language, plot a...

Story Workshopping, “Lifewriting” style

I frequently get requests to read people’s outlines, scripts, books, short stories.  I understand and empathize, but if I did that I’d have no time for my own writing.  Instead, I created and support the LIFEWRITING community. Join, and post your request.  If you have established yourself by making useful  and supportive comments, you’ll find them responsive.

 

But one thing that I want to make clear is that there is a specific methodology we use.  It isn’t about “did you like it?” or “did it...

Lifewriting and “All That Jazz” (1979)

The last time a movie changed my life, I was twenty-seven years old.  I’d published maybe a story or two, paid in contributor’s copies.   I was cocky, driven, and terrified that I wouldn’t be able to be a successful writer. I’d bet EVERYTHING on that one goal.

 

I was working at a bookstore, I think, and writing at night.  Pulling my end of the bills, but earning way under what I knew I could earn if I went into some more formal occupation.  But was afraid that if I took some more “serious” j...

Thank you, Jerry

 

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”     Calvin Coolidge

 

“Once you’ve mastered anything, you know how to master anything else.”–Jerry Pournelle

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I remember being a young writer, trying to figure things out.

 

I wanted to b...

Why Lifewriting?

Every morning for the last few years, we’ve been working with Jason to help him in school.  The problem is that we weren’t aware that there was an issue with his reading until he’d fallen behind, and  started feeling fear in association with his schoolwork. Fear that he can’t keep up. Fear that his cousins are smarter than he is.  Fear that I’ll be disappointed in him.

 

FEAR stops us more than anything else. When we love something, we will spend endless time focused on it, and THAT is what p...

How to heal a blind spot

My goal is One Million Awake, Aware, Adult human beings. The way to this is to support thousands of “Lifewriters” who grasp the connection between myth and consciousness. Their specific path of awakening is that five-step process:

Love yourself Love at least one other person Understand history without guilt, blame, or shame. Support your tribe Win with integrity and compassion

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What about attacking your enemies?   Very sparingly, and in defense of your tribe.   I’m not saying that you NE...

Seeking Magic

Some fifty years ago, when I attended Mount Vernon Junior High school, I was just a gentle, poetry-reading pot-bellied little four-eyed nerd.   And Rudy, the toughest bully in the school decided that I had narked on him, and that he would beat the hell out of me after school.

 

Rudy, his brother Oliver and two or three of his friends followed me home, punching and spitting on me as I hunched over my books, praying that one of the cars driving past would stop, that a driver would see what was...

The Blame Game

(from 2011)

I recently came across a thread in which a lady of much intelligence and perception observed that many women are “simply trying to deal with the pain that has been directly inflicted upon them time and time again.”

This is very true, but must NOT be mistaken for the statement “and therefore, men are worse than women.” That is a separate statement, which would have to be defended quite separately from the simple, painful statement that many women are in pain.

My position is very si...