Steven Savage's Blog, page 23

Why I Wrote It: Organizations and Worldbuilding

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Ever heard of “the book you were meant to write?” Organizations and Worldbuilding is one of those books for me. It’s a book on how to write fictional organizations, and it exists due to two personal

I am an organizer by nature and by profession. I was always organized in my youth, always with a plan or something to do. I became a Project Manager, then an Agilist. Now, I not only manage, but...

Those Old, Unfamiliar Places

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To keep my sanity during the Pandemic, I take a drive to see places I used to go before COVID-19. I go past apartments I used to live in, stores I used to frequent, or parks I liked to hang out at. These drives remind me of what went on before and what can again.

If a place is safely outdoors, I may even take a walk. Vaccinated, double-masked, avoiding people, I pass silently through places...

Fly My Chaos Monkeys, Fly!

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I recently attended a talk by Si Alhir on Agility and Antifragility. I’ve discussed Agile many times, but Antifragility is a concept I deal with less. Antifragility is about being more resilient and adaptive, and can be a trait of a person, group, or organization. Si’s presentation was very relevant to our current lives and led me to some thoughts.

In Si’s concept, a way to become Antifragi...

Steve’s Update 4/4/2021

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Here’s what’s up with me!

A School of Many Futures edit continues – and thanks to those singing on to preread! Right now I’m finishing a deep edit of Chapter 3 (of 13-14), about to rewrite Chapter 4, and hope to get done at the start of May. One thing I’m expanding on is the role of education in a techno-fantasy setting. The characters may be teachers, but when their specialty is safety and...

Strange Days: Regretful Artificial Memories

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Strange Days is one of those films more people have heard about than seen. “That cyberpunk film with Ralph Fiennes” is how I usually hear it summed up. Though this 1995 movie has quite a pedigree – written by James Cameron, directed by Kathryn Bigelow – it did not do well in the theater. When I saw it recently, I could see why; Strange Days is a mostly-courageous, mostly-creative film that mos...

Steve’s Update 3/29/2021

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First, the giveaways I’m in!

Fantasy giveaway (with a sample of “A Bridge To The Quiet Planet”) – https://claims.prolificworks.com/gg/gvTvp2kYx8jG2jo4NVAGAn all genre giveaway that’s wild (get a sample of “Fan To Pro”) – https://claims.prolificworks.com/gg/4xytPivGqmngv41eg1HzA “clean” bundle of books and self-help (A full copy of “Fan To Pro” if you still aren’t sure about it) – https://bo...

Why I Wrote It – A Bridge To The Quiet Planet

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A Bridge To The Quiet Planet was my return to fiction. It exists because someone said writing genre fiction is worth doing, and I said, “I should do that.”

That’s it.

The author in question was Magen Cubed, best known for her Southern Gothic Series. Her story is about a monster-hunting modern himbo cowboy and his neurotic vampire boyfriend. Their misadventures include wild romantic hooku...

Steve’s Update 3/22/2021

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Check out the giveaways I’m in!

Get a sample of my book “A Bridge To The Quiet Planet” and a lot more at this fantasy giveaway –https://claims.prolificworks.com/gg/XhzvU49Fx2ubbz6wA9jWI’m in a Spring “clean” giveaway (nothing horror or adult) that has a GREAT variety of books -and you can get a free copy of Fan To Pro – https://books.bookfunnel.com/ebookstuffer/9885314536

A School Of Man...

The Purple Pain of the Author

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Serdar picked up my post on David Marquet’s different forms of work and explored his own experiences in understanding the work of writing. We both understand writing involves radically different kinds of work – grammar, putting out words, worldbuilding, etc. In his own analysis this stood out to me:

I’ve long been averse to what should be the more “fun” side of the job — the worldbuilding, ...

Redwork, Bluework, Writework, Youwork

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There are many parts of writing, but I recently discovered a new way to look at them: Redwork and Bluework.

In his book Leadership is Language, L. David Marquet discusses the role of language, leading, and modern work. The book is worth reading on many levels, but one of his concepts is useful for writers; that there are two kinds of work. They are as follows:

Redwork: Redwork is by the ...