Input strikes: Links to interesting things

Cal Newport’s podcast below inspired a post on A Craft Curriculum, but intellection needs more thinking time on it. So, some links!

Our Love/Hate Relationship with Productivity. Cal Newport spends an hour talking about the history of productivity. It’s a fascinating look, especially since productivity has also bled into fiction writing. However…check out the question on research also. Scott Young, who has a blog on learning in college, mentions that writing has become about word count, not craft.

A quote from Cal: “Do less. Do Better. Know why”

Information Flow: This has been a topic I’m interested in because it’s about hiding information in plain sight. I’ve read many mysteries where the author hid the murderer by having him in only one scene in the story. The reader should not get to the reveal and go, “Who is that?” The article is called Mind Your P’s.

Time Limit: Time is another topic I’ve been interested in, though I didn’t understand why. It seems like it should be straightforward, and it isn’t. The article, called Tine Limit,” notes that time is an additional–and hidden character–and is used to create suspense. The author describes several times of time limits that area worth a look.

Get Bad News: This is a fun online game that shows you how someone can spread disinformation and create conspiracy theories. You’ll be able to tell better when someone is giving you disinformation…and maybe use it in a story. Might be a form of information flow to hide something.