I’ve made some memes to encourage writing for the upcoming CampNaNo.
![Serenity (Joss Whedon, 2005) starring Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, Summer Glau and Ron Glass Serenity is the continuation of Firefly TV series [dvdbash]](https://10094e2.wcomhost.com/erinpenn/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Firefly-YouShould-300x157.jpg)
Blog
Creative Attribution
Image courtesy of the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Foundation
Painting entitled: Ballet Dancers
Shared under the Creative Commons attribution
Creative Attribution. Giving credit where credit is due. You may notice, I always post where I get my pictures for my blog, even if it is from the Internet Hive Mind or Facebook posts. Creative attribution is important, not only because it is the (copyright) law, but by acknowledging the hard work of others you encourage them to continue and others to attempt.
Copyright is important. Economic and sociological studies have shown that in countries where people have their property protected from confiscation, physical or intellectual property, they are more likely to create beyond bare needs. If people don’t realize any gain from the hard work of creation, planting crops or developing software for example, they aren’t going to continue doing it. They are going to pour effort into those items where they or their family has gain, or at least meets the necessities.
At the end of the day, the priorities for people are food and shelter. If their work does not gain these items, and they have no other means of gaining them, they will switch work … or die.
A no-brainer decision.
If they have food and shelter, and leftover time beyond that, they may invest it in creative activities which don’t put food on the table. But if they have a choice between creative activities with different levels of profit, so they can get luxury items like clothing, Internet, and transportation, they will choose toward the greatest profit and personal enjoyment. For some people, like painters, the personal enjoyment comes from the activity.
By always acknowledging the personal efforts of people, and following the copyright levels they choose, you are supporting them … and they will create more cool stuff. Modern life allows a lot of free time, granting people the ability to post stuff online just to give away. Wikipedia is just one of the phenomena related to modern life’s free time.
In closing, I would like to mention posting the Creative Attribution is just good manners. Like writing a thank you note. Someone took the effort to make something you can use for free. Putting their name to it is a big thank you shout out.
Needless to say, this subject is important to me … as an painter, calligrapher, editor, writer, and embroiderer. I do a lot of free stuff I share; I also do a lot of stuff just to keep a roof over my head. Thank you for recognizing my work, for buying those things I do sell, and for sharing what I give away for free. I appreciate it. Without you, I would be doing my arts a lot less.
Writing Exercise: POV and Scene
Image Courtesy of Vlado at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
POV & Scene
WRITING EXERCISE: Write of scene of two people; by the end of the scene the following features should be defined: (1) gender, (2) age, (3) cultural status and/or educational status. 200 words or less (with two people, a few extra words might be needed).
Switch it up now. Write the scene again, but switch the people in the roles. Keep the same person’s POV.
Example of combinations: Older doctor with young intern – becomes young doctor with older intern (maybe on second career); Male boss with female secretary.
****
Rating: Mature (Language)
Dixon and the Distracted Mother (Version 1)
“Joshua, please just sit still a moment.” The mother hissed at her child as she juggled her purse, a diaper bag, and the loaded the last of her cart’s items onto the conveyor belt. She smiled weakly at the people behind her as she dug out her wallet from the bottom of the pile, and finally focused on the cashier who monotonously been pushing items through the scanner to the steady sound of the beep.
Dixon, numb from three college finals that week, couldn’t manage a smile back after watching the woman yell at her kid throughout the line, when she wasn’t on the phone. Once more the senior debated his choice of becoming a teacher. If parents weren’t involved with the children before school, what was the point? “Your total is $127.32.”
“Oh, wait. I got coupons.” The woman said as she pulled a fistful out of her purse, dropping her wallet in the process. “Fuck!”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” echoed the child. (words 163)
****
Dixon and the Distracted Mother (Version 2)
Three cans of ground coffee, one pack of white coffee filters, a couple new memory cards, several six-packs of highly caffeinated soda, and a bag of chips hit the conveyor belt, while Dixon swayed from exhaustion. Three finals down and two to go and he would be done with college. The monotonous beeps hypnotized him until the cashier said, “Your total is $42.60.”
He blinked a few times focusing on the middle-aged woman across from him. “Oh, wait. I got coupons.” He started digging through his pockets, first the jacket, then the jeans, finally finding the papers in the shirt pocket. He smiled at the people behind him in apology before turning back to the cashier who had been glancing at a phone placed next to the register, biting her lip. “Problem?” he asked, not really expecting an answer.
“Just not sure I am going to be able to pick up my kid from daycare before closing time. They charge extra if you are late.” She said, scanning the coupons.
“Getting off soon then?”
The cashier shook her head. “Two people didn’t show today, and I am the one low on hours.”
Opening his wallet to get out his credit card, the worn, overextended stitches broke from the cracked leather, dropping half of his life onto the floor. “Fuck,” Dixon said weakly before bending down. (words 225)
Flash: Mist Clung
Image Courtesy of dan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Mist clung to the last vestiges of night, transforming the rising sun’s visual aspect into a bright full moon. The old wolf huffed, her breath joining the mist. The twilight hunters would be out, cats and their ilk. She shook the dew condensing on her fur loose.
She did love days like today, when her joints did not creak, her belly was full, and her pack was safe. The tree beckoned as the perfect place to sleep the day away, cool shade once the last of the mist burned off, soft green grass. She could wake a dozen times, search her surroundings for trespassers, and lay her muzzle back on her paws for another nap.
Let the young ones do their day duties. The three nights of full moon consumed all her energies.
(words 135; first published 6/26/2016)
Other Cool Blogs: LIGO and A Capella Science
A little departure from my standard pointing to other writing blogs where good writing/editing/publishing advice is provided, I thought I would touch base on a video-blog I love. Because to write good science fiction, one needs to know about science fact.
A Capella Science was started by a Canadian physics student, Tim Blais, while he was earning his masters, a mash-up of his love of music and physics to blow off steam between research projects. The A Capella Science channel became an unexpected hit after the release of Bohemian Gravity. Like 3 million crazy – who knew string theory had such a catchy beat?
His following continued to develop with each new release, some of them parodies of popular music set to science themes and some original pieces of his own creation. Whether the musical Wicked parody where Newton and Einstein sing a duet about Defining Gravity through time or the original Nerds: A Manifesto, Mr. Blais hits the science and culture of science out of the park again and again.
I highly recommend subscribing to his youtube channel and if you have a dollar or two to spare become his patreon: here. It is stuff like this that makes science accessible and interesting to teenagers and adults; it encourages people to go into technology and biology. And if you are a teacher of physics, biology, chemistry, or music, see if you can work some of these videos into your lessons.