So at least you've got that going for you?
In my continuing quest to Rethink Everything (The title of a future post? Probably...), I came to the rather obvious conclusion that Q10 doesn't work on every computer I use. Q10 has thus far been my text editor of choice for rapid-fire typing, but as I've been ratcheting up My Writing Game (We'll find out...) I find myself using any and every system at hand to tap out words in my Otherwise Idle Moments (Time Travel is fun...), and I need a common program to Throw It All Together (Future me is pushing it now.).
So I thought and I thought, and decided to learn and use Emacs. It's free, open, cross-platform and has really convenient keystroke commands. I hate touching the mouse when I type. I can probably figure out how to make it do the typewriter noises, even. I'll let you know whether this is a good idea after a couple months of practical testing.
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I read Rahul Kanakia's latest blog post and pondered: Hey: reviewing short stories? That's a good idea. I resolved to steal the idea but uncharacteristically did not attempt to pass it off as my own this time. Am I becoming a better person or a worse writer? Either way, my criteria will be Linkable free, so I can link to it first before spoiling the heck out of it, and Likeable by me, because I'm too lazy to give negative reviews.
Mostly it'll be about what Craft techniques I intend to steal without attribution.
I like to include some sort of exchange rate when I mention cash in my stories, just for future readers. I mean, read the Bible and you have no idea what anything was worth, except maybe a dove. If only Moses had mentioned the prevailing rate for FREEDOM (hint: ain't free).
Anyways, make sure to insert it super-subtle, like in this example:
"Gosh!" said Timmy, taking the roll of banknotes. "I could buy nearly three loaves of bread with that. If it weren't for the money-sucking Government Tax Enforcers with their insatiable laser gun power pack budget."
"Keep up the fight, man," said the bored paymaster behind his desk.
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250 words? Yes
Book "Lived Too Long to Die"
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Reading - ?
*143
Yay, I had an idea.
ReplyDeleteI was actually surprised. Reading all those stories was surprisingly not at all painful (except for one, in Strange Horizons, that was, I think, some kind of parable about imperialism where aliens were noble savages...I skipped it). And a fair number were pretty good. Maybe I will do it again.
I think I saw that one. Yeesh. Still, it illustrates why I love short stories: It's not like I'll ever waste too much time on a bad story, and there's always more. Anyways, I'll never be out more than a buck no matter how bad the story is...
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