Comments on: I should be writing. Or interviewing.

By: Gary Ansorge

Gary Ansorge — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 16:18:08 +0000

9. shane

Oh!!! Right! About 91250 words,,,to paraphrase Mozarts prince,,,TOO MANY WORDS,,,(one of my favorite books is Robert Heinliens Methuselahs Children, at only 160 pages)(The longest story I’ve ever written was 162 pages).

If I could compile all the words I’ve added to Phils blog, it would likely be a very large but totally useless book,,,no plot, Ya know,,,

Gary 7

By: shane

shane — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:32:27 +0000

@Gary
I should clarify what I meant by “hundreds of words”. I meant hundreds of words per day. 250 words a day will get you a novel in a year.

By: Daniel J. Andrews

Daniel J. Andrews — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 22:53:55 +0000

I saw your book (hard cover) today in the ‘big’ city bookstore. It was right next to Plimer’s pseudoscience (thoroughly debunked) book. I moved his book (stuck it right in between four copies of Goldacre’s Bad Science, which it is), and rearranged other books on the same shelf to give you star billing on the eye level shelf. And store staff won’t have to put things back because I kept things in the general categories they were already in…just made a bit of room, that’s all.

By: Gamercow

Gamercow — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 17:51:44 +0000

I’m a big fan of the Escape Pod, which Mur is running currently. http://escapepod.org

Be mighty.

By: Eric

Eric — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 17:38:00 +0000

I suppose a tag that says “About this blog” sounds less narcissistic than one that reads “Phil Plait.” Is it just the nature of making a living by blogging that one must reference oneself everywhere they appear on the internet?

But the thunderstorm pic was way cool.

By: Gary Ansorge

Gary Ansorge — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 16:53:21 +0000

4. Shane

“Hundreds of words,,,” is rarely a story of sufficient length to earn money(“Thanks for the applause now, please throw money”) and money defines the term “professional”. In a sense, one could call me a professional writer. I was once paid $250.00 for a “few hundred words” but it was for a very specific audience(Encounters With Saudi Arabia, Published in 1999). A big part of successful writing is knowing your audience. If you’re writing about science for kids, you can’t use a lot of polysyllabic words. If you’re writing for scientists, such language is more or less required.

Phil writes for a “general” audience and that may be one of the most difficult audiences to address. Some are tech sophisticated while others are ignorant of the specific language of scientists. It’s a fine line to walk between arcane and reasonable clarity.

From what I’ve read of Phils work, he does a pretty good job of walking that line.

Gary 7

By: Shane

Shane — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 16:37:03 +0000

@Gary
Many of us complain that we don’t have enough time to write yet we find time to write sometimes hundreds of words in the comments of someone elses blog. I too am in awe of those with the discipline to write for themselves.

By: Gary Ansorge

Gary Ansorge — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 16:14:00 +0000

Best advice I’ve ever heard for writers is,,,sit down and write, every day.

My Bro, the Rocket Scientist, is a Professional Writer(ie, he’s actually made money off that endeavor) and a Professional Photographer and a Senior Staff Engineer and, and, and,,,in other words, whatever strikes his fancy, he has pursued with enough diligence to become a paid professional and THAT comes from doing it every day, even when you feel like crap(and about as creative as a brick).

It’s about discipline, focus and dedication. I should be half so good,,,

The discipline too sit down and write SOMETHING every day, even if it’s nothing more than one line, is the Way (in the Buddhist sense) to be a writer.

I greatly admire anyone with that discipline.

Gary 7

By: Theron

Theron — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 15:48:53 +0000

The part with Phil starts at 15:40.

By: Shane

Shane — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 15:42:56 +0000

Mur is Murrific. I was lucky enough to meet her at Worldcon in Melbourne in September. I Should Be Writing is one of my favourite podcasts too. Actually everything Mur is involved in these days is pretty good and worth checking out. Hey Phil, we just finished up at TAM Oz in Sydney today and it was Tamerrific. We missed you man (and DJ Grothe), but TAM was still awesome. Click here to emblogginate. Oh, and you wrote a book?