Writer's Blog: I Wish I'd Thought of That

Do you ever watch a TV show or see some business endeavour and wish you'd thought of it?

I remember talking to my dad about Twitter and he says it is something he never would have thought of. I could just imagine him sitting at a desk with a note book marked 'Ideas'. On that note book is written - 'A website where you write about stuff in 140 characters or less.' Then he frowns, scrunches us the paper and tosses it into the bin.

Of course Twitter is amazingly successful. It is only six years old and yet most celebrities and television programs seem to have twitter accounts. Which is a wonderful thing to be able to communicate with these people and, in more general terms, to be able to get information around the world quickly.

Dad never did think of Twitter and, as I've said, he would have rejected it as a silly idea if he had. So that's a question for you. What idea do you wish you had come up with? It can be anything a business or a story element anything at all.

What do I wish I'd come up with? The Babylon 5 idea of telepaths being created by aliens to be weapons in war.    

Writer's Blog: Great Lines

Yes Minister

1. Bernard: Well, "under consideration" means "we've lost the file"; "under active consideration" means "we're trying to find it".
2. Sir Humphrey: Minister, Britain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least the last five hundred years: to create a disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Germans and Italians. Divide and rule, you see. Why should we change now, when it's worked so well?
3. Bernard: Shall I file it?
   Hacker: Shall you file it? Shred it!
   Bernard: Shred it?
   Hacker: No one must ever be able to find it again!
   Bernard: In that case, Minister, I think it's best I file it.
4. Hacker: It's the peoples' will. I am their leader; I must follow them.
5. Hacker: Don't be silly, Humphrey. They don't ask you to Number 10 for a drink just because they think you're thirsty!

If you're unfamiliar with the series I strongly suggest you check it out. Its very funny for something you would think would be dryer than the Sahara - and it is still relevant today.

I've used Wikiquote for this post.

Writer's Blog: Striving for Meaning

I haven't posted here in nearly two months. I want to post a lot more often, maybe even once a week, but I can never think of anything. It's the way it goes with writing. Sometimes ideas come so fast. Sometimes you have so many thoughts and other times its a struggle. Some blogs, although I admit I don't really follow them, have a theme. The person posts every day, or every week, with the same criteria.  

They might, for instance, write top ten lists. This means that the format is already determined and they just have to decide on a theme.

I could do the 'The Ten Best thinks about..." We all like lists. There are so many of them on the web and I never quite know why but they are popular. That's an interesting question to ask actually. 'Why do we care what Joe Blogs thinks?' I mean its sort of understandable that people might want to find out that they like the same films as a celebrity but why would we want  to know if we have the same likes as a random blogger?

The picture above is of a gnarled tree I saw in Aberdare. As I write this it occurs to me that I've got many many images on my computer. I enjoy taking pictures but rarely find an opportunity to use them so perhaps that is my niche. I've certainly got enough to see my through the next few years. In the meantime lets try a top ten list - hell lets do eight - just to be different.

This is an off the top of my head list. Eight great Star Trek episodes. These are in no particular order.

1. Best of Both Worlds (TNG)
2. The Way of the Warrior (DS9)
3. Message in a Bottle (VOY)
4. Errand of Mercy (TOS)
5. Darmok (TNG)
6. Balance of Terror (TOS)
7. The Drumhead (TNG)
8. Scorpion (VOY)     

That's it for now but I'll be back more often. If you only look at one of these episodes I recommend The Drumhead. It is very relevant for the politics and events of today.