Writer's Blog: The Two Websites

Happy New Year! Rather belated I know. So Happy 14th January.

As you may or ay not be aware I also have a website over at wordpress. This is also called Unstable Orbit. I'm currently trying to decide how to co-ordinate these two sites and make each one different. I might otherwise just keep one site and that will be the Wordpress site. I'll let you know what I decide.

In the meantime hope you're having a great day.  

Writer's Blog: Excuses and Things

This is Friday's post. Yes I know its not Friday. I'd planned to schedule posts but time caught up with me so there you go.

I have a good excuse though. I had university yesterday and the day before and on Thursday? Well okay there is an element of not getting round to it but I did have an alumni event in the evening. It was quite interesting more formal than I'd expected but it was enjoyable. I felt like the underachiever of the bunch. I'm not saying that anyone made me feel unwelcome, the opposite in fact, but I felt embarrassed saying that I'm working in a shop.

I suppose its not so bad. Making it as an author is difficult and I am still studying so it is understandable. In fact finding a reasonable job that pays okay money is probably the right course for me. If I had a hugely engrossing job then I might find little time to write. And I realise the irony of that statement coming as it does in a late blog post.

Anyway at the alumni event I got talking to someone who asked why I liked to write science fiction. Without trying to sound too big headed I think I was able to come up with a fairly cogent and well thought out answer. I can't repeat it to you verbatum but here is an aproximation.

Science fiction is incredibly versatile and allows us to explore so many things. It allows us to look at the world from an objective view point. If I set a story at a point in history then people have a preconceived notion of the events. They may have seen the event themselves, they may have lived it, or they may know someone who has. However if I use a science fiction setting then the ideas of 'us' and 'them' have vanished. There is no more reason to side with one side than the other. In so doing people can see their own stupidity and draw parallels between the events is the fictional universe and our own.

Okay. I'm sure I didn't speak quite that clearly but the point still stands. With science fiction you can entertain people and perhaps educate them too. But you can do it in a way that is subtle. Tell a man that his racism is unacceptable and he may not listen but show racism to, or between aliens, and he may see how he too is flawed.

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.

Writer's Blog: What if...

Last week I posed a what if...

'What if George III had granted the thirteen colonies of America parliamentary representation.'

And now for an unresearched and uninformed answer to that question. If I was writing a novel about this, which I might one day, I would do lots of research. I would read everything I could about that time in America. It would be important to get the American perspective 'The Revolutionary War' or the British perspective 'The War of the Insurrection.' For this post I'm just going to use what I know from living in the world.

You've probably heard the phrase 'No taxation without representation.' and 'Give me liberty or give me death.'

These phrases are associated with the American War of Independence. It does make me ask a few questions.

1. Why didn't Britain give their colonies representation in the British parliament.?
2. Why didn't Britain try and placate the colonies by giving them their own parliament?
3. If America had been given representation would the War of independence have happened?
4. Assuming that the war of independence hadn't happened what would the state of America be now? 

For me the last question is the most interesting. There are a number of options of course.

America could have been as Scotland is now. Having its own Parliament but looking to get more power.

It might be like Australia, Canada, and New Zealand is - i.e an independent nation with ties to Britain through the monarchy.

Or another option, which might seem very far fetched, America might have formed part of some sort of Federation.  With a structure something like this...

Queen of the British Federation.
President of the British Federation

Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Prime Minister of America.

First Minister of England.
First Minister of Northern Ireland.
First Minister of Scotland.
First Minister of Wales.

The thirteen states would probably also have First Ministers. Of courses history is incredibly complicated. If one thing is changed everything is effected. This includes who is born an who dies.

Lets say John Smith died in the War of Independence. Well if that war never took place then he is able to marry Jane, his one true love, and they have a child. This child didn't exist in the world before. 

The US constitution was adopted 17th September 1787. That was a long time ago and so much would have changed.

What about the two world wars? Would Austria-Hungary have risked war with Britain if we had owned America?

If things were so different in America then perhaps the Archduke might not have been in Sarajevo that day in 1914.

So we could say that the wars wouldn't have happened. But what would be the role of women? Woman, because of men going to war, had to take on jobs previously thought of as men's jobs. They gained a new level of independence from the conflict.

And what about science and technology. Without the war the rivalry between the US and USSR might not have existed. We might not have landed a man on the moon just 66 years after the first powered flight - hell that flight might not have happened.

You'll notice I'm not giving any answers. That's because there are no answers. There is no way to say what would lead to a better world or what would lead to a worst world.

It would be very interesting though to explore these ideas. This is why history is fascinating to me. Looking at these questions and if, like me, you're a little lazy you could always tell the story on another planet...

Writer's Blog: Your Writing Coah

I've recently been reading Your Writing Coach by Jurgen Wolff. I'm only 26% of the way through but I can already say that this is a great book for any aspiring author.

I wanted to share with you one piece of advice that Wolff gives. That piece of advice is to ask 'Why.'

The question of why something is happening is very important. Unfortunately that question can often get sidelined or be met with an unhelpful response. We may ask "Why is the villain doing what he's doing?" ... and we are told ... "Because he's mad."  

This may work in some situations, The Wrath of Kharn or The Dark Knight come to mind, but I think it is generally better to get a deeper reason. Wolff suggests asking the question over and over. From asking questions we can get to the bedrock of the story.

Another question that could be asked is: What if... A 'what if' could help form the basis of a story. For instance 'What if George III had granted the thirteen colonies of America parliamentary representation.'

This will form the subject of my next post.