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U=N/T(M*G): Core

Planet in the light of the Galactic Core.

Once every couple of years, I get the wild hair to reread C. S. Friedman’s Coldfire trilogy. I love this story, no lie. It’s one of the best I’ve ever read and has some of the most complex characters I’ve ever seen. And the premise is amazing. In fact, it’s the premise that brings up this post. See, Coldfire trilogy is set on a planet called Erna close to the Galactic Core. Humans came and settled it a long time before the story starts (though you see pieces of what happened to the original settlers at the start of various … Read more

For Writers: Creative Thinking

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FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Scott: Writers – when and where do you do your best creative thinking? Working out plot issues, coming up with new ideas etc? Writers: This is a writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. Chat on FacebookChat on MeWe

WHAT IF: We Ran Out of Big Ideas?

Idea Factory

Every Wednesday, we’re asking a what-if question – how would our world be different if something were changed? Today’s question is from QSFer Scott: What if we as a race run out of big ideas? Or have we already? Live Science has some thoughts: https://www.livescience.com/can-humanity-run-out-of-ideas Share your serious scientific analyses, your off-color jokes, and random thoughts on the topic on our FB and MeWe Groups: FB: http://bit.ly/1MvPABV MeWe: http://bit.ly/2mjg8lf

FOR READERS: This Needs to Be A TV Series

sci fi - deposit photos

FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Jim Comer: A new HBO series, Raised By Wolves, brings to tv the ‘seedship’ idea used in novels such as Manseed and The Songs of Distant Earth. Another recent series, Upload, has looked at the ‘mind uploading’ idea explored by Bill Gibson and Greg Egan. What major hard-SF ideas would you like to see explored on TV or in film, ideas which haven’t been used onscreen and which are scientifically realistic? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works … Read more

FOR WRITERS: Talking to readers

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FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Scott: For many writers, an email newsletter is one of the primary ways we communicate with our readers. What goes into yours? Give us some great ideas we all can use. Writers: This is a writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. Join the chat: FB: http://bit.ly/1MvPABVMeWe: http://bit.ly/2mjg8lf

Sources of Inspiration: Ideas

For me, sources of inspiration are closely linked with ideas. Much of my inspiration comes from one that pops into my head. I mull it over, allowing it to take form. I start writing about it, allowing it grow and spread across the piece of paper or file. Before long, I have a scene, a paragraph, a segment of dialogue. I start thinking about the circumstances which led to that dialogue, writing it down. Before too long, I have a story. Ideas can lead to other creative works as well, like blog posts or interviews. An idea allowed Quartz, not … Read more