We were talking about great thoughts. “Einstein,” I said. “He had some, didn’t he?” “Yeah, good one,” said Billy. “What were they?” “Well, you know, physics and that. Space-time. Same thing, he said. Quantum stuff.” “Yeah. Wow.” Billy sipped his…
Monthly Archives: January 2015
Beside the Dammed River in Italian
Beside the Dammed River has been translated into Nei Pressi del Fiume Prosciugato dalla Diga! Alberto Panicucci of RiLL recently translated it into Italian and published in La Maledizione (the curse) anthology, along with a selection of other winners of…
Setting 1: Real places
Plausible settings help readers suspend their disbelief. Choose a setting that is distinctive and illustrates the theme of the story. Describe the setting through a few details. Collect places where a story can be set and consider which details to…
Tagged with: Cliché detector, Outline, Planning, Setting, Story development, Tripod
Posted in Story development, Wednesday Pontification, Writing
Posted in Story development, Wednesday Pontification, Writing
Penless
That time they took away my pen. It gives me a quiver of frustration every time I think of it. They would have to do it when I was assailed by thoughts I needed to write down before they passed…
Inspirations: Atul Gawande on Numbered Days
Modern medicine can extend life beyond the point where the patient feels it is worth living. The role of the doctor is to ask the patient how they want to spend what time they have left and to help them…
Tagged with: Atul Gawande, Death, Medicine, Reith lectures, Science
Posted in Inspirations, Wednesday Pontification
Posted in Inspirations, Wednesday Pontification
Signet Ring
I’ve never been so cold, which is saying something after all the Scottish winters I’ve known since I was forged from a block of Moorish gold. I’ve seen a lot of new things since I was slipped off my last…
Charlie and the Hate-Mongers
Why do 12 deaths in Paris provoke more anger than 2,000 in Northern Nigeria? The attack on Charlie Hebdo was a direct attack on the right to free speech. Freedom of speech includes freedom to criticise and freedom to offend.…
Inspirations: Atul Gawande on Medical Fallibility
Constructive criticism of medical practice aims to improve it, not to deny its successes. Some of modern medicine’s advances come about through highly complex processes, which have a lot to go wrong. Failures may come about because the knowledge necessary…
Tagged with: Atul Gawande, Fallibility, Medicine, Reith lectures, Science
Posted in Inspirations, Wednesday Pontification
Posted in Inspirations, Wednesday Pontification
Springs and Bootblack
She crosses the style every day when she finishes work in the kitchens. It’s the best place to catch a glimpse of her ankles. I’ve watched her as she goes with a smile and a twitch of her hips for…
Nous sommes tous Charlie
I haven’t blogged about current affairs before but the more I think about yesterday’s attack on Charlie Hebdo and murder of 12 people, the more I feel the need to say something. So much has already been said that I…
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