Casey's Just Sayin'

Hugh Howey wrote this article on the NaNoWriMo site last year. The bottom line truth of what he is saying here is gold. If you want to be a novelist or screenwriter or any other kind of writer, heed these words. October 3, 2014 8:58 am NaNo Prep: The Truth of What It Takes to Be a Writer NaNo Prep season is here, and we’re asking friends of NaNo HQ to help you get ready to tell your story this November. Today, author and NaNo Writers Board member Hugh Howey reveals the truth behind the lie of what it takes to be a novelist: To paraphrase John Grisham: “Writing a novel is not as easy as some readers think. Nor is it as difficult as many writers make it out to be.” Mr. Grisham proceeded to describe his daily writing routine: He spends two to three hours every morning writing, and most of the rest of his time is spent fishing. This is enough to produce one riveting and bestselling novel in just a few months. His admission came as a revelation to those in the audience who had neve...

As I slow down, remember me healthy and hale Remember when I carried you, after I grow frail As I get cold, remember my warm embrace Remember my lighted eyes, as pain shades my face As I grow dumb, remember how I used to smile Remember me now, not as I'll be in a little while

I really like salt. No, that's not strong enough. I love salt. Um, almost. I am IN LOVE with salt. That's it. Madly, deeply, completely in love with salt. I like regular salt. I also like iodized salt, although I can't tell you which tastes better or is better for me. I think iodized salt is supposed to help protect me from some disease. Sea salt is nice. Kinda chunky. Rock salt is something I used to steal from big bags in the carport. Seasoned salt. Garlic salt. Kosher salt. Black salt. Pickling salt (oh dear yes). I found this: Salt tastes good for a few reasons. 1: It's necessary for your survival. Salt is sodium and chloride, both of which are crucial for the functioning of a lot of your body's systems. 2: It's rare in nature, so we have evolved to crave it. It's the same reason why fat (butter, oil) and sugar taste good. 3: It's been part of the first world's food culture for a while now, and something we come to expect from some fo...

Socially - George hears that Suzy has hooked up with Greg. George tells this to Marty, who tells Andrea and Bill. Of course they've all been sworn to secrecy. The next day George finds out that Suzy has not hooked up with Greg. George doesn't want to seem stupid to Marty, or more likely he has forgotten who he told, including Marty and maybe ten other people, so he doesn't say anything. In the mean time, Andrea and Bill have told everyone. Poor Suzy. Greg's not very cute and she like's Bill. Social Network-ly - George sees a meme. It supports his viewpoint and snopes.com would take more keystrokes than share... so share. Suzy, Greg, Marty, Andrea, Bill and 327 other friends see it and many share as well.  Because, you know, keystrokes. Fast forward five years and George's meme is still going strong and the 14 year old kid who created it just started his first semester at community college. He's majoring in IT chicanery.

For the ultra-passive, simply scroll past unwanted posts. For the semi-passive, press the little caret and select "Hide Post". By itself this action is completely worthless of course, because the chances of coming across that post in your feed again are nearly zero anyway. It's the online equivalent of saying "I don't like this and here's what I'm doing about it."... to an empty room. (Seinfeld reference.) For the not quite aggressive, after you "Hide Post" you can often (but not always) select "See Less from -----." In this case the ----- is the source of the meme that is causing all this selecting in the first place. This is useful, eventually. The meme factories are so vast in number, however, you have to really work to reduce the noise. You can also get a tiny bit more aggressive and select "See Less from *****." In this case the ***** is the friend who is posting the meme. This works a little faster than the p...