Young at Heart

Posted on Dec 4, 2008 in Writing | 2 comments

I’ve just discovered something about myself. I’m a great audience.

I’m a sucker for a story. It doesn’t even have to be a good story—just not a bad one. I realized this while going through my recent reading list.

To understand this it helps if you know a little about a popular theory of art called the Suspension of Disbelief.

The suspension of disbelief (also the willing suspension of disbelief) is an unconscious contract that a reader (or watcher, etc.) gives to the storyteller (or artist). It’s easiest to explain by example.

When you are in a theater watching the latest Indiana Jones movie you accept that the story you are going to be told is a little outlandish, that the hero will be the beneficiary of extraordinary luck, that it’s fundamentally OK that hundreds of people are going to die, and that there are limits to the level of special effects, and your mind makes allowance for these things as you watch the show.

The suspension of disbelief is necessary to enjoy the story being told. If you did not suspend disbelief you would question how it’s possible for a man with a whip to defeat an army with guns. And you’d be right. But you wouldn’t be enjoying the show.

So, a few days ago, while reorganizing my bookshelf—reshelving the ones I’d just read or pulled out to reference, pulling out other I had yet to read, or want to reread again—I realized that in the last month or so I’d read a lot of pulp.

I’m no snob when it comes to novels. True, some of my favorite stories came down from heavy hitters—Poe, Shakespeare, Dumas…—I also greatly enjoy the thrillers so often trashed by the literati. Heck, I actually liked The DaVinci Code…both times I read it. I think Stephen King is a master storyteller, no matter that he writes horror and bestsellers, both of which are a kiss of death among literature snobs.

I think what it comes down to is that I just enjoy reading so much that you’ve got to present me with a pretty bad book for me not to get caught up in it.

And I do get caught up.

I never figure out the killer before it’s revealed. The surprise ending that surprises no one, almost always surprises me. When an author kills off the secondary character that everyone liked, but that every other reader knew was going to die, I get upset.

See the thing is, I love stories. I love good plots, even if the characters are boring. If you’ve got no plot, but the characters are interesting you’ve still got me hooked. Even if those are so-so, but you’re a good writer, I’ll still enjoy the journey.

And to take it a step further, I love writing. One of my favorite books is about the impact of the Bill of Rights on modern life. Not much storytelling going on in there.

I suppose there are writers out there who would think this a weakness—that I can’t tell the difference between good and bad writing, or good and bad books.

I choose to look at it a little differently. I see it as a plus. I still love writing. I haven’t become so cynical that I have to look down my nose at what I don’t believe measures up to my standards.

Or to put it a different way…when I read, I still get to be a kid.

Really Hating IE6

Posted on Dec 3, 2008 in Design | 0 comments

A couple of years ago I thought I was done with IE6. And thankfully so. Even my handful of web design clients, didn’t seem to care if their pages looked correct in the Jurassic browser. But now, it seems to have had a resurgence.

I recently took on a client who does business with the government and military of several NATO counties. And evidently in the government sector IE6 is still the standard browser.

And let me tell you, it is pull-out-my-remaining-hair frustrating to design webpages and blog templates that work correctly in new browsers like FireFox and Opera (and OK I guess I should throw IE7 in there among the fringes) that also work in a Neanderthal like IE6.

There’s not just a slight difference between IE6 and IE7, there’s worlds of difference. In between those browsers Microsoft fought and lost a legal battle for unquestioned dominance of the browser market. And as such, Microsoft had to actually develop a browser that met people’s needs.

So earlier today I took a look at some of my blog stats to see which browsers my readers were using to read this blog. I was shocked to learn that IE6 is the second most popular browser to access this site. Now I’m sure much of this has to do with the fact that the computers at work use IE6 so I’m sure that has a little to do with it, but IE6 users drastically outnumber IE7 users on this blog.

For anyone interested, the most common browser was “Generic Gecko”. Gecko is the rendering engine used by FireFox and many other smaller browsers, so I don’t know specifically what “Generic Gecko” breaks down to.

So I guess I can’t call IE6 extinct yet. And I guess I’d better make sure that all the website I design work well enough in IE6 to look professional.

Sigh…

NaNo Recovery

Posted on Dec 2, 2008 in Writing | 0 comments

Well NaNo is over. Raise your hand if your glad.

But now that it’s all over, how do you get back your regular writing routine? It’s may not as easy as you think.

Odds are you fall into one of two camps. Either your sick of writing and sick of your story, or you’re really energized and just hitting your stride. If this last bit describes you, then you can read the rest of this post when you hit the wall.

You’re tired of your story, you’re characters are irritating you, your hands hurt, you’re tired, your plot has so many holes you’re afraid it’s leaking water…

Your earned a week off, haven’t you?

Yes. You really have.

But don’t you dare take it.

Have you ever run a print and stopped right after the finish? You can really hurt yourself. You’re supposed to coast to a stop. Warm down (that is the opposite of warm up, isn’t it?).

Do the same thing with your writing or you will risk a wicked writer’s cramp. If you want to put your story away for a week or two, that’s fine. Spend 15 minutes a day in your journal, or on a writing prompt, or jotting down idea for a new story…or blogging. But don’t take the time off.

Over the last 30 days you’ve developed quite a writing habit. This habit is one you shouldn’t break.

This post was originally posted on Write Anything—
where six writers talk about the trials and
tribulations of their writing lives. And each
Tuesday the soapbox belongs to me.

Seeing Red?

Posted on Dec 1, 2008 in Causes | 0 comments

Today is World AIDS Day, and for the next few days Rough Draft has gone Red.

World AIDS Day, observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic.

Between 1981 and 2007, AIDS has killed more than 25 million people, and an estimated 33 million people worldwide live with HIV, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history.

Maybe it seems a little stange to call it an awareness day. Chances are, if you’ve got a computer—and since you’re reading this blog, you have one—you already know at least a little about AIDS. So I’m sure you are aware of the disease. In fact, chances are better than 50% that you know someone who has AIDS or had died because of it.

But are you aware that there are things that you can do to help stop it?

1. Ok, it’s obvious, but Make A Donation. You’d be surprised how far even a small donation can go. From buying drugs for those affected, to funding the fight for a cure or a vaccine even a few dollars can help.
2. Get Involved. Again, obvious, but no less important. A vital part of beating a disease is stopping it’s spread. So get involved in education, or any other aspect that’s important to you.
3. OK, I get it. Not only is it hard to make ends meet right now, but doing so takes a a lot of time, so right now you don’t have the time or funds to help out. OK, here’s a free way for you to help out that won;t take more than a couple of minutes. Fight AIDS at Home is a distributed computing program. That means that once you sign up, the power of your computer becomes part of a network that runs computations to help breakdown potential ways to fight HIV. And it won’t slow you down—since it works as a screensaver, it only uses your computer when you’re not using it. Do you really not have time for that?
   
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