When if Ever Will a Space Opera be Feasible?

Toroidal Colony  by Michael Anissimov. A design for a
possible space colony in the future.

The last few weeks have lead to a few developed thoughts in my head. Penumbra asks me to chip into their blog once a month. It's part of my internship and I usually have a blast doing it. The subject of space operas however, has left me feeling rather unproductive. How can I approach the nuances of something that has yet to come into existence? That thought inevitably became, "When can we foresee a space opera (In its modern form) happening?"

Right now the only life forms we know that exist on other planets are microscopic. We haven't seen  other intelligent species, let alone gotten to know one well enough to believe that we could be having diplomatic relations with another planet. If we do find other intelligent life in our universe I would be curious to see how they behave. Will they be peaceful, warlike, or like humans have multiple sides to them?

We don't know what those first encounters will look like or if they will even take place in this universe. I can see science someday taking us to another dimension, another reality. What kind of experiences will that sort of travel bring us? I could speculate, but I would more than likely be horribly wrong.

We are currently moving towards a more industrialized vision of space in America. I find that rather exciting actually (at least as much as I find it terrifying,) because it may bring us towards discovering much more about space exploration.

Star Trek is a long way off from becoming a reality. Space colonies like the one above are not something that will likely happen in my life time.

Life is a funny thing, because if I have to think about what might happen after its over all I can think is, "Well it won't apply to me. Why should I care?" I know in theory I should be excited, should want to push our society towards making those breakthroughs and at the very least encourage the next generation to find an escape planet in case this one should ever fall to ruin to say, a stray meteor over Russia. I should care, but in the end I doubt I'll live to see it and outside of science fiction my interest ends there. I'm more interested in how space companies plan to mine asteroids without having the human error to drop rocks on the earth below.

My guess is that unless they come here I won't see aliens. I won't get to see humans make the first connection with another species, or the first intergalactic council elect the equivalent of a Vulcan as their level headed leader.

Right now I don't see meaningful (widely known) alien encounters as a feasible thing. Until we can go on long trips at the speed of light away from earth I will conclude the only space opera's I'll ever hope to see will be ones in the Senate. Those opera's will be much more tedious, and will involve how much money can be "squandered" on machines that will provide planetary protection from gigantic flying rocks. C-SPAN will broadcast them and I'm certain, as ever, we will all skip over the channel and miss that these long drawn out legislation dramas are ever happening in the first place.

All I can hope is that Space X and NASA manage to make some drastic discoveries during my lifetime which will bring us one step closer to intergalactic story telling on a massive scale.

Rambling Through Writer's Block

How writer's block feels. 

The past few days I've been reworking the look of this blog. I'm still not one hundred percent sure about the typography, but overall I like the page set up that I've chosen. I;m trying to find how personal versus how professional I want to make the page look. I'm also planning the Ray Bradbury blog post for Penumbra and putting together a long overdue list for work. Honestly, the last thing I'm thinking about today is writing.

Part of my lack of focus may be from my notes for God Syndrome.  Last night I realized I hadn't done some basic character building for the book. So I spent a good hour or two writing little notes about hobbies, interests, family, education, physical looks, and locations for the book. I filled only three quarters of a page and felt like I hit a wall. It's some of the most basic stuff, but I was so focused on research I forgot to start building some basic profiles. Now I'm having the challenge of trying to build a character I don't feel entirely familiar with.

The holidays are upon us, meaning that I will be migrating back and forth across the great state of Michigan. I'm just thankful I don't have to traverse an entire country. At least not yet! I wrapped Christmas presents and made plans to visit my Father tomorrow, before Christmas Eve. Though whether I'll go or not will depend on how clean the roads will be tomorrow. Snow is pounding Michigan, but not where I currently am. All the schools in my hometown have already closed for tomorrow, essentially extending the Christmas vacation.Though, my younger sister is probably sad since her band concert was cancelled. I however have been deprived of the traditional winter wonder land, I am stuck in the gray land of cold unrelenting rain. The kind of rain that makes you want to get back into bed and dream of better locations.

Part of me hopes that going home to my Father and my half sisters will bring back some of my imagination and that I can dive back into my notes and my blog with vigor. I need a recharge and some silly inspiration. For now I'm going to get some rest and hope that dreams may be inspirational.

Happy Writings and Happy Holidays!

How Many Habits Can You Try To Start At Once?

I can still hear Daft Punk's Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger ringing through my head. Yesterday I burned 500 calories on an elliptical. I felt great all day long, I got my notes up to date (I was a day behind,) posted on my blog, and got one of my work assignments in. Finally. The exercise kept me energized well into the early morning. It also made me ravenously hungry.

Thing is I had no motivation to do anything today. The thought drifted through my head that maybe I was trying to change too many things in my life at once. Psychology Today confirmed my suspicions with the article What Went Right? You Focused on One Habit! Ian Newby-Clark goes into how it is almost impossible to try to change too many habits at once. Trying to accomplish all those "should do's" Steven R. Stewart talked about, is something that must be done gradually. Clark also mentions "will-power."

Will-power, I recently learned, is a limited commodity in the human body. How much will power we have has to do with the choices we make during the day. President Obama actually has his wardrobe chosen for him, all blue, so that he doesn't have to make choices in the morning. In a way he's conserving his will power for more important things. I wish I could give you the source of that information, but it has honestly skipped town and taken the nearest train to the forgotten recesses of my brain. I am sure only hypnosis would bring the source back to my mind. The only thing I can remember was that it was on a T.V. show.

The conservation of will power is easier to do with a habit that is firmly in place. For instance, my mind isn't bothered by brushing my teeth. It's something I do every day. Blogging, is becoming the same thing for me. It's been almost a month since I started and I haven't let my self off anytime except for the weekends. Workouts, notes, working hours, and sleeping hours are still a shattered mess right now. This is where I'm spending my will power daily, often switching my focus and never feeling satisfied that I've made a change. I gave up on fixing my sleep patterns awhile ago. They got really messed up in my final year of college, when I was getting an average of three to five hours of sleep a night.

I'd say to make my workouts and working hours have the maximum effect I want, I'd have to alter my sleeping schedule. It's not something I really want to do. However, I used to be an early riser and that was when my mind was at its best. So in order to forge a new path into my future I have to do it one step at a time. However, it doesn't mean I can't make a bit of a sound track for motivation. Technologic by Daft Punk, for a little editing encouragement. (There's nothing like typing to this tune for me. Though I do find the video a bit disturbing.)

When Should You Give Yourself A Break?

Today I went to SFWA and started reading from the writing tips section of the Information Center page for Authors. The first article I read was The #1 Rule of Everything by Steven R. Stewart. His basic message was that you will never be able to keep up with all of the "should do's" that the writing and publishing industry will throw at you. At least, not if you want a life.

Patrick Star from Sponge Bob Square Pants.

He talked about his anxiety and depression with writing and how, even though he had won an award, he still didn't feel like he was doing enough. Mr. Stewart is a published author and is a member of the SFWA which means he had to have three short story sales, one novel sale, or one professionally produced full-length dramatic script. He's walked the walk and knows what he's talking about.

I, however, am new to writing. I'm working on it day by day, page by page. I'm just starting to fill my days with "should do's" of my own. I'm writing this blog, doing my page a day of writing, am trying to find a writing group, and read in my free time as well. Though, I will admit, the television tends to skew my focus and steal me away from the work I could (and probably should) be doing. The point is I have only one published short story. That story is published in Ferris State University's 2011 PRISM compilation and wouldn't count towards the SFWA.

I am at square one.

Finding my voice is something I should work on more than anything else. The humor I talked about just a week ago seems to have left my veins. It's fun to stay on the light side, but when it's forced it can be draining. I'll learn to use Bryce's lessons when I need to. To lighten a dark situation by pointing an over-sized spotlight on the middle of every day life shenanigans.

Once I find that voice and have a published piece or two; then, maybe, I'll relax. I'll take a chill pill put up my feet and take a week off. Until then I don't think I deserve a break. like Patrick in the picture above I want to cross off that nothing from both my To Do list and my Completed Works list. There's far too much for me to learn to sit idle. Currently I have some notes that are calling my name.

Happy Writings!

Rekindling

Sometimes when you sit alone in a quiet house you hear the little creeks in the wood and think maybe it's whispering to you. The television, books, radio, and computer may help you to forget you're alone, but when you look away from your choice of distraction you realize that you are. That there is no one there.

I've found in the past that I'm more productive when I'm alone. However, that has often been after a day full of seeing nothing but people. The constant feeling that I must rush to finish what needs to be done haunts me as I fill my day with friends and family. When I am truly alone and left to my own devices I find I am more selfish. Procrastination becomes a partner. Today I was alone and sadly I made no progress towards my future.

I watched several episodes of American Horror Story on Netflix and cuddled into my warm red blanket. I read chapters from A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. I neglected to finish what little work I had left as I gave myself over to the little comforts of entertainment.

Tonight (technically this morning) I'll finish my work. It took all my strength just to start up again. No one is here to remind me that time is passing and so I take it at my own pace, occasionally looking back and realizing time was following me all along. However, I feed into my own farce, turn around and continue to waste the time I should have used on other projects instead of my own amusement.

I did check out the SFWA or Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Becoming a member is something I should try to do. If nothing else trying to attain membership will help me improve my writing. They also have a nice site to help writers navigate their way through the publishing system. Their blog Writer Beware is another source that is nice for writers new to the industry like myself.

These little finds aside, I am in need of a rebirth of sorts. I need to burn out my old bad habits and become the person I want to be. The focused editor, writer, and reader whose voice can help those around me, whose mind can help herself. I want to burn some of the tiredness out of my veins. I was almost successful a couple weeks ago. I need exercise. I need to wake up early. I need to eat vegetables. I need to breathe healthful habits into my life. I need to rekindle the ambition in my heart and find within me the girl who took on the world and didn't dread the sun's call to morning. I need to forge a path for myself.

To start I need to get back to work both in the house and for Musa. This day of distraction is wreaking havoc on my mind and I'm so close to the finish line for my project. This little post has been my match now I'll have to monitor myself before the flame of achievement goes out.

Does Exercise Effect Writing?

Last week right after I woke up, I ran for a half an hour down to the lake and back. I say I ran but what I really mean is that I ran, jogged, huffed and puffed out of breath, walked, and ran again in a repeated fashion. My lungs burned from the air and my nose stung from the cold. My body was screaming at me that it was out of shape.

There were several reasons I chose to take that jog and one of them was writing. I had recently been told through work that the best writing is produced by those who are in the best physical condition. While I was a little tired later that day, I did find that I was much more focused than usual. I was able to get through a great deal of work I hadn't had the energy to pursue before. I felt more in tune with what I was doing.

The next day I found Dottie, my dog, paralyzed. It broke the cycle for me on the second day I was supposed to maintain exercise. I didn't want to do anything after losing such a good soul.

I want to approach this again. The workout may not have been all fun, but it gave me a focus that I haven't really had since high school. It figures, high school was the last time I had mandatory physical education. Though I did participate in mixed martial arts at college I did that late at night. The rush of energy the MMA club provided me was at the wrong time of day. Night was not a time to be productive or creative.

Interestingly, these days I find myself tired if I don't exercise. A constant lethargy sinks in down to the bone. Fighting that exhaustion is one of the best things I've done since college. This weekend, when I'm back from traveling, I'll start running again. Hopefully able to accomplish more writing for work, more blogging, and more notes for my January novel run.

For now I leave you with the music that was running through my mind as I was writing this. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" by Daft Punk.

When Demotivation Strikes

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball you aren't prepared for. Today mine hit me full on. I got up and followed my usual routine. I went out to feed Dottie, a rottweiler, bull mastiff mix.

She's a wonderful dog and has the best of personalities. Every day I clean out her kennel, feed and water her, and take her for a short walk. She has arthritis so too much movement was a no no, but a roll in the grass and a small walk was nice. Today she didn't come out to say hello or wander around like she usually does. She stayed inside her igloo house. She'd done it before, but usually because it was freezing outside. Today was a balmy forty degrees, which is great for Michigan this time of year.

Concerned, I went inside and told my mom. We returned to try and coax her out for a little exercise which she's usually happy for. She had been running around the day before chewing on grass like old, silly, arthritic dogs do.

She wouldn't come and as we found out couldn't. Dottie had a pinched nerve in her third vertebra and had been paralyzed from part of the neck to the middle of her back including her front legs. Tomorrow, barring miracle, she will be euthanized. She's getting a steroid treatment right now that may help, but the chances are slim it will help by tomorrow.

Family tragedy takes my will away to do anything. My dog is dying, but I have to trudge on. So I'm writing here and I'll write my page a day. Even if all I want to do is just stare at this screen until it melts from time.

If you're reading this and you have loved ones. Give them a hug tonight, because you never know what tomorrow will bring.

Censor Or Be Dooced?

I've been working on understanding blogs. I'm trying to increase my knowledge on the subject and have started with a book that I found called Blogging for Business by Shel Holtz and Ted Demopoulos.

In the first few pages they mention the verb being "dooced." The idea that you can be fired for what you write on your blog. Apparently there was a woman by the name of Dooce that had this happen to her.

The idea is not foreign to me. I had just never heard the term "dooced" before. The warning that Julie get's in Julie and Julia has always sat in the back of my mind. Her boss reads about her cooking disaster that made her skip work one day. She had called in sick to fix the dish for special guests that evening. In the post she even said she was feeling unwell. The boss didn't think it rang true. It serves as a reminder that anyone could be watching.

I had two interesting experiences with blogs in high school. Back then everyone I knew was using Xanga.com to blog, facebook hadn't opened up to high schoolers yet. I wrote most of my posts publicly, but one night I made the unfortunate mistake of allowing comments on a private posting. It resulted, unbeknownst to me, in the post going live. My parent's ended up reading the post about them and they were not thrilled. Not only did I have to delete the post, but I had my internet privileges taken away from me for a month.

Another couple of my friends had a nasty spat on the site that actually got them called down to the principal's office. Someone had reported it. They were both forced to shut down their accounts or face suspension.

You could say I've had my fair share of reality telling me to censor what is said online.

Self censoring is important, but the question is how much do you censor yourself? Taking out every little bit of craziness that you do can make you sound droll and unreal. Does mentioning the fact that I was once so drunk I chased the Moon mean I'm walking on the edge? It certainly says I've had poor judgement, but it was a part of my life. Or, is it simply work related posts like Julie Powell made?

How much can we say before we get dooced? Better yet, what is a dooce-able offense? As a writer, it's an interesting question and one I will contemplate as I go forward.

Editorial note: I checked up on this Dooce person after my original post (she doesn't exist). My memory warped what I had read in the book. Dooced is a blog written by Heather B. Armstrong and she was fired because of her commentary on work. Still, outrageous actions can lead to consequences and my questions still stand.

Deadline 2

I have a deadline looming before me, and while indefinite it is approaching very quickly. I have been working non-stop the last few days on an article for Penumbra and am anxious to not only provide a good context for the piece, an interview in this case, but also good editing!

I've been in such a tizzy to get it done I haven't really even attempted to work on my notes for my book today. I've been coming along with my notes. Learning about viruses and syndromes and how they work. I still need a little more in that area historically, but then I'll move on to different ancient cultures, specifically the Aztecs. So there's a plan in place, just no movement.

These deadlines are really teaching me to start using my time more wisely, because I don't want to be frantically pushing like this near the end all the time. A professional should be better than this, and you can bet your buttons I'm going to make some changes despite the upcoming holidays!

So while I would love to ponder on my writing skills, future books, new tools that I should be looking at as a young writer, and the book groups I should be trying to join. My fingers are currently needed elsewhere.

To all of those still pursuing NaNoWriMo, best of luck to you!

Can There Be Joy In Editing?

I often feel like beating my head against a table unceremoniously. The reason? Simple, finding an error in a piece I've already published. It makes my ears turn red just thinking about it.

The ironic thing is that when I was at school it never really bothered me. If I had a few red marks on my college paper I didn't feel like an idiot so much as I felt like I had been robbed of time before I turned in the assignment. Procrastination was a friend that I kept at bay mostly by being constantly busy. However, in my super senior year (that's year five for those of those who are curious) I contracted the infamous, Senioritis. Everything I did was last minute and I had little guilt. I just lost the will to care at that point. Mainly because no one ever marked me down enough on grammar to make me care. So I didn't.

Now, when writing for the public eye, I often wonder if my grammar is correct. I fret over comma placement like I haven't fretted since my elementary grammar tests. I constantly reference books on what I should be doing in regards to punctuation, and am constantly checking my use of affect and effect, usually twice before my work gets sent out. It's nerve wracking and I often find myself feeling like a degenerate when my German mother finds errors before I do.

Before I tear myself down any further I will add, that these last couple of months at Penumbra have started to re-instill the basic grammar I've been neglecting throughout my education. I can, and often do, find my own errors and do not need to have them pointed out to me. Typically. No one has the perfect first draft, it is usually filled with errors. I just find it ironic that I'm working for a magazine and don't know all the basics by heart. It's another one of those, "How did I get away with this?" questions.

To be honest in all of writing, editing is my least favorite task. You can edit as you go, but  it almost never ends up catching all of the errors. It's the method I usually did at school because it was quick and PAINLESS. I know it's silly, but it often hurt my pride to find those silly little errors. Quick and painless, however, were based in pride, and as the saying goes, "Pride comes before a fall."

I know time with my paper (or even my blog, yes I'm aware there are a few pieces I haven't edited here) would solve many of my problems. However, I always get the feeling right before I edit like someone is dragging their nails down a chalk board. While I'm doing it there is not problem and afterwards I usually feel secure. It's those minutes before that drive me crazy. I feel like I'm having a confrontation with my weakness and I, like many, don't like it.

So the question becomes is there a way to find joy in editing? To face yourself and not only be comfortable doing so, but enjoy doing it. You might be thinking this girl is nuts! Who equates editing with self worth? Well, the answer is a career writer. A career writer should care about the quality of their work. Deadlines should never be an excuse. Though, I admit, it's often deadlines I blame for my lack of editing.

Maybe if I start placing my pride in my ability to edit, I can change my mindset. When that happens I think I will truly find that joy in writing. In reworking and refining what I have into the best pieces I can make.

That and my proverbial head will enjoy not being bruised by repeated drops onto a hard table and my ears can keep their normal pale color.

Fighting the Holiday Blues

Some days it's really hard to write. It feels like your creative juices just died in your dreams and you left them in bed. If I had napped today maybe the will to be productive might have returned to the recesses of my mind from the pillow in which I'm certain they're stored.

Still when you make the plan to write a page a day, you trudge on, even when you don't want to. Especially when you've been playing hooky the last few days. So after this I'm going to pick up my notebook and write my basic story line, write some details, and possibly draw a sketch. Something to empty a bit of my brain and keep my hands moving.

Tomorrow I'll be traveling home, like plenty of other Americans, to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. I always feel drained around this time of year because I'm always making decisions on where I'll be with my multiple divorce family. It's never as relaxing as it should be because in the end you always feel like you've offended someone.

I've used the term "nuclear family" to describe my divorced family before, but I don't think it's accurate. Apparently a nuclear family is just a basic family unit with two parents. It can be a gay couple (not my case,) but in the end it is just two parents and their children. I have my mother, my father, and my step-mother. All of whom I am very close to. I have two half sisters, who at half my age are already taller than me. I love them all, but as with any family there are problems. Not to mention the grand parents, aunt, uncles, and cousins who are also affected by your decisions.

It's enough to drive a person crazy or drag a person down. I'm headed on a downward spiral this year. Dread, fatigue, and body aches aside. I will write on.

The Future of Exploration

A piece I did for Penumbra EMag's blog.

Penumbra eMag: The Future of Exploration: by Kristen Saunders

The picture wasn't spectacular, but it was the best I had at the time.

The piece focuses on how our current history is going to affect the writing of the future. It wasn't meant to be about writing techniques, which is the usual topic. I was asked to find a different approach to addressing exploration from a writer's perspective.

December's topic for Penumbra will be Utopia. I've been thinking about what people think as the perfect world. Thing is no two definitions would ever match up. So it's an interesting thought process to start to delve into.

I'll probably write again today, this was just a shameless plug.

Getting Away With It?

When did I think I could get away with professionally editing, without writing first?

I'm not certain when the idea first came into my head. I switched majors in college five times till I found myself comfortably studying English and literature. It was easy, the questions could be argued, and I always figured that at the very least that I could later attend law school. However, my real focus was to become an editor. After all who wouldn't love to read submissions on a daily basis and find the next F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nora Roberts, or George R. R. Martin?

As you can see, I have a wide range of tastes, It's certainly wider than the respective author's genres above. I thought the job would be ideal. I'm just not certain when I thought I could get away with being the gate keeper to such writers, without first offering up a smidgen of my own work. I've always had these glorified views about how things work, and I didn't have any professionals to guide me or give me a reality check.

I had never been a member of the college paper and I never bothered to volunteer a column. I wrote in a writing circle, but that only lasted one year before it fell apart in my Junior year of college. Of course I wrote analysis papers for my classes, but in the end the only thing remotely professional I could claim was a short piece of fiction that I got published in the schools annual PRISM writing contest. Even then I only got second place to a well accomplished friend who blew the competition away that year. He won something like three first place awards.

I should say, that I was an active college student. It wasn't like I was a good for nothing. I stayed active with Sigma Tau Delta, the National English Honors Association, and worked at school twenty-two hours a week on top of being a full time student. 

You would think at some point I would have woken up from my fantasy and realized that this was not all going to work out as I had envisioned. 

So, here I am, an intern with Penumbra eMag and I've been writing. Doing interviews and attempting to develop a column on early writing. It hasn't been accepted yet, but it is in the works. It's a bit of a hilarious mess really, but I'm going to figure it out and make this thing work. 

I'll have to learn to write for the masses, explore the tools available to me, and fight that tick I got in college called procrastination. This is my attempt to start publicly writing and to move myself into the mentality of writing for the masses. I may have interesting stories or little tid-bitts of information to share. But here it is November, National Novel Writing Month, and I figure this is the best time to give a professional writing career a serious go.