Learn to code in 2012!
Codeacademy presents a full year of interactive online programming lessons for beginners!
Here’s an article on it from Slate: You Need to Learn how to Program.
I figure at one lesson a week, it shouldn’t interfere with my writing time any more than random websurfing, tv-watching and reading do, and I definitely buy the argument that basic programming is becoming as important a skill as being able to type.
(No judgments from me on *how* you type – hunt and peck gets the job done just fine with enough practice, though I do find touch typing to be convenient.)
Writing is communicating with other people, programming is communicating with computers, not just in terms of telling, but of understanding.
Signal boost: EBooks for Breast Cancer Screening and Education
John Scalzi and Subterranean Press are donating all proceeds from the sales of his ebooks published by them for the next week to Planned Parenthood’s breast cancer screening and education activities, a gesture inspired by the way the Susan G Komen Foundation recently withdrew their funding for the same.
You can read all about it, and find links to the ebooks, at his post. 
There are several shorter works available for $0.99, as well as a couple of longer options for a few dollars more. I’ve read The God Engines, and it was quite good, even if I wasn’t sure about the ending.
Mars, Status Update, and Planning…
First off, happy belated 8th anniversary to the Mars Rover Opportunity! I think it’s so very awesome that it’s still going!
Status Update:
OK, so I haven’t written since Sunday, because of going away for a trade show for work Monday through Wednesday, and being too darned tired to write yesterday or this morning… But leaving that aside, I think my first month has gone very well.
The first draft has 20,528 words, and while it isn’t *finished,* I have a good idea of how the last part of the story goes. So I’m going to settle for writing a summary of what happens next in case I come back to it later, and move on to the next one in accordance with my plan.
I definitely think I’ve learned from the experience of my first month, though nothing solid enough to really talk about. I’m looking forward to what the rest of the year will bring!
Planning:
Speaking of which, for February I’m going to try to pattern my writing as follows:
First week: Introduce the characters, the world, and the key problems, as well as complications.
Second week: The characters try to address their problems and make things worse, but there are hints of what the final resolution will be.
Third week: Achieve the final resolution and tie up loose ends.
Week four: Work on short stories, and maybe put one up for sale on Amazon. This’ll give me a chance to let go of the last long story and its pattern before starting the next one. It’ll also let me start building up a body of work for sale, for readers to find me by.
In fact, I think that’s what I’m going to work on this coming week, as January ends and February begins. I think I might take a fresh look at Changing Course.
I’ve been seeing a lot of short stories published as stand-alones for $0.99, and even bought a couple, so it seems like a more reasonable idea to me than it once did. What do you guys think? A decent way to put stuff out there for new readers to find?
Interesting…
This is an interesting summary and debunking of recent efforts to identify an evolutionary use for depression: Depression Defies Rush to Find Evolutionary Upside
I particularly liked the closing: “Even if depression is “natural” and evolved from an emotional state that might once have given us some advantage, that doesn’t make it any more desirable than other maladies. Nature offers us cancer, infections and heart disease, which we happily avoid and do our best to treat. Depression is no different.”
100 Artists
Too cool!
Also: 100 Artists Rolled into One Man
(Edit: The numbered, limited edition version of the biennial book is $1000, but I emailed to ask and Mr. Hembrey wrote back that if there is enough interest there could be a publishing house version of the book in a more affordable price point. Here’s hoping!)
Oh, this is so wrong…
I could insert the picture here, but then you might miss the text…
Snarf warning: don’t click through while taking a drink of something.
Creativity and eccentricity…
I’m not sure if it’s disturbing or reassuring how familiar some of this is:
The Unleashed Mind: Why Creative People Are Eccentric
(Thanks to Katie for the link!)
© 2010 Catherine Wechsler, used with permission.
