Quotes for Science Fiction Writers…

“Perhaps most famously, Gibson wrote Neuromancer without the aid of a computer, and indeed, without knowing much about computers at all. This ignorance led to a lesson that every scifi writer, fan and everybody else should learn: your knowledge might be crippling your imagination. Gibson was free to imagine virtual social networks and complex visual interfaces primarily because he had no reason to think otherwise.” — Avi Abrams, DarkRoastedBlend

“It’s actually harder to write science fiction, because you have to know more. I’ve never been a hard science fiction writer, but even writing a non-hard science fiction story you have to know a lot more about science and the world and how things work than you do to write a fantasy.” — Veteran SF editor Gardner Dozois, interviewed in Locus.

That’s just al ittle inspiration to get your juices flowing next time you try to put pen to paper.  Actually I would encourage anyone reading this to put pen to paper anyway. Write anything… just write… I’d venture to say it’s good for you and the entire Universe. No shit.  Try it and you’ll see what I mean.

Link

Hamlet: The Facebook Edition

The king poked the queen.
The queen poked the king back.
Hamlet and the queen are no longer friends.
Marcellus is pretty sure something’s rotten around here.
Hamlet became a fan of daggers.

- – - -

Polonius says Hamlet’s crazy … crazy in love!
Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet are now friends.
Hamlet wonders if he should continue to exist. Or not.
Hamlet thinks Ophelia might be happier in a convent.
Ophelia removed “moody princes” from her interests.
Hamlet posted an event: A Play That’s Totally Fictional and In No Way About My Family
The king commented on Hamlet’s play: “What is wrong with you?”

This recently came up on McSweeney’s: Hamlet (The Facebook News Feed Edition. Absolutely hilarious. This is what would probably happen if Facebook was around during Shakespeare’s time.

Muhammad is worried about people who have too much time on their hands…
: Shakespeare, Hamlet, Facebook, Funny

Writer’s Block

I don’t know what it is but lately I’ve just found myself absolutely blank when it comes to writing something down. I know I have a lot of interesting things going through my head but nothing seems to materialise on paper or anywhere else.

I have pinpointed the problem though… the lack of me putting things on paper is very closely linked from my lack of reading recently. I had stopped reading and at the same time stopped writing. Just yesterday I was reading one of Neil Gaiman’s stories on the Matrix and boom, the writing bug hit me again. It was just the way he wrote and the content… it was the same stuff which goes through my head but only his short story was to the point and painted such a cool picture with so little words it really inspired me.

So here I am writing about not writing. That must be a cop-out of sorts, but there is a learning here if you missed it a paragraph or so back. If you want to write… read.

Word.

More pen to paper to come :)

Peace!
: Writers Block, Writing

What was your favourite Limmerick as a kid?

I can still remember English Class… getting an entire lesson in the poetry section devoted to Limmericks. I also remember my favourite becuaause it was so ingenious…

There was an old man from Nantucket,
Who kept all his cash in a bucket.
He had a daughter named Nan,
but she ran away with a man.
And as for the bucket, Nantucket.

I loved that one and remember repeating it to everyone I met after that… as most kids do, some things never change :)

So what was your favourite Limmerick? or Haiku even… pick your poetic structure, just tell me. I love language and ingenuity.

And here’s a modern one you might not get, but its pretty cool.

: Limmericks, Limmerick, poetry, Language, Writing

Winners of the South African Twitter Story Competition!

Mandy de Waal, one of our esteemed judges has recently coined the phrase “twiction” to represent micro-stories, especially those created within 140 characters on the micro-blogging platform, Twitter. I found it extremely appropriate to put this new term into use for this competition.

What a ride! The South African “Twiction” competition has now come to a head with the winners in sight and the prizes ready to be sent off. Thanks once again to all the contestants, the beautiful and intelligent Judges and, of course, the sponsors!

Okay… Let’s get to it.

First Prize: @JasonEsch

“He was both at a loss and lost, staring at the road sign that seemed more to describe how he was feeling than where he was going: Bakgatla.”

Judges comments:
“A journey at a crossroads, with a real sense of character. The ending wins it for me.”

“Beautiful use of metaphor for such a short form, and strong expression on the archetypal journey and ability of humans to get lost on that journey.”

@JasonEsch wins a T-shirt from SpringLeap.com! Congratulations!

Second Prize: @yusufk

“Vuvuzela in one hand,phone in the other,he watched the cross float by 3 defendenders,deflect off a forehead into the net. Tweet:”SA Scores!”

Judges Comments:
“Sports offers up great narrative. The themes of struggle, perseverance and victory are timeless. The ‘tweet’ added a nice touch.”
“Another strongly descriptive entry, which conjures images of our strong sporting nation.”
“I am so excited about World Cup coming to SA, and I think it will be great for the country spirit. And every goal will help. So this captures that hope beautifully!”

Yusuf’s entry was a close contender for no. 1

@yusufk wins a $20 Amazon.com voucher from the guys at Qatarliving.com! Well Done!

Third Prize: @samanthaperry

“A writer entered a story competition, lost, and killed herself. The judges denied guilt, claiming the writer had terminal Bulwer-Lyttonitis”

Judges comments:
“ For the benefit of those who don’t know the reference – click over to http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ Clever entry; complete and concise.”
“Smart. Funny. Self evasive. Another complete story in 140 characters.”

Samantha’s entry was very close to snatching second place. She wins 40 Minutes Free wi-fi access which she can use anywhere in South Africa. Great Work Samantha!

Runners Up:

These were entries which were contending with the three winners and made some great efforts which put them onto the list…

@takilla786: Innocent window washes, innocent sells, innocent begs, innocent smells.Innocent pleas, innocent harps,all so that Innocent Jnr never starves
@blacktiemedia: Thembi stood contrasted against the sky of hungry fire. Smoke filled her lungs, blood stained her clothes. “Ubuntu” she whispered tearfully.
@nicharry: We’ve lost our ubuntu. 14 years gone and we are too scared to stand for our countrymen. Instead we fall for anyone carrying a knife or a gun.
@Sznq: He said: 1.Like it or 2.Hamba Kahle.When he wasn’t looking,she left.Now why can’t he buy her back ? Such bitter sweet things,ultimatums.
@qudsiya: One day she clicked on his nick and typed “hi”. A year later, she shook his hand and said, “Nice to meet you.” On 19/01/07 she said, “I do.”
@ismaild: its dark and she misses him, hears a sound in the kitchen! “WTF? Should she check? slowly tiptoes, damn those skelm tokoloshe with munchies
@shaunoakes: ! I said “Fok, Chyna” said a frustrated God, after another misunderstanding with an apologetic Mother Nature. “Now look what you’ve done!”

The competition overall showed the great variety of experience and expression in our great nation. Different stories, varied perspectives, emotion and intellectualism all in 140 characters. A tremendous example of creativity :) I was humbled at the outstanding creativity in each entry and I know for a fact that it made the judges’ jobs all the more harder to choose the overall winners.

Last Word from the Judges:
Saaleha Bamjee-Mayet – “Such stellar entries made the judging process really difficult. To facilitate the process, I tried to look for the most complete story in a twitter format, ones that gave a sense of a beginning, middle and end. SA twitterers have a wicked way with words, and I hated to let some really poetic entries go.”

Mandy de Waal – “For me the biggest skill in the short form is not only the concise concept and the writing, but the re-writing. The ability to shave off everything that’s not necessary, leaving only the bare bones of the story. Short form is essentially fiction that tells a story in anything from five thousand words to a couple of paragraphs. Imagine then how ruthless one must be with Twiction, which surely must be the shortest form of fiction ever written.”

Eve Dmochowska – “Overall, I think that the entries were fabulous, creative, inspired and mostly a whole lot of fun. And It was wonderful to see so many entries .. it shows that the twitter community is quite a cohesive one in this country. Well done to all the entrants!”

Winners, please contact me to collect your prizes :)

Till the next competition, Keep Tweeting!

: Twitter Story Competition, South Africa, Winners

Zuma vs. Mbeki on Thought Leader

This is my recent blogpost on Thought Leader’s Reader Blog is my thoughts on the Future leadership on South Africa and the two main protagonists which play the critical parts in what looks like to be a tragedy (but hopefully, not).


Technorati Tags: Zuma, Mbeki, Thought Leader, Muhammad Karim

Sometimes I wake up screaming, too.

This is from Tom Horacek’s new book “All We Ever Do Is Talk About Wood.”

The Vancouver artist’s first book, it’s a collection of single panel gags that seem to act as a celebration of pain, suffering, and life’s slow march to the grave. But the bitterness is sweetened by Horacek’s too-cute renderings. His round-headed characters not only evoke images of Charles Schulz’s Charlie Brown, but also the Peanuts-creator’s philosophy that “happiness isn’t funny.”

An eclectic concoction, making the serious seem comical and vice-versa. Poking holes in our comfort zones so we re-assess reality. This is the type of humour I like, Dark and Deep. Interesting.

Technorati Tags: Tom Horacek, Vacnouver, Book, Dark, Deep

The World of Pulp in a Nutshell

This is for the writers and the culture vultures, a really cool, albeit arbitrary, video which sums up the world of Pulp. Part content, part the type of paper the material came to life on.

Technorati Tags: Pulp, video

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