Category Archives: Uncategorized

Occasionally, you need to write naked… or at least out of your comfort zone

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Depending on your local climate, you may not want to get this far out of your comfort zone, but it’s good advice nonetheless

Ned's Blog's avatarNed's Blog

That unmistakable sound of jingling pocket change on Friday can only mean one thing: It’s time for Ned’s Nickel’s Worth on Writing! Unless Friday is your laundry day. Or the day you treat yourself to breakfast from the vending machine at work.

But let’s assume you’re here for my weekly writing tip, which is offered up from 15 years as a newspaper columnist. And let’s further assume that kind of writing pedigree was extremely impressive. Then you would understand why some of today’s most respected fictional writers and equally fictional educators have referred to my NWOW as:

Advice you’d expect from someone who is indeed a professional. Wait, I said in need of a professional…

and

Required reading for my students whenever I’m mad at them or too hung over to actually teach…

Admittedly, I am a bit embarrassed. Not only by those gushing accolades, but also because I am…

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The long hard blog slog

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Hey faithful followers (and insanity novices),

After not posting on 4 of the last 5 days, I wanted to let you know I have not fallen off the face of the Earth, or any other planet. It has just been something of a busy week for this chronic procrastinator.

As I may have mentioned, I am in the midst of yet another screenwriting class and have spent the better part of 4 days critiquing the screenplay outlines of several classmates and likewise being critiqued. So much talent, so many interesting stories…they all must die!

But I digress…

The current flurry of activity will end shortly (all of my deadlines will have passed, so they better end shortly) and I will be back to spout my neuroses, both written and photographic, across your computer screens.

In the meantime, rest easy, enjoy the waning days of August and clear your mind for the verbose onslaught that is sure to start next week.

And now for something completely idiotic: Rowan Atkinson on Not the Nine O’Clock News

Best…Randy

It’s my 47th birthday and the excitement is tangible

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Some ancient guy drooled this earlier today, but within all the spittle is some interesting stuff about having a support network. Wade on in! (oh, no!! the exclamation point thing is catching!!!)

Ned's Blog's avatarNed's Blog

This week’s edition of Ned’s Nickel’s Worth on Writing is brought to you by a 47-year-old man! [Please note the exclamation point! (Hey, there’s another one!)] Why am I excited about this? And why am I not calling in sick while lining up shot glasses on the kitchen table?!? Because, in addition to my birthday falling on an NWOW Friday, I feel GREAT!

I’m in my PRIME!

And I want the whole world to know how, through positive thinking and the repetitious use of exclamation points, you can believe it too!!

To celebrate, I dressed in my favorite AC/DC T-shirt, jeans and smokey grey Vans. Oh, and Dos Equis underwear. Um, to clarify, those are underneath my jeans, not on top (I haven’t had that much to drink). I also took a moment to record the occasion for posterity by taking a photo. Which isn’t to say I took a…

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How to accept your inner idiot

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Because we all know we have one

Tracy's avatarThe HeSo Project

Recently, a dear friend confided in me that he feels stupid and way over his head whenever he talks to people who are in the field he wants to switch into. This is mostly because he doesn’t know all the jargon or references yet. Here are two tips I gave him:

1. Write down the words and references you don’t know.The first time I told someone I wanted to be a writer, she started listing all of her favorite authors and asking me what I thought of them. I didn’t know a single one of them, and I felt like a fraud who had just been caught. Since that day, I always carry around a notebook (now I use the Keep It app on my phone), and when someone mentions an author I don’t know, I simply write it down and tell them that I will check it out…

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Free fall update

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Free fall

With a pretty steady acceleration of about 9.8 m/s2 and a consistent headwind coming from below, I am happy to report that my free fall through the universe remains largely unchanged from my last check-in.

The ground remains nowhere in sight although recent episodes of blue-shifting suggest it is down there somewhere. Otherwise, the view continues to be spectacular, if a tad blurry.

The best movie metaphor I can offer for my journey thus far is a mashup between Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade and 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is as though I combined Indiana’s leap from the lion’s head over the yawning chasm with Dave’s journey into the monolith to find it full of stars. (My journey’s been full of actors, some of whom will one day be stars.)

When I stepped off the cliff in May 2012, I could not see the bottom. That there was even a bottom to be seen was pure conjecture. In some respects, that may have made it easier to step off. Ironically, not seeing what awaited me was less frightening.

As I fall—which I don’t see as a negative expression—I have come to realize that I care less and less about my potential destination. Instead, I am enjoying the freedom of soaring in whatever direction takes my fancy (falling is just soaring on a downward bias).

And in my journey, I am meeting an endless array of interesting people. Some are also soaring, while others are flailing in resistance. And still others have convinced themselves they are stable and stationary. Whatever floats their sense of well-being.

The forecast for tomorrow is a continued breeze with periodic pockets of turbulence in a sea of exhilaration. Can’t wait.

Not quite dead – an update

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Hey folks,

For those of you who may be wondering, did he lose all of his fingers in a fire, the answer is no, I just haven’t really had the capacity or inspiration to write much of late.

Between a beautiful week in Victoria (as evidenced by the photographs) to a serious chest cold (worst vacation souvenir EVAR!) to moving to a new apartment, I just haven’t had the brain space to put pen to paper (I’m old fashioned that way) for anything more than my screenwriting homework.

I am, however, a writer at the chromosomal level, and so I fully expect to be back in full verbosity in the near future, when I will continue to astound (?), inspire (?), inflame (?) and amuse (??) you.

Until then, I wish you well and say “Ooh, look, it’s a bee!”

 

New neighbourhood

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♨ Happy Birthday, Canada!

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A wonderful post by a great writer on the birth of a maple-flavoured nation

tkmorin's avatarBite Size Canada

More important events have taken place in Canada on July 1 than on any other day of the year, but first place will always be retained by Confederation Day, 1867.  This was Canada’s birthday, although Canada then included only Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Most nations were born of adversity, unhappy occasions, often due to war.  Canada was born of diversity, a curious blending of races, geography and economics.

For the most part, her birthday was a happy occasion.  In Ottawa, church bells began ringing after midnight, June 30.  There was also a 101-gun salute, while 21-gun salutes were fired in other centres.  In Saint John and Halifax, however, a number of merchants were so opposed to Confederation that they draped their stores in crêpe!

There was a drab ceremony in the Privy Council chamber, where Lord Monck was sworn in as governor-general…

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