... congrats to Mary Soon Lee for her boomerang sale to Talebones ...
January 14, 1999
4:45 a.m.
I write pretty well in little snippets. You know, an hour here, a half-hour there, a couple hours one morning, ten minutes in the afternoon. In fact, I guess that's how my life is arranged--give me two hours every morning, and as long as I know what I'm going to write, I can give you 1,000-2,000 words by 7:00. The problem, of course, is figuring out what I'm going to write. Research, unfortunately, does not work for me in the same way as writing. Maybe it's because my learning process is based on repitition and hands-on doing more than immediate intuitive understanding. You may have noticed that I'm a detail type of guy. If its worth knowing, it's worth knowing in detail. Otherwise, I'll just leave it to someone else. I've spent much of the past couple days reading and playing with equations. It's difficult work for me, because what I really need is a full day dedicated to it, and I don't have that. It's even more frustrating because I think I'm slowly discovering that the fundamental science of my latest story just will not work--not that I'm stuck on that sometimes, I mean, rubber science has been the staple of SF forever--can you say Independance Day? I think that's fine. Sometimes the science isn't the point--can you say ET? But this isn't one of those times. So I'm calculating escape velocities, and reading about geology and several other things. I even went to the library during yesterday's lunchtime. And now, I'm even bringing in the big gun . . . having asked a "real scientist" a few questions to augment the book larnin' with some real, hands-on knowledge. If the story won't work, the story won't work. But I'm not going to give up on it until I know.   The good news, of course, is that this is fun. I'm learning all sorts of interesting things. The bad news is that it moves along very slowly when you're expecting 1,000-2,000 words a morning out of yourself. You'll need fifteen or twenty minutes to appreciate this link, but I promise if you give it a chance, you'll leave moved by it. Have a great day.  Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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"And all the science I don't understand. It's just my job five days a week."" Elton John/Bernie Taupin from "Rocket Man" |
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