The old blog, active from 2006 through 2012.
Building the Perfect User Interface (Part 3)
We've got the two extremes of User Interface Hell: the world of the benevolent dictator, where your control over your environment is deceptively limited; and the world of ultimate freedom, where you've got so much control that your ability to get anything accomplish is equally limited. Both of those extremes are equally unlivable; and you'll notice that what those futures share in common is a lack of common-sense user interface. Continue reading→
Building the Perfect User Interface (Part 2)
(Read Building the Perfect User Interface, Part 1.) In my first ramble about user interface, I used the toaster as an example of something that is erroneously thought to have a perfect user interface. Perhaps a more apropos example for most techies is the Internet search engine. Think of any piece of information you’d like to know. Who was the king of France in 1425? What’s the address and occupation of your best friend from... Continue reading→
Building the Perfect User Interface (Part 1)
When I set out to create the world for my Jump 225 Trilogy, as I’ve written elsewhere, I started with a few technological principles: Imagine that we have virtually inexhaustible sources of energy. Imagine that we have virtually unlimited computing power. Imagine that enough time has passed to allow the scientists to adequately take advantage of these things. I discovered that starting from these basic principles, there are almost unlimited possibilities. You can easily have... Continue reading→
How to Write a Novel (Part 2)
So you decided to write a novel, you committed yourself to the task, and you agonized your way through your first draft — as described in How to Write a Novel (Part 1). Now one of two things will happen: 1) You’ll print that sucker out and add a title page. You’ll type up a page dedicating the book to your sister Chloë in Venice, whose steadfast support and witty observations helped you get through the... Continue reading→
On DeepGenre: How to Write a Novel (Part 2)
This morning on DeepGenre, I’ve posted part 2 of my article on How to Write a Novel. (In case you missed it, here’s part 1.) This time I tackle how to get from your finished first draft to the final product. Excerpts: Step 10: Get your first readers’ feedback, and listen to it. This is the difficult part: you need to listen to your first readers. Really, really listen. You cannot argue with them. At... Continue reading→
Robert J. Sawyer Praises “MultiReal”
I knew that attending the 2007 World Fantasy Convention would be a good idea for my career, I just didn’t know why. You always hear a lot of jabber about how networking is so important, it’s always good to have friends, blah blah blah — but you rarely get any concrete examples. Well, here’s a concrete example. In one of my blogs about my World Fantasy experience, I mentioned that I had finally met Hugo... Continue reading→
How to Write a Novel (Part 1)
One of the Ten Commandments of Author Blogging is “thou must write a post explaining how thou writest thine novels.” And so, in an effort to save my immortal writerly soul from scribbler’s purgatory, I’m going to explain my process in easy numbered steps that anyone can follow. Since I’ve only written two novels to date — Infoquake and MultiReal — and am now in the midst of a third, I can’t say that this is always going to be my... Continue reading→
On DeepGenre: How to Write a Novel (Part 1)
This morning on DeepGenre, I’ve posted a step-by-step guide to writing a novel. Or, at least, it’s a step-by-step guide to how I write a novel. Because every novelist who also blogs has to write at least one of these posts in their lifetime. Really, it’s in the union regulations. Excerpts: Step 2: Noodle around and figure out if your idea is novel-worthy.… Your first real challenge is to explore that idea to see if... Continue reading→
Anthony Williams for President
It’s unlike me to settle on a candidate for President so early in the primary season, but I’ve made my choice. It’s this guy. Those of you outside the Washington, DC area may not know who Anthony Williams is, and you might be confused by the fact that he doesn’t appear on the ballot in any of the 50 states. Anthony Williams was the mayor of Washington, DC from 1999 to 2007, and he did... Continue reading→
Who Should You Nominate for the 2008 Campbell Award?
Well, it’s that time of year again… time to make your nominations for the Hugo and Campbell Awards in preparation for this year’s WorldCon. Here’s the link to the official Hugo Award Voting site, where you can download the ballot. I’m absolutely loathe to do this, considering that I scrupulously try to avoid any hint of self-promotion on my blogs. But I suppose I should mention that this is my second and final year of... Continue reading→