Before diving into the elements of the list I just provided, a good question to ask is - how did I come up with the list. The answer is that I took a piece of paper, jotted a few things down, thought for a minute, scratched a couple out, and added a couple more. There is no magic in it. And the more often you do things like this the easier it will get. And, I should mention that if you want your list to be perfect and read by everyone, then you should probably stop right now. Your list will be one of thousands of writing exercises. And out of those thousands of writing exercise a few gems will emerge. But, you won't know, as you start out, which will be the gems and which will be practice writing exercises.
So, I have a list and the next thing to do is to try to make it work. This is what I will be doing over the next few posts. I will create as good of an argument as I can for each of the items. At the end, I might get rid of an item. I might merge two items. I might add one or more items. But, the purpose of the list is not to be right or perfect. The purpose of the list is to get you started.
Once you have started on the list, and tried to make a solid argument for each, you will find that your cognitive juices are flowing. New ideas come to mind. You see existing ideas in a new light. You decide some of the ideas weren't as good as you thought. But, you are rolling. And that is the purpose of the list.
I attended a writing workshop many years ago where the instructor said that the reason you get writer's block is that you don't have anything to say. If you have something to say, the words will flow. So, if you don't have anything to say, you need to get something to say. There are many ways to do that. But, a tried an true way that I use a lot is to make a list and get going with it.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Friday, January 30, 2015
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Keys to Good Writing
There are thousands of books on writing and nobody has a preferred position on it. I have some favorites that suit my style (both my cognitive style and my writing style), but different books provide different things because different people need different things. In this piece, I thought I would provide some ideas off the top of my head, expand upon them in the next few posts, and then follow up with a revision. That is, after all, how I write and I thought that allowing you to see the underlying evolving thought processes might be useful. Here are the keys to good writing in no particular order:
1) Curiosity - You need something to write about, and something that interests you may very well interest others.
2) Reading - Hearing the voice of others will help you craft your own voice as well as giving you ideas on useful techniques.
3) Need for Expression - Once you have figured something out or created something, you must have a desire to share it with others.
4) Writing Practice - Just like learning to play a musical instrument takes a lot of practice, learning to write takes a lot of practice as well. Nobody ever just picked up a saxophone and played hot jazz without years of practice. And nobody every just picked up a pen and wrote the great American novel.
5) Writing for a Target - Different kinds of writing require different styles. You have to know who you are writing for and tailor your writing for that target.
6) Determination - You have to stick with it way longer than you would ever imagine. And if that is daunting, you might want to consider something else.
This is my working outline. Over the next several posts I will elaborate on these and we will see where this little writing exercise goes.
1) Curiosity - You need something to write about, and something that interests you may very well interest others.
2) Reading - Hearing the voice of others will help you craft your own voice as well as giving you ideas on useful techniques.
3) Need for Expression - Once you have figured something out or created something, you must have a desire to share it with others.
4) Writing Practice - Just like learning to play a musical instrument takes a lot of practice, learning to write takes a lot of practice as well. Nobody ever just picked up a saxophone and played hot jazz without years of practice. And nobody every just picked up a pen and wrote the great American novel.
5) Writing for a Target - Different kinds of writing require different styles. You have to know who you are writing for and tailor your writing for that target.
6) Determination - You have to stick with it way longer than you would ever imagine. And if that is daunting, you might want to consider something else.
This is my working outline. Over the next several posts I will elaborate on these and we will see where this little writing exercise goes.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Travails of Writing and Publishing
I love to write. In fact, I can't help writing. I write everyday and some days have quite an impressive output to show for it. Writing is a way to organize your ideas and express your creativity. It feels good to write. And if I go a day without writing it is like a day without exercising or a day disrupted by an ad hoc event or a power outage. It just knocks me out of my groove.
You would think that writing and publishing go hand in hand. You write a clever piece and a publisher gets it to market for you. But, it is nothing like that. Publishing is a business and publishers care about sales. Even academic publishers have similar concerns. They are less heavy handed to be sure. They care about readership and citations and reputation. But all of that translates, ultimately, into sales. If a publisher cannot get people to pay for reading their publications they cannot survive.
This, in turn, translates into a wide variety of seemingly odd behaviors. Recently, there was a discussion on a listserv that I subscribe to over whether or not it is appropriate for a journal editor to ask authors to cite papers from the target journal. Presumably, the editor did not want the author to miss an important paper on the topic of submitted paper. While that is possible, it is more likely that the editor was concerned about exposure for the journal's offerings or even, cynically, the citation index.
I have sent book proposals to publishers only to have them rejected because they did not match the publishers 'list'. That is, they want books of a particular kind and that is the primary concern. This does not make sense if you believe the publisher's first concern is quality publications. However, if you realize that similar publications will be attractive to their customer base hence making marketing much easier, it does make sense.
I once submitted a proposal to a publisher for a book that I expected to be around 60,000 words. It was almost finished and that seemed like a nice round number once I had completed the revisions. The publisher said they could not sell a book unless it was 100,000 words. They encouraged me to extend the book in question to that length. I could not do it. I had said what I had to say in 60,000 words and to stretch it to 100,000 words would require a lot of filler. Next time you are wading through a book with a lot of pointless junk in it, remember that you are probably wading through filler that the publisher requested in order to accept the book for publication.
Due to my passion for writing, I have numerous books in various stages of completion. Realizing my innate inability to accept the terms of publishers I have decided to put them on my website and give them away for free. If you would like to see what I have, go to my webpage and click on Books in Progress. This is not as crazy of an idea as it may first seem. As an academic I write to achieve recognition for my ideas. Giving the manuscripts away for free will maximize exposure. Granted, I won't make any money on them, but few academics actually make much money on their books. And if they do make money, it usually involves some sort of compromise - it is a text book really written by a committee or it is a popular press book which is a little thin on academic substance.
The only serious drawback is that of recognition within my own institution. If I can claim to have a book published by an academic press, that carries academic prestige. If I say I put my book on my website for free download, there is substantially less prestige accorded. However, I have never been one to care much about prestige. So, putting my book on my website for free works well for me. Now, if nobody cares enough to download them even for free, well then I do have a problem.
You would think that writing and publishing go hand in hand. You write a clever piece and a publisher gets it to market for you. But, it is nothing like that. Publishing is a business and publishers care about sales. Even academic publishers have similar concerns. They are less heavy handed to be sure. They care about readership and citations and reputation. But all of that translates, ultimately, into sales. If a publisher cannot get people to pay for reading their publications they cannot survive.
This, in turn, translates into a wide variety of seemingly odd behaviors. Recently, there was a discussion on a listserv that I subscribe to over whether or not it is appropriate for a journal editor to ask authors to cite papers from the target journal. Presumably, the editor did not want the author to miss an important paper on the topic of submitted paper. While that is possible, it is more likely that the editor was concerned about exposure for the journal's offerings or even, cynically, the citation index.
I have sent book proposals to publishers only to have them rejected because they did not match the publishers 'list'. That is, they want books of a particular kind and that is the primary concern. This does not make sense if you believe the publisher's first concern is quality publications. However, if you realize that similar publications will be attractive to their customer base hence making marketing much easier, it does make sense.
I once submitted a proposal to a publisher for a book that I expected to be around 60,000 words. It was almost finished and that seemed like a nice round number once I had completed the revisions. The publisher said they could not sell a book unless it was 100,000 words. They encouraged me to extend the book in question to that length. I could not do it. I had said what I had to say in 60,000 words and to stretch it to 100,000 words would require a lot of filler. Next time you are wading through a book with a lot of pointless junk in it, remember that you are probably wading through filler that the publisher requested in order to accept the book for publication.
Due to my passion for writing, I have numerous books in various stages of completion. Realizing my innate inability to accept the terms of publishers I have decided to put them on my website and give them away for free. If you would like to see what I have, go to my webpage and click on Books in Progress. This is not as crazy of an idea as it may first seem. As an academic I write to achieve recognition for my ideas. Giving the manuscripts away for free will maximize exposure. Granted, I won't make any money on them, but few academics actually make much money on their books. And if they do make money, it usually involves some sort of compromise - it is a text book really written by a committee or it is a popular press book which is a little thin on academic substance.
The only serious drawback is that of recognition within my own institution. If I can claim to have a book published by an academic press, that carries academic prestige. If I say I put my book on my website for free download, there is substantially less prestige accorded. However, I have never been one to care much about prestige. So, putting my book on my website for free works well for me. Now, if nobody cares enough to download them even for free, well then I do have a problem.
Monday, April 20, 2009
A Pause for Perspective
I have been writing this blog now for several months and thought it might be appropriate to step back and think about the blogging process. For me, starting this blog was a running leap into the deep end of the pool. I had no idea what blogs were really for. I had no idea what I would write. And, I had no idea if anyone would read it. Since then I have gotten a much better understanding.
On the first question, what blogs are for, the answer is that blogs are for a lot of things. But, I think the best way to think about a blog is a private journal made public. Then asking what a blog is for is like asking what a private journal is for. A private journal is just a way to record your thoughts and, in doing so, get them in order. Some people may use a private journal to record events of the day. Others may take on deeper topics. In this blog, I have taken on deeper topics, probably too deep for most readers. But, the truth is that my private journals contain exactly the same kind of thing. I use writing to sort out my ideas. And now I am using the blog for the same thing.
On the question of what to write about, I decided, as suggested in the previous paragraph, to write about what I was thinking about. I do not expect people to read this blog as it is written. As I formulate ideas and express them to other people, I am often asked where they can read more about the ideas. Eventually some of these ideas will be sorted out and formalized. They will appear in print usually in academic articles. But there is a long way between and idea and a paper. And many compelling ideas fall off along the way. A blog is a net to catch all those ideas that despite their worthiness fell off along the way. I write about what I am thinking about. And putting it into a blog gives other people access to my private journals.
This brings us to the third question, who will read it. I was initially disturbed that there were no comments on my postings. Then I realized why. I had the settings so that people couldn't comment. However, I think most people are reluctant to comment anyway because the ideas are weighty and intimidating. However, I know people are reading because it comes up in conversation. I will be talking about some thing and somebody will say, yes you mentioned something about that in your blog.
Most blogs are like fresh bread. They have a shelf life of a few days and if not consumed with in those days, they have limited value after that. But, I put a lot of work into my thoughts and into my blogs. I view them has having a much, much longer shelf life. People will often ask me how I came up with a particular idea. Now, I can say go back and look at my blog from x months ago, maybe even x years ago and you can see how the idea evolved.
I know what I am writing is not for everyone and even for those who do like it they can probably only take it in small doses. I am fine with that. I enjoy baking the bread and you can enjoy consuming it when you are hungry and at your leisure.
On the first question, what blogs are for, the answer is that blogs are for a lot of things. But, I think the best way to think about a blog is a private journal made public. Then asking what a blog is for is like asking what a private journal is for. A private journal is just a way to record your thoughts and, in doing so, get them in order. Some people may use a private journal to record events of the day. Others may take on deeper topics. In this blog, I have taken on deeper topics, probably too deep for most readers. But, the truth is that my private journals contain exactly the same kind of thing. I use writing to sort out my ideas. And now I am using the blog for the same thing.
On the question of what to write about, I decided, as suggested in the previous paragraph, to write about what I was thinking about. I do not expect people to read this blog as it is written. As I formulate ideas and express them to other people, I am often asked where they can read more about the ideas. Eventually some of these ideas will be sorted out and formalized. They will appear in print usually in academic articles. But there is a long way between and idea and a paper. And many compelling ideas fall off along the way. A blog is a net to catch all those ideas that despite their worthiness fell off along the way. I write about what I am thinking about. And putting it into a blog gives other people access to my private journals.
This brings us to the third question, who will read it. I was initially disturbed that there were no comments on my postings. Then I realized why. I had the settings so that people couldn't comment. However, I think most people are reluctant to comment anyway because the ideas are weighty and intimidating. However, I know people are reading because it comes up in conversation. I will be talking about some thing and somebody will say, yes you mentioned something about that in your blog.
Most blogs are like fresh bread. They have a shelf life of a few days and if not consumed with in those days, they have limited value after that. But, I put a lot of work into my thoughts and into my blogs. I view them has having a much, much longer shelf life. People will often ask me how I came up with a particular idea. Now, I can say go back and look at my blog from x months ago, maybe even x years ago and you can see how the idea evolved.
I know what I am writing is not for everyone and even for those who do like it they can probably only take it in small doses. I am fine with that. I enjoy baking the bread and you can enjoy consuming it when you are hungry and at your leisure.
Monday, March 16, 2009
What is the Truth, Anyway?
You would think that there is an answer to the question - what is the truth? Unfortunately, this is not the case. Like witnesses reporting the 'facts' of a traffic accident, different observers have very different perspectives.
There is a correspondence theory of truth that says a thing is true if it corresponds to the real world. This sounds pretty good but begins to fall apart when we ask what we mean by "corresponds to the real world". Since we organize our knowledge into categories and structures that certainly don't exist in the real world, this gets a little dicey.
Another view, called the coherence view, suggests that those categories and structures must provide a consistent and coherent view of the world and use coherency as the criterion for truth. That is, it needs to make sense considering other things we know.
While both of these provide useful ways of looking at the truth, they both address truth about the natural world. If we are seeking truth about the social world such as, how do we interpret and explain the human experience, or if we are looking for truths about the moral sphere such as, how should we behave as moral agents, then there is no place to look in the natural world for answers. Hints maybe, but answers - no.
This is to say that despite our reverence for science and despite the great reputation it has for bringing us closer to the truth about the natural world, science does not bring us one iota closer to truth about the social world or the moral sphere. What does bring us closer to truth about interpreting our experience as humans and how we should behave as moral agents? The answer, which I will get around to eventually, is - stories.
There is a correspondence theory of truth that says a thing is true if it corresponds to the real world. This sounds pretty good but begins to fall apart when we ask what we mean by "corresponds to the real world". Since we organize our knowledge into categories and structures that certainly don't exist in the real world, this gets a little dicey.
Another view, called the coherence view, suggests that those categories and structures must provide a consistent and coherent view of the world and use coherency as the criterion for truth. That is, it needs to make sense considering other things we know.
While both of these provide useful ways of looking at the truth, they both address truth about the natural world. If we are seeking truth about the social world such as, how do we interpret and explain the human experience, or if we are looking for truths about the moral sphere such as, how should we behave as moral agents, then there is no place to look in the natural world for answers. Hints maybe, but answers - no.
This is to say that despite our reverence for science and despite the great reputation it has for bringing us closer to the truth about the natural world, science does not bring us one iota closer to truth about the social world or the moral sphere. What does bring us closer to truth about interpreting our experience as humans and how we should behave as moral agents? The answer, which I will get around to eventually, is - stories.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Stories and Reality
In Plato's Republic the poets were ejected because their art compromised the search for truth. Since much of our modern distrust of stories finds its roots in Plato, it is worthwhile to revisit the issue there. Plato believed in absolute truth. A simple example will illustrate this. Consider the mathematical definition of a triangle. It is an abstract mathematical object with three sides. The sum of the internal angles is 180 degrees. That is a pretty good definition. It includes all triangles and excludes everything that is not a triangle. Further, with that precise definition we can deduce further truths about triangles without even having to consult individual triangles. But, this ideal form of a triangle does not exist in the material world. All the triangles we have are imperfect copies. So, where does this ideal triangle exist? Plato posited a World of Forms where all ideal objects reside. This World of Forms is the world of absolute truth. The material world in which we live is merely an imperfect copy. And herein lies the wrinkle with poets.
I am going to switch from using the word 'poets' to using the word 'writers' because our modern understanding of the word 'poet' is different and a little misleading. Writers construct imaginary scenarios from real experiences and through those imaginary scenarios explore questions regarding the meaning of our experiences as humans. So, writers, like philosophers, are concerned with a search for truth. However, from Plato's perspective, the material world in which we have our experiences is an imperfect copy of the ideal world and hence once removed from the truth. The world constructed by writers is an imperfect copy of an imperfect copy moving us, yet, further away from the truth. Due to their sins of imperfection and the dilution of the absolute truth, the poets and writers were banned from the ideal republic. The questions are - did Plato really believe this? and it is true?
First, the question of whether or not Plato actually believed this is unanswerable since Plato has been dead for millennium and we cannot interrogate him. However, looking at his body of philosophical work it would be hard to conclude that he really did believe this. First, his dialogues are all written in a story form. If he really believed that stories took us further away from the truth then why did he use stories to convey the truth. Second, within these stories are numerous mini stories used to illustrate specific points and subtlties. Again, if Plato really believed that stories moved us away from the truth, why did he rely so heavily on them in his pursuit of truth?
Second, the question of whether stories move us toward or away from truth is too big an issue to be taken up at the end. So, I will pick that up next time.
I am going to switch from using the word 'poets' to using the word 'writers' because our modern understanding of the word 'poet' is different and a little misleading. Writers construct imaginary scenarios from real experiences and through those imaginary scenarios explore questions regarding the meaning of our experiences as humans. So, writers, like philosophers, are concerned with a search for truth. However, from Plato's perspective, the material world in which we have our experiences is an imperfect copy of the ideal world and hence once removed from the truth. The world constructed by writers is an imperfect copy of an imperfect copy moving us, yet, further away from the truth. Due to their sins of imperfection and the dilution of the absolute truth, the poets and writers were banned from the ideal republic. The questions are - did Plato really believe this? and it is true?
First, the question of whether or not Plato actually believed this is unanswerable since Plato has been dead for millennium and we cannot interrogate him. However, looking at his body of philosophical work it would be hard to conclude that he really did believe this. First, his dialogues are all written in a story form. If he really believed that stories took us further away from the truth then why did he use stories to convey the truth. Second, within these stories are numerous mini stories used to illustrate specific points and subtlties. Again, if Plato really believed that stories moved us away from the truth, why did he rely so heavily on them in his pursuit of truth?
Second, the question of whether stories move us toward or away from truth is too big an issue to be taken up at the end. So, I will pick that up next time.
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Role of Stories in the Ethics of Virtual Worlds
In a previous post, I cited Marshall McLuhan's famous, and yet apocryphal quote "looking to the past to understand the future is like driving by looking in the rear view mirror." A rapidly changing technological base creates a path into the future with a lot of twists and turns, in which the future comes at us with increasing rapidity. The question is - how do we get a headlight into the future that will allow us to look forward instead of backwards in order to make decisions about what we need to do. The answer, I believe, is stories. Stories provide a headlight into the future, a way to explore possible worlds and possible outcomes.
My favorite example of this kind of story is Micheal Crichton's Jurassic Park. This cautionary tale is an attempt to explore the ethics of bio technology in a narrative form. Crichton's argument is that if you have unregulated bio tech research and have scientists working primarily for profit or fame, then all hell will break loose and nature will strike back at you. This book is a masterpiece of writing technique and makes a compelling narrative argument. But, it is only one possible narrative argument.
I teach a class in writing stories to explore the ethcis of technology, and, in this class, I have students find a flaw in Crichton's argument and provide a narrative alternative. Consider, for a moment, some of the stories that have swayed public thinking in a major way. These include: The Jungle, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Hard Times and Frankenstein; just to name a few. Each of these stories has presented one single narrative argument, one possible world. What we really need is to have authors take on more sides of the argument and allow us to see a variety of possible worlds.
In the same way that scientific debates lead to a better understanding of what is true, narrative debates can allow us to acheive a better understanding of what is good or what is desirable. And, here we are back to writing again. In Plato's Republic, he dismissed the poets to focus on rationality. Perhaps, now, in the 21st century, we will realise that rationality isn't everything and invite the poets back in.
My favorite example of this kind of story is Micheal Crichton's Jurassic Park. This cautionary tale is an attempt to explore the ethics of bio technology in a narrative form. Crichton's argument is that if you have unregulated bio tech research and have scientists working primarily for profit or fame, then all hell will break loose and nature will strike back at you. This book is a masterpiece of writing technique and makes a compelling narrative argument. But, it is only one possible narrative argument.
I teach a class in writing stories to explore the ethcis of technology, and, in this class, I have students find a flaw in Crichton's argument and provide a narrative alternative. Consider, for a moment, some of the stories that have swayed public thinking in a major way. These include: The Jungle, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Hard Times and Frankenstein; just to name a few. Each of these stories has presented one single narrative argument, one possible world. What we really need is to have authors take on more sides of the argument and allow us to see a variety of possible worlds.
In the same way that scientific debates lead to a better understanding of what is true, narrative debates can allow us to acheive a better understanding of what is good or what is desirable. And, here we are back to writing again. In Plato's Republic, he dismissed the poets to focus on rationality. Perhaps, now, in the 21st century, we will realise that rationality isn't everything and invite the poets back in.
Monday, November 3, 2008
How Often Should You Blog?
Some people blog every day, some weekly, and some very sporadically. So, it occurred to me to ask the question – How often should you blog? I think the frequency of blogging should suit the purpose of the blog and this means that you have to know why you are blogging in order to determine how often it would be appropriate for you.
Let’s first consider the daily blog and the reasons why this might be appropriate. I can think of three reasons why daily blogging would be appropriate - the diary, writing practice, and news commentary.
In the diary blog, the author simply narrates his or her day for anyone who might be interested in following the days of their lives. If you have something unusual about you then this kind of blog can be very interesting. Unfortunately, many people who write this type of blog do not have anything interesting to say. But, for every humdrum diary blog there are always a few ardent follower. So, who am I to judge?
Writing practice seems to be a slightly more worthy calling. Most writers will say if you want to be a writer you have to write and write and write. They often recommend a daily journal in which you write everyday just for practice. I have done this and strongly endorse the practice. Some time around 2001, I started a daily journal. I made myself write 500 - 1000 words every day. I kept it up until just recently and I believe it was an invaluable experience. Of course, nobody has read my daily journals and I don't think I would want them to be read. But, I can see how writing everyday in a blog could serve the same purpose.
News cometary seems to be the best justification. If you are commenting on the financial markets, or the election process, daily comments are almost required. Things change daily and your daily observations become part of the conversation. This seem to me to represent the very heart of blogging. There are, unfortunately, a few drawbacks. First, it is a lot of work to write every day. Second, it is work for the readers to have to come back every day to keep up. And, third, writing every day does not give you a lot of time to organize your thoughts. So, I don't think daily blogging is for me.
I am going to skip over weekly blogging and go to sporadic blogging next, merely to dismiss it. I don't think a blog should be written sporadically. Suppose you are a world class thinker who waits for appropriate topics to come along, ponders them, refines your thoughts and then writes them in a blog. Isn't that an appropriate use? I don't think so. There is an informality to blogging that is defeated in that approach. It is like preparing a lecture and bringing it to a happy hour conversation.
I think weekly entries are the ideal, at least for me. With weekly entries you have time to come up with something to day and time to organize your thoughts so you can say it clearly. In my daily journal, there was much ink spilled describing the weather and why I do or don't feel like writing at the moment. If you cannot come up with something interesting over the course of a week, then you really don't have much to say and perhaps shouldn't be keeping a blog. Further, your readers will come to expect the regularity of the blog entries and if your writing is any good they will look forward to them. So, I am going to switch to weekly entries and see how that works.
Next week, I will return to the topic of virtual worlds and discuss some of the ethical issues.
Let’s first consider the daily blog and the reasons why this might be appropriate. I can think of three reasons why daily blogging would be appropriate - the diary, writing practice, and news commentary.
In the diary blog, the author simply narrates his or her day for anyone who might be interested in following the days of their lives. If you have something unusual about you then this kind of blog can be very interesting. Unfortunately, many people who write this type of blog do not have anything interesting to say. But, for every humdrum diary blog there are always a few ardent follower. So, who am I to judge?
Writing practice seems to be a slightly more worthy calling. Most writers will say if you want to be a writer you have to write and write and write. They often recommend a daily journal in which you write everyday just for practice. I have done this and strongly endorse the practice. Some time around 2001, I started a daily journal. I made myself write 500 - 1000 words every day. I kept it up until just recently and I believe it was an invaluable experience. Of course, nobody has read my daily journals and I don't think I would want them to be read. But, I can see how writing everyday in a blog could serve the same purpose.
News cometary seems to be the best justification. If you are commenting on the financial markets, or the election process, daily comments are almost required. Things change daily and your daily observations become part of the conversation. This seem to me to represent the very heart of blogging. There are, unfortunately, a few drawbacks. First, it is a lot of work to write every day. Second, it is work for the readers to have to come back every day to keep up. And, third, writing every day does not give you a lot of time to organize your thoughts. So, I don't think daily blogging is for me.
I am going to skip over weekly blogging and go to sporadic blogging next, merely to dismiss it. I don't think a blog should be written sporadically. Suppose you are a world class thinker who waits for appropriate topics to come along, ponders them, refines your thoughts and then writes them in a blog. Isn't that an appropriate use? I don't think so. There is an informality to blogging that is defeated in that approach. It is like preparing a lecture and bringing it to a happy hour conversation.
I think weekly entries are the ideal, at least for me. With weekly entries you have time to come up with something to day and time to organize your thoughts so you can say it clearly. In my daily journal, there was much ink spilled describing the weather and why I do or don't feel like writing at the moment. If you cannot come up with something interesting over the course of a week, then you really don't have much to say and perhaps shouldn't be keeping a blog. Further, your readers will come to expect the regularity of the blog entries and if your writing is any good they will look forward to them. So, I am going to switch to weekly entries and see how that works.
Next week, I will return to the topic of virtual worlds and discuss some of the ethical issues.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Stories and Ethics
Another important, but underused, role for stories is in the exploration of ethical issues, especially ethical issues arising from the use of new technologies. I wrote a number of papers many years ago on the role of stories in computer ethics. The premise behind that work was that traditional approaches to ethical analysis may not be adequate for the ethics of technology. A common approach to ethical analysis known as consequentialism attempts to determine the ethical quality of an act based upon its consequences. This seems perfectly reasonable. But what if you don’t know what the consequences may be? This is often the case with decisions about the appropriate use of new technology.
But all is not lost. We can often speculate on the possible consequences and evaluate our ethical options based on the possible consequences. And an important vehicle in exploring possible consequences is the use of stories. Stories allow us to explore possible outcomes and select the outcome that is most likely and/or most desirable.
In fact, I am teaching a class this Spring on exactly this topic. It is called Writing Stories to Explore the Ethics of Technology. In the past, I have allowed a wide variety of emerging technologies as the focus for the stories. But, this Spring I am going to focus on the ethical issues that arise from Virtual Worlds such as Second Life and Video Games such as World of Warcraft. I think it will be both fun and enlightening.
I need to make one more point before closing this short piece. Notice how, in this notion of writing stories to explore the ethics of virtual worlds, several very different ideas are brought together. The idea includes ethics, writing, and virtual worlds – all themes in this blog. But the point is that almost any idea or any area of study or investigation relates, in some way, to every other idea, or area of study or investigation. And this is an important clue to how we advance our understanding of the world. Not every combination of ideas will produce an important insight. But most missing insights are just missing the right combination of ideas.
But all is not lost. We can often speculate on the possible consequences and evaluate our ethical options based on the possible consequences. And an important vehicle in exploring possible consequences is the use of stories. Stories allow us to explore possible outcomes and select the outcome that is most likely and/or most desirable.
In fact, I am teaching a class this Spring on exactly this topic. It is called Writing Stories to Explore the Ethics of Technology. In the past, I have allowed a wide variety of emerging technologies as the focus for the stories. But, this Spring I am going to focus on the ethical issues that arise from Virtual Worlds such as Second Life and Video Games such as World of Warcraft. I think it will be both fun and enlightening.
I need to make one more point before closing this short piece. Notice how, in this notion of writing stories to explore the ethics of virtual worlds, several very different ideas are brought together. The idea includes ethics, writing, and virtual worlds – all themes in this blog. But the point is that almost any idea or any area of study or investigation relates, in some way, to every other idea, or area of study or investigation. And this is an important clue to how we advance our understanding of the world. Not every combination of ideas will produce an important insight. But most missing insights are just missing the right combination of ideas.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Some Thoughts on Blogging
I started this blog only ten days ago feeling very exposed and vulnerable. But, the only way you can learn about something like this is to try it. And so I did. Now I have a little more insight and thought I should offer some of my thoughts. I think blogging is a great idea and here is why.
First, consider a blog in which a person writes routinely but nobody ever reads it. It there any value in that? I think so. In fact, I think there is great value in writing a blog even if nobody every reads it. About a decade ago, I started a daily journal in which I would write every morning. My goal was to write around 500 – 1000 words a day. It was great writing practice and I think my writing is much stronger today as a result. But, there were further benefits beyond writing practice. Writing every morning sharpened my thinking and helped me organize my thoughts. So, I am also a much more organized and disciplined thinker today as a result. So writing everyday or even a couple times a week had merit.
You might ask, “what is the point in writing if nobody ever reads it?”. And, I have an answer to that. In fact, I will answer it with another question. “What is the point in expending energy if no work is actually done?” When we exercise we do not produce useful work. People living a century or more ago had to expend their energies to do work. Today, we don’t. And yet we still need the exercise to stay healthy and to stay in shape. So, we exercise. We expend seemingly pointless energy with no other goal than to stay in shape. Writing a journal or a blog that nobody reads is the same. You do it for the exercise. If you want to stay mentally in shape, or you want to maintain your ability to express yourself, then you need to write whether anyone reads it or no.
Next, consider a blog that people do read. Writing a blog that people actually read is like letting people watch you exercise. It adds the additional burden of being watched. What is the justification for the extra burden? I think the benefit of having a blog that people do read is that it provides a full length mirror for the things that go on in your head. Just as you might ask someone “how do I look in this suit?” or “does my new haircut look OK?”, you need to offer your thoughts to other people for validation. In days gone by, people might hang out in the general store, the barber shop, or even in a bar. They would offer their ideas to each other and get feedback. Today, we tend to hang out a lot less and have lost the environs for having our thoughts validated. That is where the blog comes in. I write my thoughts in the blog. You read them. If you have any reaction, you might tell me the next time you see me. You might send me an email. Or you might respond in the blog itself. Whatever the mechanism, the blog provides a vehicle for me to test out ideas and get feedback.
Finally, consider a blog, which is a compendium of your thoughts, that allows people who want to get to know you to catch up quickly. Suppose you meet somebody new and are on the verge of engaging in some interaction, social or professional, and want to get to know them better. One way would be to ask their friends. But, that can be rather hit or miss. Instead, if you go to their blog and read what they have written you may get far greater insight into who they are. In addition, you can challenge what you read in the blog. I would not do to say “I spoke to your friend Bob and he says you are unreliable.” However, it would be perfectly OK to say “You wrote in your blog that people rely too heavily on you. What did you mean by that?”
So, blogging seems to have some redeeming value and I guess I will keep doing it.
First, consider a blog in which a person writes routinely but nobody ever reads it. It there any value in that? I think so. In fact, I think there is great value in writing a blog even if nobody every reads it. About a decade ago, I started a daily journal in which I would write every morning. My goal was to write around 500 – 1000 words a day. It was great writing practice and I think my writing is much stronger today as a result. But, there were further benefits beyond writing practice. Writing every morning sharpened my thinking and helped me organize my thoughts. So, I am also a much more organized and disciplined thinker today as a result. So writing everyday or even a couple times a week had merit.
You might ask, “what is the point in writing if nobody ever reads it?”. And, I have an answer to that. In fact, I will answer it with another question. “What is the point in expending energy if no work is actually done?” When we exercise we do not produce useful work. People living a century or more ago had to expend their energies to do work. Today, we don’t. And yet we still need the exercise to stay healthy and to stay in shape. So, we exercise. We expend seemingly pointless energy with no other goal than to stay in shape. Writing a journal or a blog that nobody reads is the same. You do it for the exercise. If you want to stay mentally in shape, or you want to maintain your ability to express yourself, then you need to write whether anyone reads it or no.
Next, consider a blog that people do read. Writing a blog that people actually read is like letting people watch you exercise. It adds the additional burden of being watched. What is the justification for the extra burden? I think the benefit of having a blog that people do read is that it provides a full length mirror for the things that go on in your head. Just as you might ask someone “how do I look in this suit?” or “does my new haircut look OK?”, you need to offer your thoughts to other people for validation. In days gone by, people might hang out in the general store, the barber shop, or even in a bar. They would offer their ideas to each other and get feedback. Today, we tend to hang out a lot less and have lost the environs for having our thoughts validated. That is where the blog comes in. I write my thoughts in the blog. You read them. If you have any reaction, you might tell me the next time you see me. You might send me an email. Or you might respond in the blog itself. Whatever the mechanism, the blog provides a vehicle for me to test out ideas and get feedback.
Finally, consider a blog, which is a compendium of your thoughts, that allows people who want to get to know you to catch up quickly. Suppose you meet somebody new and are on the verge of engaging in some interaction, social or professional, and want to get to know them better. One way would be to ask their friends. But, that can be rather hit or miss. Instead, if you go to their blog and read what they have written you may get far greater insight into who they are. In addition, you can challenge what you read in the blog. I would not do to say “I spoke to your friend Bob and he says you are unreliable.” However, it would be perfectly OK to say “You wrote in your blog that people rely too heavily on you. What did you mean by that?”
So, blogging seems to have some redeeming value and I guess I will keep doing it.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
An Important Skill
The ability to create interesting characters is important even if you never plan to write a single line of fiction. I mentioned, in the last post, that this ability can be used in Second Life as well. I have dozens and dozens of unique characters that I have created as avatars in Second Life. This is great fun. It is good practice. And I have learned a great deal in the process. Where else, but in a virtual world, can you be some body else and see how some body else might experience the world. I have one character, for example, named Lowlife, who, as you might expect, comes from the lower end of the socio-economic ladder. His dress, boots, long hair, groups and profile comments all enhance his believability. The startling thing is that people talk to a guy named Lowlife in an entirely different way than they talk to a guy named Doctor. It is an extraordinary glimpse into the variety of experiences that different people have. If you find your way into Second Life, visit the third floor of Cosmos Academy and see a small subset of the many characters I have created.
However, this ability to create characters goes far beyond fiction and virtual worlds. You can also create characters in order to make a narrative argument. We saw a good example of this just recently in the presidential debates. "Joe the Plumber" was a fictional construct created to make a narrative argument about the effect of the two candidate's tax plans on the middle class. Unfortunately, for the McCain campaign, they were exposed because they tried to claim the fictional construct was real and the press exposed them. Had they just put him forth as an archetype character they may have gotten a lot more mileage out of it.
But, we can take this even further. You may want to sit down for this. YOU are a fictional construct also. People like to think they are 'real' or 'natural'. But, unless you are standing there naked and growling when you get hungry, you are a construct. We do not present ourselves to the world in our natural state. We construct persona and interact with the world through those constructed persona. What you decide to wear in the morning is part of that constructed persona. How you behave around friends is part of the image you are trying to create. The fact that you may behave differently around friends than you would around co-workers suggests that your construct is fairly complex. If you are not the person you want to be, or if you don't have enough friends, or if you are not interesting enough perhaps you need to work on the skill of creating interesting characters.
However, this ability to create characters goes far beyond fiction and virtual worlds. You can also create characters in order to make a narrative argument. We saw a good example of this just recently in the presidential debates. "Joe the Plumber" was a fictional construct created to make a narrative argument about the effect of the two candidate's tax plans on the middle class. Unfortunately, for the McCain campaign, they were exposed because they tried to claim the fictional construct was real and the press exposed them. Had they just put him forth as an archetype character they may have gotten a lot more mileage out of it.
But, we can take this even further. You may want to sit down for this. YOU are a fictional construct also. People like to think they are 'real' or 'natural'. But, unless you are standing there naked and growling when you get hungry, you are a construct. We do not present ourselves to the world in our natural state. We construct persona and interact with the world through those constructed persona. What you decide to wear in the morning is part of that constructed persona. How you behave around friends is part of the image you are trying to create. The fact that you may behave differently around friends than you would around co-workers suggests that your construct is fairly complex. If you are not the person you want to be, or if you don't have enough friends, or if you are not interesting enough perhaps you need to work on the skill of creating interesting characters.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Structuring a Blog
There are two major schools of thought when it comes to writing. The first, which I will call the "Zen" approach, encourages you to find your inner writer by practicing writing. The second, which I will call the "Technical" approach, encourages you to organize your thoughts and practice specific techniques for expressing them. Both have strengths and weaknesses which I will probably elaborate on at some point. However, for now, I am going to go with the Technical approach in this blog. I do this for two reasons. First the fact that these entries have labels suggests a need for structure. I would like to use meaningful labels to give the blog some sense of coherency. And, second, since I am new to this medium, I need to try different techniques to see what works. Since I chose the title Ranting and Reflecting, those will be two of my labels. I also like to write about writing, so Writing will be another. I am a professor in real life so I would think that some entries about a Professor's Life will leak in. And my areas are research are Virtual Worlds and Video Games. So those are likely topics as well. The question is - can I stick to a small set of topics or is this blog just going to wander around all over the place? I have no idea. I guess we will have to wait and see.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Birth of the Online Novel
This isn’t the first time I’ve tried something like this. About a decade ago, long before anyone had ever heard of the word ‘blog’, I tried my hand at writing an electronic serial novel. I put together a list of about 40 or 50 email addresses of friends, colleagues and students. I promised them one chapter each week and promised to do my best to make it worth their time to read. I knew these people were busy and part of the challenge was to keep their attention. I did three things in my attempts to keep them reading. First, I kept the chapters short; around one thousand words. Second, I tried to end each chapter with a portentous statement that would keep them thinking about it until the next chapter came out. And, finally, I used many of the readers as characters in the story.
Telling people that you are going to write and send out weekly chapters of a detective story when you have never written a novel before is a bit of a high wire act without a net. But it worked. I learned a lot about writing. And, in the process, I wrote three full length detective novels. Later, I advanced the idea and put the chapters online on my website. I also used some budding web technologies like mouse over pop ups, to enhance the story. I was looking ahead to a new concept in writing – the online novel. But, alas, it was a little ahead of its time. It turns out that my readers looked forward to printing out the emailed chapters and reading them with their coffee. Reading from the screen was just not the same. I knew that someday the technology would advance so that it would be easier to read from a computer screen. And indeed, it has. But a decade ago, it just wasn’t there and I lost my readers. Sigh! Live and learn. If you would like to have a look at these stories, they are still online. Have a look at http://home.gwu.edu/~jartz/alter/wentworth/ . It is best to use Internet Explorer to look at them as I used some features that are not common to all browsers. If you would like to hear about some of my experiences in writing these stories, and some things I learned, check back on these blog pages.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
First Try at Blogging
I wanted to try blogging but had no idea what to say. Normally, I am not at a loss for words. But those words are usually in some context. In a blog you can rant on about anything. "Ranting?", I thought, "That is a good name and I love to rant". So that should be part of it. "But, why," I asked myself, "would anyone want to read my rantings". I actually managed to come up with a few answers. If they agree with my rantings but are not as good at putting their thoughts into words, then they might like to read my rantings and just nod in agreement. OK, I am making progress. Also, I can be funny, at times, especially when ranting so people might like to read my ranting to get a chuckle. This isn't so hard. But do I really want to create a totally negative blog persona that rants on about everything. Well, this has worked for some people. But, it isn't really me. I do have the odd useful insight as well. And people may well want to read my useful insights. I have a knack for being able to reduce things to there essence and to put them into perspective. So that should be a part of my blog also. Hence, I came up with the name Ranting and Reflecting. I hope this works or I will have another thing to rant about.
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