The Engineer's Craft

Writer as Philosopher

29 May 2024 12:21

One of my favorite things about being a writer is the many hats I get to wear; there's not many professions (or passions) where you get to be a researcher, a philosopher, an editor, a biologist, a costume designer, a psychologist, an interior decorator, and a mathematician all wrapped into a single project. In many ways, writing is an exercise in holding an entire world inside one's head. In this series I'll explore a few of my favorite roles as a writer and the place they played in my most recent novel. Enjoy!

Writer as Costumer

29 May 2024 12:21

One of my favorite things about being a writer is the many hats I get to wear; there's not many professions (or passions) where you get to be a researcher, a philosopher, an editor, a biologist, a costume designer, a psychologist, an interior decorator, and a mathematician all wrapped into a single project. In many ways, writing is an exercise in holding an entire world inside one's head. In this series I'll explore a few of my favorite roles as a writer and the place they played in my most recent novel. Enjoy!

Writer as Researcher

29 May 2024 12:21

One of my favorite things about being a writer is the many hats I get to wear; there's not many professions (or passions) where you get to be a researcher, a philosopher, an editor, a biologist, a costume designer, a psychologist, an interior decorator, and a mathematician all wrapped into a single project. In many ways, writing is an exercise in holding an entire world inside one's head. In this series I'll explore a few of my favorite roles as a writer and the place they played in my most recent novel. Enjoy!

A Metric for Publishing Prep

13 Nov 2023 10:49

As an aspiring writer, one of the most difficult things can be figuring out "am I even good at this?"

Talking with ChatGPT

7 Nov 2023 20:00

Earlier this evening, I attended a short lecture on the ethics of AI from a philosophy professor at the local university. The lecture reminded me of a conversation I had with ChatGPT I had a few months ago, where I discussed the limitations of AI in creative writing. I was particularly interested in exploring how and if AI will ever be able to accurately or powerfully describe human emotion in nuanced ways. I'm not convinced that AI will ever reach that level of individual creativity, but the discussion brought up some interesting points that I thought might be fun to transcribe here. Enjoy!

Relatable vs. Aspirational

25 Oct 2023 14:32

Recently, I've noticed a cultural shift emphasizing relatable characters. This has become most apparent in popular media with our current obsession with villain characters; we're watching movies about morally gray "heroes," we're putting stickers that say I support women's wrongs on our laptops alongside pictures of our favorite Disney villainesses, we're falling for the brooding characters who make questionable decisions but "they're just misunderstood." This trend is totally understandable and natural—we want characters who look and sound and act like us, I think because it makes us feel less alone in this growing global world.

The Publishing Journey

18 Oct 2023 22:59

During conversations about trying to publish a book, one of the questions that inevitably comes up is "So what's the process for getting a book published?" Since most people don't really know much about what it's like to attempt to publish a book, I figured I'd write out what I've learned. So, here's my process and how it's going (plus a few hopeful future steps once I get an agent):

On Perception and Reality

18 Oct 2023 13:31

A few days ago, I had a thought about "perceived realities" while waiting at a traffic light. I was in the left-turn lane, and as I glanced at the light I saw that it had turned yellow. My mind immediately went into decision mode as I looked ahead to see if the cars coming the opposite direction were going to slow down and let me turn through the yellow or if I'd have to wait. Before I'd made a decision, I looked back at the light and realized that it hadn't turned solid yellow, but was still flashing. My brief glance had seen only a solid yellow and not realized that it was still in the flashing stage. I had more time.