Why so many scientists are so ignorant Sign Up for Our free email newsletters Science has enormous cachet and authority in our culture — for very understandable reasons! One recent example is Bill Nye, the "Science Guy," who isn't actually a scientist but owes his career as a popular entertainer to his purported scientific expertise. As Olivia Goldhill points out in Quartz, Nye's answer was as self-assured as it was stunningly ignorant. The video, which made the entire U.S. philosophy community collectively choke on its morning espresso, is hard to watch, because most of Nye's statements are wrong. Nye fell into the same trap that Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Stephen Hawking have been caught up in. There's obviously a grain of truth in this. More to the point, and more practically, all of the institutions that make modern life possible, very much including experimental science, but also things like free-market capitalism, the welfare state, liberal democracy, human rights, and more, are built on philosophy.
Story Starters, Creative Writing Ideas for Fiction Looking for story starters and creative writing ideas? You've just struck gold. Here you'll find an endless supply of inspiration. Take a moment to bookmark this page so that you can find it again whenever you need new ideas. Also be sure to check out our free 3-day online creative writing course, Endless Story Ideas, which will show you techniques to come up with new fiction ideas whenever you need them. Do you like this page? Story Starters Not sure what to write about? Or get started with these Ideas for Characters, Ideas for Plots, and "What If" Story Starters. Find out about two magic phrases that make it easy to come up with great story ideas. Get 20 ideas that answer the question, "What happens next?" Browse Story Prompts About Obsessions, Life Changes, Talents, Travel, Relationships, Secrets and Habits. Use our fun Story Ideas Kit to create mix-and-match story plots. If you're looking for more detailed creative writing ideas, read on. And... Other Creative Writing Ideas Break it down
Steven Pinker: 10 'grammar rules' it's OK to break (sometimes) Among the many challenges of writing is dealing with rules of correct usage: whether to worry about split infinitives, fused participles, and the meanings of words such as "fortuitous", "decimate" and "comprise". Supposedly a writer has to choose between two radically different approaches to these rules. Prescriptivists prescribe how language ought to be used. They uphold standards of excellence and a respect for the best of our civilisation, and are a bulwark against relativism, vulgar populism and the dumbing down of literate culture. It's a catchy dichotomy, but a false one. But this does not mean that every pet peeve, bit of grammatical folklore, or dimly remembered lesson from Miss Thistlebottom's classroom is worth keeping. How can you distinguish the legitimate concerns of a careful writer from the folklore and superstitions? A rule should be rejected, in contrast, if the answer to any of the following questions is "Yes." and, because, but, or, so, also dangling modifiers
Alex J. Cavanaugh: The Insecure Writer's Support Group The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter hashtag is #IWSG *Do not add a direct link to your post here! This is a Blog Hop!
The Ancient Roots of Punctuation In his new book, “Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks,” Keith Houston reveals the stories behind esoteric punctuation marks, from the pilcrow (¶) to the manicule (☞) to the octothorpe, a.k.a. the hashtag. Many of these have their roots in ancient Greece or Rome, and have evolved over time in Medieval religious texts, Renaissance scholarship, and modern printed works (not to mention the Internet). Here, Houston, who lives in Scotland and also runs a Shady Characters blog, tells the origin stories of some of these marks. Octothorpe (#) Left, from the pen of Isaac Newton; right, detail from Johann Conrad Barchusen’s “Pyrosophia” (1698). The story of the hashtag begins sometime around the fourteenth century, with the introduction of the Latin abbreviation “lb,” for the Roman term libra pondo, or “pound weight.” Pilcrow (¶) Excerpt from a page from Villanova University’s “Rudimenta Grammaticæ” (1500). Ampersand (&) Manicule (☞) Diple (>)
How to Write a Screenplay In this installment of A Writer’s Voice we’re going to be looking at Blue Ruin, a nice little indie thriller by Jeremy Saulnier. What’s interesting about Blue Ruin is that its main character, Dwight, does not arc in the traditional way. He doesn’t change in the way that screenplay characters typically change. In fact, the primary journey of Blue Ruin is built around... As a producer and script consultant who reads hundreds of screenplays, one of the most common weaknesses in the majority of scripts I review has to do with dialogue that is expositional, or what we call “on the nose” — where characters state exactly what they are thinking and feeling, or tell us information... With June now safely behind us, the 2013-2014 school year is officially over. The monologue is a staple of theater dating back to the ancient Greeks, but has been taboo in cinema almost from the start. When something traumatic happens, it’s said that we all experience the five stages of grief.
What Should We Call Self-Driving Cars? I’ve been writing about humanless carriages a lot recently. Okay, I know, “humanless carriages” is not an actual thing that people say. There are instead “driverless cars,” and “self-driving vehicles.” If driverless cars do eventually take over the roads, what will it do to the way we talk about driving? “A driver could come to mean the machine that drives just as a computer is a machine that computes,” Alexis Madrigal wrote for The Atlantic in 2014. It’s certainly less clunky than “autonomous,” or “self-driving,” and more precise than “driverless.” More than a century ago, there was a long debate over what motorcars should be called. This was, apparently, a matter that got people riled up. The goal was to find a term that was, the Times said, “at once significant, euphonious, and short.” “Of this wretched pair,” the Times groused, “it is hard to tell which is the more obnoxious. Here in the future, we face a similar etymological conundrum.
Are word counts really that important? | The Krystol Meth(od) I want to talk about word counts. I know some writers could careless about word count, but these days it’s important. Well, I guess it has always been important. I love writing, but I don’t know if novella’s are just my niche or I haven’t applied myself to write more. I am going to give you a list that I found online for word counts. Literary / Commercial / Women’s: 80,000 to 110,000 – These genres vary greatly in how their stories are told, but not in how many words are used to tell them. So, these are the numbers that writers are suppose to follow if you want to be picked up by a mainstream publisher. Short Stories: 1000 to 8,000 – Many contests will advise on their own maximum word count, sometimes as high as 20K. Like this: Like Loading... Related A to Z Challenge H is for Help! I need help! In "A to Z Challenge" I'm feeling very Carrie Bradshaw like! Happy Tuesday Readers! In "Books" My book is completed, now what? Happy Saturday!
Lengua española y periodismo (II) Hay un hecho de gran relevancia que los periodistas latinoamericanos y españoles creo que deberíamos tener muy presente. Hay tres lenguas de impregnación universal en Occidente: inglés, por encima largamente de todos, francés, en relativa decadencia, y español, cada día más pujante, con sus 450 millones de hablantes en todo el mundo. Y, así, el periodista que pueda ganarse la vida con esa lengua parte de una plataforma, un trampolín, superior a lo que pueda exhibir no importa qué otro idioma, sin excluir grandes expresiones culturales como alemán, italiano o ruso, del ámbito europeo. Por eso me parece urgente que, sobre todo nosotros los periodistas, seamos conscientes de la necesidad de mantener una unidad viable de la lengua, aunque siempre respetuosa del genio particular de cada área reproductora del castellano. Y ¿cuál es el estado, la salud de una lengua tan múltiple? Yo diría que básicamente bueno, aunque siempre necesitado de alguna atención.
60 Awesome Search Engines for Serious Writers June 20th, 2010 Finding the information you need as a writer shouldn’t be a chore. Luckily, there are plenty of search engines out there that are designed to help you at any stage of the process, from coming up with great ideas to finding a publisher to get your work into print. Professional Find other writers, publishers and ways to market your work through these searchable databases and search engines. Writing These helpful tools will help you along in the writing process. WriteSearch: This search engine focuses exclusively on sites devoted to reading and writing to deliver its results.The Burry Man Writers Center: Find a wealth of writing resources on this searchable site.Writing.com: This fully-featured site makes it possible to find information both fun and serious about the craft of writing.Purdue OWL: Need a little instruction on your writing? Research Try out these tools to get your writing research done in a snap. Reference Need to look up a quote or a fact? Niche Writers Books Blogging
Future - The secret “anti-languages” you’re not supposed to know Could you erectify a luxurimole flackoblots? Have you hidden your chocolate cake from Penelope? Or maybe you’re just going to vada the bona omi? If you understand any of these sentences, you speak an English “anti-language”. Thieves’ Cant, Polari, and Gobbledygook (yes, it’s a real form of slang) are just a few of the examples from the past – but anti-languages are mercurial beasts that are forever evolving into new and more vibrant forms. A modern anti-language could very well be spoken on the street outside your house. One of the first detailed records of an anti-language comes from a 16th Century magistrate called Thomas Harman. Byng we to Rome vyle to nyp a bounge, so shall we have lower for the bowsing ken – Thieves’ Cant As Green points out, many slang words concern our basest preoccupations. Yet the Thieves’ Cant also includes some intricacies that are not found in the informal language you or I speak. A “prigger of prancers”
Wizards of the Coast: Idea Submissions Game Submissions We do not review unsolicited game or card submissions, return submissions, or make comments on submissions we haven't reviewed. If you have an idea for a game, we recommend that you: • Contact an agent, broker, or other experienced game industry professional. They can assist you further in your effort to get a game idea published or submitted. • From time-to-time, Wizards of the Coast will run design competitions such as The Great Designer Search to offer potential developers a chance to showcase their talents. • Regularly check our Careers Page for opportunities to become part of the Wizards of the Coast Team. • Become an active participant in our Online Community, where players are often sharing and exchanging development ideas for our brands. Artwork Submissions Wizards of the Coast makes books and games that span the limitless realms of fantasy, science fiction, and adventure-and artwork plays an important part in everything we do. Book Publishing