One of the key things to do when writing is getting prepared and comfortable. Some people find the right music to fit their style. Others play classic cheesy movies in order to set their mood. Still more people prefer near silence in order to focus their thoughts on their literary creations. I have my own method of stimulating my brain and getting my creative juices flowing.
One universal requirement for my writings is a full stomach. I find nothing more distracting than a grumbling stomach when I am trying to form words from the images in my mind. Sometimes this means a healthy breakfast, but more commonly it is accomplished with a large lunch and unhealthy snack. With a full stomach, I am nearly ready to settle in and begin my literary creating.
With a tall glass of water or bottle of homemade soda, I settle into my large chair, pull out my laptop, and start getting myself ready to create. After a brief check of social media and email accounts for any happenings for the day, I start up Open Office for word processing, and a video streaming window.
What I stream depends on who I am writing for. A television series that I have seen a number of times is the preferred option if I am writing a freelance article that require some research. Shows such as Firefly, Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Airwolf fit the bill well. The familiarity of these shows mean that I don't need to pay much attention to it and can focus more of my mind on comprehending the information being researched. I am also able to judge how much time has been spent on each article based on how many episodes have passed.
Because material for my own books comes entirely from me, I will stream a movie or series I haven't seen but isn't necessarily one I have a major desire to see. The "cheese" factor of many of the movies made for the SyFy network and episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 are perfect for a happy mindset while forming a story that is uniquely my own. The general entertainment value lets me keep the outside world at bay without influencing the shape or tone of what I am attempting to write.
I entertain myself with more captivating shows and movies while composing these blog posts. The content of these posts has been developing during my downtime for days or weeks. Pieces coming to me while driving to work or settling in for the night. Shows such as Continuum, Arrow, and Dexter as well as the new generation of Star Trek and Marvel movies maintain a flow that helps me arrange and shape the various thoughts in my mind.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Who were the Noah?
I am an avid fan of the webcomics by the duo of Ryan Sohmer and Lar DaSouza, Least I Could Do and Looking For Group. One quiet day Lar tweeted a thought about the human race being saved by an alien race called the Noah instead of a single person from the Bible. This got my story juices mixing. After some time simmering on the back burner, there are a few story elements my brain cooked up.
A single star moves itself out of alignment with the others. This goes unnoticed by the bipedal beings struggling to survive in an environment that is worsening by the day. Weather systems shifted and changed in random patterns. Plants were dying from both unseasonal temperatures and a subtle change in the composition of the air. If any of the creatures living on the planet could consider such things, they would realize their planet would become a desert in less than a year. Without anyone realizing it, that single errant star was on its way to rescue them all.
The star was a transport ship belonging to a race known as the Noah. They were a species that had evolved deep in the waters of a planet with very little land on its surface. It was only a small step for their curious race to leave their planet's gravity once they had developed a craft that could break the surface of their oceanic home. They had spread out through the stars in search of more planets with large enough oceans for them to colonize. It was considered a stroke of fortune when a small survey team of Noah had found this system. The third planet in the system had ample oceans with sufficient depth for a colony to be established. There was also a number of developing species on the fourth planet that could be studied for many generations. At least that was the plan before it was discovered the fourth planet's atmosphere was quickly dissolving. The mission was now one of mercy instead of scientific study.
The clan leader of the ship looked over the report in front of him. Specimens of intelligent and semi-intelligent species had been collected. Enough of each for sufficient genetic diversity as they bred and grew in numbers. He had spent many hours watching the aquatic mammals they had collected frolic in their tanks as the giant ship transported them between the planets. DNA samples of the lesser species had been collected. Once they arrived at the destination, these animals were reconstituted from the samples into living creatures.
One thing on the report caught the clan leader's attention. An error had developed in the memory buffer of the system responsible for the reconstitution. Small fragments of DNA data had remained in the buffer after the sequence had been completed on a number of different species. Somehow these had combined to form a combined creature with functioning aspects of a number of other animals. It was a mammal yet would birth its young in eggs. It could walk on land yet was semi-aquatic and built for swimming. The leader decided to allow this odd creature to continue to exist out of a sense of curiosity. It would be interesting to see how this creature and its offspring would be viewed by the rest of the world.
To be continued......
A single star moves itself out of alignment with the others. This goes unnoticed by the bipedal beings struggling to survive in an environment that is worsening by the day. Weather systems shifted and changed in random patterns. Plants were dying from both unseasonal temperatures and a subtle change in the composition of the air. If any of the creatures living on the planet could consider such things, they would realize their planet would become a desert in less than a year. Without anyone realizing it, that single errant star was on its way to rescue them all.
The star was a transport ship belonging to a race known as the Noah. They were a species that had evolved deep in the waters of a planet with very little land on its surface. It was only a small step for their curious race to leave their planet's gravity once they had developed a craft that could break the surface of their oceanic home. They had spread out through the stars in search of more planets with large enough oceans for them to colonize. It was considered a stroke of fortune when a small survey team of Noah had found this system. The third planet in the system had ample oceans with sufficient depth for a colony to be established. There was also a number of developing species on the fourth planet that could be studied for many generations. At least that was the plan before it was discovered the fourth planet's atmosphere was quickly dissolving. The mission was now one of mercy instead of scientific study.
The clan leader of the ship looked over the report in front of him. Specimens of intelligent and semi-intelligent species had been collected. Enough of each for sufficient genetic diversity as they bred and grew in numbers. He had spent many hours watching the aquatic mammals they had collected frolic in their tanks as the giant ship transported them between the planets. DNA samples of the lesser species had been collected. Once they arrived at the destination, these animals were reconstituted from the samples into living creatures.
One thing on the report caught the clan leader's attention. An error had developed in the memory buffer of the system responsible for the reconstitution. Small fragments of DNA data had remained in the buffer after the sequence had been completed on a number of different species. Somehow these had combined to form a combined creature with functioning aspects of a number of other animals. It was a mammal yet would birth its young in eggs. It could walk on land yet was semi-aquatic and built for swimming. The leader decided to allow this odd creature to continue to exist out of a sense of curiosity. It would be interesting to see how this creature and its offspring would be viewed by the rest of the world.
To be continued......
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