Intensive reading is like creative writing, only the other way around.
Philip Davis, Start the Week podcast (BBC Radio 4), Monday 14 October 2013
Tag Archives: writing
Hoarding words
Struck by a Start the Week podcast on writing and epic stories, the comment that left me most satisfied was the phrase during the discussion relating to how writers hoard words, how they keep lists of verbs, and (as I interpret it) how they use these as a treasure store and inspiration to seed the growth of longer collages and stories.
Single words often have powerful connotations, especially the verbs, and it is fascinating to see how they spawn actions of their own in writers and during the process of writing.
Big data (2)
In this Analysis podcast, several themes come up relating to media and big data, data, privacy, secrets, and who controls and distributes each of these (government, media, individuals).
The interesting comment is that in the 20th Century framework, ideas, philosophies, and causes were promoted by groups which nucleated around an idea (political parties, unions, etc.) and derived their main strength from “strength in numbers” and could thus influence policy or decision-making generally. Today, things appear to have become more granular: it is possible for an individual to make waves without the backing of a party, and ideology has thus reached a much higher level of granularity than before, highly dependent on the individual.
The government has reason to fear the individual, just as the individual has reason to fear the state.
Consume, curate, create
Although the spark for this post comes from a site related to my professional life, I think it’s generally applicable and will be one of my guiding principles for this year (thank you, @Doctor_V).
I spend plenty of time consuming information, and a little curating it, too (mainly for my own benefit): now it’s starting to be time to create as well.
First post
Until one night I found the Thread in my Labyrinth of Difficulties.
Peter Ackroyd; Hawksmoor, Chapter 1
(With a nod to Fred Wilson at AVC)
I have a two kids and a wonderful wife. I live in Germany, which was never my intention but has worked out well for both of us. Both parents working and keeping the family happy is not easy, but we manage: I love my family, the family, seeing family and spending time with them, and my life revolves around my family, emotionally and physically.
I work in the biotech / pharmaceutical industry: I love science, but I never intended to work in this field. There are moments I love my work, but most of the times I’m simply grateful to be doing something interesting and meaningful. This is especially true when working with interesting people: I love to coordinate and sort out problems in teams. My natural place is facilitating conversations and trying to steer a team towards a common conclusion. I love being at the interface: I’m not an expert, so I’m comfortable on the edge and knowing a little about a lot.
I love being creative; I try to read and write, and when I can, paint or draw. I love geography, typography, photography, and how these all fit together. I love to put stories and pictures together, and I love the idea of being able to engage more in photography, although I don’t find the time to go out enough. I love collecting, whether stories or images: somehow they form a continuing story, a timeline, and this keeps me grounded in the past, present, and future.
I’m fascinated generally by technology, especially the portable kind you can carry in a pocket, and how it is changing our lives, communication, and daily routines. Especially when it comes to information management: I have so little time I am continuously modifying my ways of consuming information in order to better process and structure everything. Usually I don’t succeed: but sometimes I see a spark that brings all the above together, and those are the evenings after which I get a good night’s sleep.
shiptorch 