I’m torn. I want to learn #shorthand #writing. But the choice is hard:

• I mainly write English, so something explicitly English works best. Like Gregg shorthand.

• But then, I also want to stay closer to conventionality of longhand, so Forkner? (Having started it, I discovered that it still strays too far from longhand and is rather a bulkier version of Gregg.)

• And I’m still Russian, so I have a lingering doubt that maybe I should rather learn (Sokolov’s) GESS #stenography, because Russian is (arguably) phonetically more expressive than English. And who knows, maybe I’ll start writing more Russian someday?

• Actually, is there a universal-ish phonetic shorthand system? Something like #Shavian, but shorthand?

AAAAAAAAAAAAA, why is it so hard to choose????

"No matter how much time he spent on r/dumbphones, no matter how many social media apps he deleted, his phone always ended up back in his hands." —Matthew Shaer for The New York Times Magazine

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/03/31/magazine/quit-smartphone-addiction-social-media.html/?src=longreads

#longreads #smartphones #iphones #technology #addiction #reading #writing

In this week's Longreads Questionnaire, best-selling author R. O. Kwon shares what she's reading these days, the word she overused in her first novel, and more.

https://longreads.com/2026/04/01/questionnaire-r-o-kwon/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

#Longreads #Writers #Authors #Books #Writing #Reading

Time travel is impossible science fiction, but not for the reasons pop physics thinks.
https://substack.com/@brywillis634737/note/c-236459523?r=pvxh5&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web
#scifi #sciencefiction #reading #blog #posting #writing #time #travel #history #philosophy #perspective #timetravel #substack #wordpress #physics

Duration and the Intervalic Imposition: Thinking about TIME and DURATION. Looking for #feedback
https://philosophics.blog/2026/04/01/duration-and-the-intervalic-imposition/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social
#philosophy #physics #time #duration #memory #bergson #kant #Heidegger #husserl #phenomenology #metaphysics #math #maps #blog #podcast #history #reading #writing #essay #comments

Y'all're cute, but this 2nd edition of one of my ebooks ain't gonna edit itself into existence. 😘

#writing
#editing

An outline of my approach to critique Parfit's moral maths
https://open.substack.com/pub/brywillis634737/p/beyond-parfit-moral-maths-and-the?r=pvxh5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

#philosophy #morality #mathematics #parfit #ontologicalgrammar #writing #essay #academic #reading #books

After another 'AI Detected' flag, I resorted to Gemini to lay it out.

https://philosophics.blog/2026/03/31/this-post-is-almost-entirely-ai-read-it-anyway/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

Gemini produced an entire blog post. It did offer me tips to dumb down my writing, but I declined. I also had NotebookLM create a podcast, cuz that's how I roll.

#philosophy #writing #ai #aidetectors #statistics #falsepositives #aipolice #bollox #blog #podcast #academicessays #lexicaldensity #LLMs #ontologicalgrammar #Parfit #perception #syntacticregularity #critique #Gemini #Kant #language #pooh

Finished a new story today. "Mirepower" is about a trio of alien plant farmers who use their knowledge of the local flora and fauna to kick invaders off their planet. (Yes, the title is a pun.)
Also still working on publication of various others.
#writing #writingCommunity

Shifting from Parcifal to Parfit, I'm debating the value of moral maths that seem to be an outgrowth of the attempt to couch everything as utility and economics.
https://philosophics.blog/2026/03/30/the-blind-spot-of-moral-maths/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social
#philosophy #morality #psychology #economics #utility #math #mathematics #blog #essay #writing #podcast #reading #parfit #reason #academia #enlightenment #medical #intervention #hospital

"Instead, I seek my own language. I write again into the gap, asking whoever is on the other side to be willing to cross the distance."

Sarah Jane Cody for Electric Literature:
https://electricliterature.com/masking-my-autism-made-me-sick/

#Longreads #Writing #Essay #Autism #Autistic #Neurodivergent #ChronicIllness

Chapter 42 of Atraxian Blue (https://
books2read.com/u/b6ElAx) is up at
http://mathling.com/books/index.html

Through the gate

In which Renny and Lila have a quiet moment, transiting the gate to Aconthia

#scifi
#writing
#AtraxianBlue

Y'ALL.

I've just completed the 1st draft of a horror story! It's called "Flesh Carnival." 🥳

(It's a 21k-word novella? novelette? I was attempting a short story, but there were too many eldritch ickies begging me to describe them in all their icky eldritchity. 😁)

This story is slated to be part of a horror anthology of original horror stories put together by Yours Most Groovily & two other equally groovy writers. Huzzah! I'll keep you posted.
☺️✌️🤘🖖💜

#writing
#WritersCoffeeClub
#horror
#novella

Time for some short fiction from me.  I present to you: The Gift

The last few years had presented some challenges, but now she had the solution. A gift he had longed for and she could finally give him, even if her approach was unusual.

https://david.shortfiction.online/the-gift

#WordWranglers #BlogPost #Writing #Fiction #ShortFiction

I discuss the phenomenological roots of precedences of The Architecture of Encounter in a new podcast series.
https://philosophics.blog/2026/03/28/architecture-of-encounter-podcast-episode-0-phenomenologists/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

#philosophy #phenomenology #blog #podcast #video #mediation #ontology #books #writing #promotion #reading #AoE #encounter #summary #history

All right. Y'all're cute, but this horror short story climax ain't gonna write itself. ✌️🤘🖖💜😘

#writing
#TheWritingLife
#horror
#ShortStory

"If there is a feminist spin on alpine divorce, it’s what comes after the women are left behind." —Alaina Demopoulos for The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2026/mar/17/alpine-divorce-abandoned-hiking-trail/?src=longreads

#longreads #hiking #alpinedivorce #wilderness #writing #reading #survival

https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/resolving-frege-geach

#journal #language #morality #perception, #philosophy #writing #essay #ethics #history #debate #argument

I've spent the last few hours discussing this point with several LLMs.

https://philosophics.blog/2026/03/24/100-human-content/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

If the AI tells are so well-known and predictable, why don't we simply reverse them?

tl;dr? Grok suggested I go all in and pepper my output with LLM-isms just to make a point. Choke the LLM-detectors with their own poison.

#philosophy #rant #ai #llms #claudeai #grok #delve #tapestry #— #bollox #writing #authenticity #effort #voice #games #statistics #tldr #wahwah #hashtag #notAI #advice

Although I am easily distracted, it is never for nought. Today, I've been thinking of the orthography and morphology of Parsifal whilst trying to decide which version to run with.

https://open.substack.com/pub/brywillis634737/p/parsifals-drifting-name?r=pvxh5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

My first 'real' encounter with Perceval was Chrétien de Troyes' unfinished version, but Wagner's version seems to have stuck with me.

#bliog #philosophy #language #spelling #variation #substack #writing #linguistics #orthography #morphology #Parsifal #FisherKing

The deeper I get into thinking about this essay, the more I realise my perspective as an outsider drew me to it and shapes it.

https://philosophics.blog/2026/03/23/whom-do-you-serve-wip/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

As a management consultant, I was often cautioned not to ask 'that' question, or at least not to 'that' executive. Stop telling them they have no strategy when they say they have one.

#philosophy #management #power #silence #language #permission #blog #podcast #writing #essay #reading #classics #psychology #culture #society #filters #anecdotes

I'm still considering the outline for my 'Grail' essay. I've decided to begin with Substack.

https://open.substack.com/pub/brywillis634737/p/whom-does-the-grail-serve-institutional?r=pvxh5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

I have spawned a separate, perhaps more academic, idea on non-knowledge, but one idea at a time, said I – never. Follow along…

#philosophy #spychology #writing #reading #grail #blog #wip #silence #performance #normativity #society #institutions #diagnosis #process #outlines #essay

Excited /Delighted / Apprehensive (delete as necessary!) to publish my second piece of short fiction.

The woman opposite me on the train would not stop talking at me! Not to me, at me.

https://david.shortfiction.online/captivating-conversation

I'm very new at this but I'm enjoying it.

#writing #blogpost #WordWranglers

"My sister called: our father was about to die. Our parents, long divorced, were both in hospice, on opposite coasts." —Amanda Peet for The New Yorker

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/my-season-of-ativan?src=longreads

#longreads #family #hospice #cancer #writing #reading

Chapter 41 of Atraxian Blue (https://
books2read.com/u/b6ElAx) is up at
http://mathling.com/books/index.html

Belle Epoch: Mirabelle

In which Tass, come of age, is called to his father's office, and learns a great many secrets

#scifi
#writing
#AtraxianBlue

Reading similar posts by @scribblanitea and @daj brought my unusual relationship with these punctuation marks to the surface.

🌐 https://blog.gridranger.dev/how-i-dash/

#reading #writing #emdash #blog #post #indieweb #szerbantal

I'm considering a new essay on Parsifal, Cassandra, and The Emperor (and his new clothes) as a metaphor for institutional silence.

https://open.substack.com/pub/brywillis634737/p/working-title-parsifal-cassandra?r=pvxh5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

I've got a working thesis and an abstract. This started as a commentary on The Fisher King, but it's expanded to all three

#philosophy #writing #metaphor #myth #legend #fairytales #parables #blog #podcast #substack #poll #society #institutions #structure #diagnosis #analysis #conformity #speaking #asking #silence

John Locke and Opportunism. The last of a 13-part series of a chat with Claude AI on the Parable of the Valley
https://philosophics.blog/2026/03/22/comrade-claude-13-locke-opportunism/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social
#philosophy #ethics #morality #parable #Claude #ai #chat #blog #podcast #learning #writing #teaching #history

Read a high-level summary of the chapters in The Architecture of Encounter.

https://open.substack.com/pub/brywillis634737/p/the-architecture-of-encounter?r=pvxh5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

When we're not writing, we may be performing ancillary activities like promotion and awareness. You are a witness. Video to follow. Do I need a new headshot?

#writing #philosophy #books #script #contents #ontology #logic #epistemoloogy #mediation #subjecthood #perception #language #socialontology #realism #normativity #SharingIsCaring #substack

For World Poetry Day:  Inside I'm Screaming

I don't write poetry as a rule, but I penned this six years ago when I was dealing with the loss of my dog. It helped me deal with my emotions.

https://david.shortfiction.online/world-poetry-day-2026

#WorldPoetryDay #poetry #writing

I love writing.  Today I started some fictional writing.

https://forkingmad.blog/fictional-writing/

#blogpost #writing #fictionwriters

Swampgas #2 for spring 2026 is out!

Even more art, photography, writing, reviews and previews than before! 36 full color pages.

Free at itch: https://quietmeow.itch.io/swampgas-2-zine

or archive.org:
https://archive.org/details/swampgas-2-digital-v-2-final

Zine conceptualized and assembled by @swampgas -- it features his mad talents, and also the mad talents of @Ambivalena, @photovotary, @Aphelion, @HailsandAles, @alipunk, @ira, @DXMacGuffin, @yourfutureex, and @1001OtherAlbums!

#zine #zines #art #stories #poetry #writing #Swampgas #music #metal #HeavyMetal #DeathMetal #prose #reviews #previews #MusicReviews #MusicPreviews #photography #nature

I was typing, and my editor flagged it as a ‘Strong resemblance to AI text’. Kinda bollox. And, so I rant on my blog – 1984, Minority Report. Even Handmaid's Tale. Handmade, a tale.

https://philosophics.blog/2026/03/19/i-am-a-language-model/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

#philosophy #psychology #writing #ai #policing #ethicalAI #intrusion #culture #blog #podcast #language #critique #languagedetection #bollocks #culture #conformity #obey

What do attention, affordance, salience, and valence have to do with meaning, and what is the architecture of encounter?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHOmNX3MVrk

#philosophy #philosophics #attention #psychology #salience #valence #affordance #language #ontology #video #meaning #writing #books #nature #environment #mediation

In "Good Writing," Neal Allen shares 36 tips to improve your sentences—and Anne Lamott weighs in on each one.

They bring that same dynamic to this week’s Longreads Questionnaire: https://longreads.com/2026/03/18/questionnaire-neal-allen-anne-lamott/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

#Longreads #Writing #Writers #Authors #Interview #Reading #Books

"'You should write about my life,' the bike thief said, as we rode under the freeway, trucks roaring above us. Maybe I will, I said."—Iain Treloar for Escape Collective

https://escapecollective.com/?src=longreads

#longreads #bikes #cycling #reading #writing

The Atlantic's Kaitlyn Tiffany explores Grammarly's controversial "Expert Review" feature, before it was shut down. She attempts to discover what it would be like to be edited by herself, what tweaks other famous writers would perhaps suggest and whether the creative writing industry should be concerned about being replaced.

https://flip.it/oYxaBP

#Grammarly #AI #TechNews #Writing

Chapter 40 of Atraxian Blue (https://
books2read.com/u/b6ElAx) is up at
http://
mathling.com/books/index.html

I speak for...

In which the dead are rememberd, and Renny and Toussaint come to an understanding

#scifi
#writing
#AtraxianBlue

Z e

R

0

N e

M in us t w o

S h e i t h e r s e l f A d a m

Hyp o t he tic al

S id e o

B s

C

u

R

E d

Y 0 u (E)

V e a l t e r n a t

(W /) i n g

C u r

R e

N

T

U

A l

Z e r

P l u s 0 n e

T w i n w i t h i n a l t e r

N a t i n g

C u r

Re

N

T

Ac

U a l

P l u s 0 n e

#poem #poetry #individuality #authenticity #sovereignty #tolerance #reconciliation #letterlab #source #zero #writing #letterportals #wordpuzzles #programming #perception #encryption #code #polarity #one #unity #binity #trinity #quadrinity #singularity #duality #ternity #quaternity #p01 #fediverse #exquisitesocial

S u b j e c t

0 rig

I n

A

L

U

T h e

N t i c g e n u i n e

Heart felt soul ful es sen ce w arm h u man

Fee l in g ex p er i enc in g

Ad vocate d evil

H y p o

T he

I c

A

L

Op

Po site

E l f S h e r S e l f i t

C o m m e r c i a l m o n e t i z i n g o b j e c t i f y i n g

Pro c e ss g a i n i n g a w

A r e n e s s

S e l f

Co
N
S
Ci

E l f

S h e r s e l f

I t Z e r 0 n e t w O u s

T w a n t i h y p o sy n

O rig in al

T he

S

I

S

Z e

R 0 n e

Advocate d evil - what

If we re not w hat yet is, ant i hyp o t he (r) tic al th re (e) v er s us ac t u al 0 n e

Anti hypo t h e (lf) s i s elf it per ceiv in g b i/y me ans of

P o l a r (i t) (w) h y p o t h e t i c a l

O p p o s i t e o f f

P a re n t c on

A c t u a l

Sci o

(N)

D

U

A

L it

(W h) y

Z e r 0 n e u s (l y)

#poem #poetry #individuality #authenticity #sovereignty #tolerance #reconciliation #letterlab #source #zero #writing #letterportals #wordpuzzles #programming #perception #encryption #code #polarity #one #unity #binity #trinity #quadrinity #singularity #duality #ternity #quaternity #p01 #fediverse #exquisitesocial

I got in a row the other day with a woman, who shared a post with her opinion about the toxicity of persons critical of Mary Sue characters.
https://philosophics.blog/2026/03/15/encounter-with-mary-sue/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social
After much pushback, she turned off the ability to comment, so she forced my hand to respond otherwise. I resorted to my blog – and here.

#philosophy #writing #blog #critique #scriptwriting #authors #movies #novels #storytelling #bollox #language #perception #marysue

"Even worse was the suggestion by Grammarly’s A.I. version of me to replace the first sentence of the news article with an anecdotal opening describing a fictional person named Laura whose privacy had been violated.

“Laura, a patient searching for relief from a chronic condition, clicks through her hospital’s website to schedule an appointment. In just a few moments, her most private medical details — her reason for visiting, her doctor’s name and even the treatment she seeks — are quietly sent to Facebook, without her knowledge,” the bot suggested with a button allowing the user to paste that excerpt straight into the article.

Replacing a factual sentence with an imagined story about a person who doesn’t exist is not only bad editing. It’s a deception that could end my career as a journalist (or the career of any journalist who took that terrible advice).

And this is the problem with A.I. It doesn’t know truth from fiction. It doesn’t know an investigative news article from an offhand comment. It flattens all content into word associations.

What Grammarly made wasn’t a doppelgänger. As the writer Ingrid Burrington wrote on Bluesky, it was a sloppelgänger — A.I. slop masquerading as a person.

And it must be stopped."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/opinion/ai-doppelganger-deepfake-grammarly.html

#AI #GenerativeAI #Copyright #Writing #Hallucinations

T w
O
A
N
Y t
H in g
Could t h e r e
B e m o r e t h a n m e e t s
Pro verb
I a l
H
T
E
Y e
A nd b e
M e a n s y on d
W i t
H
I
N?

#poem #poetry #individuality #authenticity #sovereignty #tolerance #reconciliation #letterlab #source #zero #writing #letterportals #wordpuzzles #programming #perception #encryption #code #polarity #one #unity #binity #trinity #quadrinity #singularity #duality #ternity #quaternity #p01 #fediverse #exquisitesocial