Hey lovely people.

Tomorrow I'm going to be running an online Social Media for Creatives workshop that's focussed on keeping safe, sane and even having fun on social media.
October 6, 9am NZT.
Pay What You Can
Video Available on demand for 2 weeks after.

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/social-media-for-creatives-tickets-1997303395221

#art #writing #music #film

OpenAI joins Anthropic with a new text watermarking system. @9to5Mac explains how it detects AI-generated writing and how effective it can be.

https://flip.it/R3pYTI
#OpenAI #AI #Writing

The dragons craned their necks down to look at the smallest dragon that had moved to the craggy peaks recently. It had wings, was jet black with sharp obsidian claws. It sat confidently on its equally small pile of shining treasures.

Though it met all the requirements, they needed to make sure it was actually a dragon.

"Answer us this; did you build your hoard yourself?"

“Caw,” it proclaimed proudly.

They all nodded. Definitely a dragon.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #Writing #TerylsTales #Fantasy

Our Top 5:

ㆍHumanity, lost (The Atlantic)
ㆍLife, accumulated (Oxford American)
ㆍMemories, flooded (Electric Literature)
ㆍParenting, practiced (Thew New Yorker)
ㆍSleep, unoptimized (The 19th)

https://longreads.com/2026/10/02/top-5-627/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

#Longreads #Reading #Journalism #Essay #Nonfiction #Writing

I share my perspective on composite characters in fiction writing using my own work in progress as a focal point. It's on my Substack.

https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/composite-characters-in-fiction?r=pvxh5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

#books #novels #fiction #writing #reading #author #substack #blog #biography #sexwork #work #addiction #drugs #characters #RidleyPark #process #hashtag

@GeePawHill @jaystephens

I will talk about anything as long as you never say WIP.

#Writing

"The printer," our new manager huffed, "Is still not printing."

We shrugged helplessly, "You fired the only qualified person in this department with the expertise to wield the dark magics required to make it obey."

The manager snorted, "Of course I fired her; she ignored the dress-code and smelled of strange herbs!"

We shrugged again.

"Fine, she's rehired!"

"I want my own broom closet," the witch stipulated, appearing in her chair.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #Writing #TerylsTales #UrbanFantasy

It's like they know me.

#language #english #writing

Alt...

What your favourite obsolete English letter says about you: (Whichever one you pick, you are a nerd.)

being a #writer with #adhd: I edited the wrong book today...

#writing #writingcommunity

Madness, poetry, love, and rage.

Solae, constructed to be the Jade Emperor's spy, flies out on a secret extended mission. Between command directives that bind them, assassins, traitors, and the mind- and body-stealing Thanarchs, they struggle to control their ever-burning curiosity and whiplash emotions.

https://books2read.com/u/ba7oNv

#sci-fi #writing

Alt...

The cover of the novel "How Deep the Light of Stolen Suns" by Mary Holstege. The image is dominated by a bright halo of golden light. Clumps of stars fall towards it, made dark by its brightness. Just coming into frame on the left is the silhouette of a spaceship. It has a large bulb at the front and a long thin tail. There are a series of delicate petals perpendicular to the shaft, fanned out into a flower or star.

I've resumed writing the manuscript for an (obviously) unfinished piece of fiction. As it stands, it might be best categorised – if one is so inclined; I'm not a fan of the limitation of genres – as literary fiction, and more particularly as a biographical novel in the tradition of transgressive realism.

https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/needles-edge?r=pvxh5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

#writing #reading #books #fictionbooks #biography #novels #realism #literature

https://medium.com/@screwlisp/001beginnings-as-consuming-as-possible-and-no-consumer-by-screwlisp-c5d4036a3976

Continuing my #medium #writing, I suppose this short note is about #software #education, #lisp and a few #bookstodon recommendations.

Hey. I am on 13,96 in #PixelArea.

Here:

https://pxlarea.com/x13y96

I beg the guy should add two tags, #poetry and #philosophy :D

#smollweb #smallweb #indieweb #blog #blogging #writing

"Job one, for anybody writing a book—for anybody writing a story of any kind, of any length—is to get the reader to that last word." Earl Swift on proportionality for the Creative Nonfiction Podcast with Brendan O'Meara:

https://longreads.com/2026/09/24/proportionality-earl-swift/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

#craft #writing #creativenonfiction

"No one likes to be told how to feel about something. And if you doubt that, just go ahead. Try and tell someone how to feel." Alexander Chee recounts his time as Annie Dillard's student for The Morning News https://longreads.com/2026/09/22/annie-dillard-workshop-alexander-chee-wesleyan/ #writers #writing #creativity #art #artists #longreads

#WritersCoffeeClub Sept 21:
What's the latest in the writing process you've found a mistake?

After mass-market paperback publication.

(I'm trad published: there used to be an opportunity to fix typos up to about two months after first hardcover dropped. But once it was in MMPB, everything froze forever. Of course, the mass market no longer exists, so … )

#Writing #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #WritersofMastodon

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman is neither a self-defence of heteronormativity nor a salacious lesbian romp. I finished reading this over the weekend.

https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/i-who-have-never-known-men

The piece is a critique of the book. I liked and very much recommend it, but it had some challenges.

#philosophy #literature #writing #reading #critique #harpman #humancondition #speculativefiction #fiction #sciencefiction #scifi #psychology #sociology

A quotation from Richard Steele

An author, when he first appears in the world, is very apt to believe it has nothing to think of but his Performances.

Richard Steele (1672–1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician
Essay (1711-03-05), The Spectator, No. 4

More about this quote: wist.info/steele-richard/86170…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #richardsteele #author #ego #pride #selfcenteredness #selffocus #writer #writing

Originally posted at: https://www.jesseskinner.com/blog/avoid-the-rewrite/

#blog #software #legacy #rewrite #decluttering #writing

Oops, I did it again…

#books #writing #networking

https://www.bosatsu.net/blog/posts/modern-networking.html

Put Whitehead's Science and the Modern World to bed. It has some good ideas, especially for its placement in time (1925), but he ends up too mired in indefensible metaphysics.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Hl38sR9htBKpdwOlT7yD8?si=7yAdqZQ-SGCxiK0rZ_aSxA

I discuss him in the context of other thinkers.

#philosophy #language #reading #writing #blog #substack #whitehouse #benatar #ligotti #zapffe #teleology #optimism #pessimism #metaphysics #cats #existentialism #nihilism #science #podcast

A quotation from E. B. White

In a free country it is the duty of writers to pay no attention to duty. Only under a dictatorship is literature expected to exhibit an harmonious design or an inspirational tone.

E. B. White (1899–1985) American author, critic, humorist [Elwyn Brooks White]
Essay (1939-01), “One Man’s Meat,” Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 178

More about this quote: wist.info/white-eb/85914/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ebwhite #civicduty #conformity #dissent #duty #freedomofexpression #patriotism #positivity #tone #writers #writing

"The translucent corona is a white-gold halo—a hypnotic vortex drawing me into the black disk."—Rudi Zygadlo for Dispatch

https://dispatch-media.com/on-tour-with-the-eclipse-chasers/?src=longreads

#longreads #solar #eclipse #astronomy #reading #writing

I accidentally typed #SilentSinday instead of #SilentSunday and now I want to make that I thing

How are you spending your #SilentSinday, eh?

Me, I'm murdering another immortal in my WIP #writing

Would Alexandre Dumas have used an LLM? I asked an LLM. It said yes.

https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/would-alexandre-dumas-have-used-an

Dumas is famous for having authored many books: The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, Man in the Iron Mask, and others, but as some people use AI, he sometimes got ideas from others; he also had others write in his name. Sound familiar? He's not alone.

#writing #books #classics #literature #author #Dumas #french #llms #blog #substack #authorship #ai #creativity #ghostwriting

A quotation from Samuel Johnson

A transition from an author’s book to his conversation, is too often like an entrance into a large city, after a distant prospect. Remotely, we see nothing but spires of temples and turrets of palaces, and imagine it the residence of splendour, grandeur and magnificence; but when we have passed the gates, we find it perplexed with narrow passages, disgraced with despicable cottages, embarrassed with obstructions, and clouded with smoke.

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1750-05-05), The Rambler, No. 14

More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/20141…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #author #celebrity #complications #creator #fandom #inperson #interaction #person #personality #perspective #reality #writer #writing

@futurebird 🎯

I remember well my self-finding periods as a teenager by writing "horrible" #diaries. No stuff to be read by others but what helped me to become me.
Very late in life, I relearn how much it can help to write little #diary notes against the feeling of being overwhelmed. Each crooked selfmade sentence helps hundreds of times more than chatting with a slop bot.

#noAI #writing #wellbeing #WellbeingWednesday

A quotation from John Adams

The only thing most people do better than anyone else is read their own handwriting.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
(Attributed)

More about this quote: wist.info/adams-john/35775/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cursive #handwriting #idiosyncrasy #writing #legibility

My new book is out!

In Drift is a romance that does not follow the usual patterns. The characters question the whole relationship drama, explore their feelings, express their love without falling into the trap of owning each other, and try to find their own little spot in the world.

A book about people who are weird and vulnerable and do not fit in, but are lucky enough to find each other.

http://drift.t3x.org/in_drift/

#books #romance #writing

Alt...

The cover of the book "In Drift", depicting the silhouette of a female dancer against an abstract background. The dancer stands on the toes of one leg, the opposite foot touches the knee. She stretches one arm up and the other up and to the side. The pose looks light and effortless.

New post: I'm Using My Brain

https://lanie.work/advocacy/i-am-using-my-brain/

#Ai #Disability #Assistive-Technology #Ableism #Accessibility #Writing #Advocacy

"If you’re doing something complicated, you have to think about how the reader is taking it in. Is this clear to the reader? Is the reader going to want to read the next paragraph? Where is the momentum?"

—Rachel Hartigan in conversation with Brendan O'Meara for the Creative Nonfiction Podcast

https://longreads.com/2026/08/18/bucking-expectations-rachel-hartigan/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

#craft #journalism #writing #reporting

The Sorcerer's Apprentice prefigures the perils of Modernity.
https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/sourcery-of-modernity
#philosophy #modernity #history #literature #writing #reading #blog #podcast #magic #disney #fantasia #competence

Writers: here are ten free and easy ways to add a dash of visual interest to your blog posts without resorting to AI imagery (which signals to readers that your blog post is probably also AI and there’s no need to bother reading it):

1) A thoughtful photo you’ve taken yourself — a nice sunrise you saw, a cool angle spotted on vacation, your pet curled up on the couch, flowers. Play with your phone photo app’s filter settings to nail the tone. It doesn’t need to be particularly related to the post, it’s related to you as a person.

2) An image from Wikimedia Commons that’s somehow related to the subject matter — there are unfathomably many, you can search by keyword. Remember to credit. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

3) A screenshot of a scene you made in a sandbox game such as Minecraft or Animal Crossing

4) A scene you made with toys such as Lego (you can also use free Lego design software such as Bricklink Studio) https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio/main.page

5) Play with the effects in whatever image editor you have access to, using your own photos or free-to-use images, to create something a bit abstract and avant-garde

6) Even if you can’t draw or paint very well, you can probably make some pretty cool abstract or collage imagery with whatever art supplies you have around. Dampen some paper and randomly dip watercolor paint onto it and see what happens

7) Those stickers you stashed and never used? Yeah you can make something with them. If they’re individually cut, you don’t even need to peel them, you’ll still find the One True Way to use them one day, I’m sure

8) Shelfies. None will dare question your competence after they see you have a real paper copy of Subject Matter Tome Volumes 1 through 6

9) You can get a lot of mileage out of compositing pre-made video game assets into an image. A good place to start is Kenney’s free and generously licensed 2D assets: https://www.kenney.nl/assets/category:2D and the Tiled editor which is specifically meant for assembling images out of video game asset tile sheets https://www.mapeditor.org

10) the most ridiculously amateurish thing you can scribble on a post-it note or in MS Paint is preferable to AI imagery because it clearly signals a real human cares about the post.

#writing #writingcommunity #collage #blog

Alt...

A pink, purple and soft blue collage created with paper and stickers I had lying around my room: a little robot mascot from Ace Attorney is advising “You don’t need to be ‘a good artist’ to create a unique and interesting image for your blog.”

Vol 07 of my newsletter just dropped. Lots of cool stuff about design, code, accessibility, privacy, and antifascism.

https://markwrites.io/nano-bytes-07

If you want to know when I publish new stuff, grab the RSS feed or subscribe to the email list. Or don’t. Whatevs.

#NanoBytes #Newsletter #Writing #Design #Code #Privacy #Antifascism

@nixCraft

Reminds me of Isaac Asimov's famous short story: The Last Question. Brilliant! 🌞

https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~gamvrosi/thelastq.html

#asimov #writing #fiction

New post: What Good Days Look Like

https://lanie.work/advocacy/what-a-good-day-looks-like/

#Disability #Chronic-Illness #Fatigue #Writing #Advocacy

A quotation from Thoreau

Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. Books, the oldest and the best, stand naturally and rightfully on the shelves of every cottage. They have no cause of their own to plead, but while they enlighten and sustain the reader his common sense will not refuse them. Their authors are a natural and irresistible aristocracy in every society, and, more than kings or emperors, exert an influence on mankind.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden; or, Life in the Woods, ch. 3 “Reading” (1854)

More about this quote: wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thoreau #walden #authors #books #heritage #influence #writing

#poetry #poem #amwriting #books #poets #writing

#Writing #AI

@dramypsyd

Nifty. 👍

"I screen recorded my writing"

So it has come to that already: humans must prove they are human, at least regarding their contributions. 🙈

I had a perfect verse while showering. By the time I got out and was writing it down, half of it disappeared from memory.

The mind is a funny thing!

#life #writing

This is less what I am reading than what I've just finished, but you can check out what I'm up to by following the link to Goodreads.

https://philosophics.blog/2026/08/10/what-am-i-reading/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

That I am reading a book is neither a recommendation nor an endorsement. There tends to be an overrepresentation of fiction titles because I listen to these when I work out and to fall asleep, which in each case burns through many chapters. They also tend to be shorter.

#reading #writing #blog #books #goodreads #diversity

When you write a thousand words in just one hour and then spend another three just to get a single sentence right.

#writing

This week's #longreads Top 5 includes:

-Behind the blockade (Associated Press)
-Splendid scribbles (Eater)
-Greenest green (The New Yorker)
-New nuptials norm (New Lines Magazine)
-Tasteless tomatoes (Offrange)

https://longreads.com/2026/08/07/the-top-5-longreads-of-the-week-620/?utm_source=x&utm_medium=social

#longreads #top5 #reading #writing #essays

Friends, I have a confession to make.

I've been thinking a lot about it, and I don't want to sound rude, but I think a lot of other people need to think about it too. The thing is...

If the guy trying to murder me with an axe was gone tomorrow, I have to know, what would I do?

I mean, I don't want to sound axe-murderer-happy, but he's been trying to murder me in the most bloodthirsty possible manner for so long that I just don't know what I'd do without him.

It's only been 21 hours, but it feels like a lifetime! You know what I mean, right ladies?

For the last forever he's been such a disruptive part of my life! I really feel like I'm a different person now. After having to rip out the gas line on my stove and light it with the barbecue stick my husband keeps to start the pilot light nearby, and then flambeeing the bastard with my own improvised flamethrower, can I really ever go back to a pre ax-murderer life--

One sec, bear trap.

There, that's done. But after he sawed through the door of the Rat Museum I was hiding in, forcing me to run through hallways full of rats in order to escape him, will I ever live a truly rat-free existence? Without them? Without him?

I just don't know anymore. Really, is anyone complete without an ax-murderer at their back? Has anyone ever been? I don't think anyone would even want to go back to the way they were before.

Anyway, signing off, I've got a pit of acid behind me and an inadequate railing keeping me from falling into it, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

XOXO

#llm #parody #ai #writing

Story idea: we discover an anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background that we pull the thread on and discover that it is significantly easier to accelerate in one direction in the Universe and basically impossible over long distances in the other.

This leads to one half of the universe being an empty backwater (where we are) and the other end being an overcrowded mess, with a civilizational gradient.

Humans being human we decide to attack The Density from The Sparse.

#story #writing

"The real world is both tiring and tiresome for him, Lewis went on to explain: too many unwritten rules, too many norms that don’t quite make sense." —Eve Livingston for Dispatch

https://dispatch-media.com/meet-britains-hikikomori/?src=longreads

#longreads #introvert #autism #anxiety #reading #writing #family

New post: The Pipe and the Voice

https://lanie.work/technology/the-pipe-and-the-voice/

#Disability #Ai #Writing #Accessibility #Caregiving #Assistive-Technology #Personal #Technology

"Whatever the reason, it’s now de rigueur to be regular."—Linni Kral for Taste

https://tastecooking.com/this-too-shall-pass/?src=longreads

#longreads #poop #BM #diet #influencer #reading #writing

A quotation from Schopenhauer

But, as we have seen, many people try to conceal their poverty of thought under a flood of verbiage.
 
[Aber freilich suchen viele Schriftsteller gerade unter dem Wortüberfluß ihre Gedankenarmuth zu verbergen.]

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 23 “On Authorship and Style [Über Schriftstellerei und Stil],” § 283 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/schopenhauer-arthur/…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #schopenhauer #arthurschopenhauer #communication #content #eloquence #logorrhea #loquaciousness #pithiness #thought #verbiage #wordiness #writing

A quotation from E. B. White

I know of one gifted crackpot who used to be employed gainfully in the fields of humor and satire, who has taken a solemn pledge not to write anything funny or lighthearted or “insignificant” again till things get straightened around in the world. This seems to me distinctly deleterious and a little silly. A literature composed of nothing but liberty-loving thoughts is little better than the propaganda which it seeks to defeat.

E. B. White (1899-1985) American author, critic, humorist [Elwyn Brooks White]
Essay (1939-01), “One Man’s Meat,” Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 178

More about this quote: wist.info/white-eb/85184/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ebwhite #badtimes #earnestness #gravity #humor #propaganda #satire #senseofhumor #seriousness #war #weightiness #writing

A quotation from Propertius

And should I fail, my courage brings its commendation:
greatness aimed at is enough.
 
[Quod si deficiant vires, audacia certe
Laus erit: in magnis et voluisse sat est.]

Propertius (50-16 BC) Roman elegiac poet [Sextus Propertius]
Elegies, Book 2, Elegy 10, l. 5ff (2.10.5-6) [tr. Holcombe (2009)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/propertius/3221/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #propertius #writing #aspiration #attempt #audacity #boldness #courage #daring #determination #endeavor #enterprise #failure #fallingshort #goal #honor #intention #praise #praiseworthiness #striving #will

How influential is religion in your world? How influential would it like to be?

#WorldBuilding #AmWriting #writing #WritingCommunity #dnd #ttrpg #GameDev #religion

Alt...

Percentage of population absolutely certain God exists. Comparing USA to Europe. Most of Europe is in yellow, indicating a 10-29% certainty, A few places like Portugal and Poland are up into the 30-49% band. In the US most of it is in the purple 50-69% range with the bible belt, unsurprisingly, registering blue, 70-82%. Interesting that 82% is the highest ratio, and 10% is the lowest in either category.

🤗☁️🌈☁️🪽😇🪽🌐🌍💗💦🕊️💒❤️‍🔥✝️🛐👑💌👐🫂🏩🫶🩵🫧🍥🌀🎠🤸🏿‍♀️🎡🤗(For where jealousy!*& selfish ambition exist!*there will be disorder!*& every vile practice!)👉

(James 3:13-18)
#Wisdom #from #Above #We #Are #Called #by #One #Vocation #UNITY #GOD #JESUS #Christ #Holy #Spirit #Savior #Light #World #Pray #Believe #Christian #Heaven #Hope #Peace #Faith #Truth #Goodness #Kindness #Hospitality #Understanding #Love #One #Another #Harmony #Journey #Eternity #Sweet #Healing #Wings #Angels #WRITING #JEWISH #AND #US #ALL #ON #EARTH

🤗☁️🌈☁️🪽😇🪽🌐🌍💗💦🕊️💒❤️‍🔥✝️🛐👑💌👐🫂🏩🫶🩵🫧🍥🌀🎠🤸🏿‍♀️🎡🤗(Who is wise?!*& understanding among you?*By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom!)👉

(James 3:13-18)
#Wisdom #from #Above #We #Are #Called #by #One #Vocation #GOD #JESUS #Christ #Holy #Spirit #Savior #Light #World #Pray #Christian #Heaven #Hope #Peace #Faith #Truth #Goodness #Kindness #Hospitality #Gentleness #Understanding #Love #Harmony #Journey #Eternity #Sweet #Healing #Wings #Angels #WRITING #JEWISH #AND #US #ALL #ON #EARTH

🤗☁️🌈☁️🪽😇🪽🌐🌍💗💦🕊️💒❤️‍🔥✝️🛐👑💌👐🫂🏩🫶🩵🫧🌐🌍💗💦🕊️🤗(Servant JAMES OF GOD!*& JESUS CHRIST SAYS!*Who is wise?!*& understanding among you?*By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom!)👉

(James 3:13-18)
#Wisdom #from #Above #We #Are #Called #by #One #Vocation #GOD #JESUS #Christ #Holy #Spirit #Savior #Light #World #Pray #Believe #Christian #Heaven #Hope #Peace #Faith #Truth #Goodness #Kindness #Hospitality #Gentleness #Love #One #Another #Harmony #Journey #Eternity #Sweet #Healing #WRITING

🤗☁️🌈☁️🪽😇🪽🌐🌍💗💦🕊️💒❤️‍🔥✝️🛐👑💌👐🫂🏩🫶🩵🫧🛩️🎡🏖️⛱️🤗(Servant JAMES OF GOD!*& JESUS CHRIST SAYS TO US ALL ON EARTH!)👉

(James 3:13-18)
#Wisdom #from #Above #We #Are #Called #by #One #Vocation #UNITY #Prayer #Amen #GOD #JESUS #Christ #Holy #Spirit #Savior #Light #World #People #Pray #Believe #Christian #Heaven #Hope #Peace #Faith #Truth #Goodness #Kindness #Hospitality #Gentleness #Understanding #Love #One #Another #Harmony #Journey #Eternity #Sweet #Healing #Wings #Angels #WRITING #JEWISH #AND #US #ALL #ON #EARTH

🤗☁️🌈☁️🪽😇🪽🌐🌍💗💦🕊️💒❤️‍🔥✝️🛐👑💌👐🫂🏩🫶🩵🫧🦋⛵🌞🤗*Wisdom from Above!🤗🌐🌍💗💦🕊️💒❤️‍🔥✝️🛐👑💌👐🫂🏩🫶🩵🫧☁️🌈☁️🪽😇🪽🤗

☁️🌈☁️🪽😇🪽💦🕊️❤️‍🔥✝️🛐👑👉

(James 3:13-18)
#Wisdom #from #Above #Devotional #We #Are #Called #by #One #Vocation #UNITY #Prayer #Amen #GOD #JESUS #Christ #Holy #Spirit #Savior #Light #World #People #Pray #Believe #Christian #Heaven #Hope #Peace #Faith #Truth #Goodness #Kindness #Hospitality #Gentleness #Understanding #Love #One #Another #Harmony #Journey #Eternity #Sweet #Healing #Wings #Angels #WRITING #JEWISH #US #ALL #ON #EARTH

The AI-authorship debate is bollox.

https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/human-factors-in-authorship

The LLM-versus-human debate has been raging for several years now, and there seem to be two principal camps: human exceptionalists and agnostics. I suppose there may also be a small, misanthropic faction, but its members are remarkably quiet.

#philosophy #blog #substack #podcast #pangram #authenticity #quality #facticity #dashboard #authorship #writing #publishing #media #language #llms #artificialintelligence #debate #exceptionalism

How active a role do the gods (if any) play in your world?

#WorldBuilding #AmWriting #writing #WritingCommunity #ttrpg #GameDev

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Do clouds ever look down on us and say, "That one is shaped like and idiot?"

"What shall we say of today? Better yet, what shall I say of today? That I will try to do better, perhaps. But Beckett hasn’t much patience for such resolutions." Robert Zaretsky for The American Scholar https://theamericanscholar.org/beckett-the-prophet/?src=longreads #samuelbeckett #godot #theater #art #writing #longreads

A quotation from Schopenhauer

To use many words to communicate few thoughts is everywhere the unmistakable sign of mediocrity. To gather much thought into few words stamps the man of genius.
 
[Viele Worte machen, um wenige Gedanken mitzutheilen, ist überall das untrügliche Zeichen der Mittelmäßigkeit; das des eminenten Kopfes dagegen, viele Gedanken in wenige Worte zu schließen.]

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 23 “On Authorship and Style [Über Schriftstellerei und Stil],” § 283 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/schopenhauer-arthur/…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #schopenhauer #arthurschopenhauer #communication #content #eloquence #genius #loquaciousness #mediocrity #pithiness #thought #wordiness #writing

"This is surely the most exciting development in the field of ancient history in many years." —Carlos Noreña for Aeon

https://aeon.co/essays/uncovering-a-global-ancient-history-beyond-greece-and-rome?src=longreads

#longreads #greece #rome #ancienthistory #reading #writing

✍🏼✍🏿✍️📝💁🏿‍♀️*Hemingway’s Advice on Writing, Ambition, and His Reading List of Essential Books for Aspiring Writers👉

#Writing #Ideas #Art #Ideas

Hemingway’s Advice on Writing, Ambition, and His Reading List of Essential Books for Aspiring Writers – The Marginalian
https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/01/04/with-hemingway-arnold-samuelson-writing/

I mean, everyone I know is writing a book.

#books #writing #disasters

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Times are bad. Children no longer okey their parents and everyone is writing a book. -Cicero, 43 BCE

Do you employ dramatic irony in your work?

#writing #AmWriting #cycling #Bike #irony #WritingCommunity.

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A large sign imploring motorists to "Give Cyclists Space" has been parked in the bike lane.

eat, drink, sleep, cuddle
sometimes I wish
I was my cat

My ink drawing of this cute kitty is also available combined with this lovely haiku.

Haiku: @MarjoleinRotsteeg

#haiku #poem #poetry #writing #ink #drawing #handmade #MastoArt #art #painting #FediArt #FediGiftShop #arte #InteriorDesign #MastodonArt #TraditionalArt #kunst #cats #CatsOfMastodon #caturday #cat #CatLovers #pets #cute #animals #catstodon #kitten #kitty #kittens #katze #CatsOfFediverse #BuyIntoArt #ArtForSale #giftideas

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eat, drink, sleep, cuddle sometimes I wish I was my cat Sweet dreams is a minimalist black and white ink drawing by artist Karen Kaspar. A cute kitten lies sleeping on the floor. It seems to be smiling and having sweet dreams. This work, a combination of painting and haiku, is a joint project by Karen Kaspar (© art and artwork) and Marjolein Rotsteeg (© Haiku). A haiku is a traditional Japanese poetry form consisting of three lines. Here the ink drawing was supplemented with the haiku in English

A quotation from Samuel Johnson

There is nothing more dreadful to an author than neglect, compared with which reproach, hatred, and opposition are names of happiness; yet this worse, this meanest fate, every one who dares to write has reason to fear.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Source (1750-03-24), The Rambler, No. 2

More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/24197…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #author #forgotten #ignored #insignificance #literarycriticism #neglect #notice #oblivion #obscurity #publicity #reaction #unread #writer #writing

A quotation from Cicero

For indeed it is possible that a man may think well, and yet not be able to express his thoughts elegantly; but for any one to publish thoughts which he can neither arrange skillfully nor illustrate so as to entertain his reader, is an unpardonable abuse of letters and retirement: they, therefore, read their books to one another, and no one ever takes them up but those who wish to have the same license for careless writing allowed to themselves.
 
[Fieri autem potest, ut recte quis sentiat et id quod sentit polite eloqui non possit; sed mandare quemquam litteris cogitationes suas, qui eas nec disponere nec inlustrare possit nec delectatione aliqua allicere lectorem, hominis est intemperanter abutentis et otio et litteris. Itaque suos libros ipsi legunt cum suis, nec quisquam attingit praeter eos, qui eandem licentiam scribendi sibi permitti volunt.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], Book 1, ch. 3 (1.3) / sec. 6 (1.6) (45 BC) [tr. Yonge (1853)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/cicero-marcus-tulliu…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cicero #author #clarity #clique #communication #elegance #entertainment #expression #organization #selfindulgence #writing #writinggroup

@alebensform #writing is another big one.

I have just read the carrier bag theory of fiction by #LeGuin and now I have the need to read more of things like that. I need some guidepost to other #feminist writing theory, maybe stuff inspired by her that appeared in the span of the 40 years since she wrote it, that she certainly inspired?

#hivemind If you have some feminist philosophy to recommend, I'll appreciate it too.

I'm writing #solarpunk utopia right now, so if you know of relevant (preferably feminist) stuff, please drop it below :)
#writing

"A new initiative is asking #Canadian #Jews to make history by #writing #essays about their childhoods that will be stored in Canada’s largest #Jewish archive.

The Canadian Jewish Life Writing Project is meant to empower Jews to #write first-person accounts about the diversity and undocumented realities of Jewish life in Canada. The Association for Canadian #JewishStudies (#ACJS), which runs conferences, lectures and an #academic journal for Canadian Jewish #scholars, launched a call for submissions at the end of April 2026.

ACJS executive director #JoshuaTapper says the project was inspired by a #Polish writing contest from the 1930s that collected more than 600 #autobiographical #stories from Polish Jewish youth. Members of #YIVO, an organization that has preserved Jewish cultural heritage since 1925, created what Tapper calls “an incredibly rich resource for scholars today” by “going to the people” for their #stories."

https://thecjn.ca/arts-culture/a-new-online-archive-hopes-to-preserve-canadian-jewish-identity-through-storytelling/

"Yehor stepped and knelt and spun and raised his arms into the emptiness where Masha should have been. In the footage playing behind him, she was still the star." —Siobhán O’Grady and Liubov Sholudko for The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/world/europe/russia-ukraine-prom.html/?src=longreads

#longreads #prom #ukraine #russia #war #reading #writing

"Someone once sent me a model of the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared into the ocean. But the best gift? What a terrifying question. My college education? If anyone ever gives me a human skull, that will be it." Elisa Gabbert answers the Longreads questionnaire https://longreads.com/2026/07/08/longreads-questionnaire-elisa-gabbert/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social #authors #writing #interview #creativity #longreads

A quotation from E. B. White

A writer should cultivate only what naturally absorbs his fancy, whether it be freedom or cinch bugs, and should write in the way that comes easy.

E. B. White (1899-1985) American author, critic, humorist [Elwyn Brooks White]
Essay (1939-01), “One Man’s Meat,” Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 178

More about this quote: wist.info/white-eb/84883/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ebwhite #author #gowiththeflow #interest #literarystyle #subject #topic #writer #writing

A quotation from E. B. White

A writer should cultivate only what naturally absorbs his fancy, whether it be freedom or cinch bugs, and should write in the way that comes easy.

E. B. White (1899-1985) American author, critic, humorist [Elwyn Brooks White]
Essay (1939-01), “One Man’s Meat,” Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 178

More about this quote: wist.info/white-eb/84883/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ebwhite #author #gowiththeflow #interest #literarystyle #subject #topic #writer #writing

I look at patterns in LLM output. The tell is more than simple orthographic tics.

https://philosophics.blog/2026/07/07/ai-language-patterns/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

#philosophy #language #llms #ai #artificialintelligence #patterns #comprehension #writing #training #history #english #learning #blog #video #critique #commentary #spelling #pronunciation #content

"The extremely obvious truth (which is barely even veiled) is that at least most of these hustlebros are faking it." —Jason Koebler for 404 Media

https://www.404media.co/how-i-bought-a-private-jet-by-selling-10-subscriptions-to-404-media/?src=longreads

#longreads #hustle #scam #socialmedia #reading #writing

A quotation from Jean Kerr

SYDNEY: A lot of writers drink. Some drink before they write and some drink after they write. The ones that concern me are the ones who drink instead of writing. Even though a number of people have tried, no on has yet found a way to drink for a living.

Jean Kerr (1922-2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Poor Richard, Act 1 (1965)

More about this quote: wist.info/kerr-jean/30921/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #jeankerr #alcohol #alcoholism #creativework #drinking #intoxication #job #vocation #work #writers #writing

This morning I awoke thinking about sex – actually gender – of borrowed Latin words. Get your mind out of the gutter.

👉 https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/we-still-bury-the-dead

I wrote a piece about it, but I was truly conflicted on my journey, especially as I compared English and French approaches, and a potential feminist rift.

#philosophy #language #sociolinguistics #etymology #english #french #latin #gender #writing #culture #feminism #linguistics #reform #administration

🐈🐈‍⬛*A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat doesn't🐈‍⬛🐈

~Hemingway

#Quote #Cats

Novelicious on X: "A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat doesn't Hemingway #writing https://t.co/9jN66jCKpO" / X
https://x.com/noveliciouss/status/2072906686281441345