Inneresting 63
issue 63
August 6th, 2021
Picking Projects Means Making Predictions
All fiction is speculative fiction: It takes time to go from script to screen, or first draft to published work. A lot can change while you write.
Here’s a few episodes of Scriptnotes that could help you decide what ideas to commit to for the long haul:
In episode 417, John, Craig, and Aline Brosh McKenna talk about sorting your half-finished ideas to find what to work on.
Episode 423 discusses the minimum requirements a writer should consider before committing to a story.
Episode 497 covers sunk cost fallacies and when to pull an idea up from the “Maybe-write” list.
Predicting Near and Far Futures
TV Tropes hosts an exhaustive list of films and TV shows that leaned into their present moment, banking on its references or technology having a lasting impact. These time capsules confuse (or unintentionally crack up) modern audiences.
Octavia E. Butler explains her rules for using the past and present to predict the future.
Andromeda Romano-Lax describes the difficulties in writing about the near future.
Smithsonian Magazine shares thoughts about how stories about the future represent our opinion of the present from speculative fiction authors.
“Back in 2000, Kamen had met with Steven Spielberg and tried to convince him that what his upcoming sci-fi mystery Minority Report needed, to accurately depict the future, was to put its cops on Segways. Kamen wanted Tom Cruise on a Segway. Instead, he got Paul Blart.”
Real World Prediction Fails
Open Culture looks at the Sony MiniDisc, the rewritable format that got more attention in The Matrix and Strange Days than it did in the global consumer market.
Dan Kois tells his story about accidentally leaking information about the Segway, and how the resulting speculation firestorm set impossible expectations that prevented the two-wheeler from gaining momentum.
Highland How-To: Future-Proof Your Writing
Highland 2’s backup feature saves you from a lot of headaches should the unexpected happen.
In the Preferences menu under Backup, you’ll see the option to regularly save copies of your open documents. Pick a folder, and select whether you want to use the .highland format, plain text, or both.
Then keep track of that folder!
You can learn more about how to get the most out of Highland 2 from our Knowledge Base!
Other Cool Things
Chuck Wendig looks back on the one big lesson he’s learned in the ten years since selling his first book.
See the responses G.C. Haymes received when he sent letters to 500 artists asking them to describe the sky.
Phil Tippett explains the tricks ILM used animating the Tauntaun from The Empire Strikes Back.
And that’s what’s inneresting this week!
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