Skip to main content

 ...the "500+ Words About..." Blog

Welcome to the start of the "500+ Words About..." Blog. That's the official title, though for everyday purposes, I will call it simply "500 Words". 

The goal of 500 Words is to fulfill the basis writing goal to write something new every day. For most people, that's going to be focused about either one specific topic, or working toward one book, or directed toward one cause. Not this. This will be about whatever I happen to find worth writing about that day. 

There is a simple and compelling reason for this lack of focus. I have found that if I try to limit myself to one topic, I will fail. It will end in a fiery death at some point, because I get a few ideas, and strike while the iron is hot, but then something happens and I draw a blank, another project shows up, etc. 

So the idea is to make this different. How, you ask? First, the lack of focus mentioned above. Writing 500+ words about "whatever I happen to be thinking about today" is easier than 500+ words about "the thing I thought was important enough to talk about last week (or month, or year) but isn't coming to me right now". So no more trying to fit this chaotic mind into an orderly "cause".

Next, and this is the scary one for me, I will be inviting people to read this chaos. If you happen to be one such person, that means I trust you enough for me to consider what you say about this worth thinking about, if only for a second. My life, like my discussions, are not confined to one topic; I have people who know me for one thing, others who know me for something else, still others for another topic, and...you know. But now I have the urge to take these various topics and let people realize that the same person whom they know for X also does Y, and Z, and, whatever. Some of you will think less of me, others will think more of me, but in the end, everyone reading this will be exposed to something new. 

This leads into the next point: Part of what I have wanted to do behind the scenes is to take this intellectual soup and crystallize it into a coherent whole united by something other than, "That's what I think". But, after pondering this for some time now, I now realize that I am asking myself to step outside of myself and look at myself as if I were someone else. But despite my ability to do things that some people can't do, this is beyond my capacity. So if I invited you here, it's because I know there is a chance that you can give me the insight into myself that I am too entrenched to see. 

So I now have a sticky note on my computer with the number 500 on it. This is my reminder to myself to write 500 words on something. Anything. No matter what. Even if it's about how I don't want to write 500 words today. This is the next difference: having the reminder nearby will force me to actively reject it if I don't want to do something. 

Microsoft Word tells me that I have crossed today's limit. For lack of a better reason to continue, I will end here today. But stay tuned for the next "500 Words". 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

 ...Spell Trappings, Part 2 This post is the conclusion of Spell Trappings, which was published just before this. Prerequisite A spell that requires another spell or Clearance Level to learn qualifies for the trapping of Prerequisite, The difficulty of obtaining the prerequisite determines the degree of Difficulty Number reduction. Restriction Most spells can be cast over and over. When one Fireball  ends, another can begin. Spells that place limits on how often they can be cast qualify for the Restriction trapping. A Restriction's value in reducing the Difficulty Number is based on the amount of time that must pass between castings. Self In the original Torg, there was a trapping for Touch. In that version, an unarmed combat  or similar test needed to be made to transfer the spell effect to the target. Torg Eternity 's Aysle Sourcebook specifies that Touch spells do not actually need to touch the target; merely being close enough to touch the target is good enough. So in...
Post a Comment
Read more
...Spell Trappings, Part 1 In a previous article, I mentioned that spells can have trappings , additional conditions that can reduce the Difficulty Number of a designed spell. Each trapping must create a situation where the spell either cannot be cast, provides incentive against casting, limits the scope of the spell, or requires additional preparation to cast.  This will list the trappings I have identified so far. Most of these are from the Aysle Sourcebook and reprinted in  Pixaud's Practical Grimoire  from the original Torg, but new ones are added, and all of them will offer suggestions for the player and game master to adjudicate them. In most cases, the value of the trapping has yet to be determined; I am "redesigning" the current published spells to see what values make sense. Additional Cast Time This one is easy enough to understand. Most spells can be cast in a single action, which is one round except in the case of Flurry. So if the spell takes longer than...
Post a Comment
Read more
 ...Tonight's Season Premiere of Survivor Every season of Survivor  (USA) is quite different. There are twists and turns, and the producers try to introduce new things to keep people on their toes. But the main difference each season is the contestants and how they interact with one another. I have seen the early interviews of each contestant prior to this first episode, and it's obvious that the producers cast the most unique cast of at least the modern (i.e. post-pandemic) era, and quite possibly of all time. Each has a unique path for what made them apply in the first place, and now they are being thrown together to see what's up. I will not name names, but here is a sample of some of who we have playing: A man whose house was raided by police at a very young age and realized at that moment that he might have rely on himself to survive. A man whose family encouraged him to apply but is so convinced he's going to be the first person voted out that they're throwing...
Post a Comment
Read more