If you haven't heard, Einstein was correct (again!) in predicting the existence of gravitational waves in space. This week scientists confirmed their existence with the first-ever, direct evidence of gravitational waves by measuring the disturbance in the fabric of space-time when two massive black holes collided almost a billion years ago. It proves without a doubt that the very nature of space can produce waves, just like the surface of the ocean, and that these waves can be detected. Our universe can ripple in response to some huge event. And better yet, the first person to observe the signal was a post-doc! (I'm also giddy because this now takes the name of my blog and nudges it from science fiction closer towards science.) There better be some physicist somewhere who is salivating to get an NSF grant to study the implications of these measurements on time travel. Maybe we can actually go back in time and pretend Trump was never seriously running for President?
Anyway, it's huge news. Not only is Einstein validated yet again, but there are now new tools to study how the cosmos functions and respond to cataclysmic events - especially the destructive and awe-inspiring nature of black holes. Maybe we can finally prove where all of Schrodinger's cats go when they disappear when the boxes are opened. (What's at the center of black holes? Answer: a shit-ton of cats!). I'm also curious how this will shake out for the Nobel Prize Committee. The 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics went to Joseph Taylor and Russell Hulse for their discovery of indirect evidence of gravity waves (they measured radio waves emanating from a pair of spinning neutron stars as a proxy for gravity waves). Someone has to win for the direct evidence right? I think so. But has anyone ever won for a topic which was already given an award? I don't know. I'll have to look this up.
In more personal news, I guess I should mention something about writing, as part of this blog's mission is to talk about writing-related topics. Recently, I've found that it's hard to stay motivated. I think most people can relate. The last month with our move, work projects, the epic Baltimore blizzard...I was finding more and more excuses to avoid both house-related projects and working on my science fiction stories. I partially blame my malaise on the fact that most of my projects right now need massive editing. So instead of the luxury of writing whatever comes to mind or imagining new stories, I've been knee-deep in cutting scenes, changing scene order, fixing dialog (a very problematic area for me) and extensive re-writes. And although my work is benefiting from these changes, it can be very hard to muster the motivation to re-re-re-work something in order to hopefully make it better. I've come to learn it's very true the story really takes shape during the editing process.
Thankfully when it comes to getting motivated I eventually ran out of excuses. I'm now living four blocks away from the Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS). I've known about this group ever since moving to Baltimore over two and a half years ago, but I've never had the chance to pay a visit. So if I couldn't manage a five minute walk I was never going to make it over there.
Thankfully I did.
Thursday night I got to participate in my first ever writer's critique circle. Every other week the BSFS hosts a circle where you can read your work out loud and others can chime-in with constructive criticism and/or mark copies of the story for review at home. It was a nerve-wracking experience. Other than reading out loud to my wife, I've never read to anyone, let alone a group of people I'd just met five minutes before. I usually share my stories with family and friends and they are kind enough to provide me excellent feedback, but I've never done this with strangers. However to my surprise, it was a great experience. Not only did I learn a lot about my own story, the creative juices flowed as I listened to others make comments and suggestions on both mine and others' work. I plan on going again and I think the additional input will help me become a better story teller. It also gave me a window to see how others craft their stories.
I love story-telling. That's why I write - to tell stories. And to me, writing a story is like making a large quilt. The entire thing is made up of small threads and strands that weave together. Editing reminds me of fixing all the errors after the quilt has been made. Sometimes when I'm reading over my work and making edits all that is required is a little tug and a small thread is woven back into its proper place. Sometimes I feel like I am taking a big pair of scissors and ripping the pattern open. I'll pull out large strands or chunks and patch it all up again, hoping the new threads seal the hole I've created. (I realize that this is probably not quite how a quilt is made but I'm determined to stick with this analogy.) I'm really hoping that after editing the overall pattern remains the same, but I also hope every change is making the pattern better. The hardest part is making sure all the unintended wrinkles and ripples are smooth again after I make a cataclysmic change so it looks as if the entire quilt were made at one sitting. It is tiring and tedious and I hope all the hard work pays off. The input I get from friends and this writing group is invaluable to this process.
Thankfully I did.
Thursday night I got to participate in my first ever writer's critique circle. Every other week the BSFS hosts a circle where you can read your work out loud and others can chime-in with constructive criticism and/or mark copies of the story for review at home. It was a nerve-wracking experience. Other than reading out loud to my wife, I've never read to anyone, let alone a group of people I'd just met five minutes before. I usually share my stories with family and friends and they are kind enough to provide me excellent feedback, but I've never done this with strangers. However to my surprise, it was a great experience. Not only did I learn a lot about my own story, the creative juices flowed as I listened to others make comments and suggestions on both mine and others' work. I plan on going again and I think the additional input will help me become a better story teller. It also gave me a window to see how others craft their stories.
I love story-telling. That's why I write - to tell stories. And to me, writing a story is like making a large quilt. The entire thing is made up of small threads and strands that weave together. Editing reminds me of fixing all the errors after the quilt has been made. Sometimes when I'm reading over my work and making edits all that is required is a little tug and a small thread is woven back into its proper place. Sometimes I feel like I am taking a big pair of scissors and ripping the pattern open. I'll pull out large strands or chunks and patch it all up again, hoping the new threads seal the hole I've created. (I realize that this is probably not quite how a quilt is made but I'm determined to stick with this analogy.) I'm really hoping that after editing the overall pattern remains the same, but I also hope every change is making the pattern better. The hardest part is making sure all the unintended wrinkles and ripples are smooth again after I make a cataclysmic change so it looks as if the entire quilt were made at one sitting. It is tiring and tedious and I hope all the hard work pays off. The input I get from friends and this writing group is invaluable to this process.
Thursday night's meeting made me realize anybody could benefit from this sort of thing. Whether you draw or make music or make movies, design houses...anything. Go out and find a group of people who do something similar and talk to them. I was struck how helpful this could be at work, too. I know at the NIH there are small groups of anonymous readers who will critique a manuscript and give editorial input. But what about how to actually craft and present the data? Almost like a journal club, if you will, where you could meet and discuss how to tell your research story so that it is as strong as it could be before publication. Even a group of close colleagues helping to give input on how a data figure looks, order of the data, or similar conversations would be enormously helpful as one is writing up a paper. Maybe there is such a thing at work? I'll need to look into it. If there is, I'll report back.
On a totally unrelated note, if you aren't watching the English Premier League then you aren't excited about the awesome games this weekend. Tottenham have a big draw against Manchester City, with huge implications for the top of the table (that's the English word for standings - which sounds more stoic and gentlemanly I think). Leicester City also squares off against Arsenal, another Top 4 match-up. They should be a lot of fun and if you don't watch soccer (aka football) it's a solid weekend to give it a try. Football is over anyway, right?
Back again, soon-ish. Cheerio!
Back again, soon-ish. Cheerio!
