WIL WHEATON dot NET

YES WE DID

Posted on 4 November, 2008 By Wil

I just called Ryan at school and told him to look around, because he’ll want to remember where he was when Barack Obama was elected president.

I’m too giddy and relieved for deep thoughts, and there’s a bottle of champagne that Anne and I have been waiting to open for a long time, so I’ll just say: The nightmare is over. Now, it’s time to get to work.

(image yanked from kos)

one lever, pulled.

Posted on 4 November, 2008 By Wil

Photo 26.jpg

My voting experience was quick and easy. I think I spent more time confirming my ballot was marked correctly than I spent waiting in line. I guess going in the middle of the morning will do that for you. I wasn’t expecting it, but the historical significance of the moment totally overwhelmed me, and I will admit that I got something in both of my eyes when I voted for Barack Obama. I’ve voted in every election since 1990, and this is the first time I’ve ever felt genuinely hopeful when I cast my ballot, instead of resigned.

Have you voted? Feel free to share your experience if you like.

in which wil attempts to collect all his writing resources into one post

Posted on 4 November, 2008 By Wil

I’m not doing NaNoWiMo, but I know a lot of people who read my blog are, so I thought I’d collect some of the writing advice I’ve found over the years and put it all into one easily-bookmarked post.

Before I get to the older stuff, a couple new things I’ve found:

io9 (which I feared would be lame like Gawker, but is awesome like Lifehacker) collected some secrets to creating great characters, according to six science fiction authors.
I wrote about the weird feeling of emptiness that I always experience after I finish a project. Charlie Stross expressed something similar in a post titled On finishing.

Got it? Yay! Let’s move on to some older stuff:

five simple ways to Just Keep Writing
Elizabeth Bear, Cherie Priest, and John Scalzi are three authors who are as generous with their advice as they are awesome and successful.
One more post with lots of links to and wisdom from Elizabeth Bear.
Five writing lessons I wish I’d learned the easy way.
Even Neil Gaiman struggles from time to time. This is very comforting to me. (Interesting note. If you read that linked post, you’ll see a mention of my friend who quit his safety net job to be an actor. He’s on Heroes this season. Go David!)
Neil Gaiman, it turns out, is very reassuring to me.
Sometimes, you just get writer’s clog. This is okay, and it will pass.
I explored some of the differences I’ve encountered between writing short-form and long-form fiction. Related to that, from the common sense file: When working on short short fiction, which I’d say is between 500 and 1000 words, I can keep stuff in my head and write it all on the fly. Since I’ve moved into longer-form stuff this year, I’ve discovered that I absolutely must have an outline to follow, so I write that first (I spend a lot of time on it) and then use it as a memory map (much like I use my own memories when I write my narrative non-fiction stuff) when I write the story. I did this with both Star Trek mangas and with one of the two short stories (~15,000 words each) I’ve been working on since June. Of the two, guess which one has been enjoyable to work on? [::headdesk::]
A collection of resources that I’ve come across, which I found useful as a writer.
John Rogers writes very candidly and frequently about writing for television and movies. He is awesome, and so is his blog.

If you’re doing NaNoWiMo, remember that the whole point of the thing is just to get a whole bunch of words together in a hopefully-coherent story that you will have to edit, rewrite, and polish. It is not supposed to be good, it is not supposed to be perfect, or even ready for anyone but you to read. The idea is to write, and write a lot, so let me close with Wil’s Fundamental Truth of Writing: Don’t be afraid to suck. It is easier to fix a broken scene than it is to fill up a blank page.

one last time . . .

Posted on 3 November, 2008 By Wil

I want my country back, and I want the despicable campaign of hate, fear, lies, and division run by John McCain and personified by Sarah Palin to be repudiated by a massive Obama win. We can make this happen. The polls all say we’re going to make this happen . . . but I remember 2000 and I remember 2004, and even though the polls say that we vastly outnumber the people who tragically support John McCain, we’ve got to get to the polls and make sure our votes count.

So.
Make sure you get out and vote tomorrow, especially you younger people. You guys are overwhelmingly Democratic (yay!) but you’re also notoriously unreliable (boo!) so if you think you’re going to be in line for a long time and you’re going to get bored, bring a book, bring a DS, bring a PSP, bring a deck of cards, bring your cellphone and liveblog or Twitter the whole thing . . . just don’t get out of line and don’t leave without voting!

Everyone else, if you think it’s not worth waiting a few hours (or several hours) to cast an important vote in a close state, I have two words and one initial for you: George W. Bush.
Also, voter suppression is a terrible fact of life all over our country, and the ACLU has prepared a great resource for all 50 states, with printable sheets you can take with you to know your voting rights wherever you are.

The Voting Rights Project of the ACLU is dedicated to providing citizens with information and assistance in exercising their right to vote! We are urging citizens to ACT this election year. For more information or to voice a voting rights complaint, call 1-877-523-2792 […]

I seriously hope that Obama gets to 270 before the polls close on the West coast, but even if he does, it’s still important to get out and vote in California. We must defeat Proposition 8, and we can’t take anything for granted.

Californians: Vote NO on Prop 8

Posted on 3 November, 2008 By Wil

Proposition 8 and the people who support it disgust me. Want to know why? Replace every instance of “same-sex marriage” with “interracial marriage” and see how bigoted and discriminatory it is.

Here, these guys have done it for you:

I can’t believe it’s 2008, and this is still an issue. Contrary to the lies spread by its supporters, Proposition 8 is not about education, it’s not about forcing anything onto churches, and it’s not about protecting anything. It’s nothing but hate and discrimination, and it’s wrong. If you’re a fellow Californian, please vote no on proposition 8 tomorrow. In polling, it’s very close right now, and every vote is going to count.

ETA: If I wasn’t clear enough, reader swordman69 makes it crystal clear: “One thing to remember, voting NO changes nothing. It doesn’t affect a single thing. Only a yes vote changes what is currently legal here in California. Do we teach same-sex marriage in schools now? NO. Is it affecting you in any way now, NO. Only a yes vote changes anything. A Yes vote puts discrimination into our state constitution.”