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Conceptualizer: a Story Planning Program

January 23, 2023

There are fiction authors who need to plan every, single, detail in advance – they’re called “plotters”. Then there are writers who write by their seat of their pants – hence they’re called “pantsers”. In reality, most authors fall somewhere in-between. The truth is, we all need some degree of planning for most works (except perhaps stream-of-consciousness or heavily experimental). And so, we could all benefit from a story planning program.

As with everything I make – programs, books, or blog posts – the intended audience of Conceptualizer, my story planning program, was first and foremost myself. That is, I started to make a story planner because I felt I could benefit from one. I’m certainly not a plotter (though not a pantser either), but I like to keep some sort of notes regarding what will happen when.

And so, perhaps ironically, this sort of selfishness can be very useful to you, too! Let’s take a look at Conceptualizer, what it does and how it works, and at the end of this post I’ll include a link for you so that you can try it.

story planning program
Here’s the Display Mode of this story planning program I made – showing the demo story it “ships” with, which is none other than The Perfect Gray. The idea is to have a structured flow that shows how one piece of the story leads to checkpoints that come together to form the bigger picture.
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The Devil and Femininity: the Promethean Liberation of (Wo)man

January 16, 2023

The title is a mouthful, I know. The Devil and Femininity might be the only two concepts that come across as clear. Ironically enough, that’s a problem. In this post, neither the Devil nor Femininity are what you think they are.

Though all this might sound overwhelming, the post is easy to follow. The reason? It’s based on an ongoing discussion I’m having with Igor da Silva Livramento, friend and fellow writer, academic, and creative-writing advisor. He’s also a composer, music theorist, and producer. You can find him on LinkedIn, and also take a look at his blog and his page on Bandcamp.

And so, in this discussion of ours, we’ve been talking about how the Devil and Femininity, when examined outside the usual conceptual chains imposed by sociocultural norms, allow us to see a different reality. A reality where the Femininity of the Devil holds the key to a better, more inclusive understanding of the human experience.

Devil and Femininity
The traditional Promethean Devil is a symbol of reason and revolt against authority. But the Devil through Femininity (and here we need to reestablish both concepts) can be a powerful symbol of inclusion and humanity
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The Smartphone Model Is Rotten: You Don’t Own Your Device

January 9, 2023

Let’s be clear, I’m not breaking any new ground here. The topic described by the heading has been talked about and analyzed a lot. And for good reason: The smartphone model – that is, the way smartphones are designed and sold – is rotten to the core. The subtitle might give you a hint why: You don’t really own the device you paid for and purchased.

What you own is the temporary, easily withdrawn right to operate the device for a short, undefined period of time.

Perhaps you’ve either realized this yourself or you’ve read about it elsewhere. As I said, I’m not breaking any new ground. Nonetheless, in this post I will share the… Kafkaesque experience I recently had with “my” smartphone – the model of which isn’t important; they’re all the same disaster.

At the same time, I will bring to your attention some menacing repercussions you might not have thought of, some news you might have not heard. Put simply, the… smartphone model of doing business is spilling over into other industries with potentially dystopian consequences.

How would you like not to own your car? Or, here’s a better one: How would you like the right to operate “your” car to be revoked if, say, you left a nasty review about the manufacturer?

smartphone model
There are many things to dislike about smartphones. One of them, they’ve facilitated a whole generation of people who take videos at concerts, missing the experience
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