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Should Art Be Free? On Rights and Motivation

November 16, 2019

Visiting Home for Fiction today and tomorrow, you might see a banner advertising that my book The Other Side of Dreams is free on Amazon for a couple of days. What you perhaps didn’t know until now is that all my art is in essence free: All you have to do to get a free digital copy of any of my books is to ask for it^*. Should art be free? This will be today’s topic.

^* It’s even easier nowadays: Simply visit this page on the main Home for Fiction site, for an immediate free download! For some of the reasons, partly contradicting some of what you’ll find below, take a look at my explanation why I decided to offer my books for a free download.

The dialectics balance between the “rights” of the author and the “rights” of the public. We’ll have to define both concepts in order to make sense of this.

In a way, the answer to the question “Should art be free?” is a matter of motivation and expectations: What is the motivation of the audience to implicitly demand free art, and what are the expectations of the author?

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How to Make a JavaScript “Horoscope” Generator

November 10, 2019

Programming

horoscope, javascript, language, programming, quackery

Relax, I haven’t gone crazy. If you thought someone like me suddenly started believing in horoscopes, you’re wrong. Yes, in this post I’ll show you how to make a JavaScript horoscope generator. But the post is about linguistics, programming, and maybe psychology; not astrology.

If anything, my goal making this JavaScript horoscope generator was to show how ridiculously easy it is to produce accurate-seeming phrases that appear to apply to everyone’s individual situation. Simple answers to complex questions, really.

There’s actually a bit of literary background in this, believe it or not. There is a scene in my book The Other Side of Dreams, where the protagonist makes fun of a Tarot card reader:

Indeed, Ahmed thought, he could tell Anna pretty much everything the woman had said, without using any cards. “You are coming up a difficult fork in the road of your life, considering your options. Part of you would like to be more daring, but you are aware of the importance of being cautious. You are inspired by strong feelings, and you will be rewarded in love thanks to your tenacity. Remember to be true to yourself, although you should also be diplomatic, especially considering matters related to business, money, or agreements.” There, it can’t get any easier than that.

And so, I decided to combine my background in languages and my interest in programming. This JavaScript horoscope generator was the result!

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Degrowth for Writers: Forget Sales, Focus on Meaning

November 5, 2019

Society, Writing

art, degrowth, marketing, society, writing

Most of us ~~are~~ think they are familiar with the term “growth”, thanks to media brainwashing. The economy this, the economy that. But how many are as familiar with the term degrowth? Even if you are, you’ve probably never heard it in connection with writing. What is degrowth for writers, and why should you care?

As with so many other things, it’s a matter of expectations. I’m amazed at how many people, how often, how inescapably, fail to answer this simple question: What do you want from your actions? What is it that you expect from your writing?

Answering such questions honestly is the only way thinking individuals can live with themselves.

degrowth for writers — “Riches don’t make a man rich; they only make him busier”

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