Being Precious

If the world were perfect, this is what I'd look out upon from my writing desk.

In reality, it's more like this:

Waiting for things to become perfect before I write would mean waiting forever. The myth of that perfect time and place being out there is one that we writers often delude ourselves with. I know, because I do it all the time. In reality its just another way of putting off getting down to work. Because writing is hard work and none of us like hard work, do we?

I used to think that I couldn't possibly write anything meaningful until I was older. The age at which I would suddenly blossom into the next Vonnegut or Banks was always unspecified. My best option was to wait until I got there and then start writing otherwise what I wrote was bound to be rubbish.

I was, of course, deluding myself. Don't make the same mistake. Nor should you ever feel that life has passed you by and that starting now will be too late. These are only excuses for not writing so don't be taken in.

We are writers. We have to write in order to live our lives the way we are meant to. It doesn't matter one jot whether we are critically acclaimed or even read and enjoyed. These are bonuses that few of us are blessed with. What matters is that feeling we get when we've written something.

Off you go. Get writing. Don't let me distract you.
















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photo credit: 'Rainy Streets', United States, New York, New York City, East Village via photopin (license)

Phlogiston

In 1703 a scientist called Stahl put forward a theory that combustion involved a substance called phlogiston.  Wood, for example, was  a combination of ash and phlogiston. When it burnt the phlogiston was released and the ash left behind. Metals could be made by taking a metal compound and adding phlogiston. Soot, or carbon, was almost pure phlogiston, which explains why heating it with a metal oxide yields the pure metal.
Phlogiston remained the dominant theory of combustion until the 1780s when Lavoisier demonstrated the existence of oxygen.
Why am I telling you this?
Well, phlogiston is a stupid theory when viewed from a position of 'superior' knowledge. Yet it was accepted as scientific truth for decades. What I'm wondering is how many of the things that scientists hold dear today are equally insane. Most of them, probably.
Yet, almost every idea is met with the rebuttal that it hasn't been scientifically proven. Like phlogiston.
Get my drift?
I'm currently researching the life and work of Richard Feynman, an intellect on a par with the likes of Einstein, for my SF novel, Voyager. Feynman makes the point that science can only ever demonstrate what is wrong and can never be relied on if it decides that something is right. Even if observations and experimentation confirm a theory (or a guess, as he prefers) future refinement may easily demonstrate that it's wrong. Like Phlogiston.
So, when they tell you that Homeopathy or energetic healing or Tai Chi or Yoga or healthy eating haven't been scientifically proved to be beneficial then breath a sigh of relief. Make your own personal observations. Make up your own mind. Remind yourself of science's limitations and track record.

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