History

Being a Better Writer: Ancient Jobs and Ancient Life

Max Being a Better Writer , , , , , ,

Welcome back readers.

Things feel a little subdued this morning. That’s because the writing world lost a legend this weekend. Eric Flint passed away on Sunday.

If you aren’t familiar with Eric Flint, he’s been around since … Well, from my perspective, forever. I was seeing books with his name on them when I was a child at the grocery story paperback section. He wrote a phenomenal amount of alternative history, to the point that at least in the circles I’ve hung out in, he was one of the two names that came up whenever anyone spoke about alternate history.

The writing community has grown a little smaller with this news. There is a GoFundMe raising funds for a memorial service.

What scattered new I have is practically unremarkable by comparison, so that’s all I think needs to be said for today’s news segment.

However, today’s topic? It was chosen as a sort of tribute to Eric Flint and his contributions to the literary world. A deviation from what was planned, but I think there’d be no better topic for today than to look at the genre that Flint loved to write and talk about it for a bit.

Well, one aspect of it, at least. We won’t be talking alternative history specifically, but we will be talking about a narrow slice of it. A slice that’s been sitting on Topic List #20 for some time now, waiting for its moment.

Today, we’re going to talk about ancient jobs and ancient life. Stick around, because it’s not what you think.

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Being a Better Writer: Including a Range of Culture

Max Being a Better Writer , , , , , , , ,

Welcome back readers! Potentially to me as well!

Yes, this post was written weeks ago, to make up for the fact that I am in Alaska for a fishing job right now. I might be back, but it’s unlikely. At least from my perspective in the past.

Anyway, with that being said I have no idea what the news will be, and even if I’m back I’ll still be letting these go up as scheduled, so there’s little else to talk about aside from diving into our post today! So let’s get to it!

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Being a Better Writer: Worldbuilding from Maslow’s Hierarchy

Max Being a Better Writer , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello readers and welcome back! I hope you all had a spectacular weekend full of fun things. If you were a Patreon Supporter of the site, I did do a bit to help with that (Chapter 10 of Sunset: Stranded went up for supporters, so check that out if you’ve been following that story). If not, well, I hope you had a pretty good weekend anyway.

Now, before I dive into today’s Being a Better Writer post, there is a bit of news I want to point out. This post is the last topic from Topic List #16. That’s right, once this post is done, the final item on the checklist can be crossed off, and the list itself crumpled up and moved to the cylindrical tube of removal beside my desk.

Now, this is a decently big occasion. I only go through a few of these lists a year (each one has about twenty or so topics on it). Each one is a milestone of how many Being a Better Writer posts have passed since I started keeping track of the lists (which was a few years ago).

But they are also significant for another reason: Because you get to contribute to them. If you swung by the site over the weekend, you might have noticed the Topic Call for Being a Better Writer post. Well, if there’s ever been a writing topic you’d like to see covered on this site that hasn’t sprung up yet (or it’s been so long we’re due to strike again) now is the time to make your request heard!

There have already been some awesome topic requests from readers to add to Topic List #17. This next list we’re going to see posts on “rule breaking,” geography, and executing slow tension among others. But there’s still plenty of room on the list to see your area of interest appear! So go ahead and jump on over to the comments section of the topic call and leave your request!

All right, that’s all I want to talk about news-wise, so with that said (and you left a topic request, right?) let’s get down to the meat and potatoes of today’s post.

This one is not a request. In fact, it’s actually fully inspired by a panel I was on during this year’s Life, The Universe, and Everything convention. Before the panel, actually, while doing some background reading for it in preparation, I jotted this topic down as one to talk about with Being a Better Writer. And since the panel didn’t actually spend too much time on what I’m going to talk about today, it should still be fresh for those of you who attended LTUE. Double win, in that case.

Anyway, enough background. Let’s dive into today’s post. Hit the jump!

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Operation Overlord

Max Misc ,

Before I get started on today’s post, I do want to issue a little reminder. Today is June 6th, 2019.

Seventy-five years ago, in the early hours of the morning, the world’s largest seabourne assault ever attempted hit the beaches of Normandy. Over 160,000 men crossed the channel aboard transports and landing craft of all kind. 24,000 men deployed in airborne assaults under the cover of night. What followed was one of the most brutal beachheads in all of human history as Allied forces attempted to breach Adolf Hitler’s “Fortress Europe” and begin the process of liberating the dozens of nations and millions of people Hitler’s regime had ground under its heel.

LandscapeOver the next few hours, over 4,000 Allied soldiers would lose their lives attempting to take the beaches of Utah, Omaha, Juno, Gold, and Sword. Casualties after the battle numbered over ten thousand.

Operation Overlord was a brutal success, a hammer-blow that broke through the Atlantic Wall and gave the allies the beachhead they needed to push further into the territory occupied by the Third Reich. Over the course of the next year, Allied forces would push all the way the Germany, part of a two-pronged campaign that would finally crush the Nazi war machine for good.

If you’re not familiar with D-day, AKA Operation Overlord, than before continuing with this post I would really encourage you to brush up on it. Start with something like the wikipedia page. Maybe find a book or two on the subject. Watch The Longest Day.

Just don’t forget about it. If you don’t understand what happened, please read up on it. If you don’t understand why it happened, read some more. Honor the sacrifice and bravery of those hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers by understanding why they did what they did and what that means for your life today.

Remember D-Day.