We are all satellites. Some of us orbit our jobs. Others orbit our parents. Many orbit a pub or television. We all orbit a planet. That planet orbits a star orbiting a sun orbiting a galaxy… on it goes.

It is intrinsic to every physical, social, and mental construct we experience in our lives. Brilliant minds gravitate to other brilliant thinkers. Those who seek out and surround themselves with such become brilliant themselves. A little too much to believe?

Consider it. A solitary idea is inert. A solitary artist is inert. But add a catalyst. Stick another creative process in the same space, and watch the volatile reaction of ideas, counter-ideas, and brilliance that ensues.

Take a person who is motivated to learn and put them in the room with a brilliant teacher and see what happens. Take a hungry martial arts student and put them in a room with a grand master and see if they both do not leave better martial artists.

And here is what will really bake your noodle: a word need not be spoken by either; it’s almost by mere contact that they grow; it’s almost a catalytic reaction of our mental and spiritual composition.

If you take two sticks and hold them parallel, you can capture that image in a photograph because it doesn’t change. But if you rub those two sticks together, harder and harder, faster and faster, they will burst into flame–that’s the kind of change you can capture in a story or on a film. Friction is necessary for change to occur. But without the friction of conflict, there is no change. And without change, there is no story. A body at rest remains at rest unless it enters into conflict.
–Stephen Fischer

Wise words.

What’s on the web this week?

Tracey Townsend quit her job and moved to New Zealand for a year. She learned a ton and writes some beautiful, well-analyzed prose on her experience.

Tech

3D printer makes a functional wrench (with moving parts) from a scan. Check out the amazing future (also terrifying) where machines will scan things and reproduce them.

The state of the web this summer. An eerilie accurate look at the absurdity and reality of the web’s evolution.

Martial Arts

Chris Smith at Lifehack writes about Seven Ways to Get Started. All the things discussed here are techniques used by martial arts instructors and creative writing professors.

Jack Montgomery, a pro MMA fighter I trained with in Tahoe, wrestled Jeff Munson (Abu Dhabi Champion) at Grapplers’ Quest. Pure magic and a great honor.

Now Munson is going to do a seminar at his school; this is how connections are made my friends. Humbly step up to the challenge; leave your fears and pride at the door. Get noticed.

Writing

Ms. Rachel Gardner talks about Writing a Terrific Author Bio. Like all her advice, this is pure gold.

K.M. Weiland writes about Lying to your readers with your awesome first line. She has some great insights to share.

This week, I read an excellent post over at ISBW about Storytelling in Layers.

A bit inspired, I’ve decided to take all the characters in my current WIP and write exactly one sentence, describing both their internal and external conflicts. I’ll then test them out on unsuspecting victims, see if their eyes glaze over, and revise until they actually seem interested.

Why one sentence? Why bother people with it?

Because one sentence, like a twitter post, leaves no room to ramble. It can’t be vague, abstract, or unclear. It forces me to state it in clear, certain terms.

When I can do that, and it sounds exciting, then I have a winner. Then I have something I can write in a way the reader will both understand and care about.

Why don’t you pick a character in your story and do the same? There is nothing quite as powerful as getting to know your characters’ motivations, as well as your readers!

In the military, drill sergeants loved to make me self-destruct. This was a series of five exercises done over and over until I literally could not rise off the floor, which generally didn’t take long. We did these at my kung fu school for fun.

Continuing on our theme of taking everything, I decided to get creative. What sort of things would make me self-destruct emotionally? Mentally?

For those of you who know me, it’s probably a stretch. I’m nothing if not composed. It’s almost to a fault that the more serious the events, the more detached I become from the moment.

There are certainly things that get my goat. I can be annoyed. But what would really turn me inside out?

Here were three I came up with this morning:

• Becoming trapped in my own mind with no bodily control (a vegetable)–trust me, my mind’s a dismal place; also, I’d never be able to do martial arts again
• Watching my family die in a car crash. This actually happened to my uncle and, though I wasn’t there, I can see the car through the windshield, flipping into the trees, watching my family die, as if I were him. It’s utterly devastating.
• Being lowered slowly into a pit filled with tarantulas–I’m not making this up! Okay, so I am. But I’m not making up the part where I would crawl out of my own skin to escape.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write down three things that would destroy you–your sanity, your life, or your composure.

It’ll be kind of like writing yourself as a character into a story. As writers, you might use them, you might bury them and never think on it again.