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Author Archives: C.L. Dyck
Take Me At My Word
I began writing this post over two years ago. It’s been in the drawer since February 2010, and when I knocked the dust off and had a look, I found I believe this even more powerfully now than I did then. It’s refreshing to look back and feel like I got one thing settled for myself.
One of my friends has a saying which this natural-born skeptic has heard from time to time: “Take me at my word.”
It’d be a much easier world if people lived by that old-fashioned principle. It’s a good one. But it’s a disappearing phenomenon.
Double Talk
I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s sometimes felt the need for an interpreter when trying to engage people on their own terms. It seems a lot of time can be spent decoding what people really mean when they say things–everyone likes to establish their own personal qualifiers.
Usually, that’s okay. We all speak our own subtle dialect born out of our unique outlooks and experiences. But usually it’s not so much that we can’t understand each other.
Except for those times when communication becomes an ongoing wheel of personal spin doctoring. Except for those times when one of us doesn’t want to hear, or perhaps to be heard.
Your Argument is Invalid: 10 Christian Straw Men
Today, I’m picking up where The Areopagus left off awhile ago, with some silly atheist objections to Christianity. (To be fair, we have also lampooned some silly Christian pseudo-arguments.) Last time around, Marc pointed out a popular video with 10 sophomoric objections to belief in God.
This matters to me because, although I identify Christian now as an adult, my grandparents were atheists. I credit them with a ton of my critical thinking skills. It’s an important part of my life, there are notions abroad in Christianity that deserve serious critique from an objective distance, and it’s something that can and should be discussed well.
As for what we are about to consider, sadly, this is not that.
In fact, it’s something where I can’t help having a little fun–I’m not out to be derogatory, it’s just that sometimes a lighthearted approach is the best medicine for these things.
Social Media Story Brainstorms
Ha. Say that five times fast.
So Katie Weiland asks fun questions on social media, and I love it when I get time to play along. Today’s Writer Question of the Day:
Writing Question of the Day: If your protagonist was on Twitter, would you follow him? #WQOTD #amwriting #writetip #writers #writing—
K.M. Weiland (@KMWeiland) May 02, 2012
Because writers consider the boundaries of reality to be quite fluid, this question was not at all strange. In fact, I never thought twice about answering it thusly:
@KMWeiland #WQOTD in my contemp work? Yeah, probably. Hist fantasy? He'd be arrested so fast for posting pictures of battlefield death.
—
C.L. Dyck (@cldyck) May 02, 2012
Did the anachronism faze Katie? Why no.
@cldyck Not to mention illegal possession of future technology. #WQOTD—
K.M. Weiland (@KMWeiland) May 02, 2012
In fact, it pointed me to an interesting life habit (of a totally imaginary person):
@KMWeiland Good point. He's already in deep trouble for possession of mysterious ancient technology. #WQOTD—
C.L. Dyck (@cldyck) May 02, 2012
At which point, I started thinking, hey, one of us should write this story…
@cldyck In that case, what's one more felony? #WQOTD—
K.M. Weiland (@KMWeiland) May 02, 2012
Because it could be really cool by the time the imaginary people in our heads get done wreaking havoc.
@KMWeiland True enough. But I'm not sure Twitter is worth it compared to, say, stealing a spaceship. #WQOTD—
C.L. Dyck (@cldyck) May 02, 2012
And that is what writer friends do on their coffee break. For further fun, follow @KMWeiland, and of course, I your irregularly scheduled quirk factor am over here @cldyck.
Wings
