Vanessa Glau

I am moving this blog to Substack. From now on, you will find my old and new articles at Occam's Lab. Hope to see you there!

I recently recorded a session of taking notes in #Obsidian on an article I was reading for research. The sped-up timelapse of this session can be viewed on Youtube now! It might give insight in how I take concise notes that I can easily refer back to while #writing fiction.

I have wanted to write about my #teaceremony practice for the longest time but did not have a clue what to say. Japanese tea ceremony is something to be experienced, as I learned quickly, not something you can learn by reading books or even watching videos. You should find a teacher near you and practice regularly if at all possible. Eventually I determined that short of hosting a tea demonstration myself which is hard to do in written form, I will have to settle for an anecdotal collection of observations: what happens in the margins, little things that add to the whole and that might not be obvious to the casual observer.

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I have been using the notetaking tool Obsidian for close to two years now. Sometimes I get questions on my fiction #writing so I will explain and show my current process in #Obsidian in this article. Obsidian is wonderfully versatile – my process has changed a lot over time and will likely keep changing as I make adjustments in the future.

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As my journey into the #science behind #sciencefiction continues, I have been reading about how civilizations advance and what other intelligent lifeforms in outer space might look like. One of the most intriguing questions that science fiction addresses is how and when we will meet 'the aliens', provided they even exist. In The Future of Humanity, Michio Kaku states his belief that we will make contact with an extraterrestrial civilization sometime in this century, so I suppose we will found out soon!

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Since falling in love with #sciencefiction, I have been curious about the #science behind it. This week was dedicated to reading and taking notes on The Future of Humanity in which futurist and physicist Michio Kaku discusses different ideas and possibilities for colonizing space and evolving into a multiplanetary species. Everything is explained in layman's terms so that even my non-physicist brain can understand and appreciate the wonders of the galaxy and human invention. Here's some intriguing slices of knowledge about our solar system.

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As a writer, I'm a huge fan of #NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month – that insane challenge of #writing 50.000 words of fiction during the month of November. I've attempted and won it several times in the past but as my style has gotten more polished and my stories more plotsy, I find myself writing more slowly. This means I don't actually want to write 50k words in one month anymore but I still want to participate in NaNoWriMo. The sense of community, the joy of trading experiences and advice with other participants, is just too good to miss.

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When we read or write historical fiction or even historical fantasy, we often forget that names did not always work the same way they do now. In Edo period (1603-1867) #Japan, identity was much more fluid and people frequently changed their names for a variety of reasons. Through looking at naming conventions from that time, we can also learn more about Edo society as a whole, particularly about social hierarchy and group membership.

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I admire you for following your passion. You're so lucky to be able to do what makes you happy.

I don't know how often I've heard these or similar words in my life. As a freelance translator, I do feel lucky to be able to write fiction on the side. Writing is where my heart is. Some might not consider me a true writer because I hold a daytime job, yet I don't want to quit this job to follow my passion full-time. In fact, it suits me to work as a translator during the daytime and do what I love at night, on the side. I like it that way. How dare I, right?

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When I tell people that I have a degree in #Japanese Studies, everyone assumes that I have been to #Japan several times. Surely I have spent an exchange year in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto like all Japanese students do. Even though student me was always broke, had to supplement her pocket money by waiting tables for the rich and still felt like Japan was on another planet, I must have spent some time there, right? But why? Why is lived time in the native environment of one's language seen as the holy grail of language learning?

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