Happy Holidays From the Cafeteria of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center
I am, in fact, on a jury. And that's all you're getting from me on that.
This means I'm at the courthouse early, writing and answering phone calls and emails done while watching lawyers at neighboring tables scarf down energy bars and argue on iPad Zooms. While this is rather bleak -- there are no interior windows in the upper corridors of the courthouse, which you don't notice until the depression and anxiety blindside you at the water fountain -- the experience has been quite informative. Not just about the justice system, but about the building. Specifically about its namesake, Clara S. Foltz, the first female lawyer on the West Coast of the United States, and the first person (in the States, anyway) to propose a public defender's system.
I know this because there's a lovely plaque about her in the lobby, and as writers, we always read the plaque. We always read the plaque. We always follow the rabbit hole. We always absorb, absorb, absorb. "Write what you know" limits your work to one tiny brain, and while many of us got into the art for expressly that reason, to reveal unto others how we see the world, we often do so through characters who quite often have not lived our lives, nor we theirs.
If one has a writing staff, we can broaden out our stories by making sure we have a diversity of life experiences among our writers, and then listening to them. That way we can prevent the problem of, say, all of our characters sounding similar, or only doing exposition by having men lecture women about issues those women who also work in the White House would already know, or perhaps pretending we did not have a staff of researchers do a considerable amount of writing and then laundering their work through our voice. For example.
But even a large staff is 8-10 people, and that's still limited (and often still unconsciously self-selecting). When we go for jobs on other people's shows, we should bring more than just ourselves. A writer who can write is one thing. That's the "you must be this tall to ride this ride" sign. But a writer who's shown they can learn, that they don't just cram, but it's a habit? That chair, over there, that's yours.
No, not that one, your handwriting's not good enough for the cards, two over. Yes, that one.
You don't need a full blown Zettlekasten System. But do choose a good digital note-keeping system and then choke it with data. I've used Evernote for years. Unfortunately, they've recently undergone a change in management, and I recognize the "the price is going up but there'll be SO MANY MORE FEATURES!" fuckery from so many other takeovers. After a considerable amount of research I'm stunned to discover that Apple Notes, good old boring free Apple Notes, now does the job. It's got internal cross-linking of notes with the latest update, which was the only thing holding me back. There are some excellent videos on YouTube that'll guide you through setting it up. Some day we'll go though my whole notes system, because a lot of you are process nerds, and I'm here to provide shameless fanservice.
As a result of my truncated hours, nothing in depth this week, so I'll skip to recommendations for a few podcasts.
Reviews and Recommendations
99% Invisible
This podcast spawned an empire. They certainly don't need my promotion. One of their mottos is "Always Read the Plaque" which I have happily passed on to you, above. I own the t-shirt.
Host Roman Mars and an eclectic mix of reporters report about design. And as design is everything, that means they write about everything. There are over 400 episodes now, some of my favorites being the mini-episodes, collections of stories that wouldn't quite make a full episode but still fascinated the writers. That's where I learned about the Knox Box, the exterior metal box on EVERY LARGE BUILDING that contains a master key to THE WHOLE DAMN BUILDING. Which means if you steal the local Fire Department's Knox Box key, you can ... oh yes.
Have I used that in an episode yet? No.
Is it the sort of thing a giggling crime writer keeps clutched to their chest? Hoo yeah.
99% Invisible is also where I heard about radium cats. If you have been in a writers room with me, you have also heard (from me) about radium cats. And probably the time the CIA wired up a cat with a transmitter inside, as a free-roaming spy. But you can look that one up yourself.
I've lost count of the number of facts, sometimes whole episodes, of this podcast that have landed in my notes.
Articles of Interest
A spin-off podcast from 99% Invisible by the excellent Avery Trufelman. It's not been as useful for my writing (yet) but it does something very clever -- it makes me give a shit about things which I do not, ordinarily, give a shit. Specifically, fashion. Was I so sucked up into her history of preppy fashion that I cursed out loud when I realized I didn't have the final episode, after a binge? Yes, yes, I did.
The history of paisley? Fucking gripping.
You can get it here, or wherever you acquire your audio goodness. Trufelman also hosts Nice Try!, a podcast about failed utopias. I love both failure and utopias.
Ologies by Alie Ward
This thing is so pure. Science communicator (God, I just realized we could do a whole post on THOSE folks) Alie Ward assembles experts to just ... gush about their specialty. Their ... ology. Sciuridology, Mycology and Bryology (not the same thing!), Domicology, Somnology, Ferroequinology, and Corvid Thanatology, and so much more. This is my "Jesus, Waze says how long?" default podcast. Home page here, available in all the blah blah blah.
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week
Every week the intrepid editors of Popular Science bring together in this podcast three or four stories that didn't make it into the magazine, but fascinate them. This is more of a general science podcast. None of them are a deep dive. But the enthusiasm is contagious, and I'm pleasantly surprised often enough that it stays in healthy rotation.
*************************
Happy Holidays, stay safe, and remember that the correct interpretation of It's a Wonderful Life is that George Bailey dies on the bridge in the middle of the movie, and the rest of the film is him receiving his reward -- validation of his life choices -- in Heaven!