In an effort to improve my story telling, I’m leaving this link here as a reference for my future self. I’m a big fan of #19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
I’ve always hated stories that fall back on deus ex machina1. I don’t want to write like that. There’s also come really good stuff in hear that I want to try out.
via Kottke
0Wow, I just finished watching Randy Nelson, the Dean of Pixar University, give a ten-minute presentation on Learning and Working in the Collaborative Age. The presentation is definitely geared toward media types. However, I think at least 99% is applicable to my life and what I want to do as an engineer. Among other things, Nelson talks about looking for people who are interested rather than interesting and how collaboration is not the same thing as cooperation.
I think my favorite point was: “The core skill of innovators is error recovery, not failure avoidance.”
I would recommend you take 10 minutes out of your day to watch the video.
via Kottke
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