Jason Fry's Dorkery

Going Numb

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:30:00 -0400

On Ike Davis, Matt Harvey, and a spectacular run of pitching by Dwight Gooden.

Battle of the Uniforms: Orioles win title - SportsNation - ESPN

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:52:25 -0400

Battle of the Uniforms: Orioles win title - SportsNation - ESPN:

You know what’s worse than mob rule? Digital mob rule. Proving that blind people can type, ESPN voters selecting the best uniforms picked the Pirates over the Giants, the Cubs over the Dodgers and the Orioles over the Tigers.

This is obviously and manifestly insane. I’d have taken the Dodgers over the Yankees after an elite eight of Yanks, Tigers, Red Sox and White Sox in the AL and Dodgers, Cardinals, Cubs and Giants in the NL. But then I’m fully sighted, have a vague sense of aesthetics and understand the difference between liking a franchise and liking its uniform.

More Like This

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:22:00 -0400

The Genre Artist

Fri, 17 May 2013 23:53:00 -0400

The Genre Artist:

Rediscovered this marvelous NYT portrait of Jack Vance, one of my favorite writers. Carlo Rotella captures a hard-to-capture writer perfectly by describing a key component of Vance’s style as “feral, angling politesse, the marriage of high-flown language to low motives”.

The Lethality of Loneliness

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:33:52 -0400

The Lethality of Loneliness:

For the first time in history, we understand how isolation can ravage the body and brain. Now, what should we do about it?

Heartbreaking and fascinating.

On the Engine of a Scene

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:38:00 -0400

Over the weekend I finished editing my first draft of the second Jupiter Pirates book, tentatively titled The Treasure of the Isis. It’s now in the hands of my wife, a careful reader and ace editor, and will then go to my kid, who’s both of those things plus a one-boy focus group.

I learned something new in struggling with some scenes in JP2, and getting through that struggle let me put a name to the issue. (I’m sure other writers have their own names for the problem, but since this was new to me I’ll stick with my own terminology.)

I did a pretty detailed outline for JP2, as I now do for everything. The pivotal scenes in the book came pretty quickly once I got to them — which was no surprise, since I’d had them in my head since before the outline existed, and had been sub- or semi-consciously working through them for months and months.

Where I got bogged down was in some of the smaller scenes — the quieter moments leading us from Point A to Point B (or from T to U). Several times, the writing slowed to a crawl and I alternated staring at the monitor with even less-productive fits of self-loathing. Sometimes I advanced by writing a couple of hundred or just a couple of dozen words a day until I escaped. Other times I’d tear the whole scene down and start over. Neither approached worked particularly well.

Until, finally, I realized what was wrong: Those scenes were missing an engine.

I knew why the scenes were there: They had to advance the plot, or introduce a character or concept. But that’s not the same as the engine.

The engine, as I came to think of it, was why the scene mattered — why it belonged there beyond reasons of simple exposition. The reader had to leave the scene not just further along in the plot but also more invested in the story. He or she had to think differently about one or more characters, or have a new perspective on one of the book’s themes, or be in possession of something that was both real and resisted easy definition.

Once I figured this out, I stopped scrapping and clawing for forward progress or resorting to sullen teardowns. When I got bogged down in a scene, I stopped and asked myself what the engine was.

Most of the time there was an answer, which was good news: It meant my instincts had been right when I included that particular bit of action in the outline. But my execution needed some work — I’d been buffing a hood with nothing underneath it, and it was no surprise that the car wouldn’t move.

Bad Mets! Bad!

Sat, 11 May 2013 00:17:00 -0400

Bad Mets! Bad!:

On Shaun Marcum, Jordany Valdespin, Mike Baxter and Angel Hernandez. Served with a side of sigh.

Translucence vs. Transparency

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:04:00 -0400

Translucence vs. Transparency:

An interesting essay by my friend and mentor Roy Peter Clark of Poynter on how transparency in storytelling (particularly journalism) can be an enemy of narrative. Roy’s solution: translucence. This is an intriguing read for reporters and editors alike to think about.

Sittin’ Around at Citi « Faith and Fear in Flushing

Thu, 09 May 2013 02:20:29 -0400

Sittin’ Around at Citi « Faith and Fear in Flushing:

Notes from an odd night spend wandering around a ballpark.

So look at that byline. “Contributing Op-Ed...

Mon, 06 May 2013 10:47:21 -0400

So look at that byline. “Contributing Op-Ed columnist.”

NOLA.com has 350 of these.

Sweet Jesus.

When people like me wonder why Advance cut back print in New Orleans despite lacking even minimal digital competence, this is what we mean.

It would be hilarious if it weren’t a tragedy. This paper is dear to my heart, and what’s being done to it by its owners is just so sad.

Two Games in One

Sat, 04 May 2013 02:13:00 -0400

Two Games in One:

The Mets win a weird one in Atlanta. Guest-starring thoughts about Proven Veterans (TM), Gregg Jefferies, Keith Miller and Jen Capriati. Yes really.

Can’t make San Diego Comic-Con this year, alas, so DK sent...

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:11:17 -0400

Can’t make San Diego Comic-Con this year, alas, so DK sent me some bookplates to sign — with an invitation to add doodles if I wanted. I like doing that at cons if I have time and think a kid will get a kick out of it. Or if it will annoy an illustrator unfortunate enough to be signing next to me.

Why didn’t I draw Han/Anakin/etc.? Or prequel characters? Because what you see is what I can draw, and I never had weeks worth of study halls where I could learn how to draw prequel stuff.

Rooting for Wile E. Coyote

Wed, 01 May 2013 00:18:00 -0400

Rooting for Wile E. Coyote:

My baseball team sucks.

A Less-Than-Impressive Milestone

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:43:00 -0400

A Less-Than-Impressive Milestone:

April baseball’s fun … until the first time it isn’t.

Why We Keep Watching

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:01:00 -0400

Why We Keep Watching:

A report from a frozen, ultimately triumphant night in Flushing. Plus it contains a simile I’ll admit I’m very proud of.

Unlikely Adventures in the House of Baseball

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:47:00 -0400

Unlikely Adventures in the House of Baseball:

Clayton Kershaw, Rob Carson, Mark Ellis and other unlikely scenarios from a weird little baseball game at Citi Field.

I'm Going to Disney World!

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:07:00 -0400

Well, technically, Hollywood Studios. But still!

I’ll be one of the authors in attendance for this year’s Star Wars Weekends, which if you’ve never been is just amazingly fun. (Last year I rode the new Star Tours with Del Rey’s Erich Schoeneweiss and we both got to be the Rebel Spy.) It’s one of my favorite venues for meeting readers and talking Star Wars, and the Disney folks always do a superb job making everything work.

A bit of cool news: DK has arranged to get copies of the Clone Wars Episode Guide a week before the street date, so Star Wars Weekend guests will get the first crack at this book. As you’d expect from DK it’s beyond beautiful — I’m excited to finally get a chance to hold one myself!

Here’s my schedule:

Friday, May 24: 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Darth’s Mall

Saturday, May 25: 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Writer’s Stop

Sunday, May 26: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Darth’s Mall

Come on out!

Don’t Overthink It

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 20:10:00 -0400

Don’t Overthink It:

Perhaps this one should be known by its alternate title: MOTHER OF GOD BRYCE HARPER IS FREAKING AWESOME.

It Wasn't Sunil Tripathi: The Anatomy of a Misinformation Disaster

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:39:23 -0400

It Wasn't Sunil Tripathi: The Anatomy of a Misinformation Disaster:

Like a lot of people, I was following the surreal, frightening events in Watertown in real time last night, and heard the suspects identified secondhand by people who had supposedly heard the news on a police scanner. To me and to many others, it seemed like a fitting conclusion to a terrible but logical story.

Only problem? It wasn’t true.

This is Alexis Madrigal’s solid, disturbing attempt to figure out what went wrong.

I Can’t Even

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:05:00 -0400

I Can’t Even:

I hate baseball.