Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips What are you talking about? What level of abstraction are you discussing? There are levels of abstraction. A car moves me from here to there. A car has an engine, a transmission, wheels, and fuel. An engine has spark plugs and belts and hoses. A spark plug has a housing, insulator, and […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Busy at work? But are we doing the real work? Consider for a moment the “fast food industry” in America. I think we Americans invented this endeavor. What are the key words? I believe #1 is “industry” and #2 is “fast.” The concept of “food” is … well, not so important. This […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Lots of things to do. Which do I do first? Perhaps I go with the worst first. When my sons were little, they had tactics about the order in which they ate their food at dinner. One tactic was “worst first” in which they ate their least favorite food first so that […]

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by Dwayne Phillips It may be a good idea to have your friends test your system. Who should test your system? Who should tell you what they think about your idea? Who should read the manuscript of your novel? Friends or a “friendly audience” may be the answer to these and related questions. Consider the […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Take care when assuming that something was done correctly at some time in the past. “I’ll copy this, modify it, and move on,” said a brave and trusting person. Perhaps “this” was done correctly in the past. Copying and modifying is a good, time-saving tactic. What, however, if this was done incorrectly […]

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by Dwayne Phillips A conversation about writing and publishing and the like. A: It sounds like you have a book—in your head, in your ear, maybe even on paper. It also sounds like you would like to one day have a book in your hand and maybe in the hands of others. A: Tell me […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Athletes are wearing encyclopedia’s on their wrists (some call them wristcoach). The device helps the memory at critical moments. Why can’t the rest of us wear them? We have all seen these on TV for the past several years. They are great big wrist bands that have all the plays or something […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Employers give little clues that they won’t hire you because you are told old. Here are a couple of age discrimination clues I have heard: This job is really deep and difficult to learn. It will take smart person at least a year to learn all you need to know before you […]

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