Posts Tagged ‘writing’

A failed attempt at 48 Hour Magazine

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

- Thomas Edison

Well, I did my best to sneak into the pages of 48 Hour Magazine — a “raucous experiment in using new tools to erase media’s old limits.”

Unfortunately my 430ish words didn’t make the final cut for their “issue zero,” which was themed around the word hustle.

Alexis Madrigal of WIRED tells me that my piece made it far, in fact sailing into the second round. But there it met demise in the face of stiff competition.

Low on battery power, high on hopes, and swimming in motion sickness, I gave it everything I could while crammed into a Ford Escort during a 20-hour road trip to Florida. And regardless of the circumstances, I still think it’s a pretty neat piece. (See below.)

But please don’t mistake my words for whining; that makes for poor company, and even poorer blogging!

This was a hell of a lot of fun, I learned a lot, and I’m extremely thrilled that I even had the opportunity to try, follow through with a submission, and make it as far as I did in the selection process.

I’ll rest peacefully tonight knowing that 48 Hour Magazine appears to be a shining, glorious, smashing success — congrats to all of you guys and gals, contributors included — and that there will always be next time.

That said, here’s my submission:

(more…)

Social media time machine: Where do science journalists fit in?

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Social media diagram, courtesy Laurel Papworth and Gary HayesHave a few minutes to help science journalists and writers out? Oh, and me.

Good. Read on.

Science Writers in New York has invited me to present for 10 minutes on “the future of social media in the next decade.” (RSVP on the Facebook event page)

Honestly, I think this is an insanity-inducing topic — even with the help of pros like David A. Dobbs and Nancy Shute.

Yet I’m a firm believer in the wisdom of (smart + relevant) crowds and the goodwill of an invested community.

So I really need your help. Especially if you’re a science journalist/writer, tech/internet/social media nerd — or both.

Here are the topics SWINY asked panelists to cover: (more…)