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Every magazine article is a war story. I tell these not to brag, whine, or drop names but only to demonstrate the sort of structural problems I encountered at the front. Once I did the necessary research for an article, structure almost always emerged in the struggle to write the first paragraph—not surprising, since voice and structure are united as trunk and crown. Then the story foliated, usually without complication.
How to Write
Richard Rhodes
You are not your art. The greater the separation between your ego and the products of your creative efforts, the happier and more productive you’ll be. So let go of all your assumptions and think. Ask yourself what creative activities you might enjoy. Don’t worry about the product yet or where it will go. If you enjoy creating amazing dinner party experiences for others—at least some of the time—that’s the important thing. It doesn’t matter at this stage what you wish you had cooked or who you would like to have hosted. You don’t have to be good at anything yet. You can learn. In fact, you’ll begin to see the process of learning as a joy, not an obstacle. The only question that matters here is, what would you be excited to try?
Creative Calling
Chase Jarvis
A typical warship was a very high reflector of radar—a radar profile equal to about fifty barns. Our frigate would show up a hell of a lot smaller than a dinghy. By the time we were ready for full-scale testing in the early summer of 1985, the Navy was eager to subject our prototype to the most rigorous radar testing imaginable. Several of their radar experts claimed that there was no way we could duplicate the low radar cross section achieved by a thirty-foot model in a pool with a full-size prototype on the real ocean. We had heard those same skeptical predictions before from the Air Force over our stealth airplane, but in the wonderful world of stealth, once we had acquired the right shape, the size of an object really didn’t matter. The military had a tough time understanding that basic fact.
Skunk Works
Ben R. Rich and Leo Janos
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