readings & researches
"Write what you know" is the old adage but in this case we're going with "Research what you want to know and use those new perspectives to write something you can't conceive of right now."
Reading, researching and reflecting help us explore, discover, consider and eventually commit to creative concepts - we like to learn, and we like to build upon interesting things. This has always been true of our process, and of course some amount of research is a part of everyone's creative process to some extent. For this new project, with its broad thematic scope and epic science fiction ambition, ongoing readings and investigative researches are even more of a necessity. Many of these readings and researches involve books, others are investigating films and videogames.
This time around we're taking the opportunity to record and expose some of this process. We suspect this will be helpful in focusing our creative process, and even more usefully, it may improve our ability to effectively communicate to friends, advisors and contributors about where some of the concepts and ideas for this project are coming from, so that they can be more in-tune and, should the opportunity arise, contribute more effectively.
This project requires a long hard look at the future - tomorrow, next week, next year, next century. The project will look at the futures we all face as individuals - life, love, adventure, challenge, reproduction, participation in a society, aging and death. We'll also look at the future from outside the frame of the individual to get a glimpse of the sweep of history, the rises and falls of cultures and philosophies, the future of our species, of our planet and its systems, and our universe. To better look into the future we also need to look into our past, the distant past and beyond, into prehistory and the deep time that preceedes it. Reading science fiction can help us understand the alchemical craft of transforming some of these big ideas into tangible, engaging narratives. Reading about scienc, history and philosophy will help us dig deeper into the vast accumulation of wisdom, knowledge, experience and perspectives amassed by our civilizations. Reading and researching relevant videogames will provide a working library of reference points that will aid us in our conceptualization of this new project, suggesting opportunities and proven 'good ideas'. It's impossible to say what effect these researches will have on the project, but if nothing else the process will help shape the project's world, style and possible meanings.
These writings will remain private for the foreseeable future, so if you're reading this then we definitely appreciate your discretion. There are a few readings and researches linked at right, there'll be more as time goes on.