Software developer/social dancer/aspiring fiction writer

Hi all! I'm a software developer, social dancer/instructor (West Coast Swing is my jam), and an aspiring fiction writer.

I don't really have the time to work on my writing, but that has never stopped me before!

I lean towards sci-fi/fantasy but love all sorts of genres.

Right now, I am fixated on how modern technology is changing the relationship between openness and autonomy/individuality.

SimonTemplar said:

Another software developer! I know what you mean about time, it seems like I'm constantly using my free time to keep up on the newest widget/library/platform/etc. Welcome and good luck finding time to write!

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Awesome! I haven't come across any other software developers that write. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one!

jeffschanz said:

Andy Weir was a software engineer, and wrote in his spare time. Now he has a book deal, popular movie, and cash to burn. Based on that, you're in prime position I'm an animator by day, and an obsessive reclusive lunatic by night (otherwise known as a novelist). Welcome!

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Oh wow, I didn't realize he was a software engineer. Very cool!

Animation also fascinates me (I did a tiny bit of it in high school). If only I had several lifetimes, I think animation would be yet another skill I would love to develop!

Ah, the joys of teaching dance .

I actually think there is a lot of cross-over between dancing, programming, and writing skills.

Writing seems a lot like leading in dance to me. Both are very much about getting your follow/reader out of their head and into the world you are creating for them. Also, especially in WCS, both involve providing only enough of a lead to create a compelling experience, but letting them fill in the details. Most importantly, both are an exercise in empathy and self-sacrifice.

The ability to see a how a whole code base fits together and works at a high level seems very similar to plotting. Of course I realize not all writers put a huge amount of effort into plotting, but I'll use whatever skills I can find that cross over!

thearchduke said:

Welcome!

I am also a software developer. And I completely agree that there's a log of cross-over between programming and writing. If not in terms of skills per se, then in terms of mindsets and methods. Let's see.

- Premature optimization is the root of all evil.
- What you write is meant to be read, so make sure it can be.
- Some day soon you will look back on what you've written and think, what idiot wrote this?
- Constructive feedback is not personal.
- Avoid unnecessary complications.
- Don't be clever. (Negotiable if you actually are being clever, but much of the time you're just making a mistake.)

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Those are great points as well, thanks! I laughed out loud at, "what idiot wrote this" because it is so true!

thearchduke said:

Curious to hear about what you're writing.

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This is a teaser I put together to brainstorm the setting for my stories:

In a deterministic world where we have computers with immense processing power, information is the ultimate power and privacy becomes the only means of freedom.

The more information someone has on you, the more easily they can predict what you will do and manipulate your actions. Want to woo someone? Simply import their social media profile and find out exactly what you should say and do. Want to know if your spouse is cheating on you, if your potential new business partner will screw you over, or if your kid is up to something they shouldn’t be? Feed in their family history, DNA, and daily activity and you will soon have your answer.

Want to be made CEO? Collect as much information on the board as possible and find out how to sway them in the right direction. Want to garner support for your pet social cause? Write a program that will analyze all of the known information about each person and tailor a custom message for each one to convince them. Want to cause a terrorist organization to tear themselves apart from the inside? Overthrow a dictatorship? Start a world war? It is only the matter of gaining access to enough information.

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I want to tell the story from two perspectives. 1) A programmer at the company that invents this assistant (I'm calling it Desilion instead of the real company I have in mind) who has developed his career and morals around a sense of openness and transparency being the cure for most evils in the world. He will start to hear rumblings inside the company that their technology is being used by political parties and companies to manipulate people and will have to struggle with the negative side of full transparency and eventually decide to fight it. 2) A UX designer who has always been weary of social media and therefore has been somewhat of an outcast from society who joins a group called "ghosts" that refrain from an online presence. Initially he doesn't like rocking the boat so he is content sitting on the sidelines, but eventually decides to stand up and lead the fight to convince the world to value their privacy and earn back their autonomy.

Sorry, I wrote a bit more than I intended. Can you tell I'm excited by this idea?