I am now being deliberate about developing and implementing the rhetoric I want to see - rather than treating it like an unchanging operating system I can only affect indirectly, I am treating it like an application I can custom-code to my specifications.
Beyond Word Count
I find word count provides helpful insights into my writing habits and the structure of my stories. On shorter time scales, though, it doesn’t always reflect the amount of writing work I might be doing.
“Advanced” Civilization
How do we define “advancement” of a civilization? Their technical ability? Their scientific understanding? Their cultural complexity? Their living standards? Their economic vitality? Their individual rights and freedoms? Their average capacity for individual fulfillment? Their life expectancies?
Progress’s Contradiction
We think of progress as a monodirectional activity, always advancing. There is reason for this, and it is supported by much of our experience of the world, but it misses half of the progress puzzle, and it fails to account for progress's contradiction.
Writing Updates
Formal world building for the Blood Magic series is slow going, not helped by the fact that it is far more exciting to write new content for stories than it is to dig through existing stories and write up what is essentially a textbook on my imaginary world. However, I made some good progress this past weekend, completing the rough draft of the Blood Magic world map, and a second draft to follow on.
IGC Publishing 