“Basic research is what I am doing when I don’t know what I am doing.” –Wernher von Braun
You may remember the name Wernher von Braun. He was a true rocket scientist. One of the first.
He headed up the rocket program for Nazi Germany in World War II and when the war was ending surrendered to US troops and was moved to the States to continue working on his rockets.
I remember him as the mythical hero of the main character in the movie October Sky. You know. The one that the main character met in his moment of triumph and didn’t even recognize.
I can relate to that moment.
Anyway. There is no question that von Braun was a brilliant man. Even if I’m not.
Phraseology Power
Words are powerful.
How we phrase things can make all the difference.
I sometimes tell people “I’m deadline motivated.” My wife says that’s a polite way to say that I’m a procrastinator.
If you had a choice, which one would you share with folks?
Now I see there is a polite way to describe all the time I’m on the internet. I used to think I was just cruising the web, surfing the internet. Mostly just poking around. My wife is often tempted to say I’m wasting time.
Now, in those moments when the subject comes up, I can honestly say, “No honey. I’m doing some basic research.”
Talk about a better say to say it! Perfect.
Research in Action
During my research time (I gotta start practicing this one now) putting this post together I found that Homer Hickam, the guy that wrote the book that the movie October sky is based on, has a web site.
I think that’s cool because Gorgeous and I listened to one of his other books on tape during our road trip over the holidays. We really enjoyed it. In fact, I liked it enough that the author’s name stuck with me. And that’s saying something.
You can even check out Homer Hickam’s blog.
Well its sort of bloggish. A little bit.
I guess blogs are starting to become cool, even if folks don’t quite get it completely yet. But that’s just the Way I C it.
–Chris Cree, SuccessCREEations.
Homer Hickam says
February 26, 2007 at 6:57 AMThanks for the plug, Chris. I’ve found blogging plus a quarterly newsletter to be a very effective way of staying in contact with my fans. These days, with so much competition from movies, television, computer games, the internet, etc., a writer needs to make a little extra effort to connect with potential readers. Blogs, a well-designed website, plus newsletters have done that for me. Of course, since I’m not a particular “genre” writer, that is I write across several genres – memoirs, historical fiction, mystery, even “romantic,” it makes it harder for me to have a website that is tightly focused, especially since Rocket Boys/October Sky is studied in nearly every school system in the country, and is the most picked community read in the USA. While giving the fans, students, and teachers of that work what they need, my website/blogs/newsletters also seek to promote my other work. It’s a tenuous balance. Whether we completely succeed is problemmatical, that we try is essential.
All the best,
Homer Hickam
Chris Cree says
February 26, 2007 at 10:03 AMHey Homer! Thanks so much for stopping by Successful-Blog. Liz runs a great place here. (She’s kind enough to let me be a part of the fun.)
My wife and I really enjoyed listening to The Coalwood Way on our road trip. You are a fantastic story teller.
You know you could really increase the effectiveness of your web site as a whole by adding a few more blog features to your blog. It can be done relatively economically too.
I know some folks who’d be happy to help you out if you’re interested in learning more about it. 😉
Chris Cree says
February 27, 2007 at 2:45 PMBy the way, my wife just informed me that she shipped our copy of The Coalwood Way to her girlfriend in Australia, who should be getting that very wonderful book on tape in a couple of weeks.