It's been quite a ride. Since the beginning of the year, I wrote on a variety of subjects aligned with my core themes. It's time for a quarterly Pause and Learn, a little stocktaking exercise. The timing is perfect for a focus on the just completed Knowledge and Fiction Series. The posts in this series were the only ones that were planned early on if not straight from the very beginning. It worked out really well.
Here is a very brief recap of each post, with links for easy access:
Part 1: A Review of Past Experience
This post reflects on my early explorations combining knowledge management with fiction—from didactic novels and fictional case studies to storytelling for knowledge sharing. Revisits personal creative flops and successes that still hold insight today.
Part 2: Evolution
This post outlines the conceptual framework of my fiction: moving away from didacticism, leaning into speculative fiction. Introduces core knowledge themes (e.g., knowledge as power, fragility of knowledge, machine-human intelligence) that will shape my novel. This post includes a map.
Part 3: Character Development Through the Lens of Knowledge
In this post, I explore character development using a knowledge-focused framework, including learning history, knowledge networks, emotional impact, and how characters manage or share what they know. The post includes a map.
Part 4: Knowledge at the Societal Level & World Building
This post explores speculative knowledge futures in 2065. Examines trust in institutions, technological inequality, global knowledge flows, and emerging roles of expertise. Connects world-building to AgeTech, quantum computing, and cognitive decline.
Part 5: How Knowledge Drives Plot
This post examines how knowledge—hidden, revealed, or misunderstood—can structure plot tension. Includes literary examples (e.g., The Da Vinci Code, Dune, Harry Potter) and poses guiding questions for defining “critical knowledge” in my novel.
Part 6: World Building and Personal Knowledge Management
In this post, I address fiction writing as a knowledge management challenge. Describes my personal PKM system (TiddlyWiki, TiddlyMap) and strategies for organizing world-building data, timelines, character arcs, and speculative systems without stifling creativity.
Part 7: Books for Writers and the Revision Process
The closing post describes how my long-held library of writing books will now support my revision. Presents a step-by-step strategy for revising the novel, with books grouped by function (structure, character, scene, voice, publishing), and a map.
And for a fun finale🎇, here's a 5-minute recap podcast (🕪) as generated by NotebookLM based on the full blog post series.
I could have done something more sophisticated by cloning my own voice and generating a completely scripted dialogue with an AI host talking to me. This version with two AI podcast hosts talking about the blog post series is good enough and free. I'm also not yet comfortable cloning my voice. That's an intriguing thought however as I could have my cloned voice read my draft novel to me. I would hear what's wrong with it in my own voice.
