#1: The word, “singularity” has several definitions and modern uses. For example, in mathematics, the singularity is the point at which a function takes an infinite value; and in pop culture, it’s the time at which artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence. [back to introduction]

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#2: Many articles describe how and why story telling can be more engrossing than expository explanation. For example, peruse the results of a web search of "why are stories so powerful". [back to forum]

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#3: Science fiction as a genre of literature can be divided into numerous sub-genres. Examples include fantasy, doomsday, dystopian, military, steampunk, alternate history, first contact, and social science fiction. Scifi stories can cross multiple sub-genres or establish their own categories. For example, some doomsday or first contact stories can be a form of singularity event story. For more information, go to:
scifiideas.com/writing-2/writing-advice/a-guide-to-science-fiction-subgenres/ .
[back to forum]

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#4: The word “ranch” in names of content creation companies originated in the 1920s when Hollywood-based studios began using ranches in southern California to produce movie and television content. Skywalker Ranch is the movie ranch and workplace for George Lucas and his Star Wars franchise. [back to about section]

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#5: The word, “platform” is a term of art in the tech sector that is defined as a group of technologies that are used as a base on which many applications are developed. For example, in the personal computing industry, a platform is Microsoft’s Windows software operating system running on Intel’s hardware architecture. Analogously, at Singularity Ranch, our platform is a large underlying plot on which we (and third parties can) develop many stories and characters (as well as other content / assets). [back to about section] 

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#6: The word, “wire-framing” is a term of art in the tech sector that refers to website development methodologies that first focus on developing functionality – before integrating a refined user interface. This approach prioritizes the development of what a website does, before refining how the site looks. Analogously, at Singularity Ranch, we wire-frame stories by prioritizing the development of a story’s underlying plot, then characters, and finally the character dialogue. In other words, the character dialogue is the story’s refined interface to the reader. Note that combining agile development with wire-framing results in the wire-frame steps not being completed in a rigid sequence. [back to about section] 

 

#7: The word, “agile” is a term of art in the tech sector that refers to software development methodologies that emphasize fast, iterative, incremental software development with frequent feedback. In contrast, other software development approaches use long, serial phases that include specifying requirements, planning, documentation, programming, testing and releasing. Analogously, at Singularity Ranch, we agilely develop stories iteratively and incrementally with frequent feedback from our strategic readers. [back to about section] 

 

#8: A novella is written, fictional prose that is longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel. A novella is typically at least 10,000 words and at most 40,000 words. [select your back button]

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#9: Suspending disbelief is a term of art that indicates a person’s willingness to lower her critical faculties to believe something for the sake of enjoyment and exploration. For example, a key attribute of the popular Star Trek series is traveling faster than the speed of light (at multiples of “warp speed”). However, going faster than the speed of light is considered impossible, yet the many fans of Star Trek suspend disbelief.
[back to questions for strategic readers]

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#10: A story's arc (or narrative arc) is the sequence of events in the plot that create a beginning, middle and end - such that: the beginning set-up the story, the middle establishes the conflict, and the end resolves the conflict. That's a simplified explanation. For information on a story arc, here's a good article:  blog.reedsy.com/narrative-arc/ . [back to questions for strategic readers]