Michael J. Piatt's Blog
October 9, 2024
Inspiration and The Writing Process
Michael J. Piatt
I am often asked how I decided on this project. Throughout my life, I have worked in technology. It has been a rewarding and challenging profession. I have taken a path less traveled. Creating something new has always been a passion of mine. You know, putting pieces together to make a better solution, rather than accepting the status quo. I realized after nearly 50 years of thinking this way that I had developed techniques that increased my probability of success. I began to write them down, thinking that maybe I could share them someday.
When I retired, I considered how to give this information to my grandchildren and other young adults, realizing that the techniques I developed over the years might benefit the generation of the future. So, I made a spreadsheet of the things that helped me through the years. Then, as I reread it, I understood that the concepts were a bit abstract and may be difficult to communicate.
So, I thought it would try to teach through simple examples using a group of characters that readers could relate to, called the Sharefield Gang. As I embarked on the writing of the mystery novel, I found it very enjoyable. I attempted to intertwine multiple facets into the mystery while developing personalities for each of the characters. I was careful to make sure the puzzling circumstances within the story resolved themselves in plausible realistic ways, because I felt that if everything was completely unbelievable then the lessons I was trying to impart may be perceived as unrealistic as well.
After writing the first novel, I decided to continue the journey with more fantasy as the Sharefield Gang explored the future of artificial intelligence. Writhing the artificial intelligence realm, I was afforded more freedom to explore pure fantasy through a virtual reality setting. This became a convenient way to contrast and compare reality and imagination in a way that teaches lessons. The second book was a lot of fun to write.
Beyond The Key’s Blind Side, I wanted the gang to explore how we, as individuals, perceive the world around us. After all, much of creativity involves seeing the world from a different perspective and then engaging with it to bring forth a new vision.
I started the Key’s Reflection by creating images that appear as two different objects. After drafting about 50 sets of these, I went about trying to craft a mystery novel that incorporated the image pairs. This turned out to be a challenge, requiring considerable back and forth iterations to craft a plausible and coherent story. In the end, I feel as though I achieved my objective.
Unlike the other volumes, I did not write any analysis on this topic to avoid biasing readers. Everyone has their own view of the world. I just wanted the reader to absorb this book at face value and interpret it through their own personal mind’s eye.
It would be awesome if others were to continue this exercise by creating their own image pairs that showcase visual similarities. I feel that this is a unique approach to the creative process. I may consider further writing in this area if there is sufficient interest.
Learn more at www.piattbooks.com.
I am often asked how I decided on this project. Throughout my life, I have worked in technology. It has been a rewarding and challenging profession. I have taken a path less traveled. Creating something new has always been a passion of mine. You know, putting pieces together to make a better solution, rather than accepting the status quo. I realized after nearly 50 years of thinking this way that I had developed techniques that increased my probability of success. I began to write them down, thinking that maybe I could share them someday.
When I retired, I considered how to give this information to my grandchildren and other young adults, realizing that the techniques I developed over the years might benefit the generation of the future. So, I made a spreadsheet of the things that helped me through the years. Then, as I reread it, I understood that the concepts were a bit abstract and may be difficult to communicate.
So, I thought it would try to teach through simple examples using a group of characters that readers could relate to, called the Sharefield Gang. As I embarked on the writing of the mystery novel, I found it very enjoyable. I attempted to intertwine multiple facets into the mystery while developing personalities for each of the characters. I was careful to make sure the puzzling circumstances within the story resolved themselves in plausible realistic ways, because I felt that if everything was completely unbelievable then the lessons I was trying to impart may be perceived as unrealistic as well.
After writing the first novel, I decided to continue the journey with more fantasy as the Sharefield Gang explored the future of artificial intelligence. Writhing the artificial intelligence realm, I was afforded more freedom to explore pure fantasy through a virtual reality setting. This became a convenient way to contrast and compare reality and imagination in a way that teaches lessons. The second book was a lot of fun to write.
Beyond The Key’s Blind Side, I wanted the gang to explore how we, as individuals, perceive the world around us. After all, much of creativity involves seeing the world from a different perspective and then engaging with it to bring forth a new vision.
I started the Key’s Reflection by creating images that appear as two different objects. After drafting about 50 sets of these, I went about trying to craft a mystery novel that incorporated the image pairs. This turned out to be a challenge, requiring considerable back and forth iterations to craft a plausible and coherent story. In the end, I feel as though I achieved my objective.
Unlike the other volumes, I did not write any analysis on this topic to avoid biasing readers. Everyone has their own view of the world. I just wanted the reader to absorb this book at face value and interpret it through their own personal mind’s eye.
It would be awesome if others were to continue this exercise by creating their own image pairs that showcase visual similarities. I feel that this is a unique approach to the creative process. I may consider further writing in this area if there is sufficient interest.
Learn more at www.piattbooks.com.
September 29, 2024
The Key on Edge Discussion Guide
The Key on Edge: Mystery Creativity Adventure
You may wonder why a fiction novel includes a Discussion Guide in the first place? The Key on Edge is more than an engaging young adult mystery novel. Embedded within its pages are numerous life lessons, examples of critical thinking, and techniques for enhancing creativity. Within the characters interchange are nuggets of wisdom. Their subsequent actions are crafted to demonstrate points made in the discussion guide. By showing examples applied to real situations, obscure and somewhat abstract concepts can be more readily understood.
The author feels that the content of this guide is of utmost importance to future generations. They will face staggering advances in technology that will challenge every fiber of their existence, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing, to name a few. We as a society need to be taught how to deal with uncertainty and embrace change by better understanding how to think critically.
A broad brush is given to the term creativity. It includes the arts, along with problem-solving, innovation, and any activity for which one wishes to bring about change. This guide addresses these topics. It is constructed so that each lesson is first explained. Then book examples are offered to help solidify the understanding. This is followed by discussion questions, allowing students to reflect upon their own experiences and relate them to the material offered in the book.
Through this process most will discover that they have already implemented and perhaps mastered the techniques to some degree without having formalized the process in their mind. By becoming aware of the methods that have been so helpful to the author and many others, one can be more aware of the creative process. Allowing one to recognize their weaknesses, hone their skills, and develop new ones as creative thinking becomes a lifestyle.
Engage in lively discussion on these topics. They may seem like they are less relevant than a review of facts and figures of the day, but the author believes quite the contrary. In the future, all the facts and figures of the day and those of the past will be at one’s fingertips, but the ability to analyze and navigate unfamiliar circumstances holds the key to fulfillment.
Learn more at www.piattbooks.com
You may wonder why a fiction novel includes a Discussion Guide in the first place? The Key on Edge is more than an engaging young adult mystery novel. Embedded within its pages are numerous life lessons, examples of critical thinking, and techniques for enhancing creativity. Within the characters interchange are nuggets of wisdom. Their subsequent actions are crafted to demonstrate points made in the discussion guide. By showing examples applied to real situations, obscure and somewhat abstract concepts can be more readily understood.
The author feels that the content of this guide is of utmost importance to future generations. They will face staggering advances in technology that will challenge every fiber of their existence, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing, to name a few. We as a society need to be taught how to deal with uncertainty and embrace change by better understanding how to think critically.
A broad brush is given to the term creativity. It includes the arts, along with problem-solving, innovation, and any activity for which one wishes to bring about change. This guide addresses these topics. It is constructed so that each lesson is first explained. Then book examples are offered to help solidify the understanding. This is followed by discussion questions, allowing students to reflect upon their own experiences and relate them to the material offered in the book.
Through this process most will discover that they have already implemented and perhaps mastered the techniques to some degree without having formalized the process in their mind. By becoming aware of the methods that have been so helpful to the author and many others, one can be more aware of the creative process. Allowing one to recognize their weaknesses, hone their skills, and develop new ones as creative thinking becomes a lifestyle.
Engage in lively discussion on these topics. They may seem like they are less relevant than a review of facts and figures of the day, but the author believes quite the contrary. In the future, all the facts and figures of the day and those of the past will be at one’s fingertips, but the ability to analyze and navigate unfamiliar circumstances holds the key to fulfillment.
Learn more at www.piattbooks.com
