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Writing free culture fantasy with free software
The collaborative spirit of the free software and hacker movements lends itself to writing fiction as well. I write free culture fantasy stories with free software tools. Crafting characters and settings that can be used freely by other authors and artists promotes creativity and is a useful way of teaching people about the principles of freedom.
Since I use plain text and a Git-based workflow, anyone can freely read, modify, and share my stories. They can learn from edits I have made or propose improvements. Plain text formats like Markdown and Shanty make writings portable across most computers.
We can create a storytelling community that allows cross-pollination between creators and disciplines (e.g., novels, songs, and video games) and changes us from consumers to creators.
Presented by: Seth Patterson
Seth Patterson grew up listening to radio dramas and his mom reading novels from the 1800s. He got his love of writing from his dad, who is an editor. In high school, he completed One Year Adventure Novel. He has been in love with writing fiction ever since.
He studied cybersecurity in college, which taught him how to think like bad guys to defend against them. Thinking like bad guys comes in handy for writing fiction too. He also discovered free software and free culture in college.
Seth writes free culture fiction, using tools like Nano and Markdown.