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JAPANESE SWORD ERAS. The development of the Japanese sword closely parallels events in Japanese history. The broad divisions of each are noted above. The specific historical eras are referred to as "nengo" and are named after the emperor of the period. The sword eras have separate notations: Koto refers to the "old sword period"; Shinto refers to the "new sword era"; Shinshinto is the "new, new sword era"; Gendai or Kindai is the "modern sword era" while Shinsaku refers to newly made swords. NOTE: Exact dates may vary in different texts since Japanese eras (nengo) do not exactly match Western calendar years. References will differ on the dates of the division between Shinshinto and Gendai. Some authors date from the Meiji Reformation of 1868 while others date from the Haitori Edict of 1876 which banned the wearing of swords and eliminated the samurai class.

Learn how to read the Kanji for the various Nengo on the reading date inscriptions page. Learn how to read the Kanji for the Japanese Provinces. SCAMPER technique training for lateral thinking. The SCAMPER technique uses a set of directed questions which you answer about your probortunity in order to come up with new ideas. The stimulus comes from forcing yourself to answer questions which you would not normally pose.

The questions direct you to thinking about a probortunity in ways which typically come up with new ideas. SCAMPER is an acronym which stands for questions relating to the following: In essence you should ask yourself questions relating to each of the SCAMPER words to come up with new ideas. Spend some time developing questions which challenge your current way of thinking. Brainstorming Toolbox software can be used to spark off suitable questions or you can generate your own manually. NB. Please try this technique for yourself and you will certainly improve at coming up with new ideas. To move to the next technique, click on the green door to continue the green (Advanced Brainstorming) tour.

Literary agents directory - find an agent. So, how do you find an agent to promote your work? Right here is a good place to start. Browse (by location or by topic) or search through our directory of agents to find the right agent for you. Remember, it is important to approach agents that deal with the type of book you intend to publish. Finding a Literary Agent can be the making of a writing career. What Does A Literary Agent Do? There is more to being a writer than stringing words together. Even great writers have to do more than write. Unless you can persuade someone to publish the words you slave over, your writing will remain unknown and unread and writing will drain rather than fill your bank account.

That's where a Literary Agent comes in. An agent will give your work a much better chance of escaping the slush piles that threaten to overwhelm the office space of all successful publishers. Can I Trust An Agent Listed in This Directory? For advice about a particular agent, try posting a question in our discussion forums. Writer's Block, Geek-Block, and Procrastination. 'ecomkid' on Wed, 14 Jul 2004 06:12:09 GMT, sez: yes, this stuff works 'secretGeek' on Wed, 14 Jul 2004 20:27:57 GMT, sez: thanks Ecomkid! Glad it helps! The tricky bit is recognising that you're procrastinating in the first place... but if you do realise - then this list trick should help. best of luck leon 'procrastinating tim' on Wed, 29 Jun 2005 15:43:35 GMT, sez: very nice. thanks! 'Rob Smith' on Wed, 29 Jun 2005 19:35:25 GMT, sez: Those interested in this might be interested in a roundtuit I blogged awhile ago: 'Nelson Rodríguez-Peña' on Thu, 30 Jun 2005 00:08:37 GMT, sez: Great!

'snow scorpion' on Fri, 01 Jul 2005 21:07:10 GMT, sez: I've been using that form for years. It's a standard technique in cognitive therapy. For more info, look for books by a Dr. All creative tools. Super Memory. Creative Latitude: Home. Links for Aspiring Writers. Magical World Builder's Guide.

By, Stephanie Cottrell Bryant The Magical World Builder's Guide is a tool for creating a fantasy universe. Although there are several good guidebooks to creating a science fiction world, few deal with the quintessential elements of a fantasy realm. This guide ambitiously attempts to help fantasy authors discover their realms long before they sit down to the keyboard and fill in the details. In addition, I've written a much-beloved 30 Days of World Building tutorial designed to help you hit the ground running with your world building in just a few minutes a day.

By popular demand, you can now download the Magical WorldBuilder Guide in three easy-to-carry (non-DRM) formats:PDF for printing out at home or reading on a computerePub for use with many fine ereader devicesMOBI for use with Kindles and MobiPocket software. Fantasy, like all fiction, is a function of the imagination. In another classic fantasy example, Ursula K. Basic World-Building For basic world-building, start with a map. Character Trait Chart. Character Trait Chart and Personality Components It can sometimes be helpful to make a Trait Chart for each character.

This is especially helpful during the early stages of character development, before the character becomes as real to you as your mother. There are several charts of this sort available, some extremely detailed and some containing only facts and figures. To use this chart, print it out and make a copy for each of your characters. Full name - a character's name is very important.

Besides the character's official name, we also need to know what he is called (and, perhaps, what he prefers to be called). Date of Birth/Age - we should carefully consider assigning our character a birthday. Address - this can be as detailed or as vague as you wish, but it should answer a few questions: does the character live in a large city, the suburbs, a small town or deep in the country?

Height - this doesn't need to be specific. Smell - everyone has a smell. Questions? Custom Graphics by: Magical World Builder&#039;s Guide. By, Stephanie Cottrell Bryant <map name="admap78618" id="admap78618"><area href=" shape="rect" coords="0,0,468,60" title="" alt="" target="_blank" /></map><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:468px;border-style:none;background-color:#ffffff;"><tr><td><img src=" style="width:468px;height:60px;border-style:none;" usemap="#admap78618" alt="" /></td></tr><tr><td style="background-color:#ffffff;" colspan="1"><center><a style="font-size:10px;color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;font-family:Tahoma, verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;text-transform: none;letter-spacing:normal;text-shadow:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:normal;" href=" target="_blank">Ads by Project Wonderful!

Your ad here, right now: $0</a></center></td></tr></table> Basic World-Building. YourDictionary.com • Homepage. Planet Movable Type. MovableStyle.com. Readability Test. Contents Readability Tests Gunning Fog, Flesch Reading Ease, and Flesch-Kincaid are reading level algorithms that can be helpful in determining how readable your content is.

Reading level algorithms only provide a rough guide, as they tend to reward short sentences made up of short words. Whilst they're rough guides, they can give a useful indication as to whether you've pitched your content at the right level for your intended audience. [Back to the contents] Test the Readability of a Website Interpreting the Results This service analyses the readability of all rendered content. Philip Chalmers of Benefit from IT provided the following typical Fog Index scores, to help ascertain the readability of documents. Gunning-Fog Index The following is the algorithm to determine the Gunning-Fog index.

The result is your Gunning-Fog index, which is a rough measure of how many years of schooling it would take someone to understand the content. Flesch Reading Ease Flesch-Kincaid grade level Further Reading. Scriptygoddess. Pe login - BugMeNot.com. Bugmenot.com pe.com passwords Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California Login with the free account passwords below to bypass compulsory registration. Account Details Submit A New Account pe.com register.es.everyday.com.