25 Ways To Fuck With Your Characters - StumbleUpon As storyteller, you are god. And to be frank, you’re not a particularly nice god — at least, not if you want your story to resonate with readers. A good storyteller is a crass and callous deity who treats the characters under his watchful eye like a series of troubled butt-puppets. From this essential conflict — storyteller versus character — a story is born. (After all, that’s what a plot truly is: a character who strives to get above all the shit the storyteller dumps on his fool head.) Put differently, as a storyteller it’s your job to be a dick. It’s your job to fuck endlessly with the characters twisting beneath your thumb. And here’s 25 ways for you to do just that. 1. Gods have avatars, mortal or semi-mortal beings that exist on earth to embody the deity’s agenda. 2. The audience and the character must know the stakes on the table — “If you don’t win this poker game, your grandmother will lose her beloved pet orangutan, Orange Julius.” 3. 4. 5. 6. This one? 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
Thrifty and Chic 10 Things Teenage Writers Should Know About Writing Dear Teenage Writers: Hi there. I was once a teenage writer like you (see goofy picture to the right), although that was so long ago that between now and then, I could have been a teenager all over again. I’m going to talk to you about writing as straight as I can; there’s a possibility that some of what I say to you might come off as abrupt and condescending. 1. It’s nothing personal. There are reasons for this. a) You’re really young. Now, if you’re really good, you can fake perspective and wisdom, and with it a voice, which is almost as good as having the real thing. b) You’re besotted by your influences. You are not likely to have my influences, but you almost certainly have influences of some sort, who you love and to whom you look as models and teachers. c) When you’re young, it’s easier to be clever than to be good. There’s nothing wrong with being clever, and it’s possible to be clever and good at the same time. So those are some of the reasons your writing sucks right now. 2.
Transcendentalism Transcendentalism is a religious and philosophical movement that developed during the late 1820s and '30s[1] in the Eastern region of the United States as a protest against the general state of spirituality and, in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard University and the doctrine of the Unitarian church as taught at Harvard Divinity School. Among the transcendentalists' core beliefs was the inherent goodness of both people and nature. They believe that society and its institutions—particularly organized religion and political parties—ultimately corrupt the purity of the individual. They have faith that people are at their best when truly "self-reliant" and independent. It is only from such real individuals that true community could be formed. History[edit] Origins[edit] Transcendentalism is closely related to Unitarianism, the dominant religious movement in Boston at the early nineteenth century. Emerson's Nature[edit] So shall we come to look at the world with new eyes.
How to Meditate The Middle Way