The 50 Books Everyone Needs to Read, 1963-2013 The thing about reading is this: it takes a long time. There are innumerable books in the world, and many more good ones than can be read by any mortal in a lifetime. It’s hard to choose — especially if you’re a slow reader. 1963 — The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath’s only novel manages to be both elegant and filled with raw, seething emotion – no small feat, and not the least of the reasons the reading world is still obsessed with her. Also recommended: Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak; The Group, Mary McCarthy; V., Thomas Pynchon; Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut; The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan “A Sonnet of Invented Memories” by Miles Walser – Used Furniture Review I told you that I was a roadway of potholes, not safe to cross. You said nothing, showed up in my driveway wearing roller-skates. The first time I asked you on a date, after you hung up, I held the air between our phones against my ear and whispered, “You will fall in love with me. Then, just months later, you will fall out. I will pretend the entire time that I don’t know it’s coming.” Once, I got naked and danced around your bedroom, awkward and safe. The last eight times I told you I loved you, they sounded like apologies. You recorded me a CD of you repeating, “You are beautiful.” Into the half-empty phone line, I whispered, “We will wake up believing the worst in each other. You photographed my eyebrow shapes and turned them into flashcards: mood on one side, correct response on the other. I bought you an entire bakery so that we could eat nothing but breakfast for a week. I whispered, “I will latch on like a deadbolt to a door and tell you it is only because I want to protect you.
Novni Wooden Gems Try This: Wooden Gems Today's tutorial will set you back a couple of bucks and ten minutes, and in the end, you'll have a handful of little gemstones ready for whatever projects your imagination can scheme up. Read on for the easy step-by-step and few ideas for how to put these little beauties to use. MATERIALS: wooden rectangles, pencil, fine tip paint brush, craft paints in colors of your choosing, black, and white ONE: Begin by sketching the facet lines as shown. They don't have to be perfect. TWO: Mix up six shades of the color of your choosing using black and white paint. THREE: Use the fine tip brush to carefully paint inside your sketched facet lines. Try out some other colors and use them in all sorts of ways...jewelry, keychains, napkin rings.
CALLIHOO Writing Helps--Feelings Table Character Feelings You can describe your character's feelings in more exact terms than just "happy" or "sad." Check these lists for the exact nuance to describe your character's intensity of feelings. SF Characters | SF Items | SF Descriptors | SF Places | SF EventsSF Jobs/Occupations | Random Emotions | Emotions List | Intensity of Feelings Myth, Legend, Folklore, Ghosts Apollo and the Greek Muses Updated July 2010 COMPREHENSIVE SITES ON MYTHOLOGY ***** The Encyclopedia Mythica - SEARCH - Areas - Image Gallery - Genealogy tables - Mythic Heroes Probert Encyclopaedia - Mythology Gods, Heroes, and MythDictionary of Mythology What is Myth? MESOPOTAMIAN MYTHOLOGYThe Assyro-Babylonian Mythology FAQ Sumerian Mythology FAQ Sumerian Mythology Sumerian Gods and Goddesses Sumerian Myths SUMERIAN RELIGION Mythology's Mythinglinks: the Tigris-Euphrates Region of the Ancient Near East Gods, Goddesses, Demons and Monsters of Mesopotamia The Assyro-Babylonian Mythology FAQ More info on Ancient Mesopotamia can be found on my Ancient River Valley Civilizations page. GREEK MYTHOLOGYOrigins of Greek MythologyGreek Mythology - MythWeb Greek-Gods.info (plus a fun QUIZ)Ancient Greek Religion Family Tree of Greek Mythology Greek Names vs. VARIOUS FAIRIES, ELVES, UNICORNS, MERMAIDS, & OTHER MYTHICAL TOPICS HERE BE DRAGONS!
25 Ways To Fuck With Your Characters 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.
Sound Composition: Calm_Thunder_Storm 1. Choose a sound In order for nature sounds to start playing choose a sound from drop-down box for one channel and drag the volume slider up. 2. Add more sounds You can add more nature sounds to composition by choosing other sounds in other channels. 3. Pan the channel (with horizontal slider) to the left or to the right for stereo effects. 4. If you want the sound volume to fluctuate instead of playing continuously, click on a drop-down box with a green line and choose one of interrupted lines. 1. In order for nature sounds to start playing choose a sound from drop-down box for one channel and drag the volume slider up. 2. You can add more nature sounds to composition by choosing other sounds in other channels. 3. Pan the channel (with horizontal slider) to the left or to the right for stereo effects. 4. If you want the sound volume to fluctuate instead of playing continuously, click on a drop-down box with a green line and choose one of interrupted lines.
3 Steps to Writing a Novel with Unforgettable Characters Character development is one of the first essential steps of writing a novel and it involves creating the people who will carry out your story. There will most likely be a variety of characters needed for your story, but none as important as your lead character – your protagonist. A well-developed protagonist has much to do with the success of writing a novel. When writing a novel, the protagonist should be someone that your readers feel is a “real person” that they come to love (or at least like a whole lot), can relate to in many ways, and will care about and think about long after they’ve turned the final page on your novel. How to Create “Real People” for Your Novel When writing a novel, there are many ways to go about creating characters and much has been written about it in “how to write a novel books”, sometimes in great detail. Writing a Novel – Four Attributes of a Lead Character: 1. 2. 3. 4. Writing a Novel – Three Attributes Every Character Has: 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3.
40 Ways to Feel More Alive “I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.” ~Joseph Campbell As I write this, I am two hours away from my first weekly acting class in Los Angeles. I’ve been here for almost two years now, and though I loved Community Theater as a kid, I never so much as researched acting classes until a couple weeks back. I frequently said I wanted to do it, along with painting classes, which I’m starting next week, but I always made excuses not to start either. I was too busy. The list went on and on, but I realized the last two were the big ones for me. Also, I hesitate to give large amounts of time to hobbies I have no intention of pursuing professionally. I realized last month, however, that I want to prioritize more of the things that make me feel passionate and excited—and not just occasionally, but regularly. I don’t know if these classes are “leading” anywhere. Say Something You’ve Been Meaning to Say 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
How to Write Better: 7 Instant Fixes Does your writing stand out? Do you worry whether your writing is good enough? I can see you nodding your head. You are not alone. Every writer has doubts about his or her writing. The good thing is that writing is a journey. On this journey, you can either travel the long road – or use shortcuts. Using shortcuts means learning to spot and fix mistakes in order to write better. Here are seven instant fixes that will improve your writing. But … what is good writing? Inexperienced writers think that ‘good’ writing is elaborate. No, good writing is simple. 1: The art of natural Check out an example of elaborate writing below (I’ve sourced examples of writing from free Kindle books chosen at random). This is from a story about a young girl who is at home with her young brother when a thunderstorm strikes. An ebony abyss claimed the den. I take this to mean, “The room went dark.” Maybe the author consulted a Thesaurus to create a sentence with special words. Your words should sound natural. Careful!
Full Sail University If you're ready to make the world of entertainment and media your business, Full Sail University's Entertainment Business bachelor's degree program can get you started. In this degree program, you'll gain a well-rounded foundation of business and management skills tailored to the entertainment industry. You will also explore artist management, essential communications, contract negotiations, pitching ideas, and business ethics to prepare you for the field. Artist Management, Event Management, Intellectual Property, Entertainment Business Models, Entertainment Media Distribution, Strategic Business Management Do you picture yourself becoming an innovator in the business realm of the world of entertainment and media? In Full Sail University's Entertainment Business master's degree program, you will take an advanced look into media products and distribution, business finance, and entertainment law, and learn from case studies about what makes a successful business.
How to Structure A Story: The Eight-Point Arc By Ali Hale - 3 minute read One of my favourite “how to write” books is Nigel Watts’ Writing A Novel and Getting Published. My battered, torn and heavily-pencil-marked copy is a testament to how useful I’ve found it over the years. Although the cover appears to be on the verge of falling off altogether, I’ve risked opening the book once more to bring you Watts’ very useful “Eight-Point Story Arc” – a fool-proof, fail-safe and time-honoured way to structure a story. (Even if you’re a short story writer or flash fiction writer rather than a novelist, this structure still applies, so don’t be put off by the title of Watts’ book.) The eight points which Watts lists are, in order: StasisTriggerThe questSurpriseCritical choiceClimaxReversalResolution He explains that every classic plot passes through these stages and that he doesn’t tend to use them to plan a story, but instead uses the points during the writing process: So, what do the eight points mean? Stasis Trigger The quest Surprise Climax Reversal