The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book
that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with
truth and beauty.
- Theodore Parker
 |
| By Temma |
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
on reading - theodore parker
The books that help you most are those which make you think the most.
The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book
that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with
truth and beauty.
- Theodore Parker
The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book
that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with
truth and beauty.
- Theodore Parker
Monday, November 5, 2012
on writing - first pages
Advice on first pages from agent Sarah Heller and author Kim Moritsugu:
1. The purpose of the first page is to engage the reader and thrust them
into the middle of the action.
2. You need to evoke a scene – what are you seeing, hearing, smelling?
Pick a small slice of life and flesh it out through tone and character.
Compel the reader to read more.
3. Set-ups need to lead to pay offs – if you introduce an interesting idea,
finish it.
4. Don’t drown the reader in adjectives. We see this a lot – you do not
have to write this way. Don’t be overly descriptive. Don’t write in ways
that could not happen in life. If your story is magical, that is okay if we
are still getting a sense of what you mean, but some kinds of fanciful
narration interfere with story. Plus, an overuse of adjectives may
indicate that a writer is trying too hard - a sign of being an amateur.
1. The purpose of the first page is to engage the reader and thrust them
into the middle of the action.
2. You need to evoke a scene – what are you seeing, hearing, smelling?
Pick a small slice of life and flesh it out through tone and character.
Compel the reader to read more.
3. Set-ups need to lead to pay offs – if you introduce an interesting idea,
finish it.
4. Don’t drown the reader in adjectives. We see this a lot – you do not
have to write this way. Don’t be overly descriptive. Don’t write in ways
that could not happen in life. If your story is magical, that is okay if we
are still getting a sense of what you mean, but some kinds of fanciful
narration interfere with story. Plus, an overuse of adjectives may
indicate that a writer is trying too hard - a sign of being an amateur.
 |
| By Laura Alice Watt |
on reading - on writing - lisa see
Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.
- Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
- Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
 |
| By Erika Kuhn |
Sunday, November 4, 2012
illustration - breeann veenstra
BreeAnn is a very talented creature creationist - one that us writers
can learn from too. Growing up, she lived in Wyoming and Michigan,
where she became one of those beings in tune with the magic of
nature, a fact I think is obvious in her illustrations. According to her
website, she believes in four leaf clovers and wishing on shooting stars
and hopes for all to believe the same. That spirit and dreamfulness is
visible in her work as well - in and through and all around.
Wish on everything. Pink cars are good, especially old ones. And stars
of course, first stars and shooting stars. Planes will do if they are the
first light in the sky and look like stars. Wish in tunnels, holding your
breath and lifting your feet off the ground. Birthday candles. Baby teeth.
- Francesca Lia Block
can learn from too. Growing up, she lived in Wyoming and Michigan,
where she became one of those beings in tune with the magic of
nature, a fact I think is obvious in her illustrations. According to her
website, she believes in four leaf clovers and wishing on shooting stars
and hopes for all to believe the same. That spirit and dreamfulness is
visible in her work as well - in and through and all around.
Wish on everything. Pink cars are good, especially old ones. And stars
of course, first stars and shooting stars. Planes will do if they are the
first light in the sky and look like stars. Wish in tunnels, holding your
breath and lifting your feet off the ground. Birthday candles. Baby teeth.
- Francesca Lia Block
a dreamer's wisdom - ayn rand
Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the
hopeless swaps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all.
Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for
the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The
world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible..
it's yours.
- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
hopeless swaps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all.
Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for
the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The
world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible..
it's yours.
- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
 |
| By Pierre-Alain D. (3MMI Design) |
Saturday, November 3, 2012
the well written - arthur conan doyle
Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could
invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really
mere commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window
hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs, and
and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the strange
coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the wonderful chains
of events, working through generations, and leading to the most outre
results, it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen
conclusions most stale and unprofitable.
- Arthur Conan Doyle, The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really
mere commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window
hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs, and
and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the strange
coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the wonderful chains
of events, working through generations, and leading to the most outre
results, it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen
conclusions most stale and unprofitable.
- Arthur Conan Doyle, The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
 |
| By Acris |
Friday, November 2, 2012
from unexpected places - fairy tale posters
These are designed by Christian Jackson. Posters like these
always challenge me to try it the other way: If one of these was
an image of a partially peeled orange, what would be the story?
What the pictured element was a heart-shaped patch of blue
plaid fabric? Or prison bars, two of them painted yellow?
Christian's thoughts on creativity: "When I have creative idea it
will nag at me until I give it some attention. So I express it, then I
move on to something else. Sometimes it works out in my favor
(like this poster series) and sometimes it's just nonsense. I take
every idea that I have seriously. Nothing is too small because, in
my mind, there is no such thing as a small idea, only ones that
have yet to be fully realized." (Via MyModernMet)
always challenge me to try it the other way: If one of these was
an image of a partially peeled orange, what would be the story?
What the pictured element was a heart-shaped patch of blue
plaid fabric? Or prison bars, two of them painted yellow?
Christian's thoughts on creativity: "When I have creative idea it
will nag at me until I give it some attention. So I express it, then I
move on to something else. Sometimes it works out in my favor
(like this poster series) and sometimes it's just nonsense. I take
every idea that I have seriously. Nothing is too small because, in
my mind, there is no such thing as a small idea, only ones that
have yet to be fully realized." (Via MyModernMet)
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