Kurt Vonnegut: A Complete Rundown on Style | College News Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is a staple when discussing American literature in the previous century. His subversive humor redefined the field of literature in immutable ways. His two greatest works (based on readership, not merit) Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five, speak volumes on some common themes, but use interesting stylistic differences to tell what seem like opposing stories. His lesser known works, such as the riotous Breakfast of Champions, the controversial Mother Night, and one his final novels Hocus Pocus help show some of his more subversive and distant stylistic qualities. Using these novels as a lens, we can see that, while Vonnegut’s oeuvre is vast and varied, he stays true to some syntax snips and an overall tone of indifference, while all relying on a structured canon of his own doing that build into a strongly unreliable narrator that skews his entire collection. From the overview of all of his novels, it seems as though they are from different authors. “You can?”
The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine Covertext » Is the artist necessary for making art today? (Pt.1) Answers by Jono Podmore, Mi You, Max Stolkin, Nick Montfort, Antonia Low, Hannes Bajohr, Lina Viste Grønli, Anthony Moore, Christoph Westermeier, Birgit Kempker and Jemma Cullen YES Once, twice and thrice YES YES YES I despair of the dorks, the dopes, the Enose and Beanos in my business who claim, while hiding behind their flappy lappy topses, that an algorithm has created the deeply uninspiring, abstracted and acoustically challenged drivel we are expected to allow to fall oft uninvited into our shell-likes. Not themselves, of course – god forbid any human responsibility in this supercollided brave new interwebscape. THE TRUTH A musical score is an algorithm – a structure and a set of instructions. Inescapable. Case closed. Post script – exhibit A All those lovely 70’s home organs. Jono P Proposition: “The artist is necessary for making art today” is not true (given the conditions above). Axiom 1: The individualist artist produces works for value. Definition 2: #! so
Kids explain how banned and challenged books helped them and even saved their lives / Boing Boing By Joan Bertin and Millie Davis Banned Books Week has come and gone but we can be sure of one thing: the coming year will be marked by challenges to the same kinds of books that were controversial this year, and in years past. report this ad Controversies over what books are taught in class or shelved in the school library typically start when an adult—usually a parent or community member—feels that a book selected by teachers and librarians is inappropriate, offensive or objectionable. Most often, the objections relate to sexual scenes, offensive language, or depictions of drug and alcohol use. Ironically, some of the most frequently challenged books are the very books that young readers say are especially important and meaningful to them. To explore the significance of controversial books for young readers, we asked authors of frequently challenged books to share messages they’ve received from their readers. ● This book saved my life. ● This book turned me on to reading.
5 (Not-So-Little) Additions to the Great Novel-Writing Checklist Learning how to write a successful novel is largely a matter of memorizing and mentally tracking the vast number of “parts” that make a story run. Honestly, this alone is sometimes the hardest part of the entire job. There’s a lot to remember—which is why, today, we’re going to look at the second part of our Great Novel-Writing Checklist. Two weeks ago, I started off the checklist with the five most important “big” or foundational elements you need to make sure you’re including and acing in your writing. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Without these beauties, you either (worst case) don’t have a story at all or (best case) don’t have a story that works. However, as we all know, there’s more to a great book than just solid structure and a deep theme. As I mentioned in the previous post, there’s really no such thing as a “complete” novel-writing checklist, for the simple reason that such a list is all but infinite. Let’s get started! 1. Avoid “Telling” Verbs Dramatize, Don’t Summarize Showing is preferable.
Computer scientists quantify elements of writing style that differentiate successful fiction (Phys.org) —Imagine the challenge publishers face, pouring over thousands of manuscripts to determine if a book will be a hit. Stony Brook Department of Computer Science Assistant Professor Yejin Choi thinks she has a tool to bring some science to that art, and she is co-author of a paper, Success with Style: Using Writing Style to Predict the Success of Novels, which was unveiled at the conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing (EMNLP) 2013. "Predicting the success of literary works poses a massive dilemma for publishers and aspiring writers alike," Choi said. "We examined the quantitative connection between writing style and successful literature. Statistical stylometry is the statistical analysis of variations in literary style between one writer or genre and another. For example, the research indicated that more successful books make more frequent use of discourse connectives (conjunctions such as "and", "but", "or") to join sentences and prepositions. Dr. Dr.
How to Write with Style: Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Keys to the Power of the Written Word Find a Subject You Care About Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, and not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style. I am not urging you to write a novel, by the way — although I would not be sorry if you wrote one, provided you genuinely cared about something. A petition to the mayor about a pothole in front of your house or a love letter to the girl next door will do. Do Not Ramble, Though I won’t ramble on about that. Keep It Simple As for your use of language: Remember that two great masters of language, William Shakespeare and James Joyce, wrote sentences which were almost childlike when their subjects were most profound. Simplicity of language is not only reputable, but perhaps even sacred. Have the Guts to Cut It may be that you, too, are capable of making necklaces for Cleopatra, so to speak. Sound like Yourself Say What You Mean to Say Pity the Readers
One Brick at a Time: Crafting Compelling Scenes By Barbara Ashford Part of the How They Do It Series JH: Many layers go into a great scene. Some we add on instinct, while others require a little thought or a lot of effort. Barbara Ashford visits the lecture hall to day to share tips on crafting compelling scenes. Award-winning novelist Barbara Ashford has been praised by reviewers and readers alike for her compelling characters, heartfelt storytelling, and powerful scenes. Barbara's first published series was the dark fantasy trilogy Trickster's Game (written as Barbara Campbell). Barbara's background as a professional actress, lyricist, and librettist has helped her delve deeply into character and explore the complexities of human nature on the stage as well as on the page. She drew on her musical theatre roots for her second series, the award-winning Spellcast and its sequel Spellcrossed, set in a magical summer stock theatre. Website | Goodreads | Take it away Barbara... --From the musical Barnum, lyrics by Michael Stewart
English Adjectives for Describing Physical Appearance - Vocabulary for Talking About How People Look attractive - a person who is very good looking. (men and women). Attractive is a word you might use to describe someone who is very nice to look at, but who is not stunningly beautiful or strikingly handsome. Example sentence: - "Princess Diana was a very attractive woman." bald - As soon as possible. A.S.A.P. is an informal expression that is used to indicate when things need to be done really quickly. Example sentence: - "Could you finish that report for me today, please? beautiful - abbreviation for the English preposition 'before'. Online chat abbreviation for the English word 'before', a word we often use to talk about things that happened earlier than other events. We also use the word 'before' to talk about things we expect to happen sooner than other future events that are likely. blonde - textspeak for the expression 'bye for now'. 'Bye for now' is a slang expression that we use when we are saying goodbye to people we expect to see or speak to again in the near future. short - you.
The Impossible Choice: A Surefire Way to Hook Your Readers By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy The first job of any story is to hook its reader, but after that initial hook, the story can’t just slack off. It has to keep hooking, keep drawing readers in, and keep making them want to turn the page. An excellent tool for this job is the impossible choice. A well-crafted story will have choices all the way through. But to really grab a reader, force your protagonist to make an impossible choice. It makes readers ask, “What will the protagonist do? Which is what makes the impossible choice so darn appealing. Reading is a voyeuristic activity. From a purely technical aspect, choices help us plot, because having to choose a course of action creates action. Here are some reasons why putting your character into difficult situation creates storytelling gold: Impossible choices create unpredictability, and readers are intrigued by outcomes they can’t predict. Readers read to find out what happens and to see a problem resolved. Looking to improve your craft?
There's a Word for That: 25 Expressions You Should Have in Your Vocabulary Recently I came across this amazing little Tumblr named ‘OtherWordly‘ – itself a play on words. It consists of a collection of strange and lovely words from different languages through different times. What I like most about this selection of consonants and vowels – little meaning-carrying packages of vibration – is that they all try to point to the unspeakable, the transient or the neglected. That which we forget in the busyness of our daily grind. Words have the power to remind us – and therefore we should choose our words carefully so we are reminded of the things that nourish our souls. You can find my favourite words below – pick five that resonate most, write them down, yes seriously – go grab a pen -, make sure to learn them by heart, teach them to your inner voice and share them with others to guide our collective attention to what truly matters. 1 – Sophrosyne 2 – Vorfreude pronunciation | ‘for-froi-duh 3 – Numinous 4 – Nemophilist pronunciation | ne-‘mo-fe-list 5 – Sillage