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Writers Workshop

Writers Workshop
The Bonsai Story Tree Generator takes coherent text and turns it into... well, I'm not sure what. It's not GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) -- it's more like QIGO (Quality In, Garbage Out). Only, the garbage often makes a sort of strange, surreal sense... Why is it called the Bonsai Story Tree Generator? At each December holiday party of the Northern Colorado Writers' Workshop, members exchange gag gifts; the more unique the better (and nothing costing more than $13.13). (In January 2005, Bonsai'd text was published as chapter 34 of the hoax book, Atlanta Nights, ostensibly the worst book ever written.) I put up this web interface so others can create their own Bonsai Story Trees. --Andrew Burt Related:  Easy Rider, Lazy Writer

Short Stories: 10 Tips for Creative Writers — Jerz's Literacy Weblog Story Starters If you’re looking to inspire your students’ writing and creativity, turn to these fun and exciting writing prompts. Perfect for overcoming writer’s block or even starting a brand-new short story in a different narrative, creative writing prompts can help students begin a new piece with confidence. Plus, these story starters can also encourage students to explore different genres while honing their writing skills. Reading a book in a genre, then having students use a story starter in that same genre. Take inspiration from classics like Treasure Island and newer popular series like The Bad Guys to explore how to write thrilling adventure stories. You’re part of a pirate crew in search of a long-lost storied treasure trove. Get students excited about adventure stories with these great books: If you’re looking to inspire your students’ writing and creativity, turn to these fun and exciting writing prompts. You’re part of a pirate crew in search of a long-lost storied treasure trove.

Project Gutenberg - free ebooks 25 Creative Writing Prompts | Creative Writing Prompts Posted by Melissa Donovan on October 21, 2014 · 25 creative writing prompts to inspire and motivate you. Don’t you just hate writer’s block? Some say it’s a disease that only creative workers succumb to. For me, the most bizarre thing about writer’s block is that it strikes randomly. Luckily, I have several books and other writing resources that are packed with writing exercises and creative writing prompts. Creative Writing Prompts Today I’d like to share a mash-up of creative writing prompts. Now It’s Your Turn If none of these creative writing prompts inspired you, don’t despair. Keep writing! About Melissa DonovanMelissa Donovan is a website designer and copywriter.

Free books: 100 legal sites to download literature The Classics Browse works by Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad and other famous authors here. Classic Bookshelf: This site has put classic novels online, from Charles Dickens to Charlotte Bronte.The Online Books Page: The University of Pennsylvania hosts this book search and database.Project Gutenberg: This famous site has over 27,000 free books online.Page by Page Books: Find books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells, as well as speeches from George W. Bush on this site.Classic Book Library: Genres here include historical fiction, history, science fiction, mystery, romance and children’s literature, but they’re all classics.Classic Reader: Here you can read Shakespeare, young adult fiction and more.Read Print: From George Orwell to Alexandre Dumas to George Eliot to Charles Darwin, this online library is stocked with the best classics.Planet eBook: Download free classic literature titles here, from Dostoevsky to D.H. Textbooks Math and Science Children’s Books Philosophy and Religion Plays

English 50 Exercises for Story Writers English 50 – Intro to Creative Writing: Exercises for Story Writers Basic Theory: What is a short story? As soon as someone delivers a definition, some good writer will write a story that proves the theory wrong. Short stories have a narrator; that is, someone tells the story; have at least one character in them; have some action occur (or perhaps fails to occur); take place somewhere; that is, there is a setting for the action; and someone either learns something or fails to learn something (theme).With these five characteristics in mind, we can create an almost endless supply of exercises to help sharpen our techniques of story telling. Narrative Voice Twenty or so years ago, voice was the "rite of passage" into a successful writing career. Nevertheless, a narrative voice that sounds like it could be anyone's voice or is bland and boring, or riddled with pointless clichés will fail to capture and hold the reader's attention. If you've written a story in third person, try it in first.

Questionnaires for Writing Character Profiles - Creative Writing Help Enter your e-mail to get the e-book for FREE. We'll also keep you informed about interesting website news. "I have searched the web and used different worksheets, but none have come close to your worksheets and descriptions of (what to do and what not to do). Both courses I have taken have with Creative Writing Now have been amazing. Each time I have learned something new. "As usual - I already love the course on Irresistible Fiction, rewriting a lot and improving greatly even after the first lesson. “Essentials of Fiction proved that I could indeed write and I wrote every day, much to my boyfriend's dismay (waa sniff).” - Jill Gardner "I am loving the course and the peer interaction on the blog is fantastic!!!" "I'm enjoying the weekly email course, Essentials of Poetry Writing. "Thank you for all the material in this course. "I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the lessons and feel they were very helpful in introducing new ideas and perspectives to my writing.

Creative Writing For Dummies Cheat Sheet Rewriting and editing helps to tighten up your work. But it can be difficult – what to chop and when to stop may not be clear, and you may change your mind more than once during the process. Ask yourself whether you need to take out: Unnecessary information and explanation. You may need to add or expand: Something you know but have forgotten to tell the reader; perhaps the age of the main character. You may need to move: Dramatic sections to make a stronger opening. In your final edit: Check for grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes. 9 best sites with free ebooks for Google Play In this post you’ll learn about best websites with free ebooks that you will be able to add to your Google Play Books library. In June 2012 Google revealed that Gmail had over 400 million active users worldwide. If you own Gmail account, you don’t have to sign up to any other site to start collecting your own library of ebooks. When we add ease of use and simplicity, Google Play Books may the a first choice for anyone who gets interested in ebooks. Obviously, there are enough free books in Google Play, and in this post you’ll find tips and tricks to effectively browse for them. However, Google Play Books is a pretty closed ecosystem, very much relying on Google’s scan book project. That’s why this list will be the opportunity to find other sources of free ebooks compatible with Google Play, including the ones from contemporary authors. Before the list, let me share some usage tips: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. My general advice is that, where possible, try to choose epub file instead of pdf. 1. 2. 3.

25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer When George Plimpton asked Ernest Hemingway what the best training for an aspiring writer would be in a 1954 interview, Hem replied, “Let’s say that he should go out and hang himself because he finds that writing well is impossibly difficult. Then he should be cut down without mercy and forced by his own self to write as well as he can for the rest of his life. At least he will have the story of the hanging to commence with.” Today, writing well is more important than ever. Far from being the province of a select few as it was in Hemingway’s day, writing is a daily occupation for all of us — in email, on blogs, and through social media. It is also a primary means for documenting, communicating, and refining our ideas. So what can we do to improve our writing short of hanging ourselves? 1. Don’t just plan to write—write. 2. [The] Resistance knows that the longer we noodle around “getting ready,” the more time and opportunity we’ll have to sabotage ourselves. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

How to Change Your Life: A User’s Guide ‘You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.’ ~Mike Murdock By Leo Babauta Start with a simple statement: what do you want to be? Are you hoping to someday be a writer, a musician, a designer, a programmer, a polyglot, a carpenter, a manga artist, an entrepreneur, an expert at something? How do you get there? Do you set yourself a big goal to complete by the end of the year, or in three months? I’m going to lay down the law here, based on many many experiments I’ve done in the last 7 years: nothing will change unless you make a daily change. I’ve tried weekly action steps, things that I do every other day, big bold monthly goals, lots of other permutations. If you’re not willing to make it a daily change, you don’t really want to change your life in this way. So make a daily change. How to Turn an Aspiration Into a Daily Change Let’s name a few aspirations: How do you turn those lofty ideas into daily changes? You get the idea. How to Implement Daily Changes

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