Blog » Top Web Resources for Writers (Part 1) There’s a reason why the Internet was called the “information superhighway” in the 1990s. Although the term itself is somewhat out of date, the significance is not. Today’s search engines pull up thousands of web pages in seconds, so which sites should you be visiting and why? Here are some of our suggestions: Publishers Weekly: Whether you know you’re going to self-publish or not, you should always keep an eye on the pulse of publishing. Absolute Write: First, check out the blog, which includes helpful articles such as: how to write good web copy and how to handle feelings of frustration. Critique Circle: If you’re looking for honest feedback on your work then look no further than Critique Circle, which is a forum to help writers connect with one another. The Plot Whisperer: If you struggle with plot, then you need to visit this website now, tomorrow, and at least a few times a week going forward. If you found these resources helpful, keep on reading!
Why Create & Build a Fantasy World? Building a fantasy world is a fun and personally rewarding past-time. There are many ways to build a fantasy world and many different reasons why you might want to build one. The art of Fantasy world building is used for a variety of entertainment mediums including fantasy books, movies, plays, games and hobbies. In a recent poll at Jacmus-Prime.com 39% of participants who had responded at the time of publishing this article, are creating a fantasy world as background material for a book while 28% are creating a world for a hobby. Though there a few different preferred methods of fantasy world building that can assist a world builder to construct the foundations for a well built world, there is no one way or right way to build a world. Some World Builders choose to start building a world by dreaming about it while others like to begin by drawing or mapping the geography. The defining element of how a world is built will come from its purpose and audience.
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. There are a lot of ways you can use writing prompts in your classroom. 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.
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... Judge for yourself. :-) 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
New Fiction Exercises, Brian Kiteley Brian Kiteley Sample Fiction Exercises from The 4 A.M. Breakthrough These are some exercises from The 4 A.M. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. across again against American another Arabic arm asks away balcony building Cairo call chair Charles city come daughter day does door down Egypt Egyptian English European even eyes face feels few first friend Gamal girl go going good hand head himself home hour Ib know language last laughs Ib Lena lights long look man men moment name next night now old own people prisoner read right room Ruqayyah Safeyya say saying see sits small something speak stands still story street table take talk tell thing think three time told turns two walks want wife without woman word years Yehya This is an interesting distillation of a book. Pick a book you like and know well that has one of these concordances on the Amazon site. 6. 1. This is from Gretchen Rubin’s website ( 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. —Marcel Proust
How Much of My World Do I Build? First, let me say that worldbuilding is an essential skill for every writer, regardless of genre. Not all writers need to concentrate on all areas of worldbuilding, but every writer must do some worldbuilding if he hopes to have a novel that is coherent, consistent, and real. Second, writers seem to come in three varieties — those who really have no idea what worldbuilding is or why they should bother with it; those who do know, but figure they’ll wing the details as they go; and those obsessive folks who secretly believe that they really can’t start the book until the whole planet is in place. I’ve spent time in all three camps — most of my time in the last one. The system works. Build only what you need; imply the rest. What do you need? A — Special physics It used to be that the only places where you might run into special physics were in SF and fantasy novels. If you require special physics, however, you must now answer the following questions. Special Physics — Matrin Magic On to step F.
Backstory: The More You Know, The Less I Have To Just in from teaching in Seattle and have NO VOICE. Hubby is a little more thrilled than he should probably show O_o. Anyway, the wonderful Piper Bayard is here for some more writing tips for those who want to NaNo. Even if you don’t? NaNo season will soon be upon us. Typical NaNoWriMo Writing Space First, give yourself permission to suck. Maureen Johnson says it best. Now that you’re keyed in to your sucking, you can get down to work to prevent unnecessary suckage. We’ve all read books with page after page of backstory. I know what you’re thinking. Forethought this. We all write for different reasons: therapy, because it’s easier than talking, therapy, because we love words, therapy, because we’re unemployed, therapy, because it’s the closest thing we have to talking to adults while we care for our babies, therapy, because stories are swirling inside our heads and must get out, therapy, because a world where we don’t write is simply inconceivable. How old are they when the book starts?
How to Build a Stockpile of Good Writing Ideas Returning to old scraps of writing is one of the best ways to cure writer’s block Not every idea that strikes is going to immediately turn into the beginnings of a novel, story, or poem; sometimes an idea is just a lonely little thing that lives underground for 17 years before… oh wait, that’s the cicada. But not unlike those weird little bugs, ideas can take a long while to come of age. You never know when something you thought up months or years ago will fit itself perfectly — almost accidentally — into your latest work-in-progress, or rub against another idea and spark. That’s why it’s important to write everything down: the brilliant lines, the half-baked notions, and that nonsense you scribbled on a sticky-note after a dream. Gather the seeds. Scraps of ideas can come from anywhere. Write ’em all down — as if you were a naturalist taking notes in the field (only YOU are the subject). But how do you build your stockpile of ideas? 1) You never know when or where an idea will strike —
200 Words Instead of 'Said' - WritersBeat.com Not that anyone is asking me (but that has never stopped me before and it won't stop me now), but I do try to avoid using 'said' too much. It gets a tad tedious, I find. On the other hand, using a substitute simply for the sake of - well, using a substitute - can be ineffective. I thought your list was interesting, Somesh (beware whenever anyone says something is interesting ), but I do think you have included some rather dubious options. On the other hand, you have missed many valid, useful and legal options, but I'm not going to tell you what they are because that's the way I am. Thank you for an amusing post. Cheers, QW __________________ ____To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater.
Magical World Builder By, Stephanie Cottrell Bryant <map name="admap78618" id="admap78618"><area href=" shape="rect" coords="0,0,468,60" title="" alt="" target="_blank" /></map><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:468px;border-style:none;background-color:#ffffff;"><tr><td><img src=" style="width:468px;height:60px;border-style:none;" usemap="#admap78618" alt="" /></td></tr><tr><td style="background-color:#ffffff;" colspan="1"><center><a style="font-size:10px;color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;font-family:Tahoma, verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;text-transform: none;letter-spacing:normal;text-shadow:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:normal;" href=" target="_blank">Ads by Project Wonderful! The Magical World Builder's Guide is a tool for creating a fantasy universe.