Peter's guide to map creation: How to create fantasy maps
Here is my take on creating maps for roleplaying games. Off course, you will be able to use the method for other purposes also, but why spend time doing anything, which isn't related to roleplaying:-)To see what a map done according to my advice might look like, here is one of the maps I did (180kB). Preparations Step 1.1 Determine how you want the world to look. Draw some loose sketches.
Political Writing
Say you are a young person beginning to write about politics and policy. You probably have some idea of what you believe, but have you thought about how you believe it? That is, have you thought about where you will sit on the continuum that stretches from writers who are engaged to those who are detached? Writers who are at the classic engaged position believe that social change is usually initiated by political parties.
Digital Poets! Web Tools, Apps, & Lesson Ideas
Posted by Shelly Terrell on Friday, April 18th 2014 “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” by Robert Frost April is National Poetry month. I invite you to consider the possibilities of teaching with poetry. Poetry makes content come alive, because the poet has a deep connection with the subject matter.
Realistic Lateral Thinking Puzzles
Lateral Thinking Puzzles, unlike most puzzles, are inexact. In a sense, they are a hybrid between puzzles and storytelling. In each puzzle, some clues to a scenario are given, but the clues don't tell the full story. Your job is to fill in the details and complete the story.
Mystery Writing Lessons
3. Create compelling characters Most of all the characters are important. You want them to be "rather more than stereotypes. The characters should be real human beings, each of whom comes alive for the reader, not pasteboard people to be knocked down in the final chapter." 4. Research, research, research In addition to paying attention to real-life, a huge part of the writer's job is to research.
Punctuation Tips
Punctuation marks are to writing what vocal delivery is to speech. Can you imagine talking in a monotone without pause? Your audience would have difficulty making sense of your words, let alone figuring out where emphasis and nuance belong. If you drain the punctuation from your writing, you have no louds, no softs, no expression, no innuendo.
64 Things Every Geek Should Know - laptoplogic.com
The term ‘geek’, once used to label a circus freak, has morphed in meaning over the years. What was once an unusual profession transferred into a word indicating social awkwardness. As time has gone on, the word has yet again morphed to indicate a new type of individual: someone who is obsessive over one (or more) particular subjects, whether it be science, photography, electronics, computers, media, or any other field. A geek is one who isn’t satisfied knowing only the surface facts, but instead has a visceral desire to learn everything possible about a particular subject.
Writing Historical
Ethics: Rules for Writing Historical Novels These are my seven guidelines. 1. Don't invent history. You can add people to a scene; and of course you are free to invent incidents of the kind that might have occurred, so long as they slot into the overall pattern of known events.
An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythic Monsters, from Gremlins to Zombies to t...
by Maria Popova A vibrant dance across the global spectrum of the popular imagination. “Legendary lands … have only one characteristic in common: whether they depend on ancient legends whose origins are lost in the mists of time or whether they are an effect of a modern invention, they have created flows of belief,” Umberto Eco wrote in his illustrated meditation on imaginary places. But as much as fictional lands might hold enduring allure, what captivates our shared imagination even more are the fictional and mythic creatures of our cultural folklore, both ancient and modern. That’s precisely what writer Davide Cali and illustrator Gabriela Giandelli explore in Monsters and Legends (public library) — a vibrant and whimsical volume from independent British children’s book press Flying Eye Books, which also gave us the illustrated chronicle of Shackleton’s historic expedition.
Origami Envelope
If you’d like to make these cute little “Flap Lock” Origami Envelopes–all you’ll need is a piece of square paper…any size. I used Christmas scrapbook paper. 1.
Action Stories
Think “action scene,” and you probably think of the Hollywood version: A character is thrust into high-stakes, physical drama (a gunfight, a daring rescue, a desperate escape) that changes her in some important way, and moves the action forward. Action scenes serve the same function in your fiction, but they need not be over-the-top to be effective. A surprise phone call, an unexpected visit, or an ill-timed delay will force your character to respond quickly (rather than reflect), and allows you to advance the plot without miring it in long descriptive passages and explanations.
Writing Fantasy
Last night, A Game Of Thrones author George R.R. Martin took to the stage at the Sydney Opera House to discuss his popular fantasy series, the spin-off HBO TV show and his craft as a writer. Below are ten kernels of wisdom that could help budding authors write their own fantasy saga.
30 Days of WorldBuilding
By popular demand, you can now download the Magical WorldBuilder Guide in three easy-to-carry (non-DRM) formats: PDF for printing out at home or reading on a computerePub for use with many fine ereader devicesMOBI for use with Kindles and MobiPocket software.As of 2007, The world-builder exercises are licensed under a Creative Commons license to help you in deciding whether you can translate (yes, with credit back), distribute to your writing group (yes, with credit), sell (not without permission), reprint (yes, for non-commercial purposes), or mirror (yes, with credit back) this useful guide! In October, 2004, I posted 30 days of world-building exercises to the NaNoWriMo discussion forums. These are short, 15-minute exercises that can help you make crucial decisions about your world, and what you want your story to say about it. These exercises have been edited for general use and re-posted here. So, give yourself 7 and a half hours this month-- 15 minutes a day-- to build a world.
