Suggested Readings in Fantasy As I have sometimes been heard to remark, I'm fond of the fantasy genre. As such, I am often asked by friends and followers of my reviews which fantasy books I would suggest they read, but I am wary of making such suggestions lightly. There are books I adore which are extremely long, complex, and idiomatic--not a good fit for everyone. Highly Recommended: Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake This series is my favorite work of fantasy, yet it is also a difficult read, and not one I would casually recommend. The King of Elfland's Daughter and The Sword of Welleran and Others by Lord Dunsany The authors of the late Victorian period in England marked a high point for sophistication and inventiveness in fantasy. The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson Anderson's great fantasy work was published the same year as the first volume of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, but has gone sadly unrecognized by many readers of fantasy. Puck of Pook's Hill and Tales of Horror and Fantasy by Rudyard Kipling Jonathan Strange & Mr.
How to Draw Better Line Art | Radiant Dreamer Do you want to draw better lines? Ever wonder how other artists’ characters look so dynamic, yet your own characters look a bit static? Drawing line art isn’t as simple as simply laying down some lines. There are a few critical areas that you should keep in mind while drawing, which I will cover here. And since not everyone has a tablet, I’ve made this tutorial applicable to pencil & paper artists, and will show you how to properly scan your line art into the computer. (note, all the images are clickable to view at 100% resolution) The first, and absolutely most important thing to learn about drawing lines is line quality. The line on the left is when you draw multiple little lines to form a single line. As I said, it’s all about confidence. Practice! The next important element to a line is line weight. Lines have thicknesses. The images on the left have no weight, while the images on the right have weight. Once you’re done penciling, it’s time to scan your image. Open the Channels window.
Short Story Ideas and Creative Writing Prompts Here are lots of short story ideas that you can use as writing prompts. Use these story starters on their own or to get ideas for the CWN online writing courses. You'll also find links to more creative writing prompts at the bottom of the page. Any of these ideas can be used either humorously or dramatically... or you can try both. Have fun! Do you like this page? Story ideas - three elements Choose a set of three elements and write a story that contains all three of them! Extreme challenge: combine three of the elements with one of the other short story ideas on this page. A stolen ring, fear of spiders, and a sinister stranger. More short story ideas Challenge: 4 stories in 4 weeks using these short story ideas. Extreme challenge: Why not write a book of short stories? A babysitter is snooping around her employer's house and finds a disturbing photograph... Even more short story ideas Your character starts receiving flowers and anonymous gifts. And still more short story ideas
Fighting to bring Multiculturalism to YA, Fantasy and Science Fiction novels 10 Myths About Introverts | Eli Bishop 10 Myths About Introverts (As a graphic designer, a list I can really get behind…), also here is a follow up article about introverts! Definition of introverts via Wikipedia: Introverts are people whose energy tends to expand through reflection and dwindle during interaction. They often take pleasure in solitary activities such as reading, writing, music, drawing, tinkering, playing video games, watching movies and plays, and using computers. The archetypal artist, writer, sculptor, engineer, composer, and inventor are all highly introverted. Introversion is not the same as being shy or being a social outcast. Great list of myths about introverts via Carl King Creative: Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk. This is not true. Myth #2 – Introverts are shy. Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Myth #3 – Introverts are rude. Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people. Nonsense. 1. 2. 3.
66 Experiments by Charles Bernstein Category: Writing Techniques 1. Homolinguistic translation: Take a poem (someone else's, then your own) and translate it "English to English" by substituting word for word, phrase for phrase, line for line, or "free" translation as response to each phrase or sentence. Or translate the poem into another literary style or a different diction, for example into a slang or vernacular. Do several different types of homolinguistic translation of a single source poem. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 66. Remember: Poems can be in prose format! Rewrite and recombine, collage, splice together the material generated from these experiments into one long ongoing poem! This list was inspired by Bernadette Mayer's compilation from the 1970s. Category: Creative Writing Techniques
Home - Narrative First Blog Archive The Fundamentals of Shape Design in Adobe Illustrator This tutorial is the second in a series of two lessons on how to use basic shapes to create objects. From hearts to perfect spirals, the fundamentals of shape design outlined in this tutorial are used in everyday design but don’t have obvious methods of creation. If you like productivity, tips, and tricks, this tutorial is a must-read! Did you catch the beginning of the series? Take a look at Lesson 1 first. Tutorial Details Program: Adobe Illustrator CS6Difficulty: IntermediateTopics Covered: Ellipse Tool, Distort & Transform, Brushes, StrokesEstimated Completion Time: 1-1.5 hours Here are the variety of shapes we’ll create. I’m New Here—Medallion Step 1 Very simply, start by using the Ellipse Tool (L.) Step 2 Adding the ridges couldn’t be easier. Step 3 Done. Look What I Made—Starburst Using the Ellipse tool (L) draw a circle. Go to the Stroke Palette, click inside the Weight field then press and hold the up arrow to increase the size of your stroke. That’s all there is to it! Step 4 Step 5
Crystals Uses jealousy: peridotjoy: emerald karma (bring in good): morganite, quartz crystalskarma (release bad, protect from bad): charoite, dravite (brown tourmaline), garnet, hessonite (hessionite) garnetkidney / bladder: anhydrite (angelite), amber, bloodstone, green calcite, carnelian, chrysoberyl, coral, cuprite, jade, jasper, jet, orange calcite, rhodochrosite, smokey quartzkindness: azurite, celestite, chalcedony, chrysoberyl, chrysocolla, jasper, kunzite, morganite, rhodochrosite, rhodonite, rose quartz, sugilite, pink tourmaline, turquoisekundalini: garnet, jet, kundalini quartz, spinel (especially red spinel) ulcers: chrysocolla , peridot, prasioliteunconditional love: kunzite, rhodocrosite, rhodonite, rose quartz
Tonight No Poetry Will Serve by Adrienne Rich - Poems Adrienne Rich was born in Baltimore, Maryland on May 16, 1929. She attended Radcliffe College, graduating in 1951, and was selected by W. H. In 1953, she married Harvard University economist Alfred H. But the image of the fairytale princess would not be long-lived. It was in 1973, in the midst of the feminist and civil rights movements, the Vietnam War, and her own personal distress, that Rich wrote Diving into the Wreck (W. Rich went on to publish numerous poetry collections, including Tonight No Poetry Will Serve: Poems 2007-2010 (W.W. In addition to her poetry, Rich wrote several books of nonfiction prose, including Arts of the Possible: Essays and Conversations (W. About Rich’s work, the poet W.S. In 1997, she refused the National Medal of Arts, stating that “I could not accept such an award from President Clinton or this White House because the very meaning of art, as I understand it, is incompatible with the cynical politics of this administration.” Selected Bibliography
Blog | Marissa Meyer I’ll be posting a new deleted scene or excerpt from The Lunar Chronicles every Friday through January 27, spanning the releases of The Lunar Chronicles Coloring Book on December 6 and Wires and Nerve, vol. 1 on January 31. SPOILERS WARNING: Even though this scene was ultimately deleted (or heavily altered), it still contains information and references to things that did make it into the book. I strongly encourage readers to enjoy the published books before proceeding! Lunar Chronicles Deleted Scene #9 And here we are, the very last of the deleted scenes! A little backstory… As many of you know, I wrote the first drafts of Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress during NaNoWriMo 2008. So I wrote the scene in the hours leading up to midnight, and it was weird and crazy and a little silly, but I loved it, and it became my favorite thing that I wrote that entire month. Enjoy! From: Cress, 1st draft Featuring: Cinder, Wolf, Scarlet, and Thorne (who was named Woods in this early draft) (more…)