#book blurb writing techniques | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

basilone · 4 months

Note

I want to hear your thoughts on fandom and the recent influx of the term content creation!

Well, anon, you are in luck! (Or not, depending on your definition of luck. 😉) I just so happen to have many Thoughts & Opinions™ about this. I will get wordy, this will get lengthy, and I will be social and put most of my thoughts under a readmore cut.

I personally try to avoid the terms ‘content’ and ‘content creation’ when talking about fandom works and a fandom’s creative pursuits nowadays. Occasionally, sure, it happens that it slips out anyway – it’s a term we’re all really used to using! – but I want to be as mindful about its use as possible. This is a personal decision on my account and I won’t get uppity about other people’s use of these terms, though.

But, Killy, you might say... why would you avoid using these terms? For me, here’s why:

Content is not synonymous with art;

Content creation indicates something different than art creation;

Fandom should not be subject to consumerism;

Fandom is about connection.

If all a fandom puts out is classified as content, that fandom is going to die.

Yeah. I know. Melodramatic much? I’m on my fainting couch here, folks. 😂 But let’s dig in, shall we?

You know, maybe it’s just the archivist in me that balks at the term ‘content’. Content is a data entry field in the archival system we use at my real-life job: literally speaking, this data entry field is where we put a brief summary of the document attached to that specific archival file. It contains information that tells you the key takeaways of what the document is about, but it will not contain the full text of the document itself. Content is one of the points of access for our archival search: I know what I’m looking for, so I put a few keywords into our search and it pulls up the relevant file. But what do I need, really need, in my line of work? It’s the document itself, not the data entry field. The document tells me the whole story that I need to be able to truly do my job well. The content-field is a cliffnotes edition of that story.

It’s the same way with the art we create in fandom. I’m gonna take myself as an example here, because I create a fair bit! (Shocking, I know. Local Tumblr cryptid sighting, more at 11. 😎) I spend hours writing fic. I spend hours sorting through screencaps before screeching at Photoshop for a lengthy amount of time. I spend days pouring over quotes, books, documents, photographs, tutorials, and other things that will help me create something cool. I apply color theory, art framing/perspective, narrative focus, and many other theories and techniques to my writing and my giffing. If I were to put my finished work or any of my WIPs in that same archive system, it would be the document within the archival file. The tags I use on my posts? Those are markers similar to the content-field. They tell you who my gifset depicts and from which show it is. They tell you which OC of mine my fic is about. My work contains these things I tagged.

But my creative work is not content itself.

Content is marketable, easy access, blurb-y stuff. Content is something you absorb within one minute flat. Content is the highlight reel. It’s what fills a page, something you’ll scroll past in a heartbeat, something that barely stands out in a long long long list of stuff. Content is what you consume on a lazy Sunday afternoon without ever being forced to read lengthy pieces, take in the details of what you see, pause mid-scroll to ponder the meaning of life, whatever else have you. Create content and you create a flash in the pan, a quick laugh maybe, before it fizzles back out again. Create content and it’s here today and gone tomorrow without anyone mourning its absence for too long.

Art should last longer than that, don’t you think? 😉

So when I see people put a fic request in an askbox and it’s phrased like “Speirs x spy!reader fluff” and that very same request makes its way into about ten more askboxes before the fandom starts comparing asks? I might be inclined to classify us all as slot machines. Put an ask in and out rolls a fic. Who cares which slot machine it came from? As long as you’ve got your painstakingly crafted fics that you consume the same way you do actual content, right? We, its writers, are just lucky if we get a pat of acknowledgement on our little slot machine head for our troubles, aren’t we?

When I see an overly detailed summary of what sounds like a full-fledged fic in an askbox and the demand is “write this for me”, I recoil from the screen and go “child, who the hell birthed you, were you raised in a barn?” out loud. If you can tell a story in the space of an askbox, consider asking for help to let that story – a story you own, a story that is more yours that it could ever be mine – grow into what it has the potential to be.

When I see fics and gifsets and other creations get likes but not reblogs, I mutter something about the state of fandom economy these days. We exist in a little fandom bubble. Our bubble can’t expand or blow from place to place without a little help from our friends. And you’re my friends, right? I know the follow-button says follow, guys, believe me, I’m not that far gone, but for me ‘follow’ means ‘friend’. 💚 You’re my buddy now. Suck it up. We’ll share a can of peaches. 🍑

When I see fics and other creations get reblogged without tags or comments attached, I die a little on the inside. I feel like a little Victorian orphan child going “please, reblogger, a little penny of thought for its creator, if it pleases?”. I feel like commentless and/or tagless reblogging is giving me nothing, nothing at all, about who you are.

And I want to get to know you! I want to know who’s in my notes. I want to know who’s scrambling through my MotA gifsets like a fat little raccoon inhaling its third helping of a box of jelly-filled donuts. I want to know who is adopting which character and why. I want to know that it’s your birthday, or that you had a bad day and needed a pick-me-up, or that you are locked in an Ikea at three in the morning reading my blog by the bright lights of countless Solhetta bulbs. I want to know that you love my OC Darlene but that you ain’t sure what the hell my OC Lottie’s got to do with anything. I want to know what tickles you – a turn of phrase I used, a color in a gifset, a little detail I captured that made me go !!!!!! on the inside while I was creating too – and I want to know what moves you.

What reaches into the soil of your being and nourishes you enough to blossom into whichever lovely self you can grow to be? What is precious to you? What comforts you in the dark nights of your soul, when all light feels like it’s faded out? What do you love, truly love? What feeling and thought and idea and love love LOVE do you consume – truly consume, head to tail, no takebacks – and what are you consumed by in turn?

Let me connect with you. Let me know the little internet scraps of you that tell me you’re a DeMarco girlie, or that you’re here for Hoosier only, or that you’re as feral and batty about Speirs as I am, or that you actually really can’t stand the one dude everyone else raves about. Let me know that you like angsty quotes on gifsets – feel free to yell at me for making you schedule an impromptu therapy session – or let me know you saw what I did in my fic there and you’ll be demanding compensation from me while you lie down and wail about it. Let me know you’re very into those lovely blues on a gifset (I know, SO good, right??) or that you are side-eyeing me because that close-up of your fave turned you into a little puddle.

Let me know what moves you, because I created these things with love. I created them because they moved me, too. I created them because I have a story to tell, somehow. I created them because the whole world is a string of stories and I want to pass the heart of them on to you. I created them not because I want to jump on a hypetrain that races past all the episodes and all the alternate universes and all the stories without stopping, but because I want to soak up the sun and point at something and tell you “look, isn’t this beautiful?”. I created them not because I am looking for a quick fix or a distraction or an escape, but because I want to give you something that nourishes you as it has nourished me.

That’s so much more than that quick flash in the pan, yeah? That’s so much more than what content could ever hope to be. That’s something that lasts beyond the clicks and gives you an ever-expanding horizon that leaves you wondering just what in the world is next.

Let me repeat point five: if all a fandom puts out is classified as content, that fandom is going to die. Because content doesn’t sustain you. Connection does. And connection? That happens with meaningful interaction. That happens when you stop getting followers and start getting friends. That happens when you treat all forms of art as something unique that can be precious to someone, rather than something to like today and forget about tomorrow.

Can I do a lil mic drop? Yeah. I think I’m gonna. Just this once. 🎤

#fandom things #yeah so this got long but in my defense I have never pontificated about this in public much before #sometimes I reveal myself as the crochety little fandom old I am #creative asks

61 notes · View notes

olderthannetfic · 2 years

Note

I recently downloaded TikTok because I embarked a depressive spiral and watching stupid videos for hours really helps taking my mind off of horrible feelings.

Anyways, I ended up on booktok and writertok, and I noticed that a lot of people advertise their novels through Ao3 tags (enemies to lovers, m/m relationship, fluff, etc) but rarely talk about the plot. This lead to me digging even more into "contemporary" advertising techniques, and found out that literally on every single platform (besides Goodreads) authors advertise their newest novel in those terms: Ao3 tags, and sometimes a very short blurb.

Maybe it's just me, but this annoys me a lot, because it feels like authors/publishing houses noticed how important the tagging system is for online reading communities, but then proceeded to not understand any of it.

First of all, the tagging system works only if you use it correctly: I might use it to find a story whose plot is "fluff and angst," but I might also use it to exclude stories that contain self harm. Authors/publishing houses only use """positive""" tags: I have yet to see a novel that brings to the possible readers' attention the fact that the story contains SA, or an abusive relationship, or domestic violence. A while ago, there was a minor scandal because a writer advertised her novel as being "dark romance, erotic, enemies to lovers" and completely forgot to mention the extensive abuse and sexual violence the male character inflicts upon the female one, causing readers to drop the book and leave negative reviews.

Second of all, writers on Ao3 still use summaries. Fic writers continuously complain about how hard writing good summaries is because that's what they use to catch the readers' attentions. Tags aren't enough. You're not telling me anything with "M/M, friends to lovers, coffee shop AU, mutual pining." Readers need an idea of what the plot is going to be too!

And before people try to drag me for thinking that books need to have "tags visible" and complain about how fics aren't supposed to be the only things you read and not everything is Ao3: I AM AWARE OF IT, THANK YOU. I'm talking about this new way of advertising novels that people have been using, where it originates from, and what they do wrong with it.

Many of those books will sell better if they don't reveal how little of a plot they actually have.

532 notes · View notes

cardicoven · 5 months

Text

🥀Book Review: Persephone's Pathway: Wisdom, Magick & Growth by Jennifer Heather

Full Title: Persephone's Pathway: Wisdom, Magick, Growth Author: Jennifer Heather Published by: Heather Publishing (seemingly self published) 2020 Good Reads: Link My Quick Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) stars. Persephone’s Pathway which while flawed and at times meandering is perhaps the best resource available for the modern pagan worshipping or working with Persephone and I wholly recommend it. Official Blurb: Persephone's Pathway is one of balance and duality; embrace the dual goddess archetype of Underworld Queen and Spring Maiden in order to achieve harmony. This book shares the wisdom of Persephone, along with spells and rituals to help you in your daily life. Shadow work exercises encourage you to work with the Underworld aspect of the Dark Goddess, whilst flower magick celebrates the joy and gentleness of the Spring Goddess. Blend the dark and light aspects together to experience how they shine a light on each other in this celebration of wholeness and authenticity. Personal Reason for Purchasing: Was looking for a pagan/witchy perspective on Persephone and stubbled across this one. (Bought from Amazon UK)

Overview of the book's contents. Introduction: A solid introduction, focusing on what the purpose of this book will be, and the author’s goals in writing it, namely ‘an exploration of the mythology and Symbolism surrounding Persephone, along with chapters dedicated to a facet of what she can teach us’, ‘both a collection of information and tribute to her’. Chapter 1: 'Who is Persephone': Introduction to Persephone, her role, dual nature, The Eleusinian mysteries, possible connections to Erishkegal (a mesopotamia goddess originating 4000 BC), and of course the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. Chapter 2: 'Historic Origins': An exploration of the genesis of Persephone in Mythology, through to the Evolution of her story in present day literature. (A personal highlight). Chapter 3: 'A Myth Retold': A modern retelling of the hymn to Demeter by the author. Chapter 4: 'Symbolism': An exploration of the artefacts associated with Persephone, both modern and ancient, the creation of a unique glyph/sigil for Persephone and an extensive and detailed discussion of association/correspondences, some ancient, some contemporary and lastly her common epithets. Chapter 5: 'Creating an Altar': A collection of suggestions and guidelines on creating your own altar for Persephone and common offerings to gift the Goddess. Chapter 6: 'Persephone Magick: Begins with a basic beginners to magickal practice, followed by a recipe for a Persephone Anointing oils, a guide to connecting to Persephone, an innovation and an adaption of the Orphic Hymn to Proserpina.

The Seeds of Persephone A collection of chapters surrounding what the Author considers to be the six core aspects/values which Persephone embodies. Seed 1: 'Union': Focuses on Shadow-work, divine alignment for body and Spirit union, and includes a spell for Spiritual union of lovers, guidance surrounding meditation, shadow-work rituals, and a recipe for a love attraction oil. Seed 2: 'Balance': Begins with a discussion of how to, and the importance of maintaining balance in one’s life, including a meandering discussion of grounding, living with the seasons, incorporating nature into your life, meditation, seasonal altars, self-care, massage, and yoga. Lastly it includes recipes for a Persephone Beauty Elixer’ cream/lotion, a medicinal tonic, a spell for resolution, and a spell for making a decision. Seed 3: 'Intuition': Looks at ways to develop one’s intuition, including an outline for a Persephone focused Lithomancy technique (10 planetary stones, 6 Persephone stones (named for each of the author’s ‘Seeds’: Fertility, Justice, Balance, Union, Sovereignty and Intuition), three tarot spreads and the script for a guided meditation. Seed 4: 'Sovereignty': Is a discussion of [personal Sovereignty, and self-esteem, with journal prompts. Guidance on enchanting a power talisman, and a spell for protecting personal boundaries. Seed 5: 'Justice': Focuses heavily on Persephone in her Queen of the Underworld Aspect, touching on several myths in which she acted as a Purveyor of justice, (Orpheus and Psyche, and a discussion on Trust in regards to the Goddess. Followed by Several spells for truth telling, reflection on behaviour and fair resolutions. Seed 6: 'Fertility': Focuses on Persephone's Spring/Maiden Aspect. Followed by a discussion of Maiden goddesses, Flower Magick, creating Floral elixirs, cleansing sprays, a flower bathing ritual, and spell jars/Witch’s bottles. Followed by the Associations/correspondences and finally a script of a guided meditation, to meet Persephone in her Spring Aspect. Appendix: The Orphic hymn to Proserpina, translated by Taylor Thomas 1792.

Personal Thoughts and Review. I’m conflicted about this book. The first half is an excellent primer on Persephone and including her into one’s personal practice however, the second half the ‘Seeds of Persephone’ are at times Meandering, unfocused and clumsy, but there are jewels among the ramblings.

The book appears to be self published, so I’m inclined to be kinder to the Author than I would otherwise be; however, Persephone’s Pathway could really use reformatting (text justified etc), and would benefit immensely from an informed and passionate editor. Nevertheless this book is an excellent edition to the libraries of those of us who work with Persephone.

Aspects in detail. General content: The first half goes over a lot of content around Persephone, in some detail and is appropriately referenced through allowing the reader to research further. The Second half (the Seeds) is a mixed bag and approaches certain subjects extremely casually, namely Shadow-work and herbal medicine. Persephone’s correspondences: Primarily contained to Chapter 4, the Correspondences are in depth, reference and diverse. However, there are inaccuracies, the most obvious is a mention of Corn/Maize being cut as a part of the Eleusinian Mysteries. As a New World crop Corn was not in ancient Greece at the time and as such has no historical connection to the Mysteries. From my own understanding the crop cut during the Mysteries was likely Barley, a grain though to have great significance to the Eleusinian Mysteries as a part of the hallucinogenic cocktail thought to be drunk by initiates, barley is also part of the offering given by Oddyseus to summon Persephone (“first with milk and honey, then with sweet wine, then with water; and sprinkle white barley-meal above”). Rituals and Spells: It’s Always interesting to see another practitioner's approach, and covering a very broad scope although, I wish they were indexed since they appear throughout the book. Origin Myth retelling: An interesting retelling, possibly my favourite version, however it is not without flaws. Guided Meditations: Enjoyable and Interesting, these scripts approach many aspects of Persephone’s Mythos. Journaling Prompts: These appear seemingly at random in the latter half of the book, but are nevertheless thought provoking. Recommended Reading: While good to see, it is worthy of note that none of these books reference Persephone, Hellenic Polytheism, or Shadow-work. Which are the topics I would like to see additional material given some of my concerns with the book itself. Bibliography: Extensive and good practice.

The Seeds in Detail. Given their significance to the book I’ll review these chapters separately: Union: a clumsy chapter whose advice on Shadow-work is surface level and possibly dangerous for a beginner or someone who is mentally vulnerable. But this chapter does handle the topic of Love workings with the required levity. Balance: Waffling and honestly feels like filler, of the seeds this one is disappointing and feels like lost potential. Intuition: a major highlight of the book, a detailed exploration of Lithomancy, well written and thought provoking. Sovereignty: A good chapter, if a little long winded. Justice: Spectacular, discussion of Queen Persephone and of how to connect to the Underworld Aspect. A personal highlight. Fertility: An excellent close to the book but desperately needs reformatting.

Final Thoughts. I wholly recommend this book especially as a gateway into working with or worshipping Persephone. Despite its flaws, it is the best resource I’ve found on Persephone from a pagan/witch perspective, and my practice is better for reading it.

42 notes · View notes

rrcraft-and-lore · 3 months

Text

Yeah, alright, no. No don't this. I'll do you a few fucking better and teach you right here and now how to do this: You game? Blurb and lesson time. Got you. First up, a SPOOC. This is one technique that can be expanded (gonna give you examples too). WRITING LESSONS AHOY:

SPOOC = Situation, protagonist, objective, obstacles/opponents, climax/cost. So, when Frodo Baggins (protagonist) inherits the Ring of Power (Situation), he must set out on a quest to destroy it (objective). But, will he succeed when the forces of sauron and saruman unite and

try to reclaim the one ring and use its power to destroy Middle Earth (climax - cost if failure). This specific example is taught by Jim Butcher so if you want some weight behind it. There you go. It works. Want to know how to do a blurb? Practice, but check it:

Who is it? What's going on?

Why should we care?

What happens if the hero fails?

If you can, end on a snappy one liner or question. You can open on one too or a question like it.

What do shadows darting across the walls, cryptic writing, black fog, and a little girl who can see ghosts have in common? Paranormal investigator and soul without a body, Vincent Graves, has forty-four hours to find out. To make matters worse, his years of body-hopping and monster-hunting are catching up with him. He's losing his mind. An old contact has shut him out. To top it all off, something's skulking through an asylum, killing patients. Three guesses who might be next, and the first two don't count. The writing on the wall is not so clear. But one thing is: if he doesn't figure this out he's a dead man--well, deader--and a strange young girl might follow. Vincent's got his back against a wall, and that wall's crumbling. Some days it's not worth it to wake up in someone else's body.

That's Grave Measures - book two in my urban fantasy detective series. Who is it - covered. What's going on? Why should we care (the stakes to the protagonist and more). The costs. And the above.

It's not rocket science, and doesn't have to be.

Here's one from book three:

Don't make deals with the paranormal. They're better at it than you, and they never play fair. Paranormal investigator and soul without a body, Vincent Graves, did just that—a deal made in desperation. Now it's coming back to bite him in the middle of a case. He has 57 hours to investigate a string of deaths involving people who've made some devilish bargains. Too bad devils don't deal in good faith. It'd be easy enough, if he didn't have to deal with things such as: - Being hunted through the streets of Queens by a dark elf with a motorcycle fetish. - Ending up the target of a supernatural hit. - An old acquaintance dragging him to a paranormal ball where he could end up on the menu. - And having one of his closest guarded secrets brought to light... Not great for a tight clock, because if he doesn't get to the bottom of this case in time, Vincent and company might just lose their souls. Dirty deals are never done dirt cheap. And the supernatural always collect—big!

Same formula. A lot of fiction uses it. You just might not realize it. You don't need a fucking AI. You need a few minutes every day of practice. You got that. You got this!

With SPOOC, you can outline a whole damn novel.

You get a snappy two-liner pitch to sell with. YOu can expand it into summaries for each book to make up LOTR in this case or your series.

Then you can reverse engineer and keep expanding each summary. It does it for you.

17 notes · View notes

nanowrimo · 2 years

Text

What Books To Read at Each Stage of Writing Your Novel

Have you ever wondered what books to read while writing your novel? In this article, Ph.D. and NaNo writer Ursula Saqui offers books to read at every stage of your novel.

With all the craft books available, you might ask yourself, "Should I save a cat, outline using the snowflake method, or take advice from Stephen King?"

The question is also what book to read when. For example, read about subplots when you start writing, and you might get so overwhelmed that you stop altogether. Or, if you draft your story without knowing genre expectations, you'll have to make significant revisions later.

The following are a few of my favorite books and where they best fit into the writing process.

Before you start writing

The books you read before writing should deconstruct common myths (e.g., suffering is necessary for good writing) that could distract you while also getting you into an optimistic (yet realistic) mindset about the work ahead.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert is the answer to gut-punching questions like "Who am I to be writing this?" that arise in the gap between having an idea and getting it onto paper. Gilbert offers advice on serious topics such as courage, permission, and persistence while playing the role of your adventurous friend tugging at your sleeve, saying, "Let's go. It will be fun." You will finish this book with a plan to handle fear, rejections, and slumps.

Next, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird will help you get your pen ready with chapters about the necessity of writing "Shitty First Drafts" and how to focus on writing what you care about ("The Moral Point of View"). By taking Lamott's advice, you will get your intuition back and start trusting yourself even on the first draft.

While you are writing

Now you have confidence, strategies for dealing with roadblocks, and some words written. But, whether you are a pantser or a plotter, you will get stuck and need to fix gaps and edit.

If you want a clear explanation of terms such as "plot point" and "inciting incident," the mechanics of story arcs, and an easy structure for writing scenes, then James Scott Bell's Plot & Structure is the best reference. With 14 chapters on technique, writing exercises, and a checklist of critical points, this book offers advice that you can immediately implement and improve your writing.

Matt Bell's Refuse to be Done also offers concrete advice about things such as creating characters and reusing settings in Section One. However, the biggest benefits come in Sections Two and Three. Section Two guides your first draft to a structurally sound second draft through re-outlining and rewriting. Section Three takes your second draft through multiple editing passes to get you to a final draft that is agent-ready.

After you are done writing

When your book is nearly ready for publication, Courtney Maum's Before and After the Book Deal will be a must-read. She answers such practical questions as how authors get paid and how to survive book tours and trickier ones such as how to handle resentment when other authors don't write a blurb for your book and what to do when you hate your book cover.

Finally, whether or not you end up with a book deal, The Way of the Writer by Charles Johnson will be an excellent read after you finish your novel. It takes you out of the frenzy and reminds you about the fundamentals: the call to write, devotion to the craft, and the pleasure of words. His longevity as a writer and teacher is inspiring and reminds us that we are writers beyond any one work, published or not, as long as we keep putting words to the page.

Ursula Saqui, Ph.D., is a consultant and researcher by day and creative writer by night with works in The Daily Drunk and Multiplicity Magazine. Her current novel in progress is a thriller, The Mancari Murders, which she started during NaNoWriMo 2021. When she is not drinking tea, writing, or hiking, she is shooing any one of their four cats off her desk. You can find her on Twitter at @UrsulaSaqui.

#nanowrimo #camp nano #writing advice #writing novels #ursula saqui #by nano guest #book recs

211 notes · View notes

annbourbon · 3 months

Text

After reading What is...? by @creativepromptsforwriting (if you haven't read her blog or follow her WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?)

I decided to add some of my notes here too. Because it's on the little things I've been studying every night to get better at writing. So please consider this post as part/collab of "What is...?"

★Please keep in mind that this comes from someone whose first language it's not english, so, what for some might be obvious, for others it is not.

Blurb? is a short promotional description on your book. But can also be used to promote movies and other things.

Needs: Hook + Keywords (define an audience) + keep it short and leave them wanting for more.

* Remember to check for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Nowadays you can use quotes from your book as promo too. Pinterest is your best ally here. Make a bunch of attractive images with a colorful quotes and upload it on your social media! ^♡^

Honestly when it comes to promos you should exploit it all (meaning: create quotes, collage, your cover, promos, etc!) Be your own fan. Create a playlist, ambience, set the mood. Let your own world drag you into the woods, do not resist it.

If you love it, other will love it too.

W.I.P.? Means Work in Progress. So you have yet a lot to do to finish your story. it's okay, it takes time \^♡^/

Pathetic fallacy Vs Personification?

Pathetic fallacy

It's specifically about giving emotions to something non-human (objects, nature, or animals)

Writers use the pathetic fallacy to evoke a specific mood or feeling that usually reflects their own or a character's internal state. While I have seen some detractors of using this technique, think of Emily Brontë novel, Wuthering Heights, or Shakespeare in several of his works like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. Or Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. So study it and use it carefully and you should be fine. Times change but you should write however you want too.

Personification

On the other hand, is giving any human attribute to an object.

Think of The Beauty and the Beast, Alice in Wonderland, and Toy Story as great examples of what personification is.

Atmosphere? is the way an author uses setting, objects, or internal thoughts of characters to create emotion, mood, or experiences for the reader.

For me Mary Shelley with Frankenstein is one of the most accurate examples I can give, but when I think about it, Robinson Crusoe, and Moby Dick, both feel tremendously claustrophobic and desperate to the reader, full of details, the time passes slowly and it's insufferable. Which in theory is not okay because the reader can drop the book but guess what? They're classic because you want to know what happens next. Which brings me to my next point, if you want to know more about the art of writing, you should try the following channels on YT:

Abbie Emmons

She has some interesting videos, but one crazy tip that will change your mind. It actually works. And don't worry, she keeps repeating it over and over so you learn it too. She also offers some courses and several activities like writing together (in case you're trying to write but can't, now you have a date!)

Ellie Dashwood

If you're into social dynamics, subtlety and want to get better writing period stories wether they are romantic or dramas, then she's your best bet. While she doesn't teach you how to write better she does teach you literature and history. And trust me, some of these things can be more than helpful. The way she analyzes and provides for clarification over social situations has made me understand not just Jane Austen but my own time in a different way.

Fiction Beast

This is showing me a lot of literature and making me read classics. Of course it wouldn't work if it wasn't because of Ellie but it's a must! because it does explains a lot.

Ana Neu

I just discovered her and Ellen so I can't say a lot of things but their videos have been really helpful with some of the things I've been working on especially with Fit or Die, so you should check out both of these girls.

Ellen Brock

and of course, he needs no introduction, but if you didn't know, he has several classes posted on his channel which have been helping me tremendously.

Brandon Sanderson

*Disclaimer: They're not paying me for doing promo. I just do this on my own account because I truly admire their work and effort put into it. Plus, I always do this for anyone if I truly admire the way they work. And I believe this is helpful for anyone with hopes of becoming an author. Even if it's just a hobby. Have fun~!

6 notes · View notes

talenlee · 5 months

Text

Story Pile: The Traitor, Baru Cormorant

The Traitor, Baru Cormorant is an exquisitely detailed book about a queer woman from a colonised people striking out to use her wits and her brains to try and topple that empire from within, and it is written very clearly and well to explore those ideas. You spend a lot of time with Baru herself, which means if she is a character that resonates with you you get to feel her emotional state very deep and true, the constant cleverness, the non-stop backbiting of things she wants to say but won’t because it’s not part of the plan, and her emotional depths when things go badly for her. She is a character who really writes in large letters the struggles of Designed Femininity, where society has mandated a way you can be, and she has to operate within those parameters, all while rankling against them. If you’ve heard me talk about living a life under surveillance, Baru Cormorant is a protagonist who lives that way and what she does to take command of her life. I need you to know this up front because that’s all I’m going to tell you before I start on the Spoiler Warning.

I’m not kidding. Yeah I know. I know! And I’m not even planning on spoiling much of the plot or anything. Yeah it’s that kinda book! Really! I’m going to discuss spoilers for the book, but not in the most specific of ways. Still, this is a book where being surprised is an important part of it, and if you’re the kind of person who wants to feel smarter than the book you’re reading by outwitting it, even knowing the kinds of spoilers can feel like I’m robbing you of some of your fun. I absolutely do not want to diminish the fun of anyone who aims to enjoy this book. And you might! It’s very raw, it’s very real, and it’s extremely high quality work that you should consider reading if any of that seems exciting to you.

I would really recommend reading the audio book, because a lot of the book is dialogue between two characters and I think a good audio book reader would be able to help differentiate those voices in a way that makes it easier to follow. No small part of The Traitor Baru Cormorant is people having important, ideologically loaded conversations with one another in reasonably similar character voice because they’ve almost all been trained to speak that way.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant is about a traitor, right there on a tin. And you might think ‘ahah, of course, she’s a traitor to the empire, like the book jacket blurb says’ and yeah, of course, but also, other things as well, because this is a book that obscures information from you. And if you’re not aware, this book, on its own, has a bummer of an ending, because it’s built towards that bummer of an ending. The bummer of an ending was a short story released before the book was written, and the whole rest of the book was written to get to that bummer of an ending.

There’s a kind of narrative I often see that wants to put a character in a terrible position and then work out how they got there and how they feel about it. This is by no means a bad way to tell a story, and a good writing technique for jogging your creative process into action. What I wonder about is what situation you choose. There are impulses that create different stories; asking the question of ‘imagine if a character had to do this awful thing and it was the best thing to do’ kind of storytelling. You may recognise this as the Christian Baby hypothesis, or the Wizard With A Bomb scenario. You put the character in an impossibly bad situation to see how they handle it, and the story can only possibly explain how things got to that impossibly bad situation.

In this case, this from-the-worst-spot, fill-in-backwards narrative has a lot of options to explain things. Unfortunately for my tastes, The Traitor Baru Cormorant leaves you with two obvious forks for the story to go down; one, this ending, these choices are worth it, and there are genocides worth doing and hate crimes worth perpetuation, or, two, the realisation that no, actually, these things have been for naught and all the suffering we see is foolish and we have been in the seat next to a protagonist who has destroyed everything good for nothing. People don’t die for principles or hope, they just die, in torturous and cruel ways, because being clever isn’t the same as being good.

It’s not a book I want to read a second piece from, because I can’t imagine the story that got to this end point getting to a point where I want to see it. Like, this story went ‘here, this is an ending that makes you want to see more, right?’ and it makes me go: No! No I do not! This ending looks a lot like it sucks, and I do not care to watch you do it again. I do not think you can do a better job because you think this is a great job! My heart is not broken, my soul is not rent. I am deflated, because the book is clever, and the conclusion is smart, and it believes in economics of power, which are serious and mature, and not in the idea that you should be able to blaze a fire into the heart of an empire and just keep killing the bad people before you. I have seen queer women die for tragic conspiracy’s sake in the heart of an empire before, it has lost its lustre.

They are not the things that make my heart sing. They are not the things that resonate with me. They do not leave me thinking ‘what if I’d stayed in that cult and made it stronger and got a lot of people messed up just so I could betray the cult’ or ‘what if I could fix things by becoming Prime Minister.’ The book jacket describes it as brutal and gutwrenching, but to have that impact, I have to care about what’s happening, and I kinda don’t. I do not feel like I am in this space, I do not think any of these characters are meaningfully going to experience anything but the awful oppression of their lives and in the end, we all die. I have no hope for this story to dash, because I have been in the spaces it imagines and I do not think empires are changed by committing the right atrocities.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant is a supernatural fantasy novel and the supernatural fantasy it believes in is a rational economy that can be predictably manipulated from a central source to achieve reliable ends. It’s a world where eugenics is maintained, where anti-homosexuality laws work, and where the empire has brainwashing magic that can change people’s minds. This story is about an empire that’s exactly as good at maintaining its empire as empires tell you they are, and whose systems work. It’s kinda the vibe of ‘but the trains do run on time,’ you’ll hear. How do you fight that? Well, you make a lot of compromises and you treat people like things and you plan to kill an empire by doing terrible things all while pretending you’re doing them for the right reason but you’re really doing them for the really right reason.

It does also present the possibility that you can win fights against the Empire’s agents by beating them with hammers. That seems an underrated part of the story.

These are complaints of how I felt about what The Traitor Baru Cormorant executed on what it was doing, but they are not complaints I would say that should change it at all. These are in many cases, decidedly personal dissent with the book, because of how it feels shaped against the contours of my life, of a surveillanced childhood, of fear of death, of the belief in an implacable empire. They aren’t complaints I think should concern anyone else.

I guess if I had to level a criticism against Baru Cormorant is that I don’t think anyone’s having any fun. It’s not like the story promises fun! It’s a story about the movements of economies and colonialism and imperialism, and our central character is non-stop reflecting on how this isn’t what she wants to do or how she wants to do them and how she’s obsessed with ensuring she’s presenting the truly correct vision of who she is to who she wants to be, including to the reader. Like, there are points where our second-person narrator hides information from us because it would make the inevitable reveal more interesting. That’s cool! That’s impressive! The realpolitik of the opening half of the book is absolutely interesting and impressively thorough!

But god damn it’s not fun.

There is a comparison that I have been nursing while I read this book that has been getting more and more confusing ever since I started, where the success of The Locked Tomb has been seen as at odds with The Traitor Baru Cormorant. This comparison feels alien to me. The Locked Tomb books are a mystery novel following, at first, an immense idiot who isn’t paying attention, a soaking wet goth rat trying to outwit her own history and schizophrenia, and then a YA girls’ novel. The books are wildly unlike The Traitor Baru Cormorant, which is largely a book about the movements of economies and colonialism and empires, which happens to centre on a queer woman who doesn’t do a good job of treating people like people.

I think if you made this comparison, if you said ‘this is good and this is bad’ then you’re probably making some pretty boring comparisons. Baru Cormorant is a queer woman whose – distinctly queer – inner life and her relationship to her sexuality are central and vital to the story and regularly made prominent in the narrative. Because they’re a crime and she lives in a homophobic police state. But you’re going to get much more prominence to how she thinks and feels about that than the Locked Tomb’s gaggle of failures who are safe to be open about things and then aren’t open about things, because they’re also useless.

I think The Traitor Baru Cormorant is an impressive book that didn’t captivate me.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Media #Story Pile

2 notes · View notes

hearts4hughes · 8 months

Text

since i’ve gotten a few inbox asks about this:

here’s one major, major writing tip. i’m going to sound like a total parent by saying this (forgive me) but reading is a key way to improve your writing. my writing improved significantly after i began reading.

and i understand if reading may not be your favorite thing, it’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. however, i bet (for most people) that you haven’t found the genre of books that interests you. my advice is to go to a book store near you and actually take the time to stroll around and find a book that calls to you. read the blurbs, look at reviews online, and even read a few pages. it’s totally ok if it takes a while to find the right book or genre for you. i promise it’s worth it. especially if you want to improve your writing skill / techniques!

#nora rambles :0 #writing tips #books teach even if you are reading a romance novel

5 notes · View notes

canenotabeltofunction · 2 years

Text

Does anyone else have the problem of just-

Not being able to hold a hobby?

And when I say that I mean, I have a lot of hobbies, I like art, I like to make candles, and soap, I like writing, I like D&D, I like reading, etc-

But it’s like I can literally only balance doing one or two of them within a 2 month period.

It’s not like my hobbies change or I don’t like them anymore. It’s more that I will obsess over 1 or 2 hobbies for two months and then I switch back to some other hobby or hobbies that I’m interested in.

Like when I focus on painting I will find lots of references, organize all my paints, try new techniques, literally paint for hours every day and won’t even open my D&D campaign for 2 months.

Then when it switches I might focus on my D&D campaign and work on stats, background stories, enemies, storylines, etc. and I won’t paint hardly at all unless someone requests something. (I do art commissions btw HERE)

Even trying to balance my witchcraft practice with my hobbies is tough because it’s kind of all or nothing with me. Either I spend hours researching and crafting spells and doing workings or I MIGHT pull a tarot card or two once a week. There’s no in between.

Like I can’t just casually go play Skyrim for an hour and then read a few chapters of a book. I have to play Skyrim for hours or read an entire novel. I don’t know how to just casually enjoy something and it sucks.

And it’s frustrating cause on the outside it seems like I’m changing hobbies all the time but I’m not just starting one and completely giving up- I just literally cannot focus on more than one at a time.

Like the other hobbies are still enjoyable I guess. I MIGHT design a candle or maybe write out a character blurb but I usually can’t make myself do more than that if it’s not the hobby I’ve fixated on that month.

Does anyone else have this problem? Is this an ADD thing? Am I just broken? Is this weird?

#adhd brain #adhd feels #adhd inattentive #mental health #please help #send help #why do i do these things #why am i like dis #why am i like this #art #art commissions

6 notes · View notes

philippmichelreichold · 22 days

Text

Space Dreadnoughts by Dave Drake

Space Dreadnoughts is a Military Science Fiction anthology by David Drake, Martin H Greenberg and Charles G Waugh. The contents in order of appearance are:

"Introduction: A quick Look at Battle Fleets" by David Drake

"The Only Thing We Learn" by Cyril M. Kornbluth

"C-Chute" by Isaac Asimov

"Allamagoosa" by Eric Frank Russell (won the Hugo Award for bestshort story in 1955)

"A Question of Courage" by J. F. Bone

"Superiority" by Arthur C. Clarke

"Hindsight" by Jack Williamson

"The Last Battalion" by David Drake

"Shadow on the Stars" by Algis Budrys

"Time Lag" by Poul Anderson

The first Military Sci Fi story I remember is the Star Trek TOS episode "Balance of Terror," in which Enterprise duels with a Romulan interloper. The military conflict was setting to other conflicts between the crew, the story was full of suspense, and actual battle was a small part of the story. And so it is here.

The book's title is a misnomer. The back cover blurb is misleading-- "Massive and arrogant, they patrol the final war zone-- deep space. All great battleships before them-- . . . are mere toys in comparison." It goes on about "bristling artillery" and "battalions of souldiers." I expected fleet actions involving capital ships. Tactics. Maneuvers. Gunplay. While there are fleet actions and even battleships in some of these stories, they are mere backdrops on a stage where people play out the stories. Truly good Science Fiction involves people, and in all these stories, the people overshadow the military settings that serve only to bring out the characters and whatever lessons there are to be learned from them. All of these stories are well worth reading.

"Introduction: A quick Look at Battle Fleets" Mr Drake's introduction is a wonderful introspective about the history of the Dreadnought battleships with a mention of two 1950's Astounding essays on the armaments of spaceships-- one by Willy Ley, the other by Malcolm Jameson. If one is going to write stories about ship-to-ship combat, the introduction is a good starting point. But only a starting point. One should definitely read Mahan, and consider the lessons of Taranto and Pearl Harbor. And the US Navy's Harpoon's and Tomahawk's are wonderful arguments in favor of missles over guns. One should also consider the time honored techniques of ramming and boarding actions.

Perhaps the question of guns vs missles is mooted today. The arms race has continued in Sci-Fi beyond what could be imagined with a knowledge of 1950's physics. The Ley and Jameson essays were written before Empire of Man fighters raked Formoria, before rail guns, and CTD imploders, before GRASER's, X-ray LASER's and phaser banks, before the Moties bombarded Mote Prime with asteroids, and before Captain Sheridan laid a gigaton on Z'ha'dum.

"The Only Thing We Learn" Kornbluth tells a cautionary tale of faded Imperial glory. The barbarians at the gates will one day have descendants that are as decadent and prissy as the effete and ineffectual empire they deposed and replaced. History blurs and magnifies the epic tales of glory. The details are lost. The character is lost. One day a fresh wave of barbarians sweeps aside succcessors that their ancestors would be ashamed to acknowledge. The reader may decide what relationship if any there is between this story and the quote from Friedrich Hegel. A fun story despite the dire consequences for the past and future losers. In his column, "Rereading Kornbluth", Robert Silverberg calls The Only Thing We Learn, "a subtle, oblique, elliptical, sardonic piece of work."

"C-Chute" Dr. Asimov wrote this story in 1951. It is a psychodrama set aboard a passenger ship taken as a prize by a race of chlorine breathers in Earth's first intersteller war. Each of the passengers is sketched by Asimov to reveal their several flaws of personality, physicality or character. Each has reasons why he should not exit the cabin via the C-chute, EVA, and enter and retake the control room from outside the ship. The reason for the dubious hero to take the heroic action required to retake the ship is one unlikey to appear in the work of any author but Dr. Asimov.

"Allamagoosa" This story won the 1955 Hugo for best short story. It's a farcical look at officious bureaucracy of the greatest gravity. It's sort of a shaggy dog story, wink, wink. This story in and of itself is worth buying the book for. The build up and so obvious in hindsight ending is fresh enough to be as enjoyable today as it was then.

"A Question of Courage" Sometimes flair and heedless risk taking can be mistaken for true personal courage. When the genuine article appears, there's no mistaking it. Bone craftliy deveops his characters and sets the reader up for the old maidish Captain "Cautious Charley" Chase of Lachesis to reveal his true nature. It is available from Project Gutenberg.

"Superiority" Sir Arthur requires no introduction for this story, a reductio ad absurdum about the principle of Illusory Superiority. Technology and bedazzlment with the latest, most theoretically wonderful advances are no substitutes for common sense and sound military doctrine. Perhaps this should serve as a cautionary tale at a time when Iraqi insurgents hack into our drones. According to Wikipedia, this gem was required reading at West Point. The reader easily empathizes with the narrator and his plight, revealed at the end.

"Hindsight" Jack Williamson has won both the Nebula and the Hugo Awards, and had a career that spanned about seventy years. This story involves temporal mechanics and love, oppression and liberation, and meeting engagements. Incidentally, the guns employed by the Astrach's fleet are of 20-inch caliber and fire four salvos per second. It's a tightly written story, though I think the ending is a little drippy.

"The Last Battalion" Imagine that Hitler did not die in a bunker in Berlin, but escaped via U-Boat to a secret Waffen-SS base in New Swabia. There German scientists built flying saucers from which they reached the moon to to mine aluminum and build more flying saucers. Now imagine them getting into a war with aliens. With things not looking so good, they kidnap a US Senator to let him know what is going on, intending to drag the US into the conflict. Before they can get where they're going with the Senator, the aliens lay a nuke on their Antartic base. They drop the Senator off to find his own way home. He asks them what they will do. Their colonel replies, we are SS-- we will fight.

"Shadow on the Stars" Budrys's Farlans are felinoid aliens who at first blush look like humans in cat suits. But they are, on a closer look, "raving paranoid quote." The paranoia is pathological and eventually fatal for Farla-- any military leader with sufficient ability to be effective cannot be trusted by Farla's rulers, and will be killed at the earliest sign of that fatal disease, military competence. The story is a retrospective, the central character telling how he and Farla came to be in their present straits. It is too late for him to convey the warning against trusting Earth, and to late to avoid the inevitable dissolution of Farla.

I have a problem accepting the plot device Budrys uses to set up the narrative, but otherwise the story is interesting and fun to read. The prose is a bit over decourous and affected, but that brings out the effeteness and pretentiousness of the Farlan culture. At the start, the Farlans are hard-pressed by a barabarian culture, the Vilk, and need a strong, capable leader to drive them back. OF course the strong, capable leaders keep their heads down so has not to find themselves assassinated by the Ministry of Preparedness-- and then comes L'Miranid. A previously unknown reservist, he quickly dominates the Fleet and whips them into shape. Victory follows victory until the Vilk host is driven back, their subject planets pounded to rubble, and a Farlan imposed king seated upon their throne.

The real story action is not fleet engatgements and daring raids, though. The story is related by Henlo, one of those capable leaders who has balanced command of a capital ship wtih avoiding notice by the governmental hunters down of competence. He starts the story as having a clear understanding of Farla's problems and the steps necessary to remedy them, but can't afford to be noticed. He becomes L'Mararind's aid, admirer, vice-admiral, intended assasin and successor, and finally, his unwilling co-conspirator and successor. Unwilling to be assasinated himself, he seizes control of the Farlan government. By this time, the sad (for Farla) truth is known to him, but (I love Latin quotes.) "alea jacta est." This is a fine little story with a lovely twist toward the end.

"Time Lag" Poul Anderson has won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. Time Lag is a study in contrasts-- evil, greedy invaders against noble, selfless defenders. Chertkoi is a heavily overpopulated industrial planet, drowning in pollution and resource starved. Vaynamo is pristine, with a population sustainable through resource management. Vayanmo is never the less technologically advanced, with the technology's goal as preservation rather than exploitation. Expolitation is the name of Chertkoi's game. It's people conquer other worlds to fuel the industrial fires that smother their world under a cloud of pollution.

The archetype of the Chertoi is the Admiral commanding the invasion fleet. He is matched against the story's view point character, Elva. Elva is the widow of a Vayanmoan noble and prisoner of the Admiral. He is gross, vulgar and uncouth. She is pretty, cultured and well-mannered. He is a love struck boor, hopelessly smitten by her. She subtly endures his presence to manipulate him so that she an return herself and the other captives to Vayanmo in a portrayal that is believable and sympathetic. The invasion is a leveraged takeover in three stages-- a scouting raid, a strategic strike to destroy what little industry the Vayanmo posses, and a full-scale invasion. The title relativistic time lag (fifteen years) gives the Chertkoi time to build their invasion fleet and the Vaynamo time to prepare their reception.

References

Space Dreadnoughts by Dave Drake. Philipp Michel Reichold. JUL 19TH, 2017

Space Dreadnoughts. ed. David Drake, Martin H. Greenberg, Charles G. Waugh. July 1990.

Star Trek. "Balance of Terror."

The Mote in God's Eye. Jerry Purnelle and Larry Niven.

Various Polity universe stores. Neal Asher.

Babylon 5. "Z'ha'dum"

The Battle of Sauron. John F. Carr and Don Hawthorne.

#review #sciencefiction

0 notes

delsheree · 2 years

Text

Book Blurbs: Irresistible Hooks

The hook is an integral prat of a book blurb. When you only have a few sentences to grab a reader's attention, the hook must be effective. Learn more about writing stand-out book blurbs in this post.

The first few lines of a blurb should contain the hook, the attention-grabbing snippet of information about the book that will entice readers to wonder what will happen next and hopefully get them to buy the book. Crafting the Hook A great hook catches readers’ attention, but there are different ways to accomplish that. Consider these examples from published novels: Write something that…

View On WordPress

1 note · View note

glade-constellation · 1 month

Note

Sorry if this is a weird or rude question but do your different alters(?) share artistic skills or have a particular style unique to themselves? This could apply to both drawing and writing.

Yes on both mediums. As the host of the system, I tend to be the one who has the most time to write and draw. I’d say I’m the most skilled at doing art in the system. But certain alters have different styles, or simply aren’t interested in drawing. You can tell in certain pieces of my art who was co-con with me at the time because their style bled into mine.

This one is a great example. I drew the character on the left, and then Flamma hopped into co-con as I started the right. You can see where I really try to lean into something realistic with the left, and seem to lose that ability towards the right. It became a little more shaky and cartoonish. The coloring on the right is different from the coloring on the left. Flamma isn’t the best at art since he doesn’t know that much about techniques or just drawing in general, and that bled over into my ability since he was co-con.

Here’s another comparison. I drew the one on the left, Lunar drew the one on the right. Mine leans more realistic, Lunar leans more heavily cartoon. His has much thicker lines than mine, and I usually don’t draw the eyebrows/eyes that are hidden behind hair.

These last two I’m not sure who drew them. Did draw the lineart in the first one, but that’s not how I typically draw Sun, nor is that how I color. Someone was definitely co-fronting for that one. I think Rowan himself actually drew that second one as a self portrait, but it may have been Finn.

Writing is much the same. There are times where you can tell it was me writing, and where it shifts when someone is co-con and we kind of blend. It can make writing frustrating because reading it feels disjointed and I’ll have to rewrite a whole section to make it flow like the rest of the book. Some of us lean more heavily on dialogue, others in describing actions. Some don’t have the skill or interest so the writing they do end up doing isn’t at the same level as others. Some prefer writing short stories or quick blurbs over longer works with multiple characters.

#Glade Gossip #🌟 Ten Talks #system stuff

1 note · View note

books-to-add-to-your-tbr · 2 months

Text

Title: How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading

Author: Mortimer J. Adler, Charles van Doren

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 1940

Genres: nonfiction, self help, education, writing, classics

Blurb: You are told about the various levels of reading and how to achieve them - from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading, you learn how to pigeonhole a book, X-ray it, extract the author's message, criticise it. You are taught the different reading techniques for reading practical books, imaginative literature, plays, poetry, history, science and mathematics, philosophy and social science. Finally, the authors offer a recommended reading list and supply reading tests where you can measure your own progress in reading skills, comprehension, and speed.

#how to read a book the classic guide to intelligent reading #mortimer j adler #charles van doren #standalone #1940 #nonfiction #self help #education #writing #classics

1 note · View note

raybeanschildrenslit · 4 months

Text

Storybird - Educational Website

Storybird Educational Website

Available through desktop/ personal computer and even mobile devices through app stores, Storybird is a highly rated and recommended application “empowering young writers to create unique stories with amazing illustrations” (Storybird Website). Storybird collaborates and models their programming with educators, artists, and writers to make sure the tools they provide are high quality, understandable and accessible to the range of individuals who are using their service. This application allows users to explore writing picture books, long form stories, comics, flash fiction, and poetry while connecting them with other users of the program. If used in an educational setting or even that of a home setting, while I would understand if there is a screening process for the materials shared, it is best to have some eyes on the process to understand what's happening and to help navigate. In the end, it offers a way for young writers to have their books printed and to have this tangible thing to feel excited about. There are a number of outlets that are providing book making services to families and youth and that is so very exciting.

Growing up I learned how to make stories and the like through physical media through I never got as far as learning book binding techniques and learning how to make picture books using clipart in powerpoint then shooting all the way over to inDesign and making books that way. These are big steps and sometimes access to this information, instruction, and material can be very daunting. It’s a great thing to see a program like this compiling all these resources into one place to allow for this middle ground of experimenting with writing and books and digital to physical media to take place. I would be curious to see in real life how these programs are impacting youth as well as how the applications are being taught and used in educational and recreational settings. No shame to the books and catalogs I have made using inDesign and Blurb, I adore these programs and am proud of the background I have to allow myself ability to utilize these programs- but I would love to see more people and accessible programs coming together and making amazing things.

I would love to see this used in a library/ educational setting where kids/ youth can write out their own stories. I like this idea in my head of using it as a tool to pass down versions of family or cultural stories.

-Ray 02/25/2024

#book blog #education #educational app #storybird #book writing #application #literature #website

0 notes