Curse

Kendar Muert · Apr 02, 2007, 10:37 PM // 22:37

As a token of good faith, and an illustration of a portion of my aims.
http://z4.invisionfree.com/GW_Writer...c=1&st=0&#last

DISCLAIMER- IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO PUT IN ANY EFFORT, THIS WILL NOT HELP YOU. ANYTHING I HAVE USED FROM AN OUTSIDE SOURCE HAS A LINK POSTED TO IT.

Grammar In Literature

Poetry

Grammar in poetry is rather odd. You can make up words, use words incorrectly, and completely butcher the language; but only as long as what you’re manipulating keeps to the topic you are focused on. It is rather hard for me to explain, so here is some well constructed poetry and some rather horrible poetry from the main types of poems.

THE SONNET
http://www.sonnets.org/canon.htm
http://www.electpress.com/loveandromance/page100.htm
The sonnet is basically a love poem, so treat it as such. It flows gently and gracefully, and is very delicate in form.
Good-
FROM fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty's rose might never die,
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heir might bear his memory:
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st thy light'st flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
Within thine own bud buriest thy content
And, tender churl, makest waste in niggarding.
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.

THE HAIKU-
I am no good at haiku, so here is a website that will explain it all.
http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/

Good-

In the cicada's cry
No sign can foretell
How soon it must die.

Bad-
From the cicada's cry
Nobody can know
How soon it will die.

THE LIMERICK-
A limerick has nine syllables for two lines, then 6 syllables for 2 lines, and then one more line with 9 syllables. It’s fun to write, and very common. The first two lines rhyme together, and so do the second two. The last line rhymes with the first.
http://www.readinga-z.com/poetry/les...ick_print.html

Good-
There once was a gray schnauzer named Spark
Quite talkative, he so liked to bark.
Sometimes running he found
His feet all off the ground
Especially on larks in the park.

Bad-

There once was a gray dog named Spark
He was quite talkative and he liked to bark.
Sometimes when running he found
His feet all up off the ground
Especially on larks in the park.

FREE VERSE-
http://www.edhelper.com/ReadingComprehension_31_14.html
This is the type of poetry I indulge in. The poet creates the rules, and can rhyme anything, make any stanzas, and use as many or as few syllables as he/she likes. The poet makes the rules.

Good-

A Saga of Foriegn History

There once was a people who lived on a shore.
They spoke a strange language like England of yore.
They loved to sail ships far out on the bay,
So they used all their wood to build a great quay.
When several years of hard labor passed,
The people's assurances wavered at last.

Then a large ship appeared just in view.
Confusion set in and addled a few.
They abandoned the quay as no longer near rosy,
Then used all its wood and built an argosy.
They determined to leave in numbers uncounted,
Then sailed far and wide with the seas for thier own.

They raided and degraded all in their path,
So no sane man would stand gainst' their wrath.
They enforced law with steel and killed who they would,
Standing 'bove corpses with heads in the mud.
Kingdoms uncounted would quail and flee,
When these people from hell raided with glee.

Bad-

The slowest win the race

The slowest win the race,
They keep a steady pace,
the slowest win the race,
They rarely lose face.

The put forth the most effort,
And they reap the best reward,
Most of us cannot imagine the liesure they can afford

The slowest enjoy every gift in life,
And they dont let thier minds cloud with strife,
They live carefree, with no need to flee,
And they never will ignore another's need.

If you are interested in writing saga
type poetry, read this.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...6451510&itm=13

Those are the main types of poems. See if you can spot what is wrong with each, and what is right. In poetry, you should feel strongly about whatever it is you are writing. It is preferable if you know something about what you are writing, preferably first hand experience, but it isn’t absolutely necessary. If you don’t have a clue, people with just thinkyou tried to write with a naïve slant to your poem.

Stories

In general for stories, you should try to follow the same system you would as if you were writing a paper for English class. Make sure that everything is spelled correctly, and try to refrain from using words you don’t know. When you write, DO NOT use the characters name in every sentence.
John walked to the beach. Then, after an hour or so, John decided to go see his friends. John could not find Bob, or bill, or Ted.

DON’T DO THAT!! It looks horrible and does not add to your writing.
Do not say said after every piece of dialogue. Put other things down instead, such as expressed, or dictated, or breathed. Mumbled, yelled, screamed, muttered , cursed, uttered, chanted. The thesaurus is your friend. Use one.
Try not to put more than four or five sentences per paragraph. Space everything out.
If you are writing a chapter story, then don’t make chapters 10 paragraphs long. They should be at least 20, and prefereably 50 or more. Chapters are called that because that is what they are. Chapters, or parts, of a story. That number at the top signifies the chapter’s position in a story, but it also shows that there will be something different coming under it.
Other than that, the rest is covered below.

Story Structure in Novels and Short Stories

A good book isn’t just about grammar. You must have a personal style, and a way unique to yourself of ensnaring the mind of your audience, forcing them to lose themselves to your world and its mysterious properties. You must have a voice. You should infuse your emotions and thoughts, your knowledge and experience, your sweat, your blood, and your very soul into what you write.
My style by now should be rather obvious. I prefer the long, flowing sentences that allow a writer to slowly drift you along in a story, allow the reader to see the plot, to follow it, and then in a sudden flash of what would seem like a thunderous avalanche of emotion, release your climax. My way is poetic, and as I am a poet before being a novelist, it suits me. Find what suits you.
The beginner’s way is blunt and straightforward. It provides little detail that would make your story more enjoyable; you seem to rely on readers to keep reading from the shock value or action that your story possesses. This is also a good tactic, as long as you do remember to mix in as much background as possible without doing it in a way that could block your plot flow. For instance, if I write that

“As I walked through the night upon a once well worn path neglected by the ravages of time but still subjected to the ponderous ill popularity of the Simmon’s road, the cool, soft caress of the northern breeze was enough to cause wonder, and to astound the mind that anyone could possibly think of this place as evil.”

You gain something from it. You now know that the main character is walking along a path that has been cared for, even though it isn’t very popular now(it used to be), and you know that the reason it isn’t popular is that something happened to change the perception of the road/path, whatever. The floweriness adds a touch of me to it, just like writing in your style adds a touch of you to it.
However if I write that

“I walked through the night on the path near the Simmon’s road, and the wind blew gently through a place I thought was peaceful.”

You gain almost nothing from it. Its horrible structure, and it gives almost ZERO detail. Imagine a whole book of this. Who would read it?? It would be one giant headache! Apply this to your story, and you’ll see what I mean.

Now that you have done the comparison, compare your novel changed to the rest of it. Much better isn’t it? You should have done something similar to what I did, but remember that it’s your choices that count, how you want to shape your character. The only thing you need to do to improve is add more detail! Know what you’re talking about, describe the clothing, the surroundings, the era, the period, whatever you think adds to your story. It makes things oh so much easier for the reader to relate to and understand, and for you to keep track of. Also, know what’s going to happen before you write it. It really helps guard against plot holes and inconsistencies.

For my novel, I’ve written more background then Tolkien. I have the entire patrilineal and matrilineal royal lines, those of councils, town leader, and so on mapped out for a thousand years before my story takes place. I have a map of every city, town, and village with their names and who does what in each village. I have the plot mapped for anywhere up to 30 books or so, but I only plan on writing one. THAT is the kind of detail and planning you should be up to. But don’t get discouraged. If you need any additional advice aside from the sources I’ll give you at the bottom, then feel free to email or pm me. Good luck, and don’t let anyone discourage you. You are an excellent writer, and you can make things happen.

Plot Construction for Novels

When you are writing your plot, many times you will already know the gist of where your story will go. Write that down on a notecard or other piece of paper and keep it handy; you will want to refer back to it at some point to see the novel in its purest form.

However, after you have done that, do not flesh out your novel by stringing the lines between the plot. First, you must have the background required. Know all your characters as well as yourself, and know how they will change during the story. Know the background of all the towns your characters will visit, and know what the people there do. Know if that locale is hard to reach, or a hub of commerce. Know what types of transport you can use there, and know the political, social, and economic structure. Know everything about your world.

When you have accomplished that, you may begin to flesh out your plot. However, while writing the plot you will have cool ideas that you would like to see happen, but cannot immediately integrate them. WRITE THEM DOWN and put them in a safe place. Flesh those ideas out. Have it described so well that you could make a movie off of that one scene and not have to invent a single detail. You should do that to the other plot scenes that you have as you go along. Don’t stress over anything though. You will go over everything five, six times before you are satisfied with your final work.

After you have rounded out all the scenes that you want to happen, it is time to connect them together. In order to do that, you should have a map of your country, world, whatever. If it is a world you create, go check out my guide to mapmaking. If you haven’t already, you should put the plot points n order. Then mark each point on your map and number the order they occur in, and connect the dots. Think about what type of transport your characters will use to get from point 1, to point 2, and from 2 to point 3. Then think about why. Write about what happens on their journey and insert that in between your account of what happens wherever they are.

After you have done that for all the locations and journeys in your story, move on to the final plot constructing step; detail. You should read over everything you have already put, and if anything is missing, add it. Go over it for spelling, go over it for grammar…and when you are ready, flesh it out as the rough draft of your novel. Then do all the things I just said to your actual novel, and it will be done in no time.

EDITING PRE AND POST PUBLISHING
by Garfunkle

None of what follows is writen in stone: I've broken them all at one time or another, sometimes even deliberately, for effect. The thing to remember is that if, like Beethoven, you want to break all the rules, first you must know what the rules are.

This all assumes you're reasonably au fait with the rules of good English: if not, you've come to the wrong thread for advice. If you are, read on...

Just do it. I don't know how many times people have said to my uncle, "oh, I'm thinking of writing a book ..." Don't tell him, do it. We are far more interested in what you have written.

Trust the intelligence of your readers. It's very easy to assume the readers are immensely thick and won't pick up on the cunning nuances of your text unless you hammer them out for them. What you end up with, however, is a lot of turgid and impenetrable prose. It's true that some readers are immensely thick and will always get the wrong end of the stick: there's no defence against that. Most readers, however, are just as clever as you and will get the message without difficulty.

Therefore: Just use "said". "Said" is an invisible verb: the reader isn't conscious of reading it but the sense gets communicated to the brain anyway. "He snarled", "he sneered", "he groaned", "he gasped", "he expostulated", "he informed" ... every time the readers come across one of these action verbs, their attention is diverted from the text. Just say "he said", and let what he said and the context of it put across the sense. (Also, you never know when the meaning of a word might change: H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon has our heroes "ejaculating" all over the place.)

Avoid adverbs. As above. Taken to its extreme you find yourself writing sentences like "he sneered angrily" with a straight face. Again, let the dialogue and the context do your describing.
Avoid textual emphasis. Names of ships and foreign phrases should go in italics: normal dialogue shouldn't. The most irritating example of this that I came across recently was one of Anne McCaffrey's and Mercedes Lackey's "Ship Who ..." collaborations, which was riddled with italics so the reader knew exactly where all the emphasis should go. Don't.

Show, don't tell. Don't say your character is witty: have him make a joke instead. Don't say he's angry: have him curse. Let the readers work it out.
Be on the lookout for double entendres. These aren't necessarily rude: in fact, it's the least rude ones that are likely to slip through. "His eyes ran down his body ..." Try and look at your text with a fresh eye. If you can't do this, show it to someone else.

Swear occasionally. For a long time my choice of language was governed by the fact that whatever I wrote, my mother would end up reading. Eventually I learnt that sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and say "RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO". Only Winnie the Pooh says "bother" at moments of extreme crisis. Make your dialogue realistic.

Add tension between characters. Just because they're all on the same side doesn't mean they necessarily like each other, or have the same goals. It adds interest for the reader.
Keep up the action. You may know you've got a doozy of an ending plotted out in minute detail, but the reader doesn't and needs a good reason to get that far in the text.

Consider that you might be wrong. This was said (not to me...) by Oliver Cromwell, a man who knew a thing or two about being single minded. Even he thought it was worth saying. Don't be a prima donna: accept criticism, even if you disagree with it. Tuck it away in the back of your mind and resolve to do better next time. Conversely ...
Don't be too eager to obey the editor. "OK, what would you like me to cut?" This doesn't exactly give the editor the impression that your heart and soul is in your writing.

Kill your babies. You heard. Sometimes you have a bright idea — it might even be the idea with which you started the story — but the sad fact is it doesn't fit into the story in its final form. With a bit of luck you'll have written some glowing prose around this idea which you can store for future use in another story.

If you are unfamiliar with the basic rules, here's a humorous set of rules to help you remember.
http://alt-usage-english.org/humorousrules.html

WRITING KIDS BOOKS AND STORIES
by Zug the Megasaurus

Writing for children is a surprisingly different task than writing for adults. The basic skills, like the ability to format a sentence, are necessary to both; beyond that, the two processes are quite different. There are several things to remember when writing for kids.

Kids care more about a good story than a realistic one. Where an adult will bitch about your description of a certain object as being slightly inaccurate in comparison to the real thing, a kid will let it go as long as you’ve got an entertaining story going. And really, the more out-there and bizarre a story is, the better a kid is going to like it. Run with it. You can use anything you think up. Monsters, otherworldly creatures, talking plants, magic afros, whatever. If you make it work, it works fabulously.

Leave out the complex and artistic sentence structure. Most adults don’t even appreciate long and painfully-descriptive passages (even thought they’ll fake it and claim they understand it as being “artistic” and “nouveau-expressive” and other things like that). Kids like it even less. Not only don’t they like it, they don’t understand it, and that’s a serious problem when writing something for them. Remember your audience. If you’re using a lot of semicolons and six-syllable words, go back and eliminate those.

Check your preaching at the door. There are far too many children’s books out there that exist for the sole purpose of teaching kids some moral lesson in what’s supposed to be a “fun and cool” way. Eat your vegetables, brush your teeth, listen to mommy and daddy, be nice to the kids smaller than you, and so on. Maybe they’re fine things for kids to practice, but they make for awful reading. Go to the children’s section of a bookstore. Which are you yourself more likely to pick up: the book about fighting dragons or the one about going to bed on time? I sincerely doubt you’d choose the latter. And guess what? Kids are more easily bored than you are. They get preached at all the time, by parents, teachers, and awful after-school cartoons. If you want them to read your book instead, you’d better make it something they actually want, and that won’t be another lecture they don’t need. If your story ends up teaching a moral lesson, then fine; but don’t start one with the intention of teaching that moral lesson.

Move at a fairly quick pace. An adult might be able to sit through forty pages of a woman pondering her identity within her troubled relationship, a kid can’t (and frankly, neither can I). Write as though you’re writing a series of scenes for a movie. How long does each scene need to last? Does it all need to be written in one big chunk, or can it be broken up into several pieces? An epic battle doesn’t need to take place all at once; there are many things happening at the same time. Examine them individually, without losing focus on the story as a whole.

Check often for fun. If you’re getting bored writing it, you might be writing something boring. If you’ve been going on for a long time on a certain topic, you might be writing something boring. Re-read previous sections and paragraphs, and see how well they hold your own attention. Are they fun or exciting or necessary? If not, you probably need to revise.

Utilize your sense of humor. Kids like jokes, even terrible ones, and even ones they don’t quite understand. Even an epic fantasy story can use comedic elements. Adults can read a long, depressing drama; kids generally can’t. If something sad happens, something happy or funny had better be close by to counter it. Think of a lot of battle sequences in dramatic children’s stories: they’re usually dotted with cheesy one-liners, or old jokes between the protagonists that were introduced earlier in the stories. That doesn’t mean to throw out anything unpleasant; it means that you shouldn’t make anything extremely heavy without having some light parts to balance it out a bit.

WORLD CREATION

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a33...ofThandren.bmp
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a33...ofAvenstar.bmp
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a33...apofkranac.bmp

When creating an original world, you should map out everything. Use paint- see my guide for that- as paint is the easiest to use. Make sure you know where everything is. You should know what the currency is, the economic practices of every place in your world that comes into your story, the important people in each town involved, who the royal line/ruling party of each country is, and the past hundred years of each country's history. You should have a working knowledge of its heraldry, and how the various people in that country interact. I can only provide loose guidelines for this, since it is ultimately your choice, but it is often easiest to base your world off of an existing one, earth being the most obvious choice. For Atlas help, see the links (books or the internet).

THE GUIDE TO NAMES AND NAMING

People-

I personally prefer to take real life names, and then for every name I like, scramble the letters. Then I put two of the scrambled names together and see how many I can come up with. For example-

Richard, George, Lionel, and Matthew
ihcdarr, eogrge, ilnleo, and wethtam
|-------\/---------| |--------\/------------|
...........|..........................|........... .....
ihcdarreogrge.............ilnleowethtam

from these i can make

Idar....................................Ilnow
Cargrihad...........................Leweth
Darre..................................Theolin
ect.

Works pretty well for fantasy characters, but if you do not want to do that, then you can try www.babynames.com or various other websites. Another good policy is to look at various myths and yank names from there.

Places-

Places are easier in some peoples perspective, but a place is harder. A persons name should reflect their character, but a place name must reflect it's history, its people, and its atmosphere. To select a place name I find it easiest to randomly pick names from an atlas and screw with them a bit, trying to get them to match the personality of the location.
You can also take something and describe it in another language, much like how the Rio Grande simply means Big River when translated into english.

One of the MOST important things to keep in mind is that you MUST know what you are talking about. It is easy to tell that you know next to nothing about guns, and what you do know is gathered from movies if you don’t describe them. Likewise with group tactics, explosives, martial arts; many of the things all teenage boys or writers dream about. By the way, this especially includes romance and sexual situations. If you’ve never done it, don’t write about it! It’s extremely easy to tell you don’t have a clue, and because of this it will make your story seem like nothing but meaningless drivel. You should ALWAYS read up on what you are writing about, and experience it if possible. I recommend the following books and sites if you are truly serious about writing anything. This is a good guide for anyone serious about sources in their writing.

ON SWORDSMANSHIP
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...760765319&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...581600049&itm=2
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...891448409&itm=3
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...873649193&itm=4
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ON HORSEMANSHIP
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...585743216&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...585743216&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...889540221&itm=6

ON ECONOMICS
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...072982718&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...061234002&itm=2

ON AIR TRAVEL/PILOTING
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...891418061&itm=9
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...641778544&itm=7
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...312310066&itm=9

ON FARMING
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...82666426&itm=10
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...80171618&itm=28
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...86437378&itm=56

ON RANCHING
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...80171625&itm=12
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...12966732&itm=10
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...61584376&itm=14

ON ROMANCE
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...570714818&itm=3
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...84346&pwb=1&z=y
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...598867749&itm=7

ON MEDIEVAL TIMES
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...060925536&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...385495554&itm=2

ON KNIGHTS
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...760753996&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...60256458&itm=17
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...60781784&itm=30
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...93082468&itm=34

ON VIKINGS
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...140252828&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...192801340&itm=2
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...192806079&itm=5

ON MYTHOLOGY
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...446607254&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...486411071&itm=5
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...86451510&itm=13
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ON GREECE
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...760750698&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...760762370&itm=4
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...400078851&itm=5
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ON ROME
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...760753965&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...801873065&itm=8
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ON SUMERIA
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...837139289&itm=7

ON THE EARLY WEST
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...684826974&itm=3
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ON DETECTIVE WORK
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...028643991&itm=4

ON WWI
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...375700453&itm=8

ON WWII
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...641778544&itm=1
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http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...41788710&itm=14
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...85508452&itm=18

ON WMDS
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...805078527&itm=5
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...262631471&itm=9
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...65007974&itm=13

ON BIO WARFARE
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...385334969&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...84871592&itm=11
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...37731828&itm=14
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...12104045&itm=17

ON PHYSICS
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...471663157&itm=2
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...54339&pwb=1&z=y
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...618551057&itm=7
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...486652276&itm=8

ON SAILING
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...761123873&itm=2
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...743273084&itm=3
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...070571310&itm=6
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...471791430&itm=7

ON GUNPOWDER
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...465037223&itm=2
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...95665260&itm=17
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...61415404&itm=18
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...54652595&itm=19

ON MACHINE GUNS
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...760715802&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...471726418&itm=5

ON MARKSMANSHIP
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...585743759&itm=5
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...581602784&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...581601435&itm=2
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...589636316&itm=3
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...883173268&itm=4

ON EXPLOSIVES
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...387945552&itm=9
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...387978987&itm=2
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...71186366&itm=10

ON TACTICS
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...760313220&itm=7
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...853677076&itm=3
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...593080174&itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...870216756&itm=2
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...870217791&itm=4

INTERNET LINKS

ON SWORDSMANSHIP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swordsmanship
http://www.kmoser.com/classicalfencing.htm

ON HORSEMANSHIP
http://www.equineinfo.com/horsemanship.htm
http://www.reisranch.com/
http://racing.aqha.com/racing/

ON ECONOMICS
http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reak/glosslist.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...onomics_topics

ON AIRTRAVEL/PILOTING
http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos107.htm

ON FARMING
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture
http://42explore.com/farming.htm
http://historylink101.com/lessons/fa...of-farming.htm

ON RANCHING
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranching
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/...s/RR/azr2.html
http://www.westernhorseman.com/ranching/index.shtml

ON MEDIEVAL TIMES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/
http://www.themiddleages.net/

ON KNIGHTS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight
http://www.castles-of-britain.com/castle35.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/10949/fief/medknight.html

ON VIKINGS
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/
http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/

ON MYTHOLOGY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/lin...e_culture.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_mythology
http://larryavisbrown.homestead.com/....mahabcomm.htm
http://www.mythweb.com/
http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/

ON GREECE
http://www.ancientgreece.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece
http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/
http://www.crystalinks.com/greece.html

ON ROME
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome
http://www.crystalinks.com/rome.html
http://members.aol.com/TeacherNet/AncientRome.html
http://www.roman-empire.net/

ON SUMERIA
http://history-world.org/sumeria.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer
http://www.crystalinks.com/sumer.html
http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/SUMER.HTM

ON THE EARLY WEST
http://www.homepages.dsu.edu/jankej/oldwest/oldwest.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Old_West

ON DETECTIVE WORK
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos160.htm
http://www.princetonreview.com/cte/p...sp?careerID=51

ON WWI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I
http://www.worldwar1.com/
http://www.firstworldwar.com/

ON WWII
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II
http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/
http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/ww2Timeline/start.html

ON WMDS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapons...ss_destruction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_warfare
http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/cw/agent.htm
http://science.howstuffworks.com/biochem-war.htm
http://www.opcw.org/resp/html/cwagents.html

ON PHYSICS
http://www.physics.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/
http://www.physicscentral.com/

ON SAILING
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/piloting
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/piloting.html

ON GUNPOWDER
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder
http://chemistry.about.com/od/histor.../gunpowder.htm
http://www.hyw.com/Books/History/gunpowde.htm

ON MACHINE GUNS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_gun
http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/machineguns.htm
http://science.howstuffworks.com/machine-gun.htm

ON MARKSMANSHIP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marksman
http://homestudy.ihea.com/shootingsk...rksmanship.htm
http://w3.agsfoundation.com/safety/tips.html

ON EXPLOSIVES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosive
http://www.explosives.com/
http://www.ordnance.org/explosives.htm
http://home.att.net/~rnrogers/

ON CRIMINOLOGY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminology
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/TOConnor/criminology.htm
http://www.critcrim.org/
http://crim.fsu.edu/

ON TACTICS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_tactics
http://www.militaryspot.com/tactical.htm
http://www.roman-empire.net/army/tactics.html
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtactics.htm

ON WRITING

www.writingforums.com
www.writersdigest.com
http://www.asja.org/newspub/files/xl200312.pdf

FORESHADOWING AND SUSPENSE

Suspense is one of the most difficult things for new writers to grasp. They try to build suspense by blatantly saying "The night was oddly uncomfortable" or something equally cheesy.
You cannot do that. In order to build suspense, first the reader must have a strong feeling about the character in question. If they hate that character, they will hope he dies, and if they love the (wo)man they will hope s/he lives. That is the first step to creating suspense.
The second is that you must have the proper imagery. I already gave a thorough dissertation on that in the first post, so look up there for help with that. Also, read as much Stephen King, Tony Hillerman, Conan Doyle, and Dean Koontz as possible to get an idea of how to create great suspense.

Foreshadowing is also often very difficult. The writer tends to give too much away. How not to do this is difficult to teach because it varies from story to story, but some basic guidelines are-

*If you know what is going to happen, NEVER say it outright, unless you want your readers to know what wiil happen beforehand.

*If you want to mislead readers, do not foreshadow if you can help it, either in the right or wrong direction. If you must however, send in some evidence for every likelihood to keep the reader on his toes.

*When foreshadowing a particular scene, do not give away any more than 1/3 of the scene, preferably 1/4 or less. When readers get together to discuss plot, they WILL find all your secrets beforehand.

*If you are writing a serial, make your foreshadowing hard to find, as readers will have more time to think about what is happening.

If you would like to read some of the best foreshadowing around, I would suggest reading George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.
www.georgerrmartin.com

Also, here is a site with free writing tips weekly in their newsletter.
Very useful.
http://writersdigest.com/newsletter.asp

GUIDE TO CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM

Constructive criticism is the act of offering valid and well intentioned opinions about the work of others, involving both positive and negative comments, in a friendly manner rather than a confronting one.

Because of the overuse of negative, nagging criticism, some people become defensive even when receiving constructive criticism given in good will. Constructive criticism is more likely to be accepted if the criticism is focused on the recipient's work or behavior. Personality issues must be avoided as much as is possible; do not say that since their poetry/stories are dark, they must be goth/emo/psychotic. Critical thinking can help identify issues to focus on that are relevant to the topic at hand..

Sensitive people may adopt a passive, defeated attitude if they view a situation as personal, pervasive, or permanent. IE, I suck and will never get better, so I must quit writing/give up/ leave the forum/kill myself. Others may flame you for what they percieve as a personal attack, and in some cases, is. In an online forum that dpes not have any face to face contact, constructive criticism can be easily misinterpreted and online conversations become flamewars because tone is hard to discern- make yours clear. Remember your previous encounters with the original poster to try to figure out how they will respond to your post. If you have not had contact with the OP, try to post positive criticism with very little harsh language. Do the same if you think they may be especially defensive or offendable. When the OP strongly identifies with controversial topics (such as politics or religion), non-offensive criticism can be seen as challenging.

On the other hand, stronger language can sometimes break through a defensive persons shell, sending a proverbial message of "Cut the crap Jack!". Also, many people (both as providers and even recipients of criticism) appreciate a blunt style(me included). They sometimes see bluntness as honest and efficient while viewing softer approaches as manipulative, condescending, time consuming, or confining. Often, such people view stronger exchanges as lively and engaging.

Adopting the most effective style of criticism should be judged by the cultural context, the recipient's personality, and the nature of the relationship between you and the OP. To assess a situation, yous should at first be perceptive, and not judging. Conflict resolution skills can be helpful because of some people's reactions.

As a recipient of criticism, you can benefit by focusing on the constructive parts of the criticism and by interpreting the posts of blunt critics into a post on how you can improve. By adopting an open attitude to criticism, you can achieve greater growth in writing skill. Be aware that alternatively such openness may subject you to ridicule; especially in a cynical or honor-based culture.

Kyle Kurtz' Guide to naming characters/stories

we'll start with what really can suck, naming characters. I'll start with a general overview of what I believe a character's name is, and then offer tips.

CHARACTER
A character's name is important. The first thing people will recall about a character is obviously the name. But what does this mean? The characters you want people to remember should have names that are cool sounding, or exceptionally easy to remember. And never make an important character's name very hard to spell, this makes it hard to remember as well. A character's name depends on the environment he's in, you shouldnt give a medieval character a name like Kyle, it just doesnt sound like it belongs.

TIPS

Don't be afraid to name characters after things. Is there a source you drew inspiration from in creatoing said character? Don't be afraid to make the names slightly similar, at least similar enough for fans of your souce to catch on. As long as you dont flat out lift a character from another person's story and psate it in your own, it is not plaigarism, don't let any of those conservative punks get to you. References appear constantly in movies and anime and such, and no one gets sued. Thats because it's not plagarism.

Do you have friends whose names you really liked? Feel free to use them, who cares.

Is the character's name supposed to be an average name, or say something about them? A fun thing to do is look up translators on google and translate words that sum up the character in random languages, you just might find something cool.

And last, the random. When you initially think of a character, does a name immediately spring to mind? If so, thats probably the best name you could give the character, or at least a fail safe if you cant think of any other.

Remember, make names easy to remember, unless the name serves a specific purpose. You may not like it but nothing says more about a character the moment the audience reads about them than hearing thier name, if the name makes an impact the character has a higher chance of being remembered.

NAMING STORIES

Now this can be hard. You don't want to give your story a foolish name, but at the same time you don't want to make a its title too long (unless it serves a specific purpose) Naming your story is important, you really should try to never write an untitled story, give it a tenative name at least.

The name can be simple, like a unique character's name, or complex, like a hint thats only understood at the end of the story. I can't really say a simple way to think of a story title, as an author this is your job more than anyone elses. The title should ring clear and have something to do with the story, while having the ability to catch attention.

I hope this guide helps someone, good luck writing!

The Guide to Formal Letter Writing

http://esl.about.com/cs/onthejobengl...basbletter.htm
http://www.usingenglish.com/articles...-writing.html#
http://esl.about.com/library/writing/blwrite_cover.htm
http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000149.htm

The art of business letter writing is simple to learn. This section of my guide outlines how, why, what for, and when to use this skill. The sentences and phrases I use are widely used and accepted, as evidenced by the sources I used to create this guide, since my own knowledge of letter writing does not extend to the formal. The purpose of writing a business letter is to have a business contact agree with you and your ideas, or to introduce most of the time.

Dear Personnel Director,

Dear Sir or Madam: (use if you do not know the identity of the recipient)

Dear Dr, Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms Smith: (use if you know who you are writing to, and have a formal relationship with the recipient – You must use Ms for women unless asked to use Mrs or Miss)

Dear *first name*: (use if the person is close to you; IE, friend or long-standing contact)

You should provide a point of reference to the recipient and say what made you need to contact that person, and then you should state your reason, such as apologizing, an inquiry, to confirm something, or to set up a date for a meeting.

Keep in mind that business letters, when they have requests, must be very nicely stated, using something like “Would you mind?” or “I would be grateful if you would” or “Could you do this for me if it doesn’t inconvenience you?”

If you are responding to a request in the positive, it is important to be courteous. Say “I would be happy to” or “It doesn’t put me out in any way, and it is something I might even enjoy” but do not get *too* friendly in your letter. It is formal, after all.

If you are responding to a request in the negative, you should not hesitate to state this. “I am sorry I cannot oblige you”, “I regret to inform you” and “I cannot at this time honor your request” are all simple, accepted phrases used in formal letter writing.
When giving bad news, open with “unfortunately”, “I am sorry to tell you”, or “I regret to say” and then the news. Make sure you do not sound flippant, disrespectful, or mocking

If you are enclosing something within a business letter, your letter should be situated so it will be viewed first, and you should state what you are enclosing with a sentence like “I am enclosing”, “Please find enclosed”, or “Enclosed you will find”.

When you close a business letter, you should say for someone to contact you if “There are any problems”, if “We can help you with future projects”, “If you have any questions”, or something else similar.

You should also say something that indicates you are indeed open to future contact, such as “I look forward to the next time we meet”, “I will hear from you/see you soon”, or “I look forward to our meeting on ________”.

The final part of your letter should be one of the following closings, followed with your printed name and signature.

Yours faithfully, (If you don't know the name of the person you're writing to)

Yours sincerely, (If you know the name of the person you're writing to)
Best wishes, (For anyone not in the other categories)

Best regards, (If the person is a close business contact or friend)

The Guide to Informal Letter Writing

Sources-
http://esl.about.com/library/lessons...rmalletter.htm
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/words/letters.htm
http://www.parapal-online.co.uk/letters.html
http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000143.htm

Informal letters are friendly and personal. They are also known as friendly and personal letters….go figure. These letters normally have five parts-

The Heading
The Greeting
The Body
The Complimentary Close(Regards, Best Wishes, ect.)
The Signature Line

The Heading
This includes the address line by line just like on the front of the envelope, with one additional line with the date. Skip a line after the heading, which should be indented to the middle of the page. If you use preaddressed stationery, just add the date.

The Greeting
The greeting always ends with a comma. The greeting may be formal, beginning with the word "dear" and using the person's given name or relationship, or it may be informal if appropriate.

Formal uses Dear and then the recipient’s name.
Dear Aunt Eliza or Dear Mr. Jenkins
Informal uses any opening you want that isn’t tacky such as Hi John, or Greetings.
(Very personal greetings may end with an exclamation point for emphasis, but make sure it matches the reason- do not do that if announcing someone’s death or sickness)

The body
This is the message you are writing to tell. In an informal letter, the beginning of paragraphs is indented. Skip a line after the greeting and before the close.

The complimentary close
This short expression is always one or two words on a single line, such as Best Wishes, Sincerely, With Love, ect. It ends in a comma. It should be indented to the same column as the heading, and make sure you skip two spaces for the signature line.

The signature line
Type or print your name. The handwritten signature goes above this line and below the close. The signature line and the handwritten signature are indented to the same column as the close. The signature should be written in blue or black ink. If the letter is quite informal, you may omit the signature line as long as you sign the letter.

Postscript
The postscript is normally something you forgot to put in the body, but you don’t feel like rewriting the letter. It is the occasional sixth step/part. If you use a postscript, it should begin with P.S. and end with your initials. Skip a line after the signature line to begin the postscript.

A Quick Tidbit for new Authors here at CAD.

If you want people to critique your stuff, you should generally make yourself known and critique other people's stuff. You should NEVER post only one sentence or one paragraph. Post a chapter. Post a page. But don't go lower than that please, because that is simply wasting your reader's time.

When you write, be descriptive. Do not simply toss out words and expect people to care about your characters and your story. You should create a setting that people can relate to, and that reflects your character, as well as the character of your characters. Not personality- character. They are not quite the same thing. Think of character as an overall essence that is either the sum total of all your character is, or a representation of that.

You should also remember to use spellcheck. Maybe if I get lucky, one or two new members will actually read this and not make the same mistakes over and over like many people seem to do.

A Quick Guide for those of us who prefer paper and ink....

Alright. There are alot of writers who type everything. Then, there are the writers like me who generally abhor writing with any electronic machine, and enjoy the sensual feel of a good piece of parchment against your skin.. This section is for those people who prefer the sensual approach to writing, and need the pen to get close to the characters you create on the page.

These are all the brands I have experience with... I am not going to go out and buy tons of supplies to make this guide, but I am not above asking for help, so if anyone has experience with other brands, let me know, and Ill put em in here.

Good Pen Brands-

Foray-
Foray is probably the best pen you can get for the cost. It is a very comfortable grip pen, and has many different tip options as well as ink colors. Available at Office Depot and Office Max.

Uniball-
For any type of serious writing, Uniball is likely the WORST choice you could make. Uncomfortable grip, no smooth inkflow, and normally a rough edged tip. The only pros are affordability and quantity/availability. Available anyplace with a remote possibility of selling writing supplies.

Bic-
Any serious writer who doesnt want to spend a good 6-8 bucks on some pens that will last for over a month and won't give writing cramps should be shot and his/her writing license revoked.

PHD-
Also and excellent pen, as good as foray, and with the same lasting power and comfort(maybe more comfort), but the clicky part of these pens is prone to breakage and jamming. Available @ Max or Depot

Journals-

If you can afford it, Moleskin is the ONLY way to go for a writing scapbook/notebook. Best out there, and they make no secret of advertising it. Hence the prices. If you buy at Barnes and Noble, it shouldnt be too bad.

If you cannot afford that, try to get a decent art notebook. Lined paper is for people who haven't written enough to have a steady hand, much like training wheels for wobbly bike riders. Practice. Available at Michaels, B&N, Office Depot/Max, and Hobby Lobby.

That’s pretty much it.. Except that if you are a frequent purchaser of writing supplies, you should check out Office Depot's Worklife Rewards. Its free, and gives decent cash back.
http://www.worklifereward.com/

Any part of this guide that was not personally written by me has the authors name as recognition- or what they use at CAD.
http://www.cad-forums.com/

Unreal Cyn · Apr 03, 2007, 04:42 AM // 04:42

Looks like you're one hell of a serious writer bossman. That's a pretty good reference guide and I'm definitely feeling what you're trying to do.

Kendar Muert · Apr 03, 2007, 05:44 AM // 05:44

Thank you. Every person who says that makes it worth it to write ten of these.

gervasium · Apr 03, 2007, 09:50 AM // 09:50

Excluding the poems part, from wich I don't have the minimum interest, I really liked your guide and am really thankful you made it. I consider myself a writer... well in the way a 14 year old boy can be a writer...( don't need to say I'm amateur) and your advices on creating names and worlds, organizing plots and not to write about what I don't know, and of course what you sayd about foreshadowing and suspense... all those parts made me see my stories had several flaws I would never understand until it was too late... I was certanly not hoping to find this guide on a gw fan forum but am really glad it was here or i'd never find it.

Storm Crow · Apr 03, 2007, 10:05 PM // 22:05

I didn't really read the thing, but I skimmed and picked up a few good points. However, knowing me, there must be criticism.

First, refraining to your poetry section, I had a question. Is there really such a thing as a bad poem? Sure, there are well-written ones and those that aren't so, but can you really separate it down to "good" and "bad" labels? My rhetorical answer was "No, but you can say "well-written" and "not well-written.". Maybe this is a personal observation.

Other than that first shock, it was well written until you came to the "Naming" section. Maybe you should've given more than one example to naming characters. I've had successes with many things, and I know several people who name in a very different way than I do. For example, I create the appearance of a character first, and based on the characteristics and quirks of each, I come up with a name. One of my best friends, however, will create a name first, and then base a character around it. She'll pick five to seven letters at random from the alphabet, and set them up into a random order and plays with it until she likes it.

And then there was the "Pens". Why would you include this? I'm not trying to be rude, but everyone has a different preference. I personally use Bic pens and I refuse to use anything else. Yes, I have a multitude of other brands available, but I choose to use Bic pens because I've found them to be the most trustworthy. Just my opinion.

Besides those points, it was a very well-written guide, and I'm sure someone here will have some use for it.

Kendar Muert · Apr 03, 2007, 10:20 PM // 22:20

The answer to all of your questions is- because it was mostly written by me, its written in my perspective.

About the naming- there are two sections that deal with that. One was a brief blurb by me, the other is a detailed bit of advice by someone else.

Mortanius · Apr 04, 2007, 12:55 AM // 00:55

Nice work, man. This will definitely help me when I start back on writing.