Movies for Writing
If you happen to browse through the recently pressed posts on wordpress, you would hvae seen today’s post. However, if you didn’t, or didn’t find the title interesting, then I have to recommend this post.
I share this also because I have shared how Star Trek began my writing career. Because of that, and because Star Trek is really awesome as it is, especially the new movie with JJ Abrams, I am automatically attracted to anything with Star Trek.
World-building is something a writer must employ to assist or accentuate the core conflict. Our goal as writers must be to get a reader to relate and connect. People connect with people, not worlds.
I think those two lines are the most important of the whole entire post. To be honest, I love world building. I love coming up with how the world changes and the what if’s of writing. However, as a science fiction writing, I need to remember that the story needs to focus more on the people, with the background as an extra bonus.
It’s like a song. Having a good story with good characters is like having an awesome catchy beat to your music. For a long of people I’m finding, the words of a song don’t matter, so long as the beat is good. But, if you can draw in some beautiful, moving words that match the music, then you have something that people love.
Anyway, here is the whole post. And just like her, I recommend the newest Star Trek and wait eagerly for the next one.
Carry your writing wherever you go.
So, I thought I knew what I would write about today, but then after having a couple people remark about my backpack, I figured, “Hey, why not share it with everyone else?”
Going to school everyday by bike means that I need to have an easy way to transport my laptop. And (I’m going to sound like an advertisement) but so many of those backpacks out there are too heavy and strain your back and are just difficult to carry.
Click here to go to Amazon.
So, I bought my pretty backpack.
Now, honestly, mine is really the olive green color. I just haven’t had a chance to take a good picture of mine to share with you, so I stole it off of Amazon and figured that they wouldn’t mind because I’m also linking to their website. :)
Anyway, this backpack is great, because it is really slender. You can fit about a computer and a folder in the main pocket, and that’s all. The front pocket can be used to fit a charger, but it isn’t much good at fitting anything else, thanks to the small side pocket. Then, on the front there is a strap pocket that can be used for a cellphone, an itouch, or a cellphone to computer cable. (I use it for option number three, although it’s large enough I can fit the cellphone in there too.)
Best of all, you can hardly feel it. I have walked out of a place without the backpack on because I forgot I needed to wear it. I can still walk straight and tall with it, and, except for the fact that it’s a little on the too big size for me for the summer months, it fits great.
A large negative with it, is that I really think it needs a rubber bottom, because it doesn’t really sit well on the floor or anything. If I knew how to put one on mine, I would as well. But for now, it’s as i have it.
No, I do not use a windows computer. I use a mac. This is a stock photo that looked good because I'm too lazy to take my own.
I wish I could say that if you bought it from my link, I’ll get a couple dollars from it. However… I could not get an amazon affiliate account set up, so I don’t get anything. This is just one person who found something wonderful on the internet and wanting to share it with another.
So for all those times when you go to the coffee shop and want to bring your computer, but it’s just too inconvenient, those are all gone. Because this little backpack is that awesome and comfortable.
Question of the Week
So, I’m actually writing a post this Sunday. It’s amazing.
This question is coming from my recent writing challenge involving this topic.
How do you do research for your story? And how much do you think good research enhances a plot?
Is it via web, books, movies, or… something else I don’t know about?
manual harvesting
Although I have lived for a long time in a farming community, I don’t know that much about farming. Sure, I know that the beans have to be harvest before the corn, because the snow will cover the beans but you can still get to the corn. And I know that the corn is suppose to be so high by July 4th and such. But the technicalities of it, I honestly don’t know.
Moreover, I don’t know anything about manual harvesting. If I wanted to learn about farming toady, I could probably go talk to a few people at church and know quite a bit. But everyone now uses machines so they can’t really tell me much about how you would do it, say, 600 years ago or longer.
In Dragon Slayers, I needed to know, because I decided to set the time around fall harvest. Not a lot but enough to have a clue. So I did a quick google search and I found a few okay websites for a quick summery.
My first website gives a general overview of the history of harvesting. This might work well if you are trying to find the exact era you want to place your farmer,
This next website gives a general idea of what it is suppose to look like, and takes you through the steps. I like the pictures the best here, although he does give you some ideas about what they do nowadays too.
This is a more technical approach to grain harvesting and looks at rice, maize and something else, both mechanically and manually.
Abigail
always a writer 