Writer who does writerly things. Fiction is my game, but I have dabbled with poetry and screenwriting. My current book project is none of the above because it's actually creative non-fiction. New York native who still currently resides in New York. The Container Store and Shake Shack's biggest fan. Most likely to be found in a Savers, buying even more plaid shirts, CDs, and vinyl.
This is my favorite Roy Lichtenstein piece, Drowning Girl (1963, pop art movement). If youâre in need of some writerly inspiration, why not use this image to jump-start a story, poem, play, or other piece of creative work?
Some questions to help you if youâre really stuck:
Why doesnât she want to call Brad for help? What did Brad do to her that was so hurtful or offensive?
How did she end up in this body of water (ocean, bay, etc.) in the first place?
How long has she been in the water trying to stay afloat? How much longer do you think she has left to live?
When was the last time she saw or spoke to Brad?
Is she really even drowning? Is it a representation of/for something else? Is she perceiving it as drowning but something else is happening to her?
I've been Guest Curating the Adelphi University MFA Program Tumblr this week, and here's one of my posts. Need a little inspiration to jump-start your creative juices? Best of luck!
Itâs in October that the Overlook Hotel shuts down for the season, leaving Jack Torrance alone for the winter with his family and his typewriter in âThe Shining,â and itâs in October that his son, âŚ
"If you like Fall, you like October," and if you like books, too, then we have just the reading list for you.Â
Heather Stefanescu's watching a Halloween movie every night of October.
I love that the preview image for the article is the "RUN, YOU FOOLS!" meme. But hey y'all, I've been published over at B&G. And though I'm woefully behind on writing my reviews on my own blog, I've been keeping up with watching the movies and have been taking notes. Let the catching-up posts commence!
October 4th: Hocus Pocus Review, Likable Villains, and Adventures in New England.
Film: Hocus Pocus (1993)
Rating:Â 5/5
This was my third attempt at watching Hocus Pocus, not because I didn't like it, but because last October and the year before that I accidentally fell asleep (curse comfy beds!). So if you ever intend on watching a movie with me all the way through, just make it uncomfortably cold, steal my blanket, and don't offer me any pillows to prop behind my back. I *am* one of those people who is probably part-cat, and I *will* fall asleep at any time, anywhere.
Hocus Pocus was a delight even as an adult viewing it (finally) for the first time all the way through. It wasn't frightening, but for children certain elements will probably be scary, so use your own discretion for what age is most appropriate to introduce them to this film. I laughed a lot while watching this film, as it's packed with humor (three witches from the 1600s trying to navigate 1993 Salem, Massachusetts to get their spell book back so they can suck the youth from all of the children -- one of my favorite scenes is when they first see pavement and call it a "black river"). I also cried a little at the end, and like so many others I'm sure, I crushed hardcore on SJP as a witch (sorry not sorry).
Despite the fact that the witches are undoubtedly the villains of this story, they're incredibly likable for the viewer, which reminds me of how wildly popular and likable Hades from Hercules is.
Hades encompasses every office worker's inner monologue and is basically the Miranda Priestly of the Underworld.
What makes these types of villains so likable and popular is their exceptional humor -- whether it is sarcastic (like Winnie Sanderson's), ridiculous (the way Mary Sanderson often repeats key words from Winnie's lines in a funny voice), or physical (the ditzy way Sarah Sanderson hops or dances in place while chanting the same word over and over). When a villain is humorous, it causes them to be sympathetic, which results in the viewer often forgetting that they are "supposed" to be rooting for "the good guys." I wanted Max and company to win, but somehow I also wanted the Sanderson Sisters to win, too, just because they were so funny and I liked them so much. Humorous villains shift your loyalties.
The film was absolutely great, and I can't believe I lived my life this long having never seen it before. The shots of Massachusetts in the fall made my heart ache for my past adventures driving through New England and seeing the gold, red, and orange leaves everywhere. Even though I've got super-New York pride, I will concede that you'd be hard-pressed to find fall foliage better than New England's. Hocus Pocus is a great family film, or even one to watch with just friends, and is a great reprieve from scary movies. This is definitely a film I will be watching every October for the rest of my life.
October 3rd: Scream Review, Phobias, and Edvard Munch.
Film: Scream (1996)
Rating:Â 4.5/5
I'm not really sure how I could forget that I've already seen Scream, because even as a repeat watch and remembering how the movie ends, it still supremely scared me. (Somehow I remembered that Rose McGowan is in it, though? My brain never remembers what I need it to.)
Scream basically takes two of my (irrational?) fears and makes an entire movie out of them: being home alone and talking on the phone. It's a good thing I already avoid answering the phone (sorry for everyone who calls me and always gets my voicemail) -- though I do wonder how the effects of something like caller ID, being so ubiquitous nowadays, would change the basic premise of the film. It would be interesting to see how an eventual remake would tackle the issue of new/emerging technologies (whatever they may be) to their effects on the story.
Me whenever the doorbell rings and I wasn't expecting company. I then pretend that I'm not home until the person gives up and walks away.
Even though Scream may not be a movie that ends up on my "favorites" list, it is a solid scary movie. A repeat viewing did not diminish the fact that I am terrified to be left alone in the house for the next few nights, and I will probably see the Ghostface mask in my dreams tonight. For people who aren't typical viewers of scary movies, this is a good one to start with -- a classic film in the "scary movies" category with just enough scare to make you want to answer correctly to the question, "What's your favorite scary movie?"
October 2nd: Children of the Corn Review, The Twilight Zone, and the U.S.'s Ultra-Religious.
Film:Â Children of the Corn (1984)
Rating:Â 4/5
Children of the Corn is based on a Stephen King story, which can only mean one thing: it's gonna be full of fucked-up shit. Admittedly, this is another story that I haven't read before watching the film, but I can say that this adaptation has certainly prompted my interest to read the story now.
The fear being centrally located around this cornfield in Gatlan, Nebraska reminded me of an episode of The Twilight Zone called "It's a Good Life." You know, the one where little Anthony Fremont wishes people into the cornfield? (Don't these characters know by now that nothing good ever comes from them going into the cornfield?!)
"You're a bad man, you're a very bad man, and you better stop sayin' bad things about me!"
For those who are squeamish: there is blood. Not a whole lot, but enough that you'll see it. And the film wastes no time in exposing you to a bloodbath -- just watch the first ten minutes or so, and you'll see.
In terms of the scare factor, personally, this isn't going to keep me up at night, not by a long shot (no, the movie that currently holds that title is The Blair Witch Project). It definitely had its scary moments, as every good horror movie should, but I wasn't rattled or otherwise psychologically affected/impeded by this film. Not to say necessarily that those factors make it a bad film, but if you're looking for a movie that will scare the pants off of you, this isn't it. For the most part, it doesn't feel very dated, either, which is nice (sorry, Nosferatu).
My only question is, how did they manage to squeeze six more movies out of this? Isn't 30 years' worth of corn and blood enough? I can't speak for the other six movies (maybe they're good, maybe they're just like all the other sequels upon sequels that become progressively more laughable and pathetic with each attempt to revive the franchise), but Children of the Corn is a solid supernatural horror film that still holds relevance today -- particularly in Burt's quote: "Any religion without love and compassion is false! It's a lie!"
October 1st: Nosferatu Review, German Expressionism, and Memories from Former East Berlin.
Film: Nosferatu (1922)
Rating:Â 3.5/5
I must admit that I have never actually read Bram Stoker's Dracula. As a true writer, I have probably close to 30+ books on my floor right now that constitute my "to be read" pile and yet I continue to purchase more. I hope that in the interim, Nosferatu serves as a solid placeholder for the beginnings of the vampire forklore.
Nosferatu -- besides being the star of the "Graveyard Shift" episode of Spongebob Squarepants -- is considered by many to be the mother of modern vampire stories. An unofficial adaptation of Dracula, it is a film typical of the German Expressionist movement: the use of color against starkly contrasted images, the themes of fear and horror, and the fantastical subject matter. Watching this movie brought back memories of when I studied abroad during the summer of 2010 in Germany and Poland, and one evening I watched The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari in an old movie house (complete with a man playing the soundtrack on the organ live!) in former East Berlin. Even though my German was (and still is) rusty, I enjoyed the experience immensely.
Even the Count enjoyed seeing The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
Why only give it 3.5 stars, then?
Because there were several unanswered questions that plagued me throughout the film: for instance, if the Count's bite kills his victims, then why did certain characters live while many others died? There was never any explanation given for this discrepancy, and when dealing with the supernatural, whether it's in literary form or on the screen, the rules of the "other world" must be clearly established. There was also a scene that irked me because the Count was on a sailboat and he (I kid you not) "used his supernatural breath to blow wind into the sails." Um, what? Maybe this happened in Stoker's version of the story but if the aim is to scare then that scene completely missed the mark.
Nosferatu scores a 3.5 simply because, while a classic film no doubt, I ended up laughing through the entirety of it. I'm sure it was probably quite frightening when it first was released, but watching it now is like watching an episode of the original Scooby-Doo series: hilarious and nostalgic.
To celebrate what can only be described as simply "the greatest holiday ever to exist on the planet," I have decided to watch one Halloween-themed, scary, spooky, or otherwise-related movie a night. I will be posting brief film reviews, plus other tidbits and writings related to fall and Halloween.
Below is my list -- subject to change depending upon availability of these films, or my discovery of any zombies or aliens in them (sorry, I don't mess with either of those). This list is surprisingly made up mostly of movies I have never seen before, but I have included some personal favorites (hence why Carrie is listed twice; haters can stand to the left). I know I'm in for some tricks and treats, and I hope you'll enjoy the ride with me.
October 1: Nosferatu
October 2: Children of the Corn
October 3: Scream
October 4: Hocus Pocus
October 5: Sweeney Todd (remake)
October 6: Cabin in the Woods Child's Play
October 7: V/H/S 2
October 8: Leprechaun
October 9: Goosebumps episodes
October 10: The Lady Vanishes
October 11: Psycho
October 12: The Amityville Horror
October 13: Friday the 13th
October 14: Session 9
October 15: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
October 16: The Omen
October 17: Carrie (original)
October 18: The Sixth Sense
October 19: The Shining
October 20: Nightmare on Elm Street
October 21: Repo! The Genetic Opera
October 22: The Strangers
October 23: Practical Magic
October 24: Carrie (remake)
October 25: Grave Encounters
October 26: Inside
October 26: Dead Silence
October 27: Silence of the Lambs
October 28: Jaws
October 29: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
October 30: Halloween
October 31: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Letâs face it: youâll go through maybe a dozen drafts before youâre ready to publish. And while the early drafts only you might read, eventually youâll need an outside source to give you their opinions. Things may make sense to you, but thatâs because you wrote it. Youâll need fresh eyes. And honestly, you wonât always like what they have to say.
Yes, itâs awesome to hear someone say they love your story, or theyâre in love with your MC, or whatever. And itâs sad to receive feedback that just says âitâs alright.â Good reviewers will not say these things. Good reviewers will be honest, but not cruel. And you need to know how to get the most benefit from your reviewers as possible.
First off, trust that theyâre trying to help you. If they know what theyâre doing, they will be honest. Theyâre giving you an outside, unbiased opinion. Not all your readers will think on the same wavelength as you, so you need to realize theyâre saying these things for a reason. Maybe they misunderstood your foreshadowing, but thereâs a reason they misunderstood it. Itâs your job to listen, find out what caused it, and adjust accordingly.
Youâll get feedback that disagrees. Anyone whoâs had a story workshopped can vouch for this. He says there was too much description, she says it was just the right amount. She likes a character, he doesnât. He LOVES that hilarious line of dialogue, but you were iffy about it and another person says to cut it, because while itâs funny, it doesnât quite fit the situation. The feedback will not always point you down a clear path to improvement. If a lot of people comment about the same issue, itâs probably something you should focus on. If you get varying opinions about something else, then itâs up to you to decide. Listen to arguments on each side and consider what you know about your characters and your story.
That said, you donât have to do to everything they say. Someone might tell you to cut a character that you have no intention of cutting. Some might say to expand here or cut down there, and none of that was in your plans. Maybe theyâll say you should scrap it all and rewrite in first person instead of third. Â And you should listen to them. Listen to all of it, and try to understand where theyâre coming from. But you donât have to make changes based on everything theyâve said.
Try to understand them. If you reread your story with their thoughts in mind and find yourself agreeing, then awesome. Make the change. But youâre the expert on your story, so you get the final say on that decision. Sometimes you can just tell when your reviewer doesnât know jack about whatâs best for your story.
In general, take their advice with a grain of salt. And remember, theyâre on your side! Be open. Listen. Try to understand. If youâve given their opinion some thought and you still disagree, youâre the one who gets the final say.
And hereâs the first part on giving constructive criticism (for reviewers)!
I do:
+humans!
+anthros!
+any smut your pretty little hearts desire!
+some guro!
Please check out my art blog to see if there are any styles in particular that appeal to you, and inbox me for more information or requests!
=Do you take trades? No.
=How should I pay you? Paypal! Payment up front.
=How much to commission you? Depends on exactly what you want! Thatâs what my inbox is for.
Reblogging because Kitty is a phenom artist. I just commissioned her to do a leg tattoo piece of a fox for me, as well as a Megara x Mia Wallace piece because they're my new OTP now. She's super friendly and hella rad, and when I'm ready to come up with business cards in the next few weeks, I'll be hiring her for that as well. Check her out! You won't be disappointed.
When I read âThe Private Dwellingâ article in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers, I knew that I needed to write about my thoughts regarding journaling and add to Lisa Fay Coutley, Claudia Emerson, and Anna Leahy's conversation.
I am the type of person who irregularly journals: I'll write in an emotional frenzy and for a specific cathartic purpose (I'm feeling sad/confused/anxious/etc. and I want to stop feeling sad/confused/anxious/etc.). The last time I wrote in my journal was in June. I rarely record the events of the day (no matter how hard I try to force myself into the habit of daily recording); instead my journaling is more along the lines of, âI'm feeling so anxious right now. I don't know what's wrong with me, but first I had an awful nightmare...â
Coutley, Emerson, and Leahy discussed whether or not one rereads their journals, and whether that be the next day before journaling for that day, or years later. I make it a point not to reread my journal entries, for the very reason that they are filled with my anxieties and âbad thoughts.â After an ex broke up with me, I did go back to reread a few of the entries where I had felt that I might have âpredictedâ the breakup, but protip: don't do that. (It'll just make the heartache even worse, so don't go âlooking for signsâ in your frantic journal entries in the days that led up to said breakup.)
Burning one's journals was also a feature of the article. Would I ever burn my journals? I'm not sure just yet. I have a journal that I kept when I studied abroad for three weeks in Germany and Poland that I'd very much like to not burn (even though I hardly open it), because that was one of my favorite travels and I want to hold onto as much of that experience as possible through my photos, souvenirs, and yes, that journal. But the ones that contain all of my teenage angst? I feel like those, I should burn (or shoot, as the three authors mentioned as an alternative method, haha). I already felt horrible enough as a teenager; why would I want to reread and re-live those experiences again?
What about you? What purpose does journaling serve for you: a record of the day's events, a place for your emotions, or something else entirely? And would you consider ever destroying your journals?
"Dearest, I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we canât go through another of those terrible times. And I shanât recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I canât concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I donât think two people could have been happier âtil this terrible disease came. I canât fight any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I canât even write this properly. I canât read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say thatâeverybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I canât go on spoiling your life any longer. I donât think two people could have been happier than we have been. V" âVirginia Woolfâs letter to her husband before she killed herself.
Browse works by Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad and other famous authors here.
Classic Bookshelf: This site has put classic novels online, from Charles Dickens to Charlotte Bronte.
The Online Books Page: The University of Pennsylvania hosts this book search and database.
Project Gutenberg: This famous site has over 27,000 free books online.
Page by Page Books: Find books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells, as well as speeches from George W. Bush on this site.
Classic Book Library: Genres here include historical fiction, history, science fiction, mystery, romance and childrenâs literature, but theyâre all classics.
Classic Reader: Here you can read Shakespeare, young adult fiction and more.
Read Print: From George Orwell to Alexandre Dumas to George Eliot to Charles Darwin, this online library is stocked with the best classics.
Planet eBook: Download free classic literature titles here, from Dostoevsky to D.H. Lawrence to Joseph Conrad.
The Spectator Project: Montclair State Universityâs project features full-text, online versions of The Spectator and The Tatler.
Bibliomania: This site has more than 2,000 classic texts, plus study guides and reference books.
Online Library of Literature: Find full and unabridged texts of classic literature, including the Bronte sisters, Mark Twain and more.
Bartleby: Bartleby has much more than just the classics, but its collection of anthologies and other important novels made it famous.
Fiction.us: Fiction.us has a huge selection of novels, including works by Lewis Carroll, Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, Flaubert, George Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others.
Free Classic Literature: Find British authors like Shakespeare and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, plus other authors like Jules Verne, Mark Twain, and more.
Textbooks
If you donât absolutely need to pay for your textbooks, save yourself a few hundred dollars by reviewing these sites.
Textbook Revolution: Find biology, business, engineering, mathematics and world history textbooks here.
Wikibooks: From cookbooks to the computing department, find instructional and educational materials here.
KnowThis Free Online Textbooks: Get directed to stats textbooks and more.
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MIT Open Courseware Supplemental Resources: Find free videos, textbooks and more on the subjects of mechanical engineering, mathematics, chemistry and more.
Flat World Knowledge: This innovative site has created an open college textbooks platform that will launch in January 2009.
Free Business Textbooks: Find free books to go along with accounting, economics and other business classes.
Light and Matter: Here you can access open source physics textbooks.
eMedicine: This project from WebMD is continuously updated and has articles and references on surgery, pediatrics and more.
Math and Science
Turn to this list to find books about math, science, engineering and technology.
FullBooks.com: This site has âthousands of full-text free books,â including a large amount of scientific essays and books.
Free online textbooks, lecture notes, tutorials and videos on mathematics: NYU links to several free resources for math students.
Online Mathematics Texts: Here you can find online textbooks likeElementary Linear Algebra and Complex Variables.
Science and Engineering Books for free download: These books range in topics from nanotechnology to compressible flow.
FreeScience.info: Find over 1800 math, engineering and science books here.
Free Tech Books: Computer programmers and computer science enthusiasts can find helpful books here.
Childrenâs Books
Even childrenâs books are now available online. Find illustrated books, chapter books and more.
byGosh: Find free illustrated childrenâs books and stories here.
Munseys: Munseys has nearly 2,000 childrenâs titles, plus books about religion, biographies and more.
International Childrenâs Digital Library: Find award-winning books and search by categories like age group, make believe books, true books or picture books.
For books about philosophy and religion, check out these websites.
Bored.com: Bored.com has music ebooks, cooking ebooks, and over 150 philosophy titles and over 1,000 religion titles.
Ideology.us: Here youâll find works by Rene Descartes, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, David Hume and others.
Free Books on Yoga, Religion and Philosophy: Recent uploads to this site include Practical Lessons in Yoga and Philosophy of Dreams.
The Sociology of Religion: Read this book by Max Weber, here.
Religion eBooks: Read books about the Bible, Christian books, and more.
Plays
From Shakespeare to George Bernard Shaw to more contemporary playwrights, visit these sites.
ReadBookOnline.net: Here you can read plays by Chekhov, Thomas Hardy, Ben Jonson, Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe and others.
Plays: Read Pygmalion, Uncle Vanya or The Playboy of the Western World here.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: MIT has made available all of Shakespeareâs comedies, tragedies, and histories.
Plays Online: This site catalogs âall the plays [they] know about that are available in full text versions online for free.â
ProPlay: This site has childrenâs plays, comedies, dramas and musicals.
Modern Fiction, Fantasy and Romance
These websites boast collections of graphic novels, romance novels, fantasy books and more.
Public Bookshelf: Find romance novels, mysteries and more.
The Internet Book Database of Fiction: This forum features fantasy and graphic novels, anime, J.K. Rowling and more.
Free Online Novels: Here you can find Christian novels, fantasy and graphic novels, adventure books, horror books and more.
Foxglove: This British site has free novels, satire and short stories.
Baen Free Library: Find books by Scott Gier, Keith Laumer and others.
The Road to Romance: This website has books by Patricia Cornwell and other romance novelists.
Get Free Ebooks: This siteâs largest collection includes fiction books.
John T. Cullen: Read short stories from John T. Cullen here.
SF and Fantasy Books Online: Books here include Arabian Nights,Aesopâs Fables and more.
Free Novels Online and Free Online Cyber-Books: This list contains mostly fantasy books.
Foreign Language
For books in a foreign language like French, Spanish and even Romanian, look here.
Project Laurens Jz Coster: Find Dutch literature here.
ATHENA Textes Francais: Search by authorâs name, French books, or books written by other authors but translated into French.
Liber Liber: Download Italian books here. Browse by author, title, or subject.
Biblioteca romaneasca: Find Romanian books on this site.
Bibliolteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes: Look up authors to find a catalog of their available works on this Spanish site.
KEIMENA: This page is entirely in Greek, but if youâre looking for modern Greek literature, this is the place to access books online.
Proyecto Cervantes: Texas A&Mâs Proyecto Cervantes has cataloged Cervantesâ work online.
Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum: Access many Latin texts here.
Project Runeberg: Find Scandinavian literature online here.
Italian Women Writers: This site provides information about Italian women authors and features full-text titles too.
Biblioteca Valenciana: Register to use this database of Catalan and Valencian books.
Ketab Farsi: Access literature and publications in Farsi from this site.
Afghanistan Digital Library: Powered by NYU, the Afghanistan Digital Library has works published between 1870 and 1930.
CELT: CELT stands for âthe Corpus of Electronic Textsâ features important historical literature and documents.
Projekt Gutenberg-DE: This easy-to-use database of German language texts lets you search by genres and author.
History and Culture
Refresh your memory of world history, the classics and U.S. history here.
LibriVox: LibriVox has a good selection of historical fiction.
The Perseus Project: Tuftsâ Perseus Digital Library features titles from Ancient Rome and Greece, published in English and original languages.
Access Genealogy: Find literature about Native American history, the Scotch-Irish immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, and more.
Free History Books: This collection features U.S. history books, including works by Paul Jennings, Sarah Morgan Dawson, Josiah Quincy and others.
Most Popular History Books: Free titles include Seven Days and Seven Nights by Alexander Szegedy and Autobiography of a Female Slave by Martha G. Browne.
Rare Books
Look for rare books online here.
Questia: Questia has 5,000 books available for free, including rare books and classics.
JRâs Rare Books and Commentary: Check this site for PDF versions of some rare books.
Arts and Entertainment
This list features books about celebrities, movies, fashion and more.
Books-On-Line: This large collection includes movie scripts, newer works, cookbooks and more.
Chest of Books: This site has a wide range of free books, including gardening and cooking books, home improvement books, craft and hobby books, art books and more.
Free e-Books: Find titles related to beauty and fashion, games, health, drama and more.
2020ok: Categories here include art, graphic design, performing arts, ethnic and national, careers, business and a lot more.
Free Art Books: Find artist books and art books in PDF format here.
Free Web design books: OnlineComputerBooks.com directs you to free web design books.
Free Music Books: Find sheet music, lyrics and books about music here.
Free Fashion Books: Costume and fashion books are linked to the Google Books page.
Mystery
Here you can find mystery books from Sherlock Holmes to more contemporary authors.
MysteryNet: Read free short mystery stories on this site.
TopMystery.com: Read books by Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, GK Chesterton and other mystery writers here.
Mystery Books: Read books by Sue Grafton and others.
Poetry
These poetry sites have works by Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe and others.
The Literature Network: This site features forums, a copy of The King James Bible, and over 3,000 short stories and poems.
Poetry: This list includes âThe Raven,â âO Captain! My Captain!â and âThe Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde.â
Poem Hunter: Find free poems, lyrics and quotations on this site.
Famous Poetry Online: Read limericks, love poetry, and poems by Robert Browning, Emily Dickinson, John Donne, Lord Byron and others.
Google Poetry: Google Books has a large selection of poetry, fromThe Canterbury Tales to Beowulf to Walt Whitman.
QuotesandPoem.com: Read poems by Maya Angelou, William Blake, Sylvia Plath and more.
CompleteClassics.com: Rudyard Kipling, Allen Ginsberg and Alfred Lord Tennyson are all featured here.
PinkPoem.com: On this site, you can download free poetry ebooks.
Miscellaneous
For even more free book sites, check out this list.
Banned Books: Here you can follow links of banned books to their full text online.
World eBook Library: This monstrous collection includes classics, encyclopedias, childrenâs books and a lot more.
DailyLit: DailyLit has everything from Moby Dick to the more recent phenomenon, Skinny Bitch.
A Celebration of Women Writers: The University of Pennsylvaniaâs page for women writers includes Newbery winners.
Free Online Novels: These novels are fully online and range from romance to religious fiction to historical fiction.
ManyBooks.net: Download mysteries and other books for your iPhone or eBook reader here.
Authorama: Books here are pulled from Google Books and more. Youâll find history books, novels and more.
Prize-winning books online: Use this directory to connect to full-text copies of Newbery winners, Nobel Prize winners and Pulitzer winners.
Hello! So I am absolutely terrible at arguing, but my OC is not supposed to be. He is way more persuasive and clever than I am, and he can easily win a debate, so how can I RP someone who is far above my level? I'm afraid of writing weak arguments that will make him look stupid.
Itâs actually really easy to be good at arguments and debates, especially if youâre in an rp setting and can make shit up. :D Here are some personal tips from me on how to construct an argument. Remember the PEA! Point, evidence, analysis. Before constructing any argument, try to know what your point is. Try to write a topic sentence, as concise as possible, like âThe Avengers will kick the X-Men ass in a battle located in New York Cityâ. Evidence! Try to have at least three pieces of evidence possible in order to back up your point, and always analyze this evidence afterwards. âBecause The Avengers have Captain Americaâ Evidence! âWho really has a nice ass and no one can beat his ass cause he has the best one, duh!â Analysis! âBecause Wolverine will totally help the Avengers. As seen in graphic novel blah blah blah, Wolverineâs loyalty lies with the Avengers and not with the X-Men.â Thatâs basically how I would do it in any sort of essay writing slash pseudo debate scenario.Â
Here are some links to help you with constructing arguments:
Constructing a Logical Argument
5 Ways to Win a Debate
The Best Way to Win an argument
Quick tips to winning debates
Debate tips and tricks
Top 10 tips on winning an argument
How to win Arguments
How to win every argument
How to win an argument
Depending on how you want to play your character, there are a lot of ways to be persuasive. Your character can be more intellectual, coming up with good points to persuade someone to do good. Or, your character can be cunning and achieve it through subtle psychological hints and body language. For example, if youâre drinking with someone, every time that person laugh, by taking a drink you can make them associate the happy and free feeling of being drunk with you. So they naturally listen to you more. Obviously, thatâs really sneaky, so itâs up to your character traits on whether that would be included. All persuasive characters have one thing in common and thatâs confidence. So as the writer, you have to be confident in what your characterâs motivations are. Be sure that you know why your character is persuading someone to do as such. Is it because they always want to be right? Or, is it because they are more manipulative?
Here are some links to help:
Manipulation character tips
The 21 principles of persuasion
How to be persuasive
Principles of persuasion
How to speak with persuasively
How to be persuasive and not get persuaded
And for playing someone more clever than you are, google helps. Really. Iâm currently playing an electrical engineer and I have no idea how to even begin. But itâs always about the research. When a specific topic comes up like, building a tiny robot camera, I google how to build a robot camera. Itâs legitimately all I do for every character. When I roleplay Hawkeye, I think I had thirty tabs open at one point telling me how to shoot an arrow and how to calculate wind direction affecting said arrow. So you know, bullshit a little bit, and google a little bit. Throw really long words at your roleplayer and itâs all good.Â
Here are some links:
Kgillsrpcâ writing a witty character
writing-questions-answeredâs how to write a smart character
Forum: how to create a smart character when you yourself arenât smart
How to write characters that are smarter than you are
I used to be against ebooks, until it stopped being convenient to bring a print book with me.
I used to be staunchly against ebooks, mostly because I didn't see the point in purchasing a separate (and yet another piece of technology to worry about) item just to be able to read books when one could simply just... purchase the actual book itself. I understood that for some people, they enjoyed the ability to purchase whatever they wanted to read near-instantaneously, or that they could perhaps buy books they might otherwise be too embarrassed to purchase online or in-person. (I wouldn't trust myself to be able to resist buying every ebook in the store, so kudos to the people with far more impulse-control than moi.) But I just didn't see the overall appeal, to me, of ebooks.
Until I got a job where I had to be on a 7 AM ferry, and I consistently forgot my currently-reading book at home.
Reading print books puts me to sleep. Not in a bad way, but in a âthat's a bedtime ritualâ kind of way. So the rare two or three mornings I actually remembered to bring my book, I started to fall asleep after reading just a few pages. I have been reading the same novel â a 300-page one, I might add, so not even a particularly chunky one â for over a month now and that is reprehensible given my track record for flying through books.
I finally gave in and decided to start reading ebooks. And just after three days, I finished one â and I only read it during my commute to and from work on the ferry (one hour total each day). For now, I am sticking to only free ebooks, but switching to ebooks has helped me get the kick I needed to become a voracious reader again. I read on my phone, a Samsung Galaxy S4, because I still don't feel the need to purchase a whole new device for something my phone can accomplish quite well. The Play Books app/Google Play store works well, and I've been downloading classic stories that I've always wanted to read but never seemed to get around to. Currently, I'm reading L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but I also have on my phone Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale collection, and Kate Chopin's The Awakening.
Call me a convert. Tell me I have crossed over to the âdark side.â I still love both equally. Ebooks are great for the morning where staring at the bright screen helps âpopâ me awake, and print books still function well at night when I need to wind down away from technology and get ready for bed. I'm not worried that I will become an ebook-heavy or -exclusive reader because as my 150+ CD collection and 35-album vinyl collection can attest to, I am an avid collector of physical objects and that includes books, too (my physical TBR pile is currently two 2-foot high stacks of books, so no worries here!).
Ebookland: thank you for welcoming me into your ranks. *high fives*
#tbt to #Osheaga 2012 when we were front row for @garbage! Shirley took my letter that day and dedicated "Cherry Lips" to me and I'll never forget how happy I was during that show. :')
