The Wordsmith's Forge

Each Sunday, post six sentences from a writing project -- published, submitted, in progress, for your cat -- whatever. (Ganked from DW)

Below is an excerpt from "The Green Speech," a Torn World story that I just finished drafting. It will eventually be submitted for canon board approval.

 

 meeks posted a new sketch today, "First Warning."

 Ooo ... shiny!

Supporters can now read my story "One Toy for Three" in Torn World.  This story came out of the February 25, 2011 Muse Fusion. It was inspired by a prompt from comtessa. It can be sponsored for $9.25 or 9 Torn World credits.

When there is only one toy for them to play with, how will Karavai, Tekura, and Ularki keep each other entertained?

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Thanks to a donation from zianuray there are two new verses of "Rabbit Season" for you to read.  This is a Monster House poem for Easter.  (You can read the other Monster House poems on the "Serial Poetry" page of my website.)

Total price = $20
Amount funded = $15
Amount remaining = $5
Verses posted: 8 of 12

These are some posts from the later part of last week, in case you missed them:
New Crowdfunding Project: "Caladon Falls"
Earth Day Activities
Friday Plant Workshop
Poem: "Gaia, ScD"
Bullying Linked to Other Problems
Yardening at Fieldhaven

These posts all relate to Torn World activity:
Sunday Fic Meme: "The Green Speech"
Torn World Story Progress: "The Green Speech" is drafted
Vote for "Monster Teeth and Art Glass"
Torn World: New Bit Characters
Poem: "The Sugar Mouse"


I don't usually echo links to Monday or Tuesday posts.  However, this one on "Writing Asexuals in Sex Scenes" has racked up 92 comments thus far.  I'd like to thank you all for this thoughtful and congenial discussion of a delicate topic; I think this has raised awareness of asexuality as an orientation and how to handle it respectfully in fiction.  Likewise popular is the Dreamwidth post that inspired mine, which has 96 comments.  I've been talking about a story that features an asexual character; "The Green Speech" is now drafted, and includes the no-gender character Omorth and its Trefoil Dance partners Darthein and Tremarda as they seek research assistance from Unafari.

The next Poetry Fishbowl will be on Tuesday, May 3 with a theme of "folk tales."  I'll post a separate reminder tomorrow.

"Rabbit Season," a Monster House poem about Easter, has two new verses for you to read.  The epic poem "A Periodic Table of Elementals" is ahead of production.  A call for sponsors of "Igor's Creature" has attracted no response.

Torn World writing update: 
Approved as canon: "One-Tick Literature."  Back to me for edits: "Cutting Time," "Clouds in the Morning," "The Ties We Twine," (fiction) and "Steam Power," "Cage of Hope" (poetry).  Currently in front of the canon board at Torn World: "Squiggles: Excerpts from Nleimen's Journal," "On the Rocks," "Forbidden Love," "Scars of Stone," "Lookbacks," (fiction).  Drafted: "Cutting Cords and Clasping Hands," "Like Ash Before the Wind," "Without Fail," "The Green Speech" (fiction) and "The Hearsay Cafe," "The Colors of the Rainbow" (poetry).  In revision at home: "Water Dance."  Currently writing: "From Dark to Bright," "Raining Kittens" (fiction).

You can see that I'm getting a substantial number of yard projects done.  It's less than it may sound like, because I can only work for a few minutes at a time before my body conks out.  But it does add up.  I'm making good progress putting out native wildflowers and grasses this year.  A week of rain is making the yard lunge toward jungle status again.  (The mower is tuned up and ready to go, but requires dry yard to work on.)  Lots of flowers are blooming.

Here is an amusing example of what can happen when humans program computers to set pricing, forget to install limits, and don't have someone regularly keeping an eye on the results.

I thought that I did a post on this some time ago, but if so, I couldn't find it.  So I'm collecting a list of photography resources.  xjenavivex and I have been discussing how to shoot good pictures.  Sadly I could not find anything like the excellent site I turned up a couple years ago, which had all the photographic principles (composition, colors, lighting, contrast, etc.) laid out in detail, with color illustrations.

Basic Principles of Photography -- start at square one and learn the fundamentals.

Basic Photographic Techniques -- a thorough introduction to creating good pictures.  Covers subject placement, lines, patterns, contrast, framing, perspective, lighting, sequences, and more.

Photography Tips for Beginners and Beyond -- tips for specific topics such as storms or pets.

Photo Net -- basic tips, specific techniques, specific topics, and much more.

Photography Techniques & Tips -- how to articles on shooting, image processing, sharing, and many other activities.  Specializes in digital equipment.

Outdoor Photography Techniques -- lots of articles on shooting particular occasions or concepts, plus tips on printing, photoshopping, etc.

Nature and Wildlife Photography Tips Center -- specific topics like winter or flowers and techniques like editing or shooting through a window.

Digital Photography Tips and Techniques -- lots of little articles on specific techniques, topics, or situations.  Specializes in digital rather than film equipment.  (Yes, that makes a huge difference.  My results are totally different across the two media.)

Digital Photography Tutorials -- one-page nutshell introductions of concepts like aperture, tools like fill-in flash, techniques like sharpening photos, etc.

Photography Composition Articles -- lots of articles about how to compose good images

Top 10 Photography Composition Rules -- a short article with good examples

 Here's a list of things that are helpful to know before you start sewing.

Thanks to a donation from kestrels_nest the poem "Rabbit Season" is now fully funded.  You can read the whole thing online.  Other "Monster House" poems are linked on my "Serial Poetry" page.