‘Twas the night before Christmas on DeviantArt,
Not a paintbrush was stirring, and creators took heart.
The artists scrolled through Daily Deviations with care
Knowing kindred warm-fuzzies soon would be there.
Deviants were all swiping, all snug on their phones
While visions of inspiration across all time zones
Were zapped to their smart device, quick as can be,
At the tap of a button in a +Fav’ing spree!
When across the Interwebs there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to the Comments to see what was the matter,
“I’m bored,” the Journal wrote, “I’m on a long trip, too.
I don’t have my laptop, an
it's okay to not be okay by Tangled-Tales, literature
Literature
it's okay to not be okay
sometimes it’s okay
to sit on the floor of the bathroom stall
and let your feelings gather- it’s okay
to let them pool like a lachrymose lagoon
as the inside of your stomach does summersaults;
I know these emotions can’t be tenderly released,
they’re not soft waves kissing the expecting shore,
let them pour out of you like tidal waves-
release the tsunami from within you
and I know sometimes the tears will sodden your pillowcase,
they’ll be juggernauts- those brackish beads
cathartically-cartwheeling down your flushed cheeks;
but remember how even the clouds
may cry tempestuously today,
only to make room
for m
my ears unhear the words
as if those words, alone
cut me from the strip
and stamped me,
in too mild a steel
for this hostile air, edges
already dusting up
so undeniably
red with breakdown
but we each corrode
in different lies
at different rates,
our materials migrate
into different wars
with the eroding
shore and shadow
of where we happen
and stand
so unbearably alive
animal gamepieces
pace the irony cage
of our self-defeat, pretending
that we own them,
that we're capable
of owning anything
other than what we are-
dull stumps, keratinized
and driven as hooves
into skies of escape,
barely alive, but
so undeniably human
Please, I need your help. We're both in danger.
Do you see that corpse in the corner? The one with fluffy red hair? That's the author of this story, and she's dead. If you don't want the same thing to happen to you or me, you need to do everything I say.
Okay?
Okay. First, turn off the volume on your device. The monster's still here, and it will attack if it hears you. Work quietly now...
Good.
We don't have words to waste, so I'll sum this up quick:
I'm the protagonist. You can call me Proto.
The writer invented a creature whose harpoon-like limbs could go through anything. While she was thinking of a way for me to beat it, one claw p
There is firewood
where my bones should be,
and wires in my veins
pumping electricity
and everytime we talk
my heart heats up
and I've never felt a flame this warm.
7 Considerations for World-building with Purpose by DesdemonaDeBlake, literature
Literature
7 Considerations for World-building with Purpose
PLEASE NOTE THAT WHILE THIS PAGE WILL REMAIN ACTIVE FOR PURPOSES OF EDUCATION AND RECORDS, IT IS OUTDATED. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE NEWEST VERSION.
7 Considerations for World-building with Purpose
“Anybody Can Write a Novel”
Chapter 1 World-building – Section 1 Story Types
With Links to Supplementary Material
When crafting a novel, the first thing you need to know is what type of story you are writing. I'm sure that anybody reading this has a pretty good idea of what they want their story to be about. But for writing with strategic purpose, it is important to answer a few specific questions. Doing so will allow you to
6 Tips For Writing Stories for Young Adults by DesdemonaDeBlake, literature
Literature
6 Tips For Writing Stories for Young Adults
PLEASE NOTE THAT WHILE THIS PAGE WILL REMAIN ACTIVE FOR PURPOSES OF EDUCATION AND RECORDS, IT IS OUTDATED. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE NEWEST VERSION.
6 Tips For Writing Stories for Young Adults
Anybody Can Write a Novel
Chapter 1 “Genres” – Section 5 “Young Adult”
With Links to Supplementary Material
Before I begin this chapter, I must say that this topic is one of the few for which there is an abundance of wonderful literature. Among them are “The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children” by Nancy Lamb, and “The Pied Pipers,” which is an anthology of interviews with the great
11 Tips for Writing Humor and Parody by DesdemonaDeBlake, literature
Literature
11 Tips for Writing Humor and Parody
PLEASE NOTE THAT WHILE THIS PAGE WILL REMAIN ACTIVE FOR PURPOSES OF EDUCATION AND RECORDS, IT IS OUTDATED. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE NEWEST VERSION.
11 Tips for Writing Humor and Parody
Anybody Can Write a Novel
Chapter 2 “Genres” – Section 9 “Humor and Parody”
With Links to Supplementary Material
Humor and Parody are of the most beloved in story genres, and yet are also two that are of the most difficult to accomplish. There are a number of factors—ranging from how a story is composed, to the many types of humor that exist, to the particularities of what people find funny—that make this such a