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Please copy and paste this into a Word document or deviation. Then highlight the information after the colons and type over it. Setting Time/Era: Exact year or approximate time Name of Country: For fun, you could alter the name of an old country to amuse more educated readers. For example, I altered the Assyrian Empire's name for a conquering people to evoke images of brutality and Mesopotamia. Geography: Keep track of all the places you mention and their approximate locations. I find it handy to draw a rough map of the area. Landscape: Trees, soil, water, buildings... Imagine you were flying over the place in an airplane. What would you

5 Tips for Cultural Diversity in Writing Anybody Can Write a Novel   Chapter 7 “From Story to Art” – Section 4 “Diversity” With Links to Supplementary Material Diversity—it almost seems a trap word meant for snaring unwitting people into a political debate. But why is it important to writing? Many will argue that it is a means of political correctness, popularity, and seeming hip to all your liberal friends at the coffee shop. While coffee shop creds are pretty important, the real reason for creating a diversity of religion, nationality, culture, ethnicity, philosophy, sexual orientation, gender, econom

On writing three-dimensional villains Brought to you by Super Editor Disclaimer: (as experience suggests that I need one) This resource consists of opinions. There may be better ways to write, and my advice may not fit your type of story. Please use common sense when applying the ideas expressed below. Thanks for reading! Do you remember the Big Bad Wolf? He destroyed the Three Little Pigs' houses and ate them (or only chased them, depending on the rendition). He ran to Little Red Riding Hood's home and devoured her grandmother. The Big Bad Wolf appears in countless fairy tales to eat and terrorize the general populace. In many children's

How to Be a Better Deviant Despite so many of the complaints some people have against it, DeviantART is a very good social network geared specifically towards artists and people who appreciate art.  DeviantART is, in fact, one of the very first sites of its kind, predating even such social networking giants as Facebook and Myspace. It is a wonderful place to share your work, to look at the work other artists have created, to offer and receive advice on artwork, and many other functions.  You will find that there are lots of fellow Deviants out there who want the best for you and want to see you excel as an artist and as

How to Help a Friend While I focus on friends with Mary Sues, most of this advice also applies to family members, art idols, and strangers. Have you ever picked up a new story, feeling good about its potential to lift you up and alleviate your boredom, only to find that it houses a dreaded Mary Sue? You stare at the piece of paper. Now what? You aren't pond scum, so you know better than to type "ur chara is a mary sue, u suck, go die in a hole." But what do you say? On the one hand, you don't want to hurt the writer's feelings, or turn them off of writing forever. But on the other, you feel that you have to say something... This guide wil

Update notice as of January 17, 2013: I have given this guide a MAJOR overhaul. It was originally written over a year and a half ago, and since then my own views and understanding of copyrights has changed. I felt that this guide should reflect those changes, so if you read this guide in the past, please take a moment to look through it again as I have added MANY new topics, information, and sources. Unlike my first draft, I have also changed my viewpoint to neutral throughout this writing. Update notice as of July 17th, 2015: Check out DeviantArt's new article on art theft, fanart, copyrights, and other relevant topics! http://protectart.de

I know, it has been a long time coming for me to write this rant. However, it should be worth the wait. I hope, anyway. There are so many things about (American) liberals that bother me. Some of their ideologies are just so disgusting that I cannot help but to overreact to them. I know I should not get so upset over someone else's ideologies, but the sheer audacity that (American) liberalism has gets me to that point, and there seems to be little I can do to stop it from getting to me. First thing is first. The name that Democrats take for their ideology. They name it "liberalism", but they are anything but. This makes me angry because what

A Guide to Writing the Military, Soldiers, and Their Environment Index: 0.       Why Are You Writing This? I. How and What to Research (Building Armies, Building Battlegrounds, & How to Select Good Information) II. Creating Realistic Soldiers (A start to finish tip sheet on how to make your soldier a complete person, with 3 writing assignments) III. Creating a Narrative (Painting war as a background, Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey, Vulgarity in War *NEW*) IV. What Not to Write (How to avoid Plot Killers, Pace Killers *NEW*, Writing a Text Book, and Soldier Sues) V. The Politics of your War Story (Polemics & Writing Wars of th

Hover over blue text for elaboration. Overview Mary Sues are a common phenomenon in stories: a character who gets special treatment. The definition of a Mary Sue is subjective, so it isn't always easy to tell whether a character is or isn't a Sue. A male Mary Sue might also be called a Gary Stu, Marty Stu, or Marty Sue. Male characters are less often accused of being Mary Sues than females are. Mary Sues are a natural part of learning to write, and while the writing community often lashes out at writers for creating them, their existence does not indicate a lack of writing ability. Mary Sues can be analyzed, improved, and outgrown over ti