The Books, Journals, Poetry, & Film Base 120

Tips for writing short stories

admin — Sun, 29 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Writing short stories can be a great creative experience and very fulfilling. There are tricks and tips for writing a really great short story that can be found easily. One of the great things about a short story is that it is packed with adjectives. The use of very powerful adjectives goes a long way in a short story because every word needs to have depth to it that longer stories or poems will lack. One of the very first tips to writing a great short story is to set the scene. Making the scene apparent for the reader in vivid detail while keeping it short creates a wonderful picture in the mind.

As a writer it is key to remember to introduce the main character with alluring, honest detail about this person. The mood, age, situation are all key to the specific character and should be told within the short story. The reader needs to know that the climax of the story is close and about to happen. Even though every detail is key to a short story, spending to much time on details may overrun and take the story into a different light. The climax should be almost immediate because of the length of the story.

The art of writing a short story

admin — Sat, 14 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The hard part of writing a ‘short story’ is knowing exactly what a ‘short story’ is to start with. Therein lies a problem. Many writers will disagree on what compromises a ‘short story’. It varies from 1,000 words up to as many as 20,000 words. There are also many publishers as well who won’t publish a story of less than 7,000 words period. They won’t even look at it.

However, what most will agree on is there has to be an actual ‘story’ involved. As a general rule, short stories have a quick beginning and a quick end. No, not all of them, but most. They need to convey the main theme in a shorter time frame and compress what otherwise would be a book or a novel. Many short stories do not follow the traditional structure of normal stories and books. They may even have a quick take off with no preliminary introductions to the characters. It may seem to begin right in the middle of something you know nothing about.

What actually compromises a short story is totally up to the writer. He/she may take a route that you have never been on prior to this. This is all part of the thrill of reading a short story and why authors love to write them. They are always an adventure and usually well worth reading.

The long history of Granta magazine

admin — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Granta Magazine, the quarterly, self proclaimed magazine of new writing, has a long and rich history. Granta was founded as The Granta in 1889 by students at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. The Granta began as a periodical of student politics and literature.

Granta Magazine was named after the river that runs through Cambridge. The early magazine published many writers who later became quite famous such as Sylvia Plath, Michael Frayn, Bertran Fletcher Robinson, Ted Hughes and A.A. Milne.

Granta Magazine was born again in 1979. In the 1970′s the magazine ran out of funds and changed into a magazine for new, up and coming writers from all around the world. The magazine deals with many vital subjects, including politics, and aims to stimulate and inspire the reader by tackling difficult issues. It has a circulation of nearly 50,000. A wonderful and surreal fiction piece,http://www.granta.com/Magazine/114/Last-Man-in-Tower/1 is available in the current Granta to read in full

Grata Magazine is committed to being a voice for the power of story, both fiction and non-fiction.

After a varied and bumpy history, Grata Magazine continues to publish fine writing and is only growing in popularity and readership. Many have called Grata the world’s finest literary magazine.

Written Word Whether In Books Or On Film

admin — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Are you an avid reader or do you enjoy your entertainment from films? Neither one really matters as long as you are immersing yourself in books, journals or film. Nor does it matter if you are a fan of drama or poetry, just as long as you try to fill your mind with thoughts.
Poetry will enhance any feeling you might be consumed with or you can lose yourself in the fictional world of a book. Since history began being recorded, the written word has been valued. Even feared from those not wanting a written testament to certain historical events. Maybe having a journal helps you to deal with the harshness that life has dealt you, or maybe you are just wanting to pass on your knowledge to your future descendants.
Whatever the reason somewhere in this world right at this moment someone is writing down something critical to human existence. It could be the cure for cancer or simply a piece of poetry that will save someone’s sad life. So when you look at the keys of a computer think of the possibilities of what can come from the combination of the letters.
Allow the literary world of books, journals, poetry and film to speak to you in such a way that your life is altered. With that alteration remember to use adt security for peace of mind while you dive into another great piece of literature.

Zoetrope: All-Story

www.bjpfb120.com — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 22:37:46 +0000

Francis Ford Coppola is recognized as one of the leading directors of our time. Similarly, Zoetrope: All-Story, the literary magazine which he founded in 1997, has become acclaimed as one of the leading stars in the literary scene. The magazine is driven by the belief that short fiction offers benefits for both writers and readers: challenging authors to distill their work into a short-fiction format and offering readers a chance to test the waters with an unfamiliar voice. Besides then-unknown writers like David Benioff, Daniyal Mueenuddin, and Miranda July, the magazine has also published fiction by well-known authors like Don DeLillo, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Cynthia Ozick.The magazine is published quarterly, with each issue available online for 8.00. Alternatively, you can purchase a yearly subscription for 24, effectively getting one free issue. A two year subscription is 40, while a three-year subscription is available for 55. Aspiring writers should also check out the workshops run by the magazine. An annual workshop in Coppola’s Blancaneux Lodge in Belize offers 25 students the ability to learn from professional writers while enjoying a refined and luxurious environment. Workshops are also available online. Limited to 18 students per class, a ten-week course costs 395 and a 25 registration fee.

What is Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan”?

www.bjpfb120.com — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 12:32:00 +0000

Director and screenwriter Darren Aronofsky has always had a unifying vision in his films, whether they’re black-and-white conspiracy thrillers (Pi, 1998), submarine ghost stories (Below, 2002), or time-travelling historical epics (The Fountain, 2006), to name just a few. His unifying vision is dark and visually striking, bringing out a visual poetry that’s getting rarer and rarer on the big screen. His newest film, Black Swan, is at once a continuation of his favorite themes, and something entirely new.The film is set in the ballet scene of New York City during a production of Swan Lake. The plot centers around the dual roles that the main character must play: the innocent White Swan and the seductive Black Swan. However, instead of one person playing both roles, the film begins with TWO ballerinas, only one of whom can get the part. Will it be Nina (played by Natalie Portman) who is perfect for the White Swan role, or Lily (Mila Kunis) who embraces the darker Black Swan role? The situation becomes more complex as Nina begins to go to extremes to bring out the darkness in herself.The film has been compared to early Roman Polanski works, both by reviewers and those directly involved with the film (Aronofsky and his actors). They have especially singled out Repulsion (1965), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), and The Tenant (1976)all part of Polanski’s “Apartment Trilogy”as similar works. Aronofsky also compared the film to his last movie, The Wrestler (2008), citing how both films focus on the effort different artists must put into their work. He calls it a “companion piece,” one dealing with a “higher” form of art as opposed to the “low art” of wrestling. Aronofsky called in ballet professionals to make sure that the field was represented as accurately as possible. Portman and Kunis both put in six months of training, and Portman pulls off a number of the ballet scenes by herself.The film has garnered positive reviews from most sources, even before its official release. The film will have a limited release in the US and Canada on December 3, 2011, and will be released in the UK on February 11, 2011.

Unstoppable barrels out of nowhere

www.bjpfb120.com — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:57:52 +0000

I think it’s fair to say that no one was really expecting much from Unstoppable, a film about a runaway train and the two men who stand in its way (figuratively speaking, of course). There doesn’t seem to be quite enough there to set a film around, which is why previous entries in the genre have either relegated this plot to a setpiece (Back to the Future Part III, GoldenEye), or used a train as the setting for a more involved plot (Murder on the Orient Express, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three). However, Unstoppable somehow manages to buck the trend and deliver 90 minutes worth of white knuckle action without losing track of his characters.Of course, with its two leading men, to do so would be criminal. Denzel Washington is in perfect form as Frank Barnes, an engineer who thinks he’s seen it all. Chris Pine, who gave a riveting performance as James Kirk in the 2009 Star Trek film, plays Will Colson, a young conductor who struggles to make up for his lack of experience. These two characters are thrown into a deadly situation when a lax hostler skips connecting the air brakes.The film is directed by Tony Scott, Ridley’s younger brother. Tony’s films have been hit or miss over the years, with True Romance and Enemy of the State representing the higher end of the spectrum. Scott’s most recent films, a remake of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and the sci-fi crime thriller Dj Vu, both garnered mediocre reviews. However, Unstoppable has been widely acclaimed, with an 85 rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Writer Mark Bomback (Race to Witch Mountain (2009 remake), Deception, Live Free or Die Hard) is at least partially responsible for that, also delivering some of his best work in years.Don’t go into Unstoppable expecting the same dynamic as The Social Network. However, there are some interesting social comments in the film and, of course, Unstoppable has at least one thing The Social Network lacksand when that thing weighs 1,000,000 tons, you know it’s got some weight to it.