Dec

28

Sources of Inspiration: Pictures

Filed Under Idea Factory | Leave a Comment

One of the things I find is a great source of inspiration for ideas are photographs. Sometimes, an image can call up a dozen or more stories ideas. One of my favorite places to look at images online is the NYPL Digital Gallery. It provides free online access to over 415,000 images, and you can purchase copies of many of these images at very reasonable rates.

They’ve got some really cool stuff in there, including historical maps, posters, illuminated manuscripts, and much more.

Dec

17

How to Start Building a World?

Filed Under World Building | Leave a Comment

A short while ago, I was asked for some tips about how to start creating a fictional world.

All kinds of things started flying through my head, but it really came down to three things:

* realism
* make it different somehow
* give it a hook

The most important thing, even if your setting is modern day Earth, is realism. If your audience can’t believe it, no matter how good your story is, it’ll fail.

Dec

15

World Building and Web Comics

Filed Under Just For Fun, World Building | Leave a Comment

I’m a big fan of web comics. In fact, when I checked out my folder of web comic links that I visit on a regular basis, there’s 49 links in there.

One of the things I love about web comics is the great storytelling that can happen in them. One of my absolute favorite web comics is Dominic Deegan: Oracle For Hire. I’ve been reading Mookie’s strip since almost the very beginning, and it’s a real pleasure to do so. He’s created a very consistent fantasy setting for his stories. There have been a couple of times where I’ve gone “what the heck?” at something he’s introduced, but in going back and checking past strips, the hints at what he just did are there to be seen.

If there’s going to be only one fantasy genre webcomic you’re going to read, I suggest Dominic Deegan. Go ahead, check it out anyway. He’s hit the 1000 strip mark, so there’s enough in the archives to get you hooked and keep you busy until he gets back from the holiday hiatus in January.

Dec

14

@TheKeyboard

Filed Under Just For Fun | 1 Comment

Those of you who know me know I have a little brother. Well, younger, but not little. He’s a big, hairy, and scary guy you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. He’s a Zend Certified Engineer, and has been programming with PHP since 1997, and dabbles with Ruby On Rails.

Anyway, BHSG has got a blog going about working with PHP, Ruby and other things. If you’re interested, check it out:

@TheKeyboard

EDIT: BHSG denies being hairy. I guess that demotes him to BSG. :)

Dec

14

Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions

Filed Under World Building | Leave a Comment

When creating a world to set your game or your fiction in, there’s so much that needs to be considered. I highly recommend visiting the following web page:

Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions

It has a rather long list of things to think about, and well worth checking out.

Next Page →