Arts & Humanities
Discussions of the quality craftsmanship or practice of trade, expressions of beauty and appeal, and the study of the human arts. From classic theater to Greek philosophy. Debate on great literature, talks of museums holding the collected works of the greatest artists, and analysis of the great moments of history. All can be found in the Arts & Humanities channel.
Writing tips for creating a fictional world
Creating a fictional world for your characters to inhabit is as important as creating the characters themselves.
Without a world to live in, your characters float aimlessly around. They need a background to stabilize them, and link them to the world of the reader.
To create a fictional world that is realistic and believable, you need to spend some time getting it right. You might choose a present-day
Write nowvote now: Encouraged or Discouraged - (view results)
Encouraged
by Mark Waybill
I think that regional accents and variations in the use of the English language are not an altogether
Discouraged
Americans can be quite spoiled and take for granted the vastness of our country. America is one of the
Arts & Humanities (Other)
- Book reviews: Lover Enshrined, by J. R. Ward
- Book Reviews: Downbeat, by Ben Corde
- Essay reviews: A Voice for the Lonley, by Stephen Corey
- Book reviews: The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga
- 10 things you can do in the library that will really annoy the other patrons
- Dragons: A fierce creature of antiquity
- Book reviews: Vermeer's Hat by Timothy Brook
Dance (Other)
- How to make belly dancing costumes
- Common foot injuries among ballet dancers
- The best shoes for ballroom dancing
- Biography: Lester Horton
- Buying dance costumes
- Why men (secretly) love to dance
- The origins of Capoeira in Brazil
Literature (Other)
- Book reviews: The Media in Question, by Robert Ferguson
- Public domain literary works from Project Gutenberg
- Tips for running a successful book club
- Best romance author
- How to build a reading list for your retirement
- Why we should read about average people
- How book publishers add romance to NASCAR
Thoughts on Writing
- Reintroducing the lost art of letter writing
- Muses and their fickle tendencies
- Understanding the importance of scene and sequel in fiction
- Good Readers and Good Writers, an essay by Vladmir Nabokov
- Fiction-writing: The effective use of "said" and other dialogue attributions
- Tips for writing professionally
- Is it easier to write a short story or a full length novel?
by Irrira Rikki
FIRST STEP
It seems that how we come into this world, we do not arrive with a text book on how to find the meaning of Life. Every
by LK Hunsaker
Characterization, more than nearly any other aspect of writing, is what binds readers to your story or steers them away. Plots are
by Dawn Hawkins
Helium is a great place for writers to get great practice and to earn a few dollars along the way. Helium is also very addicting. How
Why do we exist?
What is the reason for our life on this earth, and who put us here in the first place? These are questions that have
Writing Assignments
- Middle Ages
- Book Reviews: The Age of the Vikings by P. H. Sawyer
- Book Reviews: The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture by Mary Carruthers
- Arts & Humanities (Other)
- Book reviews: The Victorian Visitors, by Rupert Christiansen
- Book reviews: Montana, by Debbie Macombe
- Theater & Drama
- 17th Century French actors
- Show the kids: Children's theater in Connecticut
- Evaluating the Palace Theater, Syracuse, NY
- Enjoying Boston's Berklee Performance Center
- The last of America's drive-in theaters
- Shakespeare in modern day South Africa
- Theater reviews: Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas, at the Geffen Playhouse, LA
- History Mysteries
- History mystery: Mysteries of Mount Shasta
- History mystery: Michigan's ancient copper mines
- History mystery: Tunguska explosion of 1908
- History mystery: Rudolf Hess' strange journey to England
- History mystery: New Zealand's Kaimanawa Wall
- History mystery: Underwater structures at Moselles Shoals
- History mystery: The submerged walls of the Pescadores Islands
- History (Other)
- Touring historical sites: American Civil War battlefields
- History for Kids: The Guy Fox Educational Program
- Wars in which paramilitary forces played a prominent role
- The Danish Laws of Standing in 1871
- The history of the Evenk people of Siberia
- The history of the Altaic people of Siberia
- A history of the Tungu people of Siberia
- History of Bogota, Colombia
- Clothing: Native American peoples of the northwest coast
- The World Wars
- Book reviews: Hitler's Scientists, by John Cornwell
- Looking at the hidden connection between Zionism, Naziism and the holocaust
- World War II in Alaska: Foreign elements
RSS FeedDifference of opinion? Debate now.
- Business of Writing (Other)
- Does selling used textbooks hurt authors and publishers?
- Should faculty sell complementary copies to book resellers?
- Are used textbooks the solution to the high cost of textbooks?
- Which is better for writers: Finding a print or online publisher?
- Ethics
- Do German reparations as restitution for the Holocaust place a burden on the wrong generation?
- Is taking the easy way out cowardly or smart?
