Issue #2: 03/01/01



Visualization For Writers
Feature Articles
Creating and Using Language in Fiction
By Damon M. Lord
A, B, C: Beith, Luis, Nin
By Bryn Neuenschwander
Genetics in Storytelling
By Allison Starkweather
Creating Character Extras to Enhance Your Story
By Shane P. Carr
At a Loss for Words
By Vicki McElfresh
The Alternative Rules
By Lazette Gifford
Fantasy: 
A Man in Beast's Clothing
By Sarah Jane Elliott
Horror: 
What Is Horror?
By Teresa Hopper
Poetry: 
How-to Haiku
By Jennifer St. Clair Bush
Romance: 
Research Flaws in Romance Novels
By Anne M. Marble
Science Fiction: 
Tuning the Universe
By Bob Billing
Stage & Screen: 
The Dual Landscape of Plot and Story
By Robin Catesby
Suspense & Mystery:
Scene of the Crime
By Shane P. Carr
Young Adult & Children:
A Question of Style
By Justin Stanchfield
Young Writer's Scene:
Befriending the Internal Editor
By Beth Adele Long
Book Reviews
The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
Reviewed by Beth Adele Long
Web Site Reviews
The Forward Motion Web Site
By Lazette Gifford
Helpful Pointers for Community Members
By Jim Mills
From the Writers' Board
News from Forward Motion

Vision is the art of
seeing the invisible.

Jonathan Swift, 
Thoughts on Various Subjects; from Miscellanies (1711)

You are Visitor Number:

 

Welcome to the second edition of Holly Lisle's Vision: A Resource for Writers.  We had a wonderful response to the first issue, which is available Adobe Acrobat™ and Palm Systems™ downloadable versions.  I hope that you enjoy this one as well.

Vision is a bi-monthly E-Magazine, and our next issue will be published on May 1, 2001.  Vision is also an extension of the Forward Motion Writer's Community.  All material  presented here is written by members of Forward Motion.  

In this issue you will find:

A Welcome Note from Holly Lisle:
What we can offer to help writers

 Lazette Gifford, Managing Editor
Why Writers are Cursed

Visualization for Writers
Holly Lisle's second workshop

Feature articles on:

An excellent article on how to create and use language in your manuscripts.  (Creating and Using Language in Fiction)

And a related article on how to deal with the level of literacy available to your characters.  (A, B, C: Beith, Luis, Nin)

An article on how to use genetics to help describe your characters and world.  (Genetics in Storytelling)

A quick guide on how to create believable secondary characters for your stories. (Creating Character Extras to Enhance Your Story)

When it seems as though you cannot write a single word, remember that writer's block is not a demon, hiding in the shadows.  (At A Loss for Words -- and look at Befriending the Internal Editor for more helpful suggestions)

An article to help you look more closely at the forms of governments that you might use in your stories.  (The Alternative Rule

Genre Related Articles:

Fantasy: Look into animal behavior to create a creature that is more than just a man in a funny-looking skin. (A Man in Beast's Clothing

HorrorHow do you define horror?  Teresa Hopper takes a look at why she changed her parameters.  (What Is Horror Fiction?)

PoetryHaiku is one of the shortest forms of poetry, and is very popular!  Learn some of the history and join in the Haiku exercises on the Forward Motion Poetry Board.  (How-to Haiku)

Romance: Not doing background work on your setting can lead to appalling problems.  (Research Flaws in Romance Novels)

Science Fiction: Time and distance has a lot of potential for storytelling in the SF universe (Tuning the Universe)

Stage and Script: How to integrate the important aspects of your story for the most powerful presentation. (The Dual Landscape of Plot and Story)

Suspense and Mystery: How to set up believable  motives and events for suspense and mystery manuscripts. (Scene of the Crime)

Young Adult and Children: If you think writing for children and young adults is easier than adult novels, read this article. (A Question of Style)

Young Writer's Scene: One of the most difficult problems for writers to overcome is that little voice inside casting doubt. (Befriending the Internal Editor)

And other articles:

Book review: Beth Adele Long reviews The Writing Life by Annie Dillard.  

Web Site Review:   A look at our own Forward Motion Web Site.

And a look at what's going on at the Forward Motion Writer's Community: Helpful Pointers for Community Members, some fun material From the Writers' Board, and great list of publication-related news from members of the community in News From Forward Motion.

Letters to the Editor: A few of the letters we received regarding our premiere issue.

Tell us about: From Issue #1, some of you told us about your worst rejection letters.  In this issue we would like to know where you learned of Vision.

Copyright Information

Downloadable versions of Vision
(Adobe Acrobat™ and Palm Systems™)