alien

Haven’t I Seen This Somewhere Before?

December 20, 2011

How many times have you seen the classic scene where the intrepid explorer, or the bumbling victim staves off the monster, the alien or the wild animal by offering it a candy bar, or other packaged food, as a peace offering?  Trite as it is, the concept has been around, it seems, forever.
 

What would it be [...]

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World Builder: Revisited – Part 25

June 5, 2010

Continued from Part 24
New to this project: Start with Part 1

  Part 25: Cosmology
   We’ve talked about how our people actually started life on our new world.  As day twenty-five begins, I want to discuss how our people think they started.  What your inhabitants say about how things began will certainly change as your race(s) [...]

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World Building: Revisited – Part 24

June 4, 2010

Continued from Part 23 
New to this project: Start with Part 1 
 
Part 24:  Rituals 
As I continue to push for aliens with a lot of humanity in them, let me add rituals to the mix.  Our daily lives are filled with rituals, many of which we do not recognize as such.  For example which sock or shoe [...]

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World Building: Revisited – Part 22

June 2, 2010

Continued from Part 21
New to this project: Start with Part 1

 Part 22: The Language Primer
Years ago I spent much time studying Linguistics and Psychology, a combination that I thought might serve me in the future.  While a career in neither appeared, the two disciplines have proved useful in writing Science Fiction and Fantasy.   Why?  Because [...]

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The Alien and the Candy Bar

May 27, 2010

How many times have you seen the classic scene where the intrepid explorer, or the bumbling victim staves off the monster, the alien or the wild animal by offering it a candy bar, or other packaged food, as a peace offering?  Trite as it is, the concept has been around, it seems, forever.
What would it [...]

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World Building: Do You Have Horses? (Pt. 33)

March 6, 2010

Continued from Part 32

New to this Project? Start with Part ONE
We’re getting close to the finish line.  Any time now you’ll reach out and flick the switch that starts your world rotating and orbiting its star.  The clouds will begin to scud across your bright skies… but wait.  Let’s check out a [...]

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World Building: The Language Primer (Pt. 22)

March 4, 2010

Continued from Part 21

New to this Project? Start with Part ONE
Years ago I spent much time studying Linguistics and Psychology, a combination that I thought might serve me in the future.  While a career in neither ever appeared, the two disciplines have proved useful in writing Science Fiction and Fantasy.   Why?  Because [...]

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World Building: What Do the People Look Like? (Pt. 21)

March 4, 2010

Continued from Part 20

New to this Project? Start with Part ONE
Take a look at the title of this post.  What do the people look LIKE?   If you’ve read Uphill Writing for any length of time, you’ve heard me go on and on about the dichotomy between a thing being like what we [...]

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The Alien in Your Head

February 8, 2010

If you are a fan, or more importantly a writer of Science Fiction, you have probably dreamed about creating the perfect Alien for a novel or short story.  The thing is, the “perfect” alien isn’t very alien at all.  It cannot be.  Here’s why.
For the purpose of a story, your alien must have, at the [...]

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Writing What You Know: An Apparent Myth

February 5, 2010

As a new writer you may find yourself struggling.  You know you can write, and you know what you like to read.  But what you read and what you write don’t always match up, now, do they?
In classes, on Blogs, at various Writer’s Websites, you’ll hear or read the mind-numbing phrase: “Write what you know”.  [...]

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