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Volume 3, Issue 23 - 13 December 2006
Brought to you by Aneeta Sundararaj
For the online version of this newsletter, click on this
link:
http://www.howtotellagreatstory.com/gsn/13122006.html
To subscribe to this newsletter, go to:
http://www.howtotellagreatstory.com/gsn/indextogsn.html
To unsubscribe, go to the end of this newsletter for
details.
CONTENTS
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From the Editor's Desk
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StoryAsia -
“Go Away!” the Storyteller said.
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Storyteller's Nuts and Bolts - The Character Next Door
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Jack's Fables -
Becoming the Best He Can Be.
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Infosynthesis - Show your balance
sheet
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Blow Your Own Trumpet! - Interviews with
Sharanya Manivannan and Lydia Teh
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Articles For Storytellers -
30 themes you can use to tell your great story.
-
1000 Reviews - Vasthu Sastra Guide by T. Selva
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from the editor's desk ...
Dear [First Name],
The winner of a copy of Snapshots! is Daljit Singh.
Congratulations, Daljit.
I received this query from a subscriber: Aneeta, why do you not list the
markets which pay for submissions in your newsletter?
The simple answer is that I tried this once before and the number of
people who unsubscribed increased simply because the newsletter became
too long to read. The thing is, I have made provision for this under
'Resources for Storytellers' and you can easily gain access to all this
information by clicking on the appropriate link. As and when I receive
the data, I update the resources. So, all you need to do is to keep
visiting the resources I post for free on this site.
On that note, I have added some new resources and the one that
fascinated me was the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. The
publishers are looking for your stories and you may wish to enter your
own. For ease of reference, here's the link:
http://www.howtotellagreatstory.com/resources/payingmarkets.html
There are the usual offerings of Story Asia, Infosythesis, Storytellers
Nuts and Bolts, Jack's Fables, more articles and a new review. I've also
posted announcements sent in by our subscribers. So, there is much to
read in this newsletter.
This will be the last edition of this newsletter for this year. As such,
I would really like to make a special request. If you've not already
done so, please show your support for this site/newsletter by
nominating us for 'The 101 Best Websites For Writers' competition by
sending an email to
writersdig@fwpubs.com with "Vote the Great Storytelling Network
newsletter for 101 Best Web sites" as the subject matter of your email.
In advance I thank you.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New
Year.
Here's to your storytelling success.
Aneeta Sundararaj
editor@howtotellagreatstory.com
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VISIT OUR BLOG
Check
out "The Candid Internet Storyteller" blog with Aneeta Sundararaj at:
http://howtotellagreatstory.blogspot.com/
In this blog, Aneeta Sundararaj regularly shares methods,
techniques, tips and ideas to help you master storytelling and the art
of conversation
Go
to:
http://howtotellagreatstory.blogspot.com/
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INFOSYNTEHSIS
This piece is
an excerpt from Eric's upcoming book - I Want A Husband
Show your
balance sheet
To get a husband
quick, your Balance Sheet (B-Sheet) should be healthy. What do I mean by
this? The balance sheet of any business is its financial report card any
time. A balance sheet has two sides. The left side shows the fixed and
current assets, while the right shows the long term and current
liabilities. The fixed assets can be properties, household items, land,
plant and machinery. The current assets can be money in the bank, stocks
and bonds, cash at hand and income. The liabilities represent what the
business owes, long and short term. What makes all of them a balance
sheet is when a company’s assets are equal in value to its liabilities.
To read more,
please click here ...
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STORYASIA
“Go Away!” the Storyteller said.
The questions we, as storytellers, ask ourselves can drive
even the sanest of men mad. The ‘person’ who asks these questions is
often called the ‘inner critic’. While the inner critic is crucial to
any form of storytelling, listening too much to this person’s ‘words of
advice’ can inhibit a storyteller’s success. The following is a
conversation between a storyteller and his inner critic that shows a
storyteller how to shut his inner critic up.
Inner critic: You just can’t tell a story.
Storyteller: What do you mean I can’t tell a story?
Inner critic: Well, look at you. I’m telling you, you can’t
tell a story.
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Jack's Fables
Becoming the Best He
Can Be.
Joey thought to himself ‘If that’s what it’s all
about, I’ve got about 10 years to do it.’ But he also wondered what the
future held for his heroes, apart from after-dinner speaking, getting
drunk and the odd appearance on ‘Question of Sport.’
As he wandered through the ‘Sports’ section of the
local bookshop, he saw books about the lives of footballers and
sportspeople who were in their early to mid-20’s.
Coming from a mixed race family, and despite his
tender years [14], he had a highly developed social conscience. So much
so that his real hero was Nelson Mandela.
To read more,
please click here ...
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Storytelling Nuts and Bolts
The Character Next
Door
© Kristy
Taylor 2006
So you
finally have the time to finish that story. Your outline touches on
every aspect of the plot. You’ve made it the best that it can be. You’re
sure your efforts have the right mix of suspense, humor, clarity and
originality.
All of
that is necessary, but what about connecting with your readers? Fiction
writing isn’t the same as weaving fairy tales or campfire stories; you
don’t have the added benefit of using physical animation. You need to
grab your readers’ attention with your words only. And the best way to
do this is to keep your readers’ interest with characters that are worth
caring about... just like the character next door
To read more,
please
click here ...
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PROMPTS TO TELL YOUR GREAT STORY
...
Think of an object that is of sentimental value to you. Hold the
thought of this object in your mind and write a short story about
it.
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BLOW YOUR OWN TRUMPET!
Divine Words - interview with Sharanya Manivannan
Excerpts ...
Aneeta: Now,
on your blog,
http://sharanyamanivannan.blogspot.com/ , it is stated that
you’re a writer, dancer, painter, actress, photographer, journalist and
activist. I’m so tempted to ask, is there anything you don’t do? Anyway,
do tell me a little about each of these ‘vocations’ of yours.
Sharanya: I
don’t cook, at least not as well as I would like, and neither can I
swim! The thing about my many ‘vocations’ is that I am audacious enough
to declare myself to be all of those roles simply by virtue of my
passion and pursuit of them. I don’t see why I shouldn’t. I write, I am
a Bharatnatyam dancer, I do oil painting, theatre, photography, and have
earned my daily bread in journalism and activism. I am deeply, deeply in
love with each of these, and some I have fared better at by public
standards than others. ...
To read more,
please
click here ...
Honk! - interview with Lydia Teh
Excerpts ...
Lydia: ...
3.
Honk If You’re Malaysian will be launched this month. It is
published by MPH Group Publishing Sdn Bhd. My editor, Eric Forbes,
encouraged me to work on this as a sequel to Life’s Like That.
Books like these are evergreen, there’ll always be a demand for them, he
said. So I put aside the novel I was working on and concentrated
on getting this book out.
...
To read more,
please
click here ...
If you'd like to be interviewed for this column, please
contact me at
editor howtotellagreatstory.com
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ARTICLES FOR STORYTELLERS
30 themes you can use to
tell your great story.
[Adapted from the e-book
How To Tell A Great Story (7th Edition)]
The thing is this: you have a rough idea for a story you’d
like to tell. You love this rough idea and you’ve, no doubt, got all the
characters listed down and the place where your story is going to be set. You’ve
even jotted down the exact time-frame for your story. Only, there’s no central
theme and for the life of you, the words to create that theme just do not flow.
You know that you cannot get start telling your story unless your theme has been
worked out. Take heart. Sometimes, even the best of writers just can’t get the
theme of their tale put into words. Nevertheless, they work at it and in the aim
of this piece is to assist you by suggesting thirty different themes you can use
to tell your great story.
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Love conquers
all.
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Evil lurks
where we least expect it.
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No one is
beyond redemption.
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Power corrupts
even a Saint.
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Stolen money
can only bring misery.
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The end never
justifies the means.
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Gender
stereotypes in Fairy tales.
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Fairy tales
never come true.
-
It is
impossible for men and women to be friends.
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Dreams always
come true.
-
Opportunity
seldom knocks twice
-
Every action
has an equal and opposite reaction
-
Every law has
a loophole
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All good
things must come to an end
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You cannot
please everyone
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Nothing is so
certain as death/
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Two’s a
company, three’s a crowd
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It’s a small
world
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Where there’s
a will, there’s always a way.
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The Mystery of
Death
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The decline of
the American Dream
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The blessings
of having a family.
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The evils of
racism and slavery
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The hypocrisy
of a ‘civilised’ nation
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Pride comes
before a fall
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Honesty is the
best policy
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Wealth spoils
the character
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Spare the rod
and spoil the child
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Beauty is in
the eyes of the beholder
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One man’s food
is another man’s poison
That should
get you started on your story. Good luck.
Aneeta
Sundararaj is the editor-in-chief of ‘How To Tell A Great Story’ (www.howtotellagreatstory.com).
She has written for many online resources and manages to popular ezine, Great
StoryTelling Network!. If you would like to know more about how themes are the
universal and fundamental ideas explored in any story, you can find out more by
visiting her site,
http://www.howtotellagreatstory.com
If you would like to submit your own article on storytelling,
please click here...
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1000 Reviews
Vashtu Sastra Guide by T. Selva
Excerpts ...
Vasthu Sastra Guide
is a non-fiction piece of work. In the author’s own
words:
Although the awareness of Vasthu Sastra is increasing
daily worldwide, I found that many people lacked
understanding of the effective application of Vasthu
Sastra rules on their properties. This prompted me to
write this book to enhance the understanding of Vasthu
Sastra. … My purpose in writing this book is to share my
discoveries and knowledge of this science with people
interested in harmony and peace of mind.
The topic in question is Vasthu Sastra and for those who
do not know what it is the author has provided a simple
definition of this term – ‘vasthu’ means a habitat and
‘sastra’ means science. Indeed, Mr. Selva states,
‘Vasthu is not magic, superstition, a religion or
religious ritual, and does not work on a belief system.
It is also not a question of faith but a fact of life.’
To read more, please
click here
If you would like to submit your own review,
please click here...
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RESOURCES FOR STORYTELLERS...
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FREE CONTENT FOR YOUR WEB SITE OR E-ZINE
Need
some fresh, free content for your web site or e-zine?
Visit the following webpage and you'll
see links to articles you can reprint for free.
We
simply ask that you let us know where the article will be appearing, and
include our byline.
http://www.howtotellagreatstory.com/ezine/index.html
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WEBPAGES FOR STORYTELLERS
Merlyn Swan:
http://www.howtotellagreatstory.com/webpages/merlynswan.html
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D.Devika Bai
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TELL EVERYONE ABOUT ...
POETRY WORKSHOP for 7 to 12 year olds
conducted by Sharanya Manivannan
When?
DECEMBER 27th-28th 2006 (Wednesday,
Thursday)
2.00 pm - 6.00 pm
with a small presentation on
DECEMBER 28th 2006 at
7.00 pm
Where?
Indie Scene Café, Piccolo Galleria, Bukit Bintang
(between Lot 10 and KL Plaza)
Fees
RM100 per child (snacks and materials included)
Contact/Sign-up
Sharanya Manivannan
sharanya.manivannan@gmail.com
017-6973351
Jasmine Low
jasminelow@gmail.com
017-6230288
Deadline for application: December 25th 2006
Places are limited so don't disappoint your child, apply
early!
International World Heritage Conference
March 25 - 29th, 2007 Vancouver, B.C. Canada
Sponsored by The National Association for Interpreters
www.interpnet.com/iwh
NEGS Charity Project
For the last
eleven years NEGS (New England Girls’ School) students have participated
in a community service project that involves the collection of used
postage stamps. The stamps are sent to a charity in Sydney who sell
them.
Christmas is an
ideal time to collect used stamps from your Christmas cards. If you
would like to help, please place your used envelopes in a clean plastic
bag and return them to the address stated below.
NEGS Stamp Project
C/- Mrs Kate
Blackmore
Maths & Technology
Department
New England Girls’
School
Uralla Road
Armidale NSW
2350
Australia
Please do NOT cut
or soak the postage stamps off the paper, as they are more valuable on a
full-sized envelope.
The First-Time
Writers & Illustrators Publishing Initiative enters its second edition
with an expanded scope following the success of its launch last year.
Opening up more opportunities for aspiring writers and illustrators to
get their works published, a new category, Comics and Graphic Novels,
has been included in addition to Children’s Books
For more information, log on to
www.bookcouncil.sg
How are people going to know about your great storytelling
resources if you don't tell them? Here's your chance - Send info about
your stuff and we'll post it here for free. Please keep the number of
words to no more than 125. Send an email to
editor@howtotellagreatstory.com
with 'Tell Everyone About ...' in the subject line.
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