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Weekend Reads - 180202

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Are we 'improving' ourselves to death? That's the topic our first article looks at. With the glut of self-improvement books and guru's out there today it's interesting to step back and take a look at this 'from the outside'.

Check out the greatest books of all times, as voted by one hundred and twenty five authors, it's interesting to see what's in there and what's not.

For the writers out there, I have two articles, one about creating a coherent fantasy language and the four elements of Epic story telling, but good reads.

And in technology this week we meet the 89 year old man who is updating an old idea about moving trains from A to B. So when you have some time to relax this weekend, grab your favourite beverage and have a read through the following articles.




What the self-help gurus and their critics reveal about our times. Self-help advice tends to reflect the beliefs and priorities of the era that spawns it.

“Reading is the nourishment that lets you do interesting work,” Jennifer Egan once said. This intersection of reading and writing is both a necessary bi-directional life skill for us mere mortals and a secret of iconic writers’ success, as bespoken by their personal libraries.

Most authors will tell you they have been writing all their lives. I am no exception...

A common bit of advice given to writers is that story comes first; everything else comes second. With respect to fantasy, this advice is often employed to warn against the dangers of falling down the rabbit hole of world building. World building is great only insofar as it serves the story; anything else is a creative form of procrastination.

Storytelling is a craft, and like any craft or skill, it can be developed, enhanced, and eventually mastered through practice and devotion. Hopefully this list will be helpful to you in this pursuit.


Reprising an idea railway engineers in England and France floated in the 1820s and ’30s, which people called the atmospheric railway.



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