Saturday, June 02, 2007

Myth brainstorming machine

mythmachine.jpgAt Scholastic is a Myth brainstorming machine.

(If you're on dialup it may take a while to load. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it's loading, just sitting there with a yellow and purple screen, so you'll need to be patient!)

There are several settings, gods/goddesses and monsters to choose from, and some special effects to change the time and mood. At the end you have a picture and a word version of the picture (names, mood, personality, ...) (Note, you can click on "Effect" on both the Idea Drawing and Idea Outline.)

Pretty nifty!

To expand on that, in the Writing with Writers section, there are Myth making ideas from Jane Yolen:
A myth is a made-up story that explains the existence of a natural phenomenon — such as where thunder comes from or why snow falls from the sky. Myths — which often include gods and goddesses and other supernatural characters who have the power to make extraordinary things happen — are popular even when people know the actual reasons for natural phenomena.
There is a myth of her own there, plus "Brainstorming", "Write Your Myth" and "Publish Online".

At Scholastic there are several Writing with Writers series:
  • Biography Writing
  • Descriptive Writing
  • Folktale Writing
  • Mystery Writing
  • Myth Writing
  • News Writing
  • Poetry Writing
  • Speech Writing
  • Writing a Book Review

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