Redesigned Lesson Plan Covers

Self publishing is a continual learning curve.  I recently decided I wasn't happy with the cover for my Creative Writing Workshop for middle and high school students.  It wasn't really standing out in thumbnail view.

So I tweaked it to give it bolder colors and more contrast.  What do you think?

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Brain Science For Writers 2/18/16

© Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons, via Wikimedia Commons

Top Pick: People low in agreeableness ("jerks") are particularly adept at selling their creative ideas

Top Pick: The Creativity Bias against Women

Cynicism May Cost You. Having a distrustful attitude might limit your earning power

What kinds of actions do people think of as most stupid?

Giving Up Is the Enemy of Creativity. HT Passive Guy

What stops people raising the alarm when a friend heads down the dark path to violent extremism?

Are religious people really more prejudiced than non-believers?

Woman who has never felt pain experiences it for the first time

Men Are Attracted to Nonconformist Women

NeuroTribes: How autism has been badly misunderstood

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Thoughts on Plans

In Marissa Meyer's Winter, the cyborg heroine Cinder and her allies make  a a daring plan to sneak onto the moon and overthrow the evil Queen Levana.  Unsurprisingly, their plan goes awry very early on.

This got me thinking about plans.  When characters make them,  how should you reveal to your readers, and how well should things turn out?  So you have several possibilities.

1.  The reader knows what the characters are planning, but the plan goes wrong and things go in an unexpected direction.

This happens quite often, and provides a good amount of tension.

2.  The characters make a plan, but the reader doesn't know it.  Then, the reader finds out the plan as they watch its successful implementation.

This is a fun option as well, and usually involves some kind of clever plan.

3.  The characters make a plan.  The reader knows what it is, and everything goes off without a hitch.

Is this approach ever a good idea?  Does this just take away any element of surprise?  What do you think?

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Brain Science for Writers Roundup 2/4/2016

By Jty33 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Top Pick: Why resurgence of therapy that unearths ‘lost’ memories is risky

Top Pick: The Unfair Truth About How Creative People Really Succeed (via Passive Guy)

Ten minutes of uninterrupted eye contact causes hallucinations and other important things . This is actually another roundup of articles.

What do people think God is actually like?

Who Are You Wearing?: Does Competition Affect How Women View Luxury?

Social Class Differences in Mental Health: Do Parenting Style and Friendship Play a Role?

Hardwired for Stories (via Passive Guy)

Q&A: Why we Need to Forget

Your Favorite Candidate Speaks Simplistically. That's OK. For Now.

Did sexual equality fuel the evolution of human cooperation?


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