Highlighting some wonderful art works that have captured my attention. Congrats to these wonderful artists.


 

 

 

InnocenceThe crowd gathered around just to see,
A blood covered boy with intentions of brutality.  

   

 


 

  RememberedEach act immortalizes us,

           cascading

                    like starburst lightning,

                                           spreading

                                                           like dandelion seeds

                                                                                                     in the         w

                                                                                                                                       i
                                                                                                                                                           

 

 



Check out my recent art works and journals.

The Professors Study Chapter The Professors Study Chapter

Excerpt from Book Three

How long would it take you to have sex with another person on knowing them?

There was so many issues with how we met.  I was just about to leave, when the doors to the building closed three times, due to some form of technical error. I sat there with my empty coffee, staring at the mundane tv, which was going on about something, the show too young for my mature mind.

I had already complained to the management twice about all the buildings errors, doors not opening, lifts not working, the seats just needing repair. I had gotten an answer once, saying they had “fixed” the issu     Sample Chapter - He made me Smile.
He was like a large teddy bear, all wrapped up in Christmas paper for you. Just when you thought no one cared in the world – there he appeared bounding happy and caring, a gentleman to you.

And he sat there and said such wonderful things  - how smart you were and  "hey look at this" and you could almost guess what his family makeup was. He had a brother for sure, but no sisters. You could tell by his confidence and his smile that it was internally happy. Just everything about him was happiness and deep caring. And you deeply cared back.

You could get lost in his ways – how he worried about you and cared for you and wanted to be there for yo        

Facebook Profile at [link]

Do yourself a Learning Favour

Free Online Learning from Top Universities in Arts , Humanities, Science, Maths, Computing and More from Yale University, Duke University,  Berklee College of Music and more….

Check out the following sites - Coursera [link] and Udemy  [link]

This article discusses the world of online MOOC's – Learning online – a personal look at two current MOOC's and what they offer your art.
I have recently been fortunate enough to have discovered online MOOC's – Learning online from top professionals in many fields.  I learnt this through my social network connections and had some spare time, and thought – "It's Free" I will give it a go.

www.Coursera.org

I signed up for my first online class last September, called Modern and Contemporary Poetry from University of Pennsylvania or 'Modpo" as it was happily referred to by the other 20,000 plus students completing the course online.

The course was free.  'Modpo", ran late last year lasted for two months. There was no mandatory course materials to be brought, no upfront costs and no initial outlay. On signing up to the course, you had access to the course online forum, class emails from the professor addressing all the students, access to videos discussing a range of poets from Emily Dickinson to Gertrude Stein. My favourite, "Some Trees" by John Ashberry was covered in a 20 minute video, watching close reads of the poetry in a round discussion format.  Recent poets were also covered, and you got to read and experiment with different type of poetry, poets and formats.

The videos were well constructed and the interaction and learning from the online forum, videos and Facebook were inspiring. I was learning not only from the teacher, but from fellow students who ranged from young adults to retirees, other professors, and as a surprise – some of the current poets themselves visited the forums and had discussions with the class.

There were regular "Live Shows" from the University which enabled you to interact via YouTube and Twitter while watching the show live on Youtube and questions were being asked from people, calling in from the USA and other countries as far as Japan on telephone call in number. Even though the course was being run from the East Coast of America, myself as a participant in Australia was welcomed via the internet from my standard no frills laptop.

During the class, mandatory multi-choice questions and also essays were required, which were "peer reviewed" - assessed by fellow unknown students and critiqued in a format given by the professor.  There is no mandatory pre-learning, though a grasp of English is required as the course is presented in English. Some classes have a list of requirements before starting the course and course books that were being referred to, and mandatory for learning.  Check this out in the pre-course information and video which is provided by the professors on signing up to the course. Emails will alert you when the course begins and tell you of progress of the course.

I must admit, the experience was time consuming, lots of reading of recent poetry and well known poets from history, and it does take time. Be prepared for a lot of work to complete this course. Also, on a down side, the interaction is online, not in a university classroom, where you can expect to speak to people on a one to one basis, in person networking, was not available to someone like myself, who was not near the university, nor had any chance to be. The networking came from online interactions with forums, Facebook and emails.

I liked the fact there was no mandatory times to view the videos, and you could chose at will when to view it. However, there were mandatory times for submission of the essays should you wish to persue the Certificate for the course.

For me this was an experience, and the first class that I have taken of this nature. It was an eye opening FREE experience and I could have chosen, if this particular class was not for me, to drop the class at any time, with no financial loss. If I did not like the teaching style, I could drop the class and continue trying another course that suited my learning style. At the link www.coursera.org. classes of interest are Song writing, Guitar, Psychology, computing and upcoming science courses and many more.

www.Udemy.com

I am currently completing a Psychology course by Yale Professor, 110 Psychology on www.udemy.com. I have been doing so for the past month or so.

Also free, this offers beginners courses on Psychology from a well known Yale Professor giving you 17 hours of videos to watch at your leisure on beginners subjects of psychology. A book is recommended for reading for the course, but it is not required. There is no mandatory tests or essays on this particular course, and you can do the topics at your will as your spare time allows. Topics that have been covered are "Differences", "Development" "Love" with a lot of discussion on research and general theory of psychology, perfect  for the beginner. There is guest professors who do a one hour class on a particular topic. There is no mandatory preresquites for the course, apart from the course being run in English, so it is required here to have understanding of the English language. There has been discussion of the text book, however it does not seem a requirement to purchase this book. There is no course fees – it is free online.

On the Udemy course, you can chose and start your course today, the Coursera courses are available at given times, months into the future, at the moment.  I am waiting 1 month for the start of a guitar course on Coursera. I started the Udemy course straight away on signing up with my email address, with no wait time.

In comparing the two courses, that I have completed to date, the Coursea course on poetry, was time consuming for two months but I have made much in roads into the history of poets and been inspired by the writings of some of the poetry. The coverage of "computer generated" poetry was particularly interesting. I found the video output to be lacking on the Coursera course, and the requirement to download a different browser (Internet Explorer was not accepted and you could not complete the assignments if you had this browser – it was recommended instead to download Firefox). The video was clunky, not as fluid as the YouTube interface of the course on Udemy.  However, there was no interaction with other students, no forum, Facebook or Twitter on the Udemy course.

Another note, is that these are beginning courses only, and do not give you credit in top universities. They are designed for personal  interest only and not designed to be a full university course nor a substitute for one.

The information gained on both courses were brilliant. Best of all, for the moment, totally Free with no obligation to pay or continue on your part.

Check it out for your online learning in the Arts – there are more courses than I have mentioned here.

I hope it inspires you to improve your poetry and arts through learning from online top universities.

Thanks

Tina White is a published writer, living in Australia and currently completing her third novel, editing more and enjoying writing books thoroughly. Her bio and upcoming chapters, novel thoughts and ideas can be found on her DA profile at [link]

Read other tutorials  and a sample chapter "He Made Me Smile"  below -

How to Get Creative Ideas for Your NovelHow to get Creative Ideas for Your Novel - A beginner's guide.
Stuck in a rut with your novel or creative writing? Has it been left unfinished because you ran out of ideas? Is your muse gone?
Here is a few thoughts as to how to get your ideas back, maybe some fresh new thoughts for you.
Have you thought of the following to include in your writing?
Recent places you have visited
Recent people you have met
Art work  you have seen recently
Perhaps you were watching tv and you saw an interesting character there on an add.
Try stopping and doing other types of art work, give it a rest
Try joining a new group or social situation, writing about this
Modify recent dreams to include or write about
Start an ideas journal or start simple poetry for ideas
Google is your friend
Free write - just write and write - see what develops on the page.
Here is some stellar examples from my current novel as to how I used unlikely ideas and dreams to include in my current novel.
You wake up shocked - you       Text - He Made Me Smile Sample ChapterHe was like a large teddy bear, all wrapped up in Christmas paper for you. Just when you thought no one cared in the world – there he appeared bounding happy and caring, a gentleman to you.

And he sat there and said such wonderful things  - how smart you were and  "hey look at this" and you could almost guess what his family makeup was. He had a brother for sure, but no sisters. You could tell by his confidence and his smile that it was internally happy. Just everything about him was happiness and deep caring. And you deeply cared back.

You could get lost in his ways – how he worried about you and cared for you and wanted to be there for yo       Introducing Evan - An InterviewEvan and his thoughts.

Even reading it back and editing......I laugh.

"It was the hard nights and liquor, the women and the sex that had taken over his nights now"

"His certificate was there, proving beyond a doubt he knew what he was talking about"

"And he knew from within his tormented soul. This is why he went to college and did what he did. This was it and he darn well better not fuck it up"

An Interview with Evan – My Main Character.

Welcome to our interview, with Evan, starring character in Book 3, Tina White.

"Evan Welcome"
"Hi, we have to make this quick you know"
"Ok Evan – tell us a little about yourself as a character"
"

Check out my Author Facebook at [link]

 


This article is copyrighted and cannot be published in part or whole. Please note the writer, Tina White for information on distribution.

How to Start and Finish Your Novel - Tutorials

Here is a selection of Novel Writing and Character Tutorials for ideas and thoughts as to how you continue your novel. Have you gotten lost and not been able to finish? - give these ideas a go.

I wish you well in continuing your novel writing process.

Happy Novel Writing......


Tina White is a published writer, living in Australia and currently writing her third novel, editing more and enjoying writing books thoroughly. Her bio and upcoming chapters, novel thoughts and ideas can be found on her DA profile at [link]

Read all about one of those LOVE/HATE characters and a sample chapter "He Made Me Smile"  below -



How to Get Creative Ideas for Your NovelHow to get Creative Ideas for Your Novel - A beginner's guide.
Stuck in a rut with your novel or creative writing? Has it been left unfinished because you ran out of ideas? Is your muse gone?
Here is a few thoughts as to how to get your ideas back, maybe some fresh new thoughts for you.
Have you thought of the following to include in your writing?
Recent places you have visited
Recent people you have met
Art work  you have seen recently
Perhaps you were watching tv and you saw an interesting character there on an add.
Try stopping and doing other types of art work, give it a rest
Try joining a new group or social situation, writing about this
Modify recent dreams to include or write about
Start an ideas journal or start simple poetry for ideas
Google is your friend
Free write - just write and write - see what develops on the page.
Here is some stellar examples from my current novel as to how I used unlikely ideas and dreams to include in my current novel.
You wake up shocked - you                   Text - He Made Me Smile Sample ChapterHe was like a large teddy bear, all wrapped up in Christmas paper for you. Just when you thought no one cared in the world – there he appeared bounding happy and caring, a gentleman to you.

And he sat there and said such wonderful things  - how smart you were and  "hey look at this" and you could almost guess what his family makeup was. He had a brother for sure, but no sisters. You could tell by his confidence and his smile that it was internally happy. Just everything about him was happiness and deep caring. And you deeply cared back.

You could get lost in his ways – how he worried about you and cared for you and wanted to be there for yo


Novel Character Development - A beginner's guideYou have sat down to write your masterpiece, thoughts on the plot and start have come to mind,
you have made serious plans, perhaps taken time off of work and duties, to create your novel or epic series.
Here I will discuss how I develop characters for my three novels, using the character from my
third instalment "Evan" as an example of idea and thoughts. Using "Evan" to show how my main character was determined, and how you may introduce and determine your own character in your fictional novel or story.
First of all have thoughts about "Who is your character, what does your character value and what type of personality do
they have"
Are they friendly, outgoing, quiet, introverted, perhaps confronting? Do they have particular physical characteristics that you may wish to convey to your audience that adds to their personality? What makes them appealling to continue reading about?
Will you say their name, or will they be a "throw away character" - there to develop your plot, and then disa                   Introducing Evan - An InterviewEvan and his thoughts.

Even reading it back and editing......I laugh.

"It was the hard nights and liquor, the women and the sex that had taken over his nights now"

"His certificate was there, proving beyond a doubt he knew what he was talking about"

"And he knew from within his tormented soul. This is why he went to college and did what he did. This was it and he darn well better not fuck it up"

An Interview with Evan – My Main Character.

Welcome to our interview, with Evan, starring character in Book 3, Tina White.

"Evan Welcome"
"Hi, we have to make this quick you know"
"Ok Evan – tell us a little about yourself as a character"
"


                      How to Write a Novel - a beginner's guideI am often asked - how do you write novels? I am often told by the person asking - so politely -
                                        "It is my dream to write a novel"
                                        "I wish I could write"
                                        "I would love to write my novel on ..."
                                       
I let people know I am on my third novel. It is rare to meet a writer, rarely someone who has realised their dream, and who has produced a book. Rarer still to find a published author --- why? it seems so easy.....when you read them.
Many try the


Join me at Facebook at my Authors Site [link]

How to get Creative Ideas for Your Novel - A beginner's guide.


Stuck in a rut with your novel or creative writing? Has it been left unfinished because you ran out of ideas? Is your muse gone?

Here is a few thoughts as to how to get your ideas back, maybe some fresh new thoughts for you.

Have you thought of the following to include in your writing?


Recent places you have visited
Recent people you have met
Art work  you have seen recently
Perhaps you were watching tv and you saw an interesting character there on an add.
Try stopping and doing other types of art work, give it a rest
Try joining a new group or social situation, writing about this
Modify recent dreams to include or write about
Start an ideas journal or start simple poetry for ideas
Google is your friend
Free write - just write and write - see what develops on the page.

Here is some stellar examples from my current novel as to how I used unlikely ideas and dreams to include in my current novel.

You wake up shocked - you just had a nightmare. It was so disgusting, it has stuck with you for hours. Wonderful news - something new for your novel - but how to fit it in?

In a recent chapter I have just written, towards the end of my book, I have used a modified dream. The dream consisted of nightmare with skulls. I woke up from the dream shaken, kept the idea in the back of my mind and few days later knew I had to include this nightmare somehow in my novel. The dream was not going away. I added in features and locations not in the dream as I started writing it - but the central idea of the skulls was finally included. I added in characters, truckers and a quarry. I added in a new hitchhiker (extending on the trucker idea) and included this simple nightmare with the skulls into my novel. It is more realistic because of the dream. It was unlikely I would have written this particular chapter without this dream.  Maybe a dream that you have had recently, can help you expand your novel into directions you have not thought of?

For a poem I had, I was driving along a main road, coming home daily from work, and would drive past a sign with large wording of an estate close by. The sign was large and italic, clearly in view each day. I would drive past every day going "how can I use this sign in my writing"? For weeks, I sat there, viewing the italic sign, it had white in the background with green letters. Finally I wrote a poem, with the sign name in it - the estate name had a river in the title (the estate located near a river) and I expanded this idea onto the poem, discussing the river.

Take those little ideas from your life - what you see and run with it. Seek inspiration in every day things, a fan circulating, a curtain rustling, a trip to the local shops - expand this into an idea.

"But my life is not amazing" you say - who would want to read about me going down to a shop? The idea is to use the shop idea to move your novel along - maybe your new character is survival expert - your simple trip to the shop could be the characters long journey to the mountains. The main road, a path for him to choose, turning the corner for you - could be a decision he has to make. A round about.... could be something he gets caught on - an idea or concept. Use these thoughts to help you along as you carry out your daily life. Think what can be made as a simple concept from your life into your book.

Good luck on your new idea!!!.

Got more ideas for aspiring novel writers out there - leave a comment below?

Happy Novel Writing

Tina White is a published writer, living in Australia and currently writing her third novel, editing more and enjoying writing books thoroughly. Her bio and upcoming chapters, novel thoughts and ideas can be found on her DA profile at [link]

Read all about one of those characters and a sample chapter "He Made Me Smile"  below and a few quotes from Evan, the main character in her third book. Also included "How to Write a Novel" - A beginners guide.

Novel Character Development - A beginner's guideYou have sat down to write your masterpiece, thoughts on the plot and start have come to mind,
you have made serious plans, perhaps taken time off of work and duties, to create your novel or epic series.
Here I will discuss how I develop characters for my three novels, using the character from my
third instalment "Evan" as an example of idea and thoughts. Using "Evan" to show how my main character was determined, and how you may introduce and determine your own character in your fictional novel or story.
First of all have thoughts about "Who is your character, what does your character value and what type of personality do
they have"
Are they friendly, outgoing, quiet, introverted, perhaps confronting? Do they have particular physical characteristics that you may wish to convey to your audience that adds to their personality? What makes them appealling to continue reading about?
Will you say their name, or will they be a "throw away character" - there to develop your plot, and then disa

Text - He Made Me Smile Sample ChapterHe was like a large teddy bear, all wrapped up in Christmas paper for you. Just when you thought no one cared in the world – there he appeared bounding happy and caring, a gentleman to you.

And he sat there and said such wonderful things  - how smart you were and  "hey look at this" and you could almost guess what his family makeup was. He had a brother for sure, but no sisters. You could tell by his confidence and his smile that it was internally happy. Just everything about him was happiness and deep caring. And you deeply cared back.

You could get lost in his ways – how he worried about you and cared for you and wanted to be there for yo

How to Write a Novel - a beginner's guideI am often asked - how do you write novels? I am often told by the person asking - so politely -
                                        "It is my dream to write a novel"
                                        "I wish I could write"
                                        "I would love to write my novel on ..."
                                       
I let people know I am on my third novel. It is rare to meet a writer, rarely someone who has realised their dream, and who has produced a book. Rarer still to find a published author --- why? it seems so easy.....when you read them.
Many try the

Introducing Evan - An InterviewEvan and his thoughts.

Even reading it back and editing......I laugh.

"It was the hard nights and liquor, the women and the sex that had taken over his nights now"

"His certificate was there, proving beyond a doubt he knew what he was talking about"

"And he knew from within his tormented soul. This is why he went to college and did what he did. This was it and he darn well better not fuck it up"

An Interview with Evan – My Main Character.

Welcome to our interview, with Evan, starring character in Book 3, Tina White.

"Evan Welcome"
"Hi, we have to make this quick you know"
"Ok Evan – tell us a little about yourself as a character"
"



Join me at Facebook at [link]

You have sat down to write your masterpiece, thoughts on the plot and start have come to mind,
you have made serious plans, perhaps taken time off of work and duties, to create your novel or epic series.

Here I will discuss how I develop characters for my three novels, using the character from my
third instalment "Evan" as an example of idea and thoughts. Using "Evan" to show how my main character was determined, and how you may introduce and determine your own character in your fictional novel or story.

First of all have thoughts about "Who is your character, what does your character value and what type of personality do
they have"

Are they friendly, outgoing, quiet, introverted, perhaps confronting? Do they have particular physical characteristics that you may wish to convey to your audience that adds to their personality? What makes them appealling to continue reading about?

Will you say their name, or will they be a "throw away character" - there to develop your plot, and then disappear out
of the piece, with little to no knowledge of who they are, their background or ideals. Are they there to support other character development, or are they there to antagonise?

Does what your character do, go along with their traits? If they are always outgoing, changing their personality to an
introvert may not suit some readers, feel odd and out of character, being unbelievable. You may wish to consider their age and fit experiences to their age and generation / time period of the novel. Does what they say fit with their personality?

My character "Evan" from my third thriller novel, is a main character. He is quoted as having a "wavy personality" - there
to help but unable to do so but openly declares he can. He has a vivid night life, many sexual partners, swearing and declares himself as "professional and having a piece of paper to prove it". I concluded to name him, because of his role in the book, a main character. He is possessive and controlling, seeming to be concerned about the female character presented to him. I have kept in step with his character by placing him in casinos, enjoying him calling up old aquaintances for a quick get together of casual sexual encounters. I have chosen not to put in unbelievable bingo halls or knitting groups for him to attend, as it would be out of step with his character, his personality and ideas. As a dominant Alpha male, it seems unbelievable that he would take a back seat to the action, and I have included him in scenes, where he is taking control.

Have a think about your character you are developing. Look around for examples of people similar, in your real life, from novels or other entertainment sources. You may remember a particular teacher or college room mate, whom may have similar characteristics that you either loved or hated. You may meet a new acquaintance, and like one particular aspect of their personality that you wish
to explore.

Remember you have to write and live with this character for a while, it is worth thinking about -- do you want to write about this character and have enough to say about them? If you rarely mix with or have information on their field of expertise, you may need to research this field to an extent you can to write a realistic character. If you cannot write about them, perhaps keep them for another shorter character role.

Finally - enjoy them. You are writing about them for a reason....consider what that is, and let them help.

Happy Writing.

Tina White is a published writer, living in Australia and currently writing her third novel, editing more and enjoying writing books thoroughly. Her bio and upcoming chapters, novel thoughts and ideas can be found on her DA profile at [link]

Read all about one of those LOVE/HATE characters and a sample chapter "He Made Me Smile"  below and a few quotes from Evan, the main character in her third book. Also included "How to Write a Novel" - A beginners guide.


Text - He Made Me Smile Sample ChapterHe was like a large teddy bear, all wrapped up in Christmas paper for you. Just when you thought no one cared in the world – there he appeared bounding happy and caring, a gentleman to you.

And he sat there and said such wonderful things  - how smart you were and  "hey look at this" and you could almost guess what his family makeup was. He had a brother for sure, but no sisters. You could tell by his confidence and his smile that it was internally happy. Just everything about him was happiness and deep caring. And you deeply cared back.

You could get lost in his ways – how he worried about you and cared for you and wanted to be there for yo

Introducing Evan - An InterviewEvan and his thoughts.

Even reading it back and editing......I laugh.

"It was the hard nights and liquor, the women and the sex that had taken over his nights now"

"His certificate was there, proving beyond a doubt he knew what he was talking about"

"And he knew from within his tormented soul. This is why he went to college and did what he did. This was it and he darn well better not fuck it up"

An Interview with Evan – My Main Character.

Welcome to our interview, with Evan, starring character in Book 3, Tina White.

"Evan Welcome"
"Hi, we have to make this quick you know"
"Ok Evan – tell us a little about yourself as a character"
"

How to Write a Novel - a beginner's guideI am often asked - how do you write novels? I am often told by the person asking - so politely -
                                        "It is my dream to write a novel"
                                        "I wish I could write"
                                        "I would love to write my novel on ..."
                                       
I let people know I am on my third novel. It is rare to meet a writer, rarely someone who has realised their dream, and who has produced a book. Rarer still to find a published author --- why? it seems so easy.....when you read them.
Many try the


Join me at Facebook at my Authors Site - [link]