January 2016 Newsletter
Jan. 5th, 2016 08:05 pmOur January 2016 newsletter has been posted on our website!
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/january2016.php
In this month's news, we have our annual New Year's letter from the moderators, summarizing our past year and looking ahead to what we have coming in 2016. We also had a [brief] return of our plagiarist [quickly quashed!] and are looking forward to this year's Back to Middle-earth Month in just two months.
This month's character biography focuses on Rían and was written by Robinka. Rían is one of those characters we know very little about, whose relationship to a major male character is her defining quality in the text. Robinka makes a strong case for inferring several key characteristics about her, however, namely that she was a gentle, peaceful character who may have felt out of place among her people. Robinka's biography is excellent and is well worth the read!
More than twenty stories were added or updated on our archive last month, so if you missed some of them due to holiday mayhem or a cookie-induced coma, check out the list of archive updates for December. If you're more in the mood for nonfiction, Around the World and Web this month contains articles on everything from how academia treats Tolkien to the compatibility of Tolkien and feminism to stinkbugs. (Yes, you read that last one correctly. You'll have to read to find out how Tolkien and stinkbugs are related!) If you're looking for something fannish to do in the New Year, the announcement section includes information on courses, readings, fic swaps, and calls for papers.
This month, we introduce a new challenge "But I Won't Do That." What is something your character won't do? And what happens when they end up in a situation where they must do it anyway? We also revisit the "Terrible Twos" challenge: What was your character like or what happened to them when they were two years old?
Many thanks to Robinka, Rhapsody, Elleth, and Angelica for their contributions to this month's newsletter and best wishes to all of our members and friends for a New Year full of creativity and joy!
http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/news/january2016.php
In this month's news, we have our annual New Year's letter from the moderators, summarizing our past year and looking ahead to what we have coming in 2016. We also had a [brief] return of our plagiarist [quickly quashed!] and are looking forward to this year's Back to Middle-earth Month in just two months.
This month's character biography focuses on Rían and was written by Robinka. Rían is one of those characters we know very little about, whose relationship to a major male character is her defining quality in the text. Robinka makes a strong case for inferring several key characteristics about her, however, namely that she was a gentle, peaceful character who may have felt out of place among her people. Robinka's biography is excellent and is well worth the read!
More than twenty stories were added or updated on our archive last month, so if you missed some of them due to holiday mayhem or a cookie-induced coma, check out the list of archive updates for December. If you're more in the mood for nonfiction, Around the World and Web this month contains articles on everything from how academia treats Tolkien to the compatibility of Tolkien and feminism to stinkbugs. (Yes, you read that last one correctly. You'll have to read to find out how Tolkien and stinkbugs are related!) If you're looking for something fannish to do in the New Year, the announcement section includes information on courses, readings, fic swaps, and calls for papers.
This month, we introduce a new challenge "But I Won't Do That." What is something your character won't do? And what happens when they end up in a situation where they must do it anyway? We also revisit the "Terrible Twos" challenge: What was your character like or what happened to them when they were two years old?
Many thanks to Robinka, Rhapsody, Elleth, and Angelica for their contributions to this month's newsletter and best wishes to all of our members and friends for a New Year full of creativity and joy!