The Kin

Happy Fall, ya'll!!! What's your favorite part of this time of year? Ps- chatter here: http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/topic/64431-sign-in-chatter/

I'm already a member of the ACW, Aiel, BotRH, Black Tower, Oiger, White Tower and Wolfkin. Thought I'd make it a full set :D I'm a Wheel of Time-aholic (I literally have WoT-related dreams at least once a week, am almost always on dm if I'm not in class, at church or sleeping, and am always babbling about it) So... yeah. Wanna know anything else, just ask :D

Dear Eldest, I would like to join the Kin. Thank you, Ahmoondah Sedai aka Moon. Ps- sorry for the brevity.

Here's an ever-growing collection of games with a Halloween theme! If you find one we haven't, feel free to add it! :)

We've tried this for years and I wanted to see if it would actually work this time. So, here's the deal, I thought it might be fun (and help you get rid of books you don't have room for or aren't interested in keeping), if we did a bit of a yard sale/book swap this month. Basically, you post a list of books you'd like to get rid of, someone posts a list of books they want to get rid of, and you pick a book off each other's list and... SWAP! The best part is that you can mail it media mail or flat rate and it'll be cheap! So, let's see what we can get started. I need hospital reading material... ;)

Here we go! Let's chat! :D

Hey, all! I got this lovely invitation in my PM box for us to participate in the Aiel's Post Raid celebration on their public boards. They're back home after their long journey around DM, so let's help welcome them back! :D

This month is getting past me quick! So, what've you been up to? Replying to this thread will be your sign in, remember to sign in only once and we'll have a chat about what you posted here.

Hello, Most Revered Eldest I have been informed of your wishes to be the first to welcome "Newbies" so I thought it appropriate to make my appeal to you personally. May i join this wonderful org? Your humblest servant, Mingan

Congratulations! And welcome to the world Tadpole. You sure did luck out in the Mommy Lotto! Now for everyone to come and celebrate and give you some gifts! A cooshy place to put her while you're on DM: Baby not included Earplugs to help you sleep at night: Some Rum to help her sleep at night:

It's August, everyone! Let's try a school-related sign in this time, since everyone's gearing up for that! What is your favorite memory of a First Day of School? It can be yours, your kids'... I'm not picky! :D See something you want to talk about? Stop in here and go for it!

Annnndddd I am back! I make my "secret" return to DM by starting here. I'll work my way back up to green again! ;)

Alright, so... chat! :D

So every year at this time, we celebrate national short story month by sharing some short stuff that we've written. I'm going to try to play some games with ya'll and use my 6 Traits of Writing stuff to help you put together something. If I'm lucky and you get addicted to the process (some more), Kathleen won't yell at me (this really is a tradition at the Kin, I swear!) and you can share with the Writer's group, too. Just make sure you brag that a Kinster did it before they were Scribing elsewhere. ;) I'm territorial that way. LOL So, I'll be posting some activities you can play with in other threads, but I thought we could use this one to get the door open. Come…

Sorry, I'm too tired for quirky things to post about. lol So, post what you want, as long as you post something in this thread this month! :D Just remember to only post once! Discussions can be found here: http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/topic/61427-july-discussion-thread/ so... are you here?

Alright, let's have some fun and move ahead a bit. I thought it might be interesting to skip a few steps and talk about word choice instead of organization. I could hear you yawning from here. LOL So, for part 1 of our Word Choice trip, I wanted to challenge you to write a better sentence. Let's turn this into a game. I'll give you a sentence, you change some words, add some words, make it more interesting without changing the intent of the sentence and then write one of your own! If we start having too much fun with it, we can make it into a story in itself! ;) So, your first sentence (I'm going to go with a cliche, here...) GO!

Already I want to start two conversations! LOL Ed--- Korea? Really? Where are the pics and I bet you're having a ball... you know, when they let you not be on duty doing something... lol And don't feel bad, Kathleen! I actually am trying to be around MORE and still not spend my whole summer break on the computer. LOL Today and tomorrow are going to be catch up and drive DM crazy days, though. You've all been warned. ;) I've been online since about 10 this morning with only a break for lunch. I'm harassing the @$#% out of my warder to work on an RP so I can release some energy killing something. And no, not him... lol

^.^

So, my mom got me this little pot at a festival we have here every year. It is a basic flower pot painted with chalkboard paint, and includes some chalk with it. I thought it was the cutest idea, and has so many possibilities for gifting! You could gift it with something already planted, or seeds, or even cookies inside! (Also Shared with Gray Ajah)

OK, this is where a lot of hack writers really screw up, so please take your time with it! Hopefully, you've got a good beginning sketch of your characters and your filmstrip boxes are sketched out, too. Please note I said SKETCHED, because you'll probably find as you write that things need to be added or subtracted in order to make sense. I keep all of my little note sheets handy so I can easily switch between them and edit in the things I need to spell out for them to make sense. So, there are a few different ways to do this. My 5th graders believe that I have tortured them in the planning stages enough and start drafting based on their film strips (they use the de…

I know, this is the hard part. However, getting here will help you build that world you're itching to work in! So, here's how this step works. We need to flesh out the 5 W's and an H. I use a lot of graphic organizers (just in case you can't tell with the Heart Maps and Mind Maps... *coughs*), so for this one I use a film strip. I dug around and found one to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. Here's a small version of the film strip. You don't have to join this page or anything, as I've already downloaded this one. If you're interested in having it, though, just send me a msg with your e-mail addy and I'll forward it to you. It's a Word doc, so no weird programmi…

I'm posting this here too in case some of you don't read General. There is an exciting new development here at Dragonmount, and I’m looking for some people to be part of it. We are planning to improve and increase the content on our front page. As a result, I am calling for applications for two people to join my staff as bloggers. Applications for these positions will be open until Tuesday, July 26th. Description of the Job Positions: 1. The first open position is for a Wheel of Time Theory Blogger. This person will be responsible for a short weekly column about WoT theories. An example of a topic for the blog might be similar to this: "Terez posted on h…

Ok, we'll spend some time really fleshing these guys out, but now that you've got your basic plot laid out (in the frames, Ideas Part 2), we need to make sure we've got characters that will make the plot a) believable, b) easy to carry off and c) engrossing. This is what makes Rand not just a sheep herder and Moiraine not just a bossy old lady. So, grab a sheet of paper and write the character's name up top, then just let it flow. If it helps, start with what they look like, who their parents are, what kind of life they've had to this point. You can jot notes about what is coming, but I'd do it on the back or in a section you've separated off that page so it doesn't …

So this is a fun way to get a jump start on writing. It's called a heart map and you just put everything on it that you love, so you always have a place to start writing. I use this with my class for daily journal writing topics, but you can do it with what you love reading/writing, too. Try it both ways and see what comes up? Perhaps some cross-loving can turn into the backbone of a really cool story! So, here's some info on what I mean by a heart map: http://creativeliteracy.blogspot.com/2009/10/heart-maps.html http://writingfix.com/genres/narrative_mentor_texts/How_to_write_life_story.htm http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teaching/2011/01/heart-maps-and-writing.…

Alright, so today's workshop is going to be centered on taking the map you created (if you haven't, check out this post from yesterday) and turning it into an idea to write from. Pick something, ANYTHING, from that list and create a collection of things you could talk about using it. We call this Mind Mapping in Elementary School Ed, but I'm sure there's a better, more professional term for it than Brainstorming. Keep in mind, this list/map doesn't have to make sense to anyone but you! So, let's see what we can do!

FOR KIN MEMBERS!: Please Post in this Thread if you are here! I already have listed those who have signed in for June, or July. Christine ed2funy Kathleen Kynwric Lady Wordsmith Lessa Nikia Lyliann Mayleigh Sedai Mingan Mirshann Uuranor Pankuri Samuraiflip05 U4ea

Alright, so... is June sucking the life out of you all or are we all so busy with RL that ducking in here is getting difficult? C'mon, you can tell me...

So here it is! It's July already! This is the collection of threads focused on July awesomeness! Stop in and have some fun! :D

Hello, everyone! With Memorial Day past us on this end of the pond, the unofficial start to summer has begun! (If you're upside down on the other end of the world, I guess you're about to start winter? boo-hiss!) What's your favorite part of this season, whichever one you happen to be jumping in to?

So, I thought I'd make this easy to navigate because I'm adding to it all month. Check this thread for updates for all the awesomeness that is DISNEY MONTH at the Kin! :) Thanks for coming and have fun! Stop in here and tell us how we're doing! If you find something I haven't seen, feel free to drop me a hint in here! Just make the hint obvious... I'm pregnant and my brain is shrinking... *grins*