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Welcome
John William Tuohy lives in Washington DC

writers hint





 “The light house moment” a term meaning that a character in a story discovers what it is that he or she wants and declares “I’m going there!”   



Writers hint


The character has a moment of recognition; he knows what he has to do


Writers hint


In a romance quest we find what is valuable
The romantic hero always has a connection to nature


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Agony (Agron) the struggle that shows what is valuable 

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Ask yourself, is there a call to adventure? 

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For a story to be successful good values must be incorporated into it, nobody cares about a person with out good values


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The romantic quest, all romantic heroes have a call, a quest


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Is nature your characters restorative force?

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Reveal character in what they say, what other say about them, what they do
How was the character shaped by history?
By politics, by religion or by the influences around them
Glasses hair style dress
 Any objects that are important to them
How would they behave someplace else?
What would be their favorite photograph of themselves?
Do your characters day dream?
How does their talk reveal their class?
What are their wishes for themselves?
What secrets do they have?
Do they have any major disappointments, failures or regrets?
What do they want and what’s at stake? What’s at stake should be heart breaking
What set their journey in motion?
What are the things they love to do in a moment of joy?
Do they have any goals?
What kind of cause does the character care about?
What would crush them?
What would kill them?
What would be completely out of character for them?
What is their time and place?
Where would they fit in time?
 Do they have any conflicting desire?

Do they have any inconsistencies in character?
Is there any transformation of change in their character?
Is there a moment of grace?
Is there a moment of deeper understanding?

Writers hint



Freytag das erregende moment:  “The inciting incident” What is your stories inciting incident

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The Lost child motif and the found child motif

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Locate the ache in each character, the deep longing, the currant longing

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Ask yourself, what is the obstacle in the character's way?


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Our character has to have a powerful objective (Outer, or visible) objective

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pathemata mathemata (Greek): the character learns by suffering. 

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Tragedy has a winter landscape in which nothing can grow, anti-fertility
Comedy is fertility


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The romantic hero is called by a herald meaning a person or thing viewed as a sign that something is about to happen. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen to convey messages or proclamations

Good words to have



Omnibus 
AHM-nih-bus 

1: of, relating to, or providing for many things at once 2:       containing or including many items
The noun omnibus originated in the 1820s as a French word for long, horse-drawn vehicles that transported people along the main thoroughfares of Paris. Shortly thereafter, omnibuses—and the noun omnibus—arrived in New York. But in Latin, omnibus simply means "for all." Our adjective omnibus, which arrived in the mid-1800s, seems to hark back to that Latin omnibus, though it may also have been at least partially influenced by the English noun. An "omnibus bill" containing numerous provisions, for example, could be likened to a bus loaded with people.


Inexorable
(in-EK-suhr-uh-buhl) 
Incapable of being persuaded, moved, or stopped.

From Latin in- (not) + exorare (to prevail upon), from ex- (out) + orare (to pray, beg). 

The Chinese government is locking up writers, but it has favored nation status with the US....come on America, let sget out heads out of asses



Chinese Activists Send Cards to Hundreds of Prisoners of Conscience
2017-01-26


Rights activists in China have launched a greetings card campaign for political prisoners around the country ahead of Chinese New Year celebrations on Jan. 30, as foreign diplomats paid visits to embattled activists faced with eviction in Beijing.
The campaign started with the mass mailing of some 200 greetings cards to jailed prisoners of conscience, sent by around 100 fellow activists, they told RFA.
Cards were sent to detained rights lawyer Li Heping, website founder Liu Feiyue and free speech activist Wu Gan, among others, campaign organizer Wu Jixin told RFA.
"Chinese New Year is nearly upon us, and so some of us petitioners here in Beijing wanted to wish a Happy New Year and express our care for these innocent people who are now behind bars," Wu said.
He said petitioners, people who pursue long-running complaints against official wrongdoing, often to no avail, are best-placed to understand what political prisoners stood for.
"[Many political prisoners] used to help out vulnerable groups and petitioners, and made a definite contribution to society, and to social progress," he said.
"If rights activists don't stand up for justice, then nobody will, and the dark side of society would get even darker," Wu said. "They cared about us, so we care about them, and we want to support them."
He called on the ruling Chinese Communist Party to release all political prisoners, and to protect citizens' rights.
"They talk about the rule of law, but they don't rule by law at all," he said. "They use that slogan as a stick to beat people with instead."
An outrage 'getting worse'
In Hong Kong, pan-democratic lawmaker and veteran activist Leung Kwok-hung said 2010 Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo is China's most famous political prisoner, but there are many more besides, including human rights lawyers.
"Throwing people in jail for what they say? It doesn't get much grubbier than that," Leung said. "It's an outrage, and it's getting worse."
"We can see how they carried out a massive series of detentions of rights lawyers all around the country, starting on July 9, 2015," he said. "They went after anyone who wouldn't do as they were told."
Meanwhile, diplomats from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany and other E.U. countries visited beleaguered women's rights activist and artist Ye Haiyan and poet Wang Zang in their homes ahead of Chinese New Year.
Chinese artist and feminist Ye Haiyan, known as "Hooligan Sparrow," the eponymous subject of an award-winning documentary about her activism, is camping out in sub-zero temperatures at her home in Beijing's Songzhuang artists' village after authorities cut off her water, electricity and heating.
Ye had previously been issued with the threat of eviction if she didn't stop posting on social media, but refused to comply.
Similar treatment has been meted out to her neighbor, the activist and poet Wang Zang, who has three young children.
The authorities have put increasing pressure on both households to move out in recent weeks.
Diplomats visit activists
Wang said he received a visit on Wednesday from the diplomats, who came with veteran rights activist Hu Jia.
"They [all] expressed their concern over our family's situation," he said. "When they were done visiting us, they went over to Ye Haiyan's house, and expressed similar concerns over their situation."
"The E.U. ambassador ... said he wished me and my family a Happy Chinese New Year, and good health and fortunes in the Year of the Rooster," he said. "I am extremely grateful for their hard work for human rights."
Ye said diplomats from eight different embassies had visited the artists' village.
"They brought me a New Year greetings card," she said. "They thought it was very strange that my water and electricity were cut off, and they asked me why it was."
"I told them that there is no correct answer in the end, and that I don't really understand it myself."
Ye has previously said her recent troubles began after she penned an online article hitting out at China's growing Maoist movement for its trolling of liberal intellectuals.
Beijing-based eviction activist Ni Yulan said she had also received a visit.
"I had visits today from three diplomats, from Germany, the E.U. and Sweden," Ni said. "They said that some uniformed police tried to stop
them coming in at the door, and asked them where they were going."
"They said they were coming to see me, and they weren't prevented from doing so," she said. "They brought me a card, signed by diplomats from eight different countries, including ambassadors."
"They asked me about my life, how I've been doing lately, and if they could offer me any assistance," she said.
Ni said she remains under heavy police surveillance, however.
"Somebody follows me wherever I go, and the police have told my landlord not to let me rent this place any more," she said. "It's very hard for us to find a [secure] place to live right now."

Reported by Lee Lai for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.


Today's smile


What became of journalism? When did it become advocacy?

Need inspiration to fight Trump?  Look to Bayard Rustin, the man who organized MLK’s March on Washington 

Los Angeles Times

The alleged suspect was apprehended during the act of robbery.



Good words to have


Ab Ovo 
ab-OH-voh 
From the beginning
"Ab ovo usque ad mala." That phrase translates as "from the egg to the apples," and it was penned by the Roman poet Horace. He was alluding to the Roman tradition of starting a meal with eggs and finishing it with apples. Horace also applied ab ovo in an account of the Trojan War that begins with the mythical egg of Leda from which Helen (whose beauty sparked the war) was born. In both cases, Horace used ab ovo in its literal sense, "from the egg," but by the late 16th century it had been adapted to its modern English meaning of "from the beginning," perhaps for the first time by Sir Philip Sidney in his An Apology for Poetry: "If [the dramatic poets] wil represent an history, they must not (as Horace saith) beginne Ab ouo: but they must come to the principall poynt of that one action."


Ineffable
(in-EF-uh-buhl) 
1. Incapable of being expressed: indescribable.              2. Not to be expressed: taboo.

From Latin in- (not) + effari (to speak out), from ex- (out) + Latin fari (to speak). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bha- (to speak), which also gave us fable, fairy, fate, fame, blame, confess, and infant (literally, one unable to speak), apophasis, and confabulate. 

Good words to use



Sanction 
SANK-shun 
1: To make valid or binding usually by a formal procedure (such as ratification)
2: To give effective or authoritative approval or consent to
The Latin sancire, meaning "to make holy," is an ancestor the word.


Vanguard 
VAN-gahrd 
1: The troops moving at the head of an army
2: The forefront of an action or movement
Vanguard and avant-garde both derive from the Anglo-French word avantgarde, itself from avant, meaning "before," and garde, meaning "guard." In medieval times, avantgarde referred to the troops that marched at the head of the army. English speakers retained that meaning when they adopted vanguard in the 15th century.

Whimsical 
 WIM-zih-kul 
1: Full of, actuated by, or exhibiting capricious or eccentric and often sudden ideas or turns of the mind: relating to whims
2 a: Resulting from or characterized by whim or caprice; especially: lightly fanciful
Whimsical and the related nouns whim and whimsy all ultimately derive from whim-wham, a noun from the early 16th century that originally referred to an ornamental object or trinket. Later whim-wham, with its fun sound, came to refer to a fantastic notion or odd fancy. The word's origin isn't clear, but it's worth noting that the similar-sounding flimflam had, in its earliest use, a similar meaning referring to an odd or nonsensical idea or tale