How to write fiction | Inspiration
Sometimes, I’m inspired to write by places, such as this lake I photographed on Sunday. It was a typical summer’s day in the English countryside and people were having picnics at the side of the river. The stuff of great English novelists, like Jane Austen. Jane Austen captured the mood of the time she wrote in, when picnics in the countryside would have been more important than today. There were few forms of entertainment in those days and a day out would have inspired memories to be treasured. (more…)
Neodigital Art | New Horizons
Neodigital Art is about using digital devices like cameras and scanners to produce art. You can also use a graphics tablet, but I like to keep things simple. This is a socially inclusive school of art; as well as being a little exclusive! Anyone can join, so long as they are inspired. Some of my readers like tips on the photography and so what do you think is wrong with this picture? I think the horizon is too high in the picture. I often try to get it in the middle of the vertical field of view, but when I took this shot, I was trying to get the ducks on the picture! (more…)
How green are you?
I often write a blog on a Sunday morning, usually as lunch cooks. It’s a little early for lunch, I’m trying to do things early so I can go shopping and take photographs this afternoon. I usually write about whatever is on my mind on a Sunday. Today, it’s photography obviously, but I’m also curious as to what those flowers are in the picture. They’re growing by the pool and all down the side of the river. What are they called? Any idea? My readers are usually very helpful when it comes to identifying flowers, trees and my geological finds. (more…)
Consumer behaviour decoded
A Guest blog by Fairy Dharawat
According to Wikipedia, “Understanding consumer behaviour is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy a product.”
Why should you, a small time business owner want to know about this?
As if a regular business owner is not daunted with many responsibilities, this study seems redundant and anyway, there are many small businesses who have been there; done that. These small time businesses are still healthily surviving. (more…)
How to become an expert wine maker – clearing
I explained last week how to make your first batch of wine. After about 3 weeks of testing your wine to see if all the sugar has fermented into alcohol, you should get a reading with your hydrometer of just 1.000 for medium dry wine. You can now stop it fermenting with a stabiliser or wine stopper. Something like Potassium sorbate (from your local supplier or Amazon) will do nicely. I found a stabiliser by Young’s Home Brew on eBay too. Sorbates can cause a few people tummy trouble, but there are other stabilisers you can use. (more…)
How to write fiction | Research
Whether you are writing fiction or non fiction, it’s a good idea to do research and have the skills to do research. It’s easier now than it’s ever been with the vast amount of information on the internet. I used to spend whole afternoons in reference libraries. (more…)
Neodigital Art | Sometimes, we have to get lucky
I took this shot a number of times, in the opposite direction, but this one seems better. Would it be better symmetrical? Would it be better zoomed in more? I tried all the different options and this one seemed the best! (more…)
Psychology | Moods
I took this picture on a sunny day and the weather does affect our moods. A walk on a sunny day can lift our moods. Moods can last for hours, days or weeks and can be positive or negative; good moods or bad moods. I was in quite a good mood over the weekend and so did some comedy blogs on this site. If you missed those you might like to check them out; it could lift your mood to have a giggle. We are dependant on other people for our moods, a bad day with our co-workers and we can be in a bad mood until something positive happens. (more…)
In search of… Status
Status is so important in Britain. I think it’s because we have Royalty and aristocrats. It isn’t enough to be a ordinary honest person; you have to be a greed driven celebrity these days or you’re nothing. The great and the good have been meeting at Camp David with the President of the United States. They have been talking about the Eurozone crisis and growth. Why growth? Why not sustainability? (more…)
The business of branding
A guest blog by Fairy Dharawat
Here we discuss why you should brand your product, even if you have small business.
According to Wikipedia, “A brand is a “Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s goods or service as distinct from those of other sellers”. The brand was derived from the Old Norse word “brandr” meaning “to burn.”
The brand is like the personality of product. Products have the brand mark on their packaging, just like an individual having a tattoo. Relating to a brand personifies the individual personality. This is very important for brands. The brand is the identity of the product. Like Marvel and DC; they are the brands of so many comic book heroes. (more…)
How to become an expert winemaker – fermentation
Last week I explained how to turn the millions of yeast cells in a packet of wine yeast into the zillion cells, you need to make wine. All you do is put a litre of fruit juice in a 2L bottle, add yeast and seal with a plastic bag, secured with a rubber band, so the carbon dioxide gas can escape. Now we can make our first drop of decent wine. A modern wine bottle is about 70cl and so we can get 6 or even 7 bottles from a 5 litre batch of wine. (more…)
How to write fiction | Imagination
I’ve used another interesting picture this week to fire your imagination. I won’t literally set you on fire, that is a rhetorical device; this blog has a list of 50 of them. I can’t remember the names of all 50, but I remember the basics and that is to use language and words that gets a emotional response from the reader. Some words are as sharp as a butcher’s knife and some are as soft as a baby’s bottom. Imagination is very useful, but so is a good knowledge of words. (more…)
Neodigital Art | Timing and light
The sun was peeking out from behind a dark cloud when I took this photo. You can just about see the way it has lit up the bank on the left side of the picture. It does demonstrate that comes directly from the sun and some is reflected from the sky. The colours are changing now and many of the shadows are much darker. (more…)
Spring in England
I took this photo yesterday and I’m a little intrigued by the canal and why that bridge is so wide. Maybe it was a busy route in Victorian times when the canal was built. The tow path all down that canal seems wider than usual. There is a canal off to the left that’s overgrowth and also an ‘arm’ off to the right. I think this canal was called the ‘Wednesbury Oak loop’ and was meant to meander around serving different coal pits. It’s straight here, but farther on it does meander around. (more…)
How to write fiction | Characters and places
I took this photograph yesterday afternoon and edited out some of the modern things; a couple of cars and a sign. Now it looks quite Dickensian and could inspire a story. It is actually part of a town hall, but it could just as well be a Victorian workhouse or Ebenezer Scrooge’s offices. Some effort has been taken to keep the town’s Victorian look as you can see from the period lamp post. I did edit a modern one out however. It might be difficult writing a story set in the Victorian era, but maybe one that begins with a Victorian idea and then continues into the present day? Maybe the great grandfather of our protagonist had his office in this building and that could be the beginning. (more…)
Neodigital Art | Using different editing
If you want to create art from your photographs you can use more than one program to change your picture. I used the ‘vintage’ setting on Fotosketcher to make this sepia and age it; then I imported it into Windows Live Gallery to add more colour. (more…)
In search of… happiness
Many people search for happiness but find it elusive. We seem to need new sensations, new music, new tastes and new things to look at. We need music with unusual harmonies and beats. We need new stories to make our lives interesting. Is the key to happiness to keep searching for something new? (more…)
Boost your Small Business with Marketing Research – Superhero Style!
A guest blog by Fairy Dharawat
In today’s world of competitive market, if you are thinking of opening your very own business, you should be congratulated. Congratulations then, for finally getting up the courage to open your own venture. With today’s world of cut throat competition, even big corporate houses are feeling the heat in order to stay up to date in the market. Let me not even start with shoppers who are ‘dumped’ with so many products that they are clueless sometimes to their needs. There was a time when there was something called a ‘shopping experience’ but today it has only remains as a term due to the competition, brands are facing. So how do you hold your brand new business in a safe position? What should you do, to not fall in the category of ‘failed businesses’? What should you do to give these big businesses a run for their money? Well I present you with Market Research. (more…)
How to write fiction | Inspired comedy
Comedy fiction is the most popular, we all like to laugh but it’s also the hardest to write. I was writing guest blogs in 2010 and had an appointment at the hospital. The evening before, I had watched the film, ‘The Island’ on TV. The film is about a community that has a lottery to win a trip to an island. In reality, their community is in a futuristic building in the desert and the island doesn’t exist. Two members of the community escape through the ventilation system and go on to find out the truth. They are actually clones, being kept so their organs can be harvested. When they win the lottery, they leave to have their organs harvested, not some paradise island. I went to the new futuristic hospital the day after watching that film; this was inspiration! (more…)
Neodigital Art | Is it a school of art?
This must be my best picture and a print out of it is exhibited in my local hospital. Most people would agree that although it’s a photograph that has been edited; it is also art. Who wouldn’t want to see it hanging in an art gallery? Is Neodigital a school of art though? The traditional notion of a school of art is a group of artists all producing work in the same style and perhaps in the same place. In the 21st century, a school of art can be multinational. I have been promoting Neodigital Art for a few years and it does have a certain style and does use digital devices like a digital camera, scanner and computer. (more…)
