How to use this Page

The legal profession has endured many changes, particularly in the last ten years. As the price of education continues to increase, competition becomes stiffer and jobs are harder to come by. Law schools are producing more and more graduates, and while big law firms continue to dissolve, more students turn to jobs in business.

The post The legal profession [infographic] appeared first on OUPblog.

Add a Comment

In this Youtube Video, I share the technique I use to make my one layered sketch into a multi-layered illustration in Photoshop. Please "like" and share if this is helpful to you!

Add a Comment

Valerie had a great post yesterday about people and their many layers. It got me thinking (see how awesome it is to have great crit partners?) about my secondary characters. Do they really have all those layers? In my head, sure, but am I showing that on paper? **See Kristi's post on Being a Visual Writer** 


My protagonist and her love interest, even her parents have all these layers. They see themselves one way, but are perceived differently by others, they have different mannerism, great motivation for their actions, even though the reader doesn't fully see it right away. But what about the best friend? The boy who wants the girl, but surely won't get her? Why does the cop do what he does? I mean, what's in it for him?

Every character is important. If they aren't, they probably shouldn't be in your story. Even if your reader never reads about why this minor character finally decided to come forward and admit that he's a cyborg, they need to feel that motivation. See it in his actions, even if your protag doesn't. Truck loads of backstory don't belong in your manuscript, but you should know every detail. Some authors even suggest that you sit down and interview every character. Ask them questions both big and small and see what they say. It'll give you a better understanding of who they are, why they do what they do, and that will reflect in your writing. If you don't know these people, they'll feel like paper to your readers. But you already knew that because you're awesome. ;)

Now. Back to adding those layers.

**************
On a side note, I want to wish my agency sister Miranda Kenneally a very happy book birthday! Her debut novel CATCHING JORDAN hits shelves today! *confetti*

Add a Comment

Display Comments Add a Comment

Yippeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have finished my third semester at Vermont College of Fine Arts. This one was more challenging than the first two because it was the critical thesis semester. I really got into my topic - the illustrious objective correlative. So much so, I applied higher math to literature. Yes, this is what weeks of researching a topic will do to you, collide the left and right halves of your brain until you're combing math and words. Craziness...it's all part of the graduate school experience.

After I honed an cut, crafted and styled my thesis, I spent the rest of the semester sculpting the beginnings of a new piece. It was all about layering this time around. Coming up with the basic foundation, i.e. character and problem. Layering scene on top of that. Then external plot. Emotional plot. It was like creating a painting very painstakingly from the canvas up, hyperaware of each layer and the role it plays in the final perception of color and composition. 

So, all in all, a successful semester. And only one left!

What this graduate experience has thus far taught me is that even if Socrates was a little glib when he said, "I know that I know nothing"...I know that I know nothing. There is so much to learn about any field--any craft--and writing is no exception. I will spend the rest of my life learning about it, glorying and despairing in the nuances of the written word and my ability to use it (hopefully glorying a little more than despairing!).

The critical work has imparted the same lesson it did during my PhD, structure, analysis, description and interpretation. It helps me to be able to organize the parts to story and know how they work together, what tools are available, which one I want to tinker with, and how other writers have done so in the past. I need that kind of direction in my writing.

Next semester it is all creative, all the time. I am curious to see, what I learn then?

Add a Comment

 

Lucky you, it’s time for a peek under the hood into what powers our customizable kids books.  I’ve already shared our dirty secret about using Photoshop to edit our images, but it has an even more important job, it actually stores each different possible combination of hair color, skin tone, eye color etc. into ONE FILE.

 

 

Instead of having 1000 different versions of the same page (one with green eyes/brown hair, another with blue eyes/blonde hair etc.), we put each different option into a layer that can be turned on and off with the click of a mouse!

 

When all of the layers are “off” we have a blank page, but when we select “Tan Skin” layer, we get this.

 

 

That’s a little creepy, so let’s give her hair and hazel eyes by turning on the “Black Hair” and “Hazel Eyes” layers.

 

 

That’s better, but we still need some clothes.  We turn on the “Girl Clothes” layer and the “Thought Bubble” layer (since both the boys and girls wear the same clothes in the thought bubble).

 

 

Next we turn on the background layer.

 

 

And finally add your customized text.

 

 

And there’s your one-of-a-kind child in her very own book! 

 

Now this is only one page.  Imagine having to turn on and off all the layers on all the pages!   Luckily, there is another Adobe program that can do that for you.  It’s called InDesign, and we use it to link all the “Brown Hair”  etc. layers on all the pages together so that one click will turn on or off that layer on ever page of the book.  Pretty nifty, huh!

 

Now, if only we could find a program that was completely hands free and could take the data from our customers’ orders and toggle the proper layers for us, Matt wouldn’t spend all those late nights manually constructing everyone’s orders!  

 

If you know of a program, or are a reasonably priced programmer, DROP US A LINE!!! 

… 

Add a Comment