Lulu, Pedia Press, etc

I decided to go refresh the intro page on Lulu, and perhaps reduce the verbiage.

I hope to add the next two Nano novels, which are currently being edited in the Scrivener for Windows Beta edition - at least to run off proof copies to play with, even if I don't ask Bobby to make me covers yet (as I did for the first two).

I also have the film script "White Crow" which I did for Script Frenzy, so I might put that up as a PDF, at least.

I have enjoyed ending up with portable paper copies, and I have tried most of the formats, from pocket book to A4 spiral-bound.

I don't expect people to actually buy this stuff just yet - as I consider myself a learner - but I need to practice not just writing, but also layout, design, online marketing, etc. I find it easier to learn by actually doing this stuff - and getting a tangible result.

Pedia Press

Apart from Lulu, I also discovered Pedia Press, who allow you to select a bunch of articles from Wikipedia, and then have them made up into a book! I got one copy of all my film work, my own Wikipedia entry (thanks to Colin McEvoy!) and entries for Jim Henson, George Lucas, etc. The paperback makes a convenient reference for when I go to conventions, etc.

An Interesting Distinction

I came across this thesis online (and there's a book at Amazon, too).

Old Masters and Young Geniuses: The Two Life Cycles of Artistic Creativity

A Portrait of the Artist as a Very Young or Very Old Innovator: Creativity at the Extremes of the Life Cycle

David W. Galenson

in which he attempts to indicate a distinction between what he calls conceptual and experimental innovators.

Abstract

Orson Welles made Citizen Kane, his greatest movie, when he was 25 years old; Frank Lloyd Wright designed Fallingwater, his most famous house, when he was 70. Contrasts as great as this raise the question of whether there is a general explanation of when in their lives great innovators are most creative. For each of seven artistic disciplines, this paper examines a major innovation made by a very young artist, and another made by an old one, with the goal of understanding the role of the artist's age and experience in the accomplishment. The analysis shows why youth was necessary for the innovations of such conceptual artists as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Arthur Rimbaud, Maya Lin, and Orson Welles, all of whom produced their masterpieces before the age of 30, and why extensive experience was necessary for the innovations of such experimental artists as Piet Mondrian, Elizabeth Bishop, Henrik Ibsen, and Frank Lloyd Wright, all of whom made major contributions after the age of 60.

This paper demonstrates the generality of the distinction between conceptual and experimental innovators in artistic disciplines, and the value of the analysis in explaining the very different relationships between age and creativity for the two types of artist.