Recommended Reading

I was going through some of my accumulated junk and stumbled across a book I first read whilst in college: Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud ( (url="http://"http://www.scottmccloud.com")http://www.scottmccloud.com(/url) ).

This is an awesome book, and in my opinion should be required reading for anyone involved with any creative form. While parts of it are specifically aimed at the Comic/Graphic Novel industry, certain chapters are so poignant that they are applicable to writers, musicians, photographers, etc. Additionally, anyone who deals with the fusion of different creative forms (writing and visuals, for example) or time-based media (film, music, etc) will benefit greatly from most of the rest of it.

As games people create with Coldstone are fusions of different media (writing, art, sound, and interaction over time), I think many many people here would benefit from reading this book. It's not a challenging read, either. It is in the form of a comic book/graphic novel, and both entertaining and eye-opening at the same time. I usually make a point to re-read it about once a year.

In short, if you have creative aspirations, this book is probably the best $20 you will ever spend. And no, I don't know the author personally.

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People who claim the sky is falling obviously aren't aware the earth is falling, too.
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"Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" --Benjamin Franklin.

This is indeed an excellent book. It is one of the best reads I have ever found on how to put a good story together. Even if you have been writing or otherwise creating for a long time, you will find something you didn't know in this book.

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Money is not the root of all evil, Jar Jar Binks is.