Midlist Writer: Websites for Writers: Northern Earth

Monday 21 June 2010

Websites for Writers: Northern Earth

After a deadline-induced hiccup last week, we're back to our regular Monday post of Websites for Writers, a look at websites that can inform and inspire writers in unexpected ways.

This week's pick is Northern Earth, the site for the UK magazine of the same name and one of the main neo-antiquarian magazines. Neo-antiquarianism is the study of the ancient landscape from a spiritual perspective, an attempt to understand how ancient civilizations perceived the world. It's a broad field, encompassing a range of disciplines from academic archaeology to fringe studies such as UFOs and ley lines.

For neo-antiquarians, belief or disbelief is of secondary importance to interpretation. These folks love their land, and want to understand how it was used and appreciated by generations past. A little creative academia is OK too. Being British, they generally don't take themselves too seriously!

So how is this site useful for writers? First off, the articles from the back issues are a treasure trove of ideas, from rare nuggets of folklore to overwrought systems of magic. Some articles are stories in the making, like the Corpse Watcher and the Legend of Mayburgh Henge.

Fantasy and historical writers will find this site especially interesting. SF, horror, and gothic writers will get a lot out of it too. Plus the various competing theories show how the same information can be interpreted in widely different ways. Anyone dealing with a host of characters will come up against this phenomenon!

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