The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do. Writing is a muscle. Smaller than a hamstring and slightly bigger than a bicep, and it needs to be exercised to get stronger. Think of your words as reps, your paragraphs as sets, your pages as daily workouts. Think of your laptop as a machine like the one at the gym where you open and close your inner thighs in front of everyone, exposing both your insecurities and your genitals. Because that is what writing is all about. Procrastination is an alluring siren taunting you to google the country where Balki from Perfect Strangers was from, and to arrange sticky notes on your dog in the shape of hilarious dog shorts. The blank white page. Mark Twain once said, “Show, don’t tell.” Finding a really good muse these days isn’t easy, so plan on going through quite a few before landing on a winner.
There are two things more difficult than writing. It’s no secret that great writers are great readers, and that if you can’t read, your writing will often suffer. 5 tips for writing a winning college essay. (MoneyWatch) This is the time of year when high school seniors start agonizing over the dreaded college essay. But writing this all-important essay doesn't have to be torturous.
Here are five tips to help teenagers get the job done: 1. Don't write a "McEssay. " This advice comes from an administrator at the University of Virginia, who complains that such generic essays (typically five paragraphs) "consist primarily of abstractions and unsupported generalization. 2. "I change my name each time I place an order at Starbucks.
" "I have old hands. " In one of my previous posts, you can see more fascinating opening lines from Stanford college essays. 3. 4. 5. Image courtesy of Flickr user Turinboy © 2012 CBS Interactive Inc.. Questionnaires for Writing Character Profiles. Enter your e-mail to get the e-book for FREE. We'll also keep you informed about interesting website news. "I have searched the web and used different worksheets, but none have come close to your worksheets and descriptions of (what to do and what not to do). Both courses I have taken have with Creative Writing Now have been amazing. Each time I have learned something new. The one thing I love, you take everything apart and give examples. " - Katlen Skye "As usual - I already love the course on Irresistible Fiction, rewriting a lot and improving greatly even after the first lesson. Thanks so much for the great courses. " - Kitty Safken “Essentials of Fiction proved that I could indeed write and I wrote every day, much to my boyfriend's dismay (waa sniff).” - Jill Gardner "I am loving the course and the peer interaction on the blog is fantastic!!!
" "I'm enjoying the weekly email course, Essentials of Poetry Writing. "Thank you for all the material in this course. "I'm learning so much. 33 Ways To Stay Creative. BRIGHT OLD THINGS. 90+ | June 5th 2008 Jillian Edelstein More and more people are reaching their 90s--and living a full life. We sent Maureen Cleave, a mere 73, to ask four of them what lies ahead.
Here, she introduces the series and meets her first 90-something, the author and campaigner Leo Abse ... From INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, Summer 2008 I'm 73. We've been supplanted by the 80- and 90-year-olds, who grab all the attention. (Also see: Diana Athill, Betty Stevens and Brian Power.) Eight years ago, when he was 83, Leo Abse married for the second time. The two most difficult stages in the human lifespan, he says, are adolescence and old age. Looking back on his life, as a lawyer, MP and writer, he sees nothing but good. The art of staying alive, he says, is never to repeat yourself. He wrote not his autobiography--"Write your autobiography and you're writing your obituary"--but books about Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. Life, he says, is inevitably tragic, because we are born to die.
Video: 90 Days with AIDS - Health.