English 50 Exercises for Story Writers English 50 – Intro to Creative Writing: Exercises for Story Writers Basic Theory: What is a short story? As soon as someone delivers a definition, some good writer will write a story that proves the theory wrong. About the only thing we can say for sure is that short stories are short and that they are written in what we call prose. Short stories have a narrator; that is, someone tells the story; have at least one character in them; have some action occur (or perhaps fails to occur); take place somewhere; that is, there is a setting for the action; and someone either learns something or fails to learn something (theme).With these five characteristics in mind, we can create an almost endless supply of exercises to help sharpen our techniques of story telling. Narrative Voice Twenty or so years ago, voice was the "rite of passage" into a successful writing career. NOTE: It is quite common for writers in the early stages of their careers to imitate the writers they are reading or admire most.
The Resume Is Dead, The Bio Is King If you’re a designer, entrepreneur, or creative – you probably haven’t been asked for your resume in a long time. Instead, people Google you – and quickly assess your talents based on your website, portfolio, and social media profiles. Do they resonate with what you’re sharing? Do they identify with your story? Are you even giving them a story to wrap their head around? one are the days of “Just the facts, M’am.” To help you with this, your bio should address the following 5 questions: Who am I? Your bio is the lynchpin for expanding your thought leadership and recognition, especially online. Here’s the challenge: who taught you how to write your bio? Admittedly, most of us never got a lesson in this essential task. The personal branding industry has only muddied the waters. Instead, share more of what you really care about. With all this in mind, here’s a few key pointers for reinventing your bio as a story: 1. You’re a creative. 2. 3. Think frugally here. 4. What’s Your Take?
Stay in school ! 25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer When George Plimpton asked Ernest Hemingway what the best training for an aspiring writer would be in a 1954 interview, Hem replied, “Let’s say that he should go out and hang himself because he finds that writing well is impossibly difficult. Then he should be cut down without mercy and forced by his own self to write as well as he can for the rest of his life. At least he will have the story of the hanging to commence with.” Today, writing well is more important than ever. So what can we do to improve our writing short of hanging ourselves? 1. Don’t just plan to write—write. 2. [The] Resistance knows that the longer we noodle around “getting ready,” the more time and opportunity we’ll have to sabotage ourselves. 3. Find your best time of the day for writing and write. 4. Work on a computer that is disconnected from the internet. 5. Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. 6. 7. Hone your outline and then cling to it as a lifeline. 8. 9.
Ten Tips for the Shy Job Seeker In my previous post , I discussed the challenges for shy (or introverted ) people in the job market. I offered some general advice, but in this post I'd like to highlight ten things you can do (or think about) that might give you the edge in the very situations you prefer to avoid. 1. First, stop apologizing for being who you are. Work with it-- find your strengths and get to know them so well that they are all you think of when you are in the interview. 2. So after an interview, networking event, or any other extraverted activity don't be too hard on yourself. 3. At the same time, it's OK to mention that you tend to have an understated style -- in fact that can be a great response to the typical "what is your weakness?" 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Finally, while introversion may be an innate trait , social skills and appropriate networking and interviewing behavior can be learned by anyone.
The 10 Best Questions to Ask at a Job Interview Karen Burns You’re interviewing for a job. After 20 or 30 minutes, you’re asked: “Do you have any questions?” The worst thing you can do is ask, “What is it your company does?” [See 21 secrets to getting a job offer.] You need to ask some questions! Bottom line: Don’t make the interviewer do all the heavy lifting. [See 50 tips for surviving your worst work day.] So what should you ask? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. [See more career advice at the U.S.News Careers site.] 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. P.S. Write & Get Paid Get Paid $100 Do you want to earn money online? Listverse was built on the efforts of readers just like you. Readers who didn’t have any experience as writers but decided to put a list together and send it in. So here is the deal: We will pay you $100 for your efforts. It works like this: You write your list (10 items per list minimum), you send it in, we reply and say “Great—we’ll publish it” and send you $100 by PayPal (don’t have an account? Either way you win—your list will be read by us and reviewed, and if it’s amazing it will appear on the front page of Listverse to be read by millions of people a month! We can not accept lists from writers who do not have a PayPal account; this is non-negotiable. The Rules The rules are really pretty simple. Oh—and there’s one more thing: If you have a blog, a Twitter account, or a book you want to promote, mention it in the submissions form and we will stick it at the bottom of your list. Pictures and Video Ready to start?
Nerd Paradise : How to Write a 20 Page Research Paper in Under a Day Posted on: 10 Cado 7:0 - 5.27.29 So you've procrastinated again. You told yourself you wouldn't do this 2 months ago when your professor assigned you this. But you procrastinated anyway. Shame on you. Pick a Topic The more "legally-oriented" your topic is, the better. Make a list ...of every possible outcome that this issue could cause in...the near future...the far future...of every person that this topic affects....of any instances where this topic has come in the news....what you would do about this topic if you had the chance/power/enough-sugar...any little detail you can think ofThe important thing about this is to think of ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, no matter how silly or far-fetched. Reorder everything Put your most obvious argument first. Then put weird off the wall stuff, regardless of importance. Put the strongest argument for your case next. Now list the incidents that will help argue for your point. It's best to keep all this in the form of an outline. Spaces Now print it out. Write
40 websites that will make you cleverer right now The indexed web contains an incredible 14 billion pages. But only a tiny fraction help you improve your brain power. Here are 40 of the best. whizzpast.com – Learn about our awe inspiring past all in one wonderful place. khanacademy.org – Watch thousands of micro-lectures on topics ranging from history and medicine to chemistry and computer science. freerice.com – Help end world hunger by correctly answering multiple-choice quizzes on a wide variety of subjects. artofmanliness.com – Blog/site dedicated to all things manly, great for learning life skills and good insights. unplugthetv.com – Randomly selects an educational video for you to watch. coursera.org – An educational site that works with universities to get their courses on the Internet, free for you to use. mentalfloss.com – Interesting articles guaranteed to make you smile and get you thinking. feelgoodwardrobe.com – Find out how the world of fashion really works and what you can do to combat it. lifehacker.com – Learn to hack life!
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. 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 so easy to hide in your little bubble, typing your little words with your little fingers on your little laptop from the comfort of your tiny chair in your miniature little house.
Cómo crear una encuesta con Google Drive Hay muchas aplicaciones web para crear encuestas pero, si te ciñes a las versiones gratuitas, la oferta es escasa: normalmente sus funciones están limitadas o aceptan un número máximo de respuestas. Sin embargo, si tienes una cuenta Google, ya tienes todo lo que necesitas para crear un completo formulario online, en Google Drive. Sigue leyendo para aprender a crear complejas encuestas online, de forma rápida y sencilla. 1. Para crear tu encuesta, entra en Google Drive (antes conocido como Google Docs). En la izquierda de la pantalla, pulsa el botón Crear y elige Formulario en la lista desplegable. 2. En Google Drive, puedes editar tu encuesta rápidamente desde una misma página. 3. Tu recién creada encuesta incluirá una pregunta. El texto de ayuda se mostrará debajo de cada pregunta. Además, también tienes la opción de marcar una pregunta como obligatoria, marcando la casilla. En tipo de pregunta, puedes elegir entre estos tipos: Texto: Texto de párrafo: Tipo test: Casillas de verificación: 4. 5.