chocolate-and-writing-blog

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useful tip I found for writing engaging stories from a character’s point of view.

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For my image of what I feel like at the end of the semester, I did a quick google search of the word “exhausted”, and immediately identified with this picture. 

This poor business guy look soooo tired that he just decided to take a nap on the sidewalk using his briefcase as a pillow. To be honest, I could do something similar because while I am not necessarily physically exhausted, I am mentally exhausted and ready for Christmas break and seeing my family! 

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Response to “How to Make Hard Choices”

I think this ted talk was very thought provoking. The point she makes at the beginning about  how hard choices aren’t hard because we’re stupid, they’re hard because neither one is the better option, really struck me as being true. I find her thoughts in regards to her example of choosing between two equally good careers to be different from what I’ve heard before. I find her ted talk helpful when thinking of hard decisions I have to make in my life soon. I have chosen a major, but I haven’t chosen a concentration within that major. I will also have to make the choice of if I want to do an outside concentration in another major. And then if I choose that, I make the hard choice of what other major I want to cross over with. Additionally, I found her point about drifters to be interesting. I don’t to end up as a drifter, I want the power to choose my own life, just like she says in the end. Overall, I was motivated by this ted talk and I am glad to have watched it.

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Response to “Why Writers are the Worst Procrastinators”

When I finished reading this article, it seemed like a different article on one end than the other. In the beginning it starts talking about procrastination and why it is most common in writers. It states  reasons why writers are such procrastinators, and how it may be influenced by how were were taught in elementary school that excelling meant natural talent. And that natural talent was the key to success, not learning from your mistakes and even writing bad stuff from time to time.

Then, by the end of the article, it completely transitions focus and to talk about millennials and why we need someone constantly hovering over us in the workplace  because that’s how we were raised. We were raised with controlling parents who wouldn’t let us make huge mistakes that “might hinder out future” so as to not be knocked out of the race for a good degree that would in turn provide a good life. They want us to be successful, but by the tone of this article, they are hindering what they want.

I believe overall that it was interesting how this article transitioned from the two main points so well that you don’t even realizing it until you’re done reading. I believe it is relevant to 1) our current writing projects in this class and 2)just whats going on in society today, with hovering parents who are pushing their children to be more successful.

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Reaction to “How to Buy Happiness” Ted Talk

I really liked this ted talk. I have to say in all honesty, this ted talk did not surprise me in the slightest. I have been a generous person ever since I was a kid; my mother said I would always think of presents to give people and share. So, since I have always been one to spend my money on other people and think about making others happy with presents and such, I have always know facts presented in this talk to be true.

I found the factual information and the experiments they did on college students to be intriguing. I also found it interesting that it worked just as well in the workplace and actually increased team bonding among work groups/co-workers.

I also think the speaker had a very good way of summarizing the main point of the ted talk at the end, which is that money can buy happiness for you of you are spending it to improve someone else’s life or make them happy.

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Don’t research Researching isn’t writing and vice-versa. When you come to a factual matter that you could google in a matter of seconds, don’t. Don’t give in and look up the length of the Brooklyn Bridge, the population of Rhode Island, or the distance to the Sun. That way lies distraction-an endless click-trance that will turn your 20 minutes of composing into a half-day’s idyll through the web. Instead, do what journalists do: type “TK” where the fact should go, as in “The Brooklyn Bridge all TK feet of it, sailed into the air like a kite.” “TK” appears in very few English words (The one I get tripped up on is “Atkins”) so a quick search through your document for “TK” will tell you whether you have any fact-checking to do afterwards. And your editor and copyeditor will recognize it if you miss it and bring it to your attention.

Cory Doctorow

Use this writing technique to avoid endless click-trances. For more snazzy writing tips for the 21st and ½ century open Context to page 30.

(via ismellfunny)

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How to Use the Pomodoro Technique for Writing

The most aggravating part of being an author is finding the time and motivation to get your work done. We all have lives, personal and professional, and have a million things on our mind at any given time. Having to work around my toddler’s naps proved aggravating at first, but with some planning and applying the Pomodoro Technique to my writing routine, I’ve found success. By working with time instead of against it, eliminating burnout, managing distractions, and creating a better work/life balance, I’ve finished twice as many projects as last year.

So I’m going to walk you through the Pomodoro Technique. Until recently, I had no idea there was an actual name for the technique I’ve been using for years to check off items on my “to do” list. I’d just look at the clock, plan out exactly what I needed to do in a certain amount of time, and get to work without moving that spot until my designated time was up. It’s worked wonders for me. And it’ll work for you too.

So let’s shut out the world and get stuff done.

Keep reading

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Reaction to “The Shadow Scholar”

 I thought this article was very very interesting. I actually did not know this industry existed to such an extent. I’ve always been good at school and writing papers though, so my blindness makes sense. I found it interesting that he was able to make so much money, he said $66,000 this year. That is crazy, and more than a lot of jobs, and I can see why it would be a tempting career to go into.

I do find it a little immoral, but I don’t blame the authors writing the papers, but more the students hiring them to write the papers. It is definitely cheating, and I’m actually surprised that they don’t get caught. With the way that business student wrote to the writer, you would think her professors would pick up on how different her everyday speaking and writing is from the essays she pays someone else to write. Also, while I am surprised that professors don’t notice, maybe some actually do, but they choose to turn a blind eye to it because its easier.

All in all, I found this article very intriguing, as I did not realize that there were actual companies you could pay to write papers for you. I would never use such a service of course, because not only is it wrong, but I am very confident of my own writing skills.

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Reaction to “20 is not the new 30″

I believe that this ted talk was fairly inspiring. I liked it a lot, and I agree with a lot of what the speaker said. I think that I have also been recently disillusioned to believe that its okay to chill and wait until your older to figure out what your going to do, and I love how the speaker counters that. The facts she gave about brain development especially struck me as important and influential.

I know that I will most likely get started with my career straight out of college, as soon as I graduate, specifically because as a female who is a computer science major, I will be given many opportunities to prove my worth and get a stable career. From there, I have no idea what I will do about finding a life partner, but I already know I want someone who will laugh a lot with me throughout my whole life. I want someone who I can go on adventures with, and who I know will have my back. I also want kids I guess, eventually, and I will keep in mind what the speaker said about not waiting too long for any of these life goals. I know my life will be filled with so many opportunities.

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hey sorry but like could you do a cliff notes abridged version of your how to read hard stuff, because like im sure it's good but like i have trouble reading big things like that sometimes (like now!) and so your guide to do the thing doesnt work because of the thing :/

Of course! It’s long because I was figuring out the thing, but now that i know what i’m saying i can make a short version.

How to read Hard Things

1. Figure out why the thing is hard for you to read:

is it the syntax? (grammatical structure)

diction? (are the words long, complicated, or jargony?)

does it have complicated ideas that are hard to understand?

is it something else?

2. Figure out what will make the hard thing easier to process; here are some possible strategies:

do you need to read to read it out loud? (good for complex structures)

maybe you can ask a friend to read to you or listen to an audiobook?

do you need to take notes while you read? (good for complex ideas)

you can even draw out the ideas if that helps.

do you need to look at references? (you can google words and ideas you don’t understand)

be creative with coming up with solutions

3. allow yourself to read things that are easier.

you don’t have to be reading a certain type of book

It’s okay to read whatever

read things that are easier for you, whether that’s fanfic, comics, YA or anything else

practicing with these easier things will make reading hard things easier

4. allow yourself to read without expectation.

don’t expect that you will finish a book.

Even if you only read part of a book, it is still enriching your life.

You don’t have to finish a book for reading it to be worthwhile.

You can read as much as you are able to and that’s okay

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Thoughts on Tall Stereotypes and Rude People

The following is a short essay I had to do for my UCOL class about self identity and stereotypes and being judged. I thought it turned out particularly well and its fairly funny, so I wanted to share it on here!

There has been something about me physically that has pretty much followed me along my whole life, and that is my height. I don’t know why, but apparently when a female is (exceptionally) taller than a person, that person feels a great need to stare at that female until they leave that person’s frame of reference. Also, most people find it reasonably acceptable to walk up to said female and ask her loads of personal questions like how tall she is, what sport she plays (after assuming she plays basketball. No? Surely volleyball? No?), where she’s from and even what high school she goes to.  Or, they don’t go the sport route and ask the female if she’s a model, because obviously she has to be at the height of six foot four inches.

I have known people were staring at me because of my height for a long time, and I’ve experienced people automatically categorizing me into either basketball player or model. It’s not even because I look athletic enough for competitive sports, or look beautiful enough for the runway, it’s because I tower over them and they are in disbelief or “awe”. I really haven’t enjoyed grown/older men asking me where I was going to high school; that always felt a bit stalker-ish to me. While I haven’t really ever been negatively judged with this (other than that one person who told me I must be conceited and think I was better than everyone else for it) it still made me uncomfortable to be put under stereotypes. Stereotypes generally make anyone they “apply” to feel uncomfortable or upset. Instead of staring at me or rudely questioning me about my life and trying to make conversation, not even thinking of the possibility that they were being impolite and that I wasn’t there simply to satiate their curiosity, they could have possibly either approached me in a more polite manner or kept their opinions to themselves and not stared me down like I had a bullseye on my chest. My favorite is when they stop in their tracks in front of me, look up at my face, look down at my feet to see if I’m wearing super tall heels,  look back up to my face and say something to the effect of “Daaaaangggggggg girl you tall how tall even are you?”. There are so, so many more polite ways they could react.

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“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, You’ll never come up with anything original.”

http://sirkenrobinson.com/ (via silentwepondsally)

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Reaction to “Do Schools Kill Creativity?”

I am going to be honest, I didn’t get this guy at first, but when he started talking about how children are taught to fear mistakes, then I started to understand what the speaker was getting at. At school, choosing the “wrong” answer is punished with teacher reprimands and bad grades and choosing the “right” answer is rewarded.There is no “why did you say or pick that” its just learn why you are wrong and correct yourself.

The speaker says creativity originates from not being afraid to make mistakes and be wrong. Creativity is taking risks because you feel something could be better or that something needs to exist that doesn’t currently. Shakespeare probably didn’t know his plays would affect people the way they did, and if they hadn’t, it just would have been a mistake erased by history. But, because he took the risk of being an author and playwright, he is considered one of the most important writers of all time and certainly one of the most creative minds the world has seen. Also, artists like van Gogh didn’t know what they were doing, yet they had an urge to paint and create, even though it didn’t even make them famous during their lifetime.

I think the speaker was getting at something very important by saying school kills creativity. It trains us fir what we are meant to do, which is simply to get through it to move on to more school. In middle school we are trained for high school, in high school we are trained for college, and in college, they train us for the possibility of us seeking even more education. People inherently are learning their entire lives, but the way school has us learn only utilizes part of what makes up a whole human being. School glorifies the logical part of our brains. Like the girl who was meant to be a dancer, or a young boy meant to be an artist, or a fourteen year old discovering that she actually wasn’t bad at writing and there is actually something extremely enticing about it (that fourteen year old is  me) I’m sure most adults, if allowed to grow in creative pursuits as a child, could be considered creative and artistic.

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Peer Reviewing Experience

I believe that this week, my peer reviewing experience went very well. Both of my peer review partners had very good input, and I appreciated their feedback. Also, I enjoyed giving both of them feedback on their topic proposals. I like getting responses from a small amount of people and like working in small groups for peer review. I like working among partners more then working alone.