Writing Techniques/Ideas - Fitting Words

I was recently looking over a great site called TED.com. This is a video hosting site, but unlike any you have seen before (or will see for some time to come), this site has hundreds of talks (videos) from hundreds of really smart people. These "smart people" meet once a year and tell all the other "smart people" their ideas. This is a remarkable method of sharing ideas, have people with a passion for what they are doing explain what they are doing to other people who maybe able to help, not to mention the good PR they must be getting. Before, these talks were only available to those who went to these talks, or those who were willing to fork over some money. Now, these talks are free to everyone, and downloadable. Check it out.

One of the videos I watched was by Vilayanur Ramachandran and he talked about the brain and how it works and what happens (and why) when it doesn't.

Here:



Towards the end he talks about about Synthesis. This is basically when two senses mingle: you see a number as a color, or hear a musical note as a color, or something like that. This is really common among writers/poets/artists/musicians/etc. This is not because they use the mixed senses to be good at what they do, but because the mixed senses make them good at what they do. At the end he explains how we are all synthesiacs but in denial. He shows a picture of two shapes, one curvy and wavy and the other jagged and sharp-edged. He said they are two letters of the Martian alphabet and that one was "booboo" and the other "keekee." Most people in the audience associated the sharp, jagged figure to represent "keekee." Why? Our brain registers the "K" sound and associates it with a sharp and jagged image. The picture it forms in our brains corresponds with the way the word sounds.

How does this relate to writing? I think that, in poetry and music especially, if you are going to write something, the words have to match the meaning in definition and sound. Meaning a scary word has to mean scary and sound and look scary. It makes the meaning be more concrete, and, well, meaningful. Need help? This page will tell you some of the most beautiful words.

I realize, also, that writing in this manner can drive you insane trying to find the right words with the right meaning. It would drive me crazy. I would suggest using it for short writing, or to emphasize a certain point within a longer writing, and, most especially, for titles. No matter what you are writing about, the title can make or break your writing. The title is what hooks people into the story. I read somewhere that you can't a good book by it's cover, but a bad book has a bad cover (and that would include a title).

In Recap:

• use beautiful looking words for beautiful meaning words when writing "beautiful"
• don't use all the time, only for short stuff (i.e. songs, poems, special points within longer writings, TITLES)
• practice
  

Story

I have been itching to do is to write a story. I really don't care what it is about (as long as it isn't non-fiction, I can't write all the possible semantics of non-fiction) as long as it will be consuming and entertaining. I just need to write something. But what?

That is the main question many writers face when writing a story: WHAT? What happens? What is the setting? What happens next? What, what, what whatwhatwhat? How do they solve it? I sure would like to know. It would be real helpful for all writing.

One of the answers that a Google search will tell you is inspiration. You have to be inspired to come up with stuff. Inspiration could come with anywhere. A song, a line from a book, something you see, the way someone looks at you, something someone says...anything really. But the problem is that it isn't labeled: "INSPIRATION," which I am sure you will all agree it should. So then, without the ability to recognize inspiration in our everyday lives, we must find alternative means of finding inspiration.

I did a quick Google search (you gotta love Google, although it is becoming a kind of monopoly) and looked through a couple of the sites. I have come up with a list of sites that I found to be useful.

This first one is a blog post, by David D Friedman.com, that basically has story ideas...free for the taking. And it says so in the title. These story ideas should be stories in themselves, the way they are written and the ideas in them...whoo! Check it out because these would be some great stories if someone would write them out in long form.

This second one is a story generator from Seventh Sanctum.com. It tells you the main character, the event, the main object, the ending type. It's really vague, but if you want to write a quick story just to write it, this site would be most helpful. It does, occasionally, come up with something interesting.

This third one is an entire site devoted to "flashes of inspiration." It's called Short Story Ideas.com (how convenient). This has a limited array of random characters, scenarios, titles, images (if you get inspired from pictures), random, and first lines. It is like a rotating dial, it continually spins and whenever you click, the one it is on at that moment is shown (while continuously rotating as well) and when you click for a new one, it shows whatever one it is on at that moment, etc., etc. I thought it was pretty useful, especially the first line generator.

I have started to write a story; so far I have a few potential first lines, a story idea and a basic outline for the story. I'll give it to you in small doses, whenever I get to writing the actual story.

Happy Writing! and Get Inspired!

Bookmarkables

In following with the theme of keeping to a schedule I will show you a handy little site that keeps tabs on your schedule.

I have tried Google Calendar. I have tried Mozilla Sunbird. I have tried...well that is about all I have tried in terms of scheduling. But neither of these had the mobility and connectivity I needed. I needed to know something when I needed to know it. I didn't want to have to look it up. So I found Sandy. Sandy is a web application/site that acts like a personal assistant. You email her the phrase "Remind me to [do whatever] in [ex: 10 minutes, or tomorrow at 10am]." or "Remember that [name]'s [birthday/email/phone number/anything] is [whatever it is]." Then Sandy will send you an email when you asked her to, telling you what you wanted to be told. So far I have used it for little things like friends birthdays and small tasks like cleaning my mouse's cage once a month. But the potential is so much more.

How is it different than Google Calendar or Remember the Milk? Well, in addition to getting an email, you can sign up to get a text message to your phone telling you what you wanted to be told; or your Twitter account, if your there more often. I have found that the emails aren't really helpful. Yes, they do tell you what you want, but you have to dig through a whole bunch of other junk to get to it. If I could fix it, I would have it say just what you want it tell you, not all the other stuff that is added. I, also, rarely check my emails, probably once or twice a day, so that isn't really a useful function for me anyways. Solution? Texts. You can tell Sandy that you want all your reminders to be sent to your phone, then you get a text from her at the time specified with the content you want. This way has less words to it, mostly just what you want, but there is a couple lines that say who it's from and some other junk, but much fewer than emails. If you don't want to have to sift through all that text then I suggest getting a Twitter account (if you don't already have one) and telling Sandy that you want all your reminders sent to your Twitter account, and for even more mobility, tell Twitter to send all your messages from Sandy to your phone. This way you get very little "extra text", and a lot more of what you really want, even though there are quite a few steps involved. Also, it can get really annoying if you sign up for, both, texts from Sandy and Twitter, both saying the same thing, so cancel one if you are going to use the other. In recap:

• get a Sandy account
• tell her what you want
• sign up you phone for text alerts OR get Twitter account
• IF Twitter:
• sign up your phone
• tell Sandy to tell Twitter the stuff
• tell Twitter to text the stuff to your phone
• Enjoy the freedom of not having to worry about remembering anything

One more thing: while Sandy can text to you, you can't text back to her.

Forming a Habit - [How to]

How to form a habit. In 3 steps.

Something, I think, pertains to a lot of readers out there. Perhaps it's for your New Year's Resolution (the one you gave up after a week but still want to try). Maybe it's for that nervous thing you do (like biting your nails) and want to get rid of it. Maybe, like me, you think you aren't organized, or scheduled, enough.

The definition of a habit, according to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, is:

...
7 a: a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance b: an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary habit> c: addiction habit>
...

So that tells you what a habit is (basically, something you do frequently, and, often, without thinking about it), but doesn't give you enough information to tell you how to make one.That is where my plan comes in.


STEP 1: Finding a Habit.

As the name says, this is where you pick which habit you want to work on. Maybe you want to work out everyday. Maybe you want to study more. Maybe you want to do all your homework. Maybe you want to stop biting your nails. Whatever it is that you want to change, write it down. This makes it permanent. It sets your goal in stone, saying, "You Committed To Do This."

My goal is to keep my desk area clean, and stick to a schedule so I don't have to be up until midnight to finish my homework.

STEP 2: The Countdown

I have read, and heard, a couple times that it takes anywhere between 21 and 28 days to form a habit. It should vary from person to person, but generally, people are pretty much the same (I am making that statement without any schooling about the subject, so if I am wrong, I give you full permission to comment nastily).

I think that 28 days is too allusive to 28 Days Later, and 21 days is too much like Blackjack--the card game. Besides neither one of them is a nice, round number; so I am going to work with 25 days.

I have tried to make habits in the past, and the trouble I have found is that there aren't constant reminders that tell you "You Are Trying NOT To Do That!" or "You Are Trying TO DO That." Since you can't have someone following you the entire time telling you this, I came up with something that would be a little bit more remind-ful.

Since I am trying to keep my desk clean, I need something that is on my desk that says, "Hey! Do Your Work, Don't Be Stupid."

I came up with a countdown kind of thing to help me remember that I am working on a habit.

Materials:

1. 25 3x5 flashcards
2. 1 Sharpie, or pen of your choice
3. 1-2 key rings
4. hole-puncher
   

First, use the Sharpie to write the numbers (one number per card) 1-25 on the flash cards. Next use the hole puncher to punch one or two holes into the top of the card. For one hole, punch in the middle, for two punch in the corners. Be sure that you aren't putting the holes too close to the edges, you wouldn't want them to rip accidentally. Next put the key ring through the hole(s) and here is some pictures of the finished product:

http://flickr.com/photos/tags/habitcountdown/

This Countdown thing (should probably come up with new name) is great because once you are done with first habit, you can use it for another, or for any other countdown you may need.

STEP 3: Use

This step is, undeniably, the hardest. This step takes persistence. You have to keep at it, no matter how hard it gets. NOTE: DON'T schedule this at inconvenient times. For example, if you are doing a dieting habit, don't start this a week before Thanksgiving, it would be hard to resist all the food everywhere. So pick a time (close to now) when you can start and stop without too many interuptions.


Possible Problems:

• Doesn't take 21 days to form habit
• Habit doesn't actually form
• Lose Countdown (although, easily replaceable)
• Don't follow through
• Scheduling Error
  

To answer all of the possible problems, I am going to test it out. I will spend the next 25 days keeping my desk clean and following my schedule. I will post all the feelings I encounter (feelings to rebel, feelings to quit, feelings to continue) over the course of the next 25 days. I will also attempt to post here everyday. After the 25 days are over I will continue to post about how the whole "habit formation" thing worked--i.e. if I still feel the need to follow it, if it didn't work, why it didn't (or at why I think), and how to improve on it, how much my desk clutters up, etc.

If you don't want to wait all that time you can just go ahead and start without me. Please leave comments on how it worked for you.

Reputations - via Lifehacker

I've only just started this blog, so this post by Lifehacker is of particular interest to me. If you've just started a blog of your own, you should check out this post. A lot of it is free--actually all of it is--and it is pretty simple to follow.

If you have a blog, or anything that has your name attached to it on the web; or have been into some scandalous actions in your past, this post will help you overcome the "bad things" posted about you, and allow you to make your own name out there. It would be useful for those seeking a job.

It's pretty useful, but really, just covers the basics. The main article overlooks some pretty simple ideas on how to avoid a bad reputation. One real simple way to keep your name clean is to use aliases. I have 3. One is my name which I use for school and friends and if I apply for a job. I have another for just socializing on the web, or just surfing; it's the name I use if I don't want people to know it is me, but I want people to know I am there. And then I have this name (jimmyknits42) for all things related to this blog. So, If you want some real-er info, check out the comments because they readers know what they are talking about too.

If you are just starting that is a great way to keep your reputation clean, but if you have been using the internet in..."bad" ways, then you have a lot of work to do.

In recap:
Use Aliases
Check out their post, and others
Obviously don't do anything "Bad" with your Real Name

My First Essay Post

This is an essay from my sophomore year in high school. It is an assignment for school. We were supposed to write an essay about the culture of some society in the past. I chose to do mine on Babylon because that is where the written word originated. I thought it was ironic and comedic that I did my essay (using words) about the culture that invented words, or at least writing them down.

A word of warning:

Some of the information may or may not be false. I did cite information from books and internet sites that had it, but in the process of writing it the night before it was due, I may have...put in some...wrong information. This is just as a precaution. So if you are going to cite this info in an essay of yours be aware that it may not all be true. Also, on the subject of citing, don't be an idiot and copy the whole essay without citing so. In school, at least in mine, we use this cite called Turnitin.com. This cite measures how much of the document submitted is plagiarized, or stolen from someone else. So don't be stupid, write it yourself.

Also, I apologize for the formatting error. This was my first submission, I am still learning how it all works, but at least I got it up, right?

Read this doc on Scribd: Babylon: The Jewel of the Past

Read this doc on Scribd: Babylon: The Jewel of the Past

Tell me what you think in the comments section, I am dying to know what people think of my writing style and essays.

UBERlong Time - Bookmarkable: Make Use Of

OK, so wow, it has been like 2-3 weeks since I last posted here. If I have any readers, they must be very bummed.

On another note, since I have had so much time to think about this blog--while not actually posting here--I have been thinking of how to make this blog better/more efficient/more...daily. I want to post here daily, but the problem is that I am a high school student. I have homework and sports and life to deal with. I have come to the conclusion that the problem is that I don't organize my time effectively, I spend too much of my time just surfing the web when I should be doing something...forward, something productive. One way I could make my life more organized was to organize me desktop (and my computer in general, for that matter).

The process is not really my idea, I just read another blog (actually one of the bookmarkables for today) and followed their 3 Steps to an Organized Desktop. Check it out, so far I have found it extremely useful. The only problem (which is actually my fault) is that I saved a lot of my music files to a folder in my desktop and when I moved the folder, iTunes didn't follow the whole transaction, so I now have to find which file goes with which song and practically reload my entire iTunes library. That will take some time. If you want the link to the picture that the screen shot shows for the desktop, it is here.

One of the other things I want to add to this blog is some short stories or essays I write for school or fun. I have been told by a couple of my teachers that I have some pretty good writing, they have even gone so far as to suggest that I should get a job involving writing. I don't mean to brag, no seriously I don't. I just want to properly introduce the next point. Since they are my teachers, they might not be impartial to my writing based on my character, so what I want to do is to post my essays and other assorted writing to my blog so that I can get a feel for how the rest of the world feels about my writing.

I hope to implement these changes soon, and I hope you enjoy them

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So, anyways, here are the bookmarkables for today.

The first, and by far my favorite, is Make Use Of.

Make Use Of is an amazing site, it has almost everything you could want about computers and the internet. It is my favorite internet blog (blog about the internet). They have these great articles that apply to just about everybody who goes on-line. They have articles about bloggers, articles for travelers, articles for surfers, articles for...everyone.

My favorite part, although it is so hard to chose from all they offer, is the Cool Websites and Tools (they are up to edition #121, can you believe it?). It always has at least one link that you can find a use for (or make one). It is a great way to learn about news and new programs and links.

Last post--way back when--I said that Lifehacker was not the best blog for info about sites and GTD (getting things done, for those who aren't so jargon-savvy). Since then, I have really altered my viewpoint. They have had quite a few great posts, it is just that I wasn't really looking, or paying attention. So, if my post has dissuaded you from the site, please go visit it.

The second bookmarkable I wish to present to you is Scribd.

Scribd is a site for hosting documents publicly. This may seem like a far cry from what I normally post, but I had to introduce it so that you can get to know it before I show you my first essay. I will be using their site to post my essays mostly because that way the articles won't get cluttered with too many words from my...writings.

Hope to post back soon.

Too long to wait--and some Bookmarkables

It has been too long since I have updated last. I wanted to update, but I had too much homework. Too much. So if you feel like you were missing out on anything, complain to your congressman about how our schools can be improved (for starters get rid of the No Child Left Behind program, too much time is spent preparing for tests and not the actual learning of the material).

Ok, I promised to write about the links on the side. The first one (at the time of writing ) is called 43 Folders. Don't ask me why, I don't know. This site is about Getting Things Done (GTD). It does have good articles but I don't visit it for the articles. I visit it for the links. They usually have at least one cool link you haven't seen before. The links are to other blogs or sites with cool stuff. So, their site, like mine, is like a highway to other, better sites.

If, however you are interested in getting things done, I would recommend Lifehacker, because it has both sides of the coin. It does have those articles about how to improve your life. But, since they have so many writers, the site is updated many times a day with like 10 posts a day!
(That's a lot. Especially by my standard of maybe one every other day.)
With all these new posts, you might be glued to your screen waiting for the next good article. Don't forget, that is was RSS is for. I have yet to see an article about how to deal with internet addiction, but they do have articles about...well, everything. No matter what problem you may have, this site has it all.

Check them both out and tell me what you think of them. I would love to hear your feedback.

Twitter Feed

So, even though I have just started blogging, I have just added my RSS feed to twitter feed, and it will post links to my articles to my twitter feed. My username is jimmyknits42 and you too can follow me on twitter, receiving updates to my blog wherever you are. Which is the beauty of Twitter. It is a great social updater.

At first, I'll admit, I was skeptical about the usability of the site (hasn't that been a bit over said by everyone who has put up a post about Twitter), but then I signed on to and started to use it, and I became addicted, posting everything about everything about what I was doing and when and how and where. But that infatuation dwindled and I am now using it to post feeds to.

The site to get this done for your blog is twitterfeed.com. It is a great site and does a great job of doing what it does. The only problem I have with it, is that you have to sign on using an OpenID.
OpenID is basically a password and username that you can use (for all participating sites) and not have to remember a username or password. Which is great, really. (But...?) The only problem is I have a different persona for each aspect of my life, and I want to use a different username for each. And I don't want them to blend, because there are parts of me that people in another aspect of my life don't want to see. If twitterfeed could make it so you could sign up without an OpenID then it would the best thing ever. But it is still good.

So you can find me here.

Bookmarkables

I recently put up a list of links labeled "bookmarkable". As if the title couldn't explain itself, this list is a list of links that you can bookmark for later reference or use. You may know some--you may know all--of the, but for those who don't know, I am going to explain each of them. Not all at once, of course, that would take too long to read or write. So expect the first installment in the next couple of days.

Liars

If there is one thing I really hate, it is a liar. Especially the bad ones, actually, exclusively the bad ones. A practiced liar makes his lie believable because he believes it, and, in a way, the lie becomes a truth. But the bad liars don't even believe the lie they tell. They just act it out to get what they want.

For example:

I was in Blockbuster, trying to pick out a movie to watch, and on one of the display TV's there was a commercial playing for a movie. You can tell a movie is either really bad or actually really means to convey the message when they have the actors interviewed and then shown publically as a commercial. This movie was the former. The actors kept saying how the story was about this one character who has to overcome this struggle to finally become a better person and how their character helps the hero in some invaluble way.

And when you are reading the "quotes" from critics saying the most awesome things ever about the movie in question. And, after reading these great things about the movie, you go home and watch it, only to discover that this movieis not "Sensitive. Insightful. Hilarious." But acually "Boring. Doesn't teach you anything. Not funny...at all."

If the overall goal was to make the customer happy, it would make sense that you would tell them the truth and if someone were into boring movies, you would then have a target audience. But, since they're not telling the truth, then their main goal is not to please you--the customer--but rather sell as many copies as they can before people realize that it sucks. That's one of my advertising pet-peeves. I can't stand it when people intentionally mislead you just to sell another copy (or for any stupid reason).

Do you agree with me, if it were all-truth-all-the-time, everything would work so much smoother, and so many more people would be (truly) happy?

Blog is Boring

So far (what a great preposition, considering I have only posted like 4 posts), I have noticed, htat my blog is rather boring. I men, what should be interesting about my life at school? Indeed, what should be interesting about school?

If you chose "Nothing" you were right! Congratulations!

But seriously...

Ok, so what am I going to do about a boring blog? Well, I have decided (after not much thought) that I would make the blog more like the title. I will make it a place for me to put up whatever catches my eye on the web--and even off it...if off it. First off, there is now some links on the side to my favorite blogs, and just some sites I find to be interesting/of interest. And, well, I hope you enjoy the new Quoth Blog. I know I will enjoy writing it because it will be about stuff I like.

Enjoy