Writers can be different: some write fiction, others – business books, third – technical. What is closer to you, then choose for creativity.
Create interesting books that are in demand on the market. The more circulation of your works – the more money you earn, the more famous, larger publishers will want to work with you.
Basic skills that require work as a writer:
Deep knowledge of your subject, both theory and practice;
The ability to express ideas and thoughts in an interesting and clear way;
The ability to find interesting topics for books that can attract many people.
Desirable knowledge, skills, abilities:
Easy and simple syllable;
Literate language.
Main clients
Publishing houses.
Books can be sold directly to readers through the Internet, for example, on your site.
Writers’ fees
On average, publishing houses pay 10% of the wholesale price of a copy. Usually retailers make a markup of 100% on books. Thus, roughly the author receives about 5% of the cost of a book on the shelf. Beginning writers can expect to issue a book with circulation of 2000-4000 copies.
It is possible to sell books directly through the Internet, setting the price by yourself.
If you become a popular writer and are able to sell 100-200 thousand copies of your works, your fees can reach very serious figures.
There are two ways to become a writer. The first is to come up with an idea for a new book and offer it to publishing houses. If they are interested in it, they will conclude a contract with you and will take on most of the trouble to produce and distribute the book. You will have to write a brilliant text. The manuscript can be sent through the websites of publishing houses. Choose to send the application of large and reputable companies.
The second way to become a writer is to write a book and try to sell it yourself via the Internet. In this case, you will need skills in e-commerce. In the second case, the income may be much higher than in the first. The disadvantage of the second approach is that you will have to invest your own money in creating a book as a product and promoting it.
The post What does it mean to be a writer? first appeared on velvetverbosity.com.]]>The exam is approaching, and you are getting nervous because you have no idea how to answer the questions. Here are some basic tips on what to do and not do on your exam paper from one of the best educational service – Customessaymeister.
Do read the instructions and check for any changes.
The exam instructions will be printed on a card, which you should read carefully before answering each question. The instructions can change from year to year, so even if you took the same test last year, it’s important to check whether there are any changes this year.
Each question has two parts: the stem and two answer choices (A and B). To answer correctly, you must choose the correct one of these options—there is no “none of these” option in a multiple-choice exam! Be sure not to accidentally click on A or B when looking at your answer choices; instead take your time and carefully consider each letter before selecting an option.
Before you begin to answer a question, you should find the main point of the question. To do this, read through the entire problem and underline each word that seems important or related to the topic of the problem. Then, reread your underlined words carefully until you find one sentence that clearly gives an overview of what is going on in the entire story/situation/problem. This sentence is called “the main point.” It tells us everything we need to know about how things are connected and why it matters.
Now, go back over all your answers from before and see if they address this main point correctly! If not, rewrite them so that they do.
You should read through the question and make sure you understand it. Don’t just skim over what’s written in the question.
Don’t just read the question and then start writing your answer. The questions on the exam will have more than one part so make sure you know exactly what they’re asking before starting to write down an answer.
4-5 Reasons (Causes) + Consequences (Effects)
3 Costs/Benefits
2 Strategies/Tactics
Be sure to make a list of reasons/causes. In order to help you out, here’s how I’d do it:
As you brainstorm, you’re thinking about what kind of essay to write. Brainstorming helps you get started by giving your mind time to relax and think about the question. It also helps you develop ideas and organize your thoughts in a way that makes sense for the question.
You might ask yourself: Why did the author write this document? What is its purpose? What arguments is the author making? How does my opinion relate to those arguments?
Here are some things you should definitely not do before you start answering an essay question on your exam paper.
DON’T copy the full answer from your own sheet of paper onto the answer sheet.
You don’t have to write out the entire answer on a separate sheet of paper before copying it onto the answer sheet. It’s okay to use scratch paper for things like solving problems, but once you’ve solved a problem and are ready to record your solution, do not simply write down all the steps in their entirety on another piece of paper and then copy those steps onto your answer booklet! Instead just record each step separately—this way if something goes wrong with your hand writing (which has been known to happen) you won’t lose everything at once.
Don’t panic! Exam questions are very rarely any trickier than the ones you work on in class during revision sessions. You know the material and you have been practicing, studying for the exam and revising for the exam. You have experienced exam conditions before and have a good idea of how long it will take to complete a question.
You also know what format your course is going to follow: multiple choice questions followed by short answers or extended writing tasks.
The instructions, as well as the questions themselves, are going to be written in a specific format. Your task is to read and understand this format. Each question will have a key part that you must identify and understand before answering the question. The key details could be words or numbers.
This is an example of a typical question:
What is the best way for kids to learn about healthy eating habits? ____A) Get parents involved at home by serving healthy meals prepared from scratch; B) Encourage them to snack on fresh fruits and vegetables; C) Learn how many calories they’re burning while they exercise; D) Make sure they get plenty of physical activity each day.(Source: Nutrition Across America Survey (NAAS))
The main thing to remember is that exams are designed to test what you’ve learned and how well you can write about it. There will be no ‘sneaky’ questions, because this kind of thing doesn’t really help anyone. Just make sure that when you’re reading your exam paper, you properly understand what each question is asking for, and don’t panic!
The post What to do and not do on the exam? first appeared on velvetverbosity.com.]]>And you read on, now I’ll tell you everything.
Have you ever noticed the amazing ability of some writers to play with reading emotions?
Not? But in vain. That’s it for you, as an Internet entrepreneur, you should pay attention to this because the client (secret attention = secret) only buys emotions. Neither the product, nor the solution to the problem, but the emotions that it receives from the seller’s work during the sale, the absence of stress due to your product that prevented the problem, the positive emotions that the service can give, etc.
In just a few pages, a truly strong writer can make you experience the whole gamut of feelings: from excitement and tears to rage and the desire to throw a book across the room. This is a sign of the greatest writing skills, proof of excellent craftsmanship and the criterion by which novice writers evaluate their work.
Of course, the ability to throw the reader on an emotional roller coaster is important for novels and short stories, but what about letters, blogs, resumes, commercial offers? All of them, one way or another, are designed to influence the addressee. Their goal is to convey information, but you, as the author, are also interested in having these emotions close to the reader and making the target action.
Maybe you need to impress them; make you worry, or vice versa, alert; anger or push to continue the path begun – here the goal can be any kind of emotions. The more feelings you evoke from the reader, the greater your influence on him and, therefore, the higher the chances of achieving your goals.
Remember: it is the emotion that leads to the target action (purchase, for example), you just do not have to miscalculate what emotions the reader evokes for a specific target action and actually become this ingenious writer who can cause the necessary emotions.
We have good news for you: you too can achieve this. There is an easy way. Read on for what to do.
Instead of explaining what I mean, I will give you a quote from the great Winston Churchill:
“We are on the verge of a severe test, one of the most difficult. We have many, many long months of struggle and suffering ahead. You ask, what is our policy? I can answer: fight a war. Terrestrial, sea and air, by all our forces and by all the forces that God can give us; a war against monstrous tyranny, which hitherto has not been surpassed by anything from the dark, mournful history of human crimes. Here is our policy. You ask, what is our goal? I can answer in one word: this is a victory. Victory at any cost; victory, despite all the terror; victory, no matter how long and persistent the path to it is; for without victory we cannot survive. “
Yes, there was room for inspiration. Under the threat of a German strike, Britain fought for its survival, and somehow Churchill needed to find a way to inspire his compatriots and encourage them to fight.
He chose the words. Or, to be more precise, powerful words.
Let’s take a look at this quote again, and this time highlight powerful words:
“We are on the verge of a severe test, one of the most difficult. We have many, many long months of struggle and suffering ahead. You ask, what is our policy? I can answer: fight a war. Terrestrial, sea and air, by all our forces and by all the forces that God can give us; a war against monstrous tyranny, which hitherto has not been surpassed by anything from the dark, mournful history of human crimes. Here is our policy. You ask, what is our goal? I can answer in one word: this is a victory. Victory at any cost; victory, in spite of any terror; victory, no matter how long and persistent the path to it is; for without victory we cannot survive. “
Each underlined word evokes some feelings in the audience. In this case, Churchill mixes words that cause fear (“struggle”, “tyranny”, “terror”) with words that give hope (“strength”, “God”, “victory”). Especially the last, positive words are repeated again and again, causing almost a storm of emotions in the minds of the audience.
This is no coincidence. Smart and experienced speakers, like their speechwriters, saturate their public speeches with carefully selected powerful words, skillfully leading the audience from one emotion to another – just like any writer or screenwriter.
Of course, they use not only this. The best authors use many tools to arouse emotions at the addressee, and words are only one of them.
But for beginners, powerful words are one of the simplest tools that you can master. Instead of many techniques that require many years of writing practice, you can start using powerful words in your texts, and you will soon notice a significant improvement in the quality of your texts.
257 Powerful Words You Can Start To Use Right Now:
I admit, it was painstaking work. Slowly, over the course of a few weeks, I collected and classified powerful words, sorting them into categories according to the emotions that they should evoke. Such a classification will help you quickly find the right word. All I ask in return is to share it with friends and my readers in order to introduce people to him who especially need him.
Fear is undoubtedly the most powerful emotion to capture and hold the attention of an audience. So that you do not switch the channel, news releases overload your mind with words that cause fear, making you worry that you will miss something important.
And it works. Of course, there is a danger of overdoing it, but in my opinion, most authors do not sufficiently use these words in their works. And they really help to find contact with people.
Here is a list to start with:
Agony
Gambling
Apocalypse
Balance
Trouble
Poor
Insane
Worry
Pale
Painful
Explosion
Invasion
Exhausted
Disastrous
Screen
Trustful
Burning
Victim
Creepy
Evaporate
Extermination
Cripple
Trap
Catastrophe
Insidious
Collapse
Nightmare
The crisis
Scream
Volatile
Trap
Attack
Out of place
Abnormal
Unreasonable
Failure
Cheating
Stun
Fool around
Danger
Weakened
Blinded
Beware
Error
A fall
Panic
Mockery
Warning
Warning
Failure
Frightening
Slave
Rout
Crush
Destructive
Payment
Risk
Risky
Hack
Burnt
Hidden
Fatal
Vague
Embarrass
Crazy
Toxic
Murder
Threatening
Horrific
Destroy
Hurricane
Drowning
Vulnerable
Monstrous
Plague
Let’s face it. Most people, when they read, are not at all full of energy and enthusiasm. They may feel bored, maybe some depression, and almost certainly fatigue. They subconsciously look for something that could cheer up and slightly improve their well-being.
Good news: your letter can do this. Use the following words to write encouraging text and give your readers a bit of positive:
Fearless
Grateful
Vera
Excited
Delight
Delightful
Hero
Valor
Spirit
Great
Exciting
Corn
Jubilant
Magical
Courage
Hope
Incredible
Rebellion
Support
Carry out
Courage
Stunning
Victory
Rise
Conquer
Startling
Dedicated
Awesome
Joy
Sensational
Heart
Strength of will
Courage
Bold
Kernel
Happy
Triumph
Fascinating
Astonishing
Bravery
Wonderful
Miracle
Shocking
The post 237 Powerful Words first appeared on velvetverbosity.com.]]>
Quotes, subject collections, article digests – if you have ever published something like this on your blog or social networks, feel free to call yourself overlord curator of content. Wikipedia gives this concept the following definition: Content curation is the collection, systematization, and republishing of information that is relevant to a particular topic or field.
In other words, to oversee is to find relevant content and share it with the audience. Hootsuite in its blog develops the idea that curation does not require the creation of unique materials. But I think this approach is fundamentally wrong. I will explain why.
You can’t just host someone’s content. Copying information without indicating the source infringes copyrights, lowers the site’s result in search results and undermines your confidence.
And if you publish third-party material with a link to the source? Yes, you will share an interesting publication with users, but they are unlikely to become more loyal specifically to you. Because they will not see the unique “I” of the company.
For curated content to work, add an author’s interpretation. Such an “arrangement” requires effort, albeit not the same as creating material from scratch. That’s why I think curation is impossible without my own content.
Imagine that you have found an article on the Internet that will be interesting to readers of your blog. If you place it without indicating the source, you simply steal it. If you duplicate and indicate the source, act according to the law, but lose it in the eyes of the reader, because they have not brought anything new to the publication. How to proceed?
The best option is to adapt the material. For example, the article How to choose the day and time of sending letters to increase openness was written on the basis of a publication from the English-language blog Kajabi. But I did not just publish the finished material – I translated it, adapted it to our realities and supplemented it with examples that were clear to readers. This is the curation of content
Stage 1. Decide what you need.
Like any other, curated content should meet the needs of the audience and harmoniously fit into the content marketing strategy. Choose the subject and format depending on the goals and objectives. Study the audience to be as useful as possible.
For example, we know that readers of Genius Marketing are interested in practical materials about online business. This is the basis of our content policy, including curation – we quote the advice of well-known entrepreneurs, make selection of tools and analyze services for promotion.
Step 2. Find the right materials.
According to Buffer SMM-service, 95% of curation is a search and selection of content. And only the remaining 5% is publication and analysis. If you position yourself as an expert, it’s not enough to share passing articles on the topic. Your task is to offer the best to the audience. Keep 3 tips on how to do this.
1) Supervise the curators
Do not reinvent the wheel. To get started, refer to sources that themselves share useful materials on your topic. Read blogs, browse news sites, subscribe to the newsletter of useful digests or set up an RSS feed.
Another source of content may be Telegram. Today, almost every niche has an authoritative channel where the author oversees interesting materials from the Internet. For example, the Telegram channel “About Business” is a selection of the latest news, interviews and articles about entrepreneurship.
Telegram channel about business: a selection of news
2) Use the services
You can also use special tools that help supervise materials on your subject. Learn about updates of interesting resources with Feedly, save useful links in Pocket, select the most popular content in BuzzSumo.
I often use BuzzSumo to understand what is interesting to the audience right now. This English-language tool searches for the most popular materials by keywords and analyzes where they are most often shared. For example, this is what top sales funnel posts look like for “sales funnel”:
3) Follow people
First of all, you will find interesting and relevant materials from opinion leaders. It is also worth watching for competitors and people who simply work in your field.
Even customers can become a source of content if they leave a review about you (preferably a good one), which you then publish on your site. To do this, follow the company’s references on the network and monitor the use of branded hashtags.
For example, during the Online Business Lab, participants generated a bunch of content every day: photos, impressions, interesting stories. It only remained to track publications on the hashtag # LOB2017.
Using trial and error (better without errors, of course) make a list of 25 sources and regularly monitor them. But before adding any publication to the content plan, ask yourself 3 questions:
Is this source reliable? Even if you really want to share the news first with subscribers, you should not publish unverified data – this can undermine your confidence.
Will this be helpful to readers? Curated content is an expression of the best on the topic, so post only what is of interest and value to the audience and solves its problems.
Is this material quality? For example, if you want to supervise an article, check: is it written clearly, is there text formatting, examples, high-quality pictures and videos.
Remember that the curator is responsible for all publications. When you share useless, untested and in addition poorly made material, you lose the loyalty of readers. Therefore, you need to search and select materials with the same attention and responsibility with which you would create content from scratch.
As I already said, the peculiarity of curated content is to add additional value to an already published publication – an author’s comment, annotation, conclusion, etc.
For example, if you make a selection of services – explain why you should choose each of them, and not just throw links to the reader. If you share a client’s story, tell us in detail how you managed to solve his problem. Make sure that you are not just sharing content, but also promoting your business.
Read more about curation methods in the next block.
Use all available channels for publishing curated content:
Stick to 2 rules:
Post curated content regularly. Then readers will get used to what you should look for comprehensive information on the topic.
Follow the design. Take care to read your content conveniently: use illustrations and clear formatting.
Curation is a unique part of content marketing strategy; third party publications that work for your promotion. But this is good in theory, but in practice you need to confirm the benefits of curated content for your business.
To do this, use all available analytics tools and check how your audience reacts to other people’s materials. So you determine which publications are popular, and you can adjust your content plan. For example, to prepare more materials on the topic or more often use the format that readers liked.
The post Content curation: how to write less and publish more first appeared on velvetverbosity.com.]]>But maybe the point is … in one wrong word? In one phrase that kills the whole text? Today I have prepared a list of words that you must stop using in your texts. Right now.
You will be surprised, but on this list …
Some words are used so often that no one perceives them. They add suggestions but make no sense. And if you take away the reader’s time, at one moment he will click “back” or “close”, and you risk losing him forever. I think this is not what you are seeking. Therefore, study carefully and remove from your texts …
Words without meaning:
Instead of filling your sentences with empty phrases, explain why your products and services are so good, why is it important for a person to buy them? How will this make the customer’s life better? How will this solve his problem? Will the customer be happier?
See an example of a description of one of our programs. Please note that we are not saying that it is “advanced”, “best of its kind” and “world class”. We specifically show why with the help of this program the client will be able to achieve phenomenal results. Agree, this is more significant than all the beautiful epithets:
Yes. You are launching a new product and cannot wait for the whole world to know about new opportunities. But how to share this with the audience and not overdo it with enthusiasm?
There are seemingly strong words that are used so often that they no longer inspire confidence. Among them:
Instead of using this nonsense, tell your customers specifically what is new in your product and, most importantly, what is the use of it for them.
So, for example, Apple describes a new, improved camera on the iPhone 5s selling page:
A large sensor allows individual pixels to become larger. And large pixels are no more than pixels, which means that the image is better. iPhone has a new 8 megapixel sensor. It is 15% larger than before, with pixels of 1.5 microns. We also increased aperture, which increases photosensitivity by 33%. This is important because a large amount of light gives a brighter image and accurate color reproduction. And the new True Tone flash always knows exactly how much light you need for each shot.
Notice how Apple’s copywriters accurately described the camera’s light sensitivity. These facts are reliable. But for buyers who are not tech savvy, they say nothing. And Apple explains why these numbers are important to the customer. They turn features into advantages.
Visitors will feel even the slightest hint of insincerity on your landing page. Therefore, praise yourself with caution. Use words of praise only in the following situations:
You have explained why you offer fast or better service;
You quote reviews, research results and name specific numbers;
Do you cite any other evidence why your product is the best the customer has ever tried. Let your existing customers boast on your behalf.
We always use feedback from training participants on our landing pages. One of the best evidence for even the most skeptical visitors:
But be careful, busting with praise can, on the contrary, play a trick and reduce trust.
How not to overdo it with enthusiasm for yourself? Ask yourself the right questions. For example: “Are my hairdresser services really the best in Kiev?” This question makes me behave more modestly.
Avoid expressions of a seller who is only interested in big profits. What phrases represent this attitude?
When a potential client, reading your text, begins to mentally mumble “Yes, yes, yes,” you lose it.
And this happens whenever you use common phrases. Such as “high quality product.” Have you ever seen a site offering an “average quality” product?
To avoid this reaction, remove the following phrases from your landing page:
Website visitors are in a hurry. They should have time to learn the news. They want to quickly browse an interesting blog. They should like the latest photos of cats on Facebook and Vkontakte.
We are all busy. Therefore, your task is to make the text as simple and understandable as possible. Remove these words:
Use simple words instead of complex ones. Avoid special terms. Lighten your text.
The post Stop! Stop Using The 17 Phrases On Your Landing Page! first appeared on velvetverbosity.com.]]>The headline is the most important detail in copywriting. With the help of a powerful name, you can encourage a person to read an article, click on the link or immediately make a purchase.
But which headers to use, and in which cases? BuzzSumo has conducted a large analytical study. Conclusions are made on the basis of 100 million different formulations.
Let’s see how the proposed headings will work in the Russian-speaking market, and which of them you can take into service right now.
TOP 20 phrases in headings by the number of interactions
Facebook is a space on the basis of which logical conclusions can be drawn. As a subject of research phrases from advertisements and information materials were considered.
We have selected for you phrases that you can definitely use in your business right now.
20 best phrases:
… will make you …
…that’s why…
… we can guess …
… only X is …
… this reason …
… worried …
… # amazing photos …
…tears of happiness…
…what’s happening…
… make you cry …
… it will make you feel goosebumps …
…talk about it…
…very cute…
… you will be shocked when you see …
… will melt your heart …
… # tools for …
… you can’t stop laughing …
… TOP- # songs …
… what happens next …
… social networks exploded …
People interact with content that begins with such phrases on average 1000-8000 times in a few months. Use collocations in your headlines. Bend them, swap places and so on. I’m sure your audience will actively respond to such content.
Use the most popular phrase in the headlines correctly
More than 8,000 times, Facebook users interact with headlines that include the phrase “… make you …”. This is average data. The study used the alternative phrase “… make you …”.
Note!
This phrase does NOT begin, and the title does NOT end with it. Use it in free form. Insert in the part of the name where it is most profitable.
Why is this headline the most popular? He makes a promise in advance. By reading it, the user understands the specific benefits, realizes what he will receive, and understands: this must be read to the end.
Header examples:
10 exercises that will make you an athlete in 3 months.
The discovery of marketers that will force you to transfer your business to the Internet.
13 tips to make you a professional musician.
Use emotional phrases in headlines.
Research shows that exaggeration works great in titles. Moreover, the formation of such headers does not depend on the content of the content itself. The audience responds well to such emotional phrases:
…tears of happiness…
… make you cry …
… it will make you feel goosebumps …
…very cute…
… you will be shocked when you see …
… will melt your heart …
… you cannot stop laughing …
Headings with such phrases are used for content with vivid images or videos. This format makes people interact with informational and advertising posts much more often.
Be careful when composing such headings. To improve the service, Facebook introduces strict rules and restrictions. Content with a strong exaggeration in the title will be blocked. Use the listed phrases where appropriate.
Insert intriguing phrases in headlines
Arouse interest among readers. You must have heard the word clickbait. It is often used by video bloggers. This is the name of the preview images and headlines that intrigue viewers and make them open the video. Clickbait is an obvious exaggeration. Your task is to intrigue readers only with the true facts in the headline.
Intriguing phrases:
…what’s happening…
…talk about it…
… social networks exploded …
… are worried …
… TOP- # songs …
Facebook is negative about explicit clickbait. Like exaggerated cases, unnecessarily intriguing headlines are also blocked.
Believes that this is a step for the better. I totally agree with that. By cheating your audience this way, you won’t do anything good.
The post 60 template phrases to create a clickable heading first appeared on velvetverbosity.com.]]>Short and capacious phrases make excellent New Year greetings. They can be supplemented with your wishes, or you can simply write in an open or in a message.
“The New Year and the mouse rejoice” (Chinese proverb).
“Thai proverb.”
“There is a fun setting to celebrate the New Year” (the film “Carnival Night”).
“Children need a new year for fairy tales, for losers – Ishkhan Gevorgyan).
“Optimists celebrate the New Year, pessimists confine themselves to the old” (Mikhail Mamchich).
“The New Year’s mood is when I am glad to see even those who are mistaken in the doorway” (Mikhail Mamchich).
“We have only two real holidays: New Year and Friday” (author unknown).
“This is the best gift” (author unknown).
“As you celebrate the New Year, you need it!” (Author unknown).
Statements by famous people are a great substitute for banal congratulations.
“New Year’s days, like a magical time machine, are able to return to childhood even the most inveterate skeptics. Dressed up trees of incredible beauty, bright illumination on the streets, and most importantly – vibes of a miracle and fairy tales floating in the air – they are indistinguishable by the look, but they are felt by every little bit of the soul. And even if you have not believed in Santa Claus for a long time, you just want to make the craziest desire and believe with all your heart that it will come true! ”(Oleg Roy, writer).
“If a person has not made New Year’s decisions, then he will not make any decisions further. If a person does not start again, then he will not do anything effective ”(Gilbert Chesterton, journalist, writer).
“The wish for a“ Happy New Year! ”The farther, the more means the triumph of hope over experience” (Robert Orben, writer).
“Always fight your flaws, live in peace with your neighbors, and let each new year discover that you are better” (Benjamin Franklin, politician).
“New Year is the birthday of every person” (Charles Lam, poet, publicist).
“The optimist is waiting for midnight to see the coming of the new year; the pessimist is waiting for midnight to make sure that the old year has already passed ”(Bill Vaughan, journalist, writer).
“At any age, the birth of a new year is the best time for a festive greeting” (Walter Scott, writer).
“Tomorrow is the first page of 365 pages of the book. Write it well. ”(Brad Paisley, Country Artist)
“If each of us manages to make another person happy – even one, everyone on earth will be happy” (Yuri Nikulin, artist).
“New Year. The time of promises and the belief that everything will start all over again in the morning will become better and happier ”(Janusz Vishnevsky, writer).
New Year is a holiday that brings us back to childhood. Memories of the times when “the trees were big”, faith in the good and the good – all this is important and valuable. May the sensation of magic floating in the air on New Year’s Eve remain with you forever.
New Year’s Eve is the time when we put an end to, turn the page, start all over from scratch. Let everything that you make on this festive night come true. I wish you never to stop believing in a miracle!
New Year is another chance to start a new life, tune in to new victories, set new, more ambitious goals, make yourself better and stronger. The main thing is to believe in victory. May all good undertakings be successful!
Miracles come when you wait. Let the new year be full of joyful expectations and fulfilled hopes, positive events and fun adventures, new acquaintances and achievements.
New Year is a time of discoveries. Always be the first! Let all the most daring ideas and undertakings be realized. Dream, dare, create: if you believe in yourself and the people who are nearby, you can conquer the highest peaks. The main thing is to set the right goal.
In the New Year, I want to be closer to my relatives, loved ones. Appreciate those who are walking near you, help and support in any endeavors, believe and appreciate, no matter what. Love can turn the world around. The important thing is to never lose faith in the best.
Yesterday I discovered that I missed the deadline for a local arts grant by HOURS. I had been checking and checking their site waiting for the deadline and details to be announced sometime in April. Then I got sick with this fatigue and it was all I could do during that time to get up and get my daughter to school in some approximation of “on time”, and then work. My limbs, even my fingers, felt hollowed out and fragile like an abandoned wasp’s nest. I could move, I could think, I could stay awake, but it took so much will. By the end of the work day, all that pumping of will power left me mentally exhausted and I forgot all about checking the arts council site. I would just crawl under the blankets and stare with dry eyes at the television. I couldn’t move, but I couldn’t sleep either. As I’ve already said, I’ve now seen more movies in the last few weeks than I’ve seen in the last 5 years. Being a couch potato is as alien to me as walking on two legs is to cats. It’s just not in my nature. That alone tells me just how sick I’ve really been.
My point? I’m not sure I have one except that I feel as far from the grace of Eden as one could get, and missing that deadline by such a small margin was the exclamation point on a bad few weeks. Let’s get to the 100 Word submissions for Eden.
This week, Jeremy emailed me this delicious entry. The link to his site is for his book, you won’t find this entry there. And if you need help with your college papers, we are always ready to help you with this.
So, this was Eden, the magical garden where life began, at least, she thought, for her. It was the small garden outside the church in the town where they first met, where they put off getting married until spring, when it could be in that garden so family, friends, and God could enjoy the sunshine they brought to each other’s lives, the love. She toddled through here as a child so many times, she knew each rock, rose, and root. And she now held them both, brought them back, to where it all began, to become part of it forever.
Sassy Mama Bear asks if Eden can exist.
Eden, can it exist? Where could one find a place that qualifies as paradise? Does such a place exist that could ever meet everyones needs? Is there a tangibility to the word?
Or is Eden a state of mind? A sense of perfect happiness, sublime bliss?
Have you found your Eden? Is it a place or a feeling?
Are you still searching? Will you know it when it is there?
Was there once a garden, where God started humankind? Are the gates still waiting somewhere for the right person to find them again?
Do we have that power within us?
~ May 8, 2008
The multi-talented Secret Agent Mama is back from vacation with poetic vengeance.
Her head is seemingly filled with
A senseless silence
Despite constant efforts to increase the volume
There’s still a personal void
This emptiness often muted
By the sounds she chooses to muddle life with
I’ve tried to tell her
I’ve tried to make it clear
But my words are too softly spoken for her to hear
She doesn’t understand why it can’t be easy
Why can’t she just recreate that melodic tune
That personal eden
Where there’s more light than dark
Where there’s more love than hate
She’s trying to amplify and resound
So….she opens her mouth and sings
Lceel reminds us all of the innocence around us every day. By the way, Lceel, aside from being a loyal player of 100 Words, and flattering me each week with new descriptions of me, is also a burgeoning artist. Go check out the evolution of his paintings.
There are those who would say that Eden is lost. For Eden was Innocence; we knew not we were naked. And Eden was no knowledge of Fear; danger had never arisen. And Eden was a lack of Want; all needs were provided for. And it would seem that Eden is lost. But there are those among us who live in Innocence; they don’t care if they’re clothed. And they have no fear; for they don’t recognize and understand danger. And they want for nothing; they ask for nothing beyond what they are given. They are Children. They live in Eden.
JM over at Fiction Scribe offers a, erm, slightly cynical view of what might have become of Eden. Of course it’s fiction, but captures well the disillusionment we all have felt at the receiving end of lost love.
Eden. The mythical, biblical land of absolute perfection and paradise. Thinking of Eden made John think of great expanses of very green grass with beautiful trees in sight in every direction. Some bore the purest beautiful fruit you could ever imagine.
Eden meant perfection. Love. Serenity.
That is, the biblical Eden.
The Eden of his reality was anything but serene. He tossed another one of the pictures featuring her and him on the fire and took a cold pleasure in watching it slowly curl up before turning into ashes.
Maybe after the betrayal of Adam and Eve, God burned Eden.
And so begins a new challenge. Readers, if you are new to the 100 Word writing prompt and challenge, you can find details here. I’ve just picked up a book that’s been on my “must read” list for years. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It’s one of those books I heard about over and over again through the years, and I’ve finally come round to reading it. From its pages, I challenge you with:
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Good morning fair readers. The day is grim outside and I’ve caught myself a virus of some kind, so I write from a cocoon of blankets as I peer out from puffy eyes. It’s a sucky Tuesday in my neighborhood. Last night I saw Eddie Izzard at the Orpheum, and that was fantastic fun even though I started to feel the tiredness from impending illness towards the end of the show, and certainly on the long ride home. I’ll write more about that later. Eddie Izzard that is, not my sickness. Why make you suffer too?
Last week’s 100 Word challenge was “Hooked”. Let me take a moment to direct new readers (and hopefully new playas) to the 100 Word Challenge Rules, such as they are. The first 100 words is a reflection of one of the things that comes to my mind when I hear the word hooked.
Heroine hooked him with promises of bliss. She became his lover, his friend, his steady companion, his home, and his escape. She needled her way deep and deeper into his flesh, his brain, his soul, then she methodically took him down until he didn’t know how he ever lived without her, or ever would. She turned on him, turned him inside out and he loved every minute of it, even when the bliss was punctuated through with searing longing, even when the lies stacked upon lies; those she told him, those he told others, and worse, those he told himself.
None of us are entirely sure about what happened to Secret Agent Mama this week when her 100 words turned out to be about Hidden, yet at the same time about Hooked. This can always be expressed in a literature review. Truth is, doesn’t matter. SAM always delights me with whatever she writes, and with her photography. Did I mention she has a new website just for her fantastic photos? Damn I miss my camera!
I can’t
I won’t
It’s sad
It hurts
The pain
The lies
The cost
The loss
My heart
It broke
The past
Long gone
And still
I sit
I wonder
I balk
I question
How come
And why
Just some
Too much
Or maybe
Just maybe
The pain
Is deep
And maybe
Just maybe
Evil creeps
Sadness looms
Happiness doomed
Squinted eye
Furrowed brow
Underneath it
Somewhere somehow
Truth sprouts
Good grown
Paths chosen
Evil dethroned
I can
I will
I’m happy
You know
My slate
Is clean
My heart
Is well
You’ll see
You will
What’s hidden
Must stay
LouCeel, in addition to coming back again and again with clever and thoughtful 100 Word submissions, also always has a unique descriptive word to describe me. This week I was “diabolical”, which of course means incredibly evil. Of course he meant it playfully. I mean, I’m not really evil. Hehe. I digress. LouCeel uses 100 words to describe his love and passion for art and being an emerging artist.
The names come to me in my sleep. Unbidden. Relentless. Remorseless. And the visions the names conjur up are all the things the names imply – romantic, intimidating, eloquent, frightening, terrible, bloody, angelic, pastoral and religious. To give a name to but a few of the things they imply. The names are old. So very dead. But they have a life of their own. Something that I would wish for myself if I had but one wish to claim. The talent to live among the names. For their names are ART. And I have found their Art. And I am hooked.
I was thrilled to see Sassy Mama Bear back for this week. Her poem evokes peaceful and gentle energy. I feel like I could know this man.
Sitting upon the park bench,
the wind whistling through the trees
He sat and watched the water flowing past.With fingers gnarled by years gone by,
He gently wound the line
A twist a turn, a knot deftly tied.A flick of the wrist, and a tip of his hat
He sat, watched and waited.
The sun warming his weathered skin.A gentle tug, just a simple sign
Slowly, with skill learned over time
He wound the strand around his hand.Dangling at the very end flopping fiercely
Hung his dinner, trying hard to break free
a beautiful perch, hooked.
~ Penelope Anne Bartotto
April 25, 2008
So that wraps up the Hidden 100 Word challenge. I’ve got a book laying here that I’m not actually currently reading. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. An old fraying paperback with an orange cover that I picked up at a tag sale because it looked interesting. From its yellowed and aged pages, I give you:
“Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe” ~Theodore Roosevelt
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What? I give you “lips” and not one tawdry entry? Readers, you disappoint.
No. I’m just kidding. Truth is, I think that this was my favorite challenge for submissions so far and it once again inspired me to write my own 100 Words this week.
The Compliment
“I just noticed you have the most amazing lips”. She said this to me across the desk I was leaning over and she was sitting at. Compliments always take me off guard. I get trapped up there, somewhere in my head among the dendrites and neurons and synaptic clefts. Such an intimate compliment brings me back to the Now in all its juicy and mundane detail. Here now is the brown carpet, the calligraphy hanging behind her head, the movement of people in the hallways, the wild red halo of curls framing her face, her own pink-red cherub lips.
Secret Agent Mama’s, while on the “hot” side, was most definitely a tribute to love. A delicious one. Any man whose wife writes about him this way should count himself a lucky lucky man. Сross cultural interview you can find here.
There are ways that your touch makes me wild with desire.
There are ways that your hands travel the curves of
my soft body that reduce me to a puddle.
There are ways that your eyes can look into mine that makes me crumble.
There are ways that you can hold me that reminds me that I am safe.
There are ways that your lips meet mine that enchants me.
There are ways that your tongue dances across my skin that captivates my senses.
There are ways that you can enter me like no one else ever can or will.
I love this gently sweet entry by Lceel.
Lips smile, and let the world know we are well and happy.
Lips pout when we don’t get our way, or when the world intrudes itself in an unhappy fashion.
Lips pucker in anticipation of a baby kiss or when they have been attacked by a strong dose of lemon.
Lips soothe when the world has bounced itself off our noggin or scraped some skin off our knee.
Lips give form and shape to our speech, wherein we express love, kindness and understanding.
Lips nuzzle and nibble and tease our tingly senses. Oh, the things we do with our lips.
Warm welcome to calicobebop. I haven’t had a chance to explore the rest of her blog, but this was a charming 100 Word tribute to a daughter.
Sweet little rosebud that looks nothing like mine, you must have inherited a rouge gypsy gene to make such a perfect bow. Either puckered in frustration or pulled wide in happiness, I never tire of your expressions. I remember the first sounds that crossed them. I remember the first words they formed. I remember all the laughs and cries in-between but what I’ll remember most fondly is their best friend – Thumb. Between you and Thumb many sorrows could be cured. A tired little girl is comforted, a reassured soul drifts to sleep and a gratified mother is forever grateful.
So that wraps up the Lips challenge. Let’s see, I’m not sure I can pull an interesting word out from the book I’m currently reading, but let’s just see….
Hey! Not bad. This week’s challenge?
Speaking of hooked, if you’re new to the 100 Word Challenge and wondering what it is and how you too can play, go here.
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