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What I'm Working On 03/03/2010

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:43:12 +0100

I just finished up a lot of articles for Bright Hub. Check out my profile there to find articles about Scrum, Home Businesses, and Entrepreneurship. I also have been working on articles for the next issue of Equanimity Magazine and other client projects.

My spotlight article came out in Infinity Journal: "Bringing Back Focal Practices to Combat a Hot, Flat, and Crowded World: A Critique of Thomas L. Friedman." This website requires registration, which is free, in order to read the article. The article talks about how getting back to focal practices can help solve some of the problems we experience in our world. It was inspired by a review I did of Friedman's book some time ago for In-Spire Journal.

This week's projects include finishing up a couple things for Equanimity and working more on client projects.

What are you working on this week?

[Fiction] Friday - Campaign Terror

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:52:03 +0100

I haven't participated in the Fiction Fridays at Write Anything for a while (I've been working on my short story collection, Santa's Cheezborgers) but I thought I would give a go at this week's Fiction Friday exercise. This week's challenge:

Pick a book of fiction you’d never read (e.g., if you read sci-fi, pick a romance). Open to a random page and read the last couple paragraphs of the page. DO NOT TURN THE PAGE. Now continue writing the story. Feel free to change the genre as you write.

“She said nothing for several moments. Then, rather thoughtfully, Bonai offered, ‘We must talk about this in more detail.’

‘Yes. When you visit Washington. Before the board meeting.’

She nodded. ‘Yes. Before the board meeting, certainly.’

Rashid felt delighted. I’m winning her over! he told himself.”

He grinned at her stone face. “Well, then, I’ll see you before the board meeting.”

“Okay.” Bonai turned and walked down the hall. Rashid followed her for a moment before she turned back towards him. “Do you need something else sir?”

“Uh – no. I think that’s it.”

“I’ll see you in Washington.”

“Yes. Of course.” Rashid turned away and walked towards his own desk. He tried to fight the smile that welled up inside of him. His princess was going to meet with him, in Washington, and discuss their relationship. This was a step forward. Of course, Rashid wasn’t sure that Bonai knew they were going to discuss their relationship. What was it he had said? Something along the lines of “Bonai, things have been difficult, I’m sorry, I’d like to fix things.” Oh gosh, what if she thought they were going to talk about the botched campaign speech she wrote – or maybe that incident in Barbados? He really should have been more specific. Rashid looked down the hall, but she was gone. Should he go to her office? Tell her that he wanted to talk about repairing their relationship?

“Rashid? Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but we have a major problem.” Sam was standing in front of Rashid, shifting his weight from side to side like an eight year old who had to pee.

“A problem?

“Yes, a problem. I need you to come, right now sir.”

“Can you tell me what the problem is?”
“No, sir, I think it’s better if you just see for yourself.”

I followed Sam to a TV monitor. On the monitor – no, it couldn’t be? But it was, Bonai was on TV trash-talking the candidate. She explained that there was much sexual harassment on our team, and that Rashid, the campaign manager specifically, had asked her for sexual favors. But that wasn’t true! They had a three year long relationship long before they started working for the campaign.

It wasn’t until Sam asked Rashid whether he was okay or not that Rashid realized he had collapsed in a heap on the floor with his hand over his face. Rashid screamed “No! Would you be?” The entire office turned and stared. One by one they came over and told him he would be okay, that they’d do the research and everyone would know that Rashid and Bonai had been in a relationship and recently broken up.

“Why would she do this?” Rashid asked, “It’s one thing to take me down, it’s another thing to ruin the whole democratic race for president.”

“Politics is a funny business,” Sam responded.

Rashid put his head in his hands and let out a soft wail. No matter what the outcome of all of this, his life was ruined. No one would hire a campaign manager who couldn’t keep his team together and keep a personal life discrete.

***TBC***

The selection at the top is from Ben Bova's Moonwar - a Book I haven't yet read. Do you participate in the Fiction Friday Challenge? If so, leave your link in the comments box below.

How to Create a Story Arc

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:33:36 +0100

A story arc is another word for "story structure," but this term goes back to Aristotle's conception of what makes an aesthetically pleasing story in Poetics. A classical story demonstrating dramatic structure generally has three parts:

The Inciting Incident - This part of the story sets things up, piques our interest and gives us a taste of what's to come. The best stories begin "in media res," in the middle of things.
The second act - This part of the story builds through rising action until a climax. For example, if you're writing a murder mystery, the inciting incident might be the murder, and then the second part would build up to the climax of a showdown between the main character and the suspect.
The third part - resolution - this part of the story resolves all loose ends.

Why create a story arc before you begin writing? If you create a story arc, even if you don't follow it plot point by blot point, you will have a general idea of where you want to go with your story. By creating a story arc before you begin writing, you can be sure that each part of your story ties in to another.

I don't usually outline before I write short stories, but I've recently found this to be helpful when working with a client.

Do you outline when writing fiction?

Writing Poetry Wednesday - Sdrawkcab and Forwards

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:46:49 +0100

This poem comes from a poetry prompt given by Robert Lee Brewer at Poetic Asides. The assignment was to write a poem backwards - either numbers, or days or backwards in time. Robert wrote a poem using the alphabet in reverse order. Here's the result of my tinkering with the exercise:

Sdrawkcab and Forwards

Life scribed for us in a mirror
Daeh pressed up against a wall
Daisies eid and life sdne
Feeling all crazy and pu-dexim
Walking forwards, sdrawkcab gniklaw
Crawling at complete standstill
Windowsill the up against pressed face
Looking for you when you arrive emoh again
Sound of the kcurt lumbering down the teerts
Door the in coming face your of vision
Mixed up, scatterbrained
Light illuminating a tunnel of dark
Deniarbrattacs, pu dexim
Vision of your face coming in the door
Streets the down lumbering truck the of sound
Looking for uoy nehw uoy arrive home again
Face pressed up against the windowsill
Standstill complete at crawling
Walking backwards, sdrawrof gniklaw
Mixed up and yzarc lla gnileef
Daisies grow and life begins
Head pressed up against a wall
Mirror in us for a scribed life.

Feel free to leave your own comments, your own attempts at the exercise, or links to your completed exercise below.

Generating Good Ideas for Research Papers

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:25:46 +0100

Chances are, you feel a severe case of anxiety in class when you need to come up with a good research paper idea. Whether you are working on a senior research paper or you need ideas for your presentation, coming up with paper ideas can be a daunting task. Here are some tips that worked for me when I needed ideas for research papers, ideas for a senior thesis, and even ideas for a dissertation when I was contemplating writing one.

Write it all down. Sometimes when you are reading, or in class you get an idea or develop a question. For example, someone looking for biology research project ideas may come across a passage on osmosis and wonder more about this. If you come up with an idea or question, write it down so you have it for later.
Create a Mind Map. If you don't have a list of questions and ideas, you may find it helpful to make what is called a "mind map." A mind map visually realizes your ideas. Start in the middle of a piece of paper with the general topic. For example, if you are in a class about Shakespeare, and you're asked to write a paper about imagery in Shakespeare's plays, you would write the general topic in the center of the page. Then, write down everything that comes to your mind around the general topic, and group related ideas together.
Search the Web. Perhaps your class is on a topic that you aren't interested in, or you just don't know much about the subject matter. If you search the web for topics you covered in your syllabus, you are sure to find ideas - one caveat: NEVER COPY SOMEONE ELSE'S WORK. This is plagiarism, and it could cost you your grade or even your degree.
Take Inventory of Your Past. If you are working on a senior project, thesis, or dissertation, look back over things you have written in the past. What could you elaborate on? What interests you. Was there a particular class you took that you wish had lasted longer? Raid your experiences. Make a list. You may find that at this point you have so many ideas, it would take three or four lifetimes to actualize them.
Talk with Others About Your Ideas. No, it's never okay to steal someone's ideas, but it can help to have a brainstorm with someone else - a colleague, classmate, or professor can help you develop your ideas whenever you need help.
Hit the Encyclopedias and the Library. If you have a general idea, looking in the encyclopedia or through books and journal articles can help you to narrow down your ideas.
Keep a Journal. You'd be surprised at how many ideas you generate when you have the habit of keeping a journal.
Read the Newspaper and Periodicals Related to Your Subject Areas. This simple step will help you to know what the current issues are - no matter what the field is.

These are things I've done when stumped at what to write about for research papers. What are ways you've used for generating ides for research?

What I'm Working On 2/01/2010

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:49:25 +0100

After a very busy January, it looks like it's going to be a very busy start to February. Here are some of the projects I completed in January:

Equanimity Magazine's launch issue was released. Not only did I edit many of the pieces you will find in this magazine, but I also wrote three pieces: "Classical Music's Effects on Memory and Learning" pp. 22-23, "Surviving and Cooking: An Interview with Lucille 'Lucia' Campilongo and Daughter Gina" pp. 33-35, and "America's Richest Kids:A Conversation with Chicken Soup's Mark Victor Hansen" pp. 48-50 (this was an incredibly life-changing and inspiring conversation). Aside from checking out my articles, you should subscribe to this great magazine! There are tips on fitness, fashion, and most importantly, living a balanced life.

Bright Hub - As always, I've been working on new articles for this website's pages. Recent articles include "Prioritizing Your Projects," "Take Your Project Management Skills on the Road - Become a Consultant," "Top 10 Tools for Managing Project Resources," "The Freelancer's Guide to Managing Projects," and "Philosophy for Kids Lesson Plan." Additionally, I've been working as an editor for the Project Management and Entrepreneurship channels on Bright Hub.

Jesse Freeman - I've been working with this Flash expert to edit blog entries and tutorials. Check out his websites The Flash Bum and The Flash Art of War.

Strategy Expert - I've been helping the developer of this website to realize his vision - check it out, it's a great website for management consultants who wish to hone their skills or enter into their own freelance consultancy business.

Infinity Journal - Keep your eyes on this one. A paper I wrote titled "Bringing Back Focal Practices to Combat a Hot, Flat, and Crowded World: A Critique of Thomas L. Friedman" is due to appear as the spotlight article any day now. I'm hoping to work another article on the concept of social attenuation and amplification of risk and submit it to this publication.

Training Manual - I typed a training manual for a client mid-month who needed a quick turn around. I didn't disappoint, and I exceeded his expectations.

"Landslide" - this short story was rejected from Glimmer Train Press, but I'm sending it back out this week.

Finalized several chapters for the personality engineering/development book I'm co-authoring. I'm hoping to get a few more of those chapters finalized this week.

Building the new Stanimation Productions website, launching it, and working to create marketing materials for artist and animator Stan Levine.

That ties up the loose ends from January. For February, I'm still working on a short story for a client that has now turned into a short book project. This is a great project and I'm having a lot of fun with it. Naturally, I'm working on Bright Hub articles. This week, I'm working on a press release for a software company that has created a new program. I'm still working on the stories for the Santa's Cheezborgers collection. As soon as I have a new projected publication date, I will post that information here. I decided to go with a distribution plan, which requires a little more than simply uploading the stories and promoting them through LuLu - instead, I'm hoping to have the book available through Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and other book retailers. Another goal this week is to perform required edits on a review of the film Avatar that will be appearing in Jura Gentium Cinema.

What did you accomplish in January? What are your goals this week? Feel free to post your answers as comments.

What I'm Working on 1/12/2010

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:49:44 +0100

Happy new year! I hope everyone is off to a great start to 2010.

This week, I'm working on the personality development book project. I'm also working on articles for a management consultant. I began the week by editing articles for a client's blog. If you would like help editing articles for your blog or website, contact me. My rates are very reasonable. I'm also working on ghostwriting a short story for a project I'm very excited about. Finally, I'm putting the finishing touches on a journal article (Social philosophy) I'm working on concerning the book Hot, Flat and Crowded, Heidegger, Habermas, and Borgmann.

I haven't forgotten my short story collection. I will have more details about this soon.

I'm also putting together a list of blog posts for this year. If you have any topics academic or writing-related you would like to know more about, please leave a comment or contact me and I will try to touch upon all requests.

What are you working on this week?

Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:15:19 +0100

As 2009 draws to a close, I thank all of my clients and readers for their business and readership. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and a wonderful, happy, successful, and healthy new year.

I will be out of office until January 4th on vacation. In the meantime, feel free to contact me with your ideas for 2010.

What I'm Working on 12/14/09

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:51:59 +0100

Last week I came down with some sort of virus and I fell behind on my production schedule for December. These things happen, and when they do it reminds me that scheduling should be a looser endeavor. So, my goals for this week include writing Bright Hub articles, updating Bright Hub articles, continuing to work on the website I'm writing content for, continue building Stan Levine's website (http://www.stanimationproductions.synthasite.com) continue a short story project I've been working on, and make progress on my own short story collection.

What are you working on this week?

What I'm Working on 12/1/09

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:14:07 +0100

I just finished working on my end of the month wrap-ups and creating a new organizational system of keeping track of projects using a combination of Microsoft's OneNote and Microsoft Outlook. I'll be posting on this later this month. This week, I've started working for Demand Studios, creating some how-to articles. This is enjoyable. I just finished up a bunch of articles for Bright Hub. Finally, I'm still working for the client requiring web content.

I'm hoping to stay on track with my short story collection, Santa's Cheezborgers. Hopefully I will have that uploaded to LuLu within the next couple of weeks.

I'm hoping to make this week an incredibly productive one.

What are your projects this first week of December?