#brain mapping help with accomplishing your goals

[big-pipe]

Do you have a dreamboard Inception 16 years ago! Here is my youtube.com/regdlyons

[wereallydobevibing]

Oh, to Find Love in Russia | Konig x Reader

I used to post my stories on tiktok under the username @codlover but I figured since tiktok might get banned I should delete that account and post it here. Here’s one of the stories.

Feel free to use my work as a prompt/inspiration. Better yet, feel free to write your own ideal part 2 just MAKE SURE YOU CREDIT AND TAG ME.

WARNINGS: Mentions of injury, specifically written for my delulu girlies💕

The ice, cold air of a wintery Russia rushed through your body like death through Pompeii. With your lips an ungodly shade of purple and your fingers feeling so stupidly numb, you follow the public map displayed on the side of the nearest building to meet a short term comrade in a common tourist area.

It took you some time, having never been to Russia before, but you eventually find yourself walking alongside a very large man who names himself König. He leads you away from the tourist path and into a market area where you both enter a less than busy bar. You agree you’ll talk here, where it was warm and your shivering didn’t hinder your ability to speak.

The next two hours was a conversation of confirming your roles here and the goals that were set to be accomplished – you both were sent to gain intel, but König’s main focus was to serve as your armor, and gaining intel was especially assigned to you, dear reader.

You were not a special forces operator because you were big and strong, or because you had a particular set of skills pertaining to combat at all. Your task-force had elected you to become one of it’s soldiers because you were a holder of intelligence – you were the brain, and everyone else was the body.

Your skills lied in your ability to speak and understand a multitude of languages. Your looks and personality made you attractive to others both romantically or otherwise – people couldn’t help but make themselves known to you. You were good at making them feel so special that it hurt too much to not spill all their flavors into your cup.

Blackbird, they called you; a symbol of beauty and intelligence. You were your team’s little warbler – whatever they needed to know, you were sent to find out, and you always came back chirping your sweet song of intel.

König was quite taken by you from the very start – he’d never met a woman in his field that carried herself with such grace. Overtime, many women in special forces became much like their male colleagues; rough around the edges, heavily drinking and/or smoking, cursing like wounded sailors.

You? You were so clean. Not a single profanity fell from your glossed lips, your voice was smoother than the finest of silk velvets. Your eyes are still warm with the hope of a better world and twinkled with the gentle promise of eternal youth.

Granted, you were still rather fresh in age being in your early 20s. Still, you were special.

As you both got familiar with each other over the next few hours, König grew firmer in his belief that the radiance of your skin was actually your golden soul shining through your pores.

The safe house you’d both been given had been put together at the last minute. A fact that was clear by how it was a small cabin with only a couch in the living room and one bed in the bedroom, certainly not prepared for two. The kitchen was stocked with little snacks and such, but if either of you ever got the taste for a real meal, you’d have to eat out or go grocery shopping.

König was quick to offer you the only room, as you were a lady deserving of privacy.

Over the course of two weeks, you took turns cooking and choosing restaurants. But by week three, you’d become so focused on your task of manipulating a Captain in the Russian anti-group that you’d end up spending every free moment of your day at the desk, documenting the day’s occurrences and future strategies. König became responsible for making sure you both ate – it seemed that if he didn’t feed you, you’d simply forget to do it yourself and starve.

Week four was when the storm arrived, the great finale that signaled the nearing end of every mission – Blackbird had collected everything she needed and was ready to fly on home and feed her findings to her kin. Things were wrapping up and, naturally, that meant shit was going down.

The final day would end with König wounded – he fought well, your knight in shining armor. Of course he won, but he was losing blood from his abdomen and you knew he was in pain.

The jet that was assigned to pick you both up would not arrive until morning. Your due date was not until two days from now, but you’d finished early. Until then, you used what you had to stop the bleeding and make him comfortable.

You leave him on the bed that you’d been sleeping in for the last five weeks, flat on his back. If not for the pain of his stab wound, he might’ve enjoyed drowning in the lingering, feminine scent of shampoo and perfume stuck to the sheets and pillows you burrowed yourself in at night.

You bandage him with delicate fingers – such a stark difference compared to the medics back at the KorTac base. They were always so rough, like hornets pricking and prodding at his body.

He doesn’t notice how your focus was divided between his wound and his bare chest. Your impulsive thoughts, if you gave in to them, would’ve had you resting the palms of your hands flat on his muscles and grazing your fingertips over the ridges.

You tried to be respectful, the man was in pain – but you just couldn’t help your nature as it demanded to behold the glorious sculpture settled before you. Thousands of years ago, König might’ve been the model for ancient Greek statues. He was beautiful.

König sits up on the mattress when you finish, which now is stained with speckles of blood, clenching his jaw as he did. Your hands come up on his bare chest and you stop him.

“What are you doing?” You ask, bewildered, “You have to rest, König, you’re hurt.”

“This is your bed, schatz,” König grunted, “I will go to the couch.”

Now that the mission is over, you suddenly feel a wave of guilt come crashing down onto you. You’d been so busy thinking about what you needed to do, how you were going to get your hands on the information you’d been sent out to receive that you didn’t ever stop to think about König’s comfort. And here he was, spending every single day of the last five weeks watching your back, making sure you ate, and that you were comfortable. All he did was think about you.

As you stare at him, your heart begins pulsing erratically. Your face grows warm with the sudden realization that this big, brutal, soldier of a man was such a gentleman. He’d been so kind and considerate, looking over your shoulder for you like he was born to do it and not just because it was his job.

Your hands raise to cradle his masked face. You think about how this six-foot-ten beast had been sleeping on that tiny, poor excuse for a couch for nearly two months for the sake of your comfortability, and how he would do it even now when he was in pain.

Without a second thought, you go in and kiss him through the fabric of his mask – a little peck of admiration for his chivalry, a humble praise for being a rare man.

König stares at you when you pull back, he’s stunned. All these weeks of very subtly flirting with you … he thought you’d never notice, or even reciprocate his interest. König figured that you both would separate at the end of this story like Orpheus and Eurydice, he’d be damned to never know you again and you’d forget him as soon as he was gone.

With your hands still holding either side if his jaw, you tell him, “Lay down, König. Here.”

He brings up a large hand to meet one of yours, using the other to hold himself upright and stroking your wrist affectionately with his thumb, “You will not sleep on the couch, schatz.”

“No,” You agreed. “We will both stay here, on the bed, and that way if you need anything, I’m right here to help you.”

Still not believing what’s happening, he tries again to rise from the bed, only for you to guide him back down until his head rested on one of the pillows.

You ask, “That’s okay, isn’t it?”

König, beneath his mask, feels his lips curling upward as he laughs breathlessly.

He grins, “Okay?”

It was perfect.

[indignantlemur]

I was wondering if you had any advice for beginners writing a long fanfic?

Thank you.

Hello! I actually do have some advice, though of course I must stress that what works for me is not necessarily what will work for others.

I'll break this down into two categories - general and specific.

🖊️GENERAL WRITING ADVICE:

🌟FIRST: Find a process that works for you to stay on track.

Some people find making a diagram or a mind-map of ideas and plotlines helps them stay on track. Some people make a bullet-point list of what they need to accomplish in each chapter. Some don't even bother making a list at all, and write on the fly.

Personally, I've found that making an outline helps me immensely. I can flesh out the outlined points as I need to, throwing in possible bits of dialogue or descriptions that come to me when I think about a scene I've planned, and I can move each plot point around as needed. Not only does this keep me organized, but if I need to take a break from writing, I'm not left floundering when I come back to it. I can pick up the threads right away, because I know exactly how and where I left them and what they're meant to tie into. I keep all of my plot notes on a separate document that I can switch over to (or keep open on a second screen, or even just open on my phone, really) and I reference it constantly.

I do this for shorter stories as well as longer ones, and the key to make this approach work is understanding that the plot points and tidbits I have prepared are guidelines. Only the bare bones are set in stone, and even then I give myself as much flexibility as possible. Sometimes, the scene develops in such a way that I can't include the dialogue or descriptions I'd hoped to because now it doesn't make sense - and that's fine. I save the defunct bits, cut and paste it to a junk drawer document where I put all my missing and cut scenes, and see if I can reuse them in the future. No writing is a wasted effort.

🌟SECOND: Get a second pair of eyes on your work.

Find a beta-reader, or a very good friend who isn't afraid to tell you when something needs work. Ideally, both. Beta-readers are worth their weight in gold twice over (I love you @emilie786!) and will help you with the grammar and the flow of the scene, often catching mistakes you miss. Some beta-readers only want to proof-read, and some want to be more involved in your writing process - clear communication about goals and expectations is key!

Likewise, a writer-friend who's willing to look at your work while it's still rough and give you feedback on it (becoming your alpha audience, as it were) is an amazingly helpful person. They can help you by suggesting different takes on a scene, or alternate phrasing when your writing feels a bit awkward in places, or even workaround for plot problems and any difficulties you run into. I frequently chat with @the-lady-general about our different writing projects, and it's been immensely helpful for both of us.

🌟THIRD: Be prepared to kill your darlings.

So, you've written a thing. You worked hard on it, poured your heart and soul into it, and you love it to pieces. Of course you do! Only... your beta-reader had torn a scene or a character to shreds, however kindly, and now you have to cope with rewriting it.

A kneejerk response a lot of new writers have to this is to get defensive and upset - I've been guilty of this myself, in the distant past when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. I'll tell you now what someone should have told me then: sometimes, a person has to be cruel to be kind. A beta-reader or a friend telling you a scene needs work is a gift compared to your story being panned by negative reviews after the fact, especially if you are the sort to put a lot of emotional value on your reviews (as many of us do).

When this happens, because it inevitably will, listen.

Step back, take a day or two to reset your brain if you need to, and then review what your beta-reader told you. Look at it objectively, without emotion. If you cannot, bring in a friend or mentor who can help you do so. Go over what's been said, the chief complaints and concerns, and open up a new document. Copy the scene. Paste it over. Rewrite the scene in the new document, taking all of the advice given to you into account. Once you're done, take a break. Make a cup of tea. Grab a snack. Go for a walk, even. When you're done, come back and read both the original and rewritten scenes.

You may very well find that your writing has benefited from the exercise, if nothing else, but I suspect you will find you like the rewrite a little better.

🌟FOURTH: Writing tutorials and guides are goldmines.

If you're struggling with writing a scene, or even if you just think it doesn't flow the way you want, look at what other writers who can write these scenes suggest. I struggle with action scenes, personally, and I've been referencing a lot of guides for Hoarfrost (which is still in the works but getting closer to completion!) to shore up those weak points in my writing.

Heck, I spent a literal week reading nothing but smut guides and writing tutorials, learning everything from phrasing to atmosphere-building, before I felt brave enough to try writing TSKW, never mind actually posting chapter 44 of Emigre. My ads haven't been the same since. The VPN did nothing.

Of course, a thesaurus is a valuable tool as a writer, but learning how to stitch your words together to create a scene is more than just knowing twelve different synonyms for the word "said." To that end, I would say that there is absolutely nothing shameful about taking inspiration from other writers and published authors, or from guides and tutorials. So long as you're not copying another's work or borrowing their ideas without permission, of course.

And, finally,

🌟FIFTH: Don't be afraid of writing badly.

I started writing when I was 8 - silly, nonsensical things with no particular plot or plan. Charming, but terrible. I got into fanfiction at 12, and the stuff I wrote was beyond cringe-inducing. Mary Sues, flat descriptions with no life to them, using too much emotion or too little, unrealistic reactions and irrational decisions from every character unfortunate enough to be involved - you name it, I wrote it.

All of this is a perfectly normal part of writing, even if I'd rather walk into the sea with a canon ball lovingly bundled in my arms rather than let any of it see the light of day ever again.

Through these horrible, absolutely godawful first steps into the world of writing, I grew. I got negative reviews, and supportive ones. I took breaks and tried again later. I wrote and rewrote. I erased entire documents and started from scratch more times than I can count (which I kind of regret, hence my advice to make a junk drawer document). I spent weeks, months, even years using my maladaptive daydreaming to hone scenes, refine characterizations, and tweak plot ideas. I have stories and worlds in my head that have been percolating for a literal decade or more, and they still don't feel ready to put onto paper yet - but if I don't start despite that, they never will be.

So don't be afraid of writing badly, and certainly don't let that fear stop you from writing at all. After all, churning out a rough, unrefined first draft is the first and most important step to learning how to write well.

✒️SPECIFIC WRITING ADVICE

The first, best piece of specific advice I ever got when starting out was this:

🌟Describe the scene as if you were describing it to a blind person.

(I always took this advice to mean someone who had recently lost their sight, rather than someone who would have no shared frame of reference for visual descriptions, but you're quite welcome to interpret it differently.)

The colours and shapes we readily think of when it comes to describing a scene are important, but what about texture? Scent? Taste? Scent in particular is hugely important to people because it's directly linked to our memories, but sound and touch are also very important for setting a scene. By excluding those details, you are robbing the audience of layers of immersion.

Think about the sights and scents and sounds around you as you go about your day. How would you describe them? The smell of coffee from across the room - is it earthy, bitter, burnt? Is Karen from accounting eating fish tacos again, despite multiple complaints, and now the cloying, oily aroma of microwaved fish has saturated the entire office? What about the warmth of sunlight streaming through a nearby window against your arm, the way the light catches on the hard edges of the furniture and the highlights in a woman's hair. What about the sound of your shoes against the floor as you walk, the click of heels and the shuffle and squeak of sneakers? Think about how you would describe what you're wearing, beyond bare facts. The softness of the fabric, the sturdiness of the construction, the weight of the material - how would you put them into words?

Spend time actively paying attention to the world around you, to conversations and scenery and people, and ask yourself: how would I write this?

The second piece of advice may seem contradictory, given the first, but it's worth hearing anyway:

🌟Sometimes less is more.

Descriptions and explanations are an important part of story-telling, enhancing the scene and building the world around it, but there's a time and a place. We don't need to know every single descriptive detail about the main character in the first paragraph, or even the first chapter. We don't need to know the entire history of the new alien species the moment we meet them, or even for years after the first encounter. We don't need to wade through ten pages describing how strange and bizarre the alien trees are, nor do we need three different descriptions of the shape of each leaf on every branch.

Learn to space out your expositions and descriptions. Treat them like sprinkles - they look better when they're spread out over the whole cake, rather than clumped in one spot.

My third bit of general advice is this:

🌟Don't rush it.

It's really, really tempting to rush towards that one amazing scene you have planned out in your head - the one with the big emotional impact, the plot twist, the big scene - but don't! Hold off! We, the readers, don't know about all the details that lead up to that scene. We don't know about the layers of meaning and all the build up that leads to that great pay-off. Without that, we simply won't get it. We won't understand what you're trying to convey, or why it's such a big deal.

Take the time to build up the story, to show us how your characters learn and adapt and grow with each challenge. That journey is important. It might feel tedious, like a slog you have to get through to get from Point A to Point B, but we need it! We need those scenes, those moments, in order to stand where you want us to stand when the big scene begins, to know what we need to know and feel what you want us to feel as we watch it happen.

And finally, my fourth and final bit of specific advice:

🌟Wish fulfillment is fun, but realism is what draws us in.

We have all made Mary Sues, Gary Stus, and every possible permutation of them, even if we never quite put pen to paper with them. Many folks who get into writing start by imagining a character who serves as a kind of wish fulfillment or power fantasy put into writing. It's perfectly normal - but the thing to remember is that those characters are a bit... bland. They don't struggle. They don't fail. They don't lose. Or if they do, it's not in a meaningful way. That kind of character is so divorced from reality that it breaks the readers' suspension of disbelief.

Everyone alive has a combination of talents and failings, weaknesses and strengths, insecurities and weird quirks. That's part of the Human experience. A perfect, flawless character defies that experience, and thus we cannot relate to them. The character becomes flat and uninspiring to the audience, and once that happens all that remains is apathy. When there are no stakes, there is no investment. Why should we care about a character who will never fail against even the most overwhelming odds? We already know the ending, because the character cannot lose.

So I urge you to really look at your characters. Some folks recommend taking "Mary Sue Litmus Tests" and such to get a rough idea of how your characters might be received, and those are certainly useful tools - but they are not the only tools at your disposal. Read constantly. Watch films and documentaries alike. Try out new show and book genres, even the ones you don't think you'll like. Really look at the people around you, at how they act versus what they do, and how their unique combination of personality traits and flaws coalesce into a perfectly ordinary person. Inspiration is literally everywhere around you, if you look for it.

Now, everyone creates characters differently. Some folks start with an idea, or a core concept, and build the character around that. Others make characters more procedurally (wherein those "20+ questions about your OC" posts are actually quite useful), and some even use generators to slap a bunch of traits together to see what sticks. Some characters seem to spring fully formed from the ground one day, and others can take years of tinkering to really come into being.

Look for inspiration everywhere, and you'll eventually find a way that works best for your writing.

...I know, I know. You asked for advice and I wrote you a book. If you've made it this far, kudos. Writing can be a lot of work, but never let it be anything other than a labor of love.

[digitaldetoxworld]

Mastering Your Studies: Essential Tips and Techniques for Academic Success Effective study methods for mastering difficult subjects

 Study effective for mastering difficult subjects is crucial for academic success, but it can sometimes be challenging to find the right approach that works for you. Everyone learns differently, so it’s important to discover study techniques that suit your personal style. Whether you’re preparing for exams, tackling assignments, or trying to grasp new concepts, these study tips and techniques can help you maximize your learning potential and achieve your goals.

Set Clear Goals

Before you start studying, it's important to set clear, achievable goals. Knowing what you want to accomplish helps you stay focused and motivated. Your goals should be specific, measurable, and time-bound. For example, instead of saying, "I want to study math," try setting a goal like, "I want to complete three chapters of math by the end of the week."

Having a clear goal helps you break down your study sessions into manageable tasks. This not only makes the process less overwhelming but also allows you to track your progress and feel a sense of accomplishment as you achieve each goal.

Create a Study Schedule

A well-structured study schedule is one of the most effective tools for staying organized and on track. A study schedule outlines what you need to study and when, helping you manage your time efficiently. Start by identifying the subjects or topics you need to focus on, and allocate specific time slots for each.

When creating your schedule, consider your peak productivity times. Some people study better in the morning, while others are more focused in the evening. Schedule your most challenging subjects during the times when you are most alert. Also, be sure to include breaks in your schedule to avoid burnout and keep your mind fresh.

Use Active Learning Techniques

Active learning is a powerful technique that engages you directly with the material, making it easier to understand and remember. Instead of passively reading your notes or textbooks, try to actively participate in the learning process. Here are some active learning techniques:

Summarization: After reading a section of your textbook or notes, try to summarize the main points in your own words. This helps reinforce your understanding and retention of the material.

Self-Testing: Quiz yourself on the material you’ve studied. This could be through flashcards, practice questions, or simply explaining the concepts aloud. Self-testing helps you identify areas where you need more practice and reinforces your memory.

Teaching Others: One of the best ways to solidify your understanding of a topic is to teach it to someone else. When you explain concepts to others, you’re forced to clarify your thoughts and fill in any gaps in your knowledge.

Mind Mapping: Mind maps are visual diagrams that help organize information in a way that shows the relationships between different concepts. Creating a mind map can help you see the big picture and make connections between ideas, which aids in deeper understanding.

 Take Regular Breaks

While it might be tempting to study for long hours without a break, this approach can actually be counterproductive. The human brain can only focus effectively for about 25 to 30 minutes at a time. After that, concentration starts to wane, and the quality of learning decreases.

The Pomodoro Technique is a popular method for managing study time and breaks. It involves studying for 25 minutes and then taking a 5-minute break. After four "Pomodoro," take a longer break of 15-30 minutes. This technique helps you maintain focus during study sessions while giving your brain the rest it needs to process information.

 Find Your Optimal Study Environment

Your study environment plays a crucial role in how well you can focus and absorb information. A quiet, organized space free from distractions is ideal for most people. However, everyone’s preferences differ, so it's important to find what works best for you.

Some people study best in complete silence, while others might prefer background music or the hum of a coffee shop. Experiment with different environments to discover what helps you concentrate the most. Make sure your study space has good lighting, a comfortable chair, and all the materials you need within reach.

Stay Healthy

Your physical health has a significant impact on your ability to study effectively. A healthy body supports a healthy mind, so it's essential to take care of yourself during your study periods. Here are a few tip

Eat Nutritious Meals: Foods rich in vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and fish, can help improve brain function and memory. Avoid sugary snacks and caffeine, which can lead to energy crashes.

Stay Hydrated: Drinking plenty of water is crucial for maintaining focus and cognitive function. Dehydration can cause fatigue, headaches, and difficulty concentrating.

Get Enough Sleep: Sleep is vital for memory consolidation and cognitive function. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep each night, especially before exams or important study sessions.

Exercise Regularly: Physical activity increases blood flow to the brain, boosting cognitive function and reducing stress. Even a short walk or some stretching exercises can help clear your mind and improve your focus.

 Use Mnemonics and Memory Aids

Mnemonics and memory aids are techniques that help you remember information more easily. They work by associating new information with something you already know or by creating memorable patterns. Here are some common types of mnemonics:

Acronyms: Create an acronym using the first letters of a list of words you need to remember. For example, “HOMES” is a mnemonic for remembering the Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.

Rhymes and Songs: Turn information into a rhyme or a song. This is particularly effective for memorizing dates, formulas, or lists.

Visualization: Create a mental image of the information you’re trying to remember. The more vivid and detailed the image, the easier it will be to recall later.

Chunking: Break down large amounts of information into smaller, more manageable chunks. For example, to remember a long number like 1234567890, you can group it into smaller parts like 123-456-7890.

Stay Positive and Manage Stress

A positive mindset can greatly impact your study success. Stress and negative thinking can hinder your ability to focus and learn effectively. Practice positive self-talk, and remind yourself that challenges are a part of the learning process.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a few deep breaths or practice mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness helps you stay present and focused, reducing anxiety and improving concentration.

Review and Revise Regularly

Regular revision is key to long-term retention of information. Instead of cramming all your study material in one go, review your notes regularly. This could be weekly or even daily, depending on the subject matter.

Spaced repetition is a technique that involves reviewing information at increasing intervals. For example, you might review material one day after learning it, then three days later, then a week later, and so on. This method helps move information from short-term to long-term memory.

Seek Help When Needed

Proven strategies for improving focus during study sessions don't hesitate to seek help if you're struggling with a particular subject or topic. Reach out to your teachers, classmates, or even online forums for assistance. Study groups can also be beneficial, as discussing topics with peers can enhance understanding and retention.

[thecraftyfoxthewriterscorner]

Starting Your Self-Editing Journey

Congrats on finishing NaNoWriMo!! 🎉

Hey Story Crafters,

It’s been a while! During the time The Writer’s Corner was on break, I went to Busch Gardens to visit their Christmas Town, celebrated a birthday, ate lots of good food, and put up Christmas decorations. And, ate a lot of pumpkin pie. 😊

Thank you to my current subscribers, and to all of the writers who visit The Writer’s Corner! Your support helps me stay motivated to keep this newsletter going. If there are certain topics you’d like this newsletter to cover, mention them in the comments below or contact me directly!

I’ve been back in the office this past week, getting back into the swing of things. NaNoWriMo ended, and though I didn’t participate, I did get a fair amount of writing done. Congrats to those of you who participated, regardless of whether you reached your writing goal(s) or not! 🥳

If you feel comfortable doing so, feel free to share your NaNoWriMo experience in the comments!

If you’re still working on your NaNoWriMo project, that’s great! You get to keep writing and building your story. I encourage you to do so, while the project is still fresh in your mind and you’ve got the writing momentum pushing your creativity forward.

If you’ve finished your project during NaNoWriMo, congratulations! You’ve accomplished a writing goal in a month that not every writer (including me, right now) is able to meet. You deserve to celebrate!

As part of your celebration, put your completed!manuscript away—tuck it into a folder, a desk drawer, somewhere you won’t see it and be tempted to read it. The first step to self-editing, even if you’d rather not think about it yet, is to put some distance between yourself and your story. It may be tempting to some writers to start editing right away, but doing so can actually work against you. Right now, you’re too close to your story. You may think otherwise, but you currently don’t have the objectivity to approach your writing with an editor’s eye—so everything in your manuscript sounds great, everything is great and completely relevant to the story, and nothing needs to be changed.

If you try to start self-editing now, you might miss awkward transitions or pacing, or inconsistent character development. You won’t notice the areas that might need improvement, until you’ve spent some time away from your story. By getting some distance from your story, you switch from being a “writer” to being a “reader.” As a “reader,” you’ll notice where other readers might get confused, or feel unsatisfied with your story, and make edits as needed.

While you spend time away from your manuscript, you can look into and review resources for self-editing.

Some posts from The Writer’s Corner you may find helpful include:

Editing Tip #2: Reading Your Work Out Loud

Editing Tip #3: 3 Steps to Editing Info Dump Passages

Editing Tip #4: Consistency in Characters

Relationship Mapping Part 2

Editing Dialogue

Using Descriptive Language

Let’s Talk Beats

Considering Chapters and Chapter Transitions

Other resources I find helpful for editing, and that you might find helpful as well, include:

Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel by Lisa Cron

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need by Jessica Brody

The Art of Fiction by James Gardner

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to edit yourself into print, 2nd Edition by Renni Browne & Dave King

The first three books are craft books, but they offer writing craft insights that you can still consider during the editing phase.

Once you’ve finished self-editing your manuscript to the best of your ability, I highly encourage you to hire an editor to polish your manuscript further, whether you’re planning to self-publish or pursue traditional publishing. I offer developmental editing, line editing, and copyediting services (and a combined line editing + copyediting service) to independent authors and querying authors—mainly fantasy, dark fantasy, science fiction, and horror authors. You can learn more about my services in the Let’s Talk Editing, Take #2 post and on my website.

Visit The Crafty Fox Editing Services

You can also search for editors (and other publishing services) through The Editorial Freelancers Association, ACES: The Society for Editing, and the Editors of Color databases.

If you have any questions or concerns about self-editing, don’t hesitate to reach out. Until next week!

Best,

Leah

Substack Post: https://thecraftyfoxwriterscorner.substack.com/p/starting-your-self-editing-journey

Interested in learning more about me, and the kind of energy I’ll bring to a writer-editor relationship? If you're a writer, consider subscribing to my free Substack newsletter (you can check out the archives, too). You'll get a free writing resource on relationship mapping, and a special offer when you subscribe!

Are you searching for an editor to work with on a completed (or soon-to-be-completed) manuscript? Get in touch! I’d love to hear about your project(s). I’m looking to work with authors of:

Fantasy

Dark Fantasy

Science Fiction

Horror

Send me an email!

[overcomingprocastination]

HOW STUDENT PROCASTINATE?

Introduction

Procrastination is a common challenge that university students face. Balancing lectures, assignments and a social life can be overwhelming, leading to a cycle of putting off important tasks until the last minute. This can cause stress and negatively impact your academic performance and, more importantly, your personal well-being.

If you’ve found yourself struggling with procrastination, we’re here to help! We’ll help you discover some of the best strategies to stop procrastination in its tracks. Whether you’re struggling to avoid procrastination or looking to improve your productivity, these tips are designed to help you overcome procrastination habits and achieve your long-term goals.

Why is avoiding procrastination important?

Before we dive in, you’ve got to understand why avoiding procrastination is important. For starters, putting off tasks may hinder your academic performance. When you leave your assignments and revision until the last minute, it will likely lead to rushed, lower-quality work – negatively impacting grades on both your exams and assignments.

Aside from that, procrastination can be harmful to your mental health, Neuroscience News reports. Although you’re putting something off, your brain still knows that you’ve got to do it. This can lead to an increase in stress, anxiety and depression. By completing these tasks on time, you can boost your personal satisfaction by fostering a sense of accomplishment.

Now, let’s take a look at how to stop procrastinating.

Tips to stop procrastinating as a student

Set clear goals

According to Solving Procrastination, a lack of clear goals is a common reason why students are prone to procrastination. Without a clear direction and motivation, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and avoid important tasks as they seem pointless.

Start off by looking at the bigger picture. Where do you want to be in one, five, or even ten years' time? Then break down the steps of what you need to do to accomplish this. By specifying why you need to study or complete your assignments to a high standard, you’ll be more motivated to do so!

Create a schedule

Having a structured plan can significantly reduce procrastination. When you allocate specific times for studying, assignments and breaks, you create a routine that fosters productivity. To make this possible, you could create a planner or digital calendar to map out your week. For a better overview of your week, try colour-coding your schedule according to classes, study sessions and social activities. It’s important to build consistency, so aim to stick to this as closely as possible. But there’s no harm in being flexible!

Prioritise important tasks

It’s easy to spend time on less important activities while avoiding the large tasks that matter – it makes us feel better about doing something. Prioritising helps you focus on what’s most critical. One of the ways you can do this is by using the Eisenhower Matrix to categorise your tasks into four quadrants: urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and neither urgent nor important. Start by focussing on the tasks that are both urgent and important and take it from there.

Eliminate distractions

A major source of your procrastination comes from distractions. Whether it’s social media, noise, chatting with your friends or even a cluttered workspace, it’s important to block these distractions when you’re in study mode. To create a distraction-free environment, turn off your notifications and set the stage for better concentration and productivity.

Break down large tasks

Facing a large task can be intimidating, leading to procrastination. Breaking it down into smaller, more manageable pieces can make it seem less overwhelming. If you have a big project or assignment due, such as your dissertation, divide and conquer is the way forward. You could break this down into researching, outlining, writing and sense-checking. For each smaller task, set yourself a mini deadline to keep yourself on track and watch yourself shine.

Use the Pomodoro technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that can help you stay focused and productive. It involves working for a set period, usually 25 minutes, followed by a short break. Set a timer for 25 minutes and work on a task without interruptions. After the timer goes off, take a 5-minute break and repeat, taking a longer break after every four “Pomodoros”. This technique can help you maintain a high level of focus while preventing burnout.

Reward yourself

Incentives can be a powerful motivator to overcome procrastination. A bit like training a dog, rewarding yourself after completing a task is a type of conditioning that reinforces positive behaviour, making you more likely to want to complete these tasks. Your reward can be anything you enjoy – whether it’s watching an episode of your favourite series, indulging in your favourite snack or even going for a walk.

Stay accountable

Having someone to hold you accountable can significantly reduce procrastination. Sharing your goals with a friend can provide the extra push you need. Partner with a classmate or friend and set up regular check-ins to discuss your progress. This accountability can help you stay committed to your tasks and deadlines. Unless you’re prone to chatting, you could even use each other as a study buddy to help each other revise.

Practice self-compassion

It’s important to be kind to yourself, especially when you slip up. Beating yourself up over it can lead to more negative emotions and even more procrastination. Everyone struggles with it at times, so when you do, reflect on what triggered it and how you can address it in the future. This way you can improve how you handle it the next time you have a handful of stressful tasks to juggle.

Conclusion.

Procrastination can be challenging, but you will be able to overcome it with the right time management strategies. By setting clear goals, creating a schedule, prioritising tasks and eliminating distractions, you can build habits that promote productivity and reduce stress. Remember, overcoming procrastination takes time and effort, but the rewards both personally and academically will be worthwhile. Now you know how to stop procrastinating, put these tips into action and watch as you grow.

[lkimball02svad]

Blog 2 - Week 2

This week we talked about the different styles of design and saw examples of good design, bad design, interesting cropping, type as texture, type as image, readability, and legibility. These are all things that we need to consider when we are creating our first project, our magazine. This first project sounds interesting. our goal is to create a magazine, topic of our choosing, find out who our audience is, create a concept, and putt it together. I am pretty excited about my idea, which is basically taking J-14, Teen, or Seventeen magazine and combining it with the history of horror movies. I thought it would be cool to make the magazine interactive by adding games and quizzes for each movie I mention in the magazine.

For this week's reading, we read about How to Define Problems: Brainstorming, Mind Mapping, Interviewing, Focus Groups, and Visual Research. Defining the problem...What are you creating? What is the project? It is really important to understand what you are trying to accomplish so you can let yourself go through the design process a whole lot easier. I really liked how the textbook defined brainstorming. "Attacking a problem from many directions at once, bombarding it with rapid fire." This is never really an organized process for me. I usually grab a piece of paper or my computer and start writing or drawing little sketches and ideas so I don't lose them. That's when my mind brain storms the best is when Im not focusing on the problem. Brainstorming really helps you identify and clarify the problem. Mind mapping...how exciting. This is the step that helps you organize, and knowing me, organizing is my favorite thing to do. I loved that the textbook walks you through the the steps of mind mapping. 1. Focus 2. Branch Out 3. Organize 4. Subdivide. Interviewing is important. This allows you to really get to know the person who you want working on your team. The textbook mentions meeting face-to-face rather than online and this makes complete sense because then you have an opportunity to read body language, their personal appearance, and how they speak one on one about a "serious" matter. The next thing the textbook talks about are focus groups. Focus groups help you reconvene your ideas and maybe bounce them off of other people to get an outside perspective, or even build off of each other's ideas to create an even stronger approach to the problem. The last thing we read was about visual research. Visual research is he point in your process where you are collecting visual assets to use for your project. This means gathering inspiration to put onto a mood board, finding patterns in the research you are conducting to better your searches.

[alexande005]

Boost Your Mental Performance with Waklert 150 MG in Australia

Enhances Your Memory

Enhances Your Memory Most people are visual learners, and they remember best what they see. You can help your memory work at its peak by using visual aids, like memory notebooks, signs, and maps. Others are auditory learners and remember things better when they hear them. They can use audio tapes and recordings to reinforce what they learn. A few people are kinesthetic learners and remember best when they experience things. They can benefit from a physical reminder, like writing notes on index cards or using a whiteboard.

A cognitive enhancer, Waklert 150mg helps improve focus and concentration to boost study performance for students and professionals. It mitigates fatigue and sleepiness linked to obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and shift work sleep disorder. It is also popular among people with depression as it reduces feelings of tiredness and fatigue and improves mood and motivation for daily tasks.

When you are tired, you have a hard time focusing and being productive. Whether you are a CEO with an important meeting or a medical student who needs to get their paper submitted, you can’t let a sleepy feeling distract you from accomplishing your goals. This is where Waklert comes in. This drug can help you stay alert by boosting dopamine, norepinephrine, and orexin levels in your brain. It can also increase your motivation, energy level, and cognitive functions to help you reach your full potential.

You can buy Waklert online and in some pharmacies. However, it’s a good idea to check with your local laws and regulations before buying it to ensure that you can legally purchase and possess it. Moreover, overusing this drug may cause health issues. So, it’s best to follow a healthy lifestyle and take this pill as prescribed by your doctor.

The standard dose of Waklert is 150 mg. This is a great dose for new users because it’s easy to remember and has a low risk of side effects. It’s also a good option for people who want a stronger focus boost than other generic Armodafinil drugs on the market, such as Nuvigil or Modalert.

Another benefit of Waklert is that it stays in your system for a shorter amount of time than other wakefulness medications like Modafinil. This means that if you take it at midday, you can sleep well at night. This is a huge benefit for people who have Narcolepsy, which can lead to drowsiness and fatigue throughout the day.

Aside from boosting your productivity, Artvigil 150 can also relieve abnormal symptoms of Narcolepsy, such as hallucinations and sleep paralysis. By stimulating your brain, this medicine can control and restore your sleep cycle so you can achieve a more normal life. It can also help you recover from other conditions that are associated with drowsiness, such as depression and bipolar disorder. This medication can also help you overcome addictions to caffeine and other stimulants that can affect your focus and productivity. It’s not the perfect solution for drowsiness, but it can significantly improve your quality of life.

[itchyboiaaron]

Mind Map: Improving Study Habits

For me, there are 4 main things to do to improve study habits. The first one is proper Time Management. This is important since studying requires dedication of time. This can be done by setting constant reminders such as alarms to notify you when to study, properly prioritizing what you need to do with the time you have, and creating a personalized timetable or schedule to keep track of when and how long you should study.

Another thing to consider is the Setting. It is crucial that where your studying is perfect and ideal for studying. First is Finding a Good Spot to Study, it can be any place as long as it is quiet and there are minimal disturbances. Next is by Organizing the Area by keeping your materials at your reach and easily accessible. And lastly, you can also Set the Ambience to your liking so you feel more comfortable when studying. Things such as adjusting the lights and playing some classical music/white noise can come a long way.

Next up is by simply, Resting. Resting is an important part of studying as you will be using your energy and your brain functions. Being well rested can help you be energized and be ready for long study sessions. Be careful, Never Study if You are Tired because it won’t help you in any way. You won’t be able to study longer and efficiently leaving your mind blank. This can be avoided by Having Enough Sleep and letting your mind rest as this will ultimately help recharge your energy. Dedicating Occasional Break Times in between study session is also good way to quickly take a breather from studying. Continuously studying for long periods of times can lead you to exhaustion that can affect your studying.

Lastly, you need to ultimately build Focus when studying. Learning how to focus can help you accomplish more in a given amount of time. Avoiding Distractions is good place to start by hiding things that can distract you such as your phone or getting away from the T.V. You can also Set Study Goals that will help you organize things you need to accomplish in your study session. Accomplishing these goals can sometimes be rewarding and can create a sense of achievement. Lastly, Avoid Multitasking such as studying more subjects than intended as this will make remembering studying confusing. Study one subject at a time, this will help you focus on one subject to and create a smooth flow of studying. Also make sure to avoid doing other task when studying such as cleaning or cooking while studying as it takes away your focus.

[big-pipe]

S.A.G.A. Post Black Friday Promo and Beyond Christmas until 2020! and Br...

[stormjay0]

Xisuma and Xelqua

I was thinking about how Grian used to be an admin (Wynncraft) and we’ve ended up here so... ficlet time!

As nights went on Hermitcraft, this was one of the quieter ones. Many of the hermits had gone to bed (Bdubs having been asleep for hours), with only a few still awake tinkering at some redstone project or growing vines for a build. The lights in the shopping district had gone dark, one by one, as shops closed up for the night amidst the smell of newly laid grass. The diamonds hanging from the trees caught the light of a star here and there, but most of the movement in the cowmercial district had long since died down.

A flickering window blinked in the distance. Any passerby who found it worth taking another look would see that the flicker came from a cozy flame dancing in the glass confines of a lantern, resting on a desk. The window in question was a small opening looking out into the thick jungle, just large enough for someone to rest on the sill and watch the parrots. It was also over 100 blocks off the ground.

The flame began to die out, flickering slowly and sadly downwards, only to spring up again as if given a shot of espresso. Or a shot of coal, in this case, because the admin who refueled it wouldn’t be caught dead with coffee. A strong black tea was another thing altogether.

Xisuma sighed and leaned back in his chair. Rubbing his eyes, he checked the time for the first time in a few hours. One in the morning wasn’t bad, he reasoned, and turned back to his work. Earlier today, he had relocated some administrative panels to this room in his jungle base, the least concrete-y of them. He silently thanked his past self; working on admin duties was at least 50% less fun on the concrete floor. His helmet lay switched off on the cozier, carpeted floor of the preferred room. 

The panels themselves were resting between a desk and the wall behind it, propped up by their sturdy bedrock stands. Xisuma didn’t often think about that rare material that his panels were made of; many high-level admins required hardware (literally hard-ware) of that caliber, and though bedrock was almost impossible to obtain, it was well worth it for the administrative abilities of the panels.

Tonight was not a night for appreciating the panels, however; in fact, X was beginning to question if his work tonight was worth it in the first place. He was trying a particularly frustrating string of commands, as he was only halfway sure of how to accomplish the work he was trying to do. 

Xisuma briefly stretched his neck and back, cracked his knuckles, and tried another combination. The usual [ERROR: Action not recognized] message appeared in urgent red over his screens, and he let out a short breath and considered hitting the panels in a last-ditch effort.

He didn’t have the chance to hit the panels, though, because another object hit a different panel very nearby- a Grian-shaped figure slammed into the window beside him at top speed.

X, not even surprised, slid open the glass and looked down. There was a thin ledge about five blocks below, and as Xisuma had expected, a heap of elytra wings and red sweater was sprawled atop it. He chuckled, shaking his head incredulously, and grabbed a water bucket so Grian could swim up the stream.

“Do I even want to ask what you’re doing up?”

Xisuma passed Grian a cup of chamomile tea, which the red-sweatered man immediately dumped 6 sugar packets into, cancelling out the calming chamomile effect. 

“Well, you see, I was simply minding my own business over at Grumbot when I saw a light on over here- knew it was you immediately, definitely didn’t think there was a giant firefly hiding in the jungle.” Grian took a gulp of his tea. “Anyways, you’re up, and I’m up, so I may as well talk to you, Eck-sai-zooma.”

X rolled his eyes playfully at the mispronunciation. “Alright, but why were you at the Grumbot? That thing’s broken, ain’t it?”

“He was lonely!” Grian protested. “I wanted to visit my robot son.”

Xisuma raised an eyebrow.

“Aaaand I might’ve left a shulker box full of wool there.” Grian shrugged. “But it was a whole box!” 

He looked around the room that he had crash-landed into and noticed the administrative panels. “You’re not working, are you, X? At this hour?” 

Xisuma turned to look at the panels, still glowing red with error text. He sighed, and moved to switch them off. “I was working on a personal project, but you’re here, and I really need to take a break anyway.” 

His finger was on the off switch when Grian spoke up. “Hey, I know how to fix this. It’s a perception chain, right? You just gotta-” He typed in a string of commands deftly with his head tilted sideways. “There! Got it!” 

Xisuma stared at the message that had just popped up on the screen, glowing green. [Action approved. Enter commands to continue chain.] He turned back to look at Grian, who was now trying to hang his elytra upside-down from the ceiling. 

“How’d you do that?”

Without turning around, Grian replied, “Oh, it was pretty easy! Just entered some combos that you hadn’t tried. The keywords on these change wayyy too often.”

Xisuma stared at Grian, looked back at the panels, and looked back at Grian. After a moment, he collected his thoughts enough to ask again.

“No, how did you know what to do? I’ve been an admin for years and even I couldn’t figure it out.” X was surprised that his question came out so calmly, when his brain was currently a mess of ‘HOW DID HE DO THAT’ and ‘WHAT THE HECK’. 

“Oh!” Grian turned around, smiling sheepishly. “I don’t think I ever told you- I’m sure it was on my list, right after fixing that chest monster- I used to be an admin!”

He dropped to the floor, legs crossed, and took another swig of tea. “I used to moderate a server called Wynncraft. We had all kinds of people, but not like Hermitcraft- they came and went, played and left. Some came back, some didn’t, but everyone had a great time!” 

He wrinkled his nose. “Or, they better have at least, I spent a long time on those maps.”

“Anyways, we had a ton of quests, and loot, and all that stuff! It was a pretty cool place. You learn a lot about being an admin when you have to mod ghosts.” Grian grinned. “Hah! Those were pretty terrifying.” 

Xisuma was even more dumbstruck, but didn’t show it. Ghosts? No wonder Grian had known how to fix his problem- he was somehow experienced in some of the most complicated areas of administrating?

Grian leaned over to look at a different panel as Xisuma’s mouth moved silently, trying to think of something to say. The smaller man lightly tapped a thread of commands and looked up at X. 

“What’re you trying to do with these? This looks like a ban bypass. Did you accidentally ban someone?” His eyes grew wide. “If you did we need to fix it right now! Which hermit was it?”

Xisuma collected himself and sat down by Grian. “No, it’s- it wasn’t unintentional.” He stared at the wall. “I banned him on purpose.”

Grian was halfway to asking X who it was when he saw the look on his face. Xisuma looked stoic and almost sad, gazing off into the distance. Grian turned back to the panels, and read the commands on them thoroughly. The former admin recognized most of the threads, but some of them, covered in error messages, weren’t commands he knew that worked. After a minute, he realized what Xisuma was trying to do. The actions entered seemed to be working towards an uncoded goal- the objective being to see someone in another dimension. Specifically, the void under the end islands. X wanted to see someone who had been banned and sent into the void.

Grian may not have known why, but he did know how to help. He began typing in another string of commands, the sound of which brought X back to reality. He leaned over Grian’s shoulder as Grian continued to type, talking as he went. 

“The problem you had needed a bit of a workaround. I think the issue was in the way you went about it. See, to see the person, you can’t just open a window into where they are, you need to bring them here. Or at least a part of them, or- here, I’ll just show you.” He stopped typing and turned to Xisuma as the screen flashed the message [Enter administrative ID to give permissions.] “You’ve gotta enter me into your system so it lets me do this. Username should be Xelqua.” 

X, distracted, looked at Grian after a minute. “Xelqua?”

“Old username. It’s what they called me when I got my administrative license.” 

“Ah.” X reached for the panels. /permit user [Xelqua] }access_all

Grian finished up the last of the commands and held his finger over the enter key. “Ready to see whoever this is?”

Xisuma took a deep breath and didn’t respond. 

Grian took that as a yes, and clicked the final button, looking anticipatorily at the spot where he had entered the coordinates for arrival. 

Nothing happened for a moment. Then, the lantern dimmed of its own accord, and a fuzzy shape that looked a lot like Xisuma began to materialise in the center of the room. As the image became clearer, the person it showed did so too. Their face was just as shocked as Grian’s. 

Xisuma’s face, however, was misty. He looked quietly at the projection now standing in his base.

“Hi, Ex.” 

[sathlinganentrepreneur]

Mind Manifestation in Business: 4 Steps by Sath Lingan

Introduction

Most people dream of having a business of their own and running it, however, actually doing this is a separate story. According to Sath Lingan there are tons of practices and approaches that can help you with mind manifestation in business that he has pointed out in several publications, speeches, and interactions. However, compiling them into a single piece is difficult. 

Here we have tried our best to explain a few of the steps to mind manifestation in business by Sath Lingan. 

Sath Lingan on Mind Manifestation in Business

Sath has always had a huge interest in business; he has done everything from consultation, to dealing in exotic cars, to helping people with their business ventures. He has seen the business world up close, which is why he believes that mindset is half the work when it comes to running a business.

He firmly believes that positivity and mindset are the two things that form a working business. This impacts everything from the work environment to the overall business operations.

Therefore, let us take a look at some of the best tips that Sath suggests can help businesses incorporate mind manifestation and the law of attraction in business.

Mind Manifestation and Law of Attraction in Business: Step by Step Guide

Following are some basic steps that Sath believes you should follow for better business performance.

Question the Universe (Set a Business Goal)

Listing your goals, for example: what you want, how much you want it, and how you plan to achieve it, can have a huge impact subconsciously. It triggers the innermost sections of the brain and promotes positive energies in the body.

Your business or your idea will not have a direction without a certain goal. Not having a plan would be like going grocery shopping without a definite list in your hand. So, start by setting goals, setting a date for its accomplishment, and start working on it.

      2.Believe in Yourself (Overcome Obstacles)

Setting up a business is no easy task, as there will be several obstacles in the way. However, Sath Lingan believes that a firm belief in what you want to achieve is the key to overcoming these obstacles. You need to begin by believing with all your heart that you deserve to achieve your dreams. 

It will become easier for you to become successful in almost any business venture, once you truly start believing your dreams are worth achieving, and you can make these dreams true. 

You can start by assessing the cumulative impact your business has on the industry and that you own this amazing project and idea.

       3. Success Comes with Steps

A goal is like a map to the success you want in life. Sath believes that you need to take action daily to make your dreams come true. You cannot expect things to work out in your favor automatically. Therefore, taking action with a positive mind is the best way to stay determined towards your goals until you achieve them.

Although the law of attraction matters in manifestation, it will not do much if you do not take necessary action for it. See yourself as the head of your perfect life and creating that life should be your number one priority. 

For instance, if bloggers have a dream of earning $10,000 with a blog, they need to produce daily content. It will take some time, but with enough time, the blogger can achieve the $10,000 milestone. So, start taking daily baby steps towards your long-term goals.

      4.Practice Gratitude for Abundance

Good things surely come to those who wait; however, there is no definite period where you can get success. Therefore, Sath Lingan believes in being thankful for what you achieved and what you have will keep you on track. 

It will help you restore self-worth, realize how far you have come, and motivate you to continue your hustle towards your business goals. You will stop experiencing the feeling of lack once you incorporate this little step in your business plan.

“Our work-oriented mind is incredibly powerful and works a lot like a computer and it’s the harmonious combination of user and computer is what allows us to overcome and achieve” – Sath Lingan

Final Thoughts

Mind manifestation and the law of attraction have a huge part in ensuring business success. Sath Lingan believes that the key to a better business performance includes believing in yourself while taking practical steps for a new approach. Start by believing in yourself, incorporating practical ideas, and setting a business goal. These steps will guide you to your desired business destination before you know it.

[demonfox38]

Completed - Baba is You

I can't believe this is the first game I've perfected on Steam.

Like, I don't like achievement systems in video games, okay? I prefer to set my own goals. Sure, there are some achievements that are interesting, like learning to use a certain mechanic in a cool or efficient manner, visiting hidden rooms, or even running around with nothing but my character's default busted sword just to prove a point. Mostly, I just want to finish them. I don't go jumping through flaming hoops because I want people to think I'm cool. I'm from Iowa. I'm critically uncool by design.

If a game is good, I will put in the extra work. Like, getting 100% souls in "Castlevania: Aria of Souls" and 200.6% map completion in "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" is now just routine for me. With "Baba is You"? Well, circumstances are just a teeny bit different.

"Baba is You" is a puzzle game from independent developer Arvi Teikari. Your primary goal in the game is to create statements out of nouns, verbs, and conditions and use those generated rules to complete levels. It's basically catnip to programmers. These puzzles are packaged in cute, scribbly animations and gentle music. Ultimately, its soft presentation is the figurative sheep's clothing under which the wolf of this game lives, dragging its players through increasingly more complex situations, sitting there, laughing, its whole world wiggling in its adolescent mockery of you and your sluggish brain.

You're not always even Baba. I know. The absolute betrayal.

I originally saw this game being streamed back in 2019. A frustrating feeling overtook me as I watched the player work through the puzzles. I could feel myself solving them before she could, and it was making me itch. I didn't want to have any more spoiled without giving it a shot myself, so I purchased the game, put in a few hours, and then dropped it for two years. Hell, the major reason I came back to it was that I was babysitting my mom's very needy poodle, and I was more or less trapped on the couch with her during her entire stay. Had to do something. So, I decided this was it.

"Baba is You" really is the ultimate "Yeah, I'll get back to this" game. You know what I mean? There's always a handful of games that you make a little headway into, and then you think, "Yeah, I'll get back to this" and then drop it. I try not to be this way. Video games are expensive, and I want to get as much value as I can out of them. But man, does this game get overwhelming.

I mean, the TAS for a 100% run is currently around an hour and forty-five minutes. That's for 226 puzzles. That is a lot.

Granted, you don't have to finish every puzzle if you don't want to. The game can let you slide free with your first ending after completing only three subworlds on the main map. You know how many people get to that first ending? Like, we're talking maybe getting through 3 hours of gameplay or so. As of this posting, it's around 7.8% of all players on Steam. In comparison, here are first time ending numbers from other games I own on Steam:

"Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon" – 38% (Cleave the Moon)

"Trine" – 29.6% (Completed!)

"Dust: An Elysian Tale" – 23.9% (…And the Dust Settles)

"Fez" – 14.7% (Kill Screen)

"Psychonauts" – 13.2% (I Thought That Was Unbeatable!)

"Typing of the Dead" – 12.9% (Experimental Fiction)

"Final Fantasy VII" – 9.4% (End of Game)

That's right. From a percentage point of view, more players will put 80 hours into a 20+ year old RPG than 3 hours in this game. So, what's up with that?

At first, I wasn't struggling terribly with the game. I was making a pretty steady clip through it, stopping occasionally to check out the game's wiki. (BTW—view that on a laptop browser, not a mobile one. The background makes it hard to read some of the verbs and conditions.) My first tap-out in 2019 happened around the "Forest of Fall" block, when the game started introducing teleporting puzzles. My second brain-snap happened about 18 hours in the game when I accidentally created the phrase "Level is Key" in the puzzle "Fragile Existence," and then I realized that I could both create this level as Baba and had to create another level as a flag to win the overworld map.

And then there was a submap.

And another.

And another.

Holy crap, my brain was not ready for the mess that was Depths and Meta.

At one point, I stopped myself and reviewed why I was overcome with despair at my own stupidity. A part of it is yes, the game looks very cute, and the language used in the puzzles is very simple. So, when you don't get it, it's like saying you don't get "Sesame Street." And hey, maybe you wouldn't if it was in Mandarin and you only speak English. But, I did want to beat myself up for my sluggish responses and my growing feeling of helplessness. Why couldn't I beat the simple sheep game for babies? Was I really that stupid?

I think it helped to know what troubles I had my playthrough harder. This included:

Using text to push objects past barriers. (Yes, text exists in the world, and unless it's floating, you can use that text to move objects around. It's like hitting a car with a stop sign.)

Assuming attributes on an object that weren't actually assigned (i.e., assuming a door was locked or a wall would prevent me from moving through it, even if that wasn't the case.)

Manipulating text to double-layer nouns or break up commands by wedging an inactive/non-solid object in them. (See: Prison.)

Realizing that "you" doesn't always have to go to a certain destination. Sometimes, "you" just need to have something move over there or push something into where you want to go.

Remembering to use the "Wait" button to let moving objects finish their paths.

"Defeat" is a condition that applies only to "you", not objects in your possession. (They may instead be destroyed by "Sink").

Some rules need to be created and destroyed in the same turn.

Things that move on their own can be used to carry commands through obstacles.

Sometimes, you've just got to count your steps when you're taking an action and see if you can reduce them.

And granted, despite my stupidity, there were some puzzles that really clicked! I particularly enjoyed using the "Word" condition, as it allowed for me to treat both words and objects as a noun to make assignments. There were also times where I had to spell out the commands I wanted from letters left on the map. Fun! Natural! And hell, who doesn't enjoy a good block pushing puzzle, now and again? Super easy. Makes sense. Key is push, door is open. Of course!

Ass is Hot! Of course! (Wait, that wasn’t the solution...)

I tended to lock up more when the "Defeat" piece was on screen. I mean, you can always undo your mistakes, and there's no life limit or anything like that. But, hearing your player character go splat when you mess up is flinch-worthy. Additionally, I hated having to build complex paths for objects to follow. Like, screw the entirety of Adventurers. Also, learning what the "Lonely" condition meant felt very unnatural. It was hard to even tell why I was splatting until I read up on what it meant.

Interestingly, changing the language of the game only affects the menu's language, not the game itself. (I was wondering if adding a layer of comprehension to objects would stop me from auto-assigning properties to them or not. Makes sense that it's all in English, considering the "form objects from letters" puzzles.)

I felt bad when I finally gave up on putting effort into solving the puzzles on my own. I did. But, I was also 18 hours deep into my file in a single week, and I wanted to get back to my other hobbies. I felt that if I gave up on "Baba is You" again, I wouldn't finish it ever. And then, those 18 hours truly would be wasted. Also, I felt sick that only 7.8% of people had gotten to the first ending screen. The game isn't bad! It's hard, but not bad! I wanted to at least give it enough dignity to finish it off, even if I was more or less reading what I needed to build with one eyeball and building it with the other.

And hell. Given all of the version differences of this game and the amount of time that has passed since its release, it is a teeny bit YouTube proof. Not completely invulnerable, but I did catch a difference or two here and there. And it's not like the wiki's the clearest with what you need to do, even when they're telling you exactly what to do. You've got to mind your space with your words. At the very least, don't push anything aside or wreck it until you absolutely must.

I can't emphasize how much I felt bad about giving up. I mean, it's one thing to look at guides for other game types. You can get knowledge on how to beat a boss or level, but you've physically got to develop the skills needed to vault through that goal. With puzzle games, knowledge is 99% of what you need to accomplish your task. The rest is just putting in the solution as elegantly as possible.

92.2% of players didn't bother to do even that.

I won't pretend to say I know enough about puzzles to make an excellent puzzle game. However, I do think brevity would have helped this game. Like, think of puzzle games people like. "Tetris," right? Even a long game of "Tetris 64" lasts me a couple of hours at most. "Portal"? That's a handful of hours supported by plot and fun dialogue. So is the sequel. "Panel de Pon" / "Tetris Attack" / "Puyo Puyo"? Those are like "Street Fighter" arcade campaigns. Like, 15-20 minutes. To have a puzzle game go on for hours and hours without any character motivation or plot in sight? Yeah. That's going to burn a lot of people out.

Like, this game could have just the over world, a single hidden world, and then the Center portion, and that would have been more than enough. And then you know what could have been done with the rest of the puzzles? Put them in a new game! "Baba is More!" Bam! A second game, now with extra "Inception"-styled mind screws! Twice the money earned! (Yeah, okay. This plan might stink of capitalism.)

Making 226 puzzles is impressive. However, brevity is the soul of wit. Sometimes, design can be contradictory like that.

But, its achievements? Perfectly laid out. Truly finishing the game is likely to net you everything. I only had to put in a couple of hours after the true ending, and really, only fifteen minutes of that was solving the puzzles. The rest was just finding what I had missed. (I've heard rumors that "Baba is Baba" is bugged, but I think you just need to look up how to get the Level is Win solution in Meta figured out. The rest is elbow grease.)

I don't know if I can recommend this game. Again, having a case of the bad feels over that statement, especially since it seems like the developer has his heart in the right place. I'm hesitant to recommend this because when I was playing it, I had a migraine that lasted three days straight. Granted, there were possibly some external factors to why I had that. A fat polar vortex. Stress from work. Some hormonal influences. Not enough caffeine or water. Just generally living in the United States in the early 2020s. Plenty of things to crush my skull. I don't think it's in good taste to recommend something that will cause others physical pain. I mean, I'm used to games cracking my hands, but that's not exactly healthy behavior. I certainly wouldn't want to give someone an epileptic attack. Why would I want to drive a nail through their skulls, either?

I do think the game is solidly designed. It's a smart little cookie. But, it is unintentionally discouraging to get through, especially if you feel like you can't ask for help. Like getting a clue or an explanation is cheating.

Look. Try. Try hard. Be as honest and earnest as you can be. Just don't expect to do everything in your life alone, okay? I mean, there are times you've got to get an external perspective. I frequently had to crash after school with mathematics teachers and badger professors to explain topics outside of class. You think I was going to come up with how there are different kinds of infinities on my own? Hell no. I'm not creative in terms of mathematical proofs. But, I sure as hell can explain how different infinities work now! Even post-schooling, I still research topics, particularly when building or fixing things. I wouldn't have learned half of the things I've learned about maintaining game cartridges or building dollhouses without suggestions from professionals and enthusiasts. It's just part of life. You ask for help so you don't burn resources—especially something as valuable as time!

[nidafatima]

Inspiring Books for Female Entrepreneurs You Need to Know in 2021

In the last century, women have made an immense effort to be present on the map of success when it comes to entrepreneurship. They have a big influence, but they can do a lot more. Women have a higher success rate in the business, but they take less risk.

Women-owned and led businesses are a better bet for investors, but a lack of venture capitalists indicates that they still struggle to raise the funds they need, according to statistics on female entrepreneurs.

Famous people also believe that the way we view entrepreneurs needs to improve. They say we shouldn't think of CEOs as men or women, but rather as individuals who are good or bad at what they do.

When the world understands this concept, the world of entrepreneurship will become a better place for both men and women.

That's why I enjoy reading motivational business books written by women who have created successful companies and aren't afraid to admit their mistakes. You will learn a lot from other people's experiences and even be inspired by their accomplishments.

To help and motivate females I am sharing some inspiring books for the female entrepreneurs that every female needs to read and these books are sure to relight that fire.

DEAR FEMALE FOUNDER-LU LI

Dear Female Founder is a series of 66 letters from women entrepreneurs who have produced $1 billion in revenue, detailing their entire entrepreneurial journey, including emotional highs and lows, but most importantly, a true and inspiring tale.

The dear female founder is a one-of-a-kind collection of words of motivation, wisdom, and practical advice from successful female entrepreneurs. If you're a young female entrepreneur or an intrapreneur working for a larger corporation, the insightful advice will help you succeed and inspire you. If you're thinking about starting a business or want to inspire the next generation, I strongly suggest you read this book.

 HOW TO BE AN OVERNIGHT SUCCESS – MARIA HATZISTEFANIS

Rodial's cult snake serum was quickly labeled an "overnight success" by the press when it was first released. Rodial's creator Maria Hatzistefanis, on the other hand, had been toiling away in her bedroom for 18 years, creating the business from scratch. Now, in this very open novel, the beauty boss sets out to show how its success was built on sheer hard work, tireless efforts, and a lot of patience.

Fashionistas Maria set out with the goal of starting a beauty company, despite failing to succeed in school and being fired from her first job. She achieved her goals by dreaming big, working hard, surrounding herself with the brightest, taking chances, generating buzz, and building a following.

She accomplished this by dreaming big, working hard, surrounding herself with the brightest, taking chances, generating hype, and developing her own personal brand, which is now favored by high-profile models and media personalities such as Poppy Delevingne, Daisy Lowe, and Kylie Jenner. Maria shares some of her most valuable lessons in this book and emphasizes the importance of patience.

 GIRL ON FIRE – CARA LEYBA

Girl on Fire, by the best-selling author of Girl Code, teaches you how to start living the life you want without asking anyone else's permission. You'll be motivated to overcome any obstacles in your industry if you support women who create their own opportunities.

This book is for any woman who has had a vision that others might not be able to comprehend. It's for any woman who's had enough of following the rules. It's for every woman who has always felt she was meant for more but has waited far too long for the approval she thought she deserved.

This is one of mine favourite quote from the book “Successful entrepreneurs don't wait for their "big break" —they create it. They don't wait to be featured in a magazine, or picked up by a publisher, or given a chance to speak on a stage. They promote themselves on platforms they create, they self-publish their own books, they launch their own podcasts, they create their own events, and build their own stages.”

IN THE COMPANY OF WOMEN – GRACE BONNEY

Women are adopting the entrepreneurial spirit and launching innovative companies all over the world. Over 100 of these powerful and talented women from all ages, races, cultures, and professions are profiled in In the Company of Women. These interviews detail the keys to success (for example, going with your gut; maintaining meaningful and long-term relationships), highlight the importance of daily rituals (meditating; creating a daily to-do list), and provide advice for the next generation of female entrepreneurs and makers (stay true to what you believe in; have patience).

WOMEN WHO LAUNCH: THE WOMEN WHO SHATTERED GLASS CEILINGS – MARLENE WAGMAN-GELLER

Women Who Launch is a history of women in business and one of the most inspirational books for female entrepreneurs. You'll be inspired by the true stories of women who have experienced enduring success, such as Estee Lauder and Julia Ward-Howe, who are profiled in this book.

STRONG WOMAN: THE TRUTH ABOUT GETTING TO THE TOP – KARREN BRADY

Karren Brady, one of my biggest inspirations, who has overcome the odds. Karren went on to become Vice-Chairwoman of West Ham United after doctors told her she had a brain aneurysm following a regular examination and that she needed an operation with a 30% risk of not surviving. This is a great one for all you mumpreneurs who are juggling a family and a company.

SHE SPEAKS: THE POWER OF WOMEN’S VOICES – YVETTE COOPER

This is the book to read if you're looking for ideas for public speaking. You can't help but feel inspired when you see incredible speeches given by women throughout history. She Speaks features speeches by everyone from Boudica to Greta Thunberg, so there's bound to be one that speaks to you.

 THE FEMALE LEAD: WOMEN WHO SHAPE OUR WORLD – EDWINA DUNN AND BRIGITTE LACOMBE

The Female Lead is the story of 60 inspiring women from all walks of life who will inspire you to take control of your business. You'll be able to see what women who are unapologetically ambitious can do by looking at profiles of everyone from firefighters to movie stars.

IN MY SHOES – TAMARA MELLON

Tamara Mellon, co-founder of the famous Jimmy Choo, discusses how she became one of Britain's most influential self-made businesswomen. Fashionistas and entrepreneurs will love this book. In My Shoes is a candid look at the highs and lows of establishing a profitable brand.

LEAN IN: WOMEN, WORK AND THE WILL TO LEAD – SHERYL SANDBERG

Sheryl Sandberg, the Facebook COO and one of Fortune magazine's Most Powerful Women in Business, understands what it takes to be a woman with ambition. You'll learn what little improvements you can make to hit the top, based on her own experience working in some of the most profitable companies.

[study-van]

Start your scholarship search by making a list of everything that makes you you: your academic interests, your extracurriculars, your cultural heritage, your hobbies, etc. There are scholarships out there for just about any quality and trait you can imagine, so it helps to make a  list of things you might search for. For example, you'll find scholarships based on your heritage or on your foreign language proficiency. There was even this one scholarship for non-Japanese Japanese speakers, the possibilities are limitless.

Check out your student résumé or portfolio. In this aspect my counselor was really helpful and made a list of things that set me aside.

After making your list/brain map/etc you can ask your high school counselor and/or the financial aid office at your (intended) college(s) for their help in getting your search started. You should also look for scholarships offered directly from your (intended) college(s) or university; your school might even have their own scholarship search page or board.

Your future major and career plans are also a big factor. Do you aspire to be a vet? Are you on the pre-med track? Or is environmental science your thing? Look for related professional and academic organizations to see if they offer any scholarships; they’ll often encourage students who are on specific paths by giving them money to help.

Also it doesn’t hurt to check the scholarships that organizations at YOUR country give. For example, in Turkey, Muhtar Kent Vakfı gives out big scholarships (yes, sometimes even 100%). You have a higher chance of getting those scholarships than the international or university wise ones because the pool for applicants is much more smaller.

There are also plenty of websites that let you check scholarships, albeit small ones (nearly all the universities have a list of them at their website). However, someone from my school completed her 55k$ tuition just by getting small 1k to 10k scholarships so seriously try your luck with them too.

For USA, there is also need-based and merit-based scholarships that each school gives. I honestly have no idea what sets you apart from all the other accepted students to get the merit scholarship but I did receive it from three of the universities I got accepted from so you never know! (To see what I did in high school you can check the ask here)

For need-based scholarship, there are seriously so many paperwork to do so get started on it as soon as possible. My friends started on the paperwork the summer before our senior year and was done by October and at least had that off of his work to complete.

On the topic of paperwork, regardless of the scholarship start on it as early as you can. Even before you apply, it will seriously help you relax just a bit.

So now onto some hot essay tips because most of them demand an essay from you. (The essay is most of the times what stands between you and the scholarship)I will link an answer by @mr-entj​ right here because they summed it up really well and I think there is no further thing to say!! Most of the time you can write any kind of essay if you can answer those two questions in the answer.

Lastly, some scholarships from your country will conduct an interview. Don’t be nervous about it but still take it seriously. Their main goal is to see that their money is not going to waste on a kid that doesn’t have any aspirations or will just spend their time partying and all.

During the interview, be firm about your goals and what you plan to accomplish. Again referring to @mr-entj​‘s answer they will want you to answer the two main questions: Why do you deserve the scholarship? Why do you need this scholarship? Make sure beforehand that you have a clear answer on both. If you can try to practice your answers with a friend for these two. Other than that they might throw in some questions that have no relation at all with the scholarship. (My interviewer asked about my coffee preferences) This is just to see that you’re also a person and not just this academic monster. You’ve to be human, this also goes well with the point of being yourself, if you want that scholarship don’t try to make yourself look perfect (don’t do that seriously).

Also be respectful to your interviewer, their impression of you may save you a little bit even if you fail to give a concise answer to some of their questions.

Just one last caution, as I’ve mentioned in the post, if you’re an international student, your chances for most scholarships are lower than local students so instead of solely relaying on them prioritize scholarships from your country.

Most universities/colleges will claim they’re need-based but they find loopholes so have a backup plan (independent scholarships) if you can’t get their need-based scholarship.

I guess this is a pretty neat summary as usual if you guys have further questions my asks/dms are always open!!

[heyletsbeorganised]

Organisation and Planning

Have a planner or some area where you can write your plans for the day so you can easily see when you have a class or event.

Update your planner/ calendar every day

Have weekly to do lists. I taped mine in each week of my planner so i can see all tasks and events in the one glance.

Clean your desk or work space every night or after a session, this way it’s so much easier to get started the next day.

Have a post it note near you to jot down important things you remember for you to do later that way you don’t get sidetracked. 

Get out any power cords, pens, food etc. that you need for a study sesh before you start.

Stick on your wall a list of upcoming assignments or class work due dates and tick of as you do them, or post it note them and remove when done.

Break down tasks on lists so it seems more achievable. 

Always make a plan before starting an assignment, maybe a mind map of what needs to be done and where you’ll get what info. I love doing this for essays.

Make sure you know what things you need to do before each class whether its reading or printing slides, come prepared.

Keep all notes for a subject together whether in a folder or digitally, this will help in exam season and don’t leave papers in your bag to be forgotten about.

Empty your bag everyday and put handouts or information in its appropriate place.

Studying

Pomodoro! Most people i know do the 30 mins study 5 min break but this has always been too short of time for me to accomplish something with too little of a break so i tend to do 45 or 60 minutes with a 10 minute break which is pretty much the same time it just works better for me.

ASMR! i know this sounds cringe or cliche but asmr can be super relaxing and provides that white noise that we like without listening to music which may prove distracting. I suggest the Harry potter common room ones they are beautiful.

Attitude. This is so important because if you go into studying pessimistically you will end up annoyed, go in with the mindset of getting a lot done and reaching your goals.

A pretty work space is a used work space, well at least for me. When my walls are covered with artwork and my desk is neat i feel most motivated, cleaning your desk is a small task that might inspire you to get working. 

Candles, see above. 

Watch YouTube videos on the subject you're studying, for visual and auditory learners this is especially helpful. 

Make summaries after your notes, mainly focusing on explicit points in the syllabus.

Make sure your summaries are done as you complete the course work so you are prepared for exam season.

A few weeks before exams make a list of all you want to get done before then and start working!

If you have your textbook on your device get a program that will read the text to you, save your eyes and this is normally a quicker way to digest material.

Find the study space that works for you, e.g. home, the library etc. 

As much as i love it, coffee makes you peak and come down so if you can water and good snacks can be better for sustained energy.

DO PRACTICE QUESTIONS! For some reason i thought it was okay to think about a practice question and then just look at the answer? No, this did not work, you need to actually see what you know and write a response. 

When possible work under exam conditions, it's going to be stressful to be put under those circumstances but you need to actually get used to working that way.

Set a time and write down all you know about a small topic on a page, what you miss is what you need to go over.

Most textbooks are a base resource that can help you if you don’t understand a concept but there shouldn't be too many notes to gather that you shouldn't have already gotten in class, this is obviously different for each class but for me this has been the case. Don't waste good revision time relearning what you know.

Highlighting allows us to tune out of the actual reading so avoid when possible and take notes as you go if you need to as this makes you focus more.

Flashcards are fun to make and they are proven to work, just make sure if you make question cards you don’t cheat when using them and look at the answers. 

Making your notes is pretty but time consuming, don’t feel pressured to have that aesthetic all the time, the work is more important.

Find online quizzes on the topics you are studying. Many people have done your course before and already put in the hard yards, take advantage of this.

As above there are many resources for topics online, find these before you start a new section to be extra prepared. 

Rereading notes before bed makes sure it stays in your head as your brain will be processing it overnight or some science but it does work.

When studying put your phone in another room to relieve the urge to check it all the time.

Stationery 

Have a good trusty pen. Mine is the uniball signo. We have a friendship, it’s good.

I've learned recently you don’t need 100 coloured pens and the entire fine-liner collection because i only like a few colours and often don’t have enough time to use a brush pen, markers, highlighters and pens all in the one page of notes.

Don’t feel pressured to have pretty equipment, functional equipment is 100 times more important

Small dot or grid notebooks to do summaries in or mind maps really has helped me feel motivated because they do look really pretty and gets me focused in exam times.

There is a movement towards digitising notes but i think it is still good to have a binder for handouts and articles etc.

Only take to college/school/university the essentials and save your back.

Keep a few bad ballpoints in your bag to save giving friends your nice pens and never getting them back.

Don’t buy stationery that doesn't work, yes the New York post its i got were beautiful, did they stick at all, no. This clutters your work space and steals your money.

Personal Care

Don’t feel guilty for taking breaks, realistically know your limits and think of it as refuelling.

Try to eat healthy not for weight or looking good but because your body will hate you when you are always giving it takeaway and then asking it to do 14 hour study sessions.

When struggling to focus of a morning, get up and have a shower. This will wake you up and get you feeling motivated.

Have a support person. Mine is my boyfriend and is the person i can just let out all the stress onto, have a cry and then get back to work. You just need to let it out sometimes.

A more relaxed study method is to group up with friends and test each other, create little games etc.

Make sure you still socialise and go to events during crazy stressful periods because you need an outlet and a break.

write out your goals for a term, semester, class or year and refer back to them when you get your results, this will make sure you are judging yourself by your own standards and not compared to anyone else’s.

Reach out for help or advice, whether that’s to friends or people on tumblr or your professors, if you are struggling its ok to get a hand.