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sepublic · 4 years ago

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The Unspoken Story with Representation & Diversity

Y’all ever have this feeling, where you see a character… And their experiences just immediately resonate with you, and you just feel and KNOW exactly what they’ve been through, without them necessarily having to say or present it aloud within the text? Like you can tell this character borrows exactly from this specific experience, and so while others unfamiliar with it may not get the idea, or need clarification�� For the kind of audience that really gets and understands how it goes without saying, it’s an almost clever, implicit show-not-tell way of conveying to those who get it, exactly what’s going on? AKA subtext?

An example would be this one time in Fullmetal Alchemist, where we have characters Jerso and Zampano, who’ve been experimented on and given the ability to transform into monstrous chimeras, and then back. Despite being able to function as both regular human AND chimera however, Jerso and Zampano differ from their teammates Darius and Heinkel in that they’re not big fans of their new bodies… They actively hate them and feel uncomfortable with them, and want to go back to being regular humans. And to me, I never got this at the time as I was a young and inexperienced kid- I made up in my head that maybe Jerso and Zampano’s alterations caused them chronic pains, or something like that. Otherwise, I had to wonder if it was just insufficient writing…?

But then I met someone, a trans woman and a fellow Fullmetal Alchemist fan. And she explained how she immediately understood Jerso and Zampano’s experiences, and how it connected to her own dysphoria. There wasn’t anything wrong with the body she used to have, it just… wasn’t her, and that’s why she felt so much more liberated when she recognized her true identity! And when I heard this from her, it just… clicked. It suddenly made SO much sense, and I never again questioned Jerso and Zampano’s dilemma, never tried to justify it in my head by providing headcanons of downsides to their chimera forms.

I was reassured that this kind of experience and feelings were real and valid, that the story didn’t have to justify them to me because they already tangibly existed in real life- This WAS something that happens, in a sense. I didn’t have to worry about confirming it for myself when I knew that others got the idea, since just because I didn’t understand, that doesn’t mean it’s not there. I didn’t personally relate, but I knew it existed, and thus I could feel sympathy and believe in this by trusting the experiences of others... My experiences are not universal, and this of course has an effect on how I engage with media, ensuring my knowledge and analysis is always limited.

I’ve heard real-life anecdotes about how dysphoria can make someone feel like a monster, and while this hasn’t been outright confirmed within Fullmetal Alchemist itself… There’s always the potential of subtext. Unintentional, or otherwise- Given the series’ recurring themes of finding a body you’re actually comfortable with, or coming to terms with it, as part of the whole disability experience with characters such as our titular protagonist.

It’s a sort of implication to a specific experience, a metaphor for it, that allows those who get it to instantly fill in the gaps. To get into a philosophical tangent, it reminds me of how stories are really defined, a lot, not just by the author; But how an audience engages with them, how stories are defined in different ways by different people. Now, obviously there are examples where some parts of the text are outright indisputable and not up for debate, such as Star Wars being Anti-Fascist for example. But my point is, writing a story can involve a lot of thought as to the type of audience you’re writing for… Especially when it comes to representation.

When it comes to representation, when someone is writing for a marginalized group, the writer doesn’t need to lay down much within the text; Because they KNOW that the people they write it for will get it. Others not of that group and not familiar with its struggles can still generally get by, but for those who really engage with the material, or share that same experience that is being alluded towards… There’s an added depth, a bonus facet to the story that only adds to and enriches the experience, even more than it already is.

And, sometimes it can be a little frustrating, to trying to convey this to someone who doesn’t quite get it, and you start to wonder if maybe you’re just projecting a bit. Maybe this is all in your head, it’s not really there, or that wasn’t necessarily the author’s intention at least. You know there’s something that’s supported by how this characters shares this experience; It’s not stated within the text, but you can tell it’s there, because that’s such an integral part of the experience you’re used to, and the character is clearly a part of that as well. And when you apply this consideration, it just suddenly puts everything into a new light, adds that additional depth as I mentioned earlier…

And you really can’t ignore it, because you feel it just adds so much enriching layers to the media, that maybe you’re doing it a disservice to not openly acknowledge and defend this take as if it were real. You feel you have to defend this interpretation of yours, because you feel that this character really, clearly is meant to connect to that experience that resonates with you and others; And it can be a little frustrating if others just don’t get it, even if you can’t necessarily blame them for not doing so. It’s because you know the text is talking about people like you, so it feels like you really are more of an expert on this matter, that you’ve got a lot to add that needs to be taken into consideration, if the author is setting up your group to have an inherent advantage in understanding what’s going on.

When asked to explain yourself, you feel a little embarrassed because maybe you’re relying too much on your own experience and not the actual text… And it feels almost silly to cite yourself as the main, if not the only necessary, point of evidence. You start to question and doubt if what you and others have gone through, is worth considering. What you’re saying sounds stupid at face-value because it lacks context, and a lot of things without context sound flimsy… Aloud, from a ‘rational’ standpoint I suppose, it sounds foolish to rely on such personal emotions, because surely the author doesn’t know you specifically and wasn’t drawing from what you went through.

Maybe you’re unloading a bunch of stuff that isn’t necessarily relevant to the subject, maybe you’re asking too much for people to connect your experiences to what’s in the text, and thus you’re really stretching things… And handing out waytoo much information as well. It can feel like you’re boiling down your reasoning to, “Because I said so,” and that doesn’t sound right nor fair to the person you’re conveying your take towards, insisting they take you at face-value without being given their owed explanation, because anyone should be questioning and critical of what they’re given.

Perhaps you just need to ‘detach’ yourself from things, look at it objectively… But what is objective, what is the default perspective? I don’t think there actually is one. So when you have to approach the text as JUST the text, you remember that that text is being written by someone, and that someone has a lot of things in their head that influences them, but not everything can be explicitly written down. A lot of the inspirations and experiences that this creator draws from aren’t shared amongst everyone who engages with their story.

And if you feel this creator is resonating with that specific experience of yours, you become a lot more confident that this is where they were drawing from, and thus this is being alluded towards between the lines; Because it just makes so much more sense this way! You might be wrong- But what if you’re right? You don’t want to discourage people from finding stuff that could be out there, anything is better than nothing, creation and discovery should be enabled, even on the off-chance that there’s nothing there, because at least not you know for sure there isn’t anything, and thus your curiosity has been sated to an extent.

Even if the creator hadn’t intended it to be this way, the experiences of others can reassure them that there’s nothing more that needs to be said, because they alone can fill in the gaps… And it kind of ties into how a lot of media intentionally leaves stuff open for interpretation, or at least allows certain takes. It’s kind of like how a lot of fans resonated with Jenny from My Life as a Teenage Robot, as her struggles feel so topical to that of a trans person; And while the creator confessed to never intending this, they could recognize the similarities between what they’d written and what trans people go through, so maybe there IS a connection there to consider!

TL;DR Diversity and Representation IS in fact important, and a vital part of not only engaging with media, but just with the experiences of others in general. It can reveal meaning that isn’t immediately obvious to others, and/or create it by recognizing the fundamental similarities within the text to real life experiences, and how that piece of media’s themes both contribute towards and are supported by what a person or group has witnessed. Your experiences DO matter, even if they’re a minority; Perhaps especially because of this, as it gives you a new and rare angle that is not often known, and this piece of media’s connection to that experience can be used as a medium to convey it to others who don’t resonate the same way.

It is through media that people can learn about the experiences of others even if they’ve never went through such things personally… An experience so intimately conveyed that you may as well be there, you can imagine yourself there, and so you don’t exactly have to have gone through it in real life to now understand- Especially since making someone go through that experience in real life has both logistical and ethical concerns. It encourages empathy, where you may not necessarily know what this person is going through; But you’re willing to open your mind, consider, listen, and change and/or add to your current knowledge and understanding.

It’s also important to remember that even people within the same group have different ways of engaging with that specific experience, and that these diverse takes are all valid and worth considering; So if a person from that same group as you differs, perhaps consider listening? Of course, if someone believes there’s depth and the other insists there isn’t, perhaps hearing out the former option provides more room for discussion and thought, that while not canon, can pay off and inspire in other ways regardless, and thus be meaningful and worthwhile in the end.

#ramblings #representation #diversity

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luninosity · 5 years ago

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For @thebestpersonherelovesbucky: here’s the full text of the fake film review I wrote yesterday, for Steadfast...

Steadfast Combines History and Heart Into Triumph

Jillian Poe’s latest directorial effort, Steadfast is at once familiar and unfamiliar: a Regency romance set against the Napoleonic War, full of ballroom scenes and lavish costumes, crackling with politics and passion. It’s (extremely) loosely based on the 1940s novel of the same name, which in turn was based on the historical Will Crawford’s surviving letters and notes, and the romance is real in more than one way—assuming you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve seen the stories about on-set melodrama: Colby Kent and Jason Mirelli hooking up, being injured, falling in love, and from all reports being blissfully happy.

Leaving the behind-the-scenes drama aside, the question is: is it a good film?

The answer is unequivocally yes.

It’s more than good. It’s a brave film, in the best ways: not only in telling a historical gay love story—and it is very, very gay; Jillian Poe and her cast don’t shy away from sex scenes—but in the raw emotion and power of the storytelling and the relationship. It’s the kind of film that gets remembered as a landmark: what good filmmaking can do. And it’s worth seeing, not only for the attention to period detail or the reminder that gay people (and black people, Indian people, and others; we see an impressively diverse London, especially among Will’s Home Office fellow recruits) have always existed in history, but for the sheer emotional experience. Steadfast is a romance, unashamedly so, and it wants you to fall in love, and you will.

The casting and the script are spot-on, to start.

Jillian Poe has her favorite stable of actors, so some familiar faces won’t be a surprise. Colby Kent, also a producer, and given co-writing credit with Ben Rogers, stars as Will Crawford—Rogers and Jillian Poe have independently confirmed that Colby did on-set rewrites, which means most of what we see is likely his. We’ve discussed Colby and the industry and uncredited script work at length back when that news broke, so here I’ll just say that Colby is a better writer than any of us realized—good at knowing and utilizing the source material, but also paring down, choosing the exact right word for each moment, giving his fellow actors dialogue that sounds effortlessly natural. Odds on a Best Adapted Screenplay award or two? Pretty high, I’d say.

Speaking of Colby Kent, he’s always been quietly excellent on screen, often underrated (that Academy Award loss to Owen Heath should’ve gone the other way, no offense to Owen, who is also generally excellent), and equally capable of adorable clumsiness or aristocratic decadence. You could argue that playing young and wealthy and vulnerable and gay is exactly in his wheelhouse and hardly a stretch, and you might be right—but you would also be wrong.

It’s an award-winning performance. It’s a master class in complex character acting. It’s compelling and dramatic and the core of the film, at least half of it, more on which later.

Will Crawford—in ill health, a natural scientist, the Regency equivalent of a rich kid and only heir to a vast estate—might have come across as weak, or naïve and fragile, or in need of rescue. And Colby Kent’s good at fragile and lovely and desperate. But Will’s also a literal genius, determined to be useful, and willing to do anything—including spycraft and affecting the tide of battle and the fate of nations—to protect the man he loves. Colby Kent never lets us forget that, and the character and the story become richer for it. He’s almost at his best in moments without dialogue—I say almost because Colby, as ever, has flawless timing when delivering lines, both the heartbreaking and the wryly sarcastic. But his eyes and expressions say so much that every close-up could be a page’s worth of emotion-filled speeches, except not, because they’re not necessary. He’ll definitely get the Academy Award nomination; if there’s any justice, he’ll also win. Though, having said that, my personal vote might go to the biggest surprise of the film, just because I was so impressed and delighted. But we’ll get to that in a minute.

The supporting cast is also superb—Leo Whyte, as Jason’s second-in-command, embodies complicated and compassionate loyalty, someone who’d follow his captain into battle and also sympathize with his captain’s difficult love, given his own socially fraught marriage to a poor Irish girl (Kate Fisher, having a marvelous time and some of the funniest lines). John Leigh gives his performance as a conflicted would-be mutineer some delicate nuance—he still admires his captain and ultimately makes a painful personal choice. Jim Whitwell epitomizes workmanlike British gentlemanly acting—though we get a hint of the dirtiness of his profession, and of his sympathy for Stephen and Will, which adds layers to his performance. And young Timothy Hayes is worth watching as Stephen’s favorite optimistic midshipman, with deft comedic timing in the midst of storms and the stalking of a French ship.

The crown jewel of the supporting cast, of course—and the shoo-in for Best Supporting Actor—is Sir Laurence Taylor, notoriously picky about taking on new projects at this point, but here fully committed to his role as Will’s father, the aging Earl of Stonebrook.

It’s easy to say that Sir Laurence is a legend, but sometimes we forget what that means. In this role, we remember. He delivers words that cut right through his on-screen son, and by extension the audience; but his anguish and grief are equally genuine: he’s a man who loved and lost his wife, who doesn’t understand his only son and heir, who clings to the need to protect the family name and estate and future, while faced with the dual truths that his son prefers men to women and in any case might die young—of illness, if not from daring the world in Regency spycraft. The Earl is awful and vicious and cruel to Will—but watching Sir Laurence stand at his son’s bedside, or come to the window and silently watch his son depart for London…those moments will make you hurt for him despite yourself, and it’s a virtuoso piece of acting.

Speaking of brilliant pieces of acting, let’s talk about that biggest (and I don’t mean just the physique, though that can’t be missed) surprise of the film: Jason Mirelli.

First, a confession: I, like quite a few people, felt some skepticism about this casting choice. That’s not to insult action films as such, and Jason Mirelli’s been a consistently reliable action-hero lead. But it’s a very different genre, and Jason’s previous filmography hasn’t, let’s say, exactly indicated much dramatic range. (Having said that, I’ll admit to unironically loving Saint Nick Steel. Is it ridiculous? Yes. Is it hilarious absurd so-bad-it’s-amazing fun? Also yes. Does it have Jason Mirelli in an artistically torn shirt chasing terrorists through a shopping mall while protecting small children and wearing a hat that makes him the reincarnated spirit of Christmas? Hell yes it does. We watch it every year.)

If you, like me, were on the fence but willing to be convinced…

I’ll say it right now: Jason Mirelli should be on that Academy Award ballot alongside Colby Kent.

He’s the other half of the heart of this film, and the second he steps down from that carriage in the opening shot, he’s commanding the narrative. He’s captured the physicality of a wartime ship’s captain, but more than that, he’s captured the layers of character. Every motion of those shoulders, those eyes, that jawline, all means something—as do the moments when he chooses not to move and be still. Take the moment when he looks at Will in the morning-after scene, which is just a look and a few beats on camera, but Jason’s able to convey Stephen’s love, and wistful frustration over their different social classes, and genuine affection, and fear about Will’s illness, and surprised joy at having someone to wake up next to. It’s a hell of a role—romance, war, leadership on a ship’s deck, the shock when Will falls gravely ill, the emotion of the ending, which I won’t spoil here—and Jason’s a revelation. He’ll have his pick of roles after this, and he’ll deserve the Oscar nod, though it’s unlikely he’ll win—the Academy likes to reward previous nominees and is notoriously skeptical of popcorn-flick pedigrees, and Jason might need to prove himself once or twice more. But he shouldn’t have to. This is enough, and it’s fantastic to watch.

Part of that epic transformation should be credited to Jillian Poe’s direction. With Steadfast, Poe demonstrates her skill as a director and her ability to handle multiple genres—she started out, you might remember, with lighter romantic-comedy fare, often also with Colby Kent—and her ability to get quality performances from her actors, every single one, every single time. I also wouldn’t be surprised at her picking up a directorial award or two; it’s an ambitious project, and also a labor of love, which shines through in each frame.

The costuming and sets are as plush and attentive to detail as you would expect from an Oscar-bait period piece that’s a Jillian Poe production—that reputation for perfection’s deserved. The score is, if not anything out of the ordinary for a Regency setting, handled with delicacy and love—the music plays into the mood of each scene unobtrusively and expertly.

Fans of the novel might have some minor critiques involving the looseness of the adaptation, in particular the ending, which—let me offer a minor spoiler warning, no detail, but stop reading if you want to know nothing at all—adds a final sequence that provides a happy ending for Stephen and Will. Is it book-accurate? No. But I called Steadfast a brave film earlier in this review, and this ending is an act of courage: imagining a happy ending for gay men in history, demanding that their love story end well and with joy. (And Colby Kent personally met with the novel’s famously reclusive author, so for all you purists, this change was made with permission.)

Those stories matter. Steadfast as a film matters. Go see it. Fall in love.

#character bleed #i write fic for my fic #meta #headcanon #extras #thebestpersonherelovesbucky #esaael #turtletotem #nocturymiszczu #ahnjunae-blog #who am i forgetting to tag

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skygirl5 · 6 years ago

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Launch Party Interlude

This story is part of the #CastlePornado - as such is “M” rated!

Thanks to @inkstainedcoffeecup for the prompt that she probably does not remember :)

This takes place during When The Bough Breaks

Strolling through the crowded floor of the unfamiliar book store Kate Beckett felt uncomfortable—very uncomfortable. She had chosen to wear the sexy dress (okay, the extra sexy dress) to make an impression and she didn’t regret it, but it certainly did not add any level of relaxation to her mood that evening. She was used to dealing with the public and in general she didn’t mind that part of her job at all, but there was something about that night that made her feel so…exposed.

The release of Heat Wave certainly did not make Kate feel relaxed in any way. Though the writer insisted the title character was only “inspired” by her, she had read the book draft and saw just how much of herself was on print. True, someone who did not know her intimately (and, to be honest, there weren’t many people like that in the world) would never pick up on as many comparisons as she had but…still, knowing millions of people would read the book… The notion was, at best, slightly unsettling.

Kate had arrived at the launch party that evening with the intent to stroll around in her dress, make the writer’s eyes bulge out a little bit (because that was always fun), and then make an early exit. She still had intentions to make her exit as soon as was appropriate, but she knew she could not leave without speaking to the man of the hour. To that point they had only smiled at each other from across the room and of course she understood how busy he was that evening, but he was proving surprisingly hard to track down.

Biting down on her bottom lip, Kate gazed down at the novel clutched in her hand. A sufficient amount of time had passed to the point where she was almost over the nude silhouette on the cover (almost because she would never be fully over it), but now it was the dedication throwing her for a loop. Dedicating the book to the Twelfth Precinct certainly made sense and, okay, if she really thought about it she would not have been totally shocked by her name appearing—especially if he had listed Ryan and Esposito’s names as well. Maybe even along with Captain Montgomery, but listing her as the main dedicatee? That was…well, she imagined it would take her several days to process fully what that meant. She knew, though, that the kind—and yes, she would admit it, sweet—gesture needed to be met with a thank you before anything else was said between them that evening.

A few minutes later Kate felt as though she had circled the entire party and had yet to see the writer. Thankfully, she spotted Paula not too far away and figured she might be a good source for the writer’s whereabouts. Considering the dark-haired woman already wore quite a scowl, Kate plastered on her sweetest smile as she approached and said, “Excuse me, have you seen Ca—Rick?”

Paula threw up her hands, clearly irritated. “No I have not—and I’ve been searching for ten minutes. This is unbelievable. He said he only needed a few minutes and that was half an hour ago! This is his party.”

Despite the fact that it seemed as though Paula was yelling at her, Kate’s feathers did not ruffle, for she was used to such treatment from victims. Instead, she kept her tone even as she asked, “What did he say he needed a few minutes for? The restroom?”

Paula waved her hand flippantly. “No, no—something about a headache. He said he just needed a few minutes of quiet and went into the greenroom. If he slipped out the back I swear to god I’ll-”

“I’ll just go check on him, okay?” Kate interjected before any threats could be issued. She placed the book she held down on the nearest table and then walked back towards the direction Paula gestured. If the writer said he needed a few minutes of quiet, his headache must have been quite uncomfortable. She sympathized with that and wondered if the reason he had not yet reappeared was because he developed some sort of migraine.

After ducking through an open doorway labeled, “Employees Only”, Kate traversed a narrow back hall until she stopped in front of a door marked with a small black and white plaque displaying the word “Office.” As the door was shut, she rapped her knuckles against it twice in quick succession then called out, “Castle?” as her hand hovered just above the doorknob.

“Beckett? Don’t—Don’t come…in…”

She heard his moan, but as she had already begun to twist the handle when she heard her name, she had too much momentum to halt her progress. With the door now open, she craned her neck around the other side to see the author curled up in a near fetal position on a futon on one side of the office. As he looked as pale and sickly as she’d ever seen him, she gasped with concern. “Oh—oh my gosh, are you okay? What happened to you?”

In response he merely groaned and shook his head while tucking his arms tighter around his torso.

As she had never seen him in such a state, Kate wasn’t sure what to think. Given how miserable he seemed, her guess that he might have acquired a migraine could have been accurate, but the lights in the room were on. She did not have many experiences with migraines thankfully, but she knew sensitivity to light was one of the main symptoms, which led her to think the writer did not have a migraine. If he didn’t, the list of potential ailments was endless, but given how clammy he looked she felt quite concerned for his condition.

Rushing forward, she crouched down beside the futon. “Oh Castle.” She lay a delicate hand on his forehead and found it to be quite sweaty, though not immediately indicative of a fever. “What’s going on? Do you think you have food poisoning?” she guessed as an alternative to the migraine.

“No, no; not that.” He managed, though he still clearly seemed in agony.

Feeling the need to check for herself, Kate began to peel one of his arms away from his body. “Where does it hurt? You might actually—Oh! Jesus!” Kate cursed, dropped his arm, and looked away immediately when she caught sight of the front of his trousers. The contrast of the black fabric of his pants against the denim-like fabric of the futon did not make it difficult at all to see how aggressively tented the pants were. Though there was only one explanation for that image, Kate remained baffled as the level of illness to which he appeared to be suffering seemed genuine.

“No, no,” he moaned and shook his head when she took a half step away from him, sure revulsion was written all over her face. “’s not…it’s…Mother…”

Her eyes widened as a fresh onslaught of horror washed over her. “Your mother did this!?”

“No! Fuck!” He cursed when he twisted his body quickly upright. Taking in a few calming deep breaths, he leaned back against the futon and rushed out, “Mother…gave…Viagra…”

“What?” she retorted dumbly. Why in the hell would Castle’s mother have given him Viagra during his book release party? Of all the things he’d ever told her, that probably made the least sense—and that truly was saying something!

When his next words were, “Pill…but Viagra…” Kate was finally able to connect the dots.

“Shit!” she cursed. “Your mother gave you Viagra thinking it was an aspirin?” When he nodded his head vigorously, she tried to make a sympathetic noise, but it came out as a bit of a laugh. “Oh…Castle.”

“Not funny!” he growled at her.

Fighting to straighten her lips and failing miserably, Kate said, “No, no of course it’s not funny, but… Why does she have aspirin and Viagra together in her purse? Why does she have Viagra in her purse at all?”

He let out a noise somewhere between a moan and a wail. Again, she could not help but crack a smile at how pitiful he sounded—particularly now that she knew he wasn’t actually sick or in danger. “And here I thought you might have had a migraine.”

“I’d rather…have that…” He grunted. Then moaned again. “God…this is awful.”

Taking in a deep breath and keeping her eyes trained on his crumpled expression, Kate said, “Okay, just to be sure—you took a small blue pill?”

“Didn’t look at it; just swallowed. God…I don’t know what hurts worse—my dick or my head.”

That time, Kate did let out an audible chuckle, which earned her a glare from Castle. “Not funny,” he snipped. “It made my headache worse!”

“Okay, um…Well, I guess I’d better go get Paula so-”

“No!” He cried out. “God, no; she’ll never, ever let me hear the end of this.”

Kate quirked an eyebrow at him. “And you think I will?” She responded, as she had absolutely no intentions of doing so. In fact, she intended to bring it up at every possible opportunity.

“I can’t stop you from knowing about this, but we don’t have to tell—ugh!—others.” Clearly still suffering, he slid back down onto the base of the futon so he was laying flat, his pants now tented directly upwards.

“But Castle, that’s why I’m here. She’s looking for you, so you can give a speech about your book.”

“Jesus Christ! I can’t go out like this!”

“Well, obviously. About how long has it been since you took the pill?”

“Uh…” He lifted his head enough to look at his watch and then said. “’bout forty-five—ah shit! I…I have to take my pants off.”

“What?!” Kate squeaked in response, though Castle clearly had absolutely no cares about her comfort level with the situation, because he immediately began unbuckling his belt.

Spinning around so she wouldn’t see him naked, Kate shook her head and cursed herself for even getting involved with trying to find the writer. She should have just texted him a thank you and walked out of the party. Now she was involved in this nonsense—which, really, was probably more trouble than it was worth if she was only gaining the ability to tease him about an accidental erection.

Thinking back to the situation he faced, she voiced he thoughts aloud. “Okay, forty-five minutes. I guess that means you have a few hours until it wears off, right? Have you ever taken Viagra before?”

“No. Why would I have?”

“I dunno…I heard some guys take them recreationally to-to…you know, increase their stamina.”

“I assure you that—ah!” he whimpered so pathetically that Kate actually winced. “I will never, ever take one of these again. Ah, shit—you have no idea how uncomfortable this is. God, Beckett…what if it doesn’t go down in four hours? That’s what those commercials say, right? Four hours?”

“Yeah you’re supposed to call your doctor. Or, I suppose, in your case—go to the ER.”

He moaned again. “God, then I’ll be in Page Six for having a hard-on at my release party.”

“Think of the bright side—it might boost sales,” she added as an attempt a humor, though, clearly, he would not be laughing any time soon.

“Boost sales—right. That’ll make up for total humiliation. Do you even know what’ll happen to me at writer’s poker? I’ll never be able to show my face again. My mystery writer cred will be done—kaput!—all because of my mother. I knew she’d be the end of me one of these days.”

Rolling her eyes, Kate said, “Oh, don’t be so—Oh! Shit!” Without thinking, she’d turned her head to look at him, and instead got a full-frontal view of his erect penis. She’d tried to cover her eyes and turn back around, but from just her quick glance she immediately realized the women who joked about him being the “white whale” weren’t joking one bit.

“Beckett!”

“Sorry! Sorry! It was a reflex to look at you.”

“’s okay… why don’t you just, um, just tell Paula you couldn’t find me and that you think I left with someone. That’ll be the answer that’ll make her the least mad…probably.”

Kate took two steps towards the door and then stopped, considering. She felt bad about lying and making him look bad, particularly when his situation was (mostly) not his fault. What they needed was a quick way to get him looking back to normal. In her mind, the only way to do that was to use the pill for it’s intended purpose. Turning her body slightly but listing her chin so she looked at the landscape painting on the wall hang above the futon, she suggested, “Maybe, um, maybe if you took care of that you’d be able to come out and do your speech.”

“Took care of what?”

“Your penis.”

“What?”

Huffing out a breath, she said, “Masturbate, Castle; have an orgasm. That should get rid of your erection, right?”

“Wha…um…you want me to do that…in here?”

Forgetting to keep looking at the ceiling when she had to have a typical Castle conversation—as in one that raised her blood pressure—she moved her gaze to his face and snipped, “Well we can’t take you out there—we established that!”

“Don’t yell at me, Beckett! I realize I cannot go out there like this, but I…” He hesitated and looked around the office. “This is someone’s place of work…”

“And your naked ass is already on their couch!”

He gazed down at his lap as though he’d just connected those dots in his mind. “Oh. Right.”

“Just…use your mind—I’m sure you can…you know.” She gestured with her hand towards his crotch where his penis could be seen beneath the tails of his shirt and, Jesus!, it looked even bigger from that side-on angle. Clearing her throat, she turned to go again. “I’ll do my best to stall Paula.”

“Okay—ah! God!”

“What?” she asked, a little wary, but unable to stop herself since he sounded rather tragic.

“It…shit! It doesn’t even feel like my dick. What the hell is in those pills?!”

“I…don’t know,” she said a bit dumbly, not sure how else to respond. She took two steps forward and reached out for the door handle, but then stopped, frozen. Her brain told her to go back, find Paula, and then get the hell out of that party before anything else insane happened, but her heart reminded her that this was her partner and her friend, and despite the rough patches they’d had, he had been kind, helpful, fun, and a piece of her life she never expected to want, but now—god help her—she didn’t want him to go.

“This is a terrible idea,” she muttered beneath her breath, but then she flipped the lock on the office door so no one could burst in on them, and spun around to see Castle with his right hand wrapped around his penis with such delicacy, she would have thought it was recently burned.

Without saying a word, she knelt down on the floor and flipped up the tails of his shirt to get them out of the way. With the cloth gone, she discovered a trimmed patch of hair (not at all surprising that he manscaped) and a dick impressive in both length and girth. “This,” she began, reaching out to slowly peel his hand away from himself, “is a professional courtesy.”

“Profes…” His voice drifted off as he gazed at her with the most wide-eyed expression she’d ever seen.

“Yes. Everyone thinks we’re partners, and if Page Six calls you a perv, I’m going to look bad, too. Besides; this isn’t your fault.”

“But Beck—ohh,” he breathed in sharply when her right hand closed around his shaft. Kate, too, let out a small gasp for he was rock hard and practically throbbing beneath her fingers. She began to stroke very delicately until he called out her first name, clearly hesitant.

She pulled her hand away and looked at him. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No, but, um…be careful. Please.” He practically begged.

She merely nodded and encouraged, “Close your eyes; relax.” Clearly, he was already in an agitated state, which, honestly, was probably making his situation worse. His discomfort was obvious and thus she had no intention of aggressively jerking him off, but she was going for efficiency more than prolonged pleasure.

Returning her right hand to his shaft, she gave it a few more gentle strokes before moving her left between his legs to cradle his balls. He moaned almost pleasurably for a moment, but then suddenly opened his eyes and gasped, as though she’d clawed him with her fingernails, though she hadn’t, so she asked, “What? What’s wrong?”

“Sorry, ‘s just…lot of friction. Maybe, um—does that desk have lotion on it?”

Kate got up and looked over the top of the desk, seeing only a bottle of hand sanitizer in addition to the regular pens, paperclips, and file folders. She tried to pull open the one drawer, but it was locked, and the second drawer only had a bunch of papers, plus a bag of trail mix. “No, sorry; I don’t see anything.”

“Okay, well, um—sorry would you mind just spitting on your hand a bit? Works for me sometimes in a pinch,” he added, quirking his lips to the side.

Kate walked back to the futon slowly, considering. There was one obvious solution to the friction problem, and it would certainly rocket-launch their partnership to a new level. Then again, she was already giving him a hand job—what was one more fractional step forward? Well, okay, it was probably more of a leap, but if it would help end this insanity, it seemed a justifiable tradeoff.

“Just relax, Castle,” she told him as she knelt beside the futon once more. Then, after she watched him shut his eyes, she grasped the base of him with her right hand again, only that time she hovered her face over him and used her hand as leverage to guide the tip of him into her mouth. He reacted the moment her tongue grazed his tip.

“Fuck! Beckett!”

Ignoring his curse, Kate swirled her tongue across his tip again before rounding her lips and taking the entire head of his cock into her mouth. He cursed again and she felt his hips thrust off the futon. She pressed her forearm gently down across his hips so she could maintain control as she bobbed her mouth over the first two inches of him several times before she relaxed her mouth and throat and slowly, centimeter by centimeter, took as much of him into her mouth as she could. Castle’s response was unintelligible noises, which made her smile; it was about time she was the one leaving him speechless.

From almost the very start Kate would have been lying if she said she never thought about having sex with her shadow-turned-partner. Mostly, her musings involved him going down on her and using his troublesome mouth for a better purpose. She’d also thought on more than one occasion about how wild and aggressive their inaugural coupling might be—particularly if it was after one of their many disagreements. She imagined him picking her up, pinning her against a wall, and fucking her until they were both senseless.

Kate was not shy to admit she liked to take control in relationships and in bed and considered herself highly skilled in reducing a man into a simpering puddle just by using her mouth on his cock. She had done it before, and doing it to Castle seemed almost too enjoyable—particularly considering the circumstance they found themselves in.

Alternating bobbing her head up and down and using her tongue to swirl against his tip, it didn’t take Castle long to reach his peak. To his credit, he panted out, “Shit! I’m gonna—I’m—god,” giving her a few seconds of warning to pull her mouth away and finish him off with her hand.

As he lay on the futon looking positively spent, Kate grabbed two tissues from the box on the desk and then dropped them onto his chest so he could clean himself up. “Better?”

He blinked up at her, still appearing rather stunned. “Jesus…that was amazing.”

She smirked down at him. “Just consider it a thank you for the dedication.”

“Well you are definitely extraordinary.”

She gave a soft smile and then turned her body back towards the door, feeling it was prudent now that she had, ah, completed her professional courtesy. “I, um, I guess I’m going to get back out there. I’ll ward Paula off for a few minutes so that you can, um, collect yourself.”

“Y-yeah. I really apre…oh…oh no, no, no…”

At how pitiful he sounded, Kate could not help but turn around as she asked, “What’s wro…” though her voice drifted off the moment her eyes fell on his lap. She stared for several moments longer than she should have, but she was simply too shocked to avert her eyes. His dick was still completely perpendicular to his body; it was like he never came at all! Shaking her head with slight amazement she concluded, “Wow, you are really susceptible to those drugs.”

“That’s not helpful!” He groaned, then stared down at himself with almost disgust. “Oh my god, I’m going to be stuck like this forever!”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be dramatic.”

“If you were me right now, you’d be dramatic!”

Kate said nothing as she supposed she would be, particularly since he, in all likelihood, could not even sneak out of the event without being seen in such a state. “Do you think it would go down if you came again?”

“Um, I don’t know. Maybe. It’s not like there are instructions for—wait! What!?”

She stepped forward and gave a little shrug. She could already feel the wetness seeping out of her panties—a situation she had intended to take care of once she was home—but as long as Castle was there and—quite literally—up for the challenge, she figured she might as well through all caution to the wind.

“I was just thinking…maybe it could be my turn now…”

“Jesus.” He breathed out, gazing at her as if she truly was an angel that had descend from heaven.

Never breaking eye contact, Beckett reached her hand up under her already skin-tight skirt, hooked the edge of her thong with her index finger, and then shimmied her hips while pulling the item down her thighs. Once the item reached her knees, it dropped to the floor and she stepped out of it before quirking her eyebrow in his direction.

“Fuck,” he breathed, reaching his hand out for her. He grabbed her hip, bumped their noses together and said, “Extraordinary doesn’t even do you justice,” before crushing his mouth against hers.

Without even realizing it, Kate found herself kissing him back—really kissing him back—and…Shit. She liked kissing him. She liked the feel of his hands splayed across her hips and backside. She liked the smell of his aftershave or cologne when she stood that close to him. And she really liked the delightful way in which his mouth was just as talented as she hoped it would be.

“Mmm Kate.” He groaned against her and she felt heat pulse between her legs. Fuck, she wanted him.

With her hands flat against his chest, Kate gave Castle a little shove to push him back down against the futon. She moved her right leg to climb into his lap but found her skirt far too tight to let her complete the move. “Ah—hold on,” she grumbled, reaching down for the hem of the item, but his hands soon joined hers.

“Let me help.” He said as he helped her scoot the skirt upwards. As he pulled his right hand away, he let it drift between her legs and groaned. “God, you’re wet.”

She hummed and climbed on the futon, putting a knee on either side of his thighs. Using her left hand on his shoulder to steady herself, she reached down with her right to guide him into her channel.

“Fuck, Beckett,” he groaned out as she sunk down on his length.

She smirked at him. “That’s the general idea.”

He looked scandalized for a moment, then delighted before kissing her again. She began to grind her hips against his, feeling his amazing length as it slid in and out of her. God, this was not at all what she had in mind when she had fantasized about them being together, but it certainly didn’t disappoint!

She closed her eyes and carded her hands through the hair at his name as she rolled her hips again and again until his rock hard tip hit at just the right spot that she groaned out, “Ah…yes…right there.”

“Don’t stop Beckett…”

“I’m not, I’m not, I….God!” She yelped out when her body tumbled over the edge and her walls began contracting around him. A moment later he let out a curse and buried his face in her cleavage, their hips continuing to rock together as they both came down from their high.

She sat there for another thirty seconds before climbing off him and waddling back to the desk to grab the tissue box that rested there. She kept two for herself and then handed the box to him. Knowing they had both been gone from the party for far too long she kept her clean up routine efficient and didn’t look at him again until she was trying to pull the skirt of her dress back down. Only then did she see that he sat in mostly the same position, his eyes quite wide, but thankfully his penis seemed to be returning to a more flaccid state.

“You okay there, Castle?”

He blinked at her as though she was an angel descended from heaven. “That was….it was really…”

She quirked her lips. “I know.” Given the underlying sexual tension they had in their relationship, it was not at all shocking that their first coupling had been quite intense—not hat she had any complaints about it. Turning back towards the door, she raked her fingers through her hair and said, “I guess I’ll-”

“Wait.”

She turned back to face him, curious.

Castle stood from the couch and his shirt tails fell down enough to cover his manhood, though his legs were still fully exposed, which was an amusing sight. Despite this, his tone sounded rather serious. “What, um, what if we did this again sometime—without the Viagra, obviously.”

Feeling the irresistible urge to continue teasing him, she folded her arms over her chest and gazed at him pensively. “Well. That depends: how’s your stamina without it?”

He smirked. “Would you like to find out?”

She dragged her teeth over her bottom lip and casually shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe I would.” Then, before the smile that was about to explode on her face could betray her, she turned towards the door to leave. Though she had no idea how any sort of relationship with Castle would go, another hot, sweaty, and naked round with him was certainly an intriguing concept—especially if it wasn’t in the tiny office of some poor bookstore manager who would have no idea how his or her couch had been defiled.

“Kate.”

She ignored the whine in his tone and simply threw a casual, “Goodnight Castle,” over her shoulder as she left.

Thanks for the prompt Lou

Hope everyone enjoyed!

#castle #caskett #castle fanfiction #castle pornado #castlepornado #my fic: Launch Party Interlude

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pmleadershipkl-blog · 5 years ago

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Reflective Tumblr Blog Post #1

Questions:

1. Think of a time when you were in a leadership situation.

· What was the experience like for you?

· What did you learn from it?

2. Describe your leadership strengths and skills as you currently know them. Where possible, align these with specific examples.

3. What are the leadership strengths, skills or characteristics that you would like to develop? Why?

Reflection:

While at my previous position, I was tasked with leading and managing our online medical newspaper. It was a position I was largely unfamiliar with and due to budget, people, and timing constraints, I was assigned the role and given limited opportunity to truly see if it was a task I was able to fulfill.

At the time, the experience was very stressful. I had never had to manage such a large number of people that I could only contact virtually. If I received no response to my emails, I had very limited options. Our writers were volunteer-based and it was common for writers to submit their work late or miss submissions entirely. Hiring and training writers involved a significant time commitment on top of the regular tasks that needed to be done every day. There were issues with copyright infringement and plagiarism, with the added importance of ensuring that we were publishing consistently on a daily basis. The interests of our writers, readers, and managers needed to be balanced and it was a stressful learning curve.

However, the experience became incredibly rewarding. As time passed and issues became apparent, I learned a number of techniques that assisted with volunteer retention. Creating contracts, even with a virtual signature, seemed to place responsibility on the role and decreased drop and lack of response rates. Cataloguing submission timeliness and tracking the progress of how certain writers worked helped us to rebalance how we assigned topics and created a faster turn around time for submissions. I learned that I can adapt to unexpected situations and create solutions but know when to ask for assistance.

As a leader, I find myself to be an effective communicator, thorough, and adaptive. My experience with patients has taught me to be empathetic and connect while remaining professional, which became particularly useful when working with volunteers who have their own goals, lives, and situations arise. Communicating why their work had value and ensuring that things were done in a timely fashion had to be adjusted for each volunteer and I believe my success was due to a combination of the formerly listed attributes.

I find that one of the characteristics I need to work the most on is my self-confidence. I see my work and results as evidence of my strengths and would like to develop my confidence in my abilities separate from my output and received feedback. A narrow situational based confidence has the potential to waver and I would like to be more confident in the face of adversity and new, unexpected situations.

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kurahieiritrjio · 6 years ago

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FANFIC Update

FFNet’s newest drama is the last straw for me. The recent edition of a gang calling themselves Critic’s United reminds me too much of the old Live Journal Writer witchhunts, so I have taken down all my multiple chapter fics to revise and put on AO3 instead. Granted, I am not a target for their nonsense yet, as I don’t write smut, but I am a Supernatural/Psychology Genre writer. Experience in the past has taught me that groups like Critics United are out to cause trouble as best they can, and their Religion backed underpinnings and intolerance means that they are always looking for someone to troll.

Considering I’ve had my account hacked and worse, I am not going to miss the old patchworked site with all it’s dratted glitches. Took months to get the money together to get my new laptop back up and working because of FFnet’s easily hacked site. Lesson learned.

I already know that I will be targeted at some point for my graphic gore and violence scenes if I remain on ffnet. Also, the stories containing magic and supernatural beings causing trouble will yet again cause grief I figure. Once these people can get rid of all the sex scenery at FFNet. Sooner or later they will cause enough trouble to traumatize the majority of kids on there, and I do not wish to see it. So yeah, I’m moving everything involving magic, or explicit stalkers and other dark theme stories to my AO3 account as I get them cleaned up.

Finally found an editor to help me get the Star Singer story into shape. Thanks so much, @ittybittyteapot, for agreeing to tackle the disaster of my raw draft with a vengeance. Make it burn and hurt! Hehehe, I am only too happy to get the hard editing input! The new direction getting taken should be much stronger and better reading when the revisions are complete. The multiple books storyline has long needed someone to help me get rid of redundant crap and polish the gems within. Now the 1200 page mess will get fixed up as it should. I’m very excited. Knowing the tale needed hard revision was blocking my ability to write as much as real world craziness. So thanks so much to you and to @sugarplum-senpai for stepping into an unfamiliar anime backdrop to help me whip the beast into decent shape! I am eternally grateful to you both.

Awaken the Star Song is already getting heavy revisions so expect it to be updated first. Book 1 is almost complete so it makes sense with it being a multiple book series to post first to me. Then I will focus on Taming Lightning until it is completed, followed by revising and completing Stand Your Ground. Storm Among Stars, Book 2 of the Star Singers Universe will also be getting put on the schedule somewhere.

#fanfiction writing #fairy tail fanfiction

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msramsey4-blog · 6 years ago

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10/15/18: Introducing Guided Reading, Moriah Ramsey

“The Next Steps Forward in Guided Reading” By: Jan Richardson, The Introduction & Chapter 1

Richardson's introduction outlined the structure and purpose of the text, explaining exactly what guided reading is and how teachers should conduct guided reading in literacy classrooms. In Chapter 1, Richardson went into more detail about what makes up guided reading in literacy classes, emphasizing that this class time should be flexible, shared, and full of purposeful practice to develop reading proficiency.

One nugget I took away from specifically chapter 1 was this statement: “The interaction between students and the teacher helps students to internalize the strategy focus so they can apply the skill independently” (Richardson, 2016, p. 14). This stuck out to me because this outlines our Instructional Design definition of learning at work. The external process (interaction of guided reading) turning into an internal process and eventually product (internalize strategy to focus the skill development). Richardson explained that instruction should be intentional and responsive in the introduction, and that is because learning occurs when done so.

As I was reading, I was having trouble connecting some of the literacy activities to my own experiences as an early reader in the classroom. I began wondering, what was it like for others in elementary school reading classes? Did they do guided reading? Did they have stations and engage in literacy activities regularly? My reading journey was different so I thought I would ask my friend Jake about his experiences.

Jake is a Communications major. He always shares with me how much he loves words and writing. Being a writer for the Bridge at Messiah, he lives professional literacy out. I first asked him if he knew what Guided Reading was, he said no. So I defined it as the book did, then said it in my own words. He then said “Ohhhh I did not like that.” He preceded to tell me his memories of his literacy experiences as a kid. He said the guided reading group he remembered was using rulers to read line by line with the teacher. Jake explained he did not necessarily like it but he did feel “secure” to read bigger chapter books because he was with the teacher. I then gave him the textbook opened to the page that listed literacy activities and asked him to read it and let me know if he did any of those in school. Jake emphasized the word walls in his elementary classrooms with the magnetic letters & often listening to recorded stories. The other activities were unfamiliar to him. In addition to that, he shared with me that he was in the gifted program in high school and they would do activities like the readers theater and computer research activities. In the gifted program he got these guided reading activities, but that was not the norm for his peers, it was only in the program he was in. Hearing his feedback it made me feel better about not experiencing these activities first hand. Having this dialogue with Jake produced two concluding thoughts. First, it made me understand just how much instructional practices in literacy have transformed to advance all learners abilities. Knowing and improving the students’ ability at an intimate level is driving change for instruction. Richardson is writing to utilize these activities more so we can grow students and get them involved in their reading community. Secondly, I saw how even without these fancy activities or best practices, Jake and myself both grew to love books and write for personal and academic purposes. This conversation encouraged me to look at these best practices as teaching moments for myself, learning to engage my future students better than my own teachers did.

https://jmiaczynski.wixsite.com/jakemiaczynski/blog

This is Jake's personal blog, and I am always amazed with his writing abilities. Jake and I co-led a service trip this past fall break to D.C and we got to dialogue a lot about out schooling experiences and how they empowered us personally to do better.

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nomaddredd · 6 years ago

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Thinking...

How does one start writing? I asked this question, only of myself, and only as I sat upon a porcelain throne. Warmth from my behind has made the seat itself kind of uncomfortable now. And yet, I am somewhat compelled, yearning to write right at this moment...about nothing and everything. I am in the throes of my porcelain chair due in part to constipation. It sucks but laxatives were created and sold freely to help eliminate such problems. It is not a very pleasant experience, although the peace found during the process would be insulted if not appreciated and taken advantage of. I have a love hate relationship with writing, it's kind of shitty, similar to my present position; I was on the pot when I wrote that last line. And the rest of that.

What does one write about? What does one write for? I personally do it so that it does not appear weird or too crazy conversing with myself. That's right I said I converse with myself, in writing, and I do so to work out my stress and strategize the maneuvers necessary for living. I wrote so that I don't smack the fuck out of those whom seem not to take the hint that I don't want to be bothered. I dream. I emote. There is nothing more free than writing. I just don't know how to do it...sounds dumb right? True, but at least I'm honest.

Discipline, something I am not unaware or unfamiliar with; a difficult lesson to embrace daily for me. Its struggles involve remaining motivated, mainly. I am easily influenced and in that fatal flaw I tend to walk away from my strict teachings, easily. To stop or hinder this practice I now engage in little "busy" tasks throughout my time of being awake to keep myself moving, refocusing my energies towards the activities of engagement. Embracing the lessons of the last lesson learned and acquired through life to achieve new goals setting new heights for my future accomplishments. Sound redundant? I know but after implantation of about a year ago now finally do I begin to notice the changes and slight alterations to my path in life from these tweeks and edits. Take my interest in martial arts training for instance, I do not like to do so in front of others and yet I want to be apart of a dojo to refocus my energies. Therefore to overcome such an issue I began training with and in front of others encouraging the pursuit to search for an official training dojo. Putting money to the side to save for classes as well as seeking out proper teachers. A small step but a step towards progress and not away either way you cut it. If the step was never taken then the point of the planning was null and void of reasonable use of time. Is it not? That step takes motivation, the next topic to touch upon.

Motivation, such a task can be a roller coaster of emotions that can often be difficult to exercise with precision. Meaning that if one could harness the ability to switch on and off certain feelings a mastery of ones self becomes revealed. Acknowledgement of that self allows for the mind to aspire past it’s expected limitations conquering the doubt that plagues all whom seek to dream bigger than they were told they were allowed. Limitations. These are what these doubt are over all. They arise when attempting to maintain the motivation to change. They can be minor but still obstructive, and enough minor obstructions become a truly larger issue to contend with later. Limitations are only temporary when actively looking to avoid their traps, not easily, but easy enough if trained in focus. When overcoming the adversities of limitations look towards love. If love is anything physical it is the structure upholding the veil of doubt. Let’s explore.

Love, the emotion of feeling without understanding. To love is to do and in doing so, thought is not necessary. It can be a frightening subject to tackle when unfamiliar to the many roots of the word. Love is as beautiful as the state of being and as terrifying as the thought of death. But it is the action we all do without thought at times. Now, if you give into the impulse is different. Love as an impulse...strange in a way to conceive but follow the process. Love for something or someone is best when one does not intend for it, based on nothing but my observance, unintentional love can be impulsive in the sense that no energy is necessary to gain the state. Similar to a state of being in a way. Natures statement to humanity that connectivity is what keeps us all united as one. All from the air we cannot see to the largest mammals to date. This inter connectivity is inherent and therefore can be understood as impulsive or more so, instinctive.

That’s a lot to digest! Does it even answer the beginning question that sparked this rant? Believe it or not, we have not strained from the train of thought attempting to seek out a successful answer. Instinct is exactly the perfect place to restart, as it holds a key. Instinct is a term we associate with animals, but it should be applied (if not already) to creatures specific. We all possess instincts. Thanks to genetics, diversity surrounding humanities instincts has made it a bouquet of rich gifts when understood and shared.

Answering my initial question, I write instinctively. I feel as it is my genetic calling and gift to humanity. How to harness the true power and potential of it? Still beyond me. The journey and the growth to follow is what will aspire for seeking out better techniques and to better proofreading over work. Searching for mentors and writers whom are participating in healthy debate over new ideas and radical concepts will be a way of absorbing knowledge to adapt to my own style. Releasing my thoughts in a coherent and understandable way so that others can absorb it. The key means to communicating beyond myself and expanding internal debates to the world I live and interact in daily. To write is to open a door in the mind that leads to a long corridor of doors. All unlocked. All providing for an interesting experience one way or the other, simply by turning the door handle.

#devin jai #my words #my thoughts #spilled ink #writers on tumblr

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altrecordreviews · 7 years ago

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“In retrospect, I should have had the absinthe…” Eleanor Goodman Talks The Reality of Metal Journalism

Photo via Twitter

Print journalism isn’t what it was - just take one look at NME. However, there are still plenty of music journalists who still strongly believe in the power of print, and no one knows this quite like Metal Hammer’s deputy editor Eleanor Goodman. Here’s what she has to say on how to deal with the ins and outs of journalism and why lawyers are always good to have around just in case you need to write about bestiality.

How did you get into music journalism?

I was studying for a degree in English Literature at Sheffield University when I won a Metal Hammer music journalism competition for my live review of a masked Australian grindcore band called The Berserker. As a nu metal fan, I wasn’t familiar with them, but I was desperate to write for the magazine! The gig certainly opened my eyes to metal’s depths. At a careers event soon after, I met Lianne Steinberg, who was an editor at The Manchester Evening News’ entertainment magazine, City Life. She was encouraging and gave me paid work writing music previews and reviews. I also wrote for local Sheffield magazine Sandman, BBC South Yorkshire online, the university newspaper and a bunch of music webzines. After my degree, I moved to London for a postgrad diploma in magazine journalism at City University. I got a permanent job working on business magazines while freelancing for Rock Sound, and then worked full-time for Bizarre, Kerrang! and Metal Hammer, where I’m currently deputy editor. I commission the features section and curate the monthly covermount CD.

When you first started, how did you avoid getting star-struck when interviewing your favourite bands?

Rather than being star-struck, I struggled with insecurity at first, as I felt much younger than the people I was interviewing, not to mention the other PRs and music industry folk, who seemed like an impenetrable clique. But I found people were generally friendly and happy to chat about themselves. I was nervous the first time I interviewed Marilyn Manson, because I’d always liked his music and heard he could be difficult. I turned down his offer of absinthe in case I got drunk and messed up the interview, but he turned out to be on form and quick-witted. In retrospect, I should have had the absinthe.

Did you receive much guidance when you first started writing for bigger publications? Do you think it would have been beneficial in retrospect?

I got guidance on my writing during my postgraduate course, which was beneficial – I can still hear my tutors’ voices in my head to this day – though I only really learned through practice. At Bizarre magazine I started as Chief Sub Editor, and had a great editor called David McComb, who taught me a lot about magazine craft. Alongside managing the workflow of the magazine, I ended up editing the features, books and music sections. By working in teams and across different brands, I learned a lot about tone and audience, which had a positive impact on my writing.

What’s the most frustrating part of your job?

Working within constraints. There are always constraints such as getting access to bands, working within budgets and completing pieces to deadlines. Nothing’s ever certain in magazines, either – you could plan a perfect feature, but it could fall apart due to any of the above, or unforeseen circumstances, so you have to be able to change and adapt plans during the course of each issue. Having said that, constraints can force you to innovate and to really narrow down your focus, so they’re not always bad.

What’s the most rewarding?

Seeing an idea come together. Reading a great interview, accompanied by brilliant photos, and looking at how they work together on the design of the pages. It’s always a team effort that involves multiple people behind the scenes as well as in front. It’s also awesome when readers message or comment positively about our content. We’ve had good feedback on our features tackling serious issues such as depression in the music industry, as well as a lot of excitement and insane memes off the back of our recent Ghost cover shoot, which featured the singer of the Swedish band holding the severed head of the ‘old’ one. They have a dedicated fanbase, so it means a lot that we’ve struck a chord. The Metal Hammer Golden Gods is always a great night, too - we honour the biggest names in our world, and it’s surreal to see everyone chatting backstage.

What has been the main problem you’ve come across working for a print magazine?

The decline of print media and the rise of celebrity online. When I started working in print magazines in the early 2000s, the decline in readership had already begun, but mainstream outlets weren’t taking online journalism seriously enough. That lack of early investment has made it more difficult for big brands to catch up, and everyone is still figuring out how to make money online. People have become accustomed to getting content for free, and the sheer number of outlets means there’s a lot of ‘noise’ around artists – especially tours and releases – even if there’s not necessarily a substantial amount of content. Some artists also promote themselves on social media. This means there’s a danger readers will tire of hearing about certain artists before they’ve picked up the magazine. Part of the solution comes back to innovation – what can we do that competitors can’t? And curation – how can we sift through the noise and bring the best in metal to our readers? Our recent covers are good examples of this. Ahead of Judas Priest releasing Firepower, we brought singer Rob Halford together with Tony Iommi for an exclusive photoshoot and chat. Before the Metal Hammer-sponsored Trivium tour in April, we ran a cover featuring them and tour mates Code Orange, Power Trip and Venom Prison – all newer bands we’re keen to give a platform to.

Are journalism ethics and law just as important in music journalism as they are within “regular” journalism?

Absolutely. Music journalism is regular journalism. You’re often talking to people about their personal lives and influences, and sometimes covering wide-ranging social, cultural and political issues, so you have an ethical responsibility to be honest, fair and accurate. The same goes for law – and on a purely commercial level, getting sued can be disastrous for a publication.

Have you/a publication you’ve written for ever encountered any of these issues first hand?

The weirdest scenario was when I was Production Editor at Bizarre magazine, and we ran a feature about a woman in Portugal who had sex with dogs for adult films. Bestiality is illegal in the UK, so I worked with a lawyer to make sure the copy was ‘safe’ and didn’t include any instructions about how to do it, or any names of the people we talked to, so readers theoretically couldn’t track down the material. When the issue came out, the makers of the movies threatened us because we didn’t include their names; they were angry they hadn’t got as much publicity as they’d hoped. We didn’t see that coming! Most magazines I’ve worked for have had access to a lawyer, which means I’ve been able to run any difficult queries or quotes by them. Music-wise, Kerrang! had an incident in 2007, before I joined, where they had to pay £40,000 libel damages over a claim a tour manager pleasured himself in a dressing room. He argued that it lowered his reputation and harmed his chances of getting work.

As a deputy editor, do you have any specific rules or requirements that you ask of your writers?

We’re looking for experience, enthusiasm, creativity, an understanding of metal and Metal Hammer’s audience, and an ability to work to a brief and hit deadlines. Obviously, music is a sociable industry with a lot of late nights, but we also expect people to be professional when representing the brand.

What advice would you give to aspiring music journalists and editors?

Get as much experience as possible, always say yes to opportunities, and ask lots of questions. The more you read, write and edit, the better you’ll become. And don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone and cover new and unfamiliar things – you never know where it might lead you.

Follow Eleanor on Twitter @eleanorgoodman

#metal hammer #Q&A #interview #music journalism #print journalism #eleanor goodman #kerrang!#team rock #marilyn manson #code orange #black sabbath #metal

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articlewritingbd · 4 years ago

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A Step-by-Step Guide For Writing a Compelling Article Introduction

Wouldn't it be great if each and every single individual that clicked one of your posts review it from beginning to end, incapable of drawing their eyes away from the display?

I think we both recognize the solution to that concern.

To attain this goal, however, you should understand the art of article writing exciting intros.

Wait for a second; you're thinking and writing introductions? Isn't that sort of a small detail of a 2,000-word article?

Your article introduction is not tiny information.

The introduction to your article is typically the distinction between interesting readers and having a bounce price high enough to make a click-baiter cringe.

Consider it. You'll shed them if you don't grab your visitors right away.

You experienced all that work of content writing an excellent article, right? You worked hard at it. You spent a great deal of time on it. You did a heap of research.

If your introduction draws, your initiatives will certainly be all for nothing.

You shed prior to you even began!

If you intend to compose great content, improve the success of your advertising campaigns, and boost the loyalty of your followers, you need to master writing intros.

Allow me to show you exactly how.

1. Master the opening line

To have a solid introduction, you require to open with a strong initial sentence.

The millisecond your visitor strikes the web page, they have a very high possibility of leaving the page.

Data claims so.

The initial sentence has one single objective: to entice the reader to read the following sentence. In doing so, it sets the tone for the remainder of the article, hooking the viewers in, one action at once.

If you fall short at this, your readers won't scroll.

This is a histogram revealing how far people scroll via Slate article pages. Each bar represents the share of individuals that quit scrolling at a specific place in the article. (An article is assumed to be around 2000 pixels long; if the top of your internet browser home window gets to the 2000-pixel mark, you're counted as scrolling 100% with the article. The X-axis most likely to 120% since on many pages, there's normally things listed below the 2000-pixel mark, like the remarks area.)

This graph consists of people that spent any time involved with the page whatsoever (users that "jumped" from the page right away after touchdown on it are not stood for.) The graph reveals that many Slate visitors do not scroll in any way. That's the spike at the 0% mark, standing for regarding 5% of readers. Most site visitors scroll concerning midway via a regular Slate tale. The spike near completion is an abnormality brought on by pages, including photos as well as video clips - on those web pages; individuals scroll with the entire page.

As well as if they don't scroll, they won't engage.

Take a look at this article by Dilbert author Scott Adams to see just how the initial sentence is done.

He composes this:

I went from being a negative writer to a good writer after taking a one-day training course in "service writing."

That's a fantastic opening line.

Why? Because it makes me would like to know more!

- How did he come to be an excellent writer?

- What did he discover?

- Could I take advantage of it too?

Adams accomplished. He attracted us in by making us ask questions.

The remaining 980 words of your article will be a complete waste if you do not understand just how to craft an intriguing initial sentence.

Save your writing introduction suggestions in one place across all the paper applications you make use of.

With a couple of easy methods, the good news is for you, writing an incredible initial sentence can be rather simple.

The very first point to bear in mind is that you want to maintain the first sentence brief. This makes it very easy for the visitor to digest the first littles details and stops them from wearying swiftly.

But there is even more to it than that.

It would be best if you made certain that the very first sentence orders the visitor's attention as well as holds it for the remainder of the article.

Below are a number of reliable techniques that produce incredibly compelling, very first lines.

Ask the reader an inquiry.

This is a simple method to get the viewers' focus and get them engaged without a great deal of effort.

For instance, if you are writing an article on stopping your job as well as starting your own business, you could open with the inquiry: "Did you recognize that practically 70% of Americans report being proactively disengaged from their jobs?"

Why does this work?

It concerns the brain's "limbic incentive system."

When this system is triggered, dopamine is released. And also, dopamine gives us a sense of benefit and pleasure.

When we are fascinated by an inquiry, i.e., experience a sense of curiosity, the limbic benefit system brightens. Which's why we intend to keep reading - it's rewarding to please curiosity.

Writer Olga Khazan asks an inquiry that's on everybody's mind, causing the visitor to be instantaneously interested.

We desire to recognize the response to that inquiry, so we maintain reading.

That's why a question is an excellent opening line. You can also make use of the inquiry as to the article title.

Inform a story

The mind likewise illuminates when it comes across a tale.

According to the theory of neural coupling, particular portions of the brain are triggered when a reader believes regarding the very same psychological as well as exercise that a character in a tale is doing.

James Clear normally begins his blog posts with a story, typically a true tale.

The story makes his viewers curious about the article and keeps them reading to the actual end.

Make use of a surprising quote.

An additional excellent method to begin your article is to make use of an attention-grabbing quote.

Allow's say you are writing an article on world traveling. A fantastic method to present the article would undoubtedly be with the quote from Helen Keller:

" Life is a daring experience, or absolutely nothing at all."

Tell the viewers to visualize

Stimulating the imagination is a quick way to attract the visitor right into the experience of the article.

Notification just how this article from Wired For Story begins:

The viewers attempt to comply with the essential by visualizing. This initiative urges the visitor to review further, attracting them into the article.

Writers for The Atlantic are skills at their craft. This writer does the very same thing - asking the visitor to think of it.

Share a fascinating reality.

When the Internet is so rife with crappy details and deceitful "masters," individuals are hesitant in a day and age. They have every factor to be.

Opening your article with a pertinent truth or fact is a wonderful method to develop depend on as well as authority from the first sentence and also let viewers understand you've done your research.

1. Have something one-of-a-kind to state

Okay, so you've crafted an excellent, very first sentence, as well, as you have your reader's interest.

Currently what?

Now, you need to hold that interest by having something unusual and fascinating to claim.

Very few individuals take time and energy regularly to generate new, thought-provoking content. You'll set on your own apart from the herd in a huge method if you do.

Neglect re-purposing of old articles or rewriting things from various other individuals' internet sites. You have to state something they've never listened to prior to if you want to have the visitor's regard and interest.

Unfortunately, a great deal of right stuff you read today has actually been spewed 28 times previously.

Let's imagine you run a traveling blog. Based on my suggestions, you write a number of 3,000-word comprehensive "How-To Guides."

Whenever a reader opens your guide on funding their first-round the globe trip, they'll expect to read all concerning airline company benefits programs, frugality, and bank card points.

Which information is terrific, yet it is likewise really common.

A better intro would certainly be something like this:

Exactly how would you such as to save up enough money in the following 6 months to spend every one of 2017 taking a trip the globe?

That would certainly be pretty epic?

Well, this is entirely feasible, and in today's article, I am most likely to show you just how you can do this.

It's not by avoiding your morning cappuccino or investing hundreds of dollars with your credit score cards on a few hundred miles, either.

I will show you how you can develop a life of flexibility and freedom by leveraging the abilities you already have, tactically picking your locations, and using an unfamiliar tax obligation secret that will conserve you countless dollars!

Sound good? Allow's reach it.

It's tough to be different. I recognize that.

In some cases, to create distinct stuff, we merely have to function harder, assume much longer, and research study greater than our competitors.

Right here are some means you can develop that unique voice in your article introduction:

- Share an individual tale or fact. You're the only you there is. You can share a tale or experience no person else can. One means to tell such a tale is to compose, "If you recognize me ...".

- Get your feelings in it. People have a psychological reaction to feelings. Individuals often tend to respond when we communicate our feelings in our writing. Emotion is additionally a one-of-a-kind as well as an individual thing. How do you connect this in an intro? Easy: "Want to know how I really feel about it? I feel ...".

- Share your objectives or vision. If you have a directing goal or vision permanently, you can communicate this in your intro. "That's one of the factors I composed this article. My goal in life is to ...".

- Make a guarantee. A guarantee is an eye-catching and individual point. Provide your viewers with a contract, and also, it will protect their loyalty and also their interest. "I assure you that I'll do my dead-level ideal to ...".

Distinct isn't easy. It's worth it.

2. Keep it easy.

We live in a globe where most individuals have a focus span of just a few seconds.

Apparently, our focus period is obtaining much shorter!

After a few secs, we get tired and also go on to the following glossy object.

Make sure your existing points as just as possible if you desire your viewers to make time in their days to read what you have to claim.

Longer posts, obviously, deserve longer intros. However, it's important to respect individuals' time and attention. You can not transform what is (people's attention deficit disorder) by writing a lengthy introduction based on what needs to be (longer interest spans).

Stay clear of babbling regarding how terrific your information is, and also share it currently!

3. Talk directly to the viewers.

Whenever you are writing academic products for other individuals, you wish to utilize the words "you" as much (and also as normally) as feasible.

In this article, I've made use of some variation of words you more than 100 times. Why? Because I'm speaking to you! I want you to know this info. I desire you to benefit from it.

By highlighting the word "you" in your article, you show the reader you are straight resolving them and also their situation and not just writing a generic article to the general people.

Yet there's another side to this. I must describe myself as well. My objective is to convey an individual feel to this article. It's me chatting with you? So it's just natural that I would refer to myself as well.

4. Describe what the article is about.

The factor of an intro is exactly that: to introduce the material that will exist in an article.

I can not tell you the variety of times online posts left me also puzzled me after reviewing a few of their paragraphs.

I could not inform whether the writers were educating me on how to run effective Facebook advertisements or telling me an unusual tale concerning their childhood.

Take a few sentences, and plainly explain what the article is most likely to cover without handing out also much information.

This will build suspense around the subject issue while still allowing your target market to understand what they might be in for.

A terrific example of this originates from the Buffer blog. Notification of how the intro positions an inquiry and also after that suggests responding to that concern.

Your curiosity stays high, but the intro sets the phase.

5. Explain the relevance of the article.

It's currently time to clarify why people should care when you've clarified what the article is.

Every person on the net approaches every new item of info with a simple inquiry: "What's in it for me?".

If you desire to create introductions that hook the viewers and aid your web content go viral, you need to master the art of describing what the reader stands to gain from the info you are sharing - the advantages.

How will it profit your visitors' lives? How will it resolve the trouble they are encountering? Just how will it treat a discomfort they are feeling?

You'll maintain your readers glued to your article till the last word if you understand how to quickly and efficiently answer these concerns.

Verdict.

A couple of things can make or damage your article as quickly as an introduction.

Suppose you can grasp the art of an initial couple of paragraphs. In that case, you'll have the ability to enhance reader involvement, improve sales, and also gain a track record as an incredible writer.

It's not an easy ability to master, yet like many Internet marketing points, it's relatively simple.

#article #article writing #content writing #content #content marketing #web content #web 2.0 #guest post

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compareandcontrasttopics523 · 4 years ago

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arplis · 5 years ago

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Arplis - News: In 12 Reasons Why Your Next Gig Should Be Work-at-Home we discussed the why of working at home – as in why you should

My hope was that in spelling out why work-at-home is a better way to earn a living, you’ll be sufficiently motivated make any effort needed to make it happen. It’s how I work, and I never get tired of promoting its virtues to anyone who might be willing. In today’s article I’d like to cover how to create work-at-home gigs. They’re not as common as we’d like to think, which is proven by the fact that more people aren’t doing it already. How to Create Work-at-Home Gigs Just as I reported in the first article, use of the word “gigs” is entirely intentional. While it may be possible to get a work-at-home job, they’re still fairly hard to come by. If you’re serious about working from home, you may have to create your own work-at-home arrangement – a gig, for lack of a better description. Statistically, only 5.2% of the American workforce works from home, so you’ll need to expand your concept of work beyond a traditional job if you want to join this fortunate group. We’ll start by looking at ways to get formal work-at-home jobs, then move over to creating your own work-at-home gig of some sort. My guess is that for most people, creating your own work-at-home gig is more likely than an actual work-at-home job. Work-at-Home Jobs There are two ways you can approach the work-at-home arrangement. The first is to work to convert your current on-location job to a work-at-home arrangement. A lot of employers are not responsive to work-at-home, but it’s always worth trying. If you’re a highly valued employee, your employer may entertain the idea. But you’ll need to approach it from the angle that will benefit your employer – not you. After all, everyone – including your employer – is only motivated to do anything out of self-interest. If your pitch is all about how it will benefit you, it’s not likely to happen. For example, you might be able to sell your employer on the idea that you be more productive working from home. You can also point out that you won’t be occupying an office or cubicle (which is an additional cost to your employer). If, because of personal circumstances, you have no alternative but to convert to a work-at-home arrangement, you can try selling the employer on being able to retain your services as a result of the change. That’s a risky strategy, but it could work. If your employer isn’t agreeable, you’ll have to weigh the costs and benefits of making a job change. If you do, you’ll need to concentrate on jobs new employers are specifically offering as work-at-home arrangements. You’re bargaining position is never greater than just before you start a job. Use that to your advantage to get the work-at-home arrangement from the beginning. Be aware however that most employers resist work-at-home arrangements (it’s that tired control factor thing). That being the case, you’ll need to look for employers or employment services that specialize in work-at-home. They do exist. Employment Services that Specialize in Work-at-Home Jobs Earlier this year FlexJobs, a website that specializes in work-at-home jobs, published its annual list of the 100 Top Companies with Remote Jobs in 2019. You can check out the entire list of 100 on the site, but I did some research on the top 10, including: Appen (technology services). Lionbridge (part-time, freelance positions in diversified occupations). VIPKID (part-time, freelance positions providing English language instruction, at $22 per hour). Liveops (full-time and part-time independent agents in diversified capacities). Working Solutions (independent agents for customer service and sales in diversified industries – they also provide training). Amazon – see their Virtual Locations page (working for the company full-time in diversified positions). TTEC (mostly full-time positions in customer service, working for the company). Kelly Services (full-time positions with a wide variety of employers in many different fields; you’ll need to specify work-at-home because they hire for all types of employment situations). Concentrix (full-time, part-time, and temporary positions in mostly technical occupations; there’s a strong emphasis on international operations, and you may be doing shift work as a result). United Healthcare (direct employer focusing on healthcare specializations – be sure to include “work-at-home” in your job search on the site). The FlexJobs list shows the potential for work-at-home positions. Use their list as a starting point, but also feel free to search the job boards using terms like “work-at-home”, “work from home”, “work remotely”, or similar descriptions. You may have to apply for dozens of positions to find one that will work for you. Also keep in mind you’ll be looking for a highly specialized work arrangement. It’ll be a bit like panning for gold. The Self-Employed Work-at-Home Route I’d love to tell you that there is a work-at-home job out there with your name on it, but that would be a gross exaggeration. If it were true, millions more people would be working from home. Most work-at-home job situations are unconventional arrangements and/or require highly specialized skills. Many will be only a hybrid arrangement, like two days at home, three in the office. In addition, the best paying positions naturally go to people who have the most experience. In most respects, it’s much like the traditional on-location job market, except that you’re working from home. And maybe only partially at that. For many people, in many circumstances, the only way to get into a work-at-home arrangement will be to create your own. That will involve some form of self-employment. Please don’t let the idea of self-employment scare you. In truth, you’re already self-employed, but if you hold a job, you only have one client. The trick to traditional self-employment is to provide service to multiple clients, or even to the general public. Put another way, it’s about taking what you do now on your job – or can do based on outside skills – and marketing it to a broader client base. Thanks to the Internet, there are more paths to the self-employment/work-at-home combination than ever before. That’s a good thing, because brick-and-mortar business operations are rapidly disappearing in all corners of the economy. Determine What Skills You Can Provide to Potential Clients One of the problems with working in the same job for a long time is that you can become blind to your own abilities. But if you’re serious about wanting to work-at-home, particularly from a self-employed angle, you’ll need to critically evaluate what you can do. That’s almost certainly going to be more than you ever imagined. Take the following steps: List all the skills you use on your current job. List all the skills you’ve used in previous jobs. Think hard about any personal skills you have that might be of value to someone else. Make a list of skills you think you can provide, even if you never have before. Number 4 needs a deeper discussion, because it really gets down to making an active choice as to what you’d like to do. A successful salesman/entrepreneur friend of mine is fond of saying you can if you think you can, and that’s become a phrase I live by. I’ve used it to transition into blogging and freelance blog writing, two skills I’d never experienced before I actually started doing them. And lo and behold, it’s now my work-at-home full-time career. You don’t have to become a blogger or freelance blog writer like me, but the example still stands. Even if you’ve never done something before – but you have a strong desire to do it – there’s an excellent chance you’ll be able to convert it into an income generating venture. It’s what can happen when passion and desire come together. Once you’ve listed all your skills, choose those you’ll feel most comfortable providing. Make up a two or three paragraph description of your abilities with each skill. You can use these descriptions to market yourself to potential clients. Where to Find Work-at-Home Gigs Probably everyone today is familiar with the reality that employers are gradually but relentlessly eliminating positions. But the part we don’t hear as much about is that the work that was done by those who were laid off still needs to get done. In a real way, reductions in force produces a potential market for independent contractors and freelancers. It may be possible for you to market your services to employers – especially those who have had recent layoffs – on a limited basis. And because they probably don’t have room in the budget for even a part-time job situation, they may be open to subbing out certain responsibilities. You can provide services as an independent, work-at-home contractor. Some assignments may only be a few hours a month, while others can be steady part-time arrangements. Another rich source of potential clients are small businesses. In fact, these may be your best potential clients. They can’t hire people on a regular basis, but still have certain jobs that need to be done. You could build your own work-at-home business by providing similar services to several small businesses. A third group of potential clients are individuals. We live in a complicated world, and every day people are being faced by ex-your responsibilities are totally unfamiliar with. For example, someone may need help organizing your finances, paying their bills, interpreting medical bills, dealing with insurance companies, building a website, or navigating the social media. This is just a small list of potential situations. And just because you know how to do these things doesn’t mean others do. That will present an income opportunity for you. You’ll be amazed at what opportunities will come up once you put yourself out there and begin actively soliciting for work. Which is our next topic… Marketing Yourself to Provide Work-at-Home Services The prospect of marketing scares a lot of people, and that’s unfortunate. Marketing – especially your own skills – doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. A longtime friend of mine, currently holding a full-time job, but looking to grow additional income sources, recently placed the following post on Facebook: “Are you a small business owner who needs technical support on a contract basis? So many of you are unable to hire a full-time staff member to support the vast landscape of today’s demands! I can provide technical support and services for a monthly rate with great SLA’s! Let’s grab a coffee and talk through your needs! Blake Sargent [email protected] (470)902-9002” There are several key takeaways from this post, and they can be applied to any type of marketing strategy you use: The pitch is simple – in fact, it has no sales spin whatsoever. In the first two sentences, Blake is defining his target market. Hundreds of small business owners will see themselves in those two sentences. In the third sentence, he’s stating how he can be the answer to the prospect’s problem. This angle is critical to marketing anything! The “hook” – the final sentence – is disarmingly inviting. He’s also very deliberate to emphasize “talk(ing) through YOUR needs!” Again, this emphasizes the point that providing any kind of self-employment related services is about the customer or the client’s needs first and foremost. Use this post as a template for your own client marketing campaigns. Using the Above Approach with Email Contact In generating business for myself, I’ve used a similar approach to Blake’s successfully. It works especially well with email contact to prospective clients. Unlike applying for formal jobs, where you create a cover carefully crafted letter then attach your resume, this simple approach is little more than a fishing expedition. It doesn’t need to be formal at all – in fact, the more casual it is, the better. Your first marketing task is to identify client need. If the need exists, there’s an excellent chance you’ll get a response. And I don’t mean a response rate of one out of 100, but closer to one out of 10 emails sent. The reason is because you’re approaching it from a client need standpoint. If there is no need, the best marketing pitch in the world won’t get you a new client. Use this approach as a door opener only. A one or two paragraph introduction is all that’s necessary. You don’t even need to attach your resume. If the client is interested, the contact will progress to additional emails, a request for additional information (such as a resume), or even a phone conversation. If the prospect is local, you might even have a face-to-face meeting. With any subsequent contacts, be sure to focus the conversation on identifying the client’s needs. Your job will be to convince the client that you can fill those needs, solve his problem, etc. And that’s simply a matter of talking about what you can do and how it can help the prospect. Approach Follow-Up Contact with the Right Mindset Don’t get all nervous and choked up about this either. The prospect is a person just like you – he or she has needs and insecurities just as you do. If you can find common ground, which is best done when you can be your true self, you’ll likely land a new client. And as is the case with any new endeavor, you’ll get better at it with experience. Sure, the first few times you do it it’ll be awkward. Then after you land your first one or two clients, it’ll get a lot easier. And once you reach that point, you’ll be on your way and the sky will be the limit. It will also help if you can set in your mind that no single prospective client is a make-or-break situation. If you fail to reach common ground with one prospect, keep the emails flowing, and move on to the next. One of the big advantages to mastering this marketing method is that once you do, you’ll be on your way. It’s almost like a wall you need to scale to get you from where you are to where you want to be. But if you think about it, it’s exactly what you do every time you apply for a new full-time job. The main difference is that prospecting for clients is a lot more casual, and lacks the do-or-die element that comes with a formal job search. Other Strategies to Create Work-at-Home Self-Employment Start as a side hustle. I would never recommend anyone with a full-time job quitting and transitioning immediately into work-at-home self-employment. The better approach is to do it as a side venture. Launch your email marketing campaign, pick up one or two clients, and move forward gradually. As you build your side business, you’ll eventually reach a point where you’ll realize you’ll need to take that “leap of faith” and move into the new venture full-time. But only you can know when the new venture and your finances will enable you to make that jump. In the end, it might never be anything more than a side venture. But that will work if all you’re looking for is the ability to earn additional income from home. Don’t be afraid to take on new challenges. A strange and miraculous transition starts to unfold when you begin working independently – you come to realize you can do more than you ever imagined. We learn by doing, and the more things you try, the more you’ll master. Naturally you shouldn’t take on any project or client that’s obviously well above your skill set. But it’s perfectly okay to reach up to the next level. Add new skills. The more skills you can provide, and the better you are at them, the more clients you can get, the more money you earn. Invest some time – and even some money – in improving the skills you have, and adding new ones. As you do, your market value will rise. Always ask for referrals. If you get a client, and the arrangement goes well – even if it isn’t ongoing – ask the client if she knows anyone else who may need your services. This is a way of generating warm leads for prospective new clients. Final Thoughts on How to Create Work-at-Home Gigs Unless you’re searching strictly for a formal full-time work-at-home job, think in terms of gigs. Those aren’t jobs, but income generating arrangements. And that’s really what earning a living is all about – creating income streams. That’s what you can do by approaching work-at-home from the self-employment angle. I realize that a lot of the suggestions and strategies I’ve put forth in this article are likely to take you out of your comfort zone. But that’s practically a requirement for any major change you want to make in your life. And if work-at-home is what you want to do with your life, you should have all the motivation you need to put yourself out there. Rest assured you can do it, because other people are doing it right now. Do you have a desire to create work-at-home arrangement? Are you willing to implement any of these strategies to make it happen? Have you tried any other strategies that have been successful in generating home based income sources or jobs? ( Photo by Dick Penn ) The post How to Create Work-at-Home Gigs to Free You From Your Cubicle Forever appeared first on OutOfYourRut.com. #SideHustle #Self-employment #MarketingYourSkills #Self-employment #Work-at-homeJobs

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/in-12-reasons-why-your-next-gig-should-be-work-at-home-we-discussed-the-why-of-working-at-home-as-in-why-you-should

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askaceattorney · 8 years ago

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Dear Potatoes,

(Never thought I’d type that.)

First off, I didn’t get the reference to Extra Credits because I hadn’t heard of it, but I’m checking it out now, and BOY, is it blowing my mind with how in-depth it gets. I almost feel disqualified from critiquing any video game ever again. I’m still going to, of course, but MAN...

Second, none of the material on this blog is copyrighted, so feel free to do whatever you like with it on your own blog, someone else’s blog, or wherever you want. We just prefer not to do any roleplaying on this blog because the amount of time between submissions and answers means it would literally take years to finish it.

Third, as much as I’d love to play Super Smash Bros. with the Mod and Modthorne (and as much as I love that game series in general), doing a “Battle of the Mods” would be a big challenge at the moment. Even if we were able to play it together remotely, there’d still be the matter of audio and video recording, which is something I know very little about. It’s not that I don’t like the idea, it’s just that there’d be a lot of configuring to do.

(Songs in Letter)

Dear Anon,

I’m unfamiliar with the Dark Souls series, but I can’t deny that these songs are well-written and majestic-sounding, even if some of them have too many dissonant-sounding chords for my tastes. By the way, I should mention that I love music written for video games, and that it’s usually what I love most about game. I can only imagine how captivating a game with a soundtrack like this could be.

So, here's what came to my mind after briefly listening through the songs:

Firelink Shrine makes me think of someone sharing their tragic backstory while on the witness stand.

Gaping Dragon sounds like a sudden turn of events, such as someone going missing or a witness’s true identity being revealed.

Ornstein & Smough sounds like the introduction of an antagonist character, such as a cold-hearted prosecutor.

Track #22 (whose name I won’t spoil) sounds like a tender moment, like a reunion of two long-lost friends, or a reconciliation between two enemies.

Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight sounds like one of the ending tunes in a game, signaling a happy ending for everyone. Everyone who likes organ music, at least.

I honestly don’t know how to rate how well any of these would fit into an Ace Attorney game; most of them sound to me like they’d be over the top for any of the current games, but who knows? Maybe someday the series will have music as epic and intricate as that.

Dear nameless2003,

Thank you very much! This isn’t just very humbling to read, it’s also a huge relief for me -- I sometimes wonder if I’m getting the characters to look and sound like most people think they would.

Probably the biggest reason I find it easy to pretend to be a character from this series (other than having played through the games like a maniac) is that a lot of the humor found in it is exactly the kind I like to use in my creative projects, as well as in real life. Things like plays on words:

...unexpectedly funny moments:

...and the characters’ cute and hilarious reactions to things:

...are just what I love to use in things that I write and draw, as well as one of the things that I love most about Ace Attorney! You’ve just got to respect the quality humor involved in little things like these.

Besides that, there are quite a few of the characters that I can relate to in one way or another. Phoenix’s struggle to keep pressing on when things are getting messy, Maya’s excitement about the smallest things, Larry’s stubbornness when things aren’t going his way, Apollo’s confidence in his abilities, and Athena’s desire to do better at everything she does are all things I’ve felt at some point. These feelings might be more exaggerated in the characters, but they’re all something that even the most unemotional human being can experience.

I can’t really answer for the Mod and Modthorne. All I know is that they both have some serious natural talent for writing.

Dear Anonymous,

No trouble at all, my friend. I haven’t run into either of these letters in the inbox yet, and, as far as I can remember, haven’t deleted them, so it could be that they either haven’t reached us yet, or Tumblr messed them up somehow. It might just be what pops up next, for all we know, but if you get tired of waiting, feel free to resend them. Sure, it’ll mean another few months of waiting, but it’s the best way to make sure we receive your letters.

No need to apologize, either -- letters that break the rules show up all the time.

Dear Southern Corn,

Sounds like you were in a good mood when you wrote this. Way to be!

I’ve taken a look at a few other visual novel games, but to be honest, I haven’t been very good at stepping out of my comfort zone when it comes to video games (which for me is Nintendo and Sega, and not much else). It’s not that I’m opposed to trying new things -- I just get timid about exploring something when I don’t know whether it’ll be satisfying or disappointing. Of course, that’s the only way to discover any good game or series (Ace Attorney, for example), so I could probably stand to lighten up a little bit there, huh?

I watched a playthrough of Ghost Trick, and I thought it was a pretty cool game overall, especially in its strategic gameplay and its series of interweaving plots, but I probably would’ve like it better if it didn’t focus so much on deaths and ghost-related occurrences. Those just don’t appeal to me the same way that Ace Attorney’s crazy-yet-believable mysteries do (spirit channeling aside).

I haven’t played the Layton Brothers, or any of the Professor Layton series, for that matter, but the Modthorne has told me a lot of good things about it, so I’ll definitely invest some time in it when I get the chance. Zero Escape looks like it might be interesting, since I enjoy room escape games, but from what I’ve seen of Danganronpa, it look like it’s too sadistic to be very enjoyable (correct me if I’m wrong there). And Hotel Dusk can’t be too bad if its main character had his own trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, so I might just see about that game as well. Thanks for the suggestions!

Here’s one I would suggest if you haven’t tried it: Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher, a free online game that’s more than slightly influenced by Ace Attorney. The Mod has mentioned this game more than once before, and I found it to be very interesting, even if you’re not into philosophy.

Dear Anonymous,

First of all, thank you for sharing this. I wouldn’t have uploaded your letters if I’d known how you felt about them. I actually liked the one you mentioned, by the way.

Secondly, as I mentioned before, I’m not sailing on any ships. I enjoy the thought of Apollo and Athena growing closer as they take on more things together, but I don’t see it as their destiny. Whether Capcom made them for each other or just wants them to remain close friends, I’ll accept whatever they decide, even if it’s not what I was expecting.

Thirdly, I understand how it feels to be depressed by a video game, movie, book, etc., especially when it comes to romance. There have been quite a few fictitious couples that I (along with many others) have wanted to see a romantic spark between, but still haven’t -- Mario and Peach, Link and Zelda, Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty, and so on. But, as disappointing as it can be, there’s really no point in blaming the writers for it, because the romances found in a good story are just like the ones in real life -- they don’t always go in the direction you expect them to. They might work out, or they might not. That’s why I find it helpful to decide in advance to let it go however it will and hope for the best.

And lastly, there was no harm done in sending those letters. In fact, the reason this blog exists is so you can write whatever you want to the characters. You can praise the ones you like, slam the ones you hate, create an awkward situation for them, or do whatever else you prefer. As long as you keep it civil and don’t intentionally try to hurt the feelings of any real people, anything goes. Just keep in mind that we’ll portray the characters as we see them in the games, which may or may not be what you were hoping for.

One other thing -- while Apollo and Athena might be separated for now, I have my doubts that it’ll be for good. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all.

-The Co-Mod

#Anonymous #Anon #nameless2003 #Southern Corn #Mod Post #Co Mod

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amorremanet · 8 years ago

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@apolloniae Okay, first: skffghfk, omg wow, thank you!! That means a lot, especially since this passage is all still early-ish in the writing process for me (like… it’s not as early as the borderline stream of consciousness first-person POV stuff that I was writing with this project last summer, but it’s still fairly early), and I consider it pretty rough still

THAT SAID. omg, dialogue is actually something I both love and dread writing, because I never feel like I have the best gauge on how much is enough or if I’m shoving in too much exposition with it or what, but! I have a couple things I rely on

Not-so-fun secret first: that particular section might be a pretty early draft, but I’ve still revised it something like four times, from jotting the initial idea down longhand, through the different typed versions of this scene that I’ve written (which have gotten changed around pretty significantly), and revisions help a lot with dialogue, in my experience. They can be anything from small stuff like figuring out a better word order but mostly keeping things the same, to taking a really sketchy outline (e.g., “A says something about B’s shoes, B thinks A is being rude and what is up with that, and C is just happy to be here, why can’t we all get along” or full on snatches of dialogue, but written in a way that doesn’t fit the characters) and building the scene up from there. Either way, revisions are a writer’s friend.

But, okay. Speaking more generally: the best place to start is just getting familiar with dialogue, both in real life and in fiction. You really do need both of these influences to write dialogue, because getting more familiar with how people speak IRL can help your dialogue feel realistic — and in some cases, it can be really important to have that verisimilitude, e.g. when you’re writing a bilingual or multilingual character and don’t want to fall into some of the more tired, unrealistic tropes of how multilingualism can manifest in people’s speech; and when you’re writing a deaf character (disclaimer that I’m not deaf, and this fic isn’t the be-all and end-all of how to do this well, but I really like the portrayals of Steve and Clint in, “Trump Diet” by caloriebomb on AO3, and they’re pretty well-researched and well-written portrayals of deaf characters).

On the other hand, though, only listening to how people talk IRL isn’t enough. You can learn a lot from that, for sure — especially when it comes to things like how people present themselves from situation to situation, and how their speech patterns or word choices can change in different contexts (from full-fledged code-switching, to more simple things like swapping in child-friendly substitutes for swear words when you’re with your godkids/younger sibling/grandma/whoever) — but you also need to look at how different techniques for writing dialogue work or don’t in order to figure out how to best present the dialogue so that it helps tell your story.

Different writers also have different strengths that you can learn from, e.g. JKR is really good at blending summaries of things the audience already knows into new scenes (like Harry witnessing the, “Snape brings Remus his Wolfsbane Potion” scene, then immediately running and telling Ron and Hermione), vs. Neil Gaiman’s ability to make dialogue read as realistic and natural even while his characters are talking about patently non-realistic things like magic and whatnot (which I think especially comes out in American Gods, but I’m biased because I’ve been rereading it in honor of the TV series starting), vs. the way that the late, great Terry Pratchett had of really making the dialects, accents, and so on a part of his characters, rather than something pasted on (JKR can also be good at that, but sometimes she goes a bit overboard). So, reading as much as you can is good, and paying attention to how the different writers use dialogue will help you write your own.

Unfortunately, a lot of dialogue-writing ends up being a, “play it by ear” sort of thing. You can easily overdo it with flowery dialogue tags, or repeating, “said” too much. Having too much action between bits of dialogue can bog down the scene, but not having enough can make it feel like nothing’s happening while these people talk (plus, what characters do or not during a conversation can help characterize them as much as, or arguably more than, what they say and how they say it).

One of the biggest pitfalls for a lot of writers is that we put too much dialogue in, usually focusing on the parts of conversations that don’t do anything to help show who the characters are or tell the story. Like, unless your characters have a particularly unique way of saying, “hello” (and showing that to the audience helps establish the characters for us), or there’s something important about how they answer questions like, “Nice day, isn’t it?” (e.g., the, “Wonderful weather this morning” / “Yes, but I always carry an umbrella” exchange from CATFA, because it’s not actually about the weather, but is the password into the secret SSR laboratory), or, “How’re you doing?” (e.g., your character is someone who doesn’t actually respond to that question with some variation on, “Fine, and you?”), then there’s a lot of dialogue that you can probably skip.

However, it can sometimes be difficult to tell where the too much/not enough line is, once you get past that — which really just goes back to the, “Revisions are your friend and you shouldn’t be afraid of them. They don’t mean you’re a bad writer; they’re a part of making your work stronger and telling your stories in the best ways for them” point.

Finally, though, the best rule of thumb is just knowing your characters. Knowing at least a few baseline things about where your characters come from and how they present themselves are helpful for finding their voices and keeping true to it in different scenarios. A character who excessively tries to mold themself according to what other people want them to be, or who unconsciously mirrors those around them, probably won’t have the same speech patterns as a character who doesn’t give a fuck what other people think of them, or who might give a fuck but is too tired/upset/intoxicated/whatever to censor themself effectively. Characters’ upbringings and backgrounds can also come out in their dialogue, so being (more or less) clear on them can be helpful.

One pretty classic example of these ideas is the trope where someone who’s going about in unfamiliar circles may be able to emulate other people’s behaviors, pick up the common speech patterns, verbal tropes, and lingo pretty well, and so on…… but still has a particular verbal tic or cadence to their speech that they can’t shake.

For instance, my Sebastian, from that passage, grew up in a wealthy family that would be minor nobility if the U.S. acknowledged that we totally have a de facto system of nobility (and his paternal grandparents often make a big deal out of how they’re descended from a legit, “Our ancestors earned their title as knights in the service of the King of France before certain well-to-do members of the Third Estate started buying their way up into our ranks, back before the glorious Ancien Régime was even a Thing” noblesse d’épée bloodline). He’s been around folks from a mix of different backgrounds during his time in school, and more so in his adult life, which has involved a lot of hijinks in places that would make his Grandparents go, “Good Heavens, why are you slumming it with the lower classes” before focusing on the actual issues like,, “Why on Earth were you dating an ecoterrorist” and, “Oh dear, our grandson who wanted to join the priesthood when he was a boy seems to have developed a serious problem with opiates”

Like, real talk? Roland and Cecile love their grandchildren, they really do. But when Sebastian went to rehab, they tried to push for sending him to a ridiculously expensive inpatient clinic in California with a huge, pedigreed list of celebrity clients because they thought of it as Rich People Rehab. The explanation, “No, okay? If I’m doing this, then I’m going to this place in Minnesota that exclusively hosts LGBTQ clients because I really don’t feel like I’ll be helped by potentially being around homophobic fellow patients and/or staff”…… was mostly met with blank stares that were the human equivalent of the, “buffering… buffering…” spinning wheel of doom, and the response, “…But going there will put you in treatment with the common rabble, why on Earth would you want that.”

Thankfully, Abe and Marceline, Seb’s parents, were nowhere near this bad — but that classism and the emphasis on how We Are From A Distinguished, Noble Bloodline, So Act Like It were still part of the atmosphere that Seb and his siblings were raised in. Their experiences in schooling moderated it a bit (though less so for, say, eldest brother Max, who went to Posh Boarding School for all four years of high school, then did his undergrad at Columbia and grad school at Harvard), and Seb got a lot of moderation by learning the hard way that sounding too posh in a decidedly not-posh environment is a dead giveaway that you don’t belong there and might get you mistaken for a Federal agent. But it’s hard to completely shake that posh upbringing, and it comes out sometimes in his phrasing, his word choices, etc.

On the other hand, though, Seb is also a human disaster in ways that affect his speech (…and he’s multilingual, but that doesn’t fall under the heading of, “human disaster things”). The trick with those parts of him — like his anxiety and how it kicks into overdrive in certain situations (like, when he’s talking to Stephen, his sponsor’s curatorial assistant, who Seb is crushing on) — is finding a balance where it’s part of his characterization but also doesn’t get completely impossible to read (like the mistake that some people make when writing characters with stutters, where they overdo it to the point that you can’t tell what the characters are saying, but because the writers didn’t do this on purpose, you’re expected to know what’s being said).

Anyway, I’m sorry this got kind of long, but I hope it helps a bit! Dialogue can be tough to work on, but you can learn a lot from experimenting with different ideas and techniques, and just continuing to work on it, even when you hate what you’re writing. ❤️

#apolloniae #replies tag #writing is hard #writing advice #dialogue #mine: writing #…and now i need to edit this so it won't be a huge mess of html fuck mobile #drugs ref// addiction ref//#long post//

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