The ultimate story that we can write is life. Everybody has a story and their individual experiences make up the chapters. Each day is a story, another page to add to our chapter. For some it is the story of survival. In my profession as an Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor, I have heard stories of a horrific nature as well as stories that of heroes. Enjoy your story each and everyday, the final chapter may be written at any time and we don't even know it is being written. Our book, meaning our life, our story, our chapters can end in a flash of a second. What impact will your story leave for others to read? "Life." you can't live without it.
Keith
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When it comes to the organs you know you’re supposed to monitor, your heart, brain, and colon probably jump to the top of your mind. Your pancreas? Not so much.
But longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek brought some much-needed attention to the overlooked organ after announcing he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The host shared the news in a video message on Wednesday. Although pancreatic cancer is rarer than other forms of the disease, it's also among the most deadly. And the stage 4 pancreatic cancer survival rate is particularly low. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 55,440 people were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018, and 44,330 will die from it. Only about 8 percent of all people with pancreatic cancer survive five years after the initial diagnosis, according to the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER). The five-year survival rate for patients diagnosed with metastatic, or stage 4, pancreatic cancer is 3 percent. Once patients are in this stage, the cancer has spread to other organs, like the liver or lung. What's even more frightening? Pancreatic cancer is hard to detect, and it's not subject to routine screenings. Plus, it can also spread to other organs early on, explains Daniel M. Labow, M.D., F.A.C.S., chair of the department of surgery for Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, and chief of surgical oncology and hepatobiliary surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. While not everyone with pancreatic cancer will exhibit early symptoms, knowing what to look out for can help doctors treat it as soon as possible, which significantly raises your chances of survival. Here are some possible signs of pancreatic cancer - including some that your doctor probably never told you about.Read more: www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/8-pancreatic-cancer-symptoms-your-doctor-wont-tell-you-about/ss-BBUsWcM?li=BBnba9O#image=1 By Michael - 4 minute read
Some writers neglect the power of emotion when communicating their ideas, valuing logic more than others do, and assuming that everyone thinks like they do – that careful reasoning is enough to convince readers and make points. But even the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who was no enemy of reason, taught that stimulating emotion in your audience can be the key to persuading them. I’ve decided that communication, instead of simply inserting information into my reader’s head, is more like striking a tuning fork that resonates with the tuning fork in my reader’s head. Emotion resonates in a way that logic does not. Here is a list of words that express powerful, positive emotions. They would fit well in a movie ad or a blurb on the back cover of a novel, two bastions of emotionally persuasive words. amazing – from a Proto-Germanic word “to confound or confuse” so if you were a Proto-German you might not want to be amazed. But amazing now has a positive connotation of delight and wonder, though it is often used lightly, even when you’re not paralyzed under a weight of marvelous singularity. appealing – from the Latin for “call,” something that is appealing calls to you or attracts you. A convict would appeal to a judge to reconsider his innocence. arresting – If you were a fugitive from the criminal justice system, you would avoid anything arresting, that stops you in your tracks. But sometimes it’s nice to be so overwhelmed by a thought or experience that you don’t even move. astonishing – Related to the modern word stun (as in “stun gun”) and to ancient words for “stupefy, crash, daze, bang.” One synonym is flabbergasting. I had a boss who liked to retort, “I am astonied,” as used in the King James Bible. astounding – Closely related to stun, it includes the meanings of dazzling and bewildering. An astounding experience goes beyond mere surprise. attractive – As you might expect, one synonym is magnetic – something that allures or draws you by its own intrinsic power. Often used to describe members of the opposite sex. awe-inspiring – Literally “breathing awe into.” The word awe once meant “overwhelming dread,” and this compound word preserves some of the dictionary connotation of majesty that awesome has lost. captivating – Originally it simply meant “making captive,” something that pirates might do to others that you wouldn’t want done to you. But like many words in this list, it now has pleasant connotations: being confronted by something so wonderful that you can’t stop thinking about it. compelling – When someone compels you, they force you to do something. When something is compelling, it forces you to consider it, as in a compelling argument that makes a lot of sense, or a compelling novel that makes you think. engaging – From root words for “pledge, promise, secure,” an engaging person or thing makes you want to involve yourself with it and commit yourself to it, similar to the way two people become engaged when they decide to get married. Used in business buzzwords such as “audience engagement” and “product engagement” which involve much less commitment than marriage, though the marketing department might hope it was different. enticing – Meaning “tempting, alluring,” its roots meant “torch, firebrand.” I suppose that being enticed is like being ignited. You can use the synonym inveigling, but few will know what you mean. You can use the archaic synonym illecebrous, but nobody will know what you mean. exhilarating – This word exhilarating has the connotation of “invigorating, refreshing, thrilling, exciting.” Unlike awesome, this word has become stronger, not weaker, since the days of Rome. It comes from the Latin roots for “ex-hilarity-ate-ing” so its origin is something like “gladdening,” maybe as in “That thoroughly hilarized me!” That is, it’s related to hilarious, which today means “very funny” but formerly meant “cheerful.” fascinating – Another happy word with sinister roots, coming from the Latin for “bewitch, enthrall, cast a spell upon.” It refers to something you find so interesting that you’re spellbound or trapped (in a good way). impressive – Yes, one of its roots is “to press.” An impressive experience makes an unforgettable impression on your mind, as the press at a government mint makes a powerful impression on metal blanks that turns them into coins. marvelous – A marvelous sight provokes almost uncontrollable wonder in those who see it. From the Latin for “worthy to be looked at.” memorable – Its Latin root originally meant “worthy of mention,” but it soon changed to “worthy of remembering,” as it means now. A synonym is remarkable, which means “worth noting.” mind-blowing – Alfred Hitchcock wondered if it involved compressed air. Common in the 1960s and used to describe the effect of hallucinogenic drugs, it carries the sense of an experience so intense or unusual that the human mind is overwhelmed by it. mind-boggling – First used in the early 1960s, it results in being overwhelmed, dumbfounded, or confused, usually mentally but also emotionally. overwhelming – If whelm means “to capsize, flood, or engulf,” then overwhelm is even stronger. The power of an overwhelming experience is more than you can handle. rapturous – It means “blissful, filled with extreme delight.” It comes from a Latin word for “snatched, carried off,” as one might feel during an ecstatic experience. A rapt listener is transported by and absorbed in what he or she is hearing. refreshing – Literally, “making fresh again,” revitalizing because of its newness. It comes from ancient European words for “fresh,” as you might expect. But these words also have the sense of “sweet, pure.” riveting – A rivet is a small metal fastener, so a listener would have trouble separating himself from a riveting conversation because it holds their attention so strongly. staggering – Meaning “reeling, tottering, bewildering.” A drunk man staggers as he walks. Having a truly staggering realization might make it hard to walk straight – it’s so amazing and astonishing that it affects the body. stunning – Saying a person has stunning beauty means that he or she is so attractive that it causes the viewer to lose strength. That’s usually an exaggeration, but the word does imply amazement and high quality. Related to astonishing. thrilling – Causing a sudden, intense excitement, even causing shaking or vibrating. Sword clashing against sword is thrilling in that sense. wondrous – This word is not for ordinary experiences. A wondrous sight is truly amazing, causing deep awe and marvel. Though these words are all based on emotions, notice that they are also based on verbs – actions that stimulate emotions in my heart that change my behavior or attitude. For example, an amazing event amazes me. An appealing object appeals to me. They are intended to inspire action. You could use most of them as exclamations, putting an exclamation mark after them, though people might look at you oddly if you blurted out, “Oh rapturous!” TAXED MESSAGE
It's human nature to want to keep money in your pocket rather than give it to Uncle Sam, which is why people and businesses come up with all manner of potential deductions as tax filing season rolls around. From trying to write off breast enhancement to deducting the cost of at-home petting zoos, tax professionals have heard it all. Click ahead for are some of the most unusual, unexpected, or lavish deductions tax preparers have encountered over the years. www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxes/20-crazy-sounding-tax-deductions-that-are-actually-legit/ss-BBSZz1R?li=BBnbfcN Common novel writing tips should never be applied without further thought. Here are 7 common writing tips you’ll hear in creative writing classes and writing groups that you should avoid applying blindly: 1. ‘Write what you know’It’s true that to write a great story, you need closeness to your material. Don’t take novel writing tips like this completely literally, though. Contemporary British historical fiction author Philippa Gregory couldn’t personally know the 16th-Century aristocrat Mary Boleyn. That didn’t stop her historical novel The Other Boleyn Girl (2001) from getting critical acclaim and a film adaptation. Take ‘write what you know’ figuratively: Write about experiences and events you know in the sense that you can relate to them. If you can relate to your material, this emotional and/or intellectual closeness will filter into your work and affect readers. Be daring, also – becoming a skilled writer means honing your ability to write convincingly about what you don’t know; the things you can’t personally empathise with but can at least imagine. 2. ‘Show, don’t tell’‘Show, don’t tell’ is good advice in some respects. What befalls your characters might be moving or shocking, but the reader soon forgets if it’s hard to picture and feel these events. Emotional connection lingers. Compare, for example, the following: ‘She felt fear going to visit her mom, as she knew she’d been moved to intensive care. She was relieved when she found her looking stronger – the picture of health, even.’ And: ‘The hospital’s corridors seemed to stretch for miles. Passing an open doorway, she heard an unsettling moan. She reached the ICU ward, entering tentatively. Surprised, she almost didn’t recognize her mom, propped up in a corner behind half-open curtains. The colour had returned to her cheeks and she looked much younger than she had on her daughter’s last visit.’ In the second example, fear is distilled in a concrete image and by evoking the sense of sound. The character’s movement and the description of the mother combine to make the reader see and hear what the character sees, as fear gives way to relief. Showing makes the scene more vivid. Even so, there are cases where telling is preferable, as Ursula K. Le Guin states. So choose wisely. Be sure to consciously show rather than tell if:
Even when you tell, remember to apply the same principles of story and good style you would in a more descriptive passage of writing. 3. Make bad things happen to characters to show what they’re made of This writing tip from Kurt Vonnegut’s introduction to his story collection Bagombo Snuff Box has some merit. There is intrigue in tension and seeing a character claw their way out of a challenge. But Vonnegut’s advice needs a few caveats:
4. Never use passive voice Of all the common novel writing tips, ‘don’t use passive voice’ is one of the most abused. It’s true that active sentences are strong sentences. ‘He stashed away the firearm’ is character-focused and action-focused, whereas ‘The firearm was stashed away by the man’ is bad for multiple reasons. Firstly, the word ‘by’ is clunky and creates bad/awkward style. The word ‘by’ can be helpful when it specifies who performed an action (e.g. ‘by the man [not by the woman]’), yet there is no second character involved in this example. Secondly, the emphasis on the object in the passive voice example gives it the most significance, rather than the more interesting action. In this case, passive voice is indeed bad. Yet there are many instances where passive voice is completely acceptable. In ‘I was shoved out of the way by the man,’ the wording of the phrase contributes to the action’s passivity. The sentence, like the man’s action, is focused on his (and not the narrator’s) immediate needs. One way you can use passive voice is thus to reinforce the sense of a character’s passivity in a scene. But do this subtly. As a rule of thumb, choose the sentence structure that is clearest and most concise. 5. Shun the adverb Do you reach for an adverb whenever you need to describe an action? Famous authors such as Stephen King have trash-talked adverbs for good reason. Often, writers use adverbs to add specificity to bland, nondescript verbs (e.g. ‘She ran hurriedly’). Instead of using an adverb to show the way a character runs, use a strong, descriptive verb, e.g. ‘She tore’. Again, however, novel writing tips forbidding adverbs ignore that they enrich description if used creatively, rather than lazily. For example, in ‘she stumbled, lightly laughing and glancing over her shoulder as she neared the dune’s summit’, the word ‘lightly’ is effective because it also conveys mood and tone. The word ‘lightly’ also echoes the connotation of lightness of touch in the word ‘glancing’. The reason the example sentence works is because it mixes active verbs with adverb use, keeping the natural flow of the phrase. You could argue that the word ‘giggling’ could be substituted for ‘lightly laughing’. Yet there is a schoolgirlish connotation to this active verb that you might not want in this particular scenario. In short, use fewer adverbs because there are often stronger verbs available. Don’t be inflexible, though, because sometimes adverbs add to the mood, tone or rhythmic flow of a sentence. 6. Create complications in the middle of your storyThis writing advice is often given to writers struggling to make the middle of a book as interesting as the start. If your character moves from A to an end goal at E without any interruptions or missteps at B, C, or D, this may be predictable. Yet complications should still make narrative sense. Stray too far from your story’s main plotline and your writing can feel aimless. Instead create complications that:
7. Focus on the action Your writing group might tell you your story needs more action. Beware of the breathless, ‘one-thing-after-another’ effect, though. This is particularly true if you want readers to form emotional connections to your characters. Even bestselling thrillers such as Gone Girl show character development and take the time to describe settings and characters’ inner lives fully. Instead of focusing on action exclusively, make each part of your novel active. Even if you’re describing a static scene (e.g. the creepy house on the outskirts of town and how it looks from the bottom of the hill), imbue your descriptions with active words. Create contrasts and think about anomalies. Ask ‘what does this scene have that stands out and makes it worth translating into words for someone else to see?’ Keep this in mind so you write great pages even when nothing highly significant is happening. |
AuthorKeith Kelly currently lives in Rio Rancho New Mexico. Archives
October 2020
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