Hayley's Scrunchie

Top Ten Writing Tips by Janet Fitch Here were some of the most useful tips I found, and ones I plan to implement into my own writing. Vintage man writing, Source 1. Write the sentence, not the story. This one is really useful because as writers we already have the big picture of where our story is going in our minds, but we forget that it takes small steps to get there. We need to focus on each sentence and make them all valuable and unique. 3. Kill the cliche As someone in the college of journalism, I am very familiar with this rule. That being said, it is very difficult to avoid cliches in writing because it's so easy for your brain to go there. Stories are better when we invent our own phrases and sentences, and don't rely on past writers for creativity. 7. Smarten up your protagonist. I understand this because there is nothing I hate more when reading and I know something obvious the protagonist doesn't. It makes more sense to have them observing, thinkin

Story Endings: I noticed all of the folktales from my first reading ended happily with the characters getting rich, reuniting with family, or everything returning to normal again. I wanted to jot down the trends in all of these stories. Dragon, Source The Man Who Met Misery “ At last — there was no other choice, for the ring kept on calling out "Here I am" — Francis stretched out that finger, and the ogre broke it off with one grip. Off ran Francis, glad enough to get off with his life. When he reached home, they asked him: "Did you meet Misery?" "Indeed I did. I know what it is now. It gave me a nice run for it. It's an awful thing, and there's no joking with it. This is one of those stories where crazy things happened, and the best ending possible was for things to just go back to normal. Nine at a Blow “ The tailor told the king that the dragon had killed the giant, so he pocketed the thousand pounds for himself.” Happy en

My last name, Bezdek, is Czech so I thought it would be interesting to read stories that were possibly told to my ancestors growing up in Europe. Since most of these stories are unfamiliar to me, I'm going to jot down notes on general plot and storyline Bibliography: Czech Folktales, Source Sleepy John He fell asleep a lot, I guess narcolepsy is what we'd say today Fell asleep in a cart, and men left him in the forest. Kinda rude. He fends off wolves, and goes to the mountains. Meets a dying hermit who gives him magical tools. He magically travels to the king's palace, and tells the king he will follow the queen He finds out the queen has been dancing in Hell and tells the king Sleepy John gets half the kingdom. wow Silly Jura Two lazy brothers had a third brother Jura that they bullied They go off to find food for a feast, Jura finds nuts from burgomaster Jura cracks the nuts in a church and church people think it's haunted Jura scares the Burgomas

This article was 10 Ways to Be More Productive When Working from Home and I enjoyed it a lot Even though it's mostly referring to adults who have real jobs they do in their home offices, a lot of these tips are applicable for me doing my homework for this online class and my other classes. Pug in a blanket, Source One thing c onfirmed was that I'll be more productive if I get dressed. If I don't leave my house all day, I know that I have to change clothes or I'll feel gross. I think it helps me focus and want to work. Something new I learned is that it helps to go outside for a little bit before you start your work. This little "commute" can get you in the work frame of mind and get you energized. Something I am curious to explore is switching up my work space location. I typically work from my bed or the couch downstairs, but I wonder if my productivity will go up if I sit in a desk or at a physical table instead of putting my laptop on my lap.

Even though I am allergic, I love cats. So I'm very excited to look at some cute inspirational cats today. This cat is from here , and it caught my eye because of how fast it is zooming. After I clicked the link and learned the cat's name is Mrs. Bean, I now love this cat even more than before. A lot of cats are indoor creatures, so I liked how this cat is outside in the grass chasing her dreams. I support her. Sometimes we need to leave our comfort zones to chase dreams. I like this  little cat because it is small and pretty and also the quote is important too. I tend to think I know everything, and I have a habit of saying "I know" way too much. I will continue learning new things my whole life and just because I don't know everything doesn't mean I'm dumb, it means I'm a person.  This cat made me laugh, because it looks so serious looking a itself in the mirror. I think this cat is important because feedback is sometimes scary and it

Me and my fellow University Sing directors (personal photo) Our reading for this week. This week honestly wasn’t my best readings. I chose Alice in Wonderland, and I kind of already knew the story. I wish I would have chosen a new story I had never heard of, but most of the Celtic and British ones were vaguely familiar. Your best writing for this week. I think I did my best writing this week in my sorority’s production of University Sing! Technically, I wrote most of the script a few months ago but this past weekend was the first time I got to see it performed onstage and have my cast say the story I wrote out loud. It was really cool and satisfying to know that my hard work make people laugh and smile and fall in love with our story. Other people's writing . I really liked a lot of the stories I read this week, but especially the one about dragons! The whole blog website was well formatted and each story had unique characters and scenes that I wasn’t famil

A woman in her early twenties walked into the bar with holes in her tights and brown dirty stains on her blue dress. Her blonde hair was tied back in a neat ribbon, but looked like it hadn’t been brushed in several days. Irish Pub, Source “One Mad Hatter on the rocks, please.” The woman climbed onto the tall barstool, her legs dangling off of it. After receiving her drink she played with the straw for a few minutes, not taking a single sip. "Hey kid, you doing alright?" The young bartender approached her with a kind smile on his face. The woman stopped messing with her straw and looked up at him with tired eyes. “I’ve been better. Had kinda a long day,” she replied. She took a long sip of her drink and finished the whole thing in one gulp. “You’re not the first to tell me that. What’s your name?” The bartender seemed genuinely interested in what this mysterious woman had to say. “Alice. And there’s no way you’d believe the day I had. It was mad.” She reste

Alice in Wonderland Movie, ( Source ) Setting: The movie is so colorful and fun to watch, I know the book will also have great descriptive elements to help tell the story. Carroll does a great job of setting the scene in the transitions from one major event to the next. “There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it and talking over its head.” This quote perfectly sets up the mad tea party scene, describing the layout of the event. We can picture the funny image of the mouse sleeping while the hare and hatter are leaning on him like a cushion. “Once more she found herself in the long hall and close to the little glass table. 'Now, I'll manage better this time,' she said to herself, and began by taking the little golden key and unlocking the door that led into the garden.

I am familiar with the stories of Alice and Wonderland because I have seen the movies and read the stories as a child. Instead of taking notes on the plot that many people know, I decided to do research on the author, Lewis Carroll,  to hopefully learn some new information. Alice, Source Lewis Carroll was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in 1832 in England. His pen name is actually a sort of pun on his real name. Lewis is a form of Ludovicus, which is Latin for Lutwidge. Carroll is similar to Latin Carolus, which is close to Charles. Carroll is English, and is most well known for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the sequel Through the Looking Glass.  Carroll is also known for his word play, and has several poems that are technically classified as Literary Nonsense because of all of the made up words. He started writing short stories in the family magazine Mischmasch from a young age. He got his start by sending these funny poems and stories to various magazines who woul

I read this article 10 Ways Teachers Can Improve Their Sleep but I hope it works on students too. I've been a little sick recently, and definitely not sleeping super well.  One thing that was confirmed by this article was that you need to stick to a sleep schedule. I knew this, and I am not a night owl so I try to go to bed by around midnight every night no matter the day of the week. If I'm up super late I can feel it in my body that it isn't good for me, so I try to sleep early. Something new that I learned is that your feet temperature can affect how you sleep. I knew that colder temperatures are usually better (and I prefer those) but I had no idea that it's scientific that if your feet are too cold or too hot you can be sleepless. I often get uncomfortable if my feet are too cold at night, and now I know that it's not just me being dramatic. Grabbing a pair of socks now brb. Sleeping cat, Source I am curious to explore sleeping in the complet

I am a huge fan of inspirational quotes and cute graphics. I have an entire pinterest board dedicated to it, in fact. One of my favorite quotes is from the underrated Disney movie, Meet the Robinsons . Canva graphic created by me After the main character's invention fails in front of his new family, he is not only embarrassed but discouraged from trying again. Instead of judging him, the family couldn't be more proud of him for trying something new and failing. They tell him Keep Moving Forward. I love this quote because it is so simple yet so strong it can be applicable to anything. When I'm stressed about homework, get rejected for a position, or just feeling sad, -  it's good to remember to keep moving forward.

Since my schedule is becoming busy with the semester ending soon, I decided the best story laboratory would be to do a little research for my storybook. So far, I've done stories for Helios and Selene, and the grand finale is told by Eos. Eos is one of my favorite greek figures of all time, so I really want to make this story perfect. The common theme in all my stories is these goddesses and gods tricking mortals into doing things. There is a huge rivalry between the two groups, and I want to continue that dynamic. THEOI This website has a lot of information on many different greek figures, not just gods and goddesses. It has a significant section for Eos, including excerpts from poems about her. She is frequently referred to as "rosy fingered dawn," so I'm definitely going to incorporate that phrase in my story.  Eos was cursed by Aphrodite to love young men, including mortals. Similar to Selene, I think I have to make Eos's story a love one too. I don'

Bibliography: Robin Hood: Francis James Child,  Source Robin Hood and Prince John Disney Characters:  Source I continue my Robin Hood reading today with part two, and one thing I noticed while reading yesterday’s section is that it is written in verse. The verse, although confusing to read, is beautiful and creates quite wonderful pictures and imagery. Today I’m going to post a few of my favorite stanzas and talk about how they tell Robin Hood’s story in a way normal language can’t. “Then Robin set his back against a tree, And his foot against a thorn, And from underneath his shepherd’s coat He pulld out a bugle-horn.” I liked this section because you could easily picture the scene being described. Robin Hood is leaning against a tree, pulling out a bugle to start playing a little ditty. A lot of these verses are dialogue between Robin Hood and his antagonists, but I like the simplicity of this one. “So to conclude my merry new song, All you that delight

Bibliography: Robin Hood: Francis James Child, Source Celebrity Casting: For my readings about Robin Hood, I thought it would make them more enjoyable if I had specific people playing each part that I could imagine while reading. I’ve been wanting to try this challenge for awhile, but none of the stories I read had constant characters. The only downside to this section of reading is a serious lack of female characters, so I had to choose random people for those. Tom Holland, Source Robin Hood: Tom Holland (young, funny, charming) “Fifteen winters old” he’s young at first, so he can’t be played by a 30 year old later throughout the song he grows older. brave, bold, courageous “with passionate fury and ire” He can move a bow and arrow, cares for the people clever, tricks butchers Little John: Will Poulter (Will is by no means chubby, but he is 6’2 which helps my vision) “tho he was called Little, his limbs they were large” This young man has to be tal