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Yarn a Tale to Grow Flow

Have a Ball with Yarn as Prompt

Yarn is a good prompt for writing.
Squeeze a ball of yarn. It’s soft and fluffy to the touch. What metaphors or images arise from the sight or touch of the yarn?

Have yarn, will create! Using this spun thread to create connections is nothing new. The word itself has a secondary meaning, which is to spin a tall-tale, fable, or myth. There are some good reasons for this connection. First, yarns squeeze metaphors to create literary impact. Second, creatives can literally juggle  balls of yarn to consider how a plot can be twisted and turned to add drama. Finally, finger-crocheting can help knit together a dialogue or setting. Let’s look at yarn’s versatility as a writer’s tool below.

Squeeze Out Metaphor

Rubber stress balls work to help anxiety-filled writers and artists, but those made from yarn are better. Soft, fluffy, and light, they help us to squeeze metaphors while literally clamping down on them. Think about it. Maybe the logger who created the Paul Bunyan folklore had access to yarn balls while spinning tales of Paul and his blue ox named, Babe? Not familiar with the American tale? The city of Bemoiji, Minnesota’s website has detailed storylines for Paul and Babe’s travels. See more here: https://wewriteitright.com/sow-flow-visit-antique-shop/

Juggle ideas around while rotating these light-as-air balls to loosen up a plot.

Juggle Ideas Around with Yarn Balls

Perhaps juggling can loosen up a stuck plot. Without too much scientific thinking here, simply juggle three balls of yarn. Stand or sit. It doesn’t make a difference. Focus on the act of juggling the balls for five to 10 minutes, then write a journal entry about the current piece. See what types of connections altered or sprung up from the simple act of juggling. Need a refresher on how to juggle? Look here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNigMfLNhpg

Finger Crochet to Knit a Tale

Want to bring a scene or a dialogue alive? Try finger crocheting some yarn at the desk. This works better seated than standing. Again, do not think too much about the creative piece. Think summer camp or study hall in middle school. Simply focus energy on doing the loops in finger crocheting for about 10 minutes. The process is what matters here, so don’t sweat the way the long link looks. Then, again, write a journal entry to note any new sensory images to add to a scene or dialogue.

Finger crochet for dialogue or scene development.

Your Turn

Creating space to allow images to pop up is important for writers and artists to yarn their tales. Frist, try to squeeze metaphors to enhance the story. Next, mix things up in a plot after juggling. Finally, use finger crocheting to knit together a scene or a dialogue. Choose any of these or all three to keep your story skills fluid.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

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Day After Twelfth Night Stirs Flow

Flow Arrives the Morning After Twelfth Night

Red wreath brings glee.
A red berry wreath remind bears glad tidings beyond Twelfth Night.

Entering into life beyond The Twelfth Day of Christmas challenges even the most cheerful among us.  People don’t get too excited about the thirteenth day of Christmas now, do they? Yet flow arrives on the heels of such a day. Honestly, it is important to know where to look. My family packed up Christmas after attending an Epiphany service. And, I’m not going to lie, it felt a little sad. Then, I realized what was needed to keep the spirit of the holidays going into at least next month. What was it? A simple red berry wreath.

Flow Found in Red Berry

A wreath is a traditional sign to welcome those entering a home. This red berry wreath is hung on a pantry door in my kitchen for a few reasons. First, it recalls winter’s joyful landscapes. Where I live it is in the 70s during the day and down in the 40s at night.  So, the symbolism of a white door behind the red berries reminds me of the Snow Belt where I grew up. Next, it winds around on itself as a sign of infinity. Glad tidings, I am reminded, are reason for an additional smile. And, another. Finally, stir those images around to find a satisfying sense of flow to extend the joy of Twelfth Night into today –  and beyond.

Other Places to Find Flow Beyond Twelfth Night

Easily find flow and where it grows through the five senses. First, get out a journal. Next, walk around the office or house and jot down anything that smells, sounds, tastes, feels, or looks like an extension of the holiday. For example, note that the red earthen wear bowl can hold fruit such as apples on the counter. Perhaps a dash a cinnamon in coffee or on cocoa brings a jolt of joy. Finally, take this listing of sense-related phrases and quickly write a reflection on Christmas joys. No need to share it – unless that, too, brings joy.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

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The 3 Best Ways to Proofread a Document

shutterstock_86933614A Trifecta of Proofreading Tips

Watch your words! Closely proofread your text for common spelling errors.

Yes, yes, I know. Computers are getting smarter by the minute. Software is now able to catch such things as transposed letters within a word as each word is being keyed. Furthermore, the proliferation of documents being voice transcribed makes it is worth the effort to look for spelling errors in the way words are interpreted by software. This holds true for the basic word confusion as noted in the Bermuda Triangle of Grammatical Disaster:  there/their/they’re. It can happen, too, when software misinterprets the spelling of a person’s name. This happened recently with a voice to text transmission that I received. The caller, a woman by the name of Maki, was text recorded with the following software error: “Hi, this is Mickey!” So, smart software can have its pitfalls.

Get back to basics with subject/verb agreement.

Nothing jumps out of a text quite like misplaced subject/verb agreement. The subject is a noun or a pronoun, or with a second person pronoun “you” that is implied and therefore missing. The verb can be  both active and passive, but the active verbs seem to trip up inexperienced writers the most. When in doubt, consult an online grammar sites such as www.grammarly.com.

Begin with the end in mind.

Reading a manuscript carefully after the spell check and the grammatical software has caught a number of errors is always a good plan. Going through the manuscript again and looking closely at words that could pass for the correct usage and spelling is another pass worth taking. The last step for an error-free document is to take the time to read the entire document backwards, whether it is a article, paper or blog post. That’s right, I wrote backwards  –  word by word.  In doing so, the proofreader catches every single stray error that can affect the integrity of the document.

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Three Things Every Resume Needs

Resumes Done Right!

Resumes, like people, stand out when they are polished. To have a resume that makes its way through a stack from the bottom to the top, it needs three basics items to be carefully considered. Turning the keys of precision, clarity and white space sets a resume apart from the competition.

The first way to make a resume noticeable is precision. Take a current resume and cross out every single word, phrase, or clause not absolutely necessary to fulfill the position’s requirements. Eliminate technical jargon, extraneous adjectives and adverbs, and any detail that does not heighten the candidate’s credentials or credibility.

Businesswoman Conducting An Employment Interview With Young Female Applicant
Businesswoman Conducting An Employment Interview With Young Female Applicant

The second thing a winning resume will have is exact dates of previous employment, internships and educational references. While many argue in favor of the months or years on a job, there is a whole new level of integrity when a potential hire knows the exact dates of when work and internships began and ended, scholarships or awards were earned, and degrees were issued. Managers can readily note potential hires are honest and operating from a high level of integrity if their credentials are tailored by date.

Finally, our society is shifting from using words to icons, like the Twitter bird or the Instragram camera.  The text becomes more iconic when negative space is strictly observed. While the resume has been edited to use exact language and exact dates, make sure there is an abundance of  white space on all four margins and between sections to make for quick reading. Many applicants choose narrow margins to elaborate on their work. Leave the expanded description of the research project for the interview. Think of the resume as a synopsis of one’s work rather than giving a detailed story.

By using editorial precision, detail to dates, and liberal white space in the margins, a resume is polished. And a polished resume is what gets an interview!

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How Many Words Do I Need?

Brevity…how many words do I need?

Today let’s look at brevity: (noun) 1. exact wording. For example, the word itself is refreshing. How many words do I need is a common question when creating content. Yet much of the business, academic and journalistic writing found today runs in one of two camps, which are polar opposites: Classics versus Modernists.

The Classic Camp

Classic business writing encourages long passive constructions, featuring polysyllabic Latin and Greek utterances. It flaunts an assumed power by the sheer number of character spaces consumed on such sentences.

The Modernist Group

The second is the Modernist group. Minimalists at heart they prefer the staccato of 140 character status update on Twitter feed. How many words one needs can be confusing. This use of words is becoming more of a compression of language, a code if you will. IDK.

Finding Balance

Striking a balance is ideal, but most writers and composition instructors are in favor of lean, active construction. The Greek philosopher, Pythagoras of Samos said it well: “Say not little in many words, but much in few”. For a man remembered for his mathematical theorem, he definitely had an angle on brevity.

The right length of an essay corresponds with good fashion advice.

As a middle school student, I clearly remember a brief explanation on brevity from my Language Arts teacher.  Miss Alexander taught us “the length of an essay is like a girl’s skirt. Long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep it interesting”. Her definition came at the height of the Women’s Movement, which explains why the skirt reference was indelibly marked in my brain decades later.

Putting It All Together

Different writing projects call for different approaches depending upon the audience. Product descriptions, business letters, and manifestos tend to run short. Business plans, articles and Curriculum Vitaes are typically long. The key is to have a clear understanding of what your writing needs are and what you hope to accomplish.