I've been really busy writing and working on end of semester stuff. Finals next week and then I'm free to do a bunch of writing and will definitely do some good blogging. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! :)
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Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Today, I just wanted to tell you, I put up an essay on my 'essays & writing' tab on why 'Election 2016 was Historic'. I hope you enjoy.
So, I know this website is young, and only read by a few people, but I want to thank you few people that do read this blog. It reminds me that I do have a writing platform, however small it may be. I want to thank you, from the heart, if you are a returning visitor to this website. You're helping my career.
However, I challenge you to do one other thing. Please, share this blog with just one person who you think would enjoy it, in the next week. I'm not asking for a miracle. I'm not asking for your money. I simply ask that you share this website with one person. Just one person! You also have a week to accomplish this task. You don't have to leave a comment, or contact me, saying that you've shared it. In fact, please don't. But I'll be quite happy if my statistics go up after this next week. Thanks again to all of you loyal returners. You remind me that I can achieve my goals. So, this tip on writing wasn't planned, nor did I ever figure I would do anything like this. It seems that whenever I least expect it, I hear someone mention something about how the blank page is intimidating. I disagree. The blank page symbolizes the beginning of a new adventure. White is the color, symbolically, of peace and surrender. The white, blank page is at your disposal. You should feel free to do whatever you want with a blank piece of paper.
Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. Perhaps this is just the inner optimist inside of me. But let me be clear. If the blank page intimidates you, don't let it. Perhaps some good old Bob Ross would do you well. Like Bob Ross says, "You can paint with almost anything. All you have to do is practice!" The same goes for writing. You can turn any idea into a good story, with enough practice and ink. That has simply been my two cents on the subject, and is less of a writing tip, and more so encouragement. I'm still alive.
I have a lot of writing projects I'm working on, including, a TV Episode, a school essay, book chapters, and trying to balance all of that with finishing the essay about Election Day for here. Have a good week, everyone. Well. Since we last talked, or rather, since I last posted, whether you like it or not, Donald Trump was elected our next president. It is history making. He will be the first president to never have held any public office or been in a military position. Even the Bush's had been governors, and so had Ronald Reagan. Additionally, he will surpass Ronald Reagan as the oldest president to take office, by almost a year.
However, Election 2016 was historic for many more reasons, including a petition for statehood, the approval of ranked-choice voting, and marijuana, both recreational and medical. It was also the 5th time in history when the Electoral College differed from the popular vote, if you include the 1824 election, when no candidate received a majority of the vote. Within the next couple of weeks, I will be posting an article on my "Essays & Writing" page, detailing a few of these topics in detail, and how they really are a historic change. I will keep you updated, and put up a very short post when the article is up. I'm gonna get real for a moment. I start my day every morning at 6, waking up, pressing snooze until 6:30, when I'm out the door by 7:30. I get to school before 8, and spend the day in classrooms and lecture halls, with some fun classes, and some boring classes. I get a varying amount between 1/2 an hour and 2 1/2 hours of break, depending on the day and get home around 4:30. I eat dinner sometime and give myself between 1 and 2 hours to relax, and then do homework until about 9 o'clock. I go to bed. I think about how I need to get some stuff done. Yet, I don't have the time. I never have time during the week to work on my book-writing, however, squeeze in a few minutes for my other writing projects. I spend most of my Saturday reading a book, generally for school, and writing. On Sunday, I'm with family and do homework.
Point being: I hardly ever get a break. Excluding sleeping, I get only 20 hours off during a 5 day work week, compared to the average working adult's 40. So, even though I would love to blog everyday, I rarely have enough time to even squeeze in a post before bed. My new, official schedule for blog posts will be as follows: One post a week. This, of course, will vary. Some weeks I'll miss, due to vacation, and other days I will do an extra post, because of a special event. With the election season almost over, relief is just around the corner. No more angry, non-factual political ads; no more cable news ignoring U.S.-Russian Relations plummeting; and of course, no more stupid comments like, "They're rapists", "What is Aleppo?", and "The Basket of Deplorables". But, in these last Nine Days, we have important decisions to make, on the local, state, and federal level. Since all of the people running for president this year have, to put it lightly, flaws, perhaps try and focus more on the congressional elections taking place in your state. Let's be honest, Congress has hardly gotten anything done over the past several years. They are gridlocked politically. Unless we start paying more attention to those many elections, compared to the election of one individual, we will run our country into the ground. Congress has the power to write laws, declare war, and overrule the president. So why does it matter if we get a criminal or racist into the White House? Even if the President vetoes a bill, Congress can overrule the veto with a 2/3 vote. So please, elect a congressman or congresswoman that will do what you want, not what the future president wants. As Ted Cruz put it, whether you agree or not, please, "Vote your conscience". So this November 8th, I urge you to do two things. 1) Do some research on your state's candidates for the House and the Senate, and make wise choices to vote for more independent individuals. 2) Duck and Cover!!! My school is one of the many across the country that is now in debt. Naturally, budget cuts are being made that not everyone agrees with. Although the German language program has not been cut, many students, including some taking a German class, say it should be, because it's not useful in America. And although this may be the case, in an increasingly shrinking world, due to the Internet and the rise of social media, learning foreign languages are increasingly more important.
First of all, if you want to go into a background of science, German will likely be important to you, as it is the second most common language used in science. It is the third most commonly used language on the internet. Above all else, it's the most commonly used language in the European Union. The German language is also ranked fifth as the language of published books, annually. With all of this, how can you still believe the German language won't help people at all in their lives? So, I've been up to a lot lately and quite busy, indeed. I spent my last Sunday, the 9th, writing a list of Presidents for a world I am setting a book in. I spent half of Saturday, the 8th, painting, and before that eventful weekend, I had a lot of tests and exams.
But, let me reach out to any fellow writers out there, or even anyone who has to write a lot of essays for a class. Let's admit it, we all have a difficult time writing something. By that, I mean some of us have a difficult time describing a setting, some of us have a difficult time writing dialogue, etc. Over the next couple of months, I may occasionally throw in a blog post about how to improve your writing skills in some specific areas. So, since dialogue can be found in a lot of forms of writing, I'll write on that subject first. I was excellent at describing a setting and pretty good with plot lines this time last year. However, dialogue was something I just couldn't get down. Somehow, I came up with an excellent idea that I thought would fit best in the format of a TV Show. So, I started writing a TV show. Of course, it isn't airing, but it does have a nice plot line and I share episodes with a few friends. Throughout writing a TV Show, I've had to learn the importance of dialogue. Of course, Television is more than just dialogue, but it's more prominent in television than in most books. Books are filled with descriptions, whereas on TV, you don't need description, you just see it. People are also always talking about showing, not telling, a story, through dialogue or how a person acts. Writing a script for something helps with that, too. So, long story short, if you struggle with dialogue, but you're really into this writing thing, or simply want to get the best grade in your class, try writing a script for something. Anything. A screenplay for your favorite book might be a good place to start, or better yet, create a short, 5-minute skit that's remotely funny. If anyone tries this, I'd love to hear how it went, and if it helped you with your dialogue-writing. |
AuthorMy Name is Eddie Schweikert. I am an animator, author, artist, and friend. You will hear about many of my latest ventures here. Archives
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