Deadlines
What is a writer to do with time constraints?
By participating in NaNoWriMo last year, (National Novel Writing Month) I personally learned that I write best when I have a certain goal to accomplish each day. That goal helps me push myself to complete it. Even if I’m too tired or getting discouraged, I know I have a goal in mind and I want to meet it.
Things like NaNoWriMo and signing up for a writing class will help with writing under pressure. In a writing class, the teacher gives you a deadline. If you miss that deadline, you can’t participate in any assignments concerning that piece of writing; deadlines have consequences when not met. You could even assign your own deadlines. Maybe three thousand words in one day or a chapter a week or any other deadline you want to create!
Also, finding a writing buddy helps. Whether you can meet in person or just online, you and your buddy can make personal goals and then discuss each day (or week, or whatever you choose) how you accomplished that goal. Meanwhile, you can discuss ideas, encourage each other, and find support in knowing that someone is working with you.
The best option, in my opinion, is a class in which you’ll lose percentage points if you turn in an assignment late. I’ve taken classes through my local community college. Search around where you live; you might find a good program.
Once again, it’s entirely your decision what to do. I’ve provided some examples that have worked for me and hope that other writers will find something useful from them.
Visit the Nation Novel Writing Website: http://www.nanowrimo.org/
ESTHER LOPRESTO
I am first and foremost a Scribe of the King. It is my desire to serve God through the written word. I have been creating stories since age three. I would tell them to entertain my family, but didn’t start writing them down until age eight or nine.
Since then, the need to write has been insatiable. At age nineteen, I had my first book, Where’s My Other Sock?, published by Tate Publishing. Then, I graduated from community college with a degree; not in anything writing related, but in accounting. Currently, I’m hunting for a bookkeeping job and working on several books or story ideas. In my stories, I challenge the reader’s imagination with adventures into the fantasy realm. Some stories lean towards mystery/suspense or general fiction, and I try to write for all ages. I find my inspiration from JRR Tolkien’s works and from the Randomness of everyday life.
SDG. (read more…)
God Has His Own Eraser
It was the second hour of history class and my brain was functioning on power saver. I nodded occasionally to let the teacher know I was still cognizant, but beyond that I was there only in body. Gradually I came up for air, and was struck by what I heard.
The unit we were studying was on Abraham’s life. The teacher was talking about the many terrible ways that he sinned against God. He lied about his wife being his sister … twice, he tried to force God’s promise of a son to come true on his own, and he didn’t act as the leader of his house to end the disputes between Sarah and her servant, Hagar.
Yet, even though Abraham made countless mistakes, God was still faithful to bring about his promise for his life. He did not hold Abraham’s deeds against him. God has his own eraser, and he uses it all the time with the sins of his chosen people.
It is so freeing to know that God will bring about his plan even when I mess up. He has a goal at the end of this, and I can be sure that he will accomplish it. My part is only to follow his direction for my life as best as I can.
Like Abraham, God called you when He drew you to himself. Follow his direction even in the smallest things. Don’t despair when something seems to go wrong because God is powerful enough to use it to his glory.
I’m sure glad I came up for air.
AIMEE LYNCH
Aimee Lynch is a homeschooled high-school student in Gaithersburg MD. She has a heart for children whose parents are divorced because she grew up in a single-parent home after her own parents divorced when she was five. Her blog, allfilledup.wordpress.com, is a place where she seeks to encourage other kids in difficult situations. In what little free time she has, she enjoys gardening, reading, getting involved in various youth projects, taking walks on the beach, and writing articles. (read more…)
College? . . . Am I Ready?
Is taking a year off between high school and college really such a bad idea? With all the parental pressure, peer pressure, and school pressure urging high school seniors to immediately proceed to a college campus following graduation, you would think it was a crime; however, I personally think it may better prepare a teenager for college.
I truly feel a year off between high school and college is a great idea, as long as that year is spent interning, traveling abroad, or working in a related field. If a student simply plans to take the year off and become a couch potato, then a year off is probably not a good idea. But, for those students who are passionate about life and want to use a year off to better themselves, it could be amazing.
Taking a year off could benefit a student in two important ways. First, the time off would allow the student to learn who she is and what she desires to do with the rest of her life. Secondly, taking a year off offers the student a chance to learn about the world outside of the school walls and gain life experiences that will change that student for the better.
Interning in a field that a student might possibly want to work in after college is a great idea. For instance, if a student thinks she would like to go to college to become a fashion stylist, it would benefit that student to intern with a professional stylist for a year and learn firsthand what it takes to be a successful stylist. At the end of that year, the student will know whether or not fashion styling is something she wants to pursue for a career, and if it is, she will be able to approach her fashion styling major with new found excitement and direction. Interning provides a student the chance to figure out if that is really something she wants to do for the rest of her life. If not, then she just saved herself a lot of confusion and “major changing” in college.
My sister Allyson is the perfect example why interning and exploring one’s desired profession is crucial before investing time and money into it. Ally had once aspired to become a fashion designer, but this past summer she went to California to get a taste of what it would be like to design for companies, and it turns out she didn’t enjoy it as much as she thought she would. Instead Allyson has decided she would rather be a fashion stylist, which is where she would put the outfits together just not make them. If Allyson had not had these intern-type experiences this past summer, she would have declared the wrong major and cost herself a lot of money and time.
Many students realize that taking a year off between high school and college may be the only time they will ever have to travel abroad. They realize after college graduation, most students will get a full time job in their field and many times, they will get married and encounter family obligations that would make traveling abroad almost impossible. So they just go for it and take the year to encounter different cultures.
Personally, I think this is a great idea. This past summer I went to Italy for almost three weeks, and it was a great growing and learning experience for me. The trip helped me become more mature, and it forced me to become more independent and self assured, which will benefit me when I am on my own at college. In addition, I found the trip to be very educational. Learning a vast amount of history and experiencing cultural diversity forever changed me. It was a crash course in art appreciation, foreign language, and public relations. Imagine if those three weeks had been an entire year?
Another way to spend the year off is working—especially if that student can work in a field related to her future area of study in college. A student who works in a related field will gain life experiences that will make her college classes more interesting and relative.
For example, if a student plans to pursue a career in elementary education, it would be excellent for that student to work in a daycare or possibly at the Boys’ Club or Girls’ Club. Interacting with children will not only look great on a college application, but also it will reinforce the reason this student is pursuing a degree in elementary education. In addition, working during this year off will allow students to make money to put toward their education, as well as give them a taste of the real world. In other words, if a student spends a year flipping burgers for a living, going to classes in college will mean more because that student knows that a college diploma will open up doors so she will never have to flip burgers again.
There are just so many benefits to taking the year off, including: growing as a person, discovering what one really wants to do, gaining invaluable life experiences, and getting a taste of the real world. So when you are debating about going to college, please consider all of these aspects. Taking a year off between high school and college might be the best option for you.
Related online sites:
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0603/the_gap_year_advantage.shtml
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/14/business/14year.html
http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Gap_Year_Taking_Time/
ABBY ADAMS
Seventeen-year-old Abby Adams is an outgoing high school senior who is known for her infectious laugh and charismatic personality. As a cheerleader and gymnast for the past seven years, she plans to try out for cheerleader in college next year. Abby not only enjoys participating in cheer leading, but also she loves coaching it. She is currently the Cheer Coach for a middle school cheer team in southern Indiana and a gymnastics teacher at the local Girls Club.
Abby serves as Vice-president of her senior class and excels in leadership. She plans to pursue a career in elementary education at either Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky or Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. (read more…)
Never Alone
“Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.” (I Samuel 17:47 NIV)
One warm spring afternoon, I found myself standing alone outside of the gym facing a mountain of anger from five very mean girls. As usual, this attack came without warning, but this time I felt like I was fighting for my life. I was so tired from the endless months of horrible insults the gang had been hurling my way.
The situation reminded me of David and Goliath. I was the new girl in town with no friends or power to draw from. My tormentors, Jean, Debbie, Terri, Teresa, and Shelby were hometown girls who were cheerleaders, band members, good students, and yet they made it a sport to terrorize anyone that didn’t fit into a certain mold. No one would go up against them. No one would be friends with me even though everyone in school knew about my encounters with them.
It was obvious that it was time I stopped running and have a face to face confrontation with these girls. At first I was shaking I was so scared, but God gave me the courage I needed to tell them I was tired of their games and it was time for them to leave me alone. When I was through talking to the gang of girls, I walked away from the situation with more confidence in myself. The Lord had stood by me just like He’d promised. On that day I committed the girls in His hands, thankful the battle is the Lord’s.
CRYSTAL Y. HATHCOCK
Crystal Y. Hathcock and her husband Tony, live in Liberty, South Carolina and have been married for thirty-two years. They have two puppies, Hankie and Calvin. Crystal is a freelance writer; a student with the Christian Writer’s Guild and writes religious articles for the area’s local newspaper. She enjoys cooking for family and friends, couponing, jewelry making and singing. (read more…)
Killing Fear
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7 NIV)
“If I brought a gun to school you’d be the first one I’d kill.” Seth leered at me from behind, sending a chill down my spine.
It was my first year in public school and to say I wasn’t exactly socially accepted would be an understatement. I was in fifth grade and already I had someone who wanted to kill me – great.
Fresh from private school and home schooling I had no idea how to handle such a threat. Much less my ruined notebooks or the insults, threats, and curses bled into my desk with permanent, black marker that showed up in the following weeks. I didn’t know how to tell my parents that my glasses were broken because a boy had hit me or that the day before I’d found the body of a dead mouse in my desk with the message “you’re next” noosed around its neck on notebook paper.
So I ignored it, hoping that Seth and the other kids in my class would grow tired of trying to scare me. The next day I cut out hearts from red construction paper and wrote out verses that spoke of God’s love for them and taped them to the desks of all my classmates. And the next day, and the next day, and the day after that until the bullying stopped. Within a month the bullying came to a dead halt.
The best way to combat hate? With God’s furious love.
CHRISTINE WESSELIUS
Christine grew up in the windowless basement of her grandparent’s house and has thus been fondly nicknamed “The vampire in a box” by her friends. She has a strong affinity for sarcasm, shiny purple things, and random, useless information that “normal people probably wouldn’t care about.” She likes to sing, act, draw, write, read, and make fun of Prince Charming in her spare time. Some of her epic skills include: surviving a piano being dropped on her, carrying on a five hour conversation with a wall, and making a grilled cheese sandwich spontaneously explode. (read more…)
<<<more posts by Christine…
Bullies All Around
“They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship.” (Psalms 109:5 NIV)
My family moved when I was in junior high so that my dad could find a job. I’d hoped the change would bring a new start for me. When you’re overweight, school can be a tough place to be. I learned quickly that a group of girls at my new school had made it their mission to make my life miserable. They didn’t like the way I looked.
Even though their snickers and rude comments in class were embarrassing and hurtful, I tried to overlook them. I wanted to be friends, but just when I thought I was gaining ground, they would turn on me. They’d twist something I’d say and then the whole group would gang up on me when I was alone.
“Who do you think you are—trying to hang around us?” said Jean, the leader of the gang.
“You’ll never be good enough for us,” Debbie said. “By the way, when are ya gonna lose some weight?”
‘Yeah, you’ve gotten bigger since you invaded on us,” Jean said. Then she looked at Debbie with delight in her eyes and they busted out laughing. Their friends joined in making more jokes about the fat girl—me.
I wanted to run and hide because their words were so hurtful. After a while, I didn’t want to go to school. But through prayer, God gave me grace to survive and thrive.
Bullying Tip – Be aware of cyber-bullying for yourself and your friends. Intimidation can start off with seemingly innocent comments that will increase overtime to aggressive, intentional, hurtful behavior, all done with a few key strokes and the click of a mouse. Don’t take it—tell it.
CRYSTAL Y. HATHCOCK
Crystal Y. Hathcock and her husband Tony, live in Liberty, South Carolina and have been married for thirty-two years. They have two puppies, Hankie and Calvin. Crystal is a freelance writer; a student with the Christian Writer’s Guild and writes religious articles for the area’s local newspaper. She enjoys cooking for family and friends, couponing, jewelry making and singing. (read more…)
GOSSIP is Poision! – Erin Lanier
“He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.” (Proverbs 17:9 NIV)
Gossip is like poison darts that sail through the air to stab someone in the back. The victims are unaware of the danger until the damage is done. Someone alway
s gets hurt. Gossip separates close friends and drives rivals even further apart– sometimes to the breaking point. Fights, both verbal and physical, break out. Gossip is fuel for grudges, feuds, and arguments. Yet still we continue on with this drivel of words that is most likely not even true.
Everyone does it, unfortunately. Sometimes without realizing it. You’re just talking with your friend about how you’re gonna spend your summer and then bam! You’ve said something you shouldn’t have about someone. Word gets around real fast. It spreads like poison.
Of course some of you may have been the victim of gossip, and you know how it hurts. Why would you want to inflict that pain on someone else? If you are the victim of gossip remember that it doesn’t matter what everyone else might think about you, only what God knows to be true. So next time if the situation is switched and you’re the one in the position to say something about someone, stop yourself and watch what you say. Either stop the conversation or walk away. It’s your choice, I pray you make the right one.
GOOD RESOURCE
READ ABOUT MEAN GIRLS.…bullying, gossip and how we hurt others. Have you been a victim. Worse–are you the one who dishes this out? See how God wants you to live.
Mean Girls– By Hayley DiMarco
Why is it so tough to be a girl? Whether it’s at school, in the mall, or even online, girls are mean to each other. Most girls will admit that they have been a victim of a mean girl. In fact, many will say that all girls are basically mean. Whether they’re teasing a girl because of how she looks, making up rumors to torment others, or launching an online campaign to destroy their target, girls can be just plain ruthless. This one-of-a-kind book has helped end the cycle of meanness for tens of thousands of girls. Mean Girls is a call to spiritual strength. A call to stand firm. It calls girls to face the beasts in their lives head on. In short, it’s the answer girls need for the problem they never thought could go away. This completely revised edition of Mean Girls will reach junior highers and high schoolers where they are with the help and advice they crave. It has been redesigned inside and out to match the award-winning look of DiMarco’s other popular books.
Publisher: Revell
ISBN-13: 9780800732936
$9.99
ERIN LANIER
Hey guys, I’m Erin. I’m 14 years old–soon to be 15. I have lived in Texas my whole life–Texas girl through and through, but, no, I do not ride a horse to school. I have two awesome parents. My dad is a professor at the local university and my mom is a stay at home writer. My older sister Holly has a job up north so I don’t get to see her much, but I love it when we do get to visit her. I have three very loud, annoying, but somehow really lovable dogs. I am a sophomore in high school and a black belt in Tae Kwan Do. I enjoy acting, singing, reading, and writing. I absolutely love acting! I have been in several productions at my community theater and at my school. (read more…)
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