Imaginative Potential in Useless Academic Requirements #IWSG #amwriting #WednesdayMotivation
[I wrote this post as a member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group where we share our worries and also offer support and encouragement to each other on the first Wednesday of every month. If you’re a writer like me and you’re looking for a bit of support, you can click the link and sign up here]
This month’s awesome Co-Hosts: Raimey Gallant, Natalie Aguirre, CV Grehan, and Michelle Wallace!
Check out our IWSG homepage. And as always, thank you to founder Alex J. Cavaugh 🙂
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This past Monday while I was getting ready for work, while the pups wove in and out of my legs in the bathroom, the 6 a.m. news caught my attention. A survey of post high school students listed four top useless required learning items:
- The Pythagorean Theorem
- The Periodic Table
- Protons and Electrons
- The sum of Pi = 3.14 and then some.
Post high school students cited they not once used these formulas or learning points in school since they were required to memorize them, so why not take more classes in managing college student loans, learning how to do taxes, and how to budget money once out of high school?
Do I agree?
I’d have to say no, and maybe a little yes?
Math and Physics were not my friends. I’m a picture person. I don’t memorize lengthy jumbles of words and numbers without seeing a bigger application. However, just because I struggle to understand certain concepts, doesn’t mean these concepts shouldn’t be required learning. In fact, I believe in Plato when he said, “Geometry will draw the soul toward truth and create the spirit of philosophy.”
So where am I going with this conversation of science and math?
This month’s IWSG question asks, “Besides writing, what other creative outlets do you have?”
I find creative outlets in everything. From the way I cook, to the way I work on the computer as a graphic designer in Public Relations, to the way I write my notes on a page at work when my print and cursive swirl together, and my bullets become flaming falling stars (which aren’t really stars by the way). In fact, my whole note page may become one giant doodle.
Creativity never leaves us. We always find our own ways of self expression.
And what do math and physics have to do with creativity? Lately, they’ve been the source of my creative inspiration. My second draft in my YA Urban Fantasy/Sci-Fi manuscript has challenged me to merge science and magic. I’ve had to revisit the topics I once dreaded, and am now doing it on my own terms. No horrid college textbooks. No over the head lectures where professors talk to the chalk board more than to my face. I don’t have that kind of time anymore, so I invest it wisely in YouTube PBS mini lessons in astronomy and physics. I’ve covered everything from magnetic fields, to electron charges, to neutron stars, magnetars, galaxy formations, and the importance of tides and how they shift with the new and full moons.
And required subjects in high school? Sure I would have loved to have taken accounting or a business class instead of Chemistry. I don’t think skipping Chemistry would have done me an ounce of good. Why? Required academics exposes our minds to unfathomable possibility. I now have a greater imagination, and it’s one mixed with science, hypotheses, and magical potential.
What about you? Would you agree with the post high school graduates? What was your least favorite subject in high school? Was any subject or formula useless to you? I’d love to hear it.
Surprise Disasters Bring Sunny Outcomes #thursdaythoughts #amwriting
Thursday morning, after feeding my new sweet baby rescue pups, I heard a loud crash come from somewhere inside my house. The pups and I looked up. My heart pounded faster. Quickly, I scoured the house and nothing seemed awry. Kansas City temperatures have been dangerously low these past few days and I thought a huge branch or something might have fallen on the roof. Yet, nothing turned up. Not until I stepped into the garage, hit the button for the garage door, and strangely the door wouldn’t open. After careful inspection, I noticed the spring on the garage door broke. I panicked for maybe 60 seconds since I couldn’t get to work, and this is not the time of year for me to be stuck in my garage. Not in public relations. Not when I’m in charge of some major academic and legislative events.
The good news? The panic has passed. The garage door repair company is on its way, and the lesson is right out there in front of me.
Some days, the day has its own mind. That’s okay. We just have to decide in a moment how we can change our hearts with the new direction. Lucky for me, my new direction involves edits on a second draft of my manuscript while I wait.
We can’t plan everything. Some days we climb hills, and some days we ski with a beautiful finesse right down them. No matter what happens today, may the very best outcomes find you.
Happy Thursday all 🙂
Artificial Intelligence Marketing #AuthorToolboxBlogHop
The Author Toolbox Blog Hop is “a monthly blog hop on the theme of resources/learning for authors: posts related to the craft of writing, editing, querying, marketing, publishing, blogging tips for authors, reviews of author-related products, anything that an author would find helpful.” Want to jump into the writing tool box? Search #AuthorToolboxBlogHop or to join via blog, click here.
Thank you Raimey!
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Whenever I think of a new year, I think of new chances, new goals and renewing my faith in where I really want to be with my work, my writing. Having thought about new starts, I’ve been reading articles on marketing trends for 2019 and I must say, I am amazed with some of the statistics on books and what we as authors should consider.
Did you know the average time a person chooses to read in free moments of life has dropped a third since 2004? I didn’t. But I do realize how social media, movies, and game apps tend to steal more free time than most, and if we’re not careful even as authors, we might not be reading either.
For this month’s post, I’m targeting one of several marketing strategies to consider in an article I found from Aerio—Chatbots. Heard of them for authors? I hadn’t. I do know I am annoyed by all the Chatbots on car service websites, help bubbles that appear too soon, and especially the new Chatbot on my bank app, Erica.
Aerio claims though, this year “Chatbots will become more prevalent.”
How might they be helpful to authors?
Aerio suggests they can help solicit book reviews, manage contests and giveaways, and even increase social media. In further reading on Chatbots, one article suggested they are becoming the new form of email with zero lag time due to the automated process. The average person receives 140 emails in a day. It’s easy not to look. I know I’m one of those some days.
Further yet, I read how the younger generations love Chatbot quirkiness. Considering what I see on twitter with engagement, I believe it.
If you’re looking for a few past publishing chatbots to check out, I sampled Harper Collins Epicreads bot. I must say, it didn’t give me the books I was really hoping to get or hadn’t seen. Maybe I was expecting an instant book connection. I don’t know.
I did engage in the following message as a test:
And I did keep going until I found a book I could consider. I’ll let you know if it’s a true match 🙂
Interested in created your Bot? Check out links to the following resources:
Have you thought of using a Chatbot in your marketing strategy? Seen an author using it? I’d love to hear it.
Reclaim Your Greater Story #IWSG #amwriting #Newyear
[I wrote this post as a member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group where we share our worries and also offer support and encouragement to each other on the first Wednesday of every month. If you’re a writer like me and you’re looking for a bit of support, you can click the link and sign up here]
This month’s awesome Co-Hosts: J.H. Patricia Lynne, Lisa Buie-Collard, Kim Lajevardi, and Fundy Blue!
Check out our IWSG homepage. And as always, thank you to founder Alex J. Cavaugh 🙂
As a writer, I’ve often questioned where I am. I’ve wondered if I can compete when I really haven’t gotten my feet off the ground very far. And now faced with another new year with more distance between my goals and the time, I admit, my heart has weighed in a little heavier than I’ve wanted it to weigh.
This past Sunday, something drew me to hustle the children out of bed, compelled to get them to church. Drained from a severe flu, I finally felt an ounce of energy, and my heart said get up, now is the time to leave the house.
We made it to church. I sat on the bench with my hands crossed in my lap, staring up at the pastor on the stage while my children colored on worksheets next to me. Then the pastor held out his hands, looked straight out at all of us and said, “You can find a new flow from an old well.”
I sat up straight and grabbed a pen. I wrote down every word thereafter and I haven’t stopped thinking about his words of hope since. Thus, I’m sharing them today because of what they mean, and how much they mean to me.
“Dig. Unearth. Take care of the well you already have. Reclaim that greater story. Hope again. Allow yourself to dream.”
I don’t often write about religion, but the words seemed timely, and they touched me in a force of inspiration.
So this year, I’ve decided to hold on to my writing dreams. And out of my brainstorming, I reached out to one of my great writing friends, happy to learn she recently moved back to town. We’re meeting for coffee this Sunday and I’m super excited to have someone to talk to face-to-face again about books, my first quiet prayer come true, already this year.
On another fun note, I saw a great movie with the kids: Bumblebee. It sure amazed the heck out of me. The soundtrack seemed really great too. And a new book? I found one! I went to Half Price Books the other day and picked up the murmurings by Carly Anne West. So far, I’m incredibly intrigued.
Lesson learned, not every minute will shine like you want. Love the minutes that shine as they come. Have faith the road you choose to walk will continue to show you brighter, shinier minutes along the way.
Question: Have you come across something recently that revived your spirit, your heart? A great new book or movie? I’d love to hear it.
