Have you always loved to read and wished you could write? Want to say something but have no idea where to start? Here are five surprising tips to get you thinking like a writer.
Listen
Record a conversation, then type it word for word. Audio re-play lets you hear patterns of speech and catch nuances of meaning you may not hear in the moment. Before you know it, you may have the voice of your next character in your head.
Copy
Imitation is more than the highest form of flattery. It is how we learn. Read what you love…novels, articles, poems. Then practice writing in the very same way. How? Paraphrase: Start with a paragraph. Re-write it in your own words—not great big flowery words or fierce competitive diction, just write what you think it means. Repeat. This will get you thinking like the authors you read, and get you noticing their styles and techniques.
If eating high quality food with few pesticides and chemicals is important to you, it may be easier than you’d think to save money on your grocery bill. The organic section of your grocery store isn’t the only place to purchase healthy whole foods; in fact, it may be the most expensive option!
If you’re searching for organic or hormone-free meats, free range eggs, or low to no pesticide produce, you already know how expensive such items can be at traditional grocery stores. It can be a bit intimidating to watch your bill go higher and higher each month, and it may be tempting to switch back to traditionally farmed items. Before you do so, however, consider taking advantage of what your local community has to offer.
Contrary to characters in movies like American Pie or its equivalent for my generation - Porky’s, not every teenage boy is ready or eager to lose his virginity. For many of us, it’s threatening, confusing and downright scary.
You Want to Do What?!
The first time I turned down a coital proposition (in grade 11), it was more out of surprise than fear. Maybe I’m just more oblivious than most, but I never saw it coming. Kissing was great; that is, after a horrible first try in my green Honda civic after watching Footloose, when I sadly deciding on the way home that I just didn’t like kissing. Second base (feeling her up at the back of Mr. Quan’s physics classroom while the teachers were having a meeting up front) left me physically shaking the rest of the afternoon. Third base was a pure primal experience, my hands and body instinctively discovering what to do in the backseat of mom’s Rabbit diesel (as soon as it was over, Kyle and Lisa shouted out from the car next to us that they’d won the bet about whether or not I’d groan – no secrets on a teenage double date).
Search the Web for “detox” and you will come across a mind-boggling number of plans urging you to “drop pounds” with their lickety-split dietary rules.
But that’s not what a detox is intended to do – at least, that’s not why ancient alternative health healers came up with the flush-your-system plans.
“Fasting and cleansing to purify the body and mind were first embraced thousands of years ago as a pathway to connect with the divine and achieve higher levels of awareness and clarity,” Adina Niemerow writes in her book, Super Cleanse. “It’s more relevant than ever today.”
But “today” many people fail to interpret the spiritual elements of detoxing and instead focus on the weight loss aspects, choosing plans that can actually make them sick or have harmful effects on their health.
That’s why you need to lean on a detox plan that helps to cleanse your body and restore your health. A good detox can eliminate migraines, restore kidney function, get you a rosy-cheeked glow, increase energy and help you sleep like a baby – just to name a few.
