Read a variety of books from different genres, both fiction and non-fiction. Become acquainted with the tools authors use to convey their points, whether those tools are figurative language, different styles of rhetoric, or modes of description, argumentation, analysis, or exemplification. Here is a good exercise that I learned from my sophomore English class in high school: take a book that is chock full of symbolic and figurative language and deconstruct it. I recommend reading Beloved by Toni Morrison if you want to practice this. The book is a beautiful classic filled to the brim with the right amount of surrealist language, but it is a difficult read for most people because it has so much symbolism, imagery, and figurative language. Beloved is a complex text because there are so many characters that function not exclusively as characters but as emblems of the overarching themes of the book or as metaphors for specific traumas or violences the characters go through. It’s also difficult for many people to read because Toni Morrison has such a command of language and rhetoric that she’s able to pack important symbols and images into mere sentences. It’s possible to write entire essays and analyses based on one paragraph of one page of the book, which is why I think reading it and annotating it and researching the names of different rhetorical, narrative, and language techniques that Toni used is a really good and productive task.
If you haven’t already, take an academic writing class. Writing boring, blunt academic prose is often much harder for people who want to become creative writers because you can’t rely on flowery prose or metaphoric language in academic writing and analytical papers. If you can develop an original, independent voice through writing dry academic papers, you know you’ll be able to produce unique, quality creative writing and fiction. You also have to understand writing as an actual technique/discipline (not just writing as an art form/creative form) which involves learning about literary criticism, grammar and convention, and analyzing non-fiction forms of writing.
Begin keeping up with the news regularly. Reading journalistic prose is immensely helpful to becoming any kind of writer, and being well-informed will assist you in whatever type of writing you do. Keeping up with the news broadens your perspective, exposes you to a variety of viewpoints, and forces you to deal with viewpoints that diverge from your own. In middle school I was very politically unaware and never read the news. My father used to make me read three political opinion-editorials from the New York Times and then summarize each article without giving my own opinion on the piece, regardless of whether I agreed with the piece or not. It went a great way not only in making me become politically aware on my own, but also helped me learn how to articulate and understand opposing viewpoints so that I could deconstruct them more readily.
Write every day. You don’t have to write something beautiful every day, but try and write something daily. You can keep a journal and free-write in it. You can keep a diary of observations. My grandmother (who was an English professor) once told me to keep a diary and record beautiful language, new vocabulary words, and phrases that I’d come across, so you could do something like that as well. I write down my thoughts/opinions/beliefs on something daily but I’m also writing everyday because I’m a student. You should also try and read something new everyday. Again, it doesn’t have to be a book - you could read a few pages from a book daily, or an article, or a new poem, or something, but read something every day.
When you begin writing whatever it is you want to write (a play, a poem, a personal narrative, a monologue, an essay, an article, a story), you should ask for feedback from friends, family members, and more professional sources (such as teachers or even fellow writers). Integrate their feedback as much as you can, taking care to distinguish between good feedback and less helpful feedback. Incorporate that feedback into your early drafts and use it to identify what areas you need work in and what areas you’re doing well in so that you know what you have to pay attention to in subsequent drafts. Eventually you should become accustomed to being your own feedback generator, such that you yourself can assess your work with a critical eye and immediately identify where you need to improve. Of course even when you reach that point you’ll need outside feedback, but you can’t reach that point without practice and scaffolding.
more on writing muslim characters from a hijabi muslim girl
- hijabis get really excited over pretty scarves - they also like to collect pins and brooches - we get asked a lot of questions and it can be annoying or it can be amusing, just depends on our mood and personality and how the question is phrased - common questions include: - “not even water?” (referring to fasting) - hijabis hear a lot of “do you sleep in that?” (we don’t) and “where is your hair?” (in a bun or a braid, usually) - “is it mooze-slim or mozzlem?” (the answer is neither, it’s muslim, with a soft s and accent on the first syllable) - “ee-slam or iz-lamb?” (it’s iss-laam, accent on the first syllable) - “hee-job?” (heh-jahb, accent on the second syllable)
- “kor-an?” (no. quran. say it like koor-annn, accent on the second syllable) - people tend to mess up our names really badly and you just get a sigh and a resigned nod or an awkward smile, maybe a nickname instead - long hair is easy to hide, short hair is harder to wrap up - hijab isn’t just covering hair, it’s also showing as little skin as possible with the exception of face, hands, and feet, and not wearing tight/sheer clothing - that applies to men too, people just don’t like to mention it ( i wonder why) - henna/mehendi isn’t just for special occasions, you’ll see people wearing it for fun - henna/mehendi isn’t just for muslims, either, it’s not a religious thing - henna/mehendi is not just for women, men also wear it, especially on their weddings - there are big mehendi parties in the couple of nights before eid where people (usually just women and kids) gather and do each other’s mehendi, usually just hands and feet - five daily prayers - most muslim kids can stutter through a couple verses of quran in the original arabic text by the age of seven or eight, it does not matter where they live or where they’re from or what language they speak natively - muslim families tend to have multiple copies of the quran - there are no “versions” of the quran, there has only ever been one. all muslims follow the exact same book - muslims have no concept of taking God’s name in vain, we call on God at every little inconvenience - don’t use islamic phrases if you don’t know what they mean or how to use them. we use them often, inside and outside of religious settings. in islam, it is encouraged to mention God often and we say these things very casually, but we take them very seriously - Allahu Akbar means “God is Greatest” (often said when something shocks or surprises us, or if we’re scared or daunted, or when something amazing happens, whether it be good or bad; it’s like saying “oh my god”) - Subhan Allah means “Glory be to God” (i say subhan Allah at the sky, at babies, at trees, whatever strikes me as pleasant, especially if it’s in nature) - Bismillah means “in the name of God” and it’s just something you say before you start something like eating or doing your homework - In Shaa Allah means “if God wills” (example: you’ll be famous, in shaa Allah) (it’s a reminder that the future is in God’s hands, so be humble and be hopeful)
- Astaghfirullah means “i seek forgiveness from Allah” and it’s like “god forgive me” - Alhamdulillah means “all thanks and praise belong to God” and it’s just a little bit more serious than saying “thank god” (example: i passed my exams, alhamdulillah; i made it home okay, alhamdulillah) - when i say we use them casually, i really mean it - teacher forgot to assign homework? Alhamdulillah - our version of “amen” is “ameen” - muslims greet each other with “assalamu alaikum” which just means “peace be on you” and it’s like saying hi - the proper response is “walaikum assalam” which means “and on you be peace” and it’s like saying “you too”
As a Muslim this post is so very important and it makes me so happy that it gives the small facts and details that one might be unaware of or confused about.
I’ve reblogged it before but honestly this fucking post touches me so much. To see how intrinsic Allah is to followers of Islam and how ingrained He is in their daily lives is so beautiful.
Also, can we just talk about the fact that there aren’t like 100 different versions of the Quran? Because I didn’t know that and that legit AMAZES me.
LEARNING
I was thinking about this post the other day when a kid in my class got a bit of pencil lead stuck in his sharpener and started asking God to help him with it.
unfortunate that the united states has been very successful at controlling narratives around word war 2 and positioning itself as the polar opposite of nazism and the main force fighting fascism when america was complicit in the holocaust. not only did american press report positively about hitler and the nazi party up until the end of the 30′s, some publications cooperated with nazi germany, american companies had investments and connections to nazi germany that they maintained until american involvement in the war, and companies like ibm in particular gave nazis the technology necessary to make the holocaust possible in the first place. some company owners themselves had nazi sympathies like henry ford and others just saw it as a business opportunity. the us denied entry to european jewish refugees and deported jewish refugees back to germany, many senators and other government officials during the 1930s openly supported nazism and worked to prevent the us from taking a side in ww2, and during the 30s large pro nazi rallies were held across the us. american eugenics movement, american race laws and american genocide set the model for the holocaust and there shouldnt be any discussion of nazism and the holocaust without also discussing the extent of american complicity in it.
I made a post explaining the hypocrisy in how people talk about hunger under capitalism vs communism but since no one on this site can read and disregarded the ENTIRE argument about capitalism, I’m making a post SPECIFICALLY about capitalism. I’m sure I’ll get “what about communism” replies, and I’ll ignore them, because this post is about C A P I T A L I S M, which you shouldn’t throw a fit when people critique.
Genice, can you give me some advice with hands? The hands i draw sometimes end stiff and ugly. Also hands in perspective, because sometimes they end too big or small. Thanks!
i mostly got better at drawing hands by just practicing how to draw them a lot! what i would do is draw a pose or two over and over again (maybe at slightly different angles and stuff) first with reference, and then draw them again without looking at anything to see how much i can draw from my mind, and then go back and forth between the two until i get enough of a “feel” to draw a certain pose decently without relying on reference. i think after a while you kind of develop patterns in the way you draw hands and from there it becomes easier to draw different hand poses and stuff from scratch
to make the hands you draw look less awkward/stiff, i think it helps to focus more on the overall flow of the composition and silhouette of the hand rather than getting all the details in and anatomy right and stuff in the initial stages
when drawing hands in perspective i think it helps to visualize them as 3d shapes
to get the foreshortening right (aside from using perspective guides and whatnot) i like to just draw the hand first, and then eyeball the perspective and adjust its size and position until it looks right
(select with lasso tool > ctrl+t to transform +right click for more transform options)
another thing i do is take reference pictures with my ipod (any camera works tbh. i just find using a mobile device to be more convenient) by holding the camera close to my hand i can get a really exaggerated perspective like this:
it’s nice because i can get the ref for the exact pose and angle i’m looking for without having to do a lot of internet fishing
But still interested in feeding yourself? What if I told you that there’s a woman with a blog who had to feed both herself and her young son…on 10 British pounds ($15/14 Euro) per week?
Let me tell you a thing.
This woman saved my life last year. Actually saved my life. I had a piggy bank full of change and that’s it. Many people in my fandom might remember that dark time as when I had to hock my writing skills in exchange for donations. I cried a lot then.
This is real talk, people: I marked down exactly what I needed to buy, totaled it, counted out that exact change, and then went to three different stores to buy what I needed so I didn’t have to dump a load of change on just one person. I was already embarrassed, but to feel people staring? Utter shame suffused me. The reasons behind that are another post all together.
AgirlcalledJack.com is run by a British woman who was on benefits for years. Things got desperate. She had to find a way to feed herself and her son using just the basics that could be found at the supermarket. But the recipes she came up with are amazing.
You have to consider the differing costs of things between countries, but if you just have three ingredients in your cupboard, this woman will tell you what to do with it. Check what you already have. Chances are you have the basics of a filling meal already.
Bake your own bread. It’s easier than you think. Here’s a list of many recipes, each using some variation of just plain flour, yeast, some oil, maybe water or lemon juice. And kneading bread is therapeutic.
She has a book, but many recipes can be found on her blog for free. She prices her recipes down to the cent, and every year she participates in a project called “Living Below the Line” where she has to live on 1 BP per day of food for five days.
Things improved for me a little, but her website is my go to. I learned how to bake bread (using my crockpot, but that was my own twist), and I have a little cart full of things that saved me back then, just in case I need them again. She gives you the tools to feed yourself, for very little money, and that’s a fabulous feeling.
Tip: Whenever you have a little extra money, buy a 10 dollar/pound/euro giftcard from your discount grocer. Stash it. That’s your super emergency money. Make sure they don’t charge by the month for lack of use, though.
I don’t care if it sounds like an advertisement–you won’t be buying anything from the site. What I DO care about is your mental, emotional, and physical health–and dammit, food’s right in the center of that.
If you don’t need this now, pass it on to someone who does. Pass it on anyway, because do you REALLY know which of the people in your life is in need? Which follower might be staring at their own piggy bank? Trust me: someone out there needs to see this.
Reblogging for all the impoverished students. Jack is the breadline queen. And if you don’t need this - donate to your nearest food bank, stat.
Reblogging for students, working folks, and everyone who’s ever had to choose between essentials at the store because you can only afford milk OR bread, not both.
Formatted as a set of questions and answers, answering basic questions like “what is communism?” and “What will this new social order [socialism] have to be like?”
Now a new study looking at 400,000 youths from 88 countries around the world suggests such bans are making a difference in reducing youth violence. It marks the first systematic assessment of whether an association exists between a ban on corporal punishment and the frequency in which adolescents get into fights.
[F]or both boys and girls, [prof. Elizabeth Gershoff] said, “We found [spanking] linked to more aggression, more delinquent behavior, more mental health problems, worse relationships with parents, and putting the children at higher risk for physical abuse from their parents.”
“People often ask: Why didn’t you look for positive aspects?” she continued. “My answer is: We did, and there were none. We see consistently that the more children are spanked, the more behavioral problems they have in the years ahead.”
