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This is a discussion, and criticism is a part of that, however, I went through art school, and work in an artistic career, and a crucial tool in learning how to make "better" art is getting and giving detailed critiques that offer explanations for WHY something is failing or succeeding, instead of just stating that it is good or bad.
So, for instance:
> massive dip in quality.
What do you mean by this? My guess is that you don't exactly mean quality as in it being poorly written, acted, structured, etc, but that you aren't laughing, so something is wrong with the humor. Something about the writing isn't making you laugh.
So, let's try to pin down what it is that you used to like about the show.
- What season was the strongest?
- What episodes worked for you?
- What scenes made you laugh the most?
- Looking at all the things that you listed, what do those things have in common?
- How do the episodes that you liked differ from the current episodes?
As a total aside, if you've never read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", it's kind of related to this topic. It takes deep, perhaps overly so, dives into what we mean when we discuss the idea of "quality", and how it relates to all of our experiences, from relationships and love to machines and consumer products. Quote from it: > “The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn't any other test. If the machine produces tranquility, it's right. If it disturbs you, it's wrong until either the machine or your mind is changed.”
It was the late Christopher Hitchens who first taught me about the inhumanity of Mother Teresa, though I'd watched a lot of clips of his I haven't read his book, The Missionary Position.
What does it mean to be a wretched person? Maybe it means to be someone who feels no greater joy than watching another suffer unto death, just to feel the satisfaction of being there, when in all their desperation and without basic respite, accepting your religion on their deathbed.
By her own accounts she watched nearly 30,000 people come through her doors, and with broken empathy managed to convince them that their suffering only brought them closer to god. I'd like to know how anyone came to the conclusion that this woman was worthy more than anybody else of earning a Nobel peace prize.
Well, Mother Theresa is an expert on the subject. She left humans in her care to die in pain, denying them medical care and antibiotics. Her policies led to deaths from untreated injuries and diseases in the filthy, poorly managed hospices she ran (The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice https://www.amazon.com/Missionary-Position-Mother-Teresa-Practice/dp/1455523003/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1473084988&sr=8-1&keywords=hitchens+mother+teresa&linkCode=sl1&tag=chitch-20&linkId=58b39e60ab5d4a6a041d265dc54c8221)
Christopher Hitchins had quite a bit more to say about her; she cozied up to the Duvalier family who ran Haiti as a savage dictatorship for years and considered Charles Keating (disgraced savings and loan executive who bankrupted hundreds of elderly retirees when his pyramid S&L investment bank collapsed due to his greed and mismanagement) as her good friend.
She also opposed contraception and compared contraceptives to abortion, even though India women begged for them so they wouldn't be forced to give birth every year.
I urge anyone to read Oliver Sacks' "Musicophilia" which goes into this topic of people visualizing music.
Heck, read ANY book by the late Dr. Sacks. Dude did a wonderful job exploring the mysteries of the mind and writing down all the weird shit that can come from it.
It wasn't 30 days but 3 months, and when reading his book I don't recall him saying no excuses. Quote from the original article regarding his book: "King likes to write 10 pages a day. Over a three-month span, that amounts to around 180,000 words. 'The first draft of a book — even a long one — should take no more than three months, the length of a season,' he says. If you spend too long on your piece, King believes the story begins to take on an odd foreign feel."
As for myself, writing isn't my full time so 4-6 months depending on life. (edited for spelling)
The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice
Is a great book by - Christopher Hitchens
Might be a bit dated now, but The Elements of Style by Strunk & White was one of the first books I read on writing.
Even if some of their examples or philosophies are dated, it's a really good foundational book. Having that base can save even the most boring or uninspired stories. Good writing can exist independently of a good idea (unfortunately).
If you want to learn to write well in English, this book taught me more than anything else.
She was a monster. She fetishized suffering, and was the cause of so much of it that it's unfortunate that there's no hell for her to suffer in. Although she probably would love it.
The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice by Christopher Hitchens
I'm a fan of Pat Pattison's book "Writing better lyrics". He has some nice organizational techniques for rhyme scheme and what types of words can convey better emotion/meaning. It's fairly cheap on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Better-Lyrics-Pat-Pattison/dp/1582975779
Reviewers incorrectly use the "Generic Store or Restaurant" because it has the word "Generic" in it, not because it is a Store or Restaurant.
See the book "Eats, Shoots & Leaves".
https://www.amazon.com/Eats-Shoots-Leaves-Tolerance-Punctuation/dp/1592402038/ref=sr_1_1
Absolutely, yes. I think maybe there is a mechanism by which the muscle memory you've learned is allowed to sink in, so to speak. I'm not altogether sure. Maybe a neuroscientist could explain it better. I only know that if I set the guitar aside for a couple days, when I come back, I play better.
Oliver Sachs wrote a book called Musicophilia where he talks about music psychology. There are some really interesting things in there, like the story of the man who got into a car accident and could suddenly play piano, even though he'd never had a piano or piano lessons.
I enjoyed Musicophilia. Loved the work that he did with stroke patients and the ability to communicate through singing.
Check this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Better-Lyrics-Pat-Pattison/dp/1582975779
Also, start doing some listening / watching / reading on the concept of Story - what makes one, what is one.
Here's a good start
https://www.amazon.com/Story-Substance-Structure-Principles-Screenwriting/dp/0060391685/
Yeah, no, that's why I was wondering if you mean first editon or if he was looking for any edition. Because you can get a regular edition for less than $10.
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816
It's really hard to write lyrics without a musical context - even if you try to follow (or not follow) a certain structure, until you've given those lyrics a melody (or some other musical context, like chords or a riff or a beat), they aren't lyrics, they're poetry. Even if you go into writing thinking "okay, these are gonna be lyrics this time", without some kind of musical idea to support it and mold it, it's still just poetry. Some people do have luck starting songs by writing lyrics first, and then trying to write a melody that fits them, but personally I've had much better luck starting with musical ideas (a melody, a riff, a chord progression), and a really broad topic for a song (like "this song's gonna be about heartache" or something), and then writing lyrics that fit the rhythmic stresses and topic. Even if you do successfully write a song starting with lyrics, you'll often find yourself tweaking them anyway to fit the music you end up writing (and if you don't, there's a solid chance of your lyrics turning out awkward and forced).
I highly recommend checking out Pat Pattinson's Writing Better Lyrics from your local library / buying a copy if you can - I can't overstate how much it's helped me get into lyric writing in a more intentional way.
I thoroughly implore everyone to read <em>The Elements of Style</em> by Strunk and White. When writing, it's your best friend. If it were up to me it'd be handed out to every single NCO during BLC.
Here is an excerpt on the word irregardless:
>Irregardless. Should be regardless. The error results from failure to see the negative in -less and from a desire to get it in as a prefix, suggested by such words as irregular, irresponsible, and, perhaps especially, irrespective.
I do somewhat agree with you to a point. Understand that being able to write is a necessary skill for communication though. While commenting on someone's grammar in this setting is rather pointless as most people can figure it out, if you or someone you know has issues with writing there is a great book for it and it's only $5 from amazon. Probably less at your used book store.
I would recommend Strunk and White's The Elements of Style.
It's pretty much the definitive work on writing clearly and precisely.
I could do a lot of research for you and put it here, but I think it would be more beneficial for you to read a book called The Elements of Style, written by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. It's considered a great, if not the best, writing book out there, focusing a lot on style. I found a condensed version of the book as a PDF online for you. You can print it out and mark it up, or you can go online and buy the book there for a more comprehensive version. I'll put the link to the PDF and the Amazon purchase link for the 4th Edition if you want to do that too.
After you read that, don't stick to just that--you can branch out to other books. I haven't read much of Bird by Bird or Stephen King's On Writing, but I know there's some value in those books, or as I've heard from other writers. I've got other recommendations too if you'd like them.
Anyway, here's those links for you. Hopefully, I've been helpful.
There's three things I can recommend to help you improve your writing:
1) Get yourself a copy of Strunk & White's The Elements of Style. It's old, it's boring, but it's also been the gold standard of writing aids for decades, and for good reason. It's also like five bucks, so why not?
2) Read things. If you can, read worthwhile things. Get yourself a subscription to The Wall Street Journal or something. They offer student deals in a lot of places, and their articles are normally pretty top tier. But honestly even if you can't grind through that (I couldn't at 16) just read good writing. Fiction, nonfiction, who cares? If you read enough good writing, you'll start to pick up some of the strategies good writers use by pure osmosis.
3) This one is very important. WRITE things. Then edit them. Then edit them again. Annnnd another time for good measure. Then have someone you trust (maybe your English teacher?) edit them. Writing is like any other skill. The more you do it, the better you get.
And yeah, feel free to PM me if you have more questions, but honestly the best advice I can give you besides what I already wrote in the first post is: enjoy your life. Planning for the future is great and you definitely should think about it, but don't forget to stop and have fun sometimes. School (including undergrad) is honestly half about academics and half about learning how to interact with people. Later on they'll call that networking.
Hang on, I can overlook breaking our laws, but now they’re breaking the rules of punctuation. I’ve got half a mind to go down to their little club and dramatically drop a copy of Eats, Shoots & Leaves on the bar.
Hitchens noted in his evaluation of Mother Theresa that after her, they did away with "Devils Advocate" and this process is pretty much just marketing.
There were girls that wrote like this back in HS and I always found it so obnoxious.
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Everyone that want's to get into clear and concise writing should give this book a perusal.
Strunk & White. Very short, very clear, the only grammar/composition book you'll ever need. Can't recommend it enough.
https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-William-Strunk/dp/020530902X
Most of my experience was outside the US. I did the Vagabonding thing when I retired from the military. $200 per night hotel rooms were not in my budget. I was able to do things via AirBnB that I would never have been able to do with hotels. But for short stays, I agree that AirBnBs aren't really worth it.
I'm going to send you down a different road.
https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469
Try to find a copy of said book, and give it a read.
Then come back to us after you've read it.
Chicago Manual of Style or Strunk & White, please
https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-William-Strunk/dp/020530902X
100%, and not just vocabulary. Much of what makes English syntax so difficult for non native speakers is from "borrowing", too.
Great book from a great author on the subject:
https://www.amazon.com/Our-Magnificent-Bastard-Tongue-History/dp/1592404944