Smartphone and computer technology has completely turned the world around, providing helps in all areas of life from scheduling work to planning the kids’ meals. However, these devices are distracting people like never before, and many are suffering consequences and even danger because of the distraction. Recent Studies In one study on college students, 97 percent of students admitted to using cell phones during class. Their reasons are less than academic too, using the phones to text, check their email, or scroll through social media. Many don’t even understand how this distraction has affected their grades. Even further, drivers are still using cell phones while on the road, despite tightening laws and warnings from cell phone companies. According to the National Safety Council, cell phone usage caused over 25 percent of car accidents in 2014. At the same time, pedestrians also face danger if they are walking while distracted by a device. Over 50 percent of adults who use cell phones have walked into someone or something because they were distracted. Depending on what people are walking into, they could be risking their lives. Some pedestrians have been seriously injured or worse while focusing on a phone call or text. People simply need to put their devices down and stay connected to the Internet less. Here are a few examples of people putting lives in danger because of cell phones or computers: Lifeguard on Duty? Recently, one autistic student drowned while swimming in his school’s pool. He had gone to the pool with a group of special needs children and should have had close supervision due to his autism. Unfortunately, no one noticed the student’s danger in time, including the lifeguard on duty. The lifeguard was using a computer in a room close by when the accident happened. Had the lifeguard stayed at his station and off the computer, this autistic student might have gotten help more quickly and lived. Distracted Teenage Driver One teenager, Amanda, was notorious for using her phone while driving her car. She had full confidence in her driving abilities and loved staying connected to friends. Then one day, her distracted driving landed her in an accident in which her car rolled over three times. This time, she walked out alive. After the accident, Amanda wanted to change her habits, keeping off her phone when behind the wheel. One year later, however, she decided to pick up the phone again while driving. She drove off the road and died a day later from air loss. If Amanda had waited to talk to her friend, she would have focused on the road and maintained control of her car. Doctor in Surgery In some incidents, even doctors use connected devices during surgery. One doctor at the Yorkville Endoscopy clinic decided to take a picture during a throat surgery with a famous comedian. The surgery took a wrong turn, and the patient ended up dying from blocked air supply. Although the hospital did not link the phone usage with the patient’s death, the doctor was undoubtedly distracted during the procedure, at least for the length of the picture. What Are We Doing about it? To combat this distraction, many companies could heighten efforts to help people get off their devices. For example, cell phone companies have started campaigns against texting while driving. However, the National Safety Council’s reports show that taking a phone call while driving actually causes more accidents than texting. In hospitals, doctors’ cell phone usage also has little monitoring. Although research shows that using cell phones in the OR can easily contaminate the surgery, many hospitals just do not impose any restrictions on this practice. If hospitals enforced rules on cleaning and using devices, they would be helping doctors focus better and protecting patients from irresponsible risk. While you should certainly continue to advance your life with improved technology, learn where to draw the line. Take your own distraction seriously, knowing that you could be endangering someone’s life. Most of all, put your phone or computer away and become actively involved in the real world, free from distraction. FOX News Manny Alvarez
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1. Read great writers. This may sound obvious, but it has to be said. This is the place to start. If you don’t read great writing, you won’t know how to do it. Everyone starts by learning from the masters, by emulating them, and then through them, you find your own voice. Read a lot. As much as possible. Pay close attention to style and mechanics in addition to content.
2. Write a lot. Try to write every day, or multiple times a day if possible. The more you write, the better you’ll get. Writing is a skill, and like any other skill, you have to practice it to get better. Write stuff for yourself, write for a blog, write for other publications. Write just to write, and have a blast doing it. It gets easier after awhile if you practice a lot. 3. Write down ideas, all the time. Keep a little notebook handy (Nabokov carried around index cards) and write down ideas for stories or articles or novels or characters. Write down snippets of conversation that you hear. Write down plot twists and visual details and fragments of song lyrics or poems that move you. Having these ideas written down helps, because they can inspire you or actually go directly into your writing. I like to keep a list of post ideas for my blog, and I continually add to it. 4. Create a writing ritual. Find a certain time of day when you can write without interruptions, and make it a routine. For me, mornings work best, but others might find lunch or evenings or midnight hours the best. Whatever works for you, make it a must-do thing every single day. Write for at least 30 minutes, but an hour is even better. If you’re a full-time writer, you’ll need to write for several hours a day, as I do. But don’t worry! It helps you get better. 5. Just write. If you’ve got blank paper or a blank screen staring at you, it can be intimidating. You might be tempted to go check your email or get a snack. Well, don’t even think about it, mister. Just start writing. Start typing away — it doesn’t matter what you write — and get the fingers moving. Once you get going, you get in the flow of things, and it gets easier. I like to start out by typing things like my name or a headline or something easy like that, and then the juices start flowing and stuff just pours out of me. But the key is to just get going. 6. Eliminate distractions. Writing does not work well with multi-tasking or background noise. It’s best done in quiet, or with some mellow music playing. Do your writing with a minimal writer like WriteRoom or DarkRoom or Writer, and do it in full-screen. Turn off email or IM notifications, turn off the phone and your cell phone, turn off the TV, and clear off your desk … you can stuff everything in a drawer for now until you have time to sort everything out later … but don’t get into sorting mode now, because it’s writing time! Clear away distractions so you can work without interruption. 7. Plan, then write. This may sound contradictory to the above “just write” tip, but it’s not really. I find it useful to do my planning or pre-writing thinking before I sit down to write. I’ll think about it during my daily run, or walk around for a bit to brainstorm, then write things down and do an outline if necessary. Then, when I’m ready, I can sit down and just crank out the text. The thinking’s already been done. For a great method for planning out a novel, see the Snowflake Method. 8. Experiment. Just because you want to emulate the great writers doesn’t mean you have to be exactly like them. Try out new things. Steal bits from other people. Experiment with your style, your voice, your mechanics, your themes. Try out new words. Invent new words. Experimentalize everything. And see what works, and toss out what doesn’t. 9. Revise. If you really crank out the text, and experiment, and just let things flow, you’ll need to go back over it. Yes, that means you. Many writers hate revising, because it seems like so much work when they’ve already done the writing. But if you want to be a good writer, you need to learn to revise. Because revision is where good writing really is. It separates the mediocre from the great. Go back over everything, looking not only for grammar and spelling mistakes, but for unnecessary words and awkward structures and confusing sentences. Aim for clarity, for strength, for freshness. 10. Be concise. This is best done during the revision process, but you need to edit every sentence and paragraph and remove everything but the essential. A short sentence is preferred over a longer one, and a clear word is preferred over two in jargonese. Compact is powerful. 11. Use powerful sentences. Aim for shorter sentences with strong verbs. Of course, not every sentence should be the same — you need variation — but try to create sentences with oomph. You might find this easier to do in the revision stage, as it might not be something you’re thinking about when you’re pumping out that first draft. 12. Get feedback. You can’t get better in a vacuum. Get someone to read over your stuff — preferably a good writer or editor. Someone who reads a lot, and can give you honest and intelligent feedback. And then listen. Really try to understand the criticism and accept it and use it to improve. Instead of being hurt, thank your editor for helping you get better. 13. Put yourself out there. At some point, you’ll need to let others read your writing. Not just the person who you’re allowing to read it, but the general public. You’ll need to publish your book or short story or poem, or write for a publication. If you’re already doing a blog, that’s good, but if no one reads it, then you need to find a bigger blog and try to submit a guest post. Putting your writing out in the public can be nerve-wracking, but it is a crucial (if painful) part of every writer’s growth. Just do it. 14. Learn to be conversational. Many people write too stiffly. I find that it’s so much better to write like you talk (without all the umms and uhhs). People relate to it better. It’s not an easy task at first, but it’s something to strive for. And that brings up another point — it’s better to break the rules of grammar in order to sound conversational (as I did in the last sentence) than to sound stilted just so you can follow the proper rules. But don’t break the rules of grammar without good reason — know that you’re doing it, and why. 15. Start and end strong. The most important parts of your writing are the beginning and end. Especially the beginning. If you don’t hook your reader in the beginning, they won’t read the rest of your writing. So when you’ve written your first draft, spend some extra time crafting a good beginning. Get them interested and wanting to know more. And when you’re done with that, write a good ending … that will leave them wanting more of your writing. Here is another helpful link: instrktiv.com/en/technical-writing-tools/ Vacation time is coming. A time to take a break from regular life. Here is a link goo.gl/VdD5b4 to the friendliest cities in the world that you may want to research and think about visiting. Enjoy and have a good Sunday.--Keith
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AuthorKeith Kelly currently lives in Rio Rancho New Mexico. Archives
October 2020
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