How Do We Write?

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Julie2owlsdene
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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

Thanks for the info, Tony. I wasn't sure if it was the printing system or publisher who sets out the final works. :)

I think Ilsa's piece in the Journal looks fine without the indents. :)

And the Journal looks fine in it's layout of indents etc. So we can probably assume now that any publishing house sorts out the indentations and layouts itself.

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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by Chrissie777 »

Julie2owlsdene wrote:Good for you, Chrissie.
:wink:
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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by Rob Houghton »

When I first started writing a diary, age 17, I see that I always started each paragraph with an indent, even though it was of course hand-written! I don't do that now in my diaries - just leave a line space - but when I hand wrote stories, I always left the indent. It's something that has pretty much been drummed into me since a child - when we were 12 I remember in our English exercise books at school we had to rule two margins - one was a ruler width, then next to it a margin of one cm indent, which was to help us line up indents when we started new paragraphs. I still have my ENglish exercise books from the early 1980's which show this! 8)
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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

I think everyone is taught to indent, Rob. I was too. All through school and typing lessons etc.

But even when one starts work, you have to conform with whatever layout that company takes. And the NHS I worked for didn't do indentations, so I had to try and remember then not to indent!

It's one's own choice of course when writing a script.

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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by Darrell71 »

We are still taught to indent over here in Indian schools, and we still do schoolwork on paper, as opposed to typing it. That's just how it has been. I think it's fairly sensible, especially if you're not leaving a line in between, as if your previous paragraph happens to end at the end of the line, it may be hard to tell if a new one has started.
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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by MJE »

Rob Houghton wrote:When I first started writing a diary, age 17, I see that I always started each paragraph with an indent, even though it was of course hand-written! I don't do that now in my diaries - just leave a line space - but when I hand wrote stories, I always left the indent.
     Is there a reason you made that change in your diaries, Rob? Given that you seem to prefer indenting almost as strongly as I do, I wonder why you decided to abandon it there.
     And I don't think handwriting would make indenting less likely. Everything was handwritten when I was at school (typing existed but was never used in classes), and everything was also indented.

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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by Rob Houghton »

I'm not sure why...maybe sometimes I do it just out of habit and don't notice - but my diary writing style is much more casual these days, whereas when I was 17 it was very neat and formal!
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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by MJE »

Julie2owlsdene wrote:I think everyone is taught to indent, Rob. I was too. All through school and typing lessons etc.
     It does seem to have become rarer, except in books, where it is still ubiquitous. I wonder why.
     One reason that I dislike empty lines between paragraphs is that I reserve an empty line for a larger section break for any of a number of reasons: a change of topic or point of view, or, in fiction, either a switch to a new scene or characters, or to indicate elapsed time. I think this makes writing clearer in structure, and I can sometimes use section breaks even in quite short e-mails or forum posts if I think logic demands it - and I don't like formatting conventions that rob me of this device.
     I suppose to do section breaks in this system you could use two or three spaces, but this would be less noticeable if it had to depend on noticing that it's a bigger gap than usual, when every paragraph is followed by a gap: a one-line gap in a field of contiguous paragraphs without gaps is much more conspicuous to the eye than a two- or three-line gap in a field of paragraphs separated by single-line gaps. And yes, you can use a row of asterisks or similar, but then you have problems of centring and spacing them (a bunch of them crammed up against the left margin is very ugly), which is problematical especially in plain text format where you don't have automatic centring (usually - I believe there are really swish text editors which will do this - but it doesn't seem to be common).
     I do have a couple of novels that don't use indenting, and don't use empty lines between paragraphs either. This is extremely rare in books, and I think the books in question are from the 1940s (the semi-school story "Those Summer Holidays" by Dora Joan Potter and something else by her). It's not a good idea, though - makes paragraphs harder to see, and almost impossible if the end of the previous one happens to reach the very end of the line.
Julie2owlsdene wrote:But even when one starts work, you have to conform with whatever layout that company takes. And the NHS I worked for didn't do indentations, so I had to try and remember then not to indent!
     I wonder if this is why it's become less common. Some businesses decided (for whatever arcane reason) that it was better not to indent, and perhaps others followed, and staff were just told to do it that way.
     Don't like that much. I have a bit of a rebellious streak in me, and I think I would jib at this. I suspect I would not have been very successful in the corporate world, as I don't much like what I see as mindless conformity to arbitrary things.

Regards, Michael.
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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by Darrell71 »

MJE wrote: Don't like that much. I have a bit of a rebellious streak in me, and I think I would jib at this. I suspect I would not have been very successful in the corporate world, as I don't much like what I see as mindless conformity to arbitrary things.
Yeah, I have a similar problem, and in school we're often given contradicting instructions, based on the teachers. Everyone has personal opinions, and everyone is convinced that they are the only ones who know anything right. :roll: Especially regards indenting, formats, etc, we have a different English teacher every half year, so a lot of different formats. The Central Education Board doesn't provide any guidelines, so it has always been a problem. But I always pretty much just use my own formats, without worrying about the teachers. However, it has lead to one too many lost marks in the past. :oops:
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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by Chrissie777 »

Darrell71 wrote:The Central Education Board doesn't provide any guidelines, so it has always been a problem. But I always pretty much just use my own formats, without worrying about the teachers. However, it has lead to one too many lost marks in the past. :oops:
That's really unfair, Sunskriti. It should be mainly about the contents of what you write. And if your spelling and punctuation is right.
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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by zaidi »

As this is related to writing so I'll post it here.
There this Essay Competition called Emergency Picnic thats about writing about a resource that the participant would create to bring Environmental or/and Social Revolution. My head is turning head over heels, but I cant think of many great ideas. Anyone who could help me around with this,and the deadline is 31st March.

Student Essay Contest

Win a scholarship ($3,481) to Foresight Prep @ Oberlin College!

Prompt

What will you offer your peers (and adults) for responding to our current moment?

Maybe it’s a workshop curriculum, or maybe it’s a plate of cookies. A poster design, or a poem. A word of advice jotted on a napkin, or a step-by-step action plan.

In your essay, answer the following:

To what "emergency" will you respond? Clearly identify a social and/or environmental challenge posed by our current historical and political moment. This could be a longstanding issue/problem (e.g. poverty, scapegoating of immigrants, climate change), or something emerging (e.g. recent changes in policies or leadership).
What will you contribute to address this problem? How will your resource help yourself and others to confront it?
To further support your argument, choose one or both of the following to answer, building upon your response to the first two questions. This part of the prompt asks you to think about how the resource that you bring might achieve its highest purpose when used in collaboration with others:

3a. What do you need your peers to bring?
3b. What do you need older generations to bring?

Contest Details

Deadline: 11:59 PM CST, March 31, 2017.
Eligibility: Open to national/international high school students in graduating class years 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.

There is no entry fee or monetary cost to participate. One essay contest entry per person—if more than one entry is submitted, only the first entry will be considered. Once an essay is submitted, it may not be edited in any way. Plagiarism will result in disqualification.

Guidelines

Provide a clear, specific answer to Question 1.
Provide a clear answer to either Question 3a or 3b, or both.
Use correct grammar, and proofread.
Your essay should stay between 1-2 single spaced,
typed pages (500-1000 words). Include your name, a title, and page numbers.
Foresight can only accommodate essays written in English.
Criteria

Entries will be evaluated based upon the following:

Quality of writing
Thoughtfulness: What consideration will you give to the complexities of the situations that face us, and your strategies for addressing them.
Coherence: Strive to tell an integrated story across the full length of your essay.
Creativity and originality. We'd suggest considering topics that are relevant to your own experience and unique contribution.
Prizes & Judges

Essays will be judged by our esteemed judges (see below), based upon the Criteria & Guidelines (see above). In addition to selecting one Contest Winner, there will be one Runner-up and a list of five finalists who will be publicized. The Contest Winner will be awarded a full tuition and room and board scholarship to one Foresight Prep @ Oberlin College summer 2017 seminar of their choosing (a $3,481 value). The Runner-up will be awarded a 25% tuition discount. The Contest Winner and Runner-up will also receive a formal letter of recognition, have access to a one-on-one, 30-minute informational interview via Skype or phone with one of the judges, and will have their essays and biography featured on the Emergency Picnic and Foresight Prep @ Oberlin College websites.

Foresight Prep @ Oberlin College Application

Contest entries will be considered students’ Program Applications for the Foresight Prep @ Oberlin College summer program. They will not be required to send additional admissions materials. A question on the essay submission form will ask students to indicate whether they wish to be considered for program admission even if theirs is not chosen as the winning essay.

The Contest Winner's prize will cover the program’s full tuition and room and board costs of $3,481.

https://www.emergencypicnic.org/student-essay-contest
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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

That's a great idea for a competition, Zainab, but you haven't got long if the deadline is 31st March!

Here's one suggestion - not for copying, but for inspiration:

Emergency: People being physically together as a family/group of friends but being mentally apart because they're devoting most of their attention to their individual screens (phones, tablets, laptops, etc.)

Older people could bring: Board games, card games, word games and equipment for more active games involving beanbags, hoops and balls. These get people interacting physically and verbally while competing and having fun. Also, traditional games will be passed on through the generations and won't get forgotten.

Younger people could bring: Modern songs (family-friendly ones!) which everyone could learn and sing together.

If the resource has to involve creating something physical, the older people could put together a box of games with all the equipment and instructions. They could decorate the box with meaningful symbols and sayings.

The younger people could make an illustrated booklet of songs and perhaps include a CD of them singing the songs.

The essay should give specific examples of the games and songs and explain that the aim is to promote communication, participation and togetherness across the generations.

Probably not a very original idea but that's what came to mind!
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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by Machupicchu14 »

Chrissie777 wrote:
Darrell71 wrote:The Central Education Board doesn't provide any guidelines, so it has always been a problem. But I always pretty much just use my own formats, without worrying about the teachers. However, it has lead to one too many lost marks in the past. :oops:
That's really unfair, Sunskriti. It should be mainly about the contents of what you write. And if your spelling and punctuation is right.
I definitely agree with you Chrissie. Here, the important thing for the English exam is being able to analyse Shakespeare, poems, etc, being able to express yourself freely and write. Also, of course, grammar and spellings are quite important to get more marks. The thing you always have to keep in mind though, is the way to answer a paragraph, the more analysis you put in the more marks you get. And then it just imagination rather formats.
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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by Daisy »

I think Anita has given some great ideas to you Zainab. I read your post and wondered how on earth anyone could do it! If you are intending to enter (I presume it is not compulsory) then I wish you all the best. As Anita said, the time is very limited. Has this just been presented to everyone? If so, I guess they hope for your personal ideas with limited time for a lot of research on the internet!
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Re: How Do We Write?

Post by sixret »

Good luck on your writing, Zainab! Let us know the outcome. :D
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