How Creative Writers Can Use Sentiment

How Creative Writers Can Use SentimentHow Creative Writers Can Use SentimentSentimentality comes up as an issue for nearly every writer at some point. In attempting to convey strong emotions, its easy to go too far and make your reader feel manipulated instead of moved. Over-the-top emotion runs the risk of rolled eyes and the worst case of all of the reader putting your masterpiece aside, never to return to reading it. Sentiment is a good thing. We want our readers to experience emotions as they read our work. Sentimentality, on the other hand, refers to excessive or inappropriate emotion, and it should be avoided in fiction at all costs. Whats the Difference? Think of the last good book you read, the one you couldnt put down, the one that had you glancing at the bedside clock in the wee hours thinking, Ive got to get up and go to work soon. One more page and lights out, I swear. In all likelihood, you were inthat story right along with the hero or heroine. Youre experiencing w hat he or she experiences. Thats sentiment. Sentimentality is the writer telling you what he or she wants you to feel, often by informing you what the hero or heroine is feeling. The sight was terrifying is a bare-bones example of sentimentality. Blood dripped from the knife in slow, congealing globules is sentiment. It inspires a feeling. It also tells the reader that the blood is no longer warm. Youre setting a scene, bedrngnis just telling the reader whats happening. Achieving Sentiment One of the most productive ways of achieving sentiment over sentimentality is to quite literally put yourself in your heros or heroines shoes as youre writing. See what he or she is seeing. Tell your readers what it is. Dont try to tell your readers how your character feels about or reacts to what he or she is experiencing. Show them. Conveying a story in the first person is a good practice ground to hone skills you can carry forward into other works. Using dialog can also be very helpful in a chieving sentiment. Run, run, run she shouted gets the point across that the blood isnt a good thing at all, even if its been dripping from the knife long enough to cool off a bit. And throw clichsout the window. Her heart stopped is as condescending to a reader as The sight was terrifying. Do Some Research The best way to learn about sentimentality is to read widely, both literature and pulp. Pay attention to your own reactions to books as you read, and study why they succeed or fail in provoking emotions in you. Finally, its worth pointing out that its possible to overcorrect for sentimentality, as John Irving reminds us in his New York Times essay, In Defense of Sentimentality. But as a writer it is cowardly to so fear sentimentality that one avoids it altogether. It is typical- and forgivable- among student writers to avoid being mush-minded by simply refusing to write about people, or by refusing to subject characters to emotional extremes. A short story about a four-course meal from the point of view of a fork will never be sentimental it may never matter very much to us, either. A fear of contamination by soap opera haunts the educated writer- and reader- though we both forget that in the hands of a clod, Madame Bovary would have been perfect material for daytime television and a contemporary treatment of The Brothers Karamazov could be stuckwith a campus setting.

One third of Americans plan to work during their summer vacation

One third of Americans plan to work during their summer vacationOne third of Americans plan to work during their summer vacationAmericans have mixed feelings about summer we love our long weekends and summer Fridays, yet we regularly let work encroach on our hard-earned vacations (if were taking them at all). A report from project management software companyWrike surveyed 1,134 full-time employees about summer productivity and whether or notlage Americans really disconnected during their summer vacations,On average, about 35% of people planned to use between six to 10 vacation days this summer, with 30% taking between one to five days. Another near-third (28%), budgeted 11+ vacation days for the May-September months. Not too shabbyStill, the weeklong vacation reigns. The maximum number of consecutive vacation days that the majority of people tended to take at one time was one to five days (48%).Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Produ ctivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraWorking when youre being paid not toMore than one in three Americans expected to work while on vacation. Ten percent werent sure if they would or wouldnt. Women are less likely to work while on vacay 30% of them intend or work or plan to be available to work, compared to 40% of men.This might be because women are more likely to get their work done before they go on holiday (34%), compared to 27% of men.Like men, Millennials are more likely to work on vacation (42%), when compared with Gen X and Boomers (28%). Theyre influenced by their boss off-time work habits, saying that theyre more likely to work on their summer break if their boss does so, too (45%). Other generations are much less influenced in this way.Millennials are also more likely to feel guilty while theyre on vacation (40%), compared with Boomers and Gen X (29%).What kind of work are they doing?No ones doing major projects or heavy loads its mainly forwarding time-sensit ive emails (22%), or taking calls or emails from their boss (24%). A small workaholic contingent says theyll do what it takes, as long as it takes, to move their projects ahead (12%).Men are more likely to work on their vacation if they have a boss that does the same (57%), while women are much less influenced by their bosss workaholic vacation habits (39%).A healthy third says they do no work at all and completely totally zone out while on vacation.Summer in the office like a vacation at workEverybody knows that productivity in the office goes down during the summer months, as people flit in and out, and everybody pines for the next long weekend or summer Friday.Or is that a myth? Just 26% of respondents said their workloads were lighter during the summer. The majority, 57%, said their workload was about the same, as was their productivity (62%). A third didnt report that summer held any productivity roadblock for them, and just 16% said the expected that teammates and colleagues w erent around when they needed them.Still, when asked to pick several ideas from a list to improve summer productivity, employees had a host of ideas38% suggested reducing hours or switching to a 4-day work week34% wanted to allow for more remote work25% suggested shutting down the office and having everyone take a vacation at once22% wanted to host events and fun activities to keep teams engaged20% wanted to provide or assist with employee childcareThat sounds ambitious. And, well, its summer Heres an idea for you one of these Fridays, sneak out early for a ballgame, and create your own three-day weekend.

How to Hire an Experienced Brand Manager

How to Hire an Experienced Brand ManagerHow to Hire an Experienced Brand ManagerSo you released your posting for your brand manager opening out into the wild. Youre getting pinged nearly nonstop with responses from excited job seekers. ScoreBut when you start digging into the resumes, your excitement fades. It turns out few, if any, of the applicants have the expertise your company needs to take your branding strategy to the next level. Now youre wondering what else you can do to find candidates you actually want to meet.Youre not alone. According to The Creative Group 2019 Salary Guide, 45 percent of advertising and marketing executives said its challenging to find creative professionals today - and it can be even mora difficult to find candidates with sufficient experience for the brand manager role.Employers are looking for candidates with at least five years of true brand management experience under their belt, but theyre hard to find here, says Sarah Elizabeth Zeis, division di rector for The Creative Group in St. Louis.While looking for seasoned brand managers can feel like hunting for a unicorn, our staffing specialists have some tips to help you find the candidates you want - and help you determine a salary thatll get them on board.Find the right stuffFinding specific industry experience is a roadblock many hiring managers come up against in Denver, says Eric Kimble, division director for The Creative Group there. He encourages employers to look for candidates with a history of working with major brands. Even if they havent worked in your specific industry, they can apply brand strategies from the big players to your companys branding.Katie Bergin, division director for The Creative Group in Austin, Texas - also a challenging market for finding highly skilled brand managers - suggests another approach. Dont think about the number of years, Bergin tells clients. Instead, consider whether the applicant has worked in similar roles even if in other indus tries.Dig deeperAcross these markets, many employers have to rely on additional resources to find the right hire. Solid candidates we get are often referrals from employers we work with and candidates weve placed, Bergin notes. Kimble adds, We typically find candidates through our professional network.Thats one reason why more hiring managers are turning to professional recruiters. These staffing specialists have deep networks they can tap into to help speed up the recruiting process. Were good at digging deep, Zeis says.Pay for what you really wantAcross the country, salary continues to be an important parte of the hiring equation, and offering competitive compensation is a must. Amy Mangan with The Creative Group in Atlanta cautions employers to make sure their expectations align with their budgets.Companies who want five to 10 years of industry-specific brand management experience need to pay at or even above market, says Mangan, a division director.The midpoint salary for a bran d/product manager is $90,000. Get salary information specific to your location in The Creative Group 2019 Salary Guide.Sweeten the potWhile salary is crucial, its just one factor in an applicants decision. As competition for skilled creatives continues to increase, savvy employers offer extra perks and benefits to seal the deal, such as additional vacation days, workplace wellness programs and flexible scheduling options like telecommuting. Show potential hires the value you place on work-life balance and employee satisfaction. This can go a long way in securing top candidates with in-demand skills and experience.This post has been updated to reflect more current information.

Quiet as an Owl

Quiet as an Owl Quiet as an Owl Quiet as an OwlOwls, parteicularly barn owls, are alone among birds in being almost completely silent in both gliding and flapping flight.From an engineers perspective, the owls silent flight shouldnt be possible, says William Devenport, a professor of aerospace and ocean engineering at Virginia Tech. Because, if you look at the owl wing, its covered in edges, and each of those edges should radiate noise.Figuring out how owls wings allow for soundless flight could help engineers quiet jet engines, airplane wings, drones, wind turbines, and even home appliances like hair dryers. Iowa State and Virginia Tech researchers are working together on owl wing studies to determine just what makes the owls flight soundless.To learn exactly how owls wings manipulate air flow, turbulence and pressure to produce silent flight, Anupam Sharma, an Iowa State University assistant professor of aerospace engineering, is scanning owl wings, creating digital models and runn ing simulations that often take days to complete.Three features of the owl wings come together to allow the birds to flap and glide with such quiet stealth a soft, pliable, comb-like structure at the leading edge of the wing feathers at the trailing edge of the wing that end in a pliable and porous fringe, also with the comb-like structure and a downy coat of hairs that form a canopy on the flight feathers.Anupam Sharma and his research gruppe are studying the wings of Barn Owls for breakthroughs that could lead to silent flight. Image Iowa State UniversitySo far, Sharma and his team have been investigating the first two features to determine how they affect noise.The team has done numerical simulation to investigate every part of the flow field over the front end of the wing to understand whats going on in time and space.Those simulations showed that, far from increasing unsteady pressure, the wings leading edge reduces unsteady pressure in the airflow over the wing. Noise produced during flight is proportional to unsteady pressure, he says.The leading edge is not straight, its jagged to reduce unsteady lift at leading edge, which is somewhat akin to how supersonic flight uses a delta triangle-shaped wing, Sharma says.To understand that, think of air turbulence as blobs of cohesive structures. One blob will hit one portion of the wing and the jagged structure breaks it apart, breaks it off up from the rest of the blobs, he says.This breaks up the pressure of the airflow, and the noise it causes.Sharmas team is working with Virginia Tech researchers to understand the role the hairs on the wings play in quieting noise. The hairs initially rise almost perpendicular to the feather surface but then bend over in the flow direction to form the canopy with interlocking barbs at the their tops.The hairs aid in reducing trailing noise. When a blade like the ones on a wind turbine slices through the air, the sharp edge at the back of the blade converts the airs turbulen ce into sound waves, Sharma says. Virginia Tech researchers found the canopy of the owl wings surface pushes off the noisy flow.The impact of hairs and the canopy is to take the blobs and move them away from the wings surface then, the noise production mechanism weakens, he says. Unsteady pressure depends how close turbulence is to surface and trailing edge you want to get the eddies to be moved away from the trailing edge.After Virginia Tech researchers simulated and optimized the canopy structure, they created a 3D-printed, plastic attachment consisting of small finlets that can be attached to blades, such as those within airplane engines or the rotating blades of wind turbines.The finlet invention may be retrofitted to an existing blade and wing designs and used in conjunction with other noise-reduction strategies to achieve even greater noise suppression, Sharma says.The add-ones could be useful in wind turbines, he says. They seem silent, but even the small amount of noise they make in quiet surroundings becomes source of annoyance.Local laws make it difficult for manufacturer to place turbines unless they have means to reduce noise, Sharma adds. Researchers continue to study the back part of the owl wings to find even more methods to quiet all types of fan blades and airplane wings.Just imagine, one day youll be watching a plane land and may not even hear the jet engine. Or youll hike through an area with wind turbines and not hear that eerie hum. Thats something that might be worth listening for. Jean Thilmany is an independent writer. For Further Discussion From an engineers perspective, the owls silent flight shouldnt be possible. Because, if you look at the owl wing, its covered in edges, and each of those edges should radiate noise. Prof. William Devenport, Virginia Tech.

The Job Resume Sample Cover Up

The Job Resume Sample Cover Up Things You Wont Like About Job Resume Sample and Things You Will Writing a federal resume will take some time and itll help you in the event that you see samples of federal resumes. Accomplishments with a couple of details are typically bedrngnis added into the resume and if theyre in the resume, they are combined with the fundamental duties and as a result, the accomplishment is really hard to discover. Resumes are written depending on the exercise evaluations. Job Resume Sample Can Be Fun for Everyone Our writers must be in a position to access the appropriate resources and place in whatever amount of time that it requires to customize your resume properly. Possessing distributive attention helps and being conscious of procedures is every bit as important. Be certain you list your relevant abilities and any certifications you might have, including your job resume sample Handlers card. If you wish to prove that youve got a particular expertise, skill or ability, you will want to bring an achievement that proves you have the experience. Understanding how to compose a simple resume is quite helpful. Fast paced environment Work in the warehouse is fast and the director is responsible for multitasking to keep tabs on the great number of orders that should be completed. Everything else is only a preliminary. What You Dont Know About Job Resume Sample Which format you select will depend, in part, on the kind of work youve performed and whether you will continue in the exact field. With any resume you wish to make sure that the document has been proof read. The format might have certain pieces. As its title, its really a format with building depending on the moment. This sample resume is formatted to pull the interest of the selecting official. Focus on these sections to understand whether you meet the requirements for the position. Click the next link for mora info about what to have in your federal resume. What the In-Crowd Wont Tell You About Job Resume Sample Resumes arent translated when it comes to duties and obligations from military terminology into federal job duties. Multiple page resumes are usually only employed for high paying positions. An unsolicited resume is a resume sent with no reference to a specific job offer and its a superb means to raise your odds to be called to an interview sooner or later. Be sincere and think regarding the way you can benefit the employer. In order to acquire a great job you must communicate to the employer that youre ready, willing, and ready to do the job. Federal hiring managers wish to know you can follow instructions until they consider your actual qualifications. Employers might want to know you could handle clients in the event of a health emergency. Federal jobs often need you to have experience in a particular kind of work for some period of time. Hiring agencies will try to find certain terms in your resume to make certain that you hav e the experience theyre seeking.A scarcity of job experience doesnt mean a deficiency of work experience. The work is quite different between both phases, with the second phase focused more on the difficult work of engineering to earn the deployment robust, trustworthy, and higher performance. Have somebody who has no military experience read your resume, and should they have questions or dont understand something youve listed, odds are HR staff and hiring managers will have the exact same questions. Your experience should deal with every essential qualification in the job announcement.

Profit Sharing for Small Businesses - Spark Hire

Profit Sharing for Small Businesses - Spark HireProfit sharing seems like something that businesses on Forbes and Fortune and other lists might think about doing. That is, profit sharing seems like something that companies with a very large margin of profit might do. However, profit sharing can be very beneficial for small businesses as well. Profit sharing, often thought of as an employee benefit, can actually be a great employer benefit come tax time. And, of course, it keeps your worker bees happy as well.There are 2 main ways to structure profit sharing programs, for any size business. The first way is through bonus checksdispensed monthly or annually. Yearly bonus checks that depend on the profitability of a company are a form of profit sharing. Bonuses could also be dispensed monthly, as a kind of communal commission program.This kind of profit sharing makes one of the drawbacks of profit sharing more apparent. That is, equal sharing of profits can cause tension among higher an d lower performers in your workforce. Similar to waiters and waitresses pooling their tips at a restaurant, it leaves little room for rewarding outstanding performers. However, profit sharing as an employee benefit should still help motivate your workforce. It should improve employee engagement in your small business, and hopefully encourage employees to stay with the company long-term.It is also possible to give different people in the company a different cut of the profits. For example, a law firm might give partners a larger piece of the profits than the junior attorneys or administrative staff. It is also possible to use profit sharing as a bonus program to reward employees who have been especially loyal to the company.The second schriftart of profit sharing that could benefit your small business is a retirement contribution plan. Similar to a 401k match that you may already have set up as an employee benefit, profit sharing differs in that you can opt out of the contribution if your small business has a bad year. You would set up this type of profit sharing with your bank, and can discuss specific guidelines for your small business with your financial advisor.This second type of profit sharing can also benefit your small business come tax time. Employer 401k contributions, which include profit sharing, are tax deductible. So, when you have a better-than-average year (congratulations), you can contribute more to your employees retirement plansthis is a great employee benefit, and it will save you some cashWhat tips do you have for profit sharing for small businesses? Do you use profit sharing as an employee benefit? Spark a conversation belowIMAGE Courtesy of Flickr byAlan Cleaver

Engineering the Viking Longboat

Engineering the Viking Longboat Engineering the Viking Longboat The Vikings are coming. Again. After a 900-year hiatus, Viking culture and all things Nordic are suddenly landing on shorelines around the world. From the History Channels ratings juggernaut Vikings, to 2011s blockbuster Thor, to the upcoming summer epics Hammer of the Gods and Thor 2, it is suddenly very cool to be a Northman. Even HBOs fictional Game of Thrones is set in the distinctly Viking-esque kingdom of Westeros. And yet, surprisingly little is known about this ancient culture that so thoroughly changed the world, and that has so thoroughly captured the imagination of scriptwriters, viewersand engineers alike. Theres much mora thats unknown of the Viking Age, or even unknowable, than there is that is known, says Dr. William Short, who holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but who is now an author and independent scholar specializing in Viking-age topics, as well a s being a research Fellow of the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, MA. He teaches Viking martial arts on his site, Hurstwic.org. One thing we do know for certain, however, is that they could sail. And how. The Viking longboat remains an engineering marvel today. The Boat The Viking longboat, along with a related design called the knarr for shipping cargo, is a true engineering marvel of the ancient world, and in light of the fact that modern replicas have been apocryphally clocked at 25 knots, these boats are a marvel to this very day, over a millennium later. First of all, they longboats had very shallow drafts, so they could sail in very shallow water, which meant they could go anywhere, says Short. They were strong enough to cross the open ocean, but they were shallow enough that they could go way up river and truly surprise people in places where no one expected an ocean-going ship to appear. And surprise people they did, with Viking culture fundamentally reshaping the people and culture of the British Isles, while simultaneously spreading as far east as modern Russia and as far southeast as modern-day Turkey, where the Varangian Guard served Byzantine emperors for centuries. At the heart of it all, of course, welches the longboat, their unparalleled means of transportation. Another thing they longboats could do was sail very close to the wind atypical for European ships of that time, Short continues. So they could sail in many directions, and unexpected directions given the wind. One of the advances that enabled this virtually unique ability, related to tacking in todays terminology, was the beitass, which was a spar that helped brace the sail against strong winds. The ships could sail in very shallow water. However, one curiously modern advance in the engineering of the longboat seems to be the flexibility of the vessel. Anyone who has seen an airplane wing bounce up and down in a high wind knows how critical flexibility can be to the structural integ rity of any vessel, particularly one trying to navigate huge ocean swells far out to sea. The Vikings seem to have grasped this concept much earlier than many other cultures. They could cross the open ocean and the swells and the waves of the open ocean and they were able to do that because of their flexibility, says Short. They the longboats werent firmly nailed together, they actually bent with the waves rather than taking the full force of the waves and possibly breaking. The People Combine all of these engineering elements shallow draft, the ability to sail in any direction, and an incredibly durable, flexible design and you had a boat that could create a distinct advantage for an early middle ages people, whether in warfare, trade, or exploration. But this particular people had one additional advantage, at least as far as discovery and exploration went. This advantage had nothing to with engineering and everything to do with psychology and the schrift of thinking that would e nable a group of sailors to head for the horizon on the open ocean, not having any idea what would greet them when they got there. In effect, to go on what many would have considered an early middle ages suicide mission. The other aspect is the mindset of the Vikings, says Short. These people believed that at the moment of your birth, the time of your death was chosen for you. So if it was your day to die, nothing could save you. But if it wasnt your day to die, nothing could harm you. So why not go out and be bold? Why not, indeed. With a mentality that truly lent itself to bold exploration and discovery, it is little wonder the Vikings accomplished all that they did. However, the next time an episode of Vikings comes on television, or youre in the middle of a crowded theater at one of this summers blockbusters, keep in mind that things like draft, tacking, and stress analysis were just as responsible for the adventures we still enjoy watching today.They were strong enough to cross the open ocean, but they were shallow enough that they could go way up river and truly surprise people in places where no one expected an ocean-going ship to appear.William Short, author and Viking scholar

The One Thing That Will Make Resume-Writing 88 Percent Easier

The One Thing That Will Make Resume-Writing 88 Percent Easier The One Thing That Will Make Resume-Writing 88 Percent Easier Turns out, youre not alone.Resume-writing is difficult for a number of reasons, but one common complaint is that its tough to write about yourself. Most of us are uncomfortable bragging, and most of us arent aya how to view ourselves objectively.That One ThingHeres the one tip that will make resume-writing easier. Its not a secret, but it is often overlooked Learn what your natural abilities are, and then lead with them in your resume.Natural Abilities Defined thingsyou do well with little time, effort, or energy. They are often referred to as talents.A few things to know about natural abilities- People are happiest and perform best when using their natural abilities to the fullest.- Intelligent and motivated people can work against their natural abilities, but they are rarely happy or satisfied doing so.- Abilities stabilize early in life.- Learning the langu age of abilities allows you to capitalize on your strengths and make better career choices. If you ignore your abilities, you can land in mismatched roles or jobs.Examples of Natural Abilities, and How to Incorporate Them Into Your ResumeAbilities dont have to be extravagant to be awesome, and just because you have an ability, that doesnt mean you have to pursue a career in that area. For example, if you have athletic abilities, you do not need to become a professional baseball player but playing on a co-ed rec team on the weekends might fuel your soul.What follows is a list of possible natural abilities and some corresponding language you could use in a resume the describe these abilities- GeneralistThrives in roles with shared responsibilities, task variety, and multiple types of contributions also thrives in roles where apremium is placed on taking a broad-brush perspective and achieving results through or with others.- SpecialistThrives in roles with ultimate responsibility, ta rgeted tasks, expert contributions, and roles that place a premium on taking an authoritative perspective and achieving results using ones own knowledge or skills.- Short-Timeframe ThinkingA natural orientation toward roles/tasks with outcomes expected in one year or less, a demand for closure or completion, or roles requiring immediate action and a focus on the here-and-now.- Long-Timeframe ThinkingA natural orientation toward roles/tasks with outcomes expected in five years or more, a focus on distant targets, or roles that require working toward goals that may take years tocome to fruition.- Observant Able to notice and remember small visual details, make visual comparisons quickly or automatically, and recall details.- Great Visual DexterityAble to scan tables of numbers or symbols accurately and quickly highly applicable in proofreading and/or numerically-oriented fields.Why Only 88 Percent Easier?Knowing your abilities does make it easier to describe yourself in a resume, but its not magic. You still need to create aresume that follows your industrys best practices and remember all those mundane details about your previous positions. Theres no way around that last 12 percent of resume-writing. For that, I suggest a strong cup of coffee and the help of a good friend.Master the art of closing deals and making placements. Take our Recruiter Certification Program today. Were SHRM certified. Learn at your own pace during this 12-week program. Access over 20 courses. Great for those who want to break into recruiting, or recruiters who want to further their career. Like this article? We also offer tons of free eBooks on career and recruiting topics - check out Get a Better Job the Right Way and Why It Matters Who Does Your Recruiting. document.write(Read more ) in Resume Writing

Funny Story Ideas and Writing Exercises

Funny Story Ideas and Writing ExercisesFunny Story Ideas and Writing ExercisesHeres a great exerciseto get the creative juices flowing and to quickly come up with some fun story ideas. Its also great to do in groups and can produce some very good ideas in a hurry. All you need to do is to take a popular movie or book and re-imagine its story in a different genre. For example SCARY Home AloneA child is left home alone after his parents are killed in a car accident while running out for milk. His home is set upon by a murderous duett of thieves and the child must defend his home against them using everyday objects as weapons, or die Or... FUNNY TwilightWhen a moody teenage girl moves to a creepy new town she soon finds herself falling for a brooding local hunk. The problem? Hes a zombie. Is there love after death, or will he just end up breaking her heart and eating her brain? Thats it Take something funny and make it scary. Or scary and make it funny, or romantic, or dramatic, or what ever. The idea is to think about things in an unusual way and to find new slants on familiar plots. Its fun and easy and youll be amazed at how many great ideas will come out of it - also a lot of bad, but funny ones. Heres one more to get you started. How about... ROMANTIC SawA driven and solitary female reporter and a workaholic male doctor are kidnapped by a sadistic killer and chained together in a room. After initially detesting one another they eventually fall in love and each attempts to sacrifice themselves to save the other. Although it initially appears that they have both died, they are revealed to be alive and well at the end. The psycho wasnt trying to kill them, but to help them realize that love was missing from their lives. OK, so that one was pushing it, but remember these dont have to be good The idea is to binnensee how far you can stretch your creative muscles and to get the pen moving across the page, which some days is all we need. Give it a shot, youll like it .