Theres Something Endlessly Hilarious To Me About The Phrase Hotly Debated In An Academic Context. Like

there’s something endlessly hilarious to me about the phrase “hotly debated” in an academic context. like i just picture a bunch of nerds at podiums & one’s like “of course there was a paleolithic bear cult in Northern Eurasia” and another one just looks him in the eye and says “i’l kill you in real life, kevin”

Tips On Planning Out A Series

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– This is a list of tips I’ve gathered throughout the outlining process of my work in progress. If you are an author, feel free to leave your own tips in the replies!

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Figure Out What Type Of Series You’re Writing

There are many forms a series can follow, but in the base level world of understanding your series, you should know what type of series you’re going to be writing. Either your series is one of episodic plot, wherein each book is a contained conflict and resolution, but following the same set of characters on a singular timeline, or you’re splitting one big story arc into a series of novels in order to flesh it out in detail and allow enough time for the reader to become invested in the details.

Don’t Stretch It Too Much

If you plan on writing a series, you need to have enough content to justify the amount of time and attention you’re asking of the reader. If your series is going to be seven books long, you need to have seven books worth of content, not two books worth that you spun and twisted and over-elaborated on for the sake of word count. Earn your reader’s loyalty to your story by giving them substance to enjoy, rather than long instances of nothing between short bursts of importance.

Plead Ahead or Edit Diligently

It is imperative that you decide from the beginning whether you’re going to plan your story from start to finish ahead of time, or go with the flow and tear it to shreds later. Whatever you choose is justified and can produce a good product as long as you’re willing to deal with the consequences of that choice. If you choose to plan out six books worth of plot, conflict, world building, and character development ahead of time, be aware that it will be a long while before you actually put pen to paper. If you choose to start somewhere and go and deal with the spill of ideas and possibilities later, then know that you will spend about 10 times as much time editing, rewriting, and re-editing as you spent actually writing. Either way, refinement of detail takes up more time in the writing process than actual writing.

Think About The Reader’s Experience

When you’re thinking about timing, revelations, growth, progression, and foreshadowing, your number one thought should be “how is this going to affect the reader’s experience of my story?”. When you release each book, you are handing it off. You don’t get to explain to each individual reader what you meant by this, or how this is supposed to make them feel, or why you included this cryptic piece of dialogue or this detail at this precise moment. You have to construct your story in a way that unfolds deliberately and effectively. Always put the reader first, and you will gain a loyal, captivated audience.

Twist The Commonalities

If you notice that your story shares a lot of attributes or includes a lot of tropes that you know the reader would recognize, this isn’t a bad thing and won’t be a detriment to your story as long as you make it your own. I don’t know how to state this in a way that isn’t going to start a fight in the comments, but originality is dead so long as you refuse to acknowledge interpretation. Interpret the character archetype or the trope however you feel fits your story and try to make it like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Not only for the sake of avoiding criticism for the use of it, but because new things are more exciting to create than reused things are interesting to copy. 

Understand The Voice(s) Of The Series

Some books are told in first person, third person, whatever. That’s important to an extent, but one thing that goes severely overlooked is the decisions you make that contribute to the voice behind the storytelling. The way you tell the story impacts the way the reader experiences it, and things like details that you repeat, preferred vocabulary and phrases, and even where you put commas and em-dashes forms your voice as a writer, and your character’s voice in the case of first person.

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Hey, I wanted to say thank you for what you replied on my Valentines post

I would love a card! You're so sweet! Address is to Ellynn Askew 3316 Pecos St. Fort Worth, TX 76119

broke: supernatural creatures comparing humans to worms, ants or any other insect creatures in a hateful tone

woke: supernatural creatures in awe of the shit humans do/put up with given their limited abilities

a big sister’s college tips

wait until after syllabus week to buy your textbooks. they might not be required. it’ll save you money 

prioritize your classes by number of credit hours. more credit hours = bigger impact on your GPA. sometimes there’s not enough study time to go around  

if you wanna dress up for class, dress up for class. if you wanna pull up in the sweatshirt you wore yesterday, that’s okay too 

locate your classes before they start, so you don’t get lost on the first day. check and see if your college has an app of some sort with a campus map! 

old exams are more valuable than life itself  

set your class schedule as your home screen until you’ve got it down 

Chegg.com. you’re welcome 

carry a sweatshirt. it may be 100 degrees outside but chances are it’s 30 degrees in your lecture hall  

keep your syllabi  

write things down!! planner, phone, laptop, etc.  

sit in the front. go up and introduce yourself to your professor after the first day, say you’re looking forward to the class. build a relationship! Professors do not round grades for students they don’t at least recognize 

bring your chargers with you everywhere 

sometimes it’s easier to wake up early and study for an exam than stay up late the night before  

shower shoes. have you ever heard of toe fungus 

the dorms are bad BUT you will get through it (and make friends while doing it) 

there’s no such thing as a condom that doesn’t fit    

every time you skip class it costs you money. go to class. (unless you are dying or have no other time to finish something for another class)

your mental health is important. college can be overwhelming. know your limits. seek help if you need it. 

sometimes if you go to your professor’s office hours and ask questions a day or two before an exam they will steer you towards information that will be covered 

find your study space. the library is your friend  

parking is a bitch and a half 

it’s okay to miss your parents. call them. (they miss you too) 

talk to your advisor!!! let them advise you!!!

don’t study yourself into the ground. after college you’re a real life adult - enjoy college while it lasts. go out, make friends, if you drink, do so responsibly. uber exists for this very reason 

keep an eye on your drink at all times 

don’t feel pressured to go out and drink because college. it’s not for everybody  

on a related note: pedialyte is your friend  

don’t be afraid to drop a class that doesn’t fit you, but talk to your advisor first 

chances are you’re paying a lot of money to be where you are. party if you wanna, but do not let it interfere with your grades.  

you’re gonna get a lot of free stuff. take advantage 

if you can handle it with your class load, get a job. it’s a good way to make friends. 

it’s okay to change your major. really! 

first semester is easier if you get involved with something!!   

there will be weeks when you have nothing due, and then there will be weeks when you have 5 exams 14 assignments and 2 papers due all at once. take advantage of down time. work ahead!! make life easier for your future self  

carry a water bottle  

exercise will not only help avoid the freshman 15 but also make you feel better  

it’s okay if you’re not best friends with your roommate 

communicate if they are doing something that annoys you  

keep your dorm clean. the only thing worse than a tiny space is a messy one 

buy an umbrella

hey dude, do you have any tips for reading academic texts? i need to read 30 pages on marxism and popular culture by tuesday and trying at it today gave me nothing but a headache. any help would be much appreciated :)

is it cultural theory and popular culture by john storey, by any chance? because we read that (or we were supposed to) and i’d completely understand why you got a headache from it lmao 

i’ll be honest and say that i mostly just don’t do readings unless they’re absolutely central to the class (which they rarely are). most of my tasks could be done with reading the abstract and maybe a couple of paragraphs from the beginning and the conclusion, plus reading along silently in class whenever they discuss a specific paragraph. luckily, i find most papers we get in linguistics interesting anyway and read them because i want to, but literature and cultural theory were,,, not the Best lmao 

before i get trashed for promoting Bad Study Habits ™ though, here’s what i do if i really have to read something that just sucks: 

Abstract first. Then thesis statement and conclusion. That way you know the gist of the paper and what to read for, i.e. you can discern more easily which parts are essential and which aren’t. 

Highlighting looks pretty, but hardly does anything. Instead, get a pen and write notes in the margins. It doesn’t have to be anything deep, just thoughts that come to you while reading, or things you had to look up to understand them better. Often, it’s these first impressions that can take you a long way later if you have to write a paper yourself or participate in class discussion (especially because the first question mostly is “What was your first impression of this paper?”) 

Look stuff up. Watch videos about Marxism (I’m sure there’s a crash course about it or something), define words you don’t know etc etc. That will make it much less frustrating to read (and don’t forget to write stuff in the margins like in #2 so you don’t forget all those facts and definitions). 

Focus on extracting the information you need. Many academic papers go very in depth or on long tangents which can be interesting, but also distracting if you’re just there to get it done. Dare to skip parts that look irrelevant to your topic, and if you later notice you’re missing key info, you can always go back and catch up on it anyway.

Make it simpler. Academics have a way of making things more complicated than they need to be. Try summarising main ideas in your own words, and if they’re colloquial and not compliant to academic standards, even better - that way you’ll at least remember them. You can make doodles out of it, puns, whatever you like as long as it makes you less likely to forget it. 

Breaks are your call. Sometimes it might not be beneficial to take breaks during reading because you might lose your focus or forget the context of where you left off. 30 pages can be done in one sitting, but maybe just skim over it again after a break to recall it (or do that right before class). If you need breaks during reading, always take them - we don’t want you to get another headache, right? 

Environment and interruptions. Make sure no one interrupts you and that you’re in a good environment where you can focus and have access to everything you need. 

hope this helped! good luck x