Myths and Folklore Blog

 There's nothing quite as imposing as a time limit, is there? (Image Information: personal photo of an hourglass; photo from October 2020) Of the articles, I read   The Myth of Too Busy   by Tim Grahl,  Eat the Frog First Thing in the Morning   by Thomas Oppong, and  Time Management Tips Just for Creatives   by Amanda Oliver. I found Amanda Oliver's article to be the most helpful, as it included the same advice as the previous two while also acknowledging that time should be scheduled for breaks as well.  My personal time management style is to start with the earliest deadlines for assignments, and to get as much done as soon as possible. That way, I can devote more time to larger assignments without worrying about forgetting to do smaller assignments that may have an earlier deadline. It takes some time each semester for me to figure out how long I take to do weekly assignments, but once I do I can account for that as well. I plan to stick with m...

 How exciting! It seems like this semester is going to be full of stuff to play around with. I must confess that technology has a tendency to elude me - my little brother is a bit more savvy with this sort of thing. I am more the type to have my own set of stamps and sealing wax for handwritten letters (I am not exaggerating, I do use wax to seal envelopes). That said, Twine interests me immensely. I have stated many times that I love stories with branching narrative paths (which is one of the biggest appeals of D&D for me) and that could give me a new possibility to enhance my stories. Of course, learning to make a website could also prove useful.  (Image Information: personal photo of a wax seal; photo from December 2020) If you care to know, I have stamps for every letter of the alphabet, and some in non-letter designs.  -A.

 The assignments all look enjoyable. I love writing and I enjoy helping others improve their writing as well. However, I must admit that there is a certain fear in the idea of someone seeing these posts. I mean, of course people are going to see them, that's the point, but the vulnerability frightens me. The idea of being seen and even worse, of being known is something I think everyone is afraid of on some level. I think creative writing offers a look into a person's psyche in a way that other forms of writing do not. You can tell a lot about a person by the tropes they include in their stories.  It is all terribly exciting. I think I'll try to focus on that instead. After all it is the chance for someone to possibly enjoy my writing. When I wanted to become an author as a kid I was always told that you have to be good at writing to do that, with the implication that I wasn't. Luckily, I don't think the same applies for blog posting and writing for classes.  I'...

 I had heard of the growth mindset in high school, but it was not referred to by any name when my math teacher told us about it. At least, I do not remember her saying a name for it. She just told us to use "yet" when speaking about our struggles with topics. For example, saying "I don't know how to do this yet," instead of "I don't know how to do this." Of course, that is a somewhat reductive description of it, and I would like to learn more about it in the future.  I think the growth mindset works best in situations outside of the primary school system, such as in college or in other pursuits outside of academia. I think given the current educational system, the criticisms of it hold some validity. Alfie Kohn made a point that especially resonated with me that complimenting a child for their effort can come off as insulting to the child. I know if I had been given such a compliment as a child I definitely would have taken it as a sign that I pers...

Update : I have a part two , in case anybody who has commented before would like a new introduction post to comment on. Hello, my name is Arthur. Well, that is only half-true. Arthur is my pseudonym, but it is a pseudonym that I use quite often. I go by Arthur in most online mediums, and it is the name I give myself when I play video games (or choose-your-own-adventure games, when the option to pick a name is available). There is a certain separation of selves when I do this. Think of it like Jekyll and Hyde, but a book-accurate version. You see, Hyde is not a separate personality to Jekyll, just a different face that Jekyll uses to express a hidden aspect of himself. Arthur is confident and self-assured, "Richard" (to refer to my in-person self) is not. This puts me in a bit of a predicament: how to introduce myself while keeping the two as separate as I can. It is inevitable that Arthur and Richard will bleed into each other in this blog, I'm afraid, so I will continue ...

 Reading through the previous semesters' storybooks was quite inspiring for my own story ideas. In fact, I now have a pretty good idea of exactly the sort of story I want to write, but I'll elaborate on that when I get to the storybooks. First Storybook: Mythical Monsters of the New World  by Brett Drake This one was a lot of fun to read through. The choose-your-own-adventure style of storytelling is one I have always loved, and it was a novel thing to see in these storybooks. That said, it unfortunately does not fit the sort of story I plan to tell. Beyond just the style, I liked the story as well. The protagonist had an enjoyable voice, and the story went in a direction I was not expecting. I liked the use of cryptids for a horror feel and the author made great use of the folklore in the characterization of them. The one thing I did find a little disappointing was that the story only had one "true" ending. I feel that the format of branching narrative paths could be...

 My favorite place is less of a "place" and more of a category of places. My favorite place is a forest, woods, or any sort of place full of trees where you can't see civilization.   (A Forest in Washington: Wikimedia Commons ) There is just something about them that is hard to describe. Forests have a certain energy about them, a sort of charge that you can feel deep within you. It's whimsy, but with an underlying sense of danger. There are things in the forest: bears, mountain lions, and who knows what else. Even if you aren't normally prone to superstition you might hesitate before stepping in a ring of mushrooms or stones. It is an experience akin to looking up at the sky on a cloudless night; you get the sense that millions of people before you have been in that moment, feeling that same sense of wonder.  Across the road from my house and past the railroad tracks, there is a woods. It's big enough to get lost in, but small enough that you could find a roa...