How to Kill Your Darlings

How to Kill Your Darlings How to Kill Your Darlings This August, Simon Woodward published his fifth book, Dead Weapons. During the writing process, Simon faced a struggle familiar to many writers: should he follow his creative instincts or tailor his novel to enhance its marketability? In this article, Simon talks about the act Faulkner’s coined â€Å"killing your darlings,†   and discerning the difference between making clever marketing decisions and self-censorship.Where do you get your ideas from?Most writers have been on the receiving end of this question; the go-to question from friends and family when discussing their writing career. I admit I've never been able to answer this because, well... I don't know.The idea for my novelMy new novel, Dead Weapons, emerged from a soup of ideas and influences that had bubbled away in the back of my brain for a year. One of the main influences was Blur's song, â€Å"Kids With Guns,† and its haunting chorus: â€Å"They're turning us into monsters.† In my mind, it evokes the frightening statistics around the rise in teenage knife and gun crime in London - quoted, adjusted and recalculated in the media, then used by some right-wing commentators to create a public image of a feral generation.  Both of these contributed to the idea for a dystopian novel based around an aging society that has collapsed into a  terminal suspicion of the youth, leading to a permanent child curfew. Finally, the book’s original title had been on my mind from the get-go: And This Boy Loved His Gun. This title was the piton I used to hammer into the rock face, and to haul myself up that 80,000-word edifice. The title is the piton that hammers into the rock face, and hauls you up the 80,000-word edifice. As soon as I had this title, I knew I wanted to write a story for this 'feral generation' of teenage boys. I wanted it to be a dark, contemporary adventure, powered by a cinematic narrative (accompanied by an imaginary thumping bass), and I wanted it to be from their viewpoint. I wanted to return society's suspicious and fearful gaze from the teenagers’ perspective.Writing for a challenging demographicFrom the outset, I felt I was taking on a challenging project: the presence of the words boy and gun in a YA book title was likely to elicit knee-jerk reactions from  some,  and although I wanted to write this story for the teen demographic, there was no guarantee they'd want to read it.Highlighting the second issue was a 2016 Neilson Book Research investigation that reported a decline in teenagers who regularly read for pleasure - in particular amongst boys.  The report identified the battle for attention with social media, YouTube, the gaming industry and even good old-f ashioned television. When interviewed, boys of all ages named video game/app integrated books as the key thing that would encourage them to read more.I don't own the rights to any video games or killer apps, and so I resolved to give them the closest thing I could. Dead Weapons’ hero is Ciaran Richards, a sixteen-year-old boy framed for murder. On the run from the police, a powerful gangster, and a secret government department, Ciaran has a malfunctioning, intelligent revolver stuck to his hand - making him the literary version of a first-person shooter from computer games.  However, the last he wants to do is use the gun. He wants to let it go so he can go back to his life, but he can’t.Determining the marketability of my bookWhen my agent approached publishers with the book, several editorial directors were keen to take it on, but in each case marketing departments squashed its chances  at the acquisitions stage. I suspect that this had something to do with the subject matter and those two words sitting close together in the title. Perhaps it wasn't self-censorship after all, but a classic case of a writer refusing to cut or change something that didn't serve the story. Maybe I'd forgotten an essential piece of writing advice. As Stephen King said in On Writing (paraphrasing William Faulkner): â€Å"Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler's heart, kill your darlings.† "Even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler's heart, kill your darlings.† - Stephen King Please share your thoughts, experiences, or any questions for Simon Woodward in the comments below!Dead Weapons is available in paperback and on Amazon Kindle.

Technical writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Technical writing - Essay Example We are looking into the matter, and are fully aware of the staff members from whose email accounts the messages originated. We are in the process of confirming the identities of the culprits. But to ensure such practice does not occur again, the e-mail account owners will be fined. Furthermore, to prevent such practices from continuing, a new company policy regarding email policy has been constituted. With the new email policy coming in effect on 25 January, 2012, it is mandatory on the employees to save their emails in their systems to prevent future mishaps. Employees are requested to log out from their accounts when they are not present on their desks. This is to prevent abuse of the emails from another party. In case of such an occurrence, the account owner will be held responsible. I am hopeful that your experience in working with our company has been pleasurable. In order to ensure that the working environment stays so, and both the company and the employee benefit from this environment, a specific issue needs to be addressed. It has been brought to my notice that you have been failing to comply with the company’s attendance policy and have been taking leave from work a little too often without any prior notification. Also, that you have been lacking punctuality and have been occasionally found leaving office earlier than the official timings. Your previous and current efforts regarding punctuality and attendance are greatly appreciated. However for the future, it is advised that the issue be taken more seriously as it can result in termination from employment or heavy fine infliction. In view of your current performance, you need to exhibit strict punctuality with regard to office timings and other provisions of the ‘Employee Code of Conduct’. Certain exceptions are still allowed in case of emergency. Moreover, to assure that 100 percent attendance is maintained, it has officially been decided that

International Marketing Case Study Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International Marketing Case Study - Coursework Example The marketing strategy while strengthening the global brand should have a customized appeal for the customers of the markets of the developed economies. Customers of developed markets are usually more quality conscious rather than price conscious unlike their counterparts in developing economies. Chinese brands need to invest more on Research & Development if they want to market themselves successfully in developed economies. Capabilities in research and development can be acquired by building research & development centers in the developed markets. Li Ning has built such Research & Development Centers in Hong Kong and United States. There are also differences in consumer tastes and preferences. Incorporating these differences in the products is critical for the success of internalization of any Chinese brand. Another dynamic capability that is extremely important is to have the right distribution network so that the target segment in the developed economies can be easily accessed to. Besides the product issues there are also issues related to customer service. Every product has a service component attached to it. In comparison to China the level of customer service is quite high in the developed economies of the West. Therefore, when foraying into markets of the developed world, Chinese companies need to make their customer service more customer oriented and friendly. Last but not the least the differences in culture and business are significant between China and the more developed West (Philip Kotler, 2008). The Chinese companies need to incorporate such cultural aspects of the West like transparency, individuality and a strong sense of commitment towards the customers as stakeholders, if they want to make a mark in the developed economies. For building a sports brand like Li Ning or Nike, there can be no better brand ambassador that a national sports icon. Li Ning has done so by using the name of its founder Li Ning, a former Olympic gold medalist in

Marketing mix for Levis Brand Makeover

Marketing mix for Levis Brand Makeover The target market for the Levis image makeover is the young generation. However, Levis is now promoting Curve ID, but it is not enough to beat up premium jeans because curve id is a just guide line for customer when they are to buy Levis Jeans being confused what will fit them right. Levis need to offer an optimized assortment of their Jeans products to their customers. Offering of the best mix of the products is essential to the long-term success and for customer satisfaction. The Product assortment optimization needs the strategic inventory decisions and the product selection. The best product assortment strategies should maximize the profits, minimize risk and increase the overall sales. They should include a kind of the mixture for the Jeans products basing on their respective life cycles in your store. If it offers a strong mix of the products basing on the product life, customers will be satisfied and develop the desire to make repeat purchases of the established product and there are higher chances for them to piquà © their interests with the new options. Introduction of new products will increase the amount of time that the customers tend to increase the frequency of routine checks into their stores. Price Levis jeans are quite affordable, to have a better approach to its new line, they will have to increase their price to a margin that will be competing with the premium jeans. But not as high as price of premium jeans. It has to be reasonable. The customer recognition of Levis jeans price is not high therefore, It is not a good idea to challenge its price recognition, otherwise it rather lose customers who belong to the Y-generation with that is known to be very volatile. As a result its new line would have a narrow range of $100 to $200. Later on, Levis Jeans will involve the techniques such as the temporary discounts, coupons, the cash refunds, rebates or the buy-one-get-one offers which are the common pricing strategies that are used to drive the sales. C. Place Levis jeans should first create the demand for its products. Then get those products into the consumers hands. Planning of its product distribution strategy needs to be done during the product development stage. The placement of the products is very important because the methods employed in the distribution of the products impacts on the actual retail price of the products. Levis has worldwide stores as well as online stores. They have been reaching customers greatly. I dont think they need a critical strategy for place, but they should not concentrate on its wholesale store and should not have its products showing up on discount stores like Wal-Mart or target. This company should use the exclusive distribution strategy to establish the image of its jeans over the premium jeans brand. By use of a limited number of the distribution channels, the partners will be enabled to create an image of exclusivity. Levis jeans should also consider the parallel distribution opportunities and Set up the market research opportunities in order to find out the customer preferences for the mode of receiving the products. D. Promotions Levis will use both direct and indirect advertisements. The celebrity marketing can also be used as a form of indirect marketing, since the y-generation is a fashion sensitive group, they can be easily influenced by the celebrities preferences. Trendy celebrity association with the brands of Levis Jeans wears, young people will get the pretty fashionable jeans unconsciously. And Levis street post ads as direct marketing would better have just picture image with its logo. No slogan no title. No more go back to original slogan. It is not working for the young. They just like something simple. Just one image picture that bring unique and trendy image of Levis well is just enough. The Levis jeans should determine goals of your promotion to establish the best promotional activities. Your promotional strategies could target a specific demographic or reach millions of people. Therefore Levis Jeans will use Advertising as the means of product promotion. Direct mails, the televisions, and the magazines. Other options may include; the in-store displays, use of billboards, newspapers, the online display advertisements, and the electronic email advertisements. The Levis Jeans will develop advertisements that define clear benefits to consumer if they purchase its products, and at the same time reinforce its brand image and reputation through the Internet. E. People. Brand communication helps to bridge the gap in the perception that the target audiences have on the brand. Effective product communication of the Levis Jeans will give competitive advantages which will targets the receptive Y-generation customers with the marketing message. Product communication strategy is then a very important component of the marketing plan. The best product communication strategies will help to improve the chances of delivering the message to the targeted customers therefore increasing the sales. Levis Jeans will use multiple methods of communicating with its customers, through the e-mail newsletters, the magazine advertisements, postcards, the billboards, in-store displays, and good product packaging F. New Tactics Through Internet Marketing  Strategy; the company will explore the strategies and new tactics that can be used on the Internet to enhance and support the Levis Jeans and the business overall marketing objectives. It will conduct banner promotions; generate the targeted online traffic, positioning its contents, and the overall brand awareness.

Extraction of Trimyristin

Trimyristin is an ester with the chemical formula C45H86O6 that can be isolated from the common spice nutmeg. The seed of the evergreen trees in the genus Myristica Fragrans is what nutmeg is obtained from. Trimyristin is the triglyceride of myristic acid also known as saturated fat (3). The phase of trimyristin is solid and is only found soluble in dichloromethane, chloroform, ether, benzene, and ethanol (1). Only twenty to twenty-five percent of trimyristin makes up the mass of nutmeg and it is formed from the glycerol and saturated carboxylic acid (2).Like most extractions, isolating trimyristin is complex considering a variety of products are extracted in the solvent. * Method: * Extraction of Trimyristin: First the sand bath was set to about 40o C. In the meantime 1. 00g of ground nutmeg was weighed out and transferred to a 25mL round bottom flask. Then 10 mL of methylene chloride and 2 boiling chips were added to the round bottom flask. The round bottom flask was then connected to an air condenser and lowered onto the sand bath.The solution was allowed to boil gently for 30 minutes until it was removed and set aside to cool. After it cooled the nutmeg residue was filtered from the methylene chloride using a Hirsch funnel containing a methylene chloride moistened filter paper. A minimal amount of methylene chloride was then used to wash any excess residue out of the round bottom flask and into the filter. The filtrate was then transferred into a clean, dry, and tarred Erlenmeyer flask.The Erlenmeyer flask was then placed on a hot plate set between 50oC to 100oC inside the fume hood until the solvent evaporated into a yellowish oily solid. The solid that remained was then weighed. * Recrystallization of Trimyristin: Acetone was added in 1mL portions to the Erlenmeyer flask that contained the solid. During the same time, the flask was warmed on a sand bath in order to dissolve the solid. Then it was allowed to slowly cool to room temperature and placed into an ice bath for 10 minutes.The crystals were collected by vacuum filtration and were allowed to dry. * Analysis: After the crystals were dry the solid was weighed and then the melting point was determined using a Melt-Temp machine. * Results: Lab Components| Mass (g)| Volume (mL)| Nutmeg| 1. 00g| –| Flask and Testube| 83. 47g| –| Flask, Testube, and Filtrate (initial)| 90. 54g| –| Filtrate (initial)| 7. 07g| –| Erlenmeyer Flask| 74. 14g| –| Erlenmeyer flask and Filtrate (final)| 74. 41g| –|Filtrate (final)| 0. 26g| –| Acetone| –| 1. 00mL| * These results show all the measurements that were taken from everything used in order to determine the analysis of the trimyristin extracted which is shown below. * Analysis: Weight of Trimyristin| 0. 1g| Melting Point of Trimyristin| 53. 2oC – 54. 3oC| % of Trimyristin extracted| 10%| * Conclusion: During this experiment methods of vacuum filtration and recrystallization were used to extract trimyristin from the spice nutmeg.When trimyristin was successfully extracted there was a low percentage (10%) of the amount extracted but it had a melting point that was almost exact to the actual melting point of trimyristin which is 53oC-54oC. The experiment was performed successfully for the most part, disregarding a few minor mistakes made in the procedure. These mistakes didn’t interfere with the outcome of the experiment but could have improved the performance of it. For instance, it took a long time for the solvent to evaporate because the hot plate was set at too low of a temperature.

Students Dating College Professors

While relationships between students and professors arent unheard of, they can be a source for all kinds of problems. A professor is in a position of authority over a student, whether or not he or she is that students teacher or supervisor, which makes any dating arrangement tricky at best. Ultimately, if the two are consenting adults (theres no scenario where its OK for a high school teacher to date a current student), theres not much anyone can do to prevent them from pursuing a romantic relationship. But expect there to be consequences. Is It OK for College Students and Professors to Date? First things first: A student must be 18 years old to legally be able to consent to a relationship with an adult. Beyond that, some schools have specific rules about what to do if a student and a professor want to pursue a romantic relationship. If thats the case at your institution, know that the answer to your dating question lies in the faculty and/or student handbook. Breaking those rules could jeopardize the professors job and the students status. What to Do If Your School Has No Policy If youre at an institution where there arent official rules about dating, there are most likely some guidelines or unofficial community expectations. Is it frowned upon? Is it OK to date a professor, so long as youre not in one of his or her classes? Be aware that even if youre not breaking any rules, your relationship, and how its perceived could cause problems. Even if the professor isnt the students teacher when the relationship starts, problems could arise if the student ends up in the professors class later on. As a member of the faculty, the professor holds power over the student. Many schools discourage professor/student dating for these reasons. Additionally, other students may perceive a student dating a professor as having an unfair advantage. If youre dating a professor whose classes you take, students may think youre getting special treatment or grades you havent earned, no matter if you actually are. Say your professor/partner tutors you in a subject youre struggling with or helps you figure out which classes to take and get you the classes you need. From your perspective, youre just enjoying the benefits of a nice relationship. But its unfair to other students, who dont have the same access. A student dating a professor should be prepared for tension with peers, as they may envy the inside access to the faculty world. What If It Doesnt Work Out? Dating a professor can have tricky long-term consequences. If you break up, you may still have to see each other regularly around campus or, worse, in class. All those questions about fairness the relationship initially raised will remain, only the student may now be at a disadvantage, with his or her ex having power over grades and reputation with other faculty members. The student could potentially damage the professors reputation as well if he or she shares details of the relationship. Ultimately, you both need to consider the rules and have a discussion about the potential risks of a relationship. Be sure that its worth it because the costs could be severe.

Old Kingdom of Egypt The Reliefs of Ankh-Neb-Ef - 941 Words

The reliefs of Ankh-neb-ef are limestone panels with paint that originated from the Old Kingdom of Egypt in 2150 BC during the reign of Pharaoh Pepy II. The delicate carving of the panels in the sunken relief presents a magnificent image. They portray Ankh-neb-ef, an ancient Egyptian priest whose name translates to â€Å"may his lord live.† In the reliefs, Ankh-neb-ef holds a Kherep-sceptor and a walking stick, which were symbols of authority in ancient Egypt. Egyptian civilization was extremely religious and most ancient Egyptian artworks involved the portrayal of gods, goddesses, and Pharaoh, as well. Moreover, the Egyptian reverence for order and conservative ideals led to the institution of intricate rules that governed how artists represented both humans and gods (Saylor.org 4). For instance, the apparel worn by Ankh-neb-ef in the painting is not a simple fashion statement. The priest is wearing a prestigious sarong and ornamentation, bracelets, and a wide collar. The jew elry kept their owner safe in a dangerous passage to the afterlife. This formula for representing the human figure in a painting remained popular over several centuries (Robins 24). The priest wears a short wig on the right and a long one on the left. These probably point to the stages in his career and life. The short hairstyle is representative of a young man while the long one depicts a mature and successful man with immense influence. His stylized artificial beard is similar to that worn by the