This is Mr. Duez at his 10 year reunion at Juniata College. These are my two best friends from college. Your friends from college are like family.
I had been writing first drafts of stories which might run 2,500 words. The second drafts were apt to run 3,300 words. Following that day (a story about his first writing boss's advice), my 2,500-word first drafts became 2,200-word second drafts. And two years after that, I sold the first one.Here is his advice quickly:
HERE’S WHAT SCHOOLS ARE DOINGIs a smaller private school an option for you? According to the article be careful about deciding no too quickly:
Private universities across Texas are coping with the recession in various ways. Here are steps some schools are taking:
Rice University: Will cut next year’s operating budget by 5 percent, while increasing financial aid. Hasn’t announced 2009-10 tuition.
Houston Baptist University: Will cut 10 percent of faculty. Applications and requests for financial aid both up. Tuition for next year up 6.2 percent.
University of St. Thomas: Will cut next year’s budget by an undetermined amount. Will add at least $250,000 to next year’s financial aid budget. Tuition for next year up 6.2 percent.
Baylor University: Applications up, but acceptance rates expected to drop. Tuition for next year up 7 percent.
Southern Methodist University: Will cut next year’s operating budget by 5 percent. Tuition for next year up 6 percent.
Texas Christian University: Will cut next year’s operating budget by 8 percent. Financial aid budget increased by 5 percent for 2009-10. Tuition for next year up 5 percent.
“Without financial aid, I wouldn’t be here,” said Tammy Vo, a freshman at the University of St. Thomas.The financial aid package is what matters. Not just the sticker price of tuition, room and board. What are those smaller private schools willing to give you? It may be increasing in this poor economy.
Vo graduated from DeBakey High School in Houston last spring and applied to universities in and outside of Texas. She said the University of St. Thomas, a Catholic college in the Montrose area, proved a better deal than most public schools.
Private schools are making that argument more often in light of rising unemployment and a weak stock market.
“If you look at the sticker price, people say, ‘I can’t afford this,’ ” said Scott Moore, dean of scholarships and financial aid at the University of St. Thomas. “But you have to look at the sticker with the package you receive.”
Buoyed by the idea of helping kids the same age as Tanner, the family decided to gather things to brighten hospital rooms, and toys that would fill an otherwise lonely day. The Smiths put everything in tote bags so kids could carry their wares from treatment to treatment.You can see video of Tanner and his parents here on Hulu.com: This is an episode on HGTV that designed a room for Tanner
The first bags were as mom-and-pop as could be, printed by an uncle with a silk-screening business and filled by neighbors who, at the Smiths' request, came armed with loot to the family's annual Halloween party. In 2002, 12-year-old Tanner made his first delivery to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
"At first I wasn't sure it would matter," Tanner said. "I mean, what can colored pencils and modeling clay do? But we can't cure cancer right now. There isn't a medicine or a shot or a test that helps you cure it or prevent it. At least we can help somebody get through it.
"I remember when I was in high school, this girl got cancer. Her brother was in my class, and the year before he was helping me fill bags. Then all of a sudden we're delivering a bag to her. You just don't know."
Shame on you. This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you’re going to let it be the worst. And I guarantee a week won’t go by in your life you won’t regret walking out, letting them get the best of you. Well, I’m not going home. We’ve come too far! And I’m going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. A day may come when the courage of men fails… but it is not THIS day. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, no further! I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. You’re going to work harder than you ever worked before. But that’s fine, we’ll just get tougher with it! If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination, failure is not an option. That’s how winning is done! Believe me when I say we can break this army here, and win just one for the Gipper. But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time: you’ve got to get mad. I mean plum mad dog mean. If you would be free men, then you must fight to fulfill that promise! Let us cut out their living guts one inch at a time, and they will know what we can do! Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions! You’re like a big bear, man! This is YOUR time! Seize the day, never surrender, victory or death… that’s the Chicago Way! Who’s with me? Clap! Clap! Don’t let Tink die! Clap! Alright! Let’s fly! And gentlemen in England now abed shall know my name is the Lord when I tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our Independence Day!This was indeed a lovely think to behold!
# Hook ‘em early. Start with the headline, which should say why I should read this. Then write a strong introduction that draws your reader in and makes them want to read on. Tell a story, make a bold statement, offer up a surprising fact. Don’t open with "According to Wikipedia…" or "According to Webster’s…". YAWN!Pretty good advice and very well written (interestingly enough).
# Use topic sentences. Every paragraph should clearly say what it’s about. The topic sentence might not be the first sentence — it might even be the last sentence, or the first part of the third sentence. But somewhere in the paragraph there should be a line that, taken on its own, says what the paragraph is about.
# Have a conclusion. People fuss a lot over introductions, and slack on conclusions. Tell your reader why they bothered to read your piece. Remember, the conclusion is the part your reader is going away with — make it count.
# Explain yourself. Never assume your reader agrees with you. If you say someone’s bad because he barbecues puppies, you’d better explain why barbecuing puppies is a bad thing. Maybe your reader thinks puppies are delicious and nutritious — can you afford for that reader to completely miss the intent of your writing?
# Have a trusted reader. Whenever possible, get your work read by someone you trust to be honest with you. Listen intently to their responses, even when your reader tries to blunt their critique. For example, if they say they didn’t get a part, but that’s probably because they didn’t know anything about the topic, you need to rewrite that part so that, even knowing nothing about the subject, they do get it.
(CNN) -- The streets are dark and the town is deserted, but Pam and Warren Adams still put up Christmas lights outside their Gilchrist, Texas, home. It is one of the few remaining after Hurricane Ike devastated the area in September.Life goes on, even when it seems like doesn't go on all around them. Everything inside the house is waterlogged, mud-coated, and it is a mess. It looks like it is going to be a very long time before it is completely livable. The couple plans on building elsewhere and using this home as a weekend house.
When Ike hit Gilchrist on September 13, it destroyed nearly everything in its path. Most of the 200 or so houses there were flattened by the storm surge, and the Adams home was the only one left standing on the Gulf Coast side of the town.
Now, the couple has returned to repair their battered home. Warren Adams is living in an RV trailer on their beachfront property. Pam Adams, 53, who spends the week at an apartment in Baytown, Texas, drives more than an hour to visit their home each weekend.
"I'm so proud my house survived," Adams said. "I didn't realize how much I loved the house until I moved into this apartment."That has to be hard. I can not imagine every house in my neighborhood being GONE. My house still standing. I was not surprised to hear that they haven't seen a dime of insurance money yet. This year there will be no present opening in Gilchrist, but 2009 should be much better.
Adams said she and her husband would sit on their balcony and watch the ocean and sunset in the evenings. "I want everything back the way it was," she said. "I want my neighbors back."
There will be no presents or visits with friends and family. It didn't seem appropriate, Adams said. "Everything's so depressing. We didn't feel like we should be celebrating when everyone's suffering so badly."Amazing. I am ready for 2009 as well.
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But the couple has big hopes for next year. "It'll be a big Christmas with the neighbors," Adams exclaimed. "We'll fry turkeys, and there will be a lot to celebrate."
Adams said she's looking forward to 2009. "I just want to get back home and watch all the structures go up in Gilchrist. We want to be the welcoming committee. We just want everyone to return."
