Research Paper [Post #5]

Oh dearest research paper, why has your introduction evade me so?

It's already half past seven and I've yet to start my research paper. Maybe, if I just write, I can clear my mind and focus on the research paper then. Alright then, here goes:

Fingers twitching, itching, and writhing, wanting to write and yet, cannot. There's that damn tingly, crawling feeling again, sending shivers and chills down my spine. Like spiders. That's what it's like. Creepy, long legs skipping across the thin veil my skin is. Fidgeting, shifting from one foot to the other. Restless.

How on earth do you even start a research paper?

On another topic, I finally remembered to ask this question that has been plaguing me since the beginning of the term. Does anyone here actually look over their blog post and edit it before they post?

FSTI Practice [Post #6]

From chapter 7, page 80, practice number 1.

1. Try some thumbnail sketches--one- or two-line descriptions of people you observe. Try to reveal something about character by focusing on physical details, speech, or actions.

She slouched into the couch, curled into the warmth of the blanket and fast asleep. The T.V. blared soundlessly across from her.

She leaned closer to the screen of her computer, eyes narrowing into focus. Minutes pass and she was still attentive.

His fingers dance across the metals, playing with each part and trying to piece them together. He sticks his tongue out in concentration, pushes up his glasses, and continues to work.

FSTI Practice [Post #5]

From chapter 2, page 23, exercise 1:

1. Revise each abstract "telling" that follows.

b. The party was awful.

Jake stumbled over his large feet as he made his way over to find some place he could hide. His head pounded, as if someone were ramming a hammer into his brain methodically. His heart thumped wildly; he was sure that someone would hear the constant allegro of his organ. He frowned to himself, trying to keep the room from spinning as the terrible tunes of old '80s rock blared from a set of broken stereos.

"Move it," he grumbled to a group of guests. He shoved them aside and ignore them as they cast disgusted looks at him.

c. She dresses funny.

At precisely 8'o clock on Monday mornings, Evelyn would walk into the cafe and ask for a cup of hot tea. She was a strange woman. She would enter with a style, a flourish that no one had. It was something of a dance, of a light tip toe as if she were afraid of the floor falling beneath her step. Her shoes would always be mismatched. Once she came in wearing a red heel and a green one on the other foot. Sometimes, it would go terribly wrong and she would come in hopping slightly because of the height difference. Other times, she would even mismatch her socks.

She sometimes wore a skirt--it would always be homemade, she proclaimed proudly. Sewn from dozens of different fabrics collected over the years. Other times, she wore a pair of brightly colored jeans or shorts. Despite the brightness, she managed to pull on a top that worked well with her style. Colorful beads, a top with a long neckline, dozens of bracelets--neither matching nor making sense--and she even wore a hat at times.

Practice [Post #4]

Reveal the character of someone you don't know through his or her actions. Actions may be as small as gestures made by the hands or as large as decisions made in the face of a great crisis.

My sister sat at her desk. Her computer played music, foreign lyrics echoed from the loud speakers and filled the room as she bent over her desk, pencil in one hand and tediously scratched in her math answers. In another hand rested a calculator, solar-powered, and ready to do the math. Suddenly, she placed the calculator on the desk and reached up to scratch at an itch on her head--it might have been due to her winter hat. She wore her winter hat sometimes inside, especially if her hair was wet, to keep the wild strands tame. And then she was back to work again. This time, she curled her legs closer to her chest, in a fetal position almost, and looked up just as the song switched to another.