Party Trick Number Two

(The previous party trick was on this blog in August 2012, a memory 'act'.)

This time it's how to look at a row of faces (e.g. friends lined up, or photos) and tell which of them is left-handed. I worked this out myself, and although not infallible (children change dominant hand, dominant hand might be injured and so on), it's been pretty reliable so far.

In my experience, the greater the difference (there's almost always one), the more dominant the hand. The exception is top celebs and models, where I'm guessing they either photoshop or compensate by narrowing one eye slightly, or else they're by luck perfectly symmetrical.

At age 7

Here's how it goes:

1  Look casually at someone's face.

2  Note which eye is wider.

3  That's probably the side of their dominant hand!

Test: picture of me above. And yep, I'm right-handed.

Anyone want to test this and let me know?

Exams Just Around the Corner?

As Easter approaches, exams are lurking not far ahead. Schools, colleges and universities will notice the atmosphere becoming more tense, with students getting nervy and staff hoping for the best where results are concerned.

By boon chuan low

It's a shame to allow the Easter holidays to be a time for noses continuously to the grindstone, but it's a good time to plan revision and exam strategies in among the fun activities.

Here are links to two of my student-related articles on http://www.suite101.com which may be relevant.

Essay Titles: compare, discuss and asses - what the key terms mean
     http://tinyurl.com/665naf6 

Gain Maximum Benefit from Every Lecture to Help Improve Grades (aimed at 16+)
     http://tinyurl.com/7rgz626

Here are some other tips, mainly from my piece in Special Needs Information Press (SNIP), a newsletter for teachers which I created and wrote for about 6 years before passing it on to a team. It's still thriving!

One Month Before the Exam
1  Make sure you can spell the important subject-specific words.
2  Go through class notes, tidy them up, and pick out those on complex topics which you
       can then summarise.
3  If not already known, get familiar with the revision method called Mind Mapping (term
       is ©Tony Buzan). It involves a core topic with branches out of it to sections. It's a key
       method for visual revision. This is especially good if you remember what you see.
4  If you remember info better if you hear it, try to get hold of a small recorder, and start to
       dictate your notes so you can listen to them on the bus, before you go to sleep etc.
5  Make a four-week grid as your Revision Master, for each half hour of your organisable
       time, with 25m of work and a 5m break. Decide on the proportion that should be for each
       subject. Fill in the first two weeks with topics and any further detail. As the end of the two 
       weeks approaches, you'll have a better idea of how to plan the final two weeks.
6  Begin narrowing down the most important topic areas for each subject and start a set of
       index cards, one for each.

By CollegeDegrees360

Two Weeks Before ...
1  Fill in the Revision Master for the final two weeks, being as specific as possible.
2  Study your exam timetable, noting carefully the places and times - people do sometimes
       get these wrong, with dire results! Make several copies in case you mislay one.
3  Check which notes/books you'll be allowed to take into the exams.
4  If you own the books, use highlighters for points/facts you may need to find in a hurry.
5  If the exam results will affect how you go forward, e.g. Year 9, 11, AS or A2, work out a
       plan for (a) if the result are OK or good, and (b) if they're not. This means one less
       thing to worry about.

By Universiteitskrants Univers

The Day Before ...
1  Prepare all the writing gear, and make a checklist of anything else you'll need, e.g.
       calculator, permitted books and notes, water.
2  Run through condensed notes, index card info and so on.
3  Check again that you know the date, time and place.
4  Eat decent food and drink plenty of water.
5  Go to bed at the usual time, and after a period of relaxation. 
6  Don't be intimidated by others saying what and how well they've been revising.
7  SET THE ALARM if it's a morning exam!

By Alan Cleaver!

And finally, from the University of Brighton, tips for the exams themselves. Aimed at university students but mainly appropriate for younger students too:

     http://www.brighton.ac.uk/pabsstudyskills/examination-assessment/exam-strategies.html

Good luck to all those about to take their exams. 

Writers - are you a stalker or a pouncer?

This analogy came to me overnight, while I was considering my writing goals for the next 3, 6 and 12 months.  I'm a pouncer who dreams of being a stalker.

The Stalker
In the kingdom of large animals, and indeed where early man is concerned, targets are often sizeable and almost always food-related. A 'caveman' might be away for a while with his peers, patiently waiting and watching, aiming to nab a large animal to take back for cooking and maybe sharing out. It could take ages, but if successful, the reward was significant and they could take a short break ("chillax" they used to grunt) before having to start the process again.

by Yinan Cheng
via flickr.com

This is how I see novelists. They know they're in for the long haul, and that a hard slog is likely to be involved, but they have the support of their peers hopefully (other writers and their agent and publisher), and there's celebration and feasting when the goal has finally been reached. They are willing to be patient and to make sacrifices.

The Pouncer
Here I'm thinking first of creatures who hunt quickly and descend on prey often. Something might pass by which would make a good meal, and it's rapidly dispatched. I have in mind toads and flies, pelicans (or otters) and fish, and - going back in time - the hungry dog and the string of sausages from the butcher's. 

by Thomas Guest
via flickr.com

Cats are pouncers too, quite apart from their method of capturing prey. They don't appear to push off outside specifically to look for mice and birds, but if there's a sudden scuffling or a tantalising scent, that's enough to trigger their hunting instinct.

Writers on this side of the fence would include poets, short story or flash fiction people, and magazine article journalists. Opportunities usually do have to be sought, but this is not such a long-drawn-out process. Work can be completed more quickly than the Stalker could imagine.

*         *         *         *         *

Writers of children's books, though, could come somewhere in between. Not a 2-7 day process, and probably not 9-12 months or more. Another analogy is needed. Another time!

I'm not sure that Stalkers do much pouncing, and Pouncers might rarely flirt with stalking. I love to read about writers nearing completion of their book, completing it, waiting for the verdict, then rejoicing about acceptance and publication. Not to mention launch parties. How I'd love to have a book to launch, giving a speech, signing books, and handing around perhaps an ice-cold, flinty Sancerre to the fans of my work. But now I have come to realise this won't happen. I submitted sample chapters to M & B in the past, and was told 'Nicely written but not enough emotional punch', and I've started other novels but ...

I'd love to know what you think about this analogy, and whether it's far too simplistic. It's just a bit of fun, really, but it clarified my vision of my own writing goals.

Writing for the Family at Christmas

As families get together at Christmas, there is often a lull in 'things to do' once the grand lunch is over. Board games or other everybody-join-in activities don't appeal to everyone, either. 

by LizMarie_AK
via flickr.com

What John & I have enjoyed for a number of years, and which fits nicely into a 'quiet' slot, is to provide a reading, a mini panto, or a play of some sort. Sometimes they're worked out last-minute, but the family always listen dutifully, laugh in the right places, and shout out if it's called for. It's been such fun that I wondered if others might consider giving it a go.

Of course some people are currently busy with NaNoWriMo, but even they could put the idea in their brain section marked 'ideas for later'. I believe all writers have one of these, and that's why I'm blogging about Christmas this early.

by David Blackwell
via flickr.com

Here are some of the 'productions' we've offered in recent years.

*  We'd acquired an Angelina Ballerina Theatre set to amuse the grandchildren. So, for two

        consecutive Christmases I wrote 20-minute 2-act plays for the Angelina characters to

        perform. The script had stage directions and everything. I did the moves and most of

        the voices, while John acted a severe Miss Lilly, narrated, and operated the FX,   

        revolving bit of the stage, the curtains and the 'lights'. Popcorn was served in the 

        interval. There were, of course, some black moments but always a happy resolution. 

        The highlight of these plays, in 'Roger the Rat Saves the Theatre', was John's FX for

        the roaring of Roger, made by that crocodile toy that roars when you pull the lever.

        The immediate response from the children was to dive under the table to see how he

        was making the noise.

*  An existing folk tale, narrated and with speaking characters, about a princess saved by a

        donkey that could make gold coins shower out of its huge ears. At crucial moments

        a handful of gold-wrapped chocolate coins would be thrown into the air, and play

        stopped while the children scooped them up.

*  A reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas, which was written in 1822. I'd taken the
        liberty of altering the text to remove any references to Santa smoking his pipe, so I
        was interested to hear very recently on the wireless that someone else was thinking
        along the same lines.

*  A ten-minute Christmas ghost story for children. Each character had resonances with at
        least one person present. It involved a family where the tree decs had always been red
        and gold although the girl would have loved something different for once. The ghost of
        a child visits the girl on Christmas Eve, and in the morning there's a new purple bauble
        hanging on the tree.

*  Usually I also write or copy a poem suitable for children, print it out and laminate it, and 
        ask the children if they'd be willing to read it for us. No refusals so far! My all-time
        favourite is Christmas by Steve Turner. Four lovely 8-line verses, with the recurring
        theme a variation on 'We always do that.'

This year's effort isn't planned yet, but now the children are older, I'm thinking a play with perhaps a ghost theme and involving social media. It might be an idea to write in a part for each of the children, too - I'll ask them.

by WaterHorse Media, LLC
via flickr.com

If anyone is inspired to do this sort of thing this year, I'd really love to hear about it!  It can be a lot of work for a short 'performance', but great fun and, hopefully, memorable. Anyone want to borrow a story?!

Delighted to Have Received an Award!

Thank you so much, JPF Goodman (http://www.jpfgoodman.wordpress.com) for nominating this blog of mine for an award. Very pleased to receive it, and of course I follow and enjoy your blog as well (though not sure if one can bounce an award back).

This is an informal arrangement, but there are 'things' to be done. Firstly, to explain why I blog. I am an opinionated type, and wanted to express my thoughts on various subjects although on this blog I have been concentrating mainly on writing and writers. As a former psychologist and a writer too, I have a really inquisitive interest in how, why and what other people write and in any features common to most writers. I began to write blogs (my other one is about vegetarian food) after we'd discussed social media at my writing group, Southampton Writing Buddies. A number of us now post blogs and manage to make them our slaves rather than our masters.

It's also important for recipients of this award to nominate other blogs. Yes, it is a little like a chain letter but it's a way of expressing appreciation for other people's work. So here are the blogs which I am nominating for The Addictive Blog Award. (JPF's blog explains how this works - link in first line above.)

http://mo-foster.co.uk - mo is a novelist and really interesting blogger who's lived a bit ...
http://patriciajmorgan.wordpress.com - keen writer, talented artist, again some fascinating experiences
http://ginadickerson.blogspot.com - enthusiastic writer with flair, glamour, and great cooking too
http://justdoitmummy.blogspot.co.uk - not just parenting, but a range of interesting opinions & insights
http://whereivegone.blogspot.co.uk - the travel blog of Jo Carroll which can leave me breathless!

And thanks to everyone who writes blogs which I read and enjoy regularly. Especially JPF for this award.

Delighted to Accept an Award!

Blood and Guts in Short Stories: What does it tell us about the author?

Horror, zombies, blood, guns - a quick look at Amazon's lists shows that there's a 
market for short stories in this (pun alert) vein. So what does such content reveal 
about the author and, indeed, the reader?

DBduo Photography
via Flickr.com

One approach is to look at the motivation behind this choice of material. First, the writers - why do they write about violence? 

1  The glib answer, pseudo-psychogically, is they are freeing repressed urges to commit
          violence. I don't hold with that, except maybe occasionally it might be a socially
          acceptable and safer outlet. We'd rather they wrote about it than did it.

2  Versatile and savvy writers may have realised that bloodshed sells. It's a sound business
          approach to identify a market and buy into it.

3  It can be a way of slipping outside the usual comfort zone of safe writing, to be tried as an
          experiment. They may then enjoy it, maybe not.

4  This is my view of the prime motivation. Violence seems rarely to be the chosen genre of
          the rookie writer. Rather, as time goes on and authors develop experience and
          confidence, they may start to write crime, horror, violence just because they realise
          that they can. I base this on personal experience and it seems valid for us all. Earlier
          this year I worked through an online short story course, and came to realise that the
          standard of successful stories was vastly higher than I'd been producing. Without
          noticing what was going on, I found myself producing two dark stories, both
          involving death - one accidental, one deliberate. Both have since been published by
          others. I've since continued with dark and sometimes creepy themes, and find that I'm 
          ready to attack them head-on. Again, that is just because I can.

Brenda Clarke
via Flickr.com

And now a brief word about the readers of gory material. I believe it's for the same reason that people watch fictional violence on television. It's chilling, which may mean thrilling, but at the same time safe because it's fiction and anyway, you can close the book just as you can switch off the television. 

And here's where my personal psychology collapses. I can write (and read) about a bit of gore, but I'm behind a cushion when the TV villain aims a gun close to the victim's head. This is because my brain seems determined to bank such visual images and keep them for ever, and I really don't want them. Oh no. I'm barking after all!

One last confession - I can never watch animal cruelty or slaughter on television, and will never put it into any of my writing. As Aunty Joan (in Doc Martin) reaches for one of her hens, the nice old lady in Midsomer Murders prepares to put a pet rabbit out of its misery, or a lion is seen about to pounce on its prey, I'm out of the room p.d.q. Animal stuff seems more real to me, probably because I know it goes on all the time in the real world and I can't bear that. 

I was going to end by saying that violence towards animals (even from other animals) is the only area I won't tackle. But wait. I haven't started on erotic fiction - and probably won't, because I really am a prude. Shame - there's obviously a good market for it!

A Memory-based Party Trick!

This party trick was originally written up in an early edition of my monthly newsletter for teachers of special needs children - Special Needs Information Press. SNIP was delivered to 500+ subscribing schools by the time I handed it over to a team of teachers after about six years of publication.

The 'trick' rarely fails to impress anyone who doesn't know how it's done. I featured it because it was a useful aid to improving auditory memory and is great fun, too. It is included in this blog as part of my 'psychology' strand. 

You need one person from your audience to be ready with pencil and paper. Here's how it works.

1  Your opening gambit: I'm going to ask you to make a list of ten common objects. After
    you have told me the objects just once, I shall be able to remember them straight
    away, in any order, from their number alone.

2  The set-up: On paper, the chosen person writes the numbers one to ten in a column,
    and beside each they write the name of a common object. Typically they might 
    choose things like pen, chair, cat. Then you recite the numbers one at a time, and
    after each number the person tells you the object. At this point, people don't believe
    you can do it.

by Esme Vos
via flickr.com

3  The trick: This is done by auditory memory and visual association, and you need to 
    learn the basic code of associations. This is:
           one-bun    two-shoe    three-tree    four-door    five-hive (beehive)
           six-sticks    seven-heaven    eight-gate    nine-line (washing line)    ten-hen.
    As the objects are named, you make a visual association in your mind, preferably a
    nonsensical and action-based link. For example,
           1  Table - one-bun, visualise a table which is rocky because one of the legs is
                 resting on a squashed currant bun.
           2  Wheelbarrow - two-shoe, a wheelbarrow trundling along filled with shoes.
           4  Pig - four-door, opening a door and a herd of pigs rushing out towards you.
           5  Spoon - five-hive, lifting the lid of the hive and scooping out the honey with
                 a spoon.
     And so on until all ten have been (rapidly) memorised.

by artethgray
via flickr.com

4   The show: Now you simply invite the person to say any of the numbers, and your
     visual picture should prompt you straight away. Easy!

This is a very quick process once you get the hang of it. The associations may not last longer than the rest of the day, but that won't matter. As the old Ellison's joke catalogues used to promise, 'Amaze your friends with this very simple trick'!