And Into Libra…

 

Anyone acquainted with the Zodiac? No, not the killer. I’m talking about Astrology, the study of the stars. Yes, I study astrology in my spare time. I like to think that the positioning of the stars do play a role in how we are, but only to a certain point. Who we are is up to us, not our genes or parents, but us. The reason why this week’s blog is called “Into Libra” is because starting September 23rd, we will be entering the house of Libra, the seventh zodiac sign.

I have a couple of announcements relating to the paranormal society, I urge you to join, the Saints of Fenix Paranormal Society. I’m currently editing the content in the handbook for the group, and soon it will be distributed to its current members; after that, it’ll just be a short time before you may be able to join! Wouldn’t that be great? Working in your favorite author’s paranormal group?

The website has been finished, and it is 98% complete. There will be a couple of announcements some time this week, and that would be about it. When it comes to the applications to the public, they will not be released until the handbook has been approved by the senior members.

What about Feather Spade?

Still nothing, I am sending some more letters as October kicks into the calendar. I am doing everything I can with the little spare time I have, to promote the book and try to sell it to editors and agents. You have to remember that publishing is not something that happens overnight. It’s a process that takes a long time. How long? I don’t know, might be month, days, years… trust me, I’m not thrilled about it either.

As I wait for an agent to contact me, I’m starting an unforeseen project! Yes, I’m just as surprised as you are. I’ll keep you posted on that one as well.

I would like to hear from you all more often, please don’t be shy about sending in messages, whether they are comments here or just comments you paste on to the Official James Fenix Fan Page on facebook. I would like to hear from YOU and what you want me to discuss, later in this blog. Remember that this is where you come to get my perspective on things, well I want to give you my perspective on things you are interested in.

Until next week, I’m James Fenix, your author, remember to tell your friends about this blog and also click “Like” on the Official James Fenix Fan Page! (Yes, I’m still working on the website ;D).

Until next week!

Three Steps to Write an Essay

 

Don’t you just hate when a teacher asks you for a “five paragraph” essay? Or an essay with so many “words.” Limitations do not help your essay, so what makes a good essay? First, you have to think about how you relate to the essay prompt – stop thinking about what your teacher is asking for. No self respecting teacher will limit you to a certain amount of words, sentences, or paragraphs, but also remember that an essay can NOT be one long~ paragraph.

Remember to plan, always plan. Always. There are three stages to writing. And no, writing is not the most important one of them. The stages are:

• Pre-writing: planning is pivotal for the essay. You must first come up with a thesis statement, that is, in your own words, summarizing what you will be talking about throughout the essay, in other words, explaining your argument in one sentence. From the thesis statement you will start to gather ideas, you will list all the ideas, the things that you think relate to the prompt of the essay. You don’t have time to waste so just list all those ideas in a separate sheet of paper.
  
  After you are done listing those ideas, you will group them. Get the ones that may relate to each other; now with a cluster of ideas forming a group, which you will now proceed to organize logically. Once you are done organizing your group in the order in which you will discuss them in your essay, you will come up with a topic sentence which summarizes the paragraph; from that topic sentence you will have to find details which support that topic sentence (which in turn supports the thesis statement).
  
  The introduction of the essay must include the thesis statement; it must also sustain the attention of the audience. Your teacher might say that the thesis statement must grab the reader’s attention, but… if they’re reading your essay —even if it is the first sentence — that means you already have their attention, you just have to keep it.
  
  The conclusion of an essay must be clear, if the essay was very long you might want to point out the things that were discussed throughout the essay, but in essence, the conclusion must have a sense of closure. What does that mean? It means your audience should know that this is the end of your argument without you having to spell T-H-E E-N-D at the end of the paper.
  
  
• Writing: Ironically enough, this is the least important of all. Now that you have the structure of the essay planned out – remember that you don’t have time to be sitting around doing nothing, you might be timed to write this essay! – just write! Write as fast as you can, forget about errors for now, just write the body of the essay as fast as you can! Hurry before time’s up and you fail because you couldn’t finish!
  
  
• Revising: This is just as important as the pre-writing stage. I told you to write as fast as you could, to forget about errors along your ruthless path to finish this essay as quickly as possible. Now then, it’s time to go back and correct those mistakes. Yes, you still have to proof read your essay, and no it wouldn’t be easier to proof read as you write, you are being timed, you don’t have time. Leave revising for last.

 

So there you have it, three simple steps that will help you organize your ideas, help you make your essays more “anatomically” correct. And next time your teacher sets forth a limitation of words, lines, or paragraphs, just remember, they’re only human.

Until next week, this is your writer, James Fenix, reminding you to tell your friends about this blog! Remember to “like” the official James Fenix fan page! Also remember, if there’s a topic you want me to discuss, please comment in this space or leave your comments in the Facebook page, I will get all the messages you send there, trust me.

Until next week!

Saints of Fenix Paranormal Society

 

Hello everybody, just updating the blog with a quick announcement.

I know I’ve gone on and on about Paranormal Activity, and I know I have mentioned that I have a Paranormal Group. I have news regarding them, see I have finally constructed a website for the Saints of Fenix Paranormal Society, so if you wish to see some of my work, please register at the site and spread the word. I want you to know that I am also working on a website for this space.

I have not finished updating the content of the Saints of Fenix website, but I will let you know as soon as I do.  If you would like to take a look at the site simply click on “Saints of Fenix Paranormal Society” in the paragraph above. Next week we will discuss what makes a passable essay. Remember to tell your friends about your favorite author’s blog!

This is your writer,

James Fenix