Jazz and Blues Florida

Exercising routinely will help you keep stress at bay. When you exercise routinely, you are more aware when you are awake and you sleep better at night, both of which are very good for reducing stress. This is because exercise helps you release hormones into your body that make you feel better, both mentally and physically. And this effect is not limited to the time when you are exercising. In fact, these hormones stay in your body even after you are done exercising, so that you will feel better all day. If you can, try to work out in the morning to get that hormonal burst before you begin your day. Or, if you cannot work out in the morning, at least exercise in the early evening so that you will at least have a body that will be ready for a good night’s sleep and ready for the following day.
Another great technique for reducing stress is through proper time management. Let’s face it, most people spend most of their day spinning their wheels as they move from one project or task to another, making them incapable of focusing on what they are doing. However, with a time management system in place, your day can be mapped out in the morning so that you are able to complete tasks one at a time. Then, with each little success, you will be able to feel the relief of knowing that there is one less thing to worry about.

You need to do are to eat right and exercise. No, it doesn’t seem like taking care of physical needs with help with a mental issue such as reducing stress, but there is a connection. After all, the brain is part of the body and when the body is working right, the brain will be more effective. By putting the right nutrients into your body, you will be feeding the brain as well as the muscles and you will be able to think clearly and concentrate more effectively. As well, when you are getting all your fruits and vegetables and whole grains, you will have more energy and be less susceptible to fatigue. After all, fatigue clouds the mind and a cloudy mind is a mind that tends to wander. And, when you mind wanders, you will not be getting things done. Thus, projects and tasks will pile up, giving you even more to be stressed about.

With the hectic life that most people lead in today’s world, reducing stress has become a vital skill. With work stress, school stress, family stress, teen stress, parent stress, and a whole host of other kinds of stress continually knocking on the door, it has become vital to manage stress in order to keep up with everything needs to be done. Though reducing stress is difficult, it can be done with a little effort and a little dedication to improving yourself.
The first thing to do when reducing stress is to get enough sleep at night. Yes, there is always something that needs to be done and there are projects that need to be taken care of and there is always something that should get done before you go to bed and there is still one more television show to watch, but that is exactly the problem. By spending too much of the evening worrying about everything that needs doing and trying too hard to get it all done right now, you are not helping yourself. Rather, you are increasing your stress to an alarming level. If you need to get things done, then do yourself a favor and just get them out of the way before you sit down in front of the television. When they are done, then you can relax and not worry about everything that needs to get done after the show is over.

One of the pioneers of stress research, Dr. Hans Selye wrote that ” … stress is essentially reflected by the rate of all the wear and tear caused by life.”
His research convinced him that the body has only a finite reserve of adaptation energy to apply to the stressors of life. Selye likened this reserve to a bank account upon which we can make withdrawals from time to time but into which we cannot make deposits. It is a non-renewable reserve of energy which we draw on throughout life until eventually it is consumed and death results. Some people squander their reserves and experience premature ageing as a result; others exercise more discretion and so they maintain a supply over a longer period of time.
Over a long period of time the stress response begins to take a toll on the body. One of the prime targets affected is the thymus gland (a mysterious pale grey gland that sits behind the breastbone, above the heart) which plays a key role in the body’s immune system. The thymus gland pumps out millions of lymphocytes each day to patrol throughout the body and to kill off bacterial invaders. Killer cells called macrophages literally eat invading bacteria. They operate in all parts of the body and we depend on them for our survival. Macrophages are weakened by a steroid called cortisol which is released by the adrenal gland when we experience stress. A weakened immune system makes us vulnerable to infection and this is why people under stress often experience regular attacks of colds and flu.
Psychological stress does have physical ramifications. We can do ourselves a great deal of harm by stressful thinking. We can flood our body with stress hormones and this can create a vicious cycle making us more and more stressful.

You can help lower your stress levels by taking regular vacations. The best advice is to take one week off every year so that you can recharge your batteries and face the world again. By getting away and traveling, you can feel the relief of simply leaving it all behind. Getting out of the house, the city, or even the country is an excellent way of reducing stress and, when you get back, you will come back refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to get back to the tasks of daily life.
By reducing stress, you can feel better, work better, be more sociable, and improve your health. Stress is very hard on the body and the mind, so managing it should be a priority. Thus, with a little effort, a little time, and the dedication to do the right things for yourself, you can keep your mind clear and keep yourself moving forward. Then, once you have mastered the art of reducing stress, you will also have the pleasure of not having to worry about stress

Are you a beginning songwriter who strives towards writing songs that become hits? Do you need to know how you can improve your songwriting skill?
It’s not too complicated. Don’t try to re-invent the wheel. As far as I’m concerned the best way to improve your songwriting is to study what hit songwriters do. Forget about the mediocre stuff and learn from the leaders in the songwriting and music industry. Study what works.
As a songwriter who has written quite a few number one songs in my country, one thing that has helped me and continues to help me is the radio. I listen to the radio all the time so I know what type of song is happening. I know what people like, what they want to hear, and what is current. This gives me a good idea of what kind of song I should write to target a particular market.
When you listen to the radio, take notes on what hit songs have in common. Study the structure of these songs. What tempo seems to work? Are the chord progressions complicated or are the songs based mainly on riffs? What kind of chords are used? That way you can write songs that appeal to today’s audience. No matter how good your song is, if it sounds like something that would be better suited to ten or twenty years ago, you can forget it.
It is a shame how some songwriters treat the songwriting craft. I’m sorry, but if you do not spend time at developing your craft you are bound to fail. I don’t care if it’s baseball or dancing, those people who come out and top are the very same ones who practice everyday. Those who spend years at perfecting their craft. So learn form those who were there before you. Study and write songs everyday. Lay hold of songwriting books, get songwriting software, do anything to take you to the next level.
To improve, a songwriter needs to become more knowledgeable everyday. The more things you know about, and the more you can relate to different aspects of everyday life, the better for you. I never heard of a novelist who didn’t read constantly. The same applies to songwriting and great songwriters. You must put in a lot of work if you want to excel.
Nothing comes easy in life. Work, work, and work some more. Pattern your writing after what has been proven to work, but never copy. Do it everyday and reap the rewards.

The writer, who doesn’t have the time to plot, always finds the time to rewrite.
Sound familiar?
I’ve been guilty of this too, back in the early days of my writing apprenticeship. I was so eager to get stuck into writing my story that I wouldn’t bother with plotting.
Plotting gives you a sense of direction. It’s your map, which will lead you to write your story. Leaping into the unknown rarely works. Without a plot several things can happen….
Our stories aren’t focused
We lose our way
Our characters don’t come to life because we don’t take the time to develop them
We get stuck
The story strays from us
And all this happens when we haven’t figured everything out first.
Your plot is the foundation of your story. It’s the skeleton, which will hold your story together. Your plot is there to work everything out first – to see if it can be worked out, and then flesh out that skeleton with other elements that make a story.
Plotting is the difference between writing a story for yourself and writing one for an audience. Writing for ourselves doesn’t require too much strain because we only have ourselves to please. It’s when we have to please our readers that the hard work begins.
If you are aiming to sell your stories, plotting is a must.
Have you plotted your story before writing it?

Technical Writing generally translates to a piece of writing that conjures up an image in the mind of a layman about any device or software application.
In other words, the job profile of a technical writer involves writing and designing user guides, brochures and white papers for a plethora of products.
Though these procedures are not new, their categorisation under the term “Technical Writing” is quite recent. The latest entrant in the software field is not a whiz kid from IIT, but might be a journalist or an English literature graduate. This option is here to stay, what with India slowly accepting the prospect of technical writing as a full-fledged career at par with more popular contenders.
Now, the Indian technical writing scenario would seem very bleak for an onlooker who doesn’t delve deeper into the layers. This field was practically unknown till the 1990s. Tata Consultancy Services was a pioneer in creating a need for the current crop of technical wordsmiths.
Over a decade old, this profession does not have many takers, but does boast of a strong following in the various metros. In Bangalore the number is believed to be 500-600. Even by an optimistic view, the number of technical writers across the nation would be approximately 6000. These statistics prove that, corporate bosses and the software industry as a whole recognized the need for a specialized documentation team very lately.
The technical writing job has long come out of the confines of being a strict documentation-related activity. In some organisations, technical writers are asked to pitch in for test case development, product testing, creating API code, creating java documentation etc.
More recently, a technical writer has grown to don the garb of a graphic designer, web-content developer etc. Since a technical background is not a prerequisite for a technical writer, many writers foray into the field even with a Humanities background.
The one and only criterion, going by the current Indian standards, would be a firm grasp over the Queen’s language and a strong analytical mind. The prevalent need, is however to meet International standards in English usage. US companies recognise the need for a trained technical writer and that adds to the hiring and training impetus for technical documentators.
The US provides a lot of scope and opportunities for training and specialized study of the subject. In comparison, Indian universities shy away from offering unconventional and lesser-known courses aka Technical writing. The technical writers, who already exist in the industry having created a golden niche, are fast emerging as the “trainers” for this career option. Some of the Indian universities like the Calicut University and the Mumbai University have woken up to this profession and have included the subject in their curricula.
This trend, may give the Technical Writing profession the impetus it requires. The final recruiters, Corporates, MNCs need to step in boldly to hire and provide customized training to fresh technical writers.
This might beckon the golden dawn for Technical Writing in India!

Writing is a muscle that needs exercise to stay in shape.
I realized how true that saying is when I took what I called “a well-earned break” after I finished my first novel. The last few days of writing that novel felt as sweet as whipped cream–I was in a writing groove, humming along. I figured I’d take a little hiatus for a few days, then start my second book. No problem.
Those few days stretched into a week. Soon two more weeks wandered by and thumbed their noses at me. I felt guilty every time I passed my PowerBook. Then I began to avoid the computer altogether, a beautifully self-defeating habit.
Finally, twitching with dread after more than a month away, I sat down at the screen and began my next novel. Trying to write after that time away was torture. My neglected writing muscle had become flabby and whiny. It protested my sudden demands and resented being drafted to work.
For many people, the key to productivity is making writing a habit. Consistent writing breeds easier writing. If that’s true for you, create a new habit.
Make a commitment to a certain amount of writing every day–a length of time or a number of words or pages to reach before you lift your butt off your chair. Each day when you’ve reached your goal, do something nice for yourself.
One of my published clients who loves email has chosen to write five pages each weekday before she can log in. She made getting her email a reward for completing her writing goals, and every time she slows down with her writing she remembers how much she wants to read her newsgroups and see her friends’ replies. That spurs her to complete her pages, and she feels doubly triumphant when she hears “you’ve got mail!”
Is email not a good enough carrot for you? Find one that is, then earn it. Setting goals and rewards that make you want to keep writing create a great habit that’s win/win.
Write away!

This outline is adapted from a handout I give to my lifewriting students. The points made here apply to writing in general as well as to writing our life stories in particular.
I. Why should we write?
A. Frank McCourt in Writer’s Digest, Feb. ’99, p. 19: “But now I realize that everyone has a story. Nothing is significant until you make it significant. It’s not what happens to you, but how you look at it.”
B. Frank P. Thomas, How to Write the Story of Your Life: “God created people because He loves stories.” “Humans are happiest when we are creating.” There is a revival of activity today in search of our roots and family history.
C. Strunk & White, The Elements of Style: Writing is a way to go about thinking.
D. Rick DeMarinis, The Art and Craft of the Short Story: Storytelling is how we make sense of the world.
E. Robin Hemley, Turning Life Into Fiction: Writing is a discovery process. Part of the fun is learning why you wrote what you wrote.
F. Writer’s Digest, Aug. ’00, pp. 20-21: You might find that the greatest rewards of writing…evolve during the process of bringing your ideas to the page. As you reveal more of yourself on the page, you might notice patterns in the way you think, behave, react to people and situations. This self-awareness can help you make better decisions, understand difficult situations, sort through feelings. It is a powerful way to find answers to some of your most difficult questions. And it can remind you that there are no easy answers—this is the root of wisdom. Life becomes richer, observations and senses sharper.
G. DeMarinis: Anyone will tell you his or her life story, given a little encouragement. It’s the human thing to do.
II. Why should we write well?
A. DeMarinis: Poor writing can falsify experience.
B. Various sources: Writing is rewriting. Craft moves from the back of the mind to the front during rewriting. Allow the first draft to be crude and ill formed.
C. DeMarinis: Say everything that needs to be said in as few words as possible.
D. Aristotle: “the proper and special name of a thing.”
E. Hemley: Words shape the way we view an event.
F. DeMarinis: Be conscious of word selection. Develop an ear for language. The sounds in a sentence can produce three-dimensional images in the mind.
III. Regarding truth, and the accuracy of our memories
A. P.D. James, in Reader’s Digest: “Memory is a device for forgetting as well as remembering. To that extent, every autobiography is a work of fiction, and every work of fiction is an autobiography.”
B. Robert Olmstead, Elements of the Writing Craft: Memoir is a narrative composed from personal experience. It depends on memory, which is somewhere between truth and how the writer sees the truth. Setting in a memoir is intensely personal and emotional.
C. DeMarinis: Story is always biased. Hidden in the fiction is need, and need is always truthful. We need sympathy and approval, and want to be understood.
D. The Write Stuff (a compilation): Memory is what people are made of. What’s remembered is never the event. Memory is faulty.
E. Hemley: What you have chosen to tell, and how, and what you have chosen not to tell reveal what kind of writer you are.
F. Hemley: Memory plays tricks. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. It’s more important for an event to work than to be true.
G. Tom Chiarella, Writing Dialog: Stating what literally happened is less important than interpretation of those events.
H. Olmstead: What makes an experience important?
I. Marcia Golub, I’d Rather Be Writing: Old memories are mysterious. A lot of what gives them narrative drive is trying to figure them out. Of everything that happened during childhood, why do we remember these things?
J. Dwight V. Swain, Creating Characters: How to Build Story People: It’s not the experience that creates the trauma, but the way the character reacts to it. (If you’re writing your life story, that’s you.)
K. Hemley: What’s most powerful is often what you most want to hide.
L. Hemley: Dig deeper—try to understand why a particular event stands out.
M. Hemley: Distance from a place enables us to see it more clearly. What you remember is what’s most important to you…the feeling it gave you. Description of a place should be anchored in the character’s consciousness; it says as much about the character as about the place.
N. Stephen Wilbers, Keys to Great Writing: “Given that all writing is to a degree fictitious—…it can only represent reality…use the elements of artifice to your advantage.”
O. Pablo Picasso: “Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.”
IV. Getting started
A. William Zinsser, On Writing Well: Believe in the validity of your life!
B. DeMarinis: The very act of writing sentences produces more sentences. This sometimes leads to inspiration.
C. Hemley: ordering real life takes a lot of imagination and understanding.
D. Writer’s Digest, Feb. ’99: Avoid chronology as an organizing principle. Instead, free-list key images.
E. Opening should be “crisp and economical” to grab the reader.
V. See my related article, “My Favorite Errors to Correct (Don’t make these mistakes, and your writing will rise above most other writing).” Happy writing!