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Sharing Your Work

The Do’s and Don’t’s of Sharing your Writing with Others

floraj5604

Have you ever wanted to share your writing with someone else? I know I have. Today I’m going to cover the do’s and don’t’s of sharing your work.

 

Why Do I Need To Have Rules?

There are people out there who will take your work that you so kindly shared and post it all over the internet. They might even pretend it’s theirs. That’s why you only share with people you trust.

 

Who Would That Be? 

  • Family
  • Close friends
  • Teachers
  • and . . . anyone else you trust

 

Do’s

  • Do make sure that that person is COMPLETELY trustworthy.
  • Do tell them (and emphasize it) that this is NOT to be shared with anyone else, unless you give them permission.
  • Do ask someone else you know and trust if they think this is a good idea. It’s always good to have a second opinion. 
  • Do ask them if they liked it. 
  • Do ask them if you need to change anything. This is your chance to get a second opinion – take it! 

 

Don’t’s

  • DO NOT share your work with someone you don’t trust. Even if they offer you something. 
  • Do not offer to read someone else’s work and then post it all over the internet.  They trust you. If you aren’t careful, you might lose a friend.  
  • Do not mark all over their stuff. 

 

Here’s the Deal…

Here are the rules you should follow if someone gives you their writing to read. 

  • Don’t share their work with anyone else (unless they give permission). 
  • Ever heard of the Golden Rule (do to others as you would have them do to you)? Time to follow it. 
  • Don’t mess up their hard work. Do not mark on it or type other words on their paper. Return it the same way you received it. 
  • Make a list of critiques if they want your opinion. 
  • Tell them thank you for trusting you. Offer to share yours. 

 

What Should I Critique? 

Grammar: Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, pronouns, verbs, agreement…

Characters: Emotions, characteristics, appearance… Basically make sure they stay the same throughout the story. 

Hooked: Did you get hooked? Or was it long and boring? 

Setting: Were there enough details? Could you see it in your mind as you read? 

Plot: Was it exciting? Was there a good conclusion to the story? Or the perfect cliffhanger?

P.S. If you don’t want to publish your writing, then you don’t have to worry this much. But you should still be careful. 

 

See You Next Time…

Well, this is goodbye. Comment and tell me what you think! 

Monthly Recaps

November Recap

floraj5604

Time for another recap! It seems like this month has passed so fast for me! We were very busy this month as we have been preparing for Thanksgiving and then Christmas.

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Books

The first and only book I read this month was Flashback by Shannon Messenger (the seventh book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series). I have been waiting a year for this book to come out, and I was so excited! I literally read it in five days!

I didn’t read any more books because I was really busy with a research paper in school (ugh!). Plus, I am re-reading Flashback- because why not?

 

Bullet Journaling

I got to try one new weekly spread that I saw on Pinterest this month. Everything else is the same old, same old.

  1. At the top, I have a space for every day- Monday through Wednesday on the first page, and Thursday through Saturday on the second page. At the end of each day, I use this space to list three things I’m thankful for.
  2. Underneath those is my Fitness Tracker. That is where I track my steps, how much water I drank, and the days I got some exercise.
  3. To the right of that, I have a calendar.
  4. Underneath my Fitness Tracker, I have my Weather Forecast. On Sundays, I look ahead at the weather and write it out so I can know what the best days to go outside are.
  5. To the right of that, I have my Habit Tracker. Usually my habits are to just clean my room and write.
  6. On the next page, underneath the daily boxes, I have a section for my goals. One of my goals this week is to have a clean room by Saturday.
  7. Beside my goals, I have a section for notes.
  8. I still had room underneath that, so I decided to do a fun drawing: It’s Sweater Weather!

 

TV Shows and Movies

I decided to add this in because there is one show that I just can’t live without: Doctor Who!! This is really one of the best shows that I have ever seen, and I’ve been watching the season eleven episodes. Go Jodie Whittaker!

Also, I just watched a movie on Netflix called The Princess Switch. It was about two identical girls who meet and decide to switch places. I really liked it!

Writing

This month I was really productive in my writing. I wrote consistently every day, and guess what! I actually finished my book! Just the first draft, of course. I definitely have not published it- yet.

In all, it took me one year, two months, and one day. I started on September 16, 2017, and wrote about two pages a day. Then I got busy and forgot about it for about a month. Then I started writing again and then got busy again- this time for about three months. And then, I switched from writing it on paper to typing it, and then I finished it on November 17, 2018. Yay! So, now I’m going through and editing it so that maybe one day I can publish it.

 

Goals

I didn’t really know exactly how close I was to finishing my book, so my goal was just to write every day. I had no idea that I might finish it this month. So, I mostly accomplished that goal, but like I said before, we were really busy.

 

Thanksgiving

Since Thanksgiving has passed, I thought I might list a few things I’m thankful for.

  1. Family

I’m really thankful that I have family that I can share my Thanksgiving with. I really enjoy the fun games and stories that we tell at the table. I also enjoy playing with my cousins on both sides of the family.

  1. A Good Education

I know some kids that really don’t like going to school. I know its hard work, but you know what? I’m thankful for it. Because where would we be today if we didn’t have any education whatsoever? I’m pretty sure we’d be cavemen. How do you think Thomas Edison came up with the light bulb? He didn’t just sit there and all of a sudden come up with the idea. He had to know a lot of science-y stuff so he could be able to test his theory. And all that science-y stuff came from a good education. So, be thankful for your education- even if you really hate a certain subject. You’re actually really lucky. Some kids don’t get to go to school.

  1. My Talent

Finally, I’m really thankful that I have a talent for writing. It makes me happy when I’m feeling down or upset.

 

Talk to Me!

So, what are you thankful for? Tell me in the comments! My family just started decorating for Christmas last week. Have you decorated yet?