How to Write an Essay- Research

I've written some pretty good essays in my time as a student. As writing is my strong point and I take a lot of English classes as electives, I typically get good grades on them. I'm going to be posting a little guide on writing an essay, one piece at a time, whenever I get the time to write up a post. Here's the first one on research:

Research
For me, this has always been the hardest part of writing an academic essay. Not only do I have to find several sources on my topic, but they have to be what the teacher considers reliable as well. This typically means no Wikipedia, .gov/.org/.edu over .com, and fully citable. Often more than one type of source is required, such as book, Internet, and article. These are the things I keep in mind while looking for sources:

1. Finding Sources- When looking for sources, always consider the amount of time you have to work on the project. If you only have a week, a few articles will probably benefit you more than a dozen thick books. Obviously the first places to check for sources are Google (always make sure any Internet sites are reliable and citable; don't just assume that the first link on the list is the best!) and the library (honestly not every book is fully reliable either, but most teachers are far more willing to accept these without a second glance...). Other possible sources change with the topic, but some examples are newspaper articles, scholarly journals, and historical documents. If you find a source that doesn't have enough information or isn't citable, check to see if it has a bibliography that can provide you with more sources.
2. Creative Sources- It's probably a good idea to check with your teacher before you use these, but I don't think they should have a problem with it. These can be fun and add a bit of flare to both your essay and your bibliography. Some ideas are: museums, advertisements, old pictures (these can actually provide a lot of info. Just make sure they aren't fake), interviews, movies, zoos/aquariums, old letters or diary entries, and historical artifacts.
3. Citation- Every teacher will have different requirements on how much information is required to make a source citable. I've had some want only a title and author, while others want that plus publisher, date, location, associated organizations, and link (if available). The first kind is easy, but the latter set can be almost impossible to find on the Internet. Even most government websites, which many of my teachers have considered total wins for my bibliography, will not have that much information available. Books are generally the best option in this case as they provide all the copyright and publishing information. If you're not certain whether you have enough information for your source, either ask your teacher or (if you're turning in a rough draft) just go with it. The teacher will likely mark your lack of information so that you can fix it before you turn in a final copy. I know this sounds like the lazy way, but I generally feel uncomfortable talking to my teachers about such things unless they can be contacted through email, and it's always worked for me.

There are my ideas for finding and citing sources. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at propheciesofshadow@yahoo.com or post a comment on the Arriah Dreamscribe Facebook page. Next time I'll be posting about getting started on the paper. I hope this is helpful!

Some SAT Tips

I thought I would do a follow up post for my desperate SAT one on Friday. I took the test. An email I got said that I won't get to see my grades until the end of March, but that's not as bad as it was for the PSAT. I'm not too worried about it now. It was tough, and I'm sure I got a lot wrong on the Math portion, but overall I think I did okay.

One thing that I'm very grateful for is that they allow you to bring a snack, and give you several breaks to eat or go to the bathroom or just stretch your legs. I know that when I haven't done any of those things in a long time, my mind tends to shut down. I'm fairly certain that it's the same for most people. I have also heard that drinking plenty of water is important when you're taking a test because it hydrates your brain or something like that.

There was one thing that I did which I think was a fairly good idea and might help anyone else going to take a timed test. On one of the math sections, when the man announced that there were only five minutes left for that section, I could clearly see that I wasn't going to be able to finish all the problems. So, I very quickly filled in C for all the answers on the ones that were left, then went back and worked out every problem that I could in the time that remained. I finished all but two, and I still have a chance of getting those two right.

Something I would suggest for anyone preparing to take the SAT is to really study vocabulary. In the reading and writing portions there were a lot of words I had never seen before. Since I'm fairly good at that sort of thing I was able to use the process of elimination or the context to figure most of them out, but I know that a lot of people don't have the same skill set. So if English stuff is at all difficult for you, definitely look into that. If you go to dictionary.com there are some word games and activities that I think would be helpful.

Khan Academy can be a useful tool when studying for the math portions, or really for any math thing. I know that they also have other subjects, but I haven't explored anything but math on their site. But the math part alone is incredible. It's been my greatest resource in figuring out how to do different kinds of problems. He adds videos regularly, and already has a very wide range of topics.

Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. I hope that was helpful for anyone who needs it. And thank you to everyone who gave me advice when I needed it!

Sunlight

Umm... Decided to just do a random little romance story bit. Totally random. And pointless. It's not part of the story I'm writing on my blog.

He pulled me into a hug. The sleeves of his sweatshirt were soft and warm as they held me close to his chest. I felt safe with this person I loved so much. When I looked up, there was a gleam in his eyes and I just knew what was going to happen next. He leaned in. I closed my eyes as our lips touched and sparks ignited my skin. Our first kiss.

Then it was gone. He was gone. Looking around for him in panic, I saw him standing at the window across the room, looking sadly out across the sea. The golden light that filtered in from the setting sun illuminated the equally golden waves of his hair, and though his back was to me I could imagine the way it set off his beautiful blue eyes.

"I'll be gone tomorrow," he whispered, the sound barely carrying to my ears. "But I'll be back, and a part of me will stay with you. You will be safe. I will protect you. And in time, I will be back for you."

"I'll wait for you," I responded. I paused as he the sunlight suddenly brightened where he stood and he disappeared. I felt his hand on my shoulder. "But you should stay the night. You know you need the sun to travel."

His soft smile pressed against my hair, his words stirring the strands. "The moon will be full. That will be enough. I've gathered strength long enough. Goodbye."

And then he was gone. And I haven't seen him since.

Insanity

You know, sometimes I forget how insane I really am. It's not a dangerous insanity. If anything, it's a useful one. Like how I treat my characters as real people. I'll find myself having conversations with them while I'm thinking about what to write, and when I do write it often feels like they're taking control. Or how I'm often seized by a burning need to write dark, emotion filled things, usually poetry.

But if I didn't have that insanity, my writing wouldn't be the same. In fact, I wouldn't have any inspiration at all. Most of my writing is a direct result of insanity. Many plot twists come from my conversations with my characters, and the emotional scenes wouldn't be possible if I weren't in the grips of madness.

I'm able to control it most of the time, so maybe it isn't really insanity. I just bring it up when I have something I need to write, or when I'm bored and need entertainment. But there are sometimes in the darkest hours of the night when the shadows seem to come alive without any conscious effort on my part. So am I mad?

And if I am, is madness all that bad?

Mythical Alphabet

Hello everyone! Sorry this post has come so late. I've spent all afternoon working on this. You see, a long time ago I developed a special language to use in my books. I figured that since I'll probably use it at some point in my blog, I'd better at least post the alphabet here. Of course, the words will still be different than ours, but you'll at least know what it sounds like when you see the little symbols!

Sorry for the poor quality. I'm not really an artist, and this was my first time every using the program I used to design these. I hope you still have fun looking at them! :)

Introduction

Hello. I'm Arriah Dreamscribe. And you are? *waits for your answer with a frozen smile for an overly prolonged length of time* It's very nice to meet you!

So, this is my blog. You want to know why I'd make a blog? No, you probably don't. People make blogs all the time, and my reasons for creating this one were probably not even questioned. But, I'm going to tell you why anyway. I am making it because I am a young writer with dreams. I would like to publish the book I'm currently working by the time I graduate from High School in 2014. I've been worried, though, that my book will be passed over without a second glance, as most novels from new authors are. My plan to fix this problem is to give the publishing companies a little bit of added incentive by having a blog with enough followers that I can reasonably argue that plenty of people will buy my book.

However, not any type of blog will do. It is for a special purpose and thus has to be special. It has to show off my talents as a writer. Therefore, I am going to use this not only for normal blog purposes, but as a story-writing blog. Several times a week I will post entries with a paragraph or two of a story, slowly writing and developing it over time. It will not be the one I'm writing to be published, but hopefully it will help me in my goals related to that book. Of course, this is a blog, so I will also use it to talk about other things related to life, and perhaps even give advice on topics I feel qualified to talk about, but the main purpose will be the story.

To make things as simple as I know how (I'm not yet very familiar with how to use the Blogger) I will label each one of my story posts as "story" both in the title and as an actual label. To see only the story posts without any of my others, just go to the bottom of one of the story posts and click the label which says "story". It should then lead you to a page where only posts labeled the same will be shown.

That's enough about that. I think I've made it quite clear that I tend to make things longer than they need to be. Don't worry though, I'll try to keep my entries short and interesting.

On that note, I'll leave you to explore and read what I have posted at whatever future time you've discovered this. Farewell, my new friend, and have a wonderful day!