I started brainstorming today about some of the things I want to explore writing about today. I have decided that I want to try to do one every two weeks, so that I have time to revise and edit. Here is a list I have going so far... let me know if you have any other ideas.
Seriously, STOP... (ideas)
1. breast feeding in public 2. talking about the presidential election if you know nothing about the candidates 3. wearing clothes that don't fit 4. letting your children run amuck 5. talking on your cell phone in quiet public places 6. listening to an iPod when talking to someone 7. gossiping 8. being negative/complaining
I was cracking up when I read your list. I will have to brainstorm a list myself, however, I am afraid that if I do so, I will be guilty of "being negative/complaining." :-\ I will have to think about how to resolve that conundrum.
In the meantime, I will list a few that come to me right away: Seriously, stop: 1. making candidates' families, hairstyles, clothing, etc. the topic of political news. Don't we have real problems to discuss? 2. adopting a cute pet without considering it a lifelong commitment (for the pet's life, at least) 3. driving on my butt because you want to drive 85 mph in a 55 mph zone. I'll get over when I can. 4. driving in the fast lane if you want to drive slowly. When someone flashes the headlight, it means please get over. 5. spending so much money on weddings! Really, should the average cost of a wedding be $24,000? Does it make sense to spend so much, especially when 57% of them will end early? 6. saying "I feel badly about..." The correct expression is "I feel bad about..." unless you are complaining about having no sense of touch (in which case, you are violating Colette's #8.) 7. using poor English on signs, in columns, and in other places that should be edited before they are posted. 8. blaming victims or playing victim--take resposibility for yourself and help those who need it.
Wow! I thought that would be hard, but once I got started, I had a hard time stopping.
It can become an addiction... you made some great suggections, and oddly enough they are some of my complaints as well.
I think for this week, and my first try I am going to go with Seriously, STOP... being negative and complaining. Stay tuned to the other post for the column sometime this week.
As I wrote my firt column I realized that I needed to figure out my voice. I didn't think about how hard it would be to make the point and back it up, but still keep a light fun feel. I think next time I will use a more humorous topic and see what happens.
I am looking forward to your next column. I think this is such a great idea. Have you looked into writing a regular column for a newspaper? I think we all could enjoy one that asks people to stop doing...something.
I do like the idea of writing a column. That is sort of how I came up with this. I had a dream and it came to me. I think it would be fun for a newspaper in a big city so it could be related to more localized topics. But it would be a lot of work to try to get it done. I wouldn't know where to start!
I have been working on this now for a couple of months and it is getting harder to find things to be annoyed with. Now don't get me wrong there are still plenty, but I think I need to have a more focused approach to what I want to seriously, stop. I was too broad in my first posts, and I could have split them up into multiple columns. It is interesting to see how to figure out the writing process for this. I have never written something like this before, and it is harder than I thought it would be. I am a fan of doing the writing though, it is therapeutic to my rants.
I am a high school Language Arts teacher who happens to have a lot of opinions. I happened to come up with the idea for my creativity assignment in a dream and I hope you all get a kick out of reading it. The idea is that each week I will write about something that is a pet peeve. It could be something I notice through observation, experience, or think of randomly. I will then write about this thing in a column called, "Serioulsy, STOP..." I will vent about what should seriously stop in a creative and comical way to try to persuade people to seriously stop doing what ever has been chosen. If you have any suggestions for what you would like to seriously stop just let me know!!
7 comments:
I started brainstorming today about some of the things I want to explore writing about today. I have decided that I want to try to do one every two weeks, so that I have time to revise and edit. Here is a list I have going so far... let me know if you have any other ideas.
Seriously, STOP... (ideas)
1. breast feeding in public
2. talking about the presidential election if you know nothing about the candidates
3. wearing clothes that don't fit
4. letting your children run amuck
5. talking on your cell phone in quiet public places
6. listening to an iPod when talking to someone
7. gossiping
8. being negative/complaining
I was cracking up when I read your list. I will have to brainstorm a list myself, however, I am afraid that if I do so, I will be guilty of "being negative/complaining." :-\ I will have to think about how to resolve that conundrum.
In the meantime, I will list a few that come to me right away: Seriously, stop:
1. making candidates' families, hairstyles, clothing, etc. the topic of political news. Don't we have real problems to discuss?
2. adopting a cute pet without considering it a lifelong commitment (for the pet's life, at least)
3. driving on my butt because you want to drive 85 mph in a 55 mph zone. I'll get over when I can.
4. driving in the fast lane if you want to drive slowly. When someone flashes the headlight, it means please get over.
5. spending so much money on weddings! Really, should the average cost of a wedding be $24,000? Does it make sense to spend so much, especially when 57% of them will end early?
6. saying "I feel badly about..." The correct expression is "I feel bad about..." unless you are complaining about having no sense of touch (in which case, you are violating Colette's #8.)
7. using poor English on signs, in columns, and in other places that should be edited before they are posted.
8. blaming victims or playing victim--take resposibility for yourself and help those who need it.
Wow! I thought that would be hard, but once I got started, I had a hard time stopping.
It can become an addiction... you made some great suggections, and oddly enough they are some of my complaints as well.
I think for this week, and my first try I am going to go with Seriously, STOP... being negative and complaining. Stay tuned to the other post for the column sometime this week.
As I wrote my firt column I realized that I needed to figure out my voice. I didn't think about how hard it would be to make the point and back it up, but still keep a light fun feel. I think next time I will use a more humorous topic and see what happens.
I am looking forward to your next column. I think this is such a great idea. Have you looked into writing a regular column for a newspaper? I think we all could enjoy one that asks people to stop doing...something.
I do like the idea of writing a column. That is sort of how I came up with this. I had a dream and it came to me. I think it would be fun for a newspaper in a big city so it could be related to more localized topics. But it would be a lot of work to try to get it done. I wouldn't know where to start!
I have been working on this now for a couple of months and it is getting harder to find things to be annoyed with. Now don't get me wrong there are still plenty, but I think I need to have a more focused approach to what I want to seriously, stop. I was too broad in my first posts, and I could have split them up into multiple columns. It is interesting to see how to figure out the writing process for this. I have never written something like this before, and it is harder than I thought it would be. I am a fan of doing the writing though, it is therapeutic to my rants.
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