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The Best Writing Advice Ever

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A lot of people enjoy rambling about good writing.

But what does good writing mean? You’ll find rambling distort the illusion people know what they’re talking about. Most probably don’t.

Of coarse, there’s many talented authors that could easily school me too. But so for the sake of this article, I’m giving you the easiest writing advice ever:

Keep it short.

There I said it. Make writing easy to understand and brief. That’s it.

You might think this advice contradicts everything we’re taught about writing, with its verbose words and long paragraphs. What you’re missing is that educational writing doesn’t retain attention like a news story. It’s regimented and useless beyond classroom doors.

Picture your audience as a kid with ADD by a window. Make them pay attention. Attention, attention, attention.

Also, some sentences share the same meaning but are more difficult to understand. For example, “The boy kicked the ball” is easier to read than “The ball was kicked by the boy”.

Use this advice and you’ll be a writing pro.

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Goals Are For Losers

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If you asked for my blogging goals, I couldn’t tell you.

If you asked for my after-college plans, I couldn’t tell you.

The future is a mystery and so it’d be foolish to aim at a constantly moving target. Our world changes too rapidly to for that. Here’s what I know:

1.) Blogging will improve my writing skills drastically. Meeting new people and gaining important insight. That’s important because I wouldn’t improve if I didn’t constantly fail at packaging ideas. Longterm, it doesn’t really matter if 5 or 50,000 people read this; I’m improving everyday.

2.) I‘ll study business and entrepreneurship in college. Do I have a specific job I want? Nope. But does it matter? According to statistics, most people have a plethora of jobs scattered throughout their life. The age of the nuclear family is destroyed and with it any stability in the job market. Those days are done. You’re a commodity and so it makes sense to be invaluable.

Welcome to the world of systems.

You might think it’s dumb assuming systems are better than goals. You might think that happy and well-to-do people write down goals instead. Don’t take my word for it, take it from Dilbert creator Scott Adams, who’s book ‘How To Fail At Almost Everything and Still Win Big’ is a bestseller.

In his book, Scott shares his insight in what took him from a 9–5 job at Pacific Bell to a multi-millionaire. Which boils down to ‘Systems > Goals’ as a habit of self improvement. Here’s a quote from the book:

“For our purposes, let’s say a goal is a specific objective that you either achieve or don’t sometime in the future. A system is something you do on a regular basis that increases your odds of happiness in the long run.”

Another example is weight loss. Losing 20 pounds is a goal. Eating healthy and exercising daily is a system. Knowing what to eat is important because you’ll lose weight while constantly improving overall health. Losing 20 pounds is important, but not if you can’t keep healthy afterwards.

Whatever the situation, the struggle between systems and goals continues.

In a world shrouded with business seminars and bad advise it’s important to fail towards success, as opposed to away from it. That mantra is the best mindset for successful and confident people.

Buy Scott Adams’ ‘How To Fail At Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Kind of the Story of my Life’ Here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still/dp/1491518855

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Your Taxes Are Killing Kids

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The Saudi government is evil.

Saudi Arabia continues to decimate whatever is left of Yemen. Targeting everything from rebel bases to shopping centers, their government has no regard for civilian casualties. They’ve killed over 10,000 civilians so far. Their government is more concerned with an Iranian proxy war than innocent lives. And guess what? Your taxes are fucking paying for it.

I wouldn’t include “Your Taxes Are Killing Kids” as a title without meaning it. The U.S. spent 3.5 Billion dollars last year selling helicopters to the Saudis. That’s 3.5 billion dollars. In a country with failing infrastructure, crippling debt, and disastrous health care, we need to get our priorities straight. As the only real superpower left we’re put into a unique situation. I’d argue, though, that we’re not the world’s police and spending billions to bomb funerals needs to end now.

It also needs to be reiterated that without oil Saudi Arabia would be a wasteland. Natural resources are the only reason we continue to support them. They’re like the kid at school who you hung out with because they had cool tools. You didn’t actually want to be around them.

And let me ask you, did you ever hear about this on CNN? Because I didn’t. Twitter and Facebook seemed like the only outlets where you heard about this bloodshed. Total media blackout. I’m sure it’s not a coincidence. And just because there isn’t the same outcry as Sarajevo in 1992, is it moral to stand on the sidelines? No way.

The world is changing.

Russia is now our ally in combating terrorism. Saudi Arabia, long known for their oppression of women, execution of drug smugglers, lashes for adultery, and torture of gay people, can be let go. Their methods of punishment and war are barbaric. No country in the 21st century can remain idle anymore. Sorry.

I don’t see how any country can endorse this bloodshed. I’ll state again that I don’t hate the citizens of Saudi Arabia. I hate your government because they’re monsters. And until some radical social change comes about, we’re done with you.

Does Blogging Make Me Evil?

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Blogs destroy lives.

Does that make me evil for blogging?

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know I blog often. What you might not know is bloggers are some of the best and worst people ever.

On one hand, they’re authentic reporters dedicated to facts and honest news. On the other hand, they’re greedy click-whores desperately generating traffic through demeaning headlines.

In other words, clicks come first and consequences come second. And as a result of controversial headlines, people’s reputations can be decimated. Which means that simply adding a HEADLINE can bring down anyone. That’s a lot of responsibility and I’m not ready to be responsible for that.

But the thing is, literally any writing piece published online is a blog. Anything from Joe-Shmo to the editorial board of the New York Times. It’s funny because despite their average viewership, both play by similar rules online. Both have tremendous power to influence a vulnerable online audience.

You don’t have money if you don’t have clicks. And boy, does drama sell.

The real reason I’m fearful of blogs is because of their efficiency. The fundamental source behind blogs is clicks. Which means blogs require quickness and efficiency. This means that if you break the first tweet or post with big news, you publicize it ASAP. Drama sells. Because of this, if any journalist claims to have “Breaking News” but doesn’t release  immediately, there’s a 95% chance they’re lying.

It’s why when Rachel Maddow touted that she had Trump’s tax returns, I was the first to call bullshit.

Even if she did suddenly get her hands on that paper, the taxes would’ve been published on Twitter immediately. And as it turns out *shocker* my prediction was correct. She didn’t have the president’s tax returns at all. Unless, of coarse, you count his 2005 tax returns. 

 

I’m not trying to brag and I’m sorry if it sounds like I am. What I’m doing is trying to shine a bright light on how unhinged this media system is.

The new media is scary and fun. Normal people have the same influence as news channels, and honestly I’m a bit worried. Anyone could take down an individual simply by word of mouth, and I’m being completely serious. 

Regardless of your opinion always question breaking news. You never know anymore.

Even if it’s from me.

How To Convince The World

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It’s still winter, isn’t it? Oh boy.

I don’t like to complain because it’s pointless. But let me vent for you.

If you live somewhere warm, congrats. If you don’t, let me share with you why I hate “Climate Change”. It’s not because of species dying or the arctic melting. It’s much more personal.

The temperature outside my house is hovering around -10 degrees, including windchill. Yes. -10 degrees. Even with my car’s heat on full blast it’s still freezing. Which means if I want to drive anywhere or do anything, I need to bundle up like the arctic.

It’s total bullshit. It’s March. Let the flowers sprout and snow melt. Blasts of razor cold wind dries my skin and I feel like a captive in my own home.

So what about Climate Change, you ask?

I’m 99% confident if the world noticed climate change on a personal level they’d become overnight believers. Maybe it’s their house being flooded or their crops turning brown. It doesn’t really matter. A theory is just a theory until it happens to you. Then it’s personal.

And it’s already happening. This Tuesday, Massachusetts is expected to receive 12-18 inches of snow. Try to explain that to climate skeptics.

I’m not advocating you flood a house of spoil crops, because I’m not crazy. That being said, if global warming is as dangerous as the majority of scientists suggest, I’m afraid that people won’t care until it’s too late.

Fear is the best persuader. And if climate scientists want to convince a scared public, they better get to it. And quickly.