How to make people LOL by Sara Neiman

We all have our favorite comedy shows. Saturday Night Live, MadTV, South Park, Family Guy, The Office, and, my personal favorite, the Soup. True, the actors and comedians do make these shows hilarious, but where do the performers get their material? Answer: the writers!!

Here are some helpful tips on how to write interesting, yet funny written material:

1. Choose a setting. Make sure it’s original!

2. Don’t make your sketch too long. Around two minutes is just right.

3. If you are trying to get a TV show to buy your sketch, don’t put in anything too expensive, like a helicopter. With the economy as it is, most networks are on a budget.

4. Keep the characters in the sketch to a max of about 3.

5. Act out your skit aloud! It may sound totally different out loud than in your head.

6. Make your characters and situations come to life! What are they wearing? What are their names? It will help the sketch become more relatable to your audience.




Here is a funny SNL sketch that we, as bloggers, can relate to. :)



Remember these tips and you are well on your way to writing those hilarious sketches for that adorable Andy Samberg! ;)


Works Cited:
http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/may02/hornung.htm
http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/jul99/luff.htm

Tips On How To Analyze Your Reader by Alex Bean

This is a crucial step in writing. Through high school and our younger years we may not use this like we are supposed to, but as we make into our college years and the real world we must do it properly.

So you must be able to write towards your audience and analyze how they will perceive your writing before they read it. This way you are more likely to get things across to your readers.

If your are writing to your boss you already know your reader, but if you are writing to someone else who you have never met there are a few things you should take into account to help you.
Company they work for
Position in the company
Responsibilities regarding the subject

Once you have looked at all of these factors you can sit down and put yourself in that person’s shoes reading what you wrote them. This could mean adding more information or removing unnecessary information. Just by doing this simple step you can fix your writing greatly, and hopefully in this process it will benefit your overall goal since the audience will feel more comfortable and informed from what you have written.




References
Walter Oliu, Charles Brusaw, Gerald Alred. Writing That Works. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007

how to be persuasive in one’s professional writing

Persuasive writing is a good way to get your point across, and to get people on your side. Because lets face it not everyone agrees with each other. If everyone agreed with each other what kind of world would that be? In order to be persuasive in your writing you need to know the purpose of what you are arguing, and all the information on what you are arguing about. Next you will need to know about your reader, and how they think and feel about the topic. if your reader is very religious you might want to take a religious approach on a paper about abortion. Use there interests as your strong points when writing a persuasive paper. Another thing that is a must do in writing persuasively you must be clear. If your message is not clear then no one will know on what your point is and where you stand on the situation. another tip in writing persuasively is be sweet, simple, and to the point. No one wants to read a bunch of gibberish in a paper. They want there facts straight simple and be able to make there opinion and if your paper is a good one they will have the same opinion as you.picture citation

"www.instantdisplay.co.uk/st_persuasive.jpg". Instant Display Teaching Resources. 4/20/09 .

Graduating? Never Fear, Help Is Here!!!

So many of us are graduating from college soon and that means applying for jobs. Don't worry though, Emilee and I have put together a fail-proof list of things you can do that will help you get a job.

Podmolik. Mary E. "Post-college job plans," Chicago Tribune 16 Mar 2009. Web.13 Apr
2009. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-college-grads-jobs-mar16,0,3449584.story?page=1.

Gillet, J. “Congrats graduate – good luck finding a job,” San Francisco Chronicle 14 Apr
2009. <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/13/MNB116EAPE. DTL>.

Writing a Resume by Blake Dudkewic

One of the most important pieces to getting hired at your "dream job" is a professional resume. Many times an employer will judge the person as unintelligient by a sloppy or unprofessional looking resume. In today's day and age, technology has enabled us to take the easy way out of writing resumes' with computer programs and software, but if your a little old fashioned here's a list of tips to help you on your next resume'.

1. Use title's and headings that match the job you want.
2. Use design that grabs attention.
3. Create content that sells.
4. Quantify and use power words.
5.Sell the benifits of your skills.
6.Create an image that matches the salary you want.
7.Tweak your cover letter to look unique.

If you want a more detailed explanation of the tips below you can click on the link below.

http://www.free-resume-tips.com/10tips.html

Formal or Informal? That is the Question! By Jessica Pfaff

After college many of us will move into the workforce and after landing our “dream” job we might be put in a situation when writing reports is part of our everyday routine. Reports don’t seem that difficult or confusing to write but many people including myself stress out about deciphering between formal and informal reports and the differences between the two. Knowing these differences is key since formal and informal reports are completely different.

So, what distinguishes a formal report from an informal report? The answer lies surprisingly, not in the topics of formal reports, but in the expectations of the audiences for the reports. The audience for a formal report expects a methodical presentation of the subject whereas the audience of an informal report knows a lot about the subject already so not as much background information is needed. Also readers for a formal report are often two or more audiences and an informal report is written for a specific small group of readers or a single reader.

Format is the key between writing a formal or informal report. Formal reports are split into different sections. The front matter contains the background information about the subject. The main text reveals the introduction, discussion, and conclusion of the report. The back matter portion includes the glossary and references to provide any secondary information needed to all readers. Informal reports are much easier because they are broken into introduction, body, and conclusion.

By remembering these few very important parts of formal and informal reporting no stressing is needed when your “awesome” boss asks for a report! Good luck!

Sources:
http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/workbooks/reports.html
http://educationfuture.info/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/memo.335170817_std.jpg
Walter, Oliu, Charles Brushaw, Gerald Alred. Writing that Works. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007

What do I get my grandmother?!?! By Rhyan Eberhardt

Do you ever struggle trying to find a gift for your grandmother? Your mother? Your cousin? Or anyone else you may know? Is your computer loaded with tons of digital pictures and you can't figure out a creative way to organize them? Well, Photo Story is just the thing for you! (No, I'm not a salesperson but, thanks for asking!)

Photo Story is precisely as it is named, it is a story made through photos. Photo Story is an application which was created by Microsoft and is used to create stories or picture shows with one's digital pictures. A Photo Story is made and personalized through different effects, music, transitions, and even narration by one's own voice. A great thing about Photo Story is that once a show is made, it can be burned onto a DVD or even a CD, which makes for a great gift idea for anyone!

I know some applications for different computer services can be difficult to understand, especially for the "technology-challenged" group of people (myself included). For this reason, I have posted an easy tutorial video on Photo Story 3. Enjoy!



Works Cited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTt5WMHYSsE