Sometimes to see, you need to listen first. For almost all of the projects I would create before 2016, I ran into a wall over and over again: For some reason, I couldn’t visualize anything about my stories the way I needed to. It wasn’t because I didn’t have a…
The Smell of Books > The Smell of the Screen
When I was in elementary school back in 2009, I remember being envious of the kids whose parents let them borrow their Nooks (or Kindles?). It made those kids look cool and sophisticated. Then again, when you’re young anything new looks cool. I was there when my teachers started using…
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6 Poems for 6 Types of Love
Well, it’s that time of year again. Roses and cheesy movies and even cheesier public displays of affection that no one in particular wants to see. Love, and showing love, have become somewhat of a competition to see who can make the showiest gesture on social media. What happened to…
For Better or Worse? Thoughts on Movie Adaptations
Many times, a film adaptation will capture parts of a plot the book can’t for us. The protagonists’ voices, and settings in films help audiences decide how they feel about the characters and their experiences, helping them understand what the book didn’t make clear or have them consider. Here are…
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Bad Bitch Book Club
For Galentine’s Day, here’s one of the most impressive groups of women I’ve encountered, created for the sole purpose of supporting other women. The Bad Bitch Book Club, BBBC for short, was created by Mackenzie Newcomb in 2018 to celebrate female authors. She initially challenged herself to read 50 books…
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Why you should read James Baldwin for Black History Month and every month after that
The first time I read James Baldwin, his words left me in awe and wanting to read more. I first read Giovanni’s Room about a year ago and have made it my personal goal to read all his works. Although his works were written in the 1950s and 1960s, they…
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Was “Shrek”s Lord Farquaad based on Shakespeare’s “Richard III?”
(If you’ve never seen Shrek (2001) or read Shakespeare’s play Richard III, let me warn you: Spoilers lie ahead! If you have seen Shrek, welcome to my conspiracy theory.) This theory started when I was taking an Introduction to Shakespeare course last year, and one of the assignments was to…
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How to Be A Starbucks Writer
If you’ve taken a creative writing course, or desperately searched the internet for tips to increase your writing efficiency, you may have been exposed to “The Coffee Shop Effect.” It is believed that a change of location, not to mention the caffeine fix, can be beneficial for boosting creativity and…
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8 Unconventional Uses for Books
Ah books. We all have them. We love them. But sometimes we have books that could be put to better use than sitting around gathering dust on a shelf. Maybe it’s a 1973 field guide of Birds of New England or How to use Myspace for Dummies or your old…
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Poetry and Me: How writing can act like therapy
Have you ever been bogged down by emotions? Been so stuck in life that you felt a little less than? Maybe you’ve even struggled with mental illness. No matter how small or severe these feelings may be, there is something that you can do to help: write! Throughout the 19…
