My Blog

As some of you may know I actually graduated from high school this last week. I realize that a lot of my readers are older than me, but I think that there are a few lessons that writers (and people living life) can take out of the experiences that I had there.

Research is the key ingredient to everything
Now I guarantee that most of you never go out and do research on everything that you write, but you can’t write something on facts that you don’t know anything about. In general I usually just take info from blogs I have read in the past. Once in a while I will try to quote people as I think it is the right thing to do, but I never go into a subject blatantly talking about something I don’t know a thing about. Do your research! Make sure that you have multiple points and angles, and if you know who said it quote them! How would you feel if someone stole your work?

As a teenage writer in high school you begin to notice many different types of cliques. As in most parts of society, people tend to hang with people like themselves. This isn’t necessarily wrong, it’s just important to realize that this can carry over to blogging, and writing. Stick with your niche! You may not get readers on the 1st day, but as you continue along it will start to pick up people that have the same drive/passion that you do about your subject. Jumping around to different “cliques” will merely break your close relationship you have, and end up with fewer readers; opposite of what you aimed for.

Sometimes you will get good feedback and sometimes you will get bad. Don’t disregard negative comments as they can sometimes be helpful, but don’t let them destroy your life. One thing that bugs me is when people get offend at my comments saying “that’s too harsh” or “I’m just here to have fun.” News flash, if you are putting your work on the web to be read then you are going to get hate mail. Besides, at least my advice is helpful as opposed to flame.

One thing I will say is don’t delete flame. Sure it might hurt your ego, but if someone is “hating” on your work it means that you are starting to generate more readers. Chances are that they will be back, and if you show them, and everyone else that you can handle their criticism then it will only make you stronger.

You Can’t be Superman/women so don’t even bother
I realize that this can differ if you are raising a family, but you really need to cut back a little bit on what you try to do. I met someone in high school that literally ran on 2-3 hours of sleep because they “were too busy to take a break.” I’m not saying that there aren’t exceptions, but know your limits! Don’t do anything that your body can’t handle.

The more time you spend at something the easier it will get
Freshman year was the most difficult year for me. Sure Junior Year had the most work, but freshmen year involved me almost wanting to go back to homeschooling. Why? Because I didn’t know the system. Once I figured that out it was a lot easier to find out the loopholes, and where I could let things slide. (Don’t laugh; you know you do it too.)

Suck up to authority
Most of the friends that I had only failed a class because they had a bad attitude toward the class, or the teacher. As long as you made sure that you raised your hand, or you got all your work in on time, everything usually worked out. I’m not saying go all out by buying your boss a certain gift, but get the time to know them a little. If you spend a little social time (just a little, you don’t want to get fired) they will be more likely to be lenient if you can’t come into work. Even if this doesn’t apply hopefully you will at least make your work environment more enjoyable. (I know that it has with the job that I hold right now.)

The cool thing about America is the power of freewill (sorry to all my readers who aren’t from the US.) If you don’t want to have a sucky job then you are free to go. You can say stuff like “it’s all I got,” or “I have a family to support,” but if you really hate what you are doing there are other opportunities out there. Just know that when you leave there are consequences and everyone must live with those consequences.Me with Mr. Byers: The teacher I owe most of my success to this year.

I could probably go on, but I want to know what you guys think. Do these lessons really apply? Is there something for everyone to learn from high school? What lessons would you add/remove?