365 Writing Prompts: As seen on T.V.

Write a script for a late night infomercial— where the product is your blog. How do you market yourself? What qualities do you embody that other “Products” don’t? What are the benefits of reading your blog?

I started blogging a little over two years ago, at first it was something new I was not so sure how I could keep writing. Then one day I got a suggestion from a friend, “why don’t you translate Tagore’s work,”he  said.

What a great idea I thought, I leafed through the pages of Tagore’s collection of poems book. He wrote about nature, humans, animals, love and many more, then I found his song lyrics which were out of this world.

I thought surely the bloggers have heard about Tagore and also know he was a “Nobel” prize winner in literature. Who wouldn’t be interested to read the translations of his work.

If you think it’s a good idea to pick up a few words of Tagore’s language, visit my blog I have translated many of the great one’s work.

It’s not only Tagore’s work, I have also written mouth watering recipes , I’m certain you’d be delighted to try.

For your pleasure I have written some interesting facts about some of the cities in the Indian sub-continent.

You’ll also find some poems I have written, they cannot compare with any of the great poets, they will encourage you to write your own. Won’t that be impressive?

Take a walk to ‘Sabethville,’ where you’ll find all that and more!

Permalink: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/10/23/365-writing-pr…as-seen-on-t-v

Writing Prompt: Personal Space

To what extent is your blog a place for your own self-expression and creativity vs a site designed to attract readers? How do you balance that? If sticking to certain topics and types of posts meant your readership would triple, would you do it?

I recall the day I started my blog,I had no experience and knew nothing about what to pick for my posts. I wrote about things I was comfortable with, I had very few readers, I was happy with it. I was also doing some online courses, there were one or two who followed my blog and wrote their comments. One of them encouraged me to translate Tagore’s poems, the idea was a great one. I started translating, there were two or three others who started reading my posts and liked it.

It was encouraging for me, the idea of translating Tagore’s poems at first scared me,I only knew Tagore from learning his poems and singing his songs, I didn’t think I was good enough to translate his work. Yes I spoke the language he used to write his poems and song lyrics, but the thought of translation of his work did not enter my mind. I did it because I was too embarrassed to admit I was unable to do so.

Pretty soon the numbers of poems I translated was increasing but my readership did not. I was discouraged but I did not give up. Then a blogger read some of my translations and left encouraging comments. I complained I had very few readers. She encouraged me to read the post of others to introduce myself and this way the bloggers may take notice of my posts. It worked but not by much.

I then started participating in the daily prompts and other things, I have a few more than when I started.

At the moment I’m comfortable with what I’m doing, sticking to certain topics to increase my readership three times more would depend on what the topics are about,if they are not something I’d like to write about, I’d prefer not to do them. 

I like the idea of freedom to do my own thing, anything that comes in the way of my self-expression and creativity, I will not do it.

k: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/writing-prompt-personal-space

DP Daily Prompt: The New School

KINDERGARTEN CLASS, MT WASHINGTON, 1947 (Photo credit: roberthuffstutter)

I like the idea of  redesigning  a school.  I was fortunate enough to teach in various schools.  I noticed the flaws in the education system. I was hired to teach. No one asked for my opinion. The curriculum was presented to me, I did what was expected of me,these are your students this is the curriculum devised by a handful of experts. I am paid to follow the guidelines and that was it.

In my mind there is a lot of things we ignore about children, i.e .,  these are the five year olds, who start  school in a completely new environment. They are terrified to see a stranger he/she , who is called a teacher. They need to listen and learn and stay quiet and behave.

My problem with this dictatorial method is the poor child is terrified already. He/she is put in a classroom, where these rules and regulations are placed. Whether they like it or not they have to abide by it.

My new school from kindergarten upwards will have a new system. I am calling it ‘getting to know everyone’. I will devote the first two weeks  knowing the children. Since it is the kindergarten we should not assume what they are supposed to know. We’d have to shelve that thought and actually get the children out of their seats. They’d sit in a circle . We’d pick volunteers who’d like to ask questions. The teacher would be present but will let the pupils speak. there’ll be a question and answer period.

There’ll be a fifteen minute break. During this time the teacher will observe. He/she would take notes, about each pupil. The number of pupil will not exceed twenty.It is a good number to handle.

Reading, Writing,and Arithmetic would be taught in an atmosphere where the child feels comfortable. Learning will go on in a friendly way.

To know how to read, one has to be familiar with the alphabets.  There is a song about the alphabets,it can be a very good source. Interesting pictures can encourage the child to observe and then draw his/her own.

Similar method can help with arithmetic.

The whole experience of the first day in school can make a child love or hate school. There will be homework , they will be allowed to draw pictures of things they learned in school at home and encouraged to show their work to their classmates.

I have only written about the first year of a child’s life in school.

If we succeed in keeping the children interested in their schoolwork in a friendly manner. Everything else will be easy.

Daily Post, postaday