The Waiting Isn't the Hardest Part

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Last Friday, I made no commitments, opting instead to let the day stretch out before me so I could finally get to some writing. I allowed myself to start the morning in a leisurely fashion, planning my day only after I had taken some time to enjoy a slow start.

But when it came time to write, I didn't want to. I'd been excited for this opportunity, and now that it was here, I could think of so many things I'd rather do instead.

The reason for this was no mystery to me. Not only was I revising (and I hate revising), but I was at a particularly challenging point in the revisions. I'd been chipping away at the same block of chapters for several weeks, and I'd failed to get them to where I wanted them to be. Frustrated by my lack of momentum, I'd even debated putting the manuscript back in the drawer where it had sat for more than five years. But this was a story I wanted to tell, and I knew that good stuff, story-wise, lay on the other side of those chapters. If only I could get there.

So I did what I had to do, and plopped my butt in a chair at Starbucks where I could set my timer and sprint, undistracted by all the other choices of things to do at home. Within five minutes, I'd rediscovered two things I already know, but keep forgetting:

Preparation and organization are essential to a good revision. If you're starting a revision without feedback from readers and critique partners, this might not matter. But, if you (like me) have an abundance of feedback to consider on a large number of pages, organizing must precede revising.

When I steeled myself to tackle this project, I created folders so that all the feedback for each set of chapters was gathered together in an organized fashion and I didn't have to waste valuable writing time digging out what I needed. All I needed to do was grab the right folder.

So it should have been as simple as opening a folder. Except for that second thing:

Getting started is the hardest part.

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And, as it turns out, it was. Once I got out of my own way, it took less than five minutes for me to get back into the story, and within fifteen minutes, I'd polished off all the comments from my various readers for the first chapter in the block and was ready to update my word count and move on to the next chapter.

That's when I got the idea for this blog. And so here I am, typing away, only now, I'm chomping at the bit to get back to the chapters I was avoiding.

So, if you'll excuse me, I have a sprint to finish. Now that I've gotten started, I don't want to stop.

Sceince quiz for SSC/Railway - 10

1. The moon revolves around the earth once in
(1) 30 days
(2) 385 days
(3) 24 hours
(4) 27.3 days

2. The life of the sun is estimated to be around
(1) 12,000 million years
(2) 10,000 million years
(3) 15,000 million years
(4) 5000 million years

3. The distance between the Sun from the Earth is
(1) 150 billion km
(2) 150 million km
(3) 100 million km
(4) 100 billion km

4. The smallest planet of solar system is
(1) Venus
(2) Jupiter
(3) Mercury 
(4) Earth

5. The surface temperature of the sun is about
(1) 6000 degree C
(2) 5000 degree C
(3) 10,000 degree C
(4) 5500 degree C

6. The number of constellation is
(1) 12
(2) 88
(3) 42
(4) 22

7. A parallel ray of light after refraction from a convex lens will pass through the
(1) centre of curvature
(2) focus
(3) optical lens
(4) none of these

8. Twinkling of stars is due to the phenomenon of
(1) reflection
(2) refraction
(3) rectilinear propagation
(4) none of these

9. The device used to measure the liquid pressure is
(1) Thermometre
(2) lactometer
(3) barometer
(4) manometer

10. The transformer used to step-up the voltage supplied by electric supply station is
(1) dynamo
(2) transformer
(3) electromagnet
(4) generator

Science Quiz for Railway/SSC - 9

1. The only vein that carries oxygenated blood is:
(1) Hepatic portal vein
(2) Renal vein
(3) Hepatic vein
(4) Pulmonary vein

2.The part of  heart in which the oxygenated blood is poured from the lungs is:
(1) Right auricle
(2) Right ventricle
(3) Left auricle
(4) Left ventricle

3. The blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart is :

(1) Veins
(2) Capillary
(3) Arteries
(4) None of these

4.The tissue which help in the conduction of water and minerals in the plant:

(1) Phloem
(2) Xylem
(3) Vein
(4) none of these

5. The pressure that develop in the root due to continuous inflow of water in it:

(1) Turgor Pressure
(2) Root Pressure
(3) Transpiration pull
(4) None of these

6. Bryophyllum reproduces vegetatively through:

(1) Root
(2) Leaf
(3) Stem
(4) Flower

7. The plants which have monocotyledonous seed is:

(1) Gram
(2) Bean
(3) Rice
(4) Mango

8. The part of embryo which develops into the root system is:

(1) Plumule
(2) Hilum
(3) Radicle
(4) Tegmen

9. The part of inner ear is 

(1) Incus
(2) Pinna
(3) Cochlea
(4) Eardrum

10. The harmone which prepares the body for stress is:

(1) Thyroxine
(2) Adrenaline
(3) Prolactin
(4) Insulin

English Quiz for SSC/Railway

Which of the phrases given below should replace the phrase given in blod in the following sentences to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is and there is no correction required choose (5) as the answer.

1. He advised his son not doing anything which is against his conscience.
(1) never to do
(2) not done
(3) to not doing
(4) no doing of
(5) none of these

2. Even after talking the matter for hours we could not arrive at a decision
(1) talking to
(2) talking over
(3) talked about
(4) talk through
(5) none of these

3. I have read a little of the book.
(1) a few pages
(2) little pages
(3) all pages
(4) a few of the pages
(5) none of these


4. The police failed in its attempt to disperse the crowd before the miscreants set the fire on the bus.
(1) set the bus on fire
(2) setting fire on the bus
(3) set fire in the bus
(4) setting bus on the fire
(5) none of these

5. He was asked to stay back from boarding the plane.
(1) held out
(2) detained
(3) not allowed
(4) staying back
(5) none of these

6. Madhu prefers coffee to tea.
(1) over
(2) for
(3) than
(4) instead
(5) none of these

7. The artist had finished hardly by that time.
(1) The artist had hardly finished  by that time.
(2) The artist had finished well by that time.
(3) Hardly had that time finished by the artist.
(4) The artist had hardly finished at that time.
(5) none of these

8. Your parcel will have to arrive yet.

(1) is yet to arrive
(2) will arrive yet
(3) is yet arriving
(4) have to arrive
(5) none of these 

9. Everything depends on them coming on time.

(1) depends upon them coming
(2) depend upon them come
(3) depends upon their coming
(4) depends when they come
(5) none of these 

10. Recently there has been suddenly increased the price of oil.

(1) suddenly increasing
(2) sudden increase from
(3) a sudden increase in
(4) increased suddenly
(5) none of these 

Answers-

1. (1)
2. (2)
3. (1)
4. (1)
5. (3)
6. (5)
7. (1)
8. (1)
9. (3)
10. (3)

What Day is It?

mycutegraphics.com

Whether I'm writing a blog or writing a book, some days the hardest part is figuring out what to write. It's gray and rainy today, and despite a decent night's sleep, I feel a little hungover from the hour stolen from me by daylight savings time...but you don't want to read a post where I gripe about that.

So I went in search of inspiration, and in less than ten minutes on Twitter, I found some. Though my woozy brain had not yet made the connection, today is National Pi Day. In related news, it's also Scientists Day (Albert Einstein's birthday -- how convenient of him to have been born on Pi Day). That may also explain why today is Genius Day and International Ask a Question Day.

But, as I am not a mathematician (ha!), a scientist or a genius, I opted to ask my search engine a question. I typed in today's date and according to Checkiday.com (and its links), today is:

mycutegraphics.com

• the birthday of the baseball cap
• Fill Our Staplers Day
• Learn About Butterflies Day (and Moth-er Day)
• National Save a Spider Day
• National Children's Craft Day
• National Potato Chip Day (with apologies to all of you who gave them up for Lent)

Since it's also National Workplace Napping Day, I immediately celebrated by going back to bed. 

What will you celebrate today?

English Quiz for SSC/Railway/Bank

Read the sentence to find out whether there is any error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The number of that part is answer. If there is no error than the answer is (5).

1. All banks must (1) / necessary keep a certain (2)/percentage of deposits (3)/with the Reserve bank.(4)/ no error(5)

2. Students will be (1)/the worse affected (2)/by the public transport (3)/ strike next week. (4)/ no error(5)

3. Our country has (1)/ the ambitious goal (2)/ of eliminating poverty (3)/ for ten years. (4)/ no error (5)


4. I cannot sanction (1)/ such a large sum (2)/ without no permission(3) / of the manager. (4)/ no error

5. A customer usually (1)/ goes to a bank (2)/ to deposit or withdraw money (3)/ or applies for loans. (4) / no error(5)

6. Seventy out from the (1)/ eight hundred employees of (2)/the company have opted (3)/ for voluntary retirement. (4)/ no error (5)

7. The management will be (1)/ taken a decision about (2)/ the training of the clerical (3)/ staff early next month. (4)/ no error (5)

8. She has started (1)/ much new initiatives (2)/ to help underprivileged (3)/ students get an education. (4)/ no error (5)

9. This is one (1)/ of the few companies (2)/ who has done (3)/ well for the past two years. (4)/ no error (5)

10. The success of the project (1)/depends on how (2)/much efforts each (3)/ team member puts in. (4)/ no error (5)

Answers -

1. (2)
2. (2)
3. (4)
4. (3)
5. (4)
6. (1)
7. (2)
8. (2)
9. (3)
10. (3)

Friday Freebie: Tired?

statista.com

Are you tired? A peek at the chart at left will confirm that you're not alone. Lack of sleep is, not surprisingly, the biggest culprit in our perpetual cultural exhaustion, but have you ever thought about what else can make you tired?

Oh, sure, there are the obvious things. Running a marathon. Shoveling snow. Doing spring cleaning or an afternoon of yard work.

But how many of us run marathons every day, or do regular chores with enough intensity to point to them as the culprit every single day?

On the other hand, many of us engage in small habits on a daily basis that contribute to our tiredness.
If you're tired of being tired, check out this article from Next Avenue. Maybe a higher level of energy is closer than you think.

Meanwhile, get some sleep.