1 Revision, 2 Revision, NO REVISIONS MORE!

Every writer is faced with the much dreaded REVISION. As writers, we find it hard to truly be satisfied with our work. We will revise our paper to the bone! But when do you know when enough is enough? It becomes a serious case of Over Revision.

Imagine each revision is like taking a shot of Tequila. I'm pretty sure you'll limit your revisions if that were the case. So with each revision you take one shot and the more distorted your paper becomes. After a while it doesn't even make sense anymore. It all becomes a blur and you blackout. The next morning you find yourself waking up to a new paper laying next to you in your bed. And then you suffer with a writers hangover, which consists of a major headache, writers block, and dissatisfaction.

SO HOW DO WE PUT AN END TO THESE DRUNKEN NIGHTS? 

PACE YOURSELF- If you attempt to revise your paper more than 2 times in one day, you can be over doing it. It is good to part ways with your writing and give each other space- miss each other. Then, when you feel like your mind is clear, go back to your paper and start your next revision. Too many revisions will leave a drunken mess!

DON'T WRITE THINGS YOU'LL REGRET- After a few revisions, you may be feeling a little tipsy and a little balls-y. You might try throwing in sentences just so you feel like you have 'revised' your work. Or maybe you're pissed off at your paper and you start cursing it out. DON'T DO IT. If you feel as though you do not have any valuable content to add in to your writing, do not put it in. Believe me, you'll regret it. This will tend to sway you in another direction or completely throw off what you originally intended to say. You'll eventually have to revise your previous revision and possibly make it even harder to get to your final work of art.

NO ONE NIGHT STANDS- Before going to sleep, make sure you are familiar with your paper. At least know it's name and a little bit about itself before taking it to bed. You'll feel more relaxed knowing that you are closer to a satisfying paper, rather than a messy drunk who seems to be all over the place.

SLEEP OFF THE HANGOVER- Sometimes it is hard to set limits on our drinking. So when we fail to follow the first 3 Rules, we just have to sleep off the hangover. After, a long night of revision, writing things we'll regret in the morning, and a one night stand, it is best to sleep it off the next day. This truly means, do not touch your paper! This brings us back to the 1st Rule: PACE YOURSELF. Allow you and your paper to recover, and then you can continue your blissful and sober relationship.

Would You Eat A Chimpanzee?

Should intelligence matter when it comes to whether or not we should eat animals, or what animals we shouldn’t eat? 

If we would rely on intelligence being the primary reason to believe it is morally right or wrong to eat an animal, we should take in perspective whether it is correct to consume a stupid human. 

In William H. Davis’ reading,  ‘Man-Eating Aliens,’ Davis makes a point on whether one should base what they eat on intelligence. He begins by setting the scenario that a race of alien creatures came to our planet. They are much more powerful and intelligent than us. They view “man” as food and plan on eating us. They understand the whole issue of morality because they are considered to be moral and rational to their own being. They also understand that man does not want to die. They feel sympathy, but only to their own kind. We are put into a scenario where we are the cattle that we slaughter and eat. Humans feel more powerful and more intelligent than animals therefore, they eat them. We cannot sympathize with the animal because it does not speak to us or explain their situation. But Davis creates a very valuable point. He states, “But when a cow foresees a life-threatening situation it gives every sign of dread and resistance”. Is that not a way a cow communicates to us, communicating fear, discomfort, pain? Aren’t those signs of intelligence? 

Clearly, when Davis puts us in the scenario where intelligence did matter, humans would have died being outsmarted and overpowered by the aliens. But what about the pain one would feel? Like the Lobster for instance. When the aliens state to us that we have nothing that they need, therefore, they will eat us, we would want to argue how we have feelings and experience pain. When being put in the situation of being slaughtered to be eaten, we would behave in a way cattle would. And if being thrown into a kettle of boiling water we would act in a way the lobster would, trying to find a way out of discomfort.

It becomes a situation of the powerful and the powerless. 

When we come to think of why it is worse to kill another human than an animal, I believe Davis made a great point. Davis stated, “…you do not have a natural capacity for sympathizing with the life of grass”. When it comes to helping someone of our own species, we do. We cannot sympathize for an insect or anything that is not related to us. It is easier to kill an animal because some may say it does not communicate with us. Communication is not a result of speaking to one another. Someone who is deaf may choose not to speak and uses sign language as a way of communicating, why not eat them?  A baby who is unable to speak, make decisions, or do anything by itself seems like a great candidate to put on a platter. Silence is a way of communicating, moving about in discomfort is a way of communicating, therefore we are closely related to animals, and any other living species.

           

For instance, a full-grown Chimp is much smarter than a human baby. Intelligence is not relevant on deciding which one we should eat. If it relied on that, the baby would be the correct option. We are well aware that both of these animals feel pain. That should be taken in to consideration.

There have been arguments on animals eating other animals, so why can’t humans eat animals? It is in an animal’s nature to go after it’s prey. Being that we do have different morals than animals and we are able to think of our actions, it does not justify that we are allowed to do what animals do. Humans consist of intellectual thought and knowledge, rather than animals that are born and structured a certain way to live. It is not as though an animal goes home everyday and has a home cooked meal. So, it is their moral obligation as animals to pursue their prey and make sure the rest of their ‘pack’ eats.

Although, one cannot put animals and people on the same pedestal, they do experience similar emotions. 

The reasons for maybe not eating a Chimp: They are closely related to humans and we are able to feel compassion for them.

{Image by Kevin Dooley}

Cut The Bull$#!&

Nothing is worse than a person telling a story without a point. "BLAH BLAH BLAH ..." and you sit there wondering where the story is going. It's like a bad date where you just want to scream, "SHUT UP!" and walk out leaving them with the bill. But what happens when your writing consists of a lot of rambling and a pointless destination? 

Well, if I were the reader, I wouldn't read it. Easy as that.

4 Straight to the Point Tips on Getting Straight to the Point:

1. CUT THE B.S. - Cut out useless sentences that you use to 'fill up' your story. If you have something to say, just say it. Don't go around it, go right to it!

2. WATCH OUT FOR RUN ON SENTENCES - Let the reader breathe. After a run on sentence they are bound to run on to their next task. Do not overwhelm the reader with a lot of information in one sentence. They will question what they have just read, and probably question if they want to continue reading.

3. OVER DETAILING - Ex: The sky was the color of the Pacific blue ocean, which was as blue as her blue eyes. We get it. It's blue. Moving on. 

4. DON'T FORCE IT - Let the point come naturally. Try not to end your writing with "The point is.." or "And this is why.." Don't drill  it in our heads. It's like a comedian trying to explain a joke. If you didn't get the joke, then obviously their is something missing.  A good piece of writing will have the point embedded in the work.