M.J. Mandoki's Blog, page 16

February 25, 2015

Happiness Project for February: Cards Against Humanity

As I said in December, I decided to do a happiness project, which entails that I do something unusual, strange or, outright silly every month that I would normally not do. For the month of February, I elected to play Cards Against Humanity with a group of friends. For privacy reason, I will only mention them by first name, if I have to.


The six of us gathered at Arron’s house on a Saturday. The large box of cards sat on the table while Emily explained the rules of the game. Each person gets ten answer cards and takes turn to pull a question card from top of the pile. The person who reads the question does not participate in answering it. The remainders of the players choose an answer to the question out of the ten cards they are holding. The point is to provide the silliest, funniest and most ridiculous answer possible. The players hand over their cards face down to the person who previously read out the question. She shuffles them and reads them out one by one. At the end, she decides who had the best answer. That person receives the question card. The person with the most question cards wins the game.


The game began. Since I had not played before, I tried to provide the most rational answers, at first. They were funny, but not even close to what others came up with. For example, the following question was asked: “Why could you not sleep last night?” I answered, “too many oreo cookies”. It was a rational answer, but not too funny. Another player answered: “altar boys”. First, silence fell on the room. Next, someone said, “Gross. You pervert!” Then, everyone laughed.


I learned quickly. After an hour, I tried to give the most unlikely answers. For instance, the question arose: “What comes out of your butt?” My answer was: “Sarah Palin”. As soon as Arron read my card out loud, he asked: “Who is the anti-republican in the room?” Being all Canadians, we all laughed. My answer was the best.


What did I learn from the experience? I learned that it is alright to be creative and even inappropriate to have a laugh, as long as everyone in the group has a good sense of moral backbone. And, our group did. We all commented on answers that were grossly inappropriate, but had a good laugh about them anyway. At the end of the day, we just managed to have great fun and did not even care about who won the game. In fact, I do not even remember it.


What was my favourite question-answer scenario? The question was: “It is the end of the world. How do you want to go out?” The answer was: “Being a motherf@#$%& sorcerer”. Yeah! If the world ends, a woman definitely has to go out in style!


Next month, I will try a remote viewing exercise. Remote viewing is a psychic technique where one focuses and tries to figure out the physically remote location and activity of a certain person. I will see if I am any good at being psychic!


M. J. Mandoki


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Published on February 25, 2015 16:27

February 22, 2015

What is Faith?

The common advice is that you have to believe in yourself, that you have to have faith. This is the advice you will hear whether you are about to have a new career, start a new project or change your entire life. But, what does it mean to have faith?


According to the dictionary definition, having faith is associated with three meanings. The first meaning has to do with believing in God or a religious doctrine. The second meaning tells you that it is about having “confident or unquestioning belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing”. The final meaning connects it to loyalty or allegiance. Although all three meanings may be valuable to contemplate on, it is the second meaning people’s common advice about having faith is most closely associated with. The idea is that you have to believe something for it to become true, something that has yet to pass. You have to trust that it works out, despite the fact that you have no concrete evidence that it will and you may not even know exactly how it will work out. Does that sound scary?


This is the point��where skeptics usually jump into the conversation with their mantra: “I believe it when I see it”. The problem is that this type of thinking hinders success. If a potential long distance runner requires to see first that he run a marathon before believing that he can, he may never start training. If a student first requires to see the university diploma granted to him by his school before he starts studying for the exams to succeed, he will not open the book. If a young woman first requires to be granted a religious title before she can believe that she is able to become part of a religious clergy, she will never embark on the journey. You cannot see first in order to believe. It works vice versa. You have to believe it in order to succeed, so you can see it. Therefore, faith is necessary.


Do not be mistaken! Everyone has faith. If you feel like you are not a believer, you are wrong. There is no faithless person in the world. The question is: What do you have faith in? Do you believe that life is hard, fate is punishing you and you are a failure? If you do, that is what you have faith in. The problem is for you that life is just. Life delivers what you believe in. Your life mirrors your belief, just like a pristine mountain lake mirrors the image of the mountain next to it. What you see in your life is what you believe in. You do not like what is in your life?! Well, it is time to change your belief; it is time to have faith in something different. You may ask what the proof is that it can be different. Remember, faith in something comes first before you see the result. You cannot run the marathon first before you believe that you are a great long distance runner.


Are you ready to have a new career, start a new project or change your entire life? It is time to start believing in it. Start by visualizing that you are already doing it or say it to yourself in front of the mirror. If it becomes real in your mind, it becomes real in the world. Do not worry about the details. If it becomes real enough, your mind will prompt you to act it out. The image becomes so real that you cannot help, but send your resume to that dream job, present your new project to your boss or, start a new life altogether. The pristine mountain lake now reflects the new image of the mountain on its surface; it cannot do otherwise. So, go ahead and start!


M. J. MandokiPhone pictures 079


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Published on February 22, 2015 16:52

February 18, 2015

Interest in Ghosts

I find it fascinating that so many people seem to show interest in one of my upcoming short stories as soon as I tell them that there is a tale about a ghost in it.


Despite the fact that philosophical materialism is so dismissive about psychic phenomena, the general public seems to be endlessly fascinated with them. According to a recent Harris Poll, about 44% of the population believes in ghosts. The Atlantic reports that people’s own experiences or culture fuel the belief. Of course, the philosophical materialists argue that the belief can be explained by hallucination, but people are skeptical about this oversimplified explanation.


In general, the oversimplified explanation does not work well in a lot of cases. There are four general factors that need to be taken into consideration in relation to ghosts. First, there are collective apparitions where more than one person can see the ghost at the same time. My mother and my grandfather had this experience. One evening, they both saw a family member as a ghost entering the room. Neither said anything until he disappeared. They confirmed their vision to each other afterward; they did see the same image. The ghost was a family member they thought was alive. The next day, they received the news that he passed away the night before. Second, different people at different times can see a ghost at the same place. This place is said to be haunted. One of the best examples for a haunted place is the Tower of London in London, England. Many people have claimed to have seen Anne Boleyn, the wife of King Henry VIII, who was beheaded in 1536. Third, people may see their loved ones close to their time of death. These are crisis apparitions. My mother and grandfather’s ghost sighting is also an example for this type of sighting. Finally,��an informative apparition can give valuable knowledge to a person about something that a person may not have known otherwise. Finding a will of a person he left behind hidden away, its whereabouts revealed by his apparition, is a good example. Overall, the point is that an oversimplified explanation from philosophical materialists who just blame everything on hallucination does not solve the problem. People are continued to be puzzled by the ghost phenomenon. I bet that every family has at least one such puzzling story the members cannot explain by hallucination.


This is the reason that most people turn to alternative sources. If materialist-minded scientists do not take their experiences seriously, they need to seek answers elsewhere. Art is a good place to turn to. There are endless stories about ghosts in literatures and movies. No wonder that the movie Ghost (1990) made over $217 million in the US alone.


This means that I am not surprised when people are showing interest in my short story with a tale of a ghost in it. The protagonist struggles with a sighting, which may have been a ghost. He spends a lot of time trying to figure out the nature of the lady he meets on the snowy mountain. I guess that it is advantageous to write stories with a ghost mystery in it!


M. J. Mandoki


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Published on February 18, 2015 17:50

February 14, 2015

Good Versus Evil

The easiest storytelling technique has always been to pick a good character and let him fight against an evil one. The good Superman fights against the evil Lex Luther. The good Spiderman fights against the evil Venom. The good Batman fights against the evil Joker. The strategy is simple, easy to understand and the ending is usually straightforward. Despite the advantages to such a strategy, the question is whether this kind of storytelling benefits humanity. Does it teach a good lesson? Is it realistic?


The initial issue is the concept of evil. What is evil? Evil is often identified as immoral, wicked, depraved, sinful and/or malevolent. Of course, the list does not exhaust the possible descriptions or offer a proper definition. However, it offers a sense of what one is talking about when referring to evil. This sense of evil raises a second question, though. Where does evil come from? The question is not where it originally comes from. The question is: Where does it reside in? This question becomes the heart of the issue in storytelling. The simple good-versus-evil story identifies evil with a person. The person is evil; evil resides in him. Basically, the force of evil is the person himself. For this reason, eliminating the person means eliminating evil. Batman, Spiderman or Superman triumphs over evil. Good returns to the world and the world is saved. It is simple. But, is it realistic?


Sometimes, even politicians fall prey to this simplistic ideology of good versus evil. A famous line, spoken by George W. Bush on November 6, 2001 at the United Nations, proves this point: “You are either with us or against us.” George W. Bush’s idea was that he was good and whoever joined him joined the good side in the fight against evil terrorists. Not joining him meant joining the evil side. In short, one is either good or evil. Simple? The problem is that people often buy into this ideology on both sides. Hence, terrorists think they are good and the people in the West are evil. Both sides convinced they are good, they march into battle to fight each other. After all, the other side is always pure evil. Does anyone wonder the reason for all the current political conflicts in the world?


What is the alternative? Instead of identifying evil with a person, it is possible to relate evil with an act. A person can engage in evil acts. He is not good or evil per se, but he is capable of engaging in good or evil acts. Naturally, this understanding of evil complicates the situation. In this scenario, it is very difficult to argue that a person is pure good or evil. After all, even Mother Theresa got angry sometimes and Adolf Hitler liked dogs. Thus, identifying evil with the act offers degrees of good and evil. The issue is not black and white anymore; it is presented in shades of grey. This means that the characters in the stories become much more complex. A character can be a murderer, but help the little old lady across the street. He may be a thief, but keep the honour amongst his fellow thieves. He can be a great politician fighting for justice, but have a weakness of looking at child pornography on the internet. It is not so simple anymore, is it?


Identification of evil with an act further complicates a story once a person realizes that the definition of evil act is not straightforward either. For example, some perceive homosexuality as evil, while others embrace it with love and understanding. Or, abortion can be seen as an evil act of robbing an opportunity of a person to be born or as an act of empowerment of women when caring for their bodies. Hence, an evil act can become relative, depending on the interpretation. In short, a story identified with evil as an act is anything but simple.


Given the complications, writers often shy away from situating characters in the zone of shades of grey. Complex characters are difficult to create, evaluate and follow through in a story. Also, the ending is a lot messier. Often times, there are no clear winners or losers in the tale. Nevertheless, they are crucially important because complex characters resemble real human beings. Since even Mother Theresa had weaknesses and Adolf Hitler had strengths, pure good and pure evil are unlikely to be found in real life situations. Most people are a mix of both worlds. Hopefully, the average person has more good than evil in him. Still, the Ultimate Power of the universe, whatever it is, seemed to bless all with the availability of some good and some bad that people seem to lovingly choose in varying proportions. For this reason, stories with complex characters, engaging in good and evil acts, speak to the reality of human existence more than the simpler version of��identifying good and evil��with the person. The complex version may be more difficult to create, but it comes closer to the true human essence, or existence, than Superman, Spiderman or Batman’s version of it.


Identification of evil with a person can do serious damage, if it becomes the prevalent culture of storytelling. Besides politicians, young people can also adopt it as the dominating theory through movies, books and video games. Looking for evil characters to save humanity may preoccupy their minds, unable to appreciate the alternative. This prevalent ideology can damage the ideas of tolerance, understanding and compassion. It can lead to great harm, if people zero in on certain individuals whom they decide are evil. Therefore, it is advisable for writers to get away from the simple characterization of evil and, instead, create stories with complex characters to teach young people to properly identify both good and evil in people in order to ensure that they do not judge too quickly or too harshly. And, young people are better off taking some courses in philosophy, especially in the area of ethics and morality, to better evaluate specific people and situations.


It is time for writers to get away from the simple and unrealistic and time to embrace the more complex and realistic version of evil!


M. J. Mandoki


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Published on February 14, 2015 15:20

February 11, 2015

Be Sick When You Are Sick!

How many of you are coughing, sneezing, fighting a fever and still manage to��show up to work? How many of you are going home and trying to do everything you normally do, as if things were alright? I have done just that in the past few days and learned a great lesson.


I showed up to work not to let down the team. I walked around like a zombie, constantly looking for a tissue box everywhere I went. I smiled at others courageously, while fighting nausea. At the end of my shift, I updated my colleagues ready to start their shift in between my sneezing and blowing my nose, while they were politely and discreetly disinfecting the keyboard of my computer and the area around it. When I went home, I made an effort to wash the dishes and take out the garbage, while telling myself that the cold was not so bad and it would pass soon anyway. I kept on going until my husband stopped me. He took one look at me and asked: “If you are sick, why are you not sick in bed?” His comment stunned me. He was so right. Yet, even then, I was worried about the blog I still had to write. Finally, he managed to talk me into going to bed, without having even started my blog.


Being alone with my thoughts, I made a discovery. Being positive about getting well does not mean ignoring the fact that I am actually ill. I have to admit that I was born an optimist; the glass is always half-full. However, being an optimist does not mean having to live in denial. After all, I can only get better, if I admit being sick in the first place. Admitting that I am actually sick helps me to assess the situation. It offers an opportunity to slow down so that my body can focus on getting better. If I ignore my body’s request and keep going, it does not have an opportunity to focus its strength on getting better. For this reason, admitting to being sick is actually the first step to being positive about getting well. It means offering the tools to my mind and body to work toward the mental image of being well.


This is my day off and I am in bed getting better. By admitting to being ill and slowing down, I am making a giant step toward��being better. No more pretending!


Are you ill? Stop pretending! Just like with every other problem in life, the first step is to admit it to yourself. So, go home! Go to bed! Be sick when you are sick! Give yourself a chance to get better!


M. J. Mandoki


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Published on February 11, 2015 10:37

February 8, 2015

Where Does One Get an Idea for a Story?

Most writers are convinced that ideas for fictional stories come from everywhere. Naturally, this explanation sounds simple and intuitively right. At least, writers think so. However, this may not sound so simple for the rest of humanity. So, what do writers really mean by their statement?


In reality, the oversimplified statement that stories come from everywhere may not cover any real consensus amongst writers. Every writer is different. However, it is possible to create broad categories for inspiration based on observation. Firstly, some writers are fantasy prone. They are the daydreamers of this world. They start dreaming, perhaps, as an escape to deal with stress and tension, and the dream grows into an elaborate phantasy with psychological hurdles built into it. Of course, these phantasies (spelt with “ph” at the beginning to reflect a psychological need), reflect the inner psychological world of these writers. This description reminds me of Charlotte Bront��’s Jane Eyre. Classified as bildungsroman, the romantic tale with a maturing protagonist ends triumphantly, the way all romantics at heart would wish for.


On the other hand, some writers are inspired by personal tragedies rather than elaborate positive fantasies. Unable to talk about their own experiences or unable to reveal the entire truth about their experiences, they try to express their thoughts and feelings through fictionalized versions of their struggles. A good example is A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. Originally created as a memoir, James Frey included fictionalized events into his story to present his struggle with drugs and alcohol.


Still, some other writers are just very sensitive to social and political problems around them. They write in response to some events taking place or changes made in society. Often times, great passion fuels these stories. Dystopian novels are great examples. Yevgeny Zamyatin’s novel, entitled We, embodies this idea. The protagonist struggles in a one-state totalitarian regime where the secret police watch everyone and there is not freedom to speak of. This kind of inspiration for a story rarely brings happy ending for any writer prompted by social and political concerns.


Some other writers are preoccupied by deeper philosophical questions. These writers try to develop philosophical arguments either by challenging their characters or by engaging the characters in actual argumentations. For example, Jean-Paul Sartre did the former successfully in No Exit, while George Berkeley did the later successfully in Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous.


As I pointed out in a previous blog, I prefer to start with philosophical questions. For example, I started with a question in knowledge in the short story “The Hermit’s Journal” to be included in my future collection, Real Life Choices. I ask the question how a person can tell whether a perception is real, if he lives alone in the wilderness. Basically, there is nobody around to ask if they see the same thing as the person does. To find an answer, I place my character on a remote mountainside at high altitude and let him live as a hermit for a winter. I complicate the situation by the psychological factor of isolation that allows him to have altered states of consciousness with nature mysticism involved. Then, I challenge him to find out the mystery behind two women on the mountain across, one of which is suggested to be a ghost by the nearby town’s history book. In this situation, can a person tell whether a perception is real? (Yes, there is a philosophical ambiguity with the question as it is stated.) The point is that I love placing my characters into philosophically challenged situations and let them sweat. Watching them struggle makes the questions very realistic. It also forces the readers to think about these questions and do their best trying to make sense of them. This is also the reason that I love creating cliffhanger endings.


Of course, ideas for stories may come from other sources. There is no limit to the human imagination. Still, these broad categories can help to see the general sources writers tap into for inspiration. For this reason, it is actually more accurate to say that, depending on the writer, stories can come from anywhere rather than everywhere. This is a more generalized statement that, I am certain,��almost all writers can agree on.


M. J. Mandoki


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Published on February 08, 2015 09:36

February 4, 2015

Mind Your Language!

Are you living in the world of LOL, LMAO and Ltr? I realize that it is very popular to complain about the language youngsters use nowadays, but I think there is legitimate reason for it. With the short, cryptic abbreviations they use, the youngsters not only damage the beauty of their native tongue, but also limit their ability to express themselves and receive clear and precise messages.


In this fast paced world, people have the desire to communicate quickly. With the invention of fast communication devices, such as the internet, competition is fierce and decisions have to be made often times quickly. Large quantities of information have to be transferred over in a short time from one place to the next. The younger generation is born into this fast paced world. They are used to messaging each other instantly at the touch of a finger. They move quickly and say a lot with a few cryptic words.


The problem is that, unless they are mind-readers, this cryptic communication leads to misunderstanding and frustration. The person at the receiving end may read her own interpretation into the message, missing the point. The original sender may get frustrated at the misunderstanding of the receiver. Sending further cryptic messages to clarify the original message may make the whole affair even worse. The issue is that short, cryptic messages do not allow the clarity and precision that well-explained, longer sentences can express with the use of a decent vocabulary. The following is an example. A young woman walks in a park at night and spots the shining moon and the stars above. She wants to express her feelings about it. Here is the message she texts to her friend:


“im out in prk strs n mun kol. shr exts”


This was an actual example I saw. I had to think about the meaning of the words when I saw them. The problem is that her friend thought that she was having sex with her boyfriend outdoors. In reality, she was describing her feelings about the starry night and the shining moon. This miscommunication could have been avoided by using proper vocabulary. Compare this to my description of how I felt about nature. Carried away by nature’s beauty, I contemplated the mental and spiritual freedom she could provide, if I properly understood her essence.


I am a humble creator of her majestic beauty,


carrying the torch of her eternal wisdom


on the path of darkness lit for the worthy


to gain the eternal gift of her freedom.


The point is that people’s ability to express themselves and understand each other have shrunk and keep shrinking. In an increasingly complex world, the breakdown of communication can lead to ever greater mistakes, which makes life stressful and tense for people who have to spend so much time trying to smoothen out the misunderstandings. In such a world, people should be better communicators with clearer and more precise messages, instead of the alternative.


The lack of ability to communicate also worries me as a writer. First, I understand that people make mistakes when writing and explaining their thoughts. I am a good example. I was not born into an English speaking country. I could not speak a word of English until I was seventeen years old. I make mistakes all the time. Basically, the issue is not lack of perfectionism. Rather, the issue is the lack of effort made toward learning to properly express oneself. Without this effort, it doubtful that future generation will be able to produce excellent writers. In such a world, who will be the next Shakespeare, Descartes or Sartre? As a writer, I am worried about the future; I am worried about the literature and philosophy the next generation will fail to leave behind.


I sincerely hope that more effort will be put into the quality of messages people send to each other in the future. It is worth slowing down just a little and spending time�� to explain oneself to ensure clarity and precision in a communicated idea. Quality should be valued more than quantity. After all, cryptic messages focused on quantity do not speed up communication, if one has to spend a lot of time afterward trying to clarify ideas that were missed or not communicated properly. Slow down a little and focus on the quality! Take a deep breath and count to ten before pressing the send button!


M. J. Mandoki


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Published on February 04, 2015 10:03

February 1, 2015

Happiness Project for January: Fifty Shades of Grey

As I said in December, I decided to do a happiness project, which entails that I do something unusual, strange or, outright silly every month that I would never normally do. For the month of January, I made up my mind to read Fifty Shades of Grey; a book, I would never really care to even glance at in the book store. It is February 1, 2015 and the project is done���sort of.


Originally, I thought it would be fun trying to read something very different. I am used to philosophy books, which are created for deeply contemplative individuals who care about the great mysteries of life. Getting away from the serious sounded like fun. Boy, was I ever mistaken! My deeply philosophical goddess, Sophia, jumped out to have a strong opinion about this terribly written, awful book while I kept turning the pages. Eventually, Sophia���the Greek word for wisdom���became so infuriated inside me that I had to physically throw the book across the room��a few times. For a happiness project, I have to say that it did not make me happy. Finally, I gave up 150 pages into it. Once I decided to dump it into the garbage, I felt a huge sense of relief.


The following are the main issues with the book in a nutshell. The characters are weak and unrealistic and, they do not gain any strength or learn any worthwhile lesson in the book. Starting with Anesthesia, she is such a weak and unlikely woman that one would have to search with a microscope in this life to find an unrealistically portrayed woman like her around. She is well educated, twenty-one years old, has a part time job and lives as a grown up with a roommate. She looks like a mature woman, right? Of course, she does. Yet, the author wants everyone to believe that she managed to stay a virgin all this time, had never pleasured herself before and she never had any serious sexual feelings before she met Christian Grey. Seriously? This sounds like a bad soap opera from the Victorian era. The assumption that a woman has an asexual ice cold body until the late age of twenty-one when a control-freak man suddenly wakes up the sexual desire in her is outrageous. Given the fact that most girls start masturbating at a kindergarten age and have raging hormones by about age sixteen, this is the most unrealistic, old-fashioned, 19th century portrayal of female sexuality I have ever seen. It is false, misleading and sends the wrong message to men about female sexuality. A woman is not dead until the right knight and shining armour comes around! She has serious sexual desires long before that! That is the reason it is so rare to see a twenty-one year old virgin.


Moreover, there is a conflicting description of the strength Anesthesia is supposed to have in the story. She is a serious and well-educated woman. She has a realistic view about her own family and the characters around her. At the same time, she is supposedly too weak to say “no” to the outrageous fantasy of an egotistic man whom she barely knows, even after he shows her what looks like a torture chamber from a point of view of a twenty-one year old virgin woman. If she is this weak of a character, how did she stay a virgin up until that point? In addition, she has a mind boggling first sexual experience?! Keep on dreaming, girls! Most women are so nervous about being intimate with a man for the first time that it is anything but mind boggling. Learning to share intimacy takes time; it does not happen all at once. Also, after all this, she manages to keep seeing him and, according to the storyline, ask him to practically beat her up. What kind of an intelligent woman would do such a thing? She cannot be that weak!


Naturally, Christian Grey fares no better. He portrays an egotistic, self-centered, damaged man who likes to control the world and women in it. His dictatorial attitude does not seem to improve a bit in the book. He wants to make a sex-slave out of a twenty-one year old weak woman. He wishes to reward Anesthesia, like a child, for doing sexual favours for him and to please him in general and, also, to punish her for being a bad girl. I have to say this is sickening to read. Women have been used and abused all over the world. This is not the type of sexual behavior young men should be encouraged to learn. If it takes a man degrading a woman to be sexually excited, he is a poor excuse for a man! And, if it takes a woman being degraded to have an orgasm, she needs to consult a psychologist! The world has done enough harm to women and their sexuality throughout the millenniums. Enough is enough! If a man cannot treat a woman with outmost respect and cannot see her as living representation of a goddess, he does not deserve her company! End of story!


Of course, I realized that people are free to do as they please in life���as long as they do not kill each other in the process. They can read this book. They can see the upcoming movie. They can imitate or adopt the suggested lifestyle. Still, I seriously hope that people will stay away from such poor portrayal of women���and men���and their sexuality. People deserve better! I have faith that people are better than this poor demonstration of so-called sexual “adventure”. They just have to be better!


I hope never to see this book again. I am back to reading philosophy. I returned Sophia to her natural balance inside my mind and heart. I wish I could get my $20 back that I paid for the book, though! What a waste of money!


For the month of February, I chose to play a card game called, “Cards Against Humanity” with some friends. I will describe the game and the time I had playing this game next month.


M. J. Mandoki


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Published on February 01, 2015 18:45

January 29, 2015

“I only write novels,” the author said.

I find it amazing that so many people fall in love with writings of specific length and never try to write shorter or longer works. My experience is that most people like to write longer works. The explanation is often that they need space to work out the story. It is true that some pieces need to be lengthy in order for��them to properly work out the way they were intended. However, addiction to longer novels may damage a person’s ability to produce other types of works. Writers should try to get away from them at least some of the��times.


The advantage to a lengthy novel is that a lot can be fitted into it. It can carry great many characters described in minute details. The storyline can be elaborate and complex with many twists and turns. The colourful portrayal of the surrounding can make that surrounding��come alive in front of the reader’s eyes. Despite the advantages, though, people should learn to produce shorter works. Shorter writings are crucial to the development of a writer. Learning to write a short piece forces the person to focus on what is truly important to be included in that piece. I learned the importance of this skill at university. Building a philosophical argument with word limitation meant that I had to pick and choose wisely the information that I needed to include to make the argument work and be efficient at the same time. The word limit makes the person think long and hard about what is absolutely essential; it shows the person the backbone of the piece without which it cannot function. The ability to summarize aids the person in maintaining the logic of the writing, so that the person does not get lost in the details or lose sight of the direction. Basically, it is an important exercise.


I advise all writers to try to write��shorter pieces, such as a short story. The advantage to it is that there are many short story competitions one can participate in. Entering the words “short story contest” or ” short story competition” into google produces nearly all websites where one can enter into a short story contest. I entered three contests��in the past four months: 1) 2014 Canadian Tales of the Mysterious Short Story Competition by Red Tuque Books, 2) Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition by Writer’s Digest and, 3) CBC Short Story Prize by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. All in all, it is worth learning to write works of all��lengths. So, go ahead and try it!


M. J.


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Published on January 29, 2015 17:43

January 25, 2015

A Matter of Expertise

Writers come in many shapes and forms. They can have jobs writing essays, reports, briefs, minutes, poems, stories etc��� But, do writer really need to have expertise to be successful?


According to the dictionary definition, “a person who has special skills or knowledge in a particular field” is an expert. This means that the answer is easy when it comes to certain fields. To write a legal brief or a doctor’s report, nobody would hire a person without expertise. Also, nobody hired would be able to keep a job without adequate expertise. The legal or medical fields simply require it. Therefore, in addition to being a good writer, expertise is necessary on certain fields.


Writers of non-fiction works are not as easy to categorize. Theoretically, it is possible to create a piece of writing without an initial expertise. A person can decide to tackle a project, not knowing anything about it at first. Students do this in schools. The professor assigns a project and they go to the library to learn about it. Often times, they do not even know where to start the research. Eventually, though, they manage to find the information, based on which they can finish the assignment and hand it in. The trick is that the expertise is just initially lacking; but, through research, they gain the expertise necessary to write the non-fiction material. Therefore, in addition to encountering those who are already experts on the field, it is possible to create experts out of untrained individuals.


Writers of fictional works are even more difficult to categorize in terms of need for expertise. Firstly, some writers do already have expertise. For example, Carl Sagan was an expert scientist when he wrote his novel, Contact (1985). However, anybody could potentially research an issue and write a novel based on the research. For instance, Jorge Luis Borges had little former education, but discovered the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer, which, with other philosophical discoveries, later led him to write the Labyrinths (1962). Hence, just like in the case of non-fiction writers, it possible to make oneself into an expert to a certain degree that is necessary for the work.


The question is still whether expertise is essential to become successful in the area of fiction writing. In reality, the definition of an expert allows everyone to be an expert of some kind. Any person who has any experience living a life is an expert, at least, on human life. If the person has a gift of being able to tell a good story about human life, he or she is an expert and, he may not need any more expertise.


Having said this, it is helpful to have some kind of an official expertise beyond life experience at times.���� For example, I have an expertise in philosophy. As a result, I enjoy putting my characters into situations where they have to struggle with philosophical questions. For example, in one of my short stories, called “Magical World”, my protagonist finds himself fighting his videogame characters on the street on the way home from work. After the fight, he goes home and falls asleep. The next day, he wonders what exactly happened on the street. This story not only questions the nature of reality, but also the way human beings know about reality. In short, it is not just about ontology, but also about epistemology. I work out the character’s challenge and let him contemplate the situation, based on arguments from philosophy. This means that an expertise may not always be necessary in creative writing, but it can help. It can help, if a person wants to make a point or present an argument on a particular subject matter, such as science, philosophy or psychology, for example.


Overall, the need for expertise depends on the field a person enters into. It may not be important in all areas, but it certainly aids in creating better arguments and in providing accurate and interesting facts.


M. J. Mandoki


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Published on January 25, 2015 18:30