Following on from this year’s Clinical Placement Competition, asking medical students “What does being a doctor mean to you?” – we are hoping to broaden our understanding of the medical profession, and appreciate exactly what being a doctor means in practice. What stories of highlights, difficulties, and uncensored advice can current doctors pass on, and how can we help those starting out?
The post What does being a doctor mean to you? appeared first on OUPblog.
Following on from this year’s Clinical Placement Competition, asking medical students “What does being a doctor mean to you?” – we are hoping to broaden our understanding of the medical profession, and appreciate exactly what being a doctor means in practice. What stories of highlights, difficulties, and uncensored advice can current doctors pass on, and how can we help those starting out?
The post What does being a doctor mean to you? appeared first on OUPblog.
By
Linda Joy Singletonfor
Cynthia Leitich Smith's
CynsationsA few years ago, I thought my career was over.
Due to slow sales and a changing market, I’d lost both my publisher and agent—and I was devastated. Also, a science fiction/mystery YA that I’d been positive would sell when it went to acquisition meetings at major publishers had ultimately been rejected.
After over 35 published YA and middle grade books, I was on my own.
Here’s what I wrote in my journal:
“I feel so sad when I think back on how high my hopes were but now everything has led to this point of failure. I am so sad...discouraged...mourning the loss of dreams.”
I moped around for a few days, doing things like eating chocolate, reading comfort books and hanging out with my family. But I couldn’t sit around—I had to write.
So instead of giving up—I got busy.
I researched publishers that accepted unagented manuscripts. I polished then submitted my manuscripts—including a few pictures books. This format was new to me since I’d mostly written novels, but I’d sold one picture book--
Snow Dog, Sand Dog, illustrated by
Jess Golden (Albert Whitman, 2014) and that gave me hope. So I wrote more picture books.
One of these,
Cash Kat, seemed like a good fit for my friend
Danna Smith’s publisher Arbordale, so I sent it to them. A year later they offered me a contract—and now Cash Kat (2016) is a beautiful hardback picture book, illustrated by
Christina Wald! It teaches how to count money and celebrates the special bond kids have with their grandparents.
More books I submitted on my own sold:
Never Been Texted (Leap Books, 2015) and
Curious Cat Spy Club series to Albert Whitman (2015). The third book in this CCSC series, Kelsey The Spy, comes out April 1—and I can hardly wait.
Also, I got a new agent—
Abi Samoun of Red Fox Literary, who recently sold two of my picture books to Little Bee for 2017 publication.
And remember that YA science fiction/mystery I’d tried so hard to sell? Well, it’s coming out in September 2016 from CBAY Publishing under the new title of Memory Girl.
Instead of my career being over, it’s taking a new shape.
Being discouraged is part of the writing game. Most writers deal with the lows of rejections, losing agents or editors, low sales numbers and having books go out of print. A writing career is like riding a roller coaster, going up and down then up again.
Here are some tips to help you ride the painful downs:
- It’s healthy to grieve a disappointment or loss—but then get busy.
- Network! Writer friends give great advice and publishing tips.
- Small publishers can offer big opportunities.
- Keep busy writing: books, articles, reviews. Name recognition counts.
- Try new genres! You never know when magic will happen.
- If you aren’t in a critique group, join one—or start one.
- Don’t give up—as long as you’re writing you are a writer.
Cynsational Notes See more on
Linda Joy Singleton's books and writing tips.
On the surface, the suggestion that the best independent music teachers are those who earn the most money seems ludicrous. No obvious, mathematical correlation can be drawn between fiscal and pedagogical success. We have all encountered incredible educators who struggle to make ends meet, or financially comfortable ones who are mediocre instructors at best.
Yet I argue that there is indeed a parallel. When done right, impact and income are closely related bedfellows. Savvy Music Teachers (SMTs) find ways to make them both go up, in harmony.
The post The direct link between income and impact: savvy music teachers appeared first on OUPblog.
Armed with your sword ( pencil) and shield (sketchbook) there maybe many of you who are soon to leave school education to venture forth into the big wide world. Although like a hero with your map and compass in hand, you now need to start to plot the path you want to take in life and especially if you want to pursue a creative career.
It’s a tough decision to make but there are lots of options out there for you if you’re driven and passionate enough to want to be creative. You could be an illustrator, graphic designer, photographer, fine artist, fashion designer, pattern designer, ceramist and much more. Although many people will assume that the career path as a creative can be a pennyless one, this isn’t the case if you’re determined and clever in the plans you’re making.
Though these options may differ slightly for each country, university, internships and apprenticeships are some ways in which you can pursue you’re creative aspirations. Each have their benefits and disadvantages, so its important you choose a path that’s best for you. For example university can be expensive but it gives you time, facilities and expertise to hone your creatice practice. Internships and apprenticeships give you hands on workplace experience, but you may not have lots of time to experiment creatively.
These aren’t the only paths to choose, but they’ll hopefully give you food for thought on what to do next. Remember though you can write your creative story however you wish. If you’re not happy with the decisions you make there’s always the option to change the course you’ve set moving towards your aspirations and creative success.
Featured image is by illustrator Arian Armstrong and you can find out more about her work here.
Don’t Commit Career Suicide
Social Media has become a mainstay in our lives. Many of us are on Facebook or LinkedIn several times a day, and we send so many emails we don’t even bother to count anymore. The instant access and communication is a blessing, but used it the wrong way and it will become a black flag that follows you to every job and lingers in all facets of your life.
Much has been said about how to handle social media and faux pas to avoid, but it seems it needs to be reiterated over and over again. Communication expert and coach Roshini Rajkumar can minimize the risk of career suicide with these helpful hints in social media etiquette. Below are just a few of her tips.
A simple checklist to follow before you hit send on all Social Media outlets (emails, blogs, FB posts and Twitter):
- Proof your post or email—two or three times. Grammatical errors and typos are so easy to fix, and when you post content with typos, you’re sending a message about yourself, the wrong message.
- Have a purpose for the message you’re sending or posting. Make sure your post is to the point and clear. If you can’t follow it, how do you expect your followers to? Be short, be precise and be smart.
- Auto addressing. Your computer will happily fill in the email address when you start typing, but just the same way you don’t want anyone finishing your sentences for you, be sure to double check who your computer wants to send the email to.
- Look at your distribution list for emails. DO NOT “reply all” if your question or response is only for one person or worse, it contains confidential information or negative information that should not be shared. On that note, you can not control what someone else may or may not do with your email so if you don’t want the information shared, be sure to indicate that when you send it out.
- Respect the privacy of others and the confidentiality of their communication to you. Do not forward emails you receive from others without getting the author’s permission.
- Ask yourself: Would you say it this exact way if you were looking the person in the eye?
- This is especially true with e-mail communication. Taken out of context many e-mails and posts can be misconstrued. Example; sarcasm is often very hard to interpret over the internet.
- For social media posts, creativity may mean you wouldn’t say it the same way, but you can still ask yourself if there is courtesy and professionalism in what you’re writing.
- For blogs and comments to any social media remember just because you “can” post, doesn’t mean you should; think about that and then proceed.
- Remember, once your post is on the Internet, it is fair game for anyone to see (even if you have made it “private”). It may not go viral immediately, but the Internet is vast and it is eternal so someday, someone may scroll across your post. And it will most likely occur at the most inconvenient time.
- Emoticons are fun but overused, and are never professional. Avoid using emoticons and try to keep emotions out of online correspondence.
- Avoid using “text talk” online and in social media, and for that matter in texts. Speak in complete words and sentences. It avoids miscommunication and commands more respect.
Today's Ypulse Youth Advisory Board post is from Liz Funk and gives us a sense of how Liz and her peers who are just getting started in the media industry are feeling about the turmoil happening right now. She also offers some helpful tips for... Read the rest of this post
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