4045. Creative Writing - Writing for children: I'm hooked!. What is voice?

Writing Magazine. April 2019

What is your writer's voice?
Your use of grammar and sentence structure.
Your use of language.
Your tone.
And fundamentally, your personality and attitude.

How you see the world - and your own individual personality will shape your voice. It's absolutely crucial to be yourself when you are writing.  It is OK to have different voices for different types of fiction.

A strong voice and a stunning idea underpins a gripping plot and brilliant characters. Without voice and idea, your story is unlikely to take off.

An author with a strong voice is confident in knowing what they want to write and how they want to communicate it. If you read further books by the same author, it is like meeting up with an old friend. How do you gain confidence?

1. Don't try too hard. - more authentic voice to shine.
2. Be natural. Eg. If you write funny fiction, write things which make you smile and laugh.
3. Don't be afraid to be you. Your voice is unique.
4. Don't overedit. When writing pours out of you, it's more likely to be your natural voice. Overediting leads to you feeling insecure, unconfident

WHAT KIND OF VOICES ARE CHILDREN'S PUBLISHERS AND AGENTS LOOKING FOR?

1. Child-friendly - informal, conversational, exciting
2. Funny - humour (if done to your style) always works well with children
3. Playful language - dynamic and exciting.
4. Energetic tone - word choices that crackle and sparkle.

CASE STUDY: ROALD DAHL
James and the Giant Peach

   Aunt Sponge was enormously fat and very short. She had small piggy eyes, a sunken mouth, and of  those white flab by faces that looked exactly as though it had been boiled. She was like a great white soggy overboiled cabbage. 

1. The language is childlike - pggy, flabby
2. Humour - comparing James' aunt to a cabbage. Not a particularly nice cabbage.
3. Conversational tone.-  that looked exactly as though it had been boiled. She was like a great white soggy overboiled cabbage. 
The 2nd sentence is like sharing secrets between friends, creating a bond between the author and reader.

4044. PHOTOS. Butterflies, Grass blue butterfly

1. Butterfly - Happy New Year greetings

Not a lesser grass blue butterfly-
Video of butterfly 

 

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 Usually spotted hovering no more than a few centimetres off the ground, the Lesser Grass Blue (𝘡𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘴) is one of Singapore’s more common butterfly species! 🦋

To tell apart this species from the other two ‘Grass Blues’ that have been observed in Singapore, check for the position and colouration of the submarginal markings on its wings.

While it may not be obvious here, it is also easy to tell apart the male and female butterflies! The male butterfly has a dull purplish-blue above while the female is brown and unmarked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2. Butterfly - Everything happens for a reason

 Print the butterfly in a mug as a gift

Video of butterfly

Other photos

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BUTTERFLIES 

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Relatively common in Singapore, the Malayan Eggfly (𝘏𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘯𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢) is often spotted in forested areas in our parks and nature reserves

Contact:  Dr Sing Kong Yuen
+65 9668-6468
judy@toapayohvets.com
99pups@gmail.com
www.toapayohvets.com

 

HOME

https://2010vets.blogspot.com/2020/08/3409-singapore-wildlife-seen-on-30-aug.html

4033. Singapore Wildlife Stories. A large purplish moth, Hubner's wasp moth and a small golden moth seen in 2019, 2020, 2022

Dec 21, 2019
A Saturday. Sunny and bright.
I walked along the Seletar Simpang Kiri River.

Seletar Simpang Kiri River   21 Dec 2019

Blood-thirsty mosquitoes landed on my hand stealthily and on my long pants.

I had stopped wearing shorts to protect my legs from mosquitoes.
I was surprised to see this bigger moth and managed to take a sharper image.  It is at least 3 inches wide.

A bigger moth of around 6 cm wide.

For the past days, I see numerous smaller moths on the vacant grassland edge. One of them is shown below.  It is very difficult to focus on the eyes are the moth is thumb-sized or 2 cm wide.

Around 2 cm wide. Is this the younger version of the above?

17 Nov 2020 morning Seletar Simpang Kiri River

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MORNING STROLL along Lentor Crescent. A golden moth about 2.5 cm wing span fluttered and landed on the wall; near Bullion Park. I took several photos with my Canon DSLR 90D, 18-200 mm lens. Very difficult to focus. 

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8 OCT 2022. 8 AM.  Yio Chu Kang Cres forest, opp. Seletar Bus Depot.
Lots of mosquitoes biting me today.
Image and video made.

8 OCT 2022. 9 AM. TRIPOD. CANON R5.
www.shutterstock.com/g/toapayohvets  to buy this photo.

 

A Hubner's wasp moth is seen after more than 12 months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2019 MOTHS SEEN in Lentor Plain. Images not focused.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4032. FINAL VIDEO. A female hamster's passes a lot of fresh blood. Why?

Thu Dec 19, 2019

Dr Sing Kong Yuen

HOOK

"My hamster keeps on passing blood daily," the tall lady owner said. "She will clean herself. So you do not see any blood at the consultation room!

BE KIND TO PETS

The female hamster passes a lot of fresh red blood for some weeks. What is the problem?

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

The vet felt the hamster's abdomen.with his two fingers.  "I can feel a small lump of 5 mm across in the lower abdomen," the vet said. "It could be the swollen uterus or a lump in the uterus. At the end of palpation, lots of fresh red blood gushed out of the hamster's private part, staining the paper with multiple red spots.  

CONCLUSION

The daily vaginal bleeding is likely from the uterus as the urine is not discoloured as seen on the bedding. The normal sized stools are solid and has no blood.

Two possible causes of the bleeding are here are uterine tumour or pyometra (uterine infection). As the hamster is old, surgery to remove the uterus is not advised. Daily cleaning and massage of the uterus will be done for the next 3 days. Antibiotics and pain-killers will be given for the next 7 days.   

4031. FINAL VIDEO. A hamster's right ear is itchy after wart removal. Why?

Thursday consultation
Dec 19, 2019
Dr Sing Kong Yuen - The hamster keeps scratching his very itchy right ear

SCRIPT FOR INTERN TO CREATE THE FINAL VIDEO

NINE days ago, Dr Daniel excised a large ear wart and stitched up the wound. (Image below). A skin wart was not cut away at that time. The owner came today as the hamster keeps scratching his right ear obsessively.

Ear wart was excised by Dr Daniel 9 days ago

The two stitches had disappeared now. The hamster keeps scratching his right ear.
"Is it possible that the stitches had got into the ear canal?" the owner asked.

BE KIND TO PETS
The hamster has a very itchy right ear. What is the problem?

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

VIDEO 1

ELECTROSURGERY
1. Open up the right vertical ear canal by electro-incision.

The hamster is examined. There was fluid inside the ear canal.  Under general anaesthesia using isoflurane and oxygen, electrosurgery is used to cut open the ear canal vertically. Ear drops are used to drain out any stitch remnants.

2.  The hamster's other large wart lower down the face is cut off and stitched up with 5/0 absorbable sutures.

VIDEO 2
The hamster has recovered fully from gas anaesthesia within 5 minutes of completion of stitching.
He will go home tomorrow.

Conclusion.
As you can see in the video, electrosurgery is effective in preventing bleeding after excision of the wart and also in opening up the ear canal. A scapel blade can be used as an alternative. But there will be profuse bleeding from the skin vessels.  Follow up 2 weeks later. The owner is happy that the hamster is not itchy anymore.


FINAL VIDEO

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4030. The 3 D's of selling a product via story telling

Mon Dec 16, 2019
Heard from radion cna


The 3 Ds of story telling to sell a product or service.
1. Details
2. Dialogue
3. Discovery
All wrapped up in Drama.






Eg. How to sell A4 sized paper.


1. Details - This is a true story told by her customer. Her boss urgently wanted a report, paper got stuck inside printer. Boss commented on such poor quality thin paper.




2. Dialogue - "Why is the paper so thin? Poor impression...." If there is no dialogue, poor story telling




3. Discovery - What do you sell? High quality A4 printing paper.


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1. Details - Two parents who love me very much.

2. Dialogue:  When I was 8 years old, my father in his deep commanding voice spoke to me in Mandarin: "You study hard, be down-to-earth good student". My mum, half British said: "Don' worry about Dad's advice. Follow your dreams

3. Discovery. Both parents love me. I studied hard and work in my business - consulting. .....
Dialogue is very important. Tone etc.

4028. Advices to Young People. 3P's - Positive, Practise, Persevere

An inspiration image for you.

The quotation is not my original. A mother gave the 3 P's to her son with disability. Some advice in these 3 Ps to him. Think positive when you encounter setbacks and challenges. Practise till you become perfect. Persevere till you have perfected your tasks.  Now he is a successful children's author.