Book Description
From the day it was released in 2000, Keeping a Nature Journal has struck a profound chord among professional, casual, and occasional naturalists of all ages. In response to this groundswell of enthusiasm, we have revised KEEPING A NATURE JOURNAL, updated the interior design, and created a new cover. Undoubtedly the most exciting new element in this second edition is a portfolio of 32 illustrated pages from Clare Walker Leslie's most recent journals, reproduced in full color.
What makes KEEPING A NATURE JOURNAL so popular? It is inspiring and easy to use. Clare and co-author Charles Chuck E. Roth offer simple techniques to give first-time journal-keepers the confidence to go outside, observe the natural world, and sketch and write about what they see. At the same time, they motivate long-time journal-keepers to hone their powers of observation as they immerse themselves in the mysteries of the natural world. Clare and Chuck stress that the journal is a personal record of daily experience and the world around us. Nature's beauty can be observed everywhere, whether in the city, suburbs, or country.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent introduction to nature journaling.......2007-06-14
I bought this book unseen hoping to get some good ideas for a curriculum development project for elementary school kids I'm working on. I wasn't disappointed. This is a beautiful book. It's well written by 2 authors who are obviously passionate about the subject matter. Reproductions of Leslie's journal pages throughout the book also help you see the sorts of things that are possible and are a real inspiration. Her images are often quickly drawn and a little on the rough side, suggesting that anyone with a few minutes, a few colored pencils, a blank book, and a love for nature is capable of making a gorgeous nature journal. The book covers ideas for how to start a nature journal, the kinds of equipment you need, things you might want to keep an eye out for, and suggestions for improving your artistic skills. As I'd hoped, there is also a section for eductators who wish to use nature journals to teach people, young and old, about nature and the environment in which they live.
This book contains a lot of great information and the images from Leslie's journals are amazing. I think anyone who is into nature journals (as I am) would appreciate this book, as well as those who wish to start one.
Beautiful and Useable Book.......2006-08-11
I love this book- the art is absolutely beautiful and the general layout really shows it off. It talks about how to begin nature journaling, giving tips on both starting the habit and learning to draw! I love the approach it takes, fostering a closeness and syncronicity with nature and its cycles!
Love This Beautiful Book!!!.......2006-04-29
Our family loves this book - we love the examples from actual nature journals and it has really inspired myself and my children to keep our own nature journals. As we do so, we come to have a better appreciation for the amazing creations all around us. The author really helps to encourage even budding artists to keep nature journals, which helps some of the more timid artists in our family.
Wonderful teaching tool........2004-02-03
I coordinate outdoor workshops for women to provide them the opportunity to learn new skills. We hosted a new class,Nature Journaling, and the instructor needed a book to suplement her curriculum. I selected this book based on the Amazon recomendations and further research. Both the instructor and participants loved the book. It was very helpful and useful once they left the workshop.
I think this book is a great resource in any EE/nature/writing library.
Wonderful, inspiring book!.......2002-11-14
This book inspired me to start my own nature journal and gave me the confidence to draw in it! Wonderful, encouraging and instructional. If I can draw nature, then anyone can!
Customer Reviews:
I use these techniques for everything.......2006-07-11
This book is the reason I've not experienced writer's block since I read it, when it was published in 1983. I use her techniques to plan books and articles and information products I create. The clustering technique is especially useful, not only in writing but in everything else I do: project planning, working through problems--you name it.You will be amazed and delighted at how these techniques free your creativity.
read this book and transform your writing.......2006-06-02
I am a student of writing books. I've read dozens and am always on the look out for one that will enrich my writing. But I've never read one quite so powerful as "Writing the Natural Way." The author has the uncanny ability to zero in on the very DNA of the writing process and make the process eminently understandable and accessible.
She herself is a wonderful writer. The prose is clear and her excerpts of other works are fascinating. Even the quotations that frame pages are inspirational. This clearly is a well thought-out book.
I seldom read a book that I rush to pick up the first thing in the morning and have to force myself stop reading it at night. This is such a book. I feel lucky to own it.
But it's an intense book though. It's chock full of writing excercies and stirs you to reflection. But if you stick with it, your writing will improve beyond your wildest dreams. My already has. Anyone with a keen interest in the writing process should possess this book.
It engaged my mind.......2004-09-08
I hunkered down with this book the weekend Hurricane Frances was creeping across Florida. It helped to keep me distracted from the uncertainty of waiting for the storm to arrive. I even did some of the exercises. Here is the product of one of them:
Portrait 09-05-04
(with posthumous apologies to e e cummings)
Hurricane Frances
has passed
who used to be
a category 4
with winds of a hundred and tentwentythirtyfortyfifty miles per hour
in the eastern Caribbean
and what i want to know is
how did you like your eye-walled storm
Mr. Weatherman
But even if there is no hurricane in your immediate vicinity, this is still a good book to read, especially if you are one of those people whose blood runs cold at the sight of a blank sheet of paper (or a blank computer screen).
'Writing the Natural Way' lives up to its name.......2003-11-27
Consider this: all writing begins with an idea. The art of writing is the act of expressing that idea as succinctly and wholly as possible. And that's the hardest thing for many writers ~ getting on screen the right words, in the right order.
Whether it's a lack of inspiration, an overload of information or just muddled thinking, writer's block is a very real affliction that affects most writers at some stage.
The good news is that 'Writing the Natural Way' offers a solution for those faced with this problem.
Put simply, psychologist and author Dr Gabriele Rico has developed the concept of 'clustering', which essentially circumvents the left hemisphere of the brain (what she refers to as the 'Sign Mind'), so that you can release raw creativity from the right hemisphere (or 'Design Mind'), which is responsible for artist pursuits.
Her book contains a variety of simple exercises and strategies that stimulate the left and right hemispheres to work individually or simultaneously to solve problems. They are also designed to enhance a writer's potential, by accessing latent language, story-telling abilities and natural styles.
Rico's work is ground breaking but it is not new. In fact, this book was originally published more than 15 years ago. This new edition has been completely updated with inspirational quotations, 'before and after' writing samples from her students as well as a range of techniques and activities to help the reader make the transition to this new way of thinking and writing.
Admittedly, I had not heard of Rico's 'clustering' technique before reading her book. However I had used for a number of years a similar technique, called 'mind mapping'. The two techniques essentially work in the same manner. What I like about Rico's approach are the many examples and exercises she includes.
Her tools allow anyone to think laterally and to write with greater power, focus and effect. It's all about excavating ideas from seemingly dormant recesses of the mind and shaping this raw material into powerful forms of communication . . . something the author does well.
This is an excellent guide and painless workshop manual for any new or experienced writer who wants to discover a new dimension in their work.
Rico offers a simple but powerful tool that any writer can understand and apply to their work. Once you've used it a few times, you'll find it indispensable for brainstorming and writing literally any kind of work.
-- Michael Meanwell, author of the critically-acclaimed 'The Enterprising Writer' and 'Writers on Writing'. For more book reviews and prescriptive articles for writers, visit www.enterprisingwriter.com
Helpful for writers who are more visually oriented.......2003-03-25
Right-brain studies have been used for years (well, okay, the last ten-twenty years) to enhance the teaching process for visual artists, but Rico was the first to extend this research into the realm of the writer. You cannot deny her scholarship nor her science--the brain hemisphere theory is quite accepted today, and has been proven in a number of ways. So how does this theory help one become a writer.
First off, as any author will tell you, writers write. Rico cannot give you a magic spell that will somehow change you into a New York Times Bestseller overnight. But if you have ever suffered from the dreaded "writer's block" or had difficulty in spurring yourself to write on a particular subject, Rico provides some exercises here that will help you "tap" into the creative side of your brain. The basis for all her exercises is what she terms the cluster--a free association on the subject that brings in emotions, colors, sounds, and taste to the visual world of your subject. Getting you past your left-brain adherence on perfection and sequential order is her first goal, then awakening you to the connections that you are capable of through creative tension, recurrences, and rhythm.
Okay, I'll admit that I my personal view of Rico is not as positive as the above might appear. While I saw the advantages of everything she puts forward, I found her presentation of these ideas to be tinged with a slight "new age" flavor, and the only new thing she really brings to the table is the "cluster" idea. I have used it since reading about it, and I have found it useful, but I'm not sure it was worth the 280+ pages to obtain this one idea. On the other hand, I've never really been "stuck" for words (I'm sure you could not have guessed that).
A new revision of this book is due this year, and I am interested in how Rico responds to the 90s (or, even, if she does).
Customer Reviews:
Writing the Natural Way by Dr. Grabriel Rico.......2000-04-02
This is a monster of a book. I have been using the book for ten years now and evvery time I use the book, I reach further into my creativity. For example, I am writer and a lot of times I hear my left brain, my critic brain, tellng not to write for the day. He tells me to just chill and cool out. I know now that this is the critical factor of the left brain telling me not to work. I learned that from Dr. Gabriel Rico's book. I recommend it highly. It beats using mind altering drugs to contact your right brain, your subconscious.
Lastly, using the book's techniques, you will find that you can easily churn out 1,500 to 2,500 words in two hours. Steven King said his goal is to turn out 1,500 words a day. With this book you can easily do just that and more - like plot, character's dosiers, chapter by chapter breakdown. Only your imagination will limit you.
I recommend this book!
Average customer rating:
- Gets The Job Done The First Time
- Courses at TrainingBetter.com
- Reconnects you to the joy of writing
- Buy this book!
- Better than most
|
Write Better and Get Ahead at Work: Successful Methods for Writing the Easy, Natural Way
Michael Dolan
Manufacturer: Writers Club Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Communications
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Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal Communication
ASIN: 0595120199 |
Book Description
Write Better and Get Ahead at Work is:
- The fun writing guidebook that helps you improve right away.
- Business writing made fast and easy.
- Build on your style to become a better writer.
- How to get your message across like a professional.
- Learn how to start, what to say and when to stop.
- Get your message across quickly and easily.
It’s worked for hundreds of people in the Writing for Action Workshops. Now let it work you.
Customer Reviews:
Gets The Job Done The First Time.......2006-09-12
I have had the pleasure of being a student in two of Mr. Dolan's courses. He has provided a valuable tool with this book to assist people in preparing clear and concise reports or other business communications. If anyone has a chance to (or priveledge) of taking a course with Mr. Dolan do so, it is well worth the effort.
Courses at TrainingBetter.com.......2003-10-10
This book is used as a text for the online course "Writing for Action," at TrainingBetter.com
Reconnects you to the joy of writing.......2001-02-25
"Everything you think about writing is wrong," says Author Michael Dolan, and he promises that his book can get rid of outdated ideas, change the way you think and make you a better writer. The book's goal is to remove outmodeled thoughts that prevent quick easy communication and to help people feel confident and comfortable about writing." It shows you how to begin and how to keep your reader's attention whether you are writing a letter, report, memo or novel. It helps you to define exactly what you want to say and to know exactly what you wish your writing to accomplish. A series of exercises teach you to develop your own style and to write rapidly and effectively. Mr. Dolan asks you to ignore problems of punctuation or choosing the exact word. He suggests you spend ten minutes each day writing down anything that is on your mind. This "free writing" is supposed to enable you to write better and faster no matter what you write This fun-to-read book is easy-to-follow and understand. It removes the inhibitions that make it difficult for you to write. It frees your inner potential for expression, allowing you to concentrate on the context, on what you are trying to say. When you know exactly what you want to say it is easy to write and easy for your reader to understand. Although the book is written especially for people writing letters, memos and reports for their office, it includes a "universal format" for writing anything. This is a book that can benefit professional writers as well as people getting ready to write their first memo. It reconnects you to the joy of writing.
Buy this book!.......2001-02-01
Whether you are a student, a professional, or just enjoy writing for fun, you must buy this book! Dolan covers almost every possible aspect of writing, from essays to resumes, letters to brochures (even though he suggests paying a pro to create your brochure). My personal favorite is Chapter 11-"Sensible Mechanics Without a Bunch of Useless Theories and Rules." This book is a great tool to get you through those tough college courses, or just to use for reference.
Better than most.......2000-11-27
I never knew a writing book could be fun to read. The author has a simple sense of humor that keeps things working. At first I didn't believe there was such a thing as his universal format for writing anything. But now I see how it works.
I really got something I could use with my memos.
Some of the exercises were a little weird. But you don't have to do them. I liked the cartoons too.
Average customer rating:
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Throwim Way Leg Adventures In the Jungle
Timothy Flannery
Manufacturer: Trafalgar Square
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0297842722 |
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The Natural Advantage: An Organic Way to Grow Your Business : 7 Principles for High Performance
Alan Heeks
Manufacturer: Rodale Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Business & Investing
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Diets & Weight Loss
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ASIN: 0875969356 |
Book Description
Harvard MBA Alan Heeks, a successful entrepreneur and founder of an organic farm, explains how to apply the seven principles of organic farming to the workplace. For example, the first principle is caring for the soil, or ground conditioning. Applied to the workplace, this means utilizing clean sources such as inspiration and appreciation and avoiding polluting sources such as stress and fear. By fostering a healthy, organic work environment, the result is a natural sustainable, renewing approach to work and life and demonstrates how it naturally leads to increase in productivity, quality, and fulfillment.
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Ways Of Nature: The Writings Of John Burroughs
John Burroughs
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Nature Writing
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ASIN: 141794434X |
Book Description
1905. Volume Fourteen of Twenty-Three, Riverby Edition. John Burroughs emerged from an obscure boyhood in the Catskill Mountains to write more than thirty books, create the genre of the nature essay, and become the preeminent nature writer of his day. Through his essays in books and popular magazines, John Burroughs taught countless Americans to appreciate nature. He writes in the Preface to this volume that the reader will find this book to be quite a departure in certain ways from the tone and spirit of his previous books, especially in regard to the subject of animal intelligence. Contents: Ways of Nature; Bird-Songs; Nature with Closed Doors; The Wit of a Duck; Factors in Animal Life; Animal Communication; Devious Paths; What Do Animals Know?; Do Animals Think and Reflect?; A Pinch of Salt; The Literary Treatment of Nature; A Beaver's Reason; Reading the Book of Nature; and Gathered by the Way. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Instructor (1990), published by Scholastic, Inc. on March 1, 1995. The length of the article is 849 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
From the supplier: Nature writing can be easy and fun for teachers and students alike. Suggested activities include watching a specific thing such as an insect or a storm and making a list of words which come to mind. Using this list, the students compose a poem or a story. Students can also learn about metaphors by personifying nature. Imaginative details such as clothing and physical features provide compositions with color and life.
Citation Details
Title: Writing the natural way: how to inspire nature writing that isn't cliched. (Ready to Write) (Column)
Author: Cynde Gregory
Publication:
Instructor (1990) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 1995
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Volume: v104
Issue: n6
Page: p28(2)
Article Type: Column
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
At the age of thirty, Bob Cowser, Jr., is leading a happy life as a husband, father, and English professor in upstate New York. But he misses the exhilaration he felt as a young man when he took the field for high school football games. In what is every Monday morning quarterback's fantasy, Bob Cowser, Jr., revisits his days as a football star by joining the Watertown Red and Black, the country's oldest semi-professional football team. With the hesitant blessing of his wife, Cowser drives the lonely sixty miles to try out for the team in Watertown, New York, a former mill town of soldiers, corrections officers, and blue-collar workers that is a far cry from his leafy campus. Over the next five months he will make this journey many more times as the Red and Black weathers everything from team feuds to agonizing losses to the deployment of some of its players to war. From the first kickoff, "Professor" realizes that he will have to work hard to earn the respect of his hard-edged teammates. The fulfillment of his boyhood dream will teach him some unexpected lessons about real life as an adult.
Customer Reviews:
Memory Lane.......2006-06-15
Bob Cowser takes a real life hard nosed look at what it means to sacrifice. I relived my youth with his visions and ideals on the gridiron and I felt his conflict with having a family and going through the monotony of work and life getting in the way. People tend to get caught up in a whirlwind and forget who they are. This book looks at that inner turmoil of change and wonder. "The Professor" finds a way to blend the worlds of blue collar society and academia which is hard just to think about. This is done with quotes before chapters and personal synopsis of living with commitments and desire.
Overall, a great read that is hard to put down.
~Angelo Markantonakis
Great book about someone who actually fulfills their dream.......2006-02-15
I picked up this book with much intrigue, as I myself am a football junkie. This well-written, first-person account of joining a semi-pro football team is not only inspiring, but entertaining as well. Cowser (the "Professoer", as his teammates refer to him) describes his lifelong dream of playing football after his high school and college years, and how the idea to play in the nation's most storied semi-pro team was met with much resistance. As a husband, father, professor, and now semi-pro football player, Cowser learns to balance all the duties accompanied by each role, and at times, barely by the skin of his teeth. A great book not only for people who are interested in football, but for those who long to re-live a childhood dream. Well worth a read!
A Season to Fulfil a Dream.......2005-10-30
The one thing that Jonathan A. Gottschall, who reviewed Dream Season, and I agree on is that Cowser did point out the many different aspects of sociology of those that play the game of football. Even though Cowser was a professor, it did not stop him from wanting to fulfill his dream. Cowser brings to life the brutality and violence of the game. In the chapter "Building the Beast," Bob Cowser even went as far as to describe his own fears on the field and what others thought of him. The one idea that helps me understand a guy and his sport is truly pointed out in Bob Cowser's book. Men will do about anything to complete a dream or continue a dream. The men that Cowser talks about can be viewed as those that he looked up to and hoped to gain their respect in the game.
His relationship with his wife is not talked about much. He talks briefly how she did have a way to fit into the community because she runs a well establish business. Whenever he talked about his wife, he shows a respect for her and her opinion. In the chapter "In Another Country," where he writes, "I knew many guys on the team had this issue with wives and girlfriends. Many had worked out elaborate systems whereby they'd earn this game-day time off. `me time' I had over heard Jamee Call term it...... Sadly Candace and I hadn't come to any such arrangement - she actually preferred I not take on any home improvement projects. `Better to cut a check than cut off a finger'." Cowser writes about how much he spent in getting his gear for the practice and that his wife only made a statement of how the extras that he got were excessive and unnecessary. I believe at this point that his wife may have regretted agreeing for him to pursue his dream. She may have hoped that he would have ended in a few weeks or a few months. She viewed him as the clean cut man she married and one who didn't like to get dirty.
I can't see how Jonathan A. Gottschall states, "Cowser writes fearlessly, displaying his envy-his sheer pathetic envy-of football paying men. But we don't blame Cowser for his envy because we feel it too." Cowser is a man who pursued a higher education than those who did not have the chance or opportunity. I would say that a few of the men on the team would have showed envy towards him. I felt this was shown by the pet name they game him, "profess" or "professor." The one thing that was not mentioned and I believed should have been talked about is the obsession that Cowser had for the game. We see this in his spending and getting everything he needs and more. He talks about the past and his relationship with the game.
The story that emanates from this book can be enjoyed by those who are truly into the sport of football. The obsession Bob Cowser has for the game can be depicted in my own life. Obsession can be overrated. But if one does not have an obsession, how can one obtain a dream?
A great book about life and football.......2004-11-08
For anyone who played the game and had it end way too early, or for anyone who ever had a crazy idea but was hesitant to act upon it, this is your book.
Great writing, great stories, and great action. Cowser has a gift for storytelling and this book goes beyond the game played by men trying to re-capture their glories. It's about people doing what makes them happy and doing it to their best potential. Isn't that what life is all about anyway?
A Love Poem to Football.......2004-10-06
There is a lot to recommend in this book, which chronicles the stint of a creative writing professor (with soft "poet hands"), playing the manliest of positions (defensive and offensive line), in the manliest of games, for the nation's oldest semi-professional football team. Cowser writes with welcome simplicity and gripping forward momentum. I sat down with the book at 5:30 PM and hardly lifted my nose until, at 9:30 PM, I had read it straight through. It is not only the kind of book you CAN read in four hours, it is the kind that you WILL read in four hours-it keeps you turning pages.
The book is one part sociology of football in a small, economically downtrodden northern town. It is a sociology of working class men-prison guards, fry cooks, soldiers, and used car salesman-who take on the real physical risks of smashing into other big, fast men. They do this for a host of different reasons-for fun, for the test, for local fame (I found myself almost idolizing the local folk hero running back Al Countryman--what a name!)-but none of them do it for the money, because there is none.
The book is also one part self-exploration. Few men who have ever been seriously invested in playing sports will fail to hear echoes of their own fears, regrets and deeply secret wishes about what might have been. Cowser writes fearlessly, displaying his envy-his sheer pathetic envy-of football playing men. But we don't blame Cowser for his envy because we feel it too. And there's a difference between Cowser and us-he had the courage (and the bench pressing ability) to do something about it.
Finally, for all of Cowser's riveting descriptions of the controlled savagery of football violence, Dream Season is above everything else a love poem-a poem to small town life, to the men he played with, to the wife who put up with him, and most of all to the game of football itself.
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