Friday, April 28, 2017
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Putter Fitting 101
By: Doug Emma
Favorite club in the bag? For your score’s sake, I would hope it’s your putter.
It’s amazing how golfers come to select the putters with which they play. Some players emphasize feel, some aesthetics, some choose to play a putter because their favorite player uses a specific model, while others play putters that have sentimental value. So many golfers spend thousands of dollars custom fitting drivers, iron sets, and hybrids/fairway woods, yet the club they will use for over 30% of their strokes made (twice as much as any other club in the bag) is unfit, and has very few other criteria for why it's in the bag other than “feels good, looks good, made a couple”.
I tend to look at putting and putter fitting a bit differently. I think a player can putt with a few different putters very successfully. These putters will consist of all the same fitting components but will differ in specific preferences for a flatstick. They just have to understand how putters work and how their stroke reacts to different putter designs.
Putter fitting is a balance of art and science. It puts the right brush in the painter's hand to create a masterpiece.
Let's talk about the major fitting and design components of putting. I want to explain why a putter wants to move the way it does and why a player might react to it differently.
Fitting Components
- Toe hang
- Offset
- Head shapes
- Loft
- Length
- Lie Angle
- Weight
- Grip Style/Size
- Face Material/Texture
Toe Hang
If you have always heard people talk about the toe hang of putter but still do not understand what it means, let’s go ahead and clarify: toe hang is the position in which the toe of the putter points if the putter is allowed to hang naturally.
We have found that find the proper toe hang for your stroke is essential to squaring your face at impact.
We like to think about it like this: if a shaft were to enter the putter through the heel, it would take more effort to rotate the face closed. If a shaft were to enter the putter through the middle of the putter, the face would feel much easier to rotate closed. As we define the different types of toe hang, keep in mind that more face balanced designs release easier and more heel shafted designs cause the face to stay more open at impact for players who have average to minimal face rotation in their stroke.
These are the five most common categories of toe hang styles:
- Full Toe Hang - Commonly found in heel shafted blades. The toe of the putter points more directly to the ground when allowed to hang naturally.
- ¾ Toe Hang - Commonly found in blades with short and small hosels. The toe of the putter points down by about 75 degrees.
- ½ Toe Hang - This toe hang originated with the PING ANSER design. It occurs with most plumbers neck blade putters and hangs about 45 degrees.
- ¼ Toe Hang - This toe hang can be found in both blades and mallets depending on the hosel design. The amount of toe hang is about 25 degrees.
- Face Balanced - This toe hang can also be found in both blades and mallets. The face of the putter will point directly to the sky when allowed to hang naturally.
The reason that the toe hang of a putter is so critical - and one of the first design features addressed - is that it is the only characteristic that directly relates to the way the player squares the face at impact. Motion capture technology, highspeed cameras, and physics tell us that putting is almost completely ruled by face angle at impact.
Offset
Offset is most commonly talked about with full swing golf clubs. Clubs will literally feature a face that is offset from the leading edge of the shaft to correct an errant shot. Putter offset is no different. Offset is defined as the shaft placement in relation to the putter face. The amount of offset affects both the player’s ability to aim the putter as well as square up the face angle at impact.
As a general rule of thumb there are three common offset styles:
- No Offset - Commonly found in putters with a straight shaft that goes directly into the putter head. From address, the left edge of the shaft will line up straight with the leading edge of the putter face.
- Half Shaft Offset - Commonly found in putters with a small S-Shaped hosel or double bend shaft with no hosel. This means that half of the width of the golf shaft is ahead of the leading edge of the putter face at address.
- Full Shaft Offset - Commonly found in putters with hosels and with double bend shafts. This means that a full shaft width will be ahead of the putter face at address.
Different offsets will cause a player to unknowingly aim slightly more left or right relative to the other offset styles, depending on various optical characteristics, such as eye dominance, depth perception, visual acuity, head position at address, and more. Knowing your optimal offset is a crucial aspect of a properly fit putter. We encourage players to test different offset styles in combination with their favorite putter head shape. When the correct offset is found, a player’s eyes will naturally aim the putter to the intended target. When a player is using the incorrect offset, the player will believe themselves to be lined up to the same location, but in fact, the putter will be misaligned.
Head Shapes
While it is important to pick a putter head that is attractive to look at, one must also consider the effects the shape of putter has on their ability to use it optimally. We like to split up head shapes into more rounded vs. more square. When the trailing edge of a putter is rounded, we see players tending to aim more open to the intended line, while a square trailing edge with more parallel lines tends to encourage a more left bias. Head shape is important to squaring the face angle up at impact because it is directly related to how well a person aimed the putter face. Find a shape that you like, but make sure if works!
Loft
The loft of a putter is directly related to the quality of launch and spin. In this day and age, we are now trying to maximize putter launch the same way we try to optimize driver launch. In recent testing, we have found that putters with the standard 4 degrees of loft are now launching putts too high and producing backspin.
In any fitting we conduct, we first measure the loft of a player’s current putter. After analyzing measurements of shaft lean and attack angle we can determine a player’s loft for perfect launch and spin.
Loft should also be customized based on the surfaces a player typically putts on. To achieve perfect launch on faster greens, a player may require less loft than on slower green speeds.
The loft of a putter will also change the player’s perception of the putter face at address. A less lofted putter will appear more open while a more lofted putter will appear more closed.
Length
At the start of each fitting, we like to find a base measurement for length. By taking a yard stick and measuring the distance in inches from the ground up to the base of a player’s wrist bone from a standing straight posture, we can find a great starting place for length. It is an old-school test, but it works!
Putter length is one of the most important variables to a proper putting setup. By using a putter that is not the correct length you will suffer improper wrist and arm alignments, poor posture, less-than-ideal distance from the golf ball.
With high-speed camera testing, we find that if a putter is too long, it increases face rotation above the desired range and too short results in below the desired range.
If the length of your putter is too long, it will likely be too upright, while too short will likely be to flat in terms of lie angle.
Lie Angle
Lie angle is the angle in which the shaft intersects the head relative to the ground. Most off-the-rack putters come standard at approximately 70 degrees. Testing shows that best performance comes when both the toe and heel sit evenly at impact.
- A properly fit lie angle gives the ball the best possible chance to strike the highest part of the putter face, nearest the center of gravity, thus ensuring a solid strike that promotes forward spin.
- A poor lie angle at impact will cause the ball to strike low on the blade, nearer to the toe or heel depending on whether the toe or heel is off the ground. This results in poor contact, creating speed control issues.
Weight
Weight in a putter can be associated with three separate concepts:
- Head weight
- Grip weight
- Counterweight
Head Weight - Most putters are defined as standard at approximately 350 grams. Head weight will affect how a player squares up the face at impact. During a fitting, it is important to test both lighter and heavier head weights to see which type you respond to best. As a general rule players can use a lighter head on fast green speeds while a heavier head might work better on slow greens.
Grip Weight - While picking your favorite look and feel of a grip is important, understanding how the weight of the grip influences overall swing weight matters significantly. A lighter grip will give a player a heavier head feel, and a heavier grip can make the same head feel lighter.
Counterweight - Some players test best with counterweight. This occurs by adding weight to the top end of the putter. Also, having a heavier than standard head combined with counter weight produces a “counterbalanced” design. These putters are typically issued in 36-38 inches with a long grip so that a player can choke down and take advantage of this technology. This method is a common go-to for players seeking control through less risk to manipulate the clubface due to the added weight.
Grip Style/Size
Choosing the right grip is one of the final keys during a proper putter fitting. The different sizes, shapes, and weights can have an effect on squaring up the face angle at impact. With some players, the effect of the grip is extremely minimal. However, with others, it can lead to an enormous difference in their performance. The shape of the grip, the texture, and the size all have to be considered.
It is widely believed that the size of the grip will influence the amount the face rotates through impact, with a larger grip limiting hand action, and a smaller grip promoting more hand action. Research has shown this is true for about half of all players tested. For other players, the shape of the grip and how it rested in their hands seemed to play a more contributing role.
As far as shapes, the following are widely available: Pistol, Paddle, Round, Semi-Round, Nontapered, Square. Textures can vary tremendously going from real leather wraps to synthetic rubber/acrylic. And most importantly, the grip must settle into the player’s fingers and hands comfortably to promote both stability and confidence.
Face Material/Texture
If ten putters were selected at random at a major golf retailer, we would probably see three main categories of face material and texture:
- Milled Face
- Grooved Face
- Face Insert
The face material you select will directly impact the feel and quality of roll on your putts. High-Speed Cameras have shown us how important it is to get the rolling end over end. A putter that causes the ball to bounce and skid off the face will make distance control difficult.
Milled Putter Faces - Typically made from 303 stainless steel and are precision milled using a CNC machine. These putters tend to produce a more muted sound and soft feel.
Grooved Putter Faces - Thought to produce more “overspin” on the golf ball. While high-speed cameras have shown us that multiple face types and textures can produce excellent forward roll, grooved putter faces have a feel all to their own. The sound is typically higher pitched, and players have a good feel for a solidly struck putt.
Face Inserts - Utilized to change the feel of a putter. Inserts are usually the cheapest to produce and feel the softest of any face.
It is important to remember that face material and texture create friction between the ball and face at impact. This friction alters the ball speed of your putts. Find the putter face material that feels best to you. The best putter face will create great vibrations, acoustics and feel which will translate to how much energy you need to put into each putt.
Stop Wasting Time... and Strokes
While the fitting component list we just laid out is used as a basic introduction to putter fitting, we believe that once we have determined the proper toe hang, offset, head shape, loft, length, lie, weight, grip and face material, the player is left with no guesses about which putter will work best. When you consider the cost of a putter fitting, and the price of a putter, there is probably no greater value in equipment as it pertains to scoring than having a properly fit putter.
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3 Secrets Great Writers Know About Experimental Fiction
Nobody wants their writing to be described as “conventional” or “formulaic,” and in an effort to avoid such damning judgements, many young writers throw themselves past creative writing guides, the rules of writing, and all the catalogues of conventional wisdom, instead opting to carve their own path. But before you follow suit and bend all the rules to write experimental fiction, there are a few things you need to know.
3 Secrets for Writing Great Experimental Fiction
Taking risks is an important part of being a writer, and desiring to cultivate a unique voice and a fresh way of expressing oneself is a drive that should be applauded. There’s certainly no shortage of celebrated writers who ignored their period’s conventional means of communication and cut off on their own: James Joyce, Eimear McBride, David Markson, Christine Brook-Rose, Thomas Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, George Saunders, Wilson Harris, Ann Quin . . . the list goes on.
Except that these novelists didn’t ignore the conventional “rules” of writing—no, they studied them carefully, evaluated each best practice, and departed from these established methods for a clearly defined reason.
This is the difference between a fresh-out-of-college twenty-something’s verb-less, comma-less novel about sentient balloons who can’t blink and who speak only in quotations from the apocrypha, and works like Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake, Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress, or McBride’s A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing: knowledge, awareness, a sense of informed restraint.
So what’s the secret? Follow these three essentials to experiment well.
1. Know the “best practices” of writing.
It might seem that the best practices of writing espoused by writing websites, bloggers, and editors are in place for those amateur writers who have a story they want to tell but who have no real idea how they’re going to tell that story. Such people are not full of ideas on how best to communicate complex and abstract plots, but you are! You’ve got a complicated plot touching on big themes, and wouldn’t it be great if you wrote the whole story in the lower case or if you ignored grammar rules? After all, it worked for Cormac McCarthy.
But the best practices are there for reasons other than helping new writers get stuck in. The tenets you’ll hear repeated again and again—show, don’t tell; write with nouns and verbs, not adjectives and adverbs; avoid cliché; favour clarity above all else; etc.—are there because they are the standard of good modern writing in fiction.
This wasn’t always the case; older novels have much more “tell” than “show” (think of the works of Dickens or Dostoyevsky), but just as fashion changes, so too do writing trends. For your writing, even your experimental fiction, to be considered “good,” the least it has to do is take these best practices into account.
2. Always know what you’re doing.
Of course, that’s not to say you have to write like this. The important thing is to know why you’re flouting a rule or best practice—by all means, write only in the lower case if you have a good reason to do so; write in the second person if need be; absolutely craft a dialogue-free novel if to do so is to double down on the book’s dominant themes—just always be ready to justify every outlandish decision you make.
Let’s look at David Foster Wallace’s mammoth text Infinite Jest as an example. It’s over a thousand pages long, was originally subtitled A Failed Entertainment, and regularly sends the reader to the back of the book to check the 388 endnotes scattered throughout the prose.
Each of these stylistic choices—the sheer length, the breaking up of narrative flow, the endnotes, the maximalist descriptions, the unusual narrative structure (it’s almost a rebellion against a traditional 3-act structure), the absent ending—all hammer home and help foreground the book’s themes, making for a work of incredible thematic and formal purity.
Nothing is thrown in here for the sake of it—Wallace wasn’t trying to be kooky or edgy when he added a scene where a father laments his son’s inability to speak even as the boy addresses him, but was instead referencing back to the book’s thematic preoccupations and literary intentions.
3. Remember: rules are not “rules.”
I’m not trying to dissuade experimentation in fiction—far from it. I simply want to encourage young writers to think about why “show, don’t tell” simply won’t do for a particular scene, story, or novel, or how exactly the removal of speech marks will improve a text’s dialogue.
The adage rings true—rules are there to be broken, even this one. That’s right—I can argue that experimentation needs to be justified until the cows come home, but that didn’t stop George Saunders from writing The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil, a brilliant novella where all the characters are amalgamations of mechanical and organic shapes, simply because a friend bet him he couldn’t.
Happily for me (and George), these anthropomorphized masses of non-person become poignant in light of the story’s themes of dehumanization and national security, so my argument stands. So there.
How Will You Experiment?
At the end of the day, experimentation is one of the best ways to improve as a writer. Experimentation will make you more inventive, more courageous, and less likely to be pushed around by grammar and form. So think of some mad ideas and get going.
Have you ever written experimental fiction? What rules do you flout? Let us know in the comments.
PRACTICE
Today, we’re breaking all the rules—or at least one. Pick one of the rules we mentioned above: show don’t tell, write with nouns and verbs, avoid cliche. Or, choose a different writing rule to disobey.
Then, take fifteen minutes to write a scene of experimental fiction that flouts the rule you chose as much as possible. How flagrantly can you break it?
When you’re done, share your story in the comments. Be sure to leave feedback for your fellow writers!
Bonus: Tell us why you chose the rule you did. What purpose did subverting that rule play in your story? Would the piece have worked differently if you had obeyed the rule?
The post 3 Secrets Great Writers Know About Experimental Fiction appeared first on The Write Practice.
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How to Build Up To Headstands and Why it’s Worth It
I used to be terrified to do inversions because I was afraid to fall. I was worried I might hurt myself and didn’t have faith in myself that I had the strength or balance needed for them. I practiced yoga a lot and I had a deep understanding of the practice. When I decided I was going to take my yoga teacher training, I knew it was time to dive into mastering inversions. After all, how was I going to be an inspiration to others in yoga if I wasn’t willing to fight my own fear?
The thing is, inversions are safe if you practice safely. For anyone with spine, neck, or head injuries, you would need to be extremely cautious about your inversion practice. This goes for anyone with high blood pressure or heart issues.
Even for those in perfect health, you should still offer respect to the complexity of inversions. This includes warming up the back, shoulders, and neck beforehand as well as stretching out your legs and side body. Listen to your body and take it slow.
Sirsasana (headstand) puts a great deal of pressure on the shoulders, neck, and shoulders so working slowly towards your goal can prevent injuries.
The Essential Steps to Safely Mastering the Headstand
Starting pose – Child’s Pose
You will want to make your child’s pose active. This means you want to lift your elbows off the floor and really straighten your arms for strength and lengthening.
Push your hands into the floor and reach the hips back over your heels.
Keep the arms active so you can warm them up, stretch them and lengthen the side body. Doing so stretches out the supporting muscles that will help you with your headstand.
Rabbit Pose
Next step, come out of child’s pose and start in table top. This is to get your elbows aligned properly.
Put elbows directly under the shoulders.
With your hands, grab onto the opposite elbow and make sure you can wrap your arms comfortably around your elbows.
Uncross the arms but leave your elbows in the same spot.
Then, take your arms out in front and interlace your fingers which creates a stable base. Your arms will form a perfect triangle.
Tuck your toes under and put your head in your hands with the top of your head on the floor.
Work on putting a little weight on your head. Most of your weight should be on your arms and hands.
Rock hips forward which will cause you to naturally round your spine. Draw your belly button in towards your spine.
Downward Dog with Dolphin Arms
Start in table top and set up your arms like a triangle, fingers interlaced (like in rabbits pose.)
Come up to a downward dog but keep your elbows on the floor.
Come up on the toes a few times and put heels on the floor a few times.
In this pose, your head will be on the floor.
Going into a Headstand
Put your mat up to the wall. Measure from your fingertips to your elbow away from the wall. Place your hands there.
Put your head between your hands on the floor, ensuring your elbows are in a triangular shape. This is the same shape we spoke about in rabbits pose.
Tuck your toes and come into downward dog with your head on the ground.
Engage tummy and lift one foot up. Put it down and life the other foot up. Raise one leg up at a time, introducing your body to the inversion.
Eventually you can do a gentle kick up and land your foot to the wall behind you until you feel steady.
Then lift your other foot to the sky.
It’s important to focus on creating inner core strength before expecting to excel at headstands or other complex inversions. Viparita Karani (Legs up the Wall Pose) helps stabilize while strengthen the body. It can help you prepare and condition you for handstands and allow you to practice without falling over and possibly injuring yourself.
9 Reasons Why Headstands Will Make Your Life Better
1) Encouraging the Flow
Going upside down is said to ignite the seventh chakra, the Crown chakra. This is where the nectar of immortality dwells. Connecting to this allows you to tap into your inner fountain of youth, prolonging a healthy body.
2) Resting the heart
When you go upside down, you’ll allow your heart to rest for a few minutes. Blood flows more easily to your head and heart so the heart doesn’t have to pump blood upwards. This reduces blood pressure and the heart rate naturally.
3) You Improve Your Circulation
Many times, our tissues and fluids get concentrated into the lower part of our body which can cause varicose veins. Going upside down will drain those fluids that were originally stuck in one spot.
This includes your blood so the overall circulation improved and your body can cleanse itself more easily.
4) Stimulates the Lymphatic System
Within the lymphatic system is our circulation. This system is responsible for removing waste which helps our immunity stay strong. Turning upside down stimulates the lymphatic system, making the immune system capable of fighting off diseases. Stimulation also rejuvenates underused areas within your body.
When you invert your head, you can also clear blocked sinuses or lungs which is important for keeping viruses away.
5) Makes You More Energetic
Going upside down immediately gives you more energy. The blood flowing to your brain gives you a natural brain boost and gives you additional energy to get through your day with vitality.
6) You’ll Hone Your Balance Skills
Once you’re able to manage those headstands and handstands, you’ll be capable of balancing in any pose. Balancing upside down creates a different dimension that allows you to flip your perspective, allowing you to get a sense of what balancing is truly about.
7) You Build Essential Core Strength
In many of the simpler poses, you can avoid really using your core. Inversions don’t allow you to do that. You must use your core strength in order to stay balanced in a headstand or a handstand. If you don’t, you’ll simply fall out of the pose. These kinds of inversions literally show no core mercy.
This is especially true for women, who tend to be stronger in their lower bodies. Building up core strength allows you to work up to the most advanced inversions. A strong core is essential in protecting your back from injury and keeping good posture.
8) You Build Your Confidence
Like anything worth doing, you may have to become a master to accomplish an inversion. When you practice every day and believe that it’s possible, you work towards the goal. When you finally achieve it, it feels really good.
You begin to understand from every little step of progress that you make that you can do anything. You just have to prove to yourself that it’s possible.
It Helps Relax You
Cooling inversions such as Legs up the Wall calm down your nervous system and allow you look within. All of this will make you feel balanced, centered and at peace.
9) Gain New Perspectives
Going upside down can be powerful enough for some that they start to see things differently. You may have a problem you keep trying to sort out or a way of being. Going upside down can shake the foundation of your thoughts and change the way you deal with your everyday life.
So, in conclusion…
Going upside down can create a different sensation for every person. Maybe it’s just a great workout for your core or perhaps you will gain a different way of being altogether.
Author Bio: Meera Watts
Meera Watts is a yoga teacher, entrepreneur and mom. Her writing on yoga and holistic health has appeared in Elephant Journal, Yoganonymous, OMtimes and others. She’s also the founder and owner of Siddhi Yoga International, a yoga teacher training school based in Singapore. Siddhi Yoga runs intensive, residential trainings in India (Rishikesh, Goa and Dharamshala) and Indonesia (Bali). She can be reached on social media at any of the following:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/siddhiyogaacademy
Instagram: http://ift.tt/1Unt6nA
Pinterest: http://ift.tt/2oP6FhM
Twitter: https://twitter.com/meerawatts
LinkedIn: http://ift.tt/2qblyid
FB Page: http://ift.tt/1ps4ZEa
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Wednesday, April 26, 2017
BREAKING NEWS: PING Purchases 5 Nike Golf Patents
Some interesting news is popping out of Scottsdale Arizona. The Phoenix Business Journal is reporting that the Karsten Manufacturing Corp., the parent company of PING, has purchased at least five club technology patents from Nike.
Terms of the sale weren’t released, but the Journal reports PING has also purchased additional Nike equipment patents, but that those sales haven’t been officially registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Nike, of course, exited the golf club equipment arena last August but had been actively preparing its 2017 product line right up until that announcement.
“We see this as an opportunity to add utility patents to our already significant intellectual property portfolio. Our team can use these patents, along with our existing intellectual property, to our competitive advantage, accelerating our ability to further technology that ultimately leads to higher performing, score-lowering golf equipment.” - PING president John K. Solheim, to the Phoenix Business Journal
MyGolfSpy has tracked down the five patents purchased by PING, and while patents are long, highly technical and we can report that PING picked up some fairly interesting technology, the most stunning of which is a patent application for a complete single length set, including woods, hybrids, and irons.
It’s by far the longest and most detailed patent and was filed by Nike in May of 2015.
PING also purchased what appears to be a 2007 manufacturing process patent for the rotational molding of polymeric components for metal woods. This patent appears to cover what Nike called RZN, a strong, lightweight component which was used extensively in its Vapor Flex and Vapor Flex 440 drivers.
Another patent, granted in 2012, covers aerodynamic features for metal woods, specifically dimples on the crown and/or sole, and even more specifically, crown dimples concentrated towards the hosel and even on the hosel. The patent covers several variations of dimple location, and states the dimples can improve aerodynamics in the latter portion of the downswing, just prior to impact. Given the timing of the patent, this appears to be Nike's version of PING's turbulators.
It had been reported that Nike was planning to do away with its unique Covert Cavity in its 2017 metalwoods line, but the company did have a 2013 patent for an elongated cavity in a square-shaped driver intended to allow for weight redistribution and increased MOI. That patent now belongs to PING.
The fifth patent picked up by PING is a 2006 concept that would allow the manufacturer, club fitter or builder or even the user the ability to adjust the sound and feel of a club, specifically the putter.
The Phoenix Business Journal has reported that Nike has over 1,200 golf-related patents. And although many of those are most certainly centered on footwear and apparel, Nike’s stable of club engineers no doubt had some interesting projects cooking in The Oven. As stated earlier, PING is in the process of purchasing more of Nike’s patents, and it will be fascinating to see how one of golf’s most innovative and intellectual brands folds these new technologies into its future offerings.
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Prologue, Introduction, Preface, or Foreword: Which is Right for You?
I’m currently working on my fifth nonfiction book and starting is always the hardest part. There are just so many options. Should I write a preface? A prologue? An introduction? Should I find someone to write a foreword? Should I just start at chapter one?
If you’ve ever found yourself asking these questions, you’re not alone! And you’re in luck! I’ve asked these questions too and found some answers.
Let’s talk about the difference between each these and figure out which is best for you.
Introduction
An introduction is used to (surprise) introduce the topic of the book.
The most important part of the introduction is the why. It’s in this section that the author (you) explains why you wrote this book, why this story needs to be told, and why you were the right person to tell it.
For example, if I were writing a book about why everyone should drink only black coffee, I would use the introduction to briefly explain how important my argument was and why I was the person to tell you about it. I might even tell you a story about how I drank coffee that had sugar in it one time and it ruined my life. (Don’t worry; this didn’t actually happen.)
In my opinion, the perfect introduction length is anywhere between 1,200 and 2,200 words. You want to keep it brief but long enough to justify a completely separate chapter.
Introductions are best for nonfiction books that have deep subject matter and may need more explanation to prepare the reader with all the information they need to understand the full story.
Preface
A preface may look similar to an introduction, but the goals of the two are very different. The main goal of the preface is to tell the reader any and all information that precedes the facts and events of the book.
A preface is perfect for explaining to the reader how you came to write the book, how long you’ve been working on it, what the reader can expect, etc.
Here’s the thing with a preface, though: most readers don’t read them. (What?!) I know, I’m sorry, but it’s true.
That being said, don’t put any extremely critical information in the preface.
Write a preface if you have interesting insight and information to share with your readers that’s important to the background of the story.
P.S. My favorite thing about a preface is that you get to sign it, put the date, and even the location you wrote it if you’d like.
Prologue
This one is for all you fiction writers. (Okay, nonfiction writers can use this one too, but this is the only one on this list that really applies to fiction, so shoutout to them.)
The prologue almost always reads like a story. In fact, it should be a story. The reason that you would include a story in the prologue instead of in the book is because the story doesn’t align with the timeframe that the rest of the book is in. While the story won’t fit in the time frame, it is important that the problem and main theme of the book be addressed in the prologue.
What I love about prologues are the last few sentences. Generally, the last few sentences in a prologue switch from storytelling to addressing the specific problem and at times even directly addressing the reader.
One of my favorite examples of this is from Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou finishes telling the story and the tone slightly shifts as she writes:
“If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult.”
Prologues are best for novels and works of fiction. They are incredible ways to prepare the reader for the message in the book through a beautiful narrative.
Foreword
This is the only option on this list that isn’t written by you, the author. A foreword is generally written by a more well-known and respected figure. The writer of the foreword will generally have background or relevant experience with the topic of the book.
Forewords can be incredible ways to gain more authority for your book. I know I’ve picked up a book just because of the “Foreward by” line. Have you?
Forewords can be found in pieces of literature as well as nonfiction works, but that is much less common.
A foreword will most likely explain the relationship between the writer of the foreword and the author of the book share and how this book affected the foreword writer.
What will you write?
Now you have no excuse to put off writing your book any longer! Hopefully, one of these resonated with the work you are writing.
If not, know that you can skip all of these these altogether and head straight to chapter one.
Either way, start writing, now!
Have you ever used an introduction, preface, prologue, or forward? How did it strengthen your book? Let us know in the comments.
PRACTICE
Which one will you write? Let us know which one you pick and why you picked it in the comments below! Then, spend fifteen minutes working on the your Introduction, Preface, or Prologue.
When you’re done, share it in the comments below. Don’t forget to leave feedback for your fellow writers!
The post Prologue, Introduction, Preface, or Foreword: Which is Right for You? appeared first on The Write Practice.
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PIMP MY CHEVRON – Callaway Expands Customs Program
Here comes another example of Callaway Golf’s efforts to keep its lineup fresh, generate a little buzz, and keep you interested in its products without resorting to flooding the market with new gear or promoting its warez through a series of self-congratulatory tour-issue hats.
The new Callaway Customs program builds on the company’s U-Design and the original Callaway Customs programs (launched for MD3 wedges) with more options for more products. You'll find the requisite details below.
Drivers
Available on GBB Epic and GBB Epic Sub Zero, customizing your Epic will set you back an additional $50, but it gives you eight color options and two additional paintfill zones. You also get a Callaway Customs headcover, which is nice, I suppose.
I don have an Epic, but if I did, I’d want it in blue…or maybe pink. Perhaps a bit of both.
Wedges
Available on MD3 Milled, Mack Daddy Forged, and likely whatever comes next, Callaway Customs adds between $15 and $45 to the cost of each wedge. Pricing depends on the options selected, but your choices include 3 characters (basic), 10 characters (advanced), or scatter stamping. Paintfill is also available in 7 different areas, including the weight ports.
Golf Ball & Accessories
Available on Chrome Soft, SuperSoft, SuperHot, and Warbird balls, pricing again varies based on how much customization you want. Callaway ball customization allows for up to 20 characters of text over 3 lines. The alignment line is also customizable. 4 colors are available.
Finally, Callaway is also releasing Callaway Customs Merchandise, which includes hats and belts.
All of the new Callaway Customs options are available for purchase now.
For more information, visit CallawayGolf.com, or watch the video below.
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Tuesday, April 25, 2017
How To Write a Story 101: Character
This continues our series How to Write a Story 101. See the earlier post about Conflict.
You are going to write a story. Yes, today is the day you are going to write a fiction story about someone. Your character and their development through the story is the heart of fiction.
Make your characters real, and your readers will care what happens to them because they can identify and sympathize with the character in a situation.
Now let’s work on your character. In this post, we’re going to look at how to write a story by focusing on one of the most important elements of any story: character.
Who are they? And what do they want out of life? Do they want to have a cat sit on top of their head?
Pro and Anti Characters
Let’s review what we talked about in our last post, How To Write a Story 101: Conflict.
The main character, or protagonist, wants something. The protagonist is the person struggling for something, and the antagonist is struggling against something.
Hint: If you can remember the meaning of the prefix it might help you remember what the two words mean: Pro means in favor of. Anti means against.
The Most Convincing Characters Are…
1. Plausible
The most convincing characters are those that exhibit behavior we have observed ourselves in people. If your Uncle Harry rubs his forehead every time he gets stressed out, you will recognize the behavior in a fictional character. It is plausible that someone shows anxiety by rubbing their forehead.
It is not plausible that the person’s eyes literally fall out of their head when they are stressed out. (Unless you have created a different world with odd eyeballs.)
2. Consistent
The character is selfish though all of the story, not most of the story with a break from pages 129 to 133. Unless the character is evolving into an unselfish person through the development of their character.
By that I mean, your character must be consistent unless you give us a compelling reason that the character is not consistent. You don’t want to confuse your reader.
3. Motivated
Why does your character do the things she does? Why does she want what she wants?
4. Complete
Know what your character looks like, where they went to school, their world view. Think of them as three-dimensional. Their name may explain much about their background (e.g. James Rollins the Third or Billy Bob Hopper).
What Is the Function of the Character?
Here are three questions to help you figure out how your character functions within your story:
- What happens to the character? Why?
- Does conflict change the character?
- What are the personality traits, motivations, problems of the character?
How to Introduce a Character
Avoid backstory in the beginning of the story. Instead, incorporate clues about your characters’ history throughout the story and slowly introduce details.
Starting a story with backstory can be boring, and your reader may leave before they find out how cool the rest is.
Here’s an example of a story with a lot of backstory:
James lived with his mother in a small cardboard box. He had brown hair and big ears. When he was six years old he glued his ears back with crazy glue. He collected rocks and liked to eat bugs.
Or you could say:
James combed his hair over the back of his ears to hide the scar. He had trouble opening the door to his room because his rock collection fell and blocked his way.
And later on in your story you can write about him using crazy glue to fix his mother’s broken tea-cup and he has a flashback about his ears.
Show, Don’t Tell; Imply, Don’t State
Show your character being nervous, rather than telling us. Let the reader discover your character. “She is nervous.” How do you think a person who is nervous behaves?
Implying gives the reader a chance to make up their own mind about the person you are introducing.
You could say, “Mary was nervous.” Or you could say, “Mary gently tapped her head against the back of her seat on the bus until the person sitting behind her asked her to stop.”
Please, please, please don’t say, “She was fat.” What does fat look like? Show me fat.
“The buttons on the front of her sweater struggled to keep the fabric together. She sat on two chairs pushed together and she balanced her plate on her stomach.”
Four Types of Fictional Characters
1. Typical. Character represents a group by age, occupation, or ancestry. Such as a typical teacher, or a typical lawyer. The teacher has an apple on her desk and the lawyer plays golf and has a gold front tooth. No, wait, that is a typical rap singer.
2. Unique. The character is unique rather than representative of a certain group. Perhaps the teacher has a pineapple on her desk, and maybe the lawyer likes to play snakes and ladders instead of golf. And maybe the rap singer has a Hello Kitty front tooth.
3. Universal. Share certain characteristics, values and instincts.
4. Allegorical. The main character, or protagonist, is not a person, but a symbol of abstract human traits. Perhaps the protagonist is a tree.
Four Causes of Ineffective Characterization
1. The character is flat, like a pancake
There is not enough personal detail to develop the character. We may know he likes to eat raw eggs, but do we know what he character wants out life? What are his desires? Show me sadness, anger, pain. Let me feel his pain, and I will faithfully follow your story to the end because I care what happens to the person you have created.
2. Telling and not showing keeps me away from your character
When I see your character cry, I am a participant. When you say, “she was sad,” it is as though you, the writer, are in the room watching your character cry, and you are telling me what you see. When you describe your character’s tears and the color of her face, when you describe the sound of her sobbing, and the smell of the rain outside of her window. I am there. I am right in the room with your character.
Don’t get in the room with me. Show me so I can feel her pain.
3. The writer editorializes to tell us how we should feel
“You should feel sad for her. Her dog just died and she left her phone in the bathroom at The Party Supply Store.”
Please let me decide what I think of your character. Don’t tell me what to think or feel.
4. Overwrite
When the writer overwrites, the story feels phony. “She said, gasping for air, ‘Give me all of your bacon, or I will scream.'”
If your dialogue doesn’t feel plausible, your reader may not believe your story.
The Best Characters Are Believable
To create a genuine emotional effect the reader must understand, identify, and sympathize with the character in a situation.
Make your characters real, and your readers will care what happens to them.
To be real, the character will smell, hear, touch, see and sense the world around them. Make me care for the woman who has a cat on her head.
Now, show me.
What advice do you have about writing characters? Let us know in the comments section!
PRACTICE
Spend a few minutes thinking about your character. What does your character look like? What are they feeling? After you decide, write for fifteen minutes showing me an aspect of your character.
Please, no telling words—like skinny, fat, sad, happy, angry. Show me angry. Show me sad. Show me skinny. How will you describe your character?
Oh, and then we can comment about what we see in your character. This will be fun. What details can we pick up by your subtle clues!
When you are finished, please post your practice in the comments section. I look forward to meeting the people you create. And please read and comment on another story.
xo
Pamela
The post How To Write a Story 101: Character appeared first on The Write Practice.
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(4) Testers Wanted: PING i200 Irons
Mutate (verb): To change in form, state or condition
More often than not, golf equipment evolves. Maybe not by much, but it evolves. Everyone once in a while, though, it mutates.
A case can be made that PING’s new i200 irons are indeed a change in form, state or condition over its predecessor, the i-Series.
Or, as MyGolfSpy’s Tony Covey called it, “a Tour-level iron with a little bit of wiggle room.”
TESTERS WANTED:
The PING Theory of Evolution usually involves noticeable upgrades from one iteration of product to the next. That’s what happens when a roomful of Ph.D.’s wade neck-deep into product development.
PING says the i200 gives you trajectory control, distance, and forgiveness in a player-friendly package, with a feel that’ll make you rethink your forged good, cast bad mindset. Did PING hit the mark? MyGolfSpy is looking for 4golfers to test and review (and keep) a set of PING i200’s and tell us what you think.
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN MGS TESTER:
As you know, MyGolfSpy takes its product testing very seriously. All of our reader reviews are published in our Community Forum (click here to check them out). We expect a lot from our reviewers – writing a thorough, detailed and honest review is a full two-month commitment, requiring extensive range and on-course work as well as participation in the Forum itself to answer questions and discuss product performance with other golfers.
That means to be a potential reviewer you must be a registered member of the MyGolfSpy Community Forum, where you’ll find thousands of like-minded golfers from all over the world anxious to talk about golf equipment.
To apply to the test the PING i200 irons, here’s what you have to do:
- First, if you haven’t already, please sign up for the MyGolfspy Community Forum (click here to register).
- Second, apply in the Official PING i200 Testers Wanted Thread in the Community Forum (click here).
We’re looking for four golfers from around the world, and will announce the testers in the Community Forum next week.
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