Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Green & Juicy

A banana is good...wholesome, pure, nutritious.  Paired with strawberries, it's even better. Refreshing. Healthy!  Mix them together and add something more, like some ice cream or milk, you've got a milkshake that can't be beat! 

But...REALLY mix it up by adding in a few unexpected twists, blend it up, and make a daiquiri...then you have given it a "ka-pow" and a little something extra!  Before you know it, you've got a fruity taste-sensation!!

Writing a "juicy" blog is a little like that.  It takes something ordinary, tweaks it, and makes it "better" than it ever was before.  It becomes new and improved, and pretty darn tasty!

That's a little bit of what I try to do here at the Green Team Gazette.  (Because let's face it..."going green" and analyzing Earth's environmental impact sometimes is a little more "heavy" [among other words] than "juicy.")  It's what I tell my 3rd grade students when they're writing:  "jazz" it up with your word choice, make it "meaty," add some "hot salsa" words to really give it flavor.  Then, be sure to sprinkle on a dash of "you" to truly make it your own, give it your own voice and differentiate your writing from the rest of the world out there. Go for an unusual angle--make an unexpected connection.  In doing so, try to lead the reader to an "Ah Ha!" moment that perhaps they haven't considered before.

For me, it's pairing the BP Oil Spill with Kevin Bacon. (http://greenteamgazette.blogspot.com/2010/06/1-degree-of-bp.html).  

It's pairing multiplying & regrouping with World Environment Day.  (http://greenteamgazette.blogspot.com/2010/05/importance-of-individual-action-to.html).  

It's the oil swirling in the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and the Plastiki. (http://greenteamgazette.blogspot.com/2010/05/oil-water-dont-mix.html).  

It's about tying in "Nature Deficit Disorder" with Richard Louv's book "Last Child in the Woods" while simultaneously giving kudos to Candy Thompson as she nears her finale for her Park Quest 24/7 of 24 state ParkQuests in 7 days.
(http://greenteamgazette.blogspot.com/2010/07/no-child-left-insidenot-in-maryland-at.html)

And it's sprinkling in a large dose of personal flavor...which (hopefully) gives what you are writing about a more humanistic and realistic voice.  Not to mention, a hopeful dash of humor!  It's just like we were chatting it up together on a veranda on a lazy July day, drinking a strawberry banana daiquiri.  Cheers!  (Insert glass clink here!!)

Picture from http://www.recipe.com/images/summer-fruit-daiquiris-R105389-l.jpg

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