Content Writing #1
Content Writing #2
Non-Fiction Creative Writing
Fiction Creative Writing
Informal Blog Post
Nostalgia
My hometown of Stillwater, Minnesota is a beautiful, historic city settled on the sloping banks of the St. Croix River. Weekends in the spring and summer fill the streets with leisurely tourists wandering the downtown antique stores. In the fall, the rich green foliage woven through the city bursts into vivid oranges, yellows, and reds. In the winter, thick snow blankets the town, frosting the evergreens with icicles and filling the sidewalk gutters with slush.
I remember spending afternoons with my parents, walking to the old-style candy store or the local ice cream shop. On nicer days I’d go hiking along the banks of the river with friends, clambering up and down boulders to reach more secluded beach spots. Twisted driftwood and old fish bones were our most satisfying prizes on these hikes, but we’d settle for patterned river rocks. Their mottled grey surfaces had been smoothed over into soft egg shapes by having spent years in the water, and they were easy to rotate around in a child’s palm. I’d spend the rest of the hike worrying at them with one hand, finding comfort in the circular motion.
When it stormed too much to be outside, my sister and I would sit in our house’s covered porch, watching hail bounce off the street or lightning crackle across the gloomy sky. Storms were a display as beautiful as they were dangerous. An evening spent watching them from the peace of the house could easily turn into a night of crouching in the damp basement, listening to the crackling radio and trying to determine if dangers of tornados had passed or not. The following morning, the whole yard would be freshly alive. Fluffy white mushrooms would pop up overnight and weeds would march new invasions into our garden. The rash of wildflowers across the neighborhood would set me into motion; I’d come home with handfuls of dandelions and daisies to set in vases of water at home.
Above all else, I remember the town containing a kind of quiet, steady tranquility. Elderly tapped their way around the neighborhood with canes or walkers. The local church’s group of nuns kept to their daily scheduled walk in a relaxed meander. Children chased each other down the sidewalks in street-long games of tag. When a dog or cat went missing, the neighbors would band together to look. Even people in disagreements would bend over backwards to be polite and helpful to each other in times of need.
I could drive up and visit, but something in me rebels at the thought. What if it was the kind of paradise created by the rose-colored glasses of childhood? A foggy haze of nostalgia blankets my memories of it. It’s best not to peel back the shroud on those sorts of distant things. Reality can’t live up to a dream.
Writing Example: Fiction excerpt, from creative writing plot class
Traveling Light
The train rattled to a halt. He stepped off. His scuffed briefcase reflected the glare of the sun in fragments, casting a patchy reflection onto the sidewalk. At the side of the tracks, he approached a weathered corkboard half-protected by the overhang of the building. He pulled off his headphones and peered at the dirty map tacked to it. The sounds of a half-completed language tape whispered tinnily from around his neck.
“…as discussed earlier, Spanish slang is different between countries and even individual cities-“
“Hi, sir?” asked a nearby voice. He turned to look the woman. She wore a wrinkled blouse and a navy blue skirt with cheap sandals. A small purse was slung haphazardly across her body. She seemed flustered, breathing heavily and swallowing as if holding back tears.
“Uh, yeah, what is it?” he asked, taken aback.
“I’m sorry, I had my bag stolen this morning – I’m a tourist, you see – and it had my passport, my money, my phone, everything… Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I’m just so overwhelmed.” She gulped and began to rummage in her purse. “I have a bit of cash in here, I can pay you if you want. I just need to use your phone to call somebody.”
“Yeah, of course,” he agreed, his surprise fading. He set his briefcase down and unplugged his headphones from the device in his pocket. The language tapes fell silent. “Here,” he said, thrusting his phone at the woman. “Don’t bother paying me. I’m Peter, by the way, nice to meet you.”
“Thank you, thank you!” the woman gasped. She tapped in some numbers and dialed, holding it up to her ear expectantly. After a short repeat of her story and a chorus of yes’s and no’s, she handed back Peter’s phone. “So sorry to keep you,” she said, “I’ve got to rush off for a cab, but I’ll never forget your help!”
“Not a problem,” Peter said, slightly mystified as he watched the woman sprint down the sidewalk and around the corner.
Peter turned back to the map and reached down for his briefcase. His hand groped at air for a second, and he looked down. She turned around fully, scanning the ground. Her briefcase was gone.
He sighed. Well, you couldn’t always win.
Writing Example: Inbound Marketing for company website. From Content Writing internship at Arch Design, Artwork and Framing
Salutogenic Design and Evidence Based Design
What is Evidence Based Design?
Evidence Based Design focuses on credible research to back up methods used to increase wellness in healthcare settings. It is heavily reliant on scientific studies to reach its outcomes. Well-studied facets of Evidence Based Design are applied to hospitals, clinics, senior living homes, and other healthcare facilities in order to increase physical and mental health among patients, staff, and visitors.
What is Salutogenesis?
Salutogenesis is an approach to healthcare that focuses on supporting health instead of waiting to treat factors of disease as they arise. In this manner, salutogenesis is about preventative healthcare rather than treatment after issues arise. It focuses on decreasing mental and physical stress – fighting back against the negative effects of hardship – to increase overall health. It may sound strange when worded in more technical ways, but Salutogenesis is really about helping people to cope with stress. Aaron Antovsky developed the term Salutogenesis when studying people’s ability or non-ability to overcome bad life experiences.
What is Salutogenic Design?
The concepts of Salutogenesis eventually became incorporated into various manners of application. In Salutogenic Design, the environment humans live in is viewed as something that either causes stress or decreases stress. Stress in the built environment can stem from social, biological, chemical, physical, and sensory sources. If you’ve ever worked in an office that’s too cold, you know what being exposed to one of these stresses can do to your mental state. It’s been shown that workers exposed to environmental stress are less productive, arrive late, miss more days, and quit more quickly. Salutogenic Design focuses on how much our average built environment can decrease our mental and physical wellbeing, and seeks to fix these problems.
Salutogenic Design and Evidence Based Design Crossover
If you know the basics of Evidence Based Design, you may have started to realize that these two design methods share a lot of similarities. Just as Salutogenic Design creates an environment suitable for health and wellbeing, so does Evidence Based Design create an environment that will promote health in hospital patients or senior residents in homes. Evidence Based Design has been applied to schools, offices, and a myriad of non-healthcare buildings as well. It has already entered the same public spaces that Salutogenic Design most desires to fix. Even when the journey to a certain design standard varies, the destination often remains the same. Evidence Based Design focuses on getting patients safely to their rooms using intuitive floor plans and wayfinding artwork. Salutogenic Design focuses on decreasing stress in users by making space navigation simple, easy, and natural. These two design theories often arrive at shared conclusions akin to this. Salutogenic Design has noticed how Biophilic elements like plants, water, and natural materials reduce stress in humans. Evidence Based Design stems almost entirely from the finding that nature elements in artwork and otherwise can greatly help a patient’s recovery. Both of these design theories, although different in their development, use neurological and psychological knowledge to create a better environment for the user.
Writing Example: Travel Blog Post, Informal Tone
Five Great Trail Spots Along Water in Colorado
(In order of difficulty, hardest to easiest.)
1. Curecanti Creek Trail
Curecanti Creek Trail can be immensely rewarding when the river is high and roaring in the late spring. If you’re somewhat limited on athletic ability (like me) you should bring lots of water, wear good shoes, and be prepared for a slow journey on the way back up. There’s some scrambling over rocks and a few bridges over the river. I wouldn’t bring young kids here, and if I brought a dog I’d be sure to have it on-leash for its own safety. That said, being able to stand near the spray of the rapids is a beautiful experience. If you go during the right time of year, you may also be greeted with the sights and sounds of broad-tailed hummingbirds flitting about at the top of the trail. Slight fear of death taken into account, I had a great time staring in awe at the frothing river.
2. Jones Hole Trail
Alright, technically this one is in Utah, though it’s right along the Colorado border. At seven miles, this is a hike you’ll want to set time aside for. The path is quite beautiful, with lush forested areas and gentle noises of cicadas in May when I went. It’s nice to follow the river to where it meets the Green River if you have the stamina, though you could also just hike to the trail fork (about two miles in) and go right for a waterfall and petroglyph viewing. Seeing a range of marshy plants and cacti along the same hike makes for good variety, and when the trail opens into a field you can see the sun falling on the red rock formations above. If you can pop over to the state line for this one, it makes for a stunning mixture of Utah and Colorado landscapes.
3. Mesa Creek Trail
This is my favorite trail of the five on this list, though I may be biased because of the lovely weather conditions I got to experience it in. With white fog and a light frosting of snow on the tops of the mountains, the trail seems as if it’s in an alternate universe. This is an easy trail, which is great because it gives you more time to appreciate the beautiful river, the yellow warblers, and the sparkling mica deposits in the rocks and dirt around you. There’s a small waterfall you can take a short detour along the trail to see, as well as a picnic bench near the beginning. The trail seems like just the right length, and children and dogs can have fun along this one too.
4. Rifle Falls
When I visited Rifle Falls in the afternoon, I saw quite a few people fishing. That said, it wasn’t too crowded, and the trails are short and easy. There’s a path behind the falls, and a few small caves dotted along the lower trail. The rock formations are quite fun, and if you’re looking for more of a hike, you can take the trail up past the fish hatchery and back down the other side. I’d recommend this for a short stop along a trip (with good driving scenery up to the falls) or as a destination for families looking to spend more time relaxing.
5. Hays Creek Falls
For those who don’t actually want to do any hiking, Hays Creek Falls is a good 133 roadside stop that’s only just hidden from view. Is it a real trail? Not really. But with the intent to cover all bases, this is a lovely minimal-effort Colorado falls experience. In the winter, it might be a good beginner place for climbing ice, great for children. If you find yourself the only visitor to the falls in the warm months, stop and eat lunch in the shade and enjoy the view without having to lug food over long distances.
Writing Example: Inbound Marketing for company website. From Content Writing internship at Arch Design, Artwork and Framing
How to Increase Productivity with Artwork
According to a survey conducted by the BCA and International Association of Professional Art Advisors, 82% of employees said art was important in the work environment. Art’s been shown to increase productivity and reduce stress in the work environment as well. But how do you go from blank walls to commercial artwork that creates a productive environment?
Get rid of blank walls
Often, workplaces will lean towards an excessively spotless environment in effort to reduce distractions for employees. This can mean white walls, bland carpets, absence of artwork, and an overall sterile atmosphere. However, studies have found that workplace environments with artwork and plants made workers about 15-17% more efficient. When attention wanders, it’s far better for the worker’s gaze to land on a good piece of artwork that can stimulate attention and creativity rather than dampen it.
Think about Evidence Based Design
Anybody wondering if artwork has any effect on stress and happiness can look no further than the realm of Evidence Based Design. There’s an entire theory around the way aesthetics can help healthcare patients and staff, backed up by credible research and thousands of studies. Evidence Based Design artwork shows significant results in reducing anxiety, speeding healing, and increasing positive feelings. Accredited EDAC designers trained in Evidence Based Design are able to change moods through artwork, a knowledge which may prove useful not only in healthcare but also in offices.
Choose quality art
Bad art is not a good replacement for a lack of art. Despite the fact that workers enjoy artwork and show increased productivity with art around their workplace, not just any artwork will do. At least half of workers with art in their workplace are dissatisfied with what’s on display. Bad artwork can be boring, inappropriate, or even patronizing.
No motivational posters
Motivational posters are a major misstep for office aesthetic, as they can very easily seem demeaning with their simplistic and blunt appeals to workers. Just as being commanded verbally to “relax” is not going to do much to change your mood, neither will a stock photo with the line “dedication” underneath it. Instead of a motivational poster, look for artwork that’s fresh and original, not images you feel you’ve seen before.
Suit the intended mood of the workplace
Landscape photos of the ocean might be a nice start to getting some artwork up on your walls, but it’s also a good idea to provide pieces that inspire energetic feelings. If the workplace is a high-energy business environment, invest in some high-quality paintings that make people feel refreshed and invigorated. Pieces that may accomplish this can be spotted by brighter colors and sensation of movement and action. If the workplace is more of a healthcare environment, pick soothing work with depictions of nature.
Engage workers in picking art
It’s becoming more popular to supply employees with a small selection of art possibilities that they’re asked to choose from. Allowing workers to participate in picking and placing art through a democratic vote can do wonders for workplace morale. In order to increase enthusiasm for artwork in the workplace, it might be a good idea to allocate some of the art decisions to employees themselves, so they can feel more involved in the process.
Connect with the community
Buying artwork for the office may feel like money out of your pocket, but it’s actually a good marketing opportunity. Buy from local artists, and both you and the artist can benefit from sharing each other’s name to anybody who inquires. There’s also a chance that clients walking into the office will recognize their local artist’s work in your space, sparking a common connection and a good conversation.
Megan Elizabeth Cooke 