Managing People and Change Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Managing People and Change - Case Study Example These reforms included having a financial budgeting that was strict. The job specifications were revised. Fund holding was also reintroduced by the Blair government. The Blair government emphasized outsourcing of medical services. (Rudolf, 2006) Research shows that the medical staff are demoralised since the Blair government came to power. This is because of the NHS redundancies and staff cuts. The NHS has encountered problems since the initiation of the Blair reforms. This is in relation to IT innovations and incorporation into the organization. The National Programme for IT was though to be the worlds largest. This project had conflicts with programme contractors and the Blair government. The estimated budgets for this program kept on rising from 2.3 billion to 30 billion. (David, 1989) The National Health Service Act was passed in the year 1946. It was implemented in the year 1948. Nigel Lawson described it as a national religion. The services in the NHS are free of charge. After the World War II there were great reforms which were initiated by William Beveridge. Large sums of money were used by the NHS in funding. During the 1980s there was the reformation of the management processes in NHS. This organization had tough strains in financing until the year 1987. During this year the government provided 101 million for use in NHS. There are various NHS agencies such as NICE and SIGN. (Allyson, 2004) Improvement agencies role in health sector used to implement changes in NHS The role of the modernization agencies is to give assistance to the local clinicians. They help in the redesigning of the local services in the health sector. They ensure that the health sector provides services that are patient oriented. They also provide clinical governance services to the health sector. Modernization agencies help in leadership development in the health sector. They ensure that there is the improvement of the services that are given to patients and other customers in the health. There is provision of a regulatory oversight that is independent. (DoH, 1997) Improvement agencies have helped in implementing various changes in the NHS. These include ensuring that the length of waiting time for the patients is greatly reduced through variations in the discharging of the patients. The admission process of the patients is also changed. The patients follow up has been changed such that it is only done when necessary. There is the reduction of the queue numbers such that patient access to the services is greatly improved. (DoH, 1999) Care & Repair England This health improvement agency established with an objective of meeting the health needs of older and disabled citizens. Its roles are; to act as agents of service users in the health sector. It also provides the necessary policy framework for the other agencies within the mandate offered by the department of health. (Rampton, 2003) Organisational change models used by improvement organizations NIATx process improvement model This process model is based on some key principles which entail; involving and understanding the customer, fixing key challenges for the chief executives, picking powerful change leaders, adopting rapid-cycle testing procedures and obtaining ideas from partners outside the organizational field. (Burnes, 2004) Penn State improvement model

Glow Essay Example for Free

Glow Essay Investigation of the effect of cold temperatures on the lasting time of glow sticks. Aim: to investigate whether freezing a glow stick will affect its longevity. Hypothesis: The glow sticks will last longer when they are frozen than when they are at room temperature. Background information: Glow sticks are made of hydrogen peroxide, a phenyl oxalate called ester, and phosphorescent dye. The ester and phosphorescent dye are kept in one part of the glow stick, the hydrogen peroxide in the other, separated by a piece of glass. No chemical reaction occurs until the glass breaks, combining the chemicals together inside the tube. Cooling a glow stick slows the reaction a slightly and causes it to last longer, but the light is dimmer. This can be demonstrated by freezing an activated glow stick. When it is reheated, it will begin to glow again. However, if the chemical reaction has already occurred and the glow stick has already gone out, freezing the glow stick will not cause it to begin glowing again. A high quality glow stick will last 8-12 hours, provided there is no otherwise interference. It will glow faintly for about one day after this time period is over, however the primary glow will have gone out. Other factors, such as the color of the glow stick (Green, yellow and orange are the brightest colors and therefore last the longest. ), the previous treatment of the glow sticks (Sometimes, a glow stick will have been accidently activated by being knocked over or bumped before the activator intends to, meaning that the chemical reaction may have already occurred by the time it is intended to be activated. ) and the amount of light they are exposed to and for how long. (Being hit with direct light damages the glow stick, lessening its longevity. )

The Truth about Hackers Essay -- Hacking Computers Crackers Essays

The Truth about Hackers The Truth about Hackers In the winter of the year 2000 an eighteen year old hacker, who went by the name Curador accessed about 26, 000 credit card numbers and put them on the internet. With the help of an ex-hacker, Curador was eventually tracked down and sentenced. All of this was explained in a frontline interview with Curador himself also known as Raphael Gray. Who are these so called hackers? Are peoples assumptions about teenage hackers correct? In 1995 the movie Hackers portrayed the images and lifestyles of hackers similar to the one mentioned above. The characters in Hackers show a media example of finding themselves in cyberspace by forming a community which creates their own boundaries. According to Coppin, hacking is the process of writing and reading code. People who code in an open range of society are hackers. The term a hack is often meant as a fast and dirty solution. Hackers are often confused with hackers are crackers. Crackers are people who break into or crack co mputer security systems (Coppin). In Hackers, high school cyberpunk teenagers get together and associate with the rave lifestyle known as techno. Due to the medias portrayal of the average hacker, people constantly associate hackers as teens with a love for techno music and rave-like gatherings. This is not necessarily true. Anyone can be a hacker. Even those with a family, a job, and an ideal lifestyle, including females have the potential of being a hacker. Therefore, no stereotypical labels should be placed on hackers due to their possible diversity. Hackers influences the way people tend to associate how everyday hackers are supposed to be. Hackers also show how hackers form their own cyber communities. They share simil... ...se would not have been solved. Work Cited Coppin, Sharon. Computer Hacking Statistics. August 2003. 30 September 2003. Gordon, Sarah. Studying the Psychology of Virus Writers and Hackers. March 2003. 30 September 2003. Gray, (Curador) Raphael. Who are Hackers? March 2003. 30 September 2003. Hackers. Dir. Iain Softly. Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1995. Holeton, Richard. Composing Cyberspace Identity, Community, and Knowledge in the Electronic Age. The McGraw Hill Companies, Inc. 1998. Reid and Count Zero. Cult of the Dead Cow. March 2003. 30 September 2003.

Management 1st Year Assignment

Wakaberry Assignment Anthony Smit SN: 2011041007 Section A: Question 1 1. 1. ) a) Social and cultural forces from the macro-environment should be taken into account and a variable from the macro-environment that has influenced the Wakaberry business is the Healthier Lifestyle variable. People today are more health conscious than ever. This has influenced Wakaberry to create yoghurt that is 98% fat free. The impact of this variable is shown from this excerpt in the case study: â€Å"Wakaberry offers 100% REAL frozen yogurt, which is 98% fat free; perfect for health-conscious consumers. † 1. ) b) Another macro-environment variable that has influenced the Wakaberry business is that of the Technological Environment. Technology is improving constantly and new products and services are born at an astounding rate. Wakaberry’s usage of the technologies from Foshan Taike Refrigerant Technology Company shows this. This technology is a unique self-service machine in every store. T he impact of this variable is shown from this excerpt in the case study: â€Å"Wakaberry has developed a competitive advantage by strategically forming an alliance with Foshan Taike Refrigerant Technology Co. o incorporate the unique self-service machinery in all stores. † 1. 2) a) An element of the market environment that has influenced Wakaberry is the competition between product forms. They have given consumers the ability to customize their products to their liking giving them the power over their product form. This influence from the market environment forced them to use something original to increase their competitive advantage.The impact of this variable is shown from this excerpt in the case study: â€Å"These machines allow consumers to be in full control of their own creations and providing the company with an opportunity to cater to consumer’s needs, thereby creating a unique store experience. † 1. 2) b) Another element from the market environment tha t influenced Wakaberry is the competition between the needs of consumers. This completion of needs of consumers has led Wakaberry to aggressively promote their product where they are situated trying to influence consumers to buy their product.The impact of this variable is shown from this excerpt in the case study: â€Å"The business has been very creative in tempting consumers to try the Wakaberry flavours, by offering free samples and product pamphlets outside various stores and at special events. In addition, to encourage purchases, first-time customers are provided with a 10 % discount†¦Ã¢â‚¬  2) Wakaberry operates in a Monopolistic competition market structure. There are many sellers, many buyers and no entry barriers but it is monopolistic and not perfect because the basic product is set – frozen yoghurt.The reason this market structure was chosen is because there are many firms with a small proportion of the market share with slightly differentiated products. Th e following excerpt from the case study prove this: â€Å"In order to stand out amongst the many yogurt and ice-cream providers in the industry, including the likes of Fresko, Marcel’s, Nanci’s and Yogurtiamo†(large market)†¦ â€Å"In addition, the business offers a wide variety of toppings and flavours, at an appealing price†. This links to differentiation) 3) a) The first skill I think that would be required for the tasks is Interpersonal skills. This refers to the person’s ability to communicate with, understand and motivate others and is thus of paramount importance for sufficiently completing this task set out in the case study: â€Å"Interact with staff members and Bloemfontein customers, ensuring that all involved with Wakaberry feel part and parcel of the ‘Waka’ family. b) The second skill I think that would be required is technical skills. This refers having knowledge of the matter at hand. In this case it could be knowl edge of the product and all or the relevant labour positions on the floor (cashier, store assistant, brand promoter). This skill would thus be important to effectively completing the following task set out in the case study: â€Å"Training of the new store staff including; cashiers, store assistants and brand promoters. †

Is it fair to blame investment bankers for the global downturn? Essay

It seems to be quite easy to jump on the ‘bank-wagon’ and blame investment bankers for the current global economical downturn. The current downturn in question is one which is generally accepted by the financial industry to have started in 2007, and was officially dated December 2007 by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).The question is, whether this industry and its bankers are the root cause, and if so, could they have avoided it? The word ‘bankers’ can imply different meanings to different people, so to clarify, when I use the word ‘bankers’ in this text, I am referring to investment bankers. The first article I analysed is by Jonathan Wang, Ph.D., and entitled ‘Real Causes For US Financial Meltdown and Global Recession’ (March 2009). Wang is the President of Amlink, a multi-million dollar company which provides links in trade and politics between China and the United States of America (USA). He is based in Michigan, USA. I will be comparing it to John Gapper’s ‘Promises that proved ultimately empty’ (January 9th 2012)[1]. Gapper is the assistant editor and chief business commentator for the Financial Times newspaper and website. He is based in New York, USA. Wang has an opinion that the bankers are unaccountable as the blame is with the governments whereas Gapper has an antipodal view in line with the assessment Wang gave, stating ‘it was within banks where the crisis emerged and where its heart still lies’. Wang seems to have a widespread knowledge of many fields. He has a Ph.D in geosciences from the University of Michigan. Geosciences have no relevance to economist articles on the banking industry but this Ph.D allowed him the expertise to start Amlink a year later, as he originally focused on importing and exporting high quality marble between US and China. He increased his links with the two countries by giving financial & trade advice (business consulting), intervening in politics, research & development, manufacturing and IT services. This how we gained his expertise. This expertise of 19 years strengthens his perspective as he has gained the relevant knowledge and skills to talk about this topic with credibility. However, his trade is between (mainly) US and China thus may so it is questionable to whether his experience can be applied to Europe, where many economies collapsed, such as Greece. Gapper currently works for the Financial Times (FT) since 1987, an international daily broadsheet newspaper and website, available in 24 countries. They have a daily readership of 2.1 million and 5.7 million online subscribers. His position is associate editor and chief business commentator. He was trained by the Mirror Group and worked for the Daily Mirror, Daily Mail & Daily Telegraph newspapers in the United Kingdom. Additionally, he has worked as columnist for the BBC, UK & Worldwide. His resume also lists New York Magazine, CNBC & CNN among his employers. This striking list of employers may show, at first glance, that he is not politically bias possibly leading him to be known as a highly reputable columnist. the Conservative Party, one that is centre-right; The Daily Mail is also a Conservative supporter; and However, his political stance may be more Conservative as the FT is a public supporter of the Daily Telegraph has been nicknamed the ‘Torygraph’ due to its support of the Conservative party. He has previously worked for politically independent media but his main contract of employment has been with FT since 1987. This political bias may narrow his perspective. Additionally, in 2011, he won four awards in multiple countries. In the United States he was awarded the Best Columnist Citation by the Society of American Business Editors & Writers; and in the UK he was award with the Best Business Columnist at the Comment Awards. He also has a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University. Both articles have strengths and weaknesses, and it is better to analyse these sections rather than attacking the author (ad hominem). The chain of argument in both articles has been constructed quite rigidly, and allows the statements made by the respective authors to reach their necessary conclusions. Wang concludes that increasing tax on the top income groups becomes necessary as the government must focus on stabilization rather than expansion. His main reasoning for this is ‘when the share of total income going to [the] top 10% reached 50%, the capital market crashed in the United States’. He also has an intermediate conclusion that the ‘Government’s improper interventions in the capital market before both episodes of crisis had accelerated the extreme inequalities and ultimately intensified the crisis.’ Wang reasons that ‘It is the extreme inequality that has resulted in the great depression in 1929 and again caused the global recession today’. This is fallacy of the single cause as the recession in 1929 has three are three general theories on what caused the 1929 depression, Keynesian, Monetarist & Austrian. None of these theories are based on inequality. The Monetarist view blamed the Federal Reserve for ignoring the importance of money, who themselves agreed with this and apologised on the 8th of November 2002 via Chairman Ben Bernanke[2]. It may be that the recession is part of the business cycle, and happens quite frequently whereas a depression is a sustained, long term economical downturn. The NBER stated that ‘The expansion [from November 2001 onwards] lasted 73 months’ which then strengthens Wang’s reason that ‘two major economic expansions led to two episodes of extreme inequalities in the United States. Both ended in severe economic depression.’ [3]Elizabeth Allgoewer (2002) states that this was the cause of the Great Depression, however the true cause is still being debated by economists, with around a dozen other heterodox economical theories such as non-debt inflation or population dynamics. His reasoning here needs further clarification or research before this can be fully taken as evidence. Gapper states that ‘driven by the rise of derivatives, the loosening of regulation and capital standards, and a hubristic belief that they had somehow broken their old habit of losing billions of dollars in downturns’. He does not strengthen this with any evidence on the ‘loosening of regulation’ etc., and deserted his statement. He also quotes credible sources such as Ranu Dayal, senior partner at the world’s leading advisor on business structure, the Boston Consulting Group – ‘There is a deep question of legitimacy that banks need to face up to’. However one of his sources is credited as being a Professor but in fact he is only an Associate Professor, a position which still has very high credibility, but of less than the one quoted by Gapper. Also, Gapper does not give any conflicting perspective, the only views you read are the ones that agree with him. This weakens his argument as he has not considered alternative perspectives. After analysing both articles, my view is still similar to Gapper and I already thought that it was fair to blame investment bankers for the 2007 downturn. Whilst I note that they dealt with a lot of money and it was not handled in a correct manner by anybody who had access to it (including the Federal Reserve), I also can see where Wang‘s concept bases its format. His perspective of social inequalities is only US based but I can understand his assumptions that expansion was high and the consequence of this led to social inequalities. This has happened elsewhere, such as during the Chinese Mao era of 1949-1976, in particular during the Great Leap Forward (1958-61). Gapper’s perspective has persuaded me that he is of more expertise than Wang as he is so influential in finance media. His analysis was concise and constructive. He quoted many important figures in his article including an executive director of the Bank of England; Chairman of the Financial Services Authority; and a Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan school. His arguments are quite strong however he does go a stage of a circular argument where he should be concluding his article. His evidence did strengthen my perspective however Wang’s comments led me to read more into financial theories, especially of those surrounding the 1929 Great Depression. He managed to intrigue me into the history of the financial world and I do believe that 1929 and 2007 are very similar in the cause, but the cause is the banking industry, not the housing market. Wang has only commented on the United States but his views may apply worldwide however his lack of evidence weakens his perspective as it is too narrow. My final conclusion is that investment bankers were the major, not the only, cause of the global downturn which started in 2007, and we have to share the blame for the current economical state

During the Wind and Rain Language Anaylse Essays

During the Wind and Rain Language Anaylse Essays During the Wind and Rain Language Anaylse Paper During the Wind and Rain Language Anaylse Paper During Wind and Rain During Wind and Rain by Thomas Hardy, a poem based on Time and Death, exploring the notion that in spite of the fact that life affects Joy and happiness, the years will catch up to us and take these moments away. Hardy uses a range of literary devices to enhance the sense of the nature of death and time to the reader. He uses Imagery In the form of metaphors to show that Time and Death work together to bring about the worst of an end to ones life. Sick leaves, white storm birds, rotten rose, and carved names are metaphors that conspire gather to represent death; the sickness of the leaves only occur at the end of Its time, birds are known to flee in the presence of a coming storm or natural disaster, the rotting off flower is the lowest of a roses life, for it is beautiful for the duration of Its life, other then when It meets Death and begins to become deformed and disintegrate. In his use of figurative language, Hardy also has a continuous structure to match hi s theme of Death and Time. The structure appears to stay regular, continuous in its appearance of four stanzas, with seven lines in each stanza with a unvarying ABACA rhyme scheme, which does not complement the to the theme. Hardy uses ellipses in each stanza, on every fifth line, giving a sense that the moment is left unfinished. This fits with the theme as its reflects the presence of Death, that it appears unnoticed and It does not matter how happy you become, you will always be taken away from it. It strengthens the point that Death prevents us from completing everything we want in life, ending the poem with the hint of an inevitable demise. In the end, the poem conjures a sense of transience, imprinting the image that peppiness is fleeting. Hardy gives the impression that he is a fatalist in this piece and his other pieces as he has continuously the repeating theme of Inevitable death and despair. It is implicated that his pessimistic attitude makes him believe that pleasure and contentment is only present for a moment before time catches up with you and you are captured by Death. What I also noticed was that Hardy never refers to himself in this poem; although he believes that Time and Death with catch up on everyone, he does not gives the impression that this would happen to him, as though e can accept everyone elses fate, but not his own. This is reflected In his use of the putting there as the first word of each stanza rather than *we. In essence there Is a repetition of the same effect of tone throughout the poem; of It being consistent till the end of the piece, but there is a shift half way through each of the four stanzas. At the beginning of each stanza there is an aura of contentment and never ending euphoria radiate from his words, with the first five lines being very idyllic. However, in the last two lines of each stanza, there is a shift in tone, making he scene more bleak and conjuring up images of desolation, death, disaster and unavoidable end to each stanza, and the poem itself. Neutral Tones Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy, is a poem about the meeting of two past lovers, who lack the emotion of which they once felt towards each other. This absence of sensitivity is reflected not only in the facial expressions of the unknown couple, but also in the atmosphere surrounding them. Hardy uses a range of literary devices to project the true feelings, which are radiating from the narrator and his ex-lover. He uses imagery in the form of pathetic fallacy to enhance the lack of emotion in the poem. Although the poem is based on the feelings of which emit from the poem, or deficiency of it, the first and last stanza mainly consist of emphasizing the effect the surroundings play in the scene. The image of the pond [on a] winter day gives the image of a frozen surface; this reflects the emotions as like the still, unmoving, cold water, the feelings between the couple are also frozen and unable to return to how it once was. Hardy also inflicts the image of he sun being white, this not only emphasizes the lack of emotion, but having described it has being chide of God gives the effect that like the sun, their relationship is also cursed. Leaves lay and starving sod are two examples of alliteration and imagery that Hardy had used to accent the themes; leaves lay gives a very dragged out sound when read aloud, while starving sod gives a more staccato and forced effect on the tongue. The use of sibilance enhances the image that like the ground, their relationship is also starving from emotion. The leaves also being gray, shows the lack of bright colors in the surroundings, like the lack of a spark in the couple. In the third stanza, Hardy describes the womans smile to be the deadest thing; the bluntness of the word dead shows the end to the love they once shared, and with it to be alive enough to have the strength to die shows the extremities that has resulted because of their relationship. He uses similes to say that the grin of bitterness swept thereby was similar to the act of like an ominous bird a-wing. , which gives the image of a smooth motion that came easily to the woman. With the bird being ominous emphasizes the idea that for their relationship to continue would be lead to a bad future. With the last three lines of the final stanza reflecting the first stanza shows the effect of the atmosphere on the lack feelings and emotions between the couple. The structure appears to conspire with the theme, as it stays consistent throughout the poem. The poem is formed with four stanzas, with the syllable scheme being it resembles that of a sonnet. It has four lines per stanza with an ABA hymen scheme. This collaborates with the poem as there s no change in emotion throughout the poem, the feeling stay neutral and obvious from beginning to end. However, the poem also appears to be irregular with the use enjambment being random in each stanza and the ellipse at the end of the third stanza leaving the moment unfinished. In the end, the poem summons a sense of apathy in the female character of the story the African tribe of herringboning originated in the BBC, along side where the gods who are still alive since the beginning of man.

Explaining the Writing Experience Through Metaphors

Explaining the Writing Experience Through Metaphors Writing is like . . . building a house, pulling teeth, pounding a wall, riding a wild horse, conducting an exorcism, throwing a lump of clay on a potters wheel, performing surgery on yourself without anesthesia. When asked to discuss the experience of writing, authors often respond with figurative comparisons. Thats not too surprising. After all, metaphors and similes are the intellectual tools of the serious writer, ways of examining and imagining experiences as well as describing them. Here are 20 figurative explanations that aptly convey the  writing experience  from famous authors. Bridge BuildingI wanted to try to build a bridge of words between me and that world outside, that world that was so distant and elusive that it seemed unreal.(Richard Wright, American Hunger, 1975)Road BuildingThe maker of a sentence . . . launches out into the infinite and builds a road into Chaos and old Night, and is followed by those who hear him with something of wild, creative delight.(Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journals, December 19, 1834)ExploringWriting is like exploring. . . . As an explorer makes maps of the country he has explored, so a writers works are maps of the country he has explored.(Lawrence Osgood, quoted in Axelrod Coopers Concise Guide to Writing, 2006)Giving Away Loaves and FishesWriting is like giving away the few loaves and fishes one has, trusting that they will multiply in the giving. Once we dare to give away on paper the few thoughts that come to us, we start discovering how much is hidden underneath these thoughts and gradually come in touch with our own ric hes.(Henri Nouwen, Seeds of Hope: A Henri Nouwen Reader, 1997) Opening a ClosetWriting is like opening the closet you havent cleared out in years. You are looking for the ice skates but find the Halloween costumes. Dont start trying on all the costumes right now. You need the ice skates. So find the ice skates. You can go back later and try on all the Halloween costumes.(Michele Weldon, Writing to Save Your Life, 2001)Pounding a WallSometimes writing is difficult. Sometimes writing is like pounding a brick wall with a ball-peen hammer in the hope that the barricade will evolve into a revolving door.(Chuck Klosterman, Eating the Dinosaur, 2009)WoodworkingWriting something is almost as hard as making a table. With both you are working with reality, a material just as hard as wood. Both are full of tricks and techniques. Basically, very little magic and a lot of hard work are involved.(Gabriel Garcà ­a Mrquez, The Paris Review Interviews, 1982)Building a HouseIt is helpful to me to pretend that writing is like building a house. I like to go out an d watch real building projects and study the faces of the carpenters and masons as they add board after board and brick after brick. It reminds me of how hard it is to do anything really worth doing.(Ellen Gilchrist, Falling Through Space, 1987) MiningWriting is to descend like a miner to the depths of the mine with a lamp on your forehead, a light whose dubious brightness falsifies everything, whose wick is in permanent danger of explosion, whose blinking illumination in the coal dust exhausts and corrodes your eyes.(Blaise Cendrars, Selected Poems, 1979)Laying PipeWhat civilians do not understandand to a writer, anyone not a writer is a civilianis that writing is manual labor of the mind: a job, like laying pipe.(John Gregory Dunne, Laying Pipe, 1986)Smoothing Ripples[W]riting is like trying to smooth ripples from water with ones handthe more I try, the more disturbed things get.(Kij Johnson, The Fox Woman, 2000)Renewing a WellWriting is like renewing a dried well: at the bottom, mud, muck, dead birds. You clean it out well and leave room for water to spring up again and ascend almost up to the brim so clean that even the children look at their reflections in it.(Luz Pichel, Pieces of Letters From My Bedroom. Writing Bonds : Irish and Galician Contemporary Women Poets, 2009) SurfingDelay is natural to a writer. He is like a surferhe bides his time, waits for the perfect wave on which to ride in. Delay is instinctive with him. He waits for the surge (of emotion? of strength? of courage?) that will carry him along.(E.B. White, The Paris Review Interviews, 1969)Surfing and GraceWriting a book is a bit like surfing. . . . Most of the time youre waiting. And its quite pleasant, sitting in the water waiting. But you are expecting that the result of a storm over the horizon, in another time zone, usually, days old, will radiate out in the form of waves. And eventually, when they show up, you turn around and ride that energy to the shore. Its a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If youre lucky, its also about grace. As a writer, you roll up to the desk every day, and then you sit there, waiting, in the hope that something will come over the horizon. And then you turn around and ride it, in the form of a story.(Tim Winton, interviewed by Aida Edemariam. The Gua rdian, June 28, 2008) Swimming Under WaterAll good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.(F. Scott Fitzgerald, in a letter to his daughter, Scottie)HuntingWriting is like hunting. There are brutally cold afternoons with nothing in sight, only the wind and your breaking heart. Then the moment when you bag something big. The entire process is beyond intoxicating.(Kate Braverman, quoted by Sol Stein in Stein on Writing, 1995)Pulling the Trigger of a GunWriting is like pulling the trigger of a gun; if you are not loaded, nothing happens.(attributed to Henry Seidel Canby)RidingWriting is like trying to ride a horse which is constantly changing beneath you, Proteus changing while you hang on to him. You have to hang on for dear life, but not hang on so hard that he cant change and finally tell you the truth.(Peter Elbow, Writing Without Teachers, 2nd ed., 1998)DrivingWriting is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that wa y.(attributed to E.L. Doctorow) WalkingThen wed revise, make the words walk slowly on the slippery trail.(Judith Small, Body of Work. The New Yorker, July 8, 1991)