Everyday Canvas

First Impressions and Do Mothers Know Best?

For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" :
Prompt: Taking off from the saying, ““you only get one chance to make a first impression” logic, why, do you think, a first impression, a first line in an article, or the first paragraph of chapter in a book can be the most important?

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In everyday life, I am wary of first impressions, since they may provide a basis for relationships. It is a good idea to wait in forming opinions about a person or a relationship before arriving at a strict opinion, sometimes due to a pre-formed concept, such as, “He has blue eyes. Blue-eyed people are said to be shifty.”

Yet, life proves the opposite. Most people depend on first impressions. That is why counselors tell people to dress up properly for interviews. This is because people who hire people or let them into viewing important work, due to their time constraints, have to rely on their first impressions.

The same goes for a first line in an article or the first chapter of paragraph of a book. If non-fiction, in a first chapter, I look for how focused the writing is, and if it’s easy to understand. I stopped reading a few books because, throughout a whole first chapter or several pages, the authors tried to boast about their competence and experience in writing about that subject (which shows lack of self-confidence, btw), instead of talking about the subject right away.

In fiction, it is how enticing the opening is and how memorable yet sincere it sounds. Is the first sentence or first paragraph awaken a curiosity to see what will come next? Do actions fit the scene? Is there a word or words that define a character’s motive? These questions and similar others do define if the book will be bought, borrowed, or given any attention.

Then, as a personal quirk, I don’t like to see a badly formed sentence as to the grammar and usage, right away. If the story is good and I am enjoying it, I don’t mind a little something amiss later on, although any error anywhere can be annoying and can disturb my concentration.

For: "Space Blog Group" 
Today's prompt comes from the star Samberine Everose
The sample is "a mother knows best" 
The prompt: Do you think a mother knows best?

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No, because mothers are human like everyone else, and that idea depends on who the mother is. There are truly rotten mothers in life. Then, there are those mothers, although meaning well and loving their children, they push them toward actions that clash with their children’s personalities, sometimes with dire results. A truly good mother will let her children, especially adult children, decide for themselves, at least, most of the time.

Even on instances when mother “knows best” due to her knowledge, experience, and good sense, letting her children make their own mistakes is the best way of mothering, with the exception that if a child is about to jump off a cliff--literally or metaphorically--, a mother’s intervention is vital.