Q: Place your fingers next to the area of skin you're holding the razor against. Then, gently pull the skin upward with your fingers. Each time you move on to a new area on your face or neck, move your free hand to that area and pull the skin taut. Shaving over taut skin will help prevent you from cutting yourself.
A: Pull the area of skin you're shaving taut with your free hand.

Q: Think about who your hero is and what they want. Identify their reason for being, what they value most, and what is missing from their life. Understanding and developing your hero's motivations will be the driving force for your entire story, so it's important to make this as detailed as possible. For example, perhaps your hero has to find a special resource that will allow them to repair a machine that cleans all of the water for their village. Or, perhaps someone the hero loves has been kidnapped and they need to seek out and fight the villain who took this person from them. A good hero is not only someone with extraordinary abilities, it is also someone people look up to and would love to have as a friend. Think about what makes your hero likable and how you can incorporate these traits into your story. For example, your hero might be the son of a blacksmith who is skilled at sword fighting, but incredibly humble about their abilities and unwilling to enter competitions. Or, your hero might be a beautiful young princess who prefers blue jeans to ball gowns and who isn't above working alongside her own staff when there's a crisis. A perfect hero will be less likable and also harder for readers to relate to. It's important to give your hero some flaws as well. Your hero needs to seem human even if they're an immortal, such as a god or goddess. Think about what your hero's weaknesses might be and how you could weave those into your story. For example, your hero might be clumsy, gullible, hot-tempered, or impatient. Demonstrating your hero's growth is an important part of writing a story about a hero. Think about what changes your hero needs to make to overcome their biggest obstacle or to obtain the object of their quest. Knowing this ahead of time will help you to plan your story out and provide your hero with opportunities to develop the skills they need to be successful. For example, perhaps your hero needs to gain self-confidence and overcome a fear of public speaking. To give them practice, they might have a couple of opportunities where they will have to get the attention of a small crowd or a room full of people. This could be leading up to a scene where they have to speak in front of thousands of people to achieve their objective.
A: Identify your hero's goal or purpose. Develop traits that will make your hero likable. Give your hero flaws to make them more realistic. Identify how your hero will grow from their experiences.

Q: Many tropical houseplants in their native tropical habitat don't go dormant at all and keep growing. Others, however, have distinct sleeping seasons that need to be provided for proper growth. You'll need to provide less water and warmth for a period of weeks or months. During the winter, almost any plant can get by with less water or warmth, which results in vigorous spring growth or even flowers and fruit. Signs of dormancy vary among plant species. Evergreen species just stop growing. Deciduous plants drop all their leaves. Most bulbs like caladiums simply appear to go dead above ground while the bulb lives on. In fact, the calla lily unusually falls asleep during the growing season in northern climates due to the opposite seasons of its South African home. Cacti and leafless succulents don't display dormancy but appreciate cold dryness in winter. Do not fertilize a plant during winter or dormant season unless it's required for the species. The plant's roots will not be using the nutrients, and it will damage roots or force the plant into active growth, which results in weak foliage and flower performance. Compacted soil results in water and nutrients draining too fast into the draining dish. The soil should bubble and make soaking sounds when you water it. In soil that is too heavy, plants will have symptoms of weak brittle stems and normal leaves. Sometimes the plant will snap off the root ball with a slight tug, or stronger species will be less vigorous. Plants with taproots and some indoor trees will topple over in soil that's too light.
A: Provide the proper dormant season for the plants. Watch for the signs of poor soil conditions.

Q: It's hard to know what to do with something on a five year plan list like, "Be a better person," because it's hard to define what will make that so. Try to stay focused, instead, on tangible goals that you can accomplish in a real way, or can research the steps necessary to complete. Be as specific as possible and your plan will have a much higher chance of succeeding. In each category, Try to identify the things that you feel are the most important to you at this time. Try to keep it to no more than a handful of important goals, because you need to narrow your focus and think specifically about the subsidiary goals for each item. In the margin of each list, label every item on the list either A, B, or C. Label an A goal as a goal that is extremely important to you and that you want or need the most. Label a C goal as something that would be nice to have, but isn't something that you really want or need. If a goal is in between the two categories, label it a B goal. In order to find out what your priorities are, be as honest as possible. Once you've organized your list into the most important items of your five year plan, it's time to get out a new piece of paper, or open a new document. It's important to address each goal individually, especially if it's complicated enough to spend time working on. If you identified, "Get a graduate degree" on your list as an important item, make a separate list for each goal that you identify as being very important, such as this. Even if it seems simple, something like, "Get organized," it's still important to treat that with as much attention as possible. What needs to happen for you to accomplish your long term goal of getting organized, or of getting a graduate degree? What needs to happen for your goal to become a reality? You might need to do a little research to find out for sure what needs to happen to turn your goals into a reality. Once you have your subsidiary goals in place, separate them into the individual years, to translate your long term goals into a series of short terms goals that you can accomplish, in order. What needs to be accomplished to move closer to meeting your goal by the end of year one? Year two? What can you do today to start moving toward your long-term goals? Make each list as specific as possible and continue breaking it down to make the list more manageable. How deep you get will depend on how much you have to add to each item on the list, and how much guidance you require for a five year plan. If you want to get a graduate degree in the next five years, what do you hope to have done by the end of this year? What can you finish at the end of the week to move yourself closer? What can you do right now?
A:
Be as specific as possible. Identify the most important items on each list. Make a separate list for each item. Identify subsidiary goals for each item. Write an item for each year. Narrow your focus.