Category Archives: Writing Skills

Writing Humor, Writing Skills

Chuckle Your Way To Better Grammar

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As one who often deals with the writing of others I’m fond of humor as a way to avoid becoming depressed over the profound lack of good grammar in America. The discovery of a website called “The Oatmeal” has not only improved my state of mind, it also has improved my understanding of semi-colons: “The most feared punctuation on earth.” The comic is available as a poster; one that should probably be on the walls of high school classrooms around the country. (Note use of semi-colon in that sentence.)

Additonal comics/posters include an explanation of the word literally. “This comic will LITERALLY make butterflies explode out of your underpants.” (It did not; that appears to be the point.) Ditto the comic/poster containing ten words you really need to stop mispelling.

The site is not just about grammar; (another semicolon) there are comics about technology, cats, food, and animals. Some is admittedly a bit absurd. If you do click this link, lock the door and silence your phone–you will be busy for a while:

http://theoatmeal.com/

 

Learning, Personal Growth, Writing Skills

Is There A Writer In You?

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Of course there is… or at least so a lot of people seem to think. Of course getting him or her “out” might be a bit of a challenge.  And then, of course, there’s the question of whether or not he or she is a good writer. If you are one of those people who has aspirations of becoming a professional writer I have an essay you might enjoy:

Is Everyone a Writer?

The essay is from a blog published on The Chronicle of Higher Education — a bit of a newspaper and resource geared  towards college level faculty and administration. It’s definitely a site worth poking around… I found an interesting tip suggesting that when you are proof reading your manuscripts you should change your work to an unfamiliar font. That makes so much sense on several levels. (You can change it back when finished.)

Speaking of writers… I’ve got one you should “meet.” His name is Jim Henry and he conquered illiteracy when he was in his mid-nineties. (He started by practicing signing his own name.) Then he hand wrote a book when he was 98. That book, In a Fisherman’s Language, is about to go into its third printing.  Check out his site, blog and the “port to port” literacy program.

Learning, Personal Growth, Writing Skills

Origins of the Specious

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I recently finished the book “Origins of the Specious” by Patricia O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman (Random House 2010). Subtitled “Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language,” it was truly a fun read.  Unless you think etymology is about the study of eyties, you might enjoy it as well. (Etymology is the study of the history of words.) I also happen to enjoy a good word play–and this book starts with one right in the title.

It did take me a while to finish, because I chose to digest it in small bites. Not only was it informative, the writing is great. Watch this.

In the chapter “Snow job” the authors dispel the notion that there are dozens (or hundreds, depending on your version) of words for snow in the Eskimo language. Some dependable sources list four, one got to seven in 1940. (Wait for it!) The authors point out, “In the decades since then, the number or words has snowballed with each retelling…”  Another paragraph notes there has been an “avalanche of snow stories.”

So while I’m recommending the book, I’m also willing to concede that not everyone will fully enjoy or appreciate the topic or the writing… but if you’ll visit http://www.grammarphobia.com/ you can learn more about several books they’ve written… and visit their blog for some “tastes” of etymology that will impress your friends at dinner parties.

Personal Growth, Writing Skills

NaNoWriMo 2011

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Writing with a broken pencil is…

pointless!

Somewhere along the way I learned that no writing is pointless. I would give a good deal of credit for that to College Professor William Bailey who required every student to keep a daily journal. One sentence per day was the minimum and we were told not to worry about grammar and spelling. He wasn’t going to collect and grade it anyway. I suppose  this would seem pointless, but his objective was to get us used to writing and make writing a somewhat natural activity.

Perhaps the creators of NaNoWriMo were in Professor Bailey’s class. They are sponsoring “thirty days of literary abandon.” In short, participants are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel in one month (November).  That’s an average of 1667 words per day.  Last year 200,000 tried–30,000 succeeded.

And, no, I don’t think any of the 30,000 made the New York Times Best Seller’s List. That’s actually not the point. As the creators of this effort say,

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

How can you not love that? You write a lot of “crap,” but when it’s over you get to call yourself a novelist.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that last year 1800 K-12 schools participated and not surprised to discover that some participants actually have had their work published.

No, I probably will not be participating this year. But I do love the concept–and note that this doesn’t just apply to writing. Sometimes you just get started “valuing perseverance and enthusiasm over the craft.”

The word for the day is “intensity” and the question is “What could you accomplish in thirty days if you had it?”