Basic Books for Writers

Reading is an integral part of becoming a writer.  I advocate constant alert reading--that is noticing new items, differences from similar products, and differences from previous versions.  And I do mean read everything, not just  your writing format or genre.  Also read cereal boxes, food can lables, the front matter in phone books, letters to the editor -- keep your powers of observation sharpened and your evaluative skills at the ready.

Speaking of books, though, the Online Universities website suggests that all writers should have a grounding in literature. The basics it recommends:

• A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway: Published posthumously, this book details the time Hemingway spent in Paris along with other literary greats, like Fitzgerald, as well as insights into the psyche of the artist himself. 

• Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce: This fictional account of the life of Joyce is not only a good read but an interesting insight into the events that shaped the life of one of the world’s most acclaimed authors. 

• Poetics by Aristotle: This ancient Greek text is all about constructing the perfect tragic drama, but offers invaluable insights into the essentials of any genre of writing. 

• Walden by Henry David Thoreau: Check out this book to learn what it means to disconnect from society and focus on nature. Thoreau’s lessons on simplicity can be applied to the art of writing as well, where less can often say more.

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Advice and Advise

Educated, literate writers still confuse advice and advise. The former is a noun; the latter, a verb. When you advise, you dispense advice. How much more simple can it be? We don't even need to explore the meanings of the words.

The error is usually substituting advise for advice. To wit: "In writing your blogs, you should follow the advise Georganna gives." While I appreciate the referral or attribution, the word advise is incorrectly used.

I think I've figured out how this mistake occurs.  When we write, we "hear" the words in our minds.  In a rush to express ourselves, the mind hears the hiss in advice and thinks "s" and the flying fingers type that letter.  That's also why we seldom find the reverse error.  When our minds say advise, we hear the "z" sound, difficult to produce (in English) with any other letter than the "s." We know there is no advize.  That's just looks wrong! Well, maybe not to those who are learning English as a second language (ESLs). Trust me.

Don't confuse giving advice with advising.  See, to use the noun, you must add a verb.  I advise with good advice. 

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Haitians Needs Our Help

The human children, women and men in Haiti who are without shelter from the flies, heat and winter storms, without enough food, even without water -- they still need our help.  The best way to help is by donating dollars.  We gave generously  after the recent devastating earthquake in one of the most unlucky parts of the world.  It was already one of the poorest places on earth.  It still is.  Only worse.  Please give again to the Red Cross or any dependable charity of your choice.  The needs continue.

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What a Picture is Worth

It's silly Saturday at the Hancock Hacienda.
The same could be said of lemons (except for the price):

Not bad. Not bad at all, and certainly not as bad as my 

Cancer Bananas!

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The Book Haven Blog

Cynthia Haven launched "The Book Haven" a blog all about the written word last November. She's a humanities writer at Stanford University.

Every year, books pour out of Stanford University by the scores, if not by the hundreds. From biography to poetry, science and public affairs, it is a river of the written word. Yet as newspapers cut back their pages, column inches devoted to books and the literary life are the first to go – in recent years, book sections have been the canary in the mainstream media's mine.

"Given the reduced coverage on books and book news nationwide, it's only logical that book lovers change the way we cover books and book events," Haven said. She is widely published on literary topics and has written for the Times Literary Supplement, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times Book Review and others. She has a forthcoming book on Nobel Prize-winning Polish poet Czesław Miłosz.

The blog will continue to cover books, readings, lectures, book events, publishing news, library events, literacy studies – anything to do with the written word. Sort of like A Writer's Edge has done for the last 5+ years.

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