Online Ghosting Pays

Ever wonder how much $$ we could make as blog or Twitter ghosts? It's a matter of much controversy and strong opinions aired in forums like #BlogChat. Equally ephemeral is information about "standards" and how much to charge.

Whether you think ghostblogging is "a lie!" or "just a job," find out what's really going in in this article The Ghost Speaks - Entrepreneur.com:

Ghost rates vary, but generally, it costs far less to create a ghosted blog or Twitter account than to launch a traditional PR campaign. McCord charges $18 to $32 per blog post, and $150 to $500 a month for multiple daily tweets. Lindsay Manfredi, a social media strategist in Indianapolis, charges $75 to $100 for a blog post, a fee that includes research, writing and editing.

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Books for Boys?

If you write kidlit or Y.A. books, consider boy protagonists. According to a study by Center on Education Policy and reported this week, boys are falling farther behind girls in reading. Girls have caught up in math (Yay Girls!) but boys' reading scores are going down the tubes.

Some say this results from a lack of literature in our schools that appeals to boys. Who knows what boys want, to mangle Freud. To those of you who do know what boys want, the topics that interest them:  if you can write Y.A. or material for children, please focus on the boys for a while. Am I saying jump on a fad? So be it.

No, I don't write much about children's literature--because I know little about it or writing it. I had my fave Golden Books. I had a few Nancy Drews, but mostly I grew up reading adult material. I do know enough about teaching to understand that you must catch students where they live, that is, with what interests them. Many children's writers are women, and it is so easy for us to write from the feminine perspective, plus we've all been girls.  Let's hear it more for the boys now.

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Brag About Yourself

Where do you find topics to write about? Both beginning bloggers and other types of nonfiction writers often ask this. Instead of my usual "everywhere, all around you" response, I'll detail exactly how this post came about: social media networking. A member of one of the groups I belong to in LinkedIn posted a link to the Psychology Today article as a discussion topic. I saw that item listed in an updates email that LI sends me regularly. I clicked, read the article and thought, "Whew. I'm doin' it right," as the LOL Cat People say. Just last night I'd been adding information to my Amazon Author Page biography section, bragging really. And in third person. Feels weird.

Sooner or later every kind of writer is required to provide a blurb or bio. For me, it's the most difficult writing of all. Worse than a synopsis. It's the same for pitching your services (yourself, really) to potential clients, or bragging about yourself in your website.

If this is difficult for you too, read How to brag about yourself without being seen as narcissistic | Psychology Today by Joshua D. Foster and Ilan Shrira. The secret, it seems, it to mention ONLY yourself, your accomplishments, and not compare them to others. I thought of the latest round of campaign ads in which one politician tries to run down the opposition. Makes me want to vote for the latter.

How about you? When you are dressed to impress, do you denigrate a competitor's accomplishments? Are you positive you write better than ...

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Humor in Writing

I have a headache. Can't think. You'll have to amuse yourselves today with my storehouse of humor resources:

Sites Tagged 'Silly'

Oddly Specific
Bitstrips: Living with Shakespeare
Action Figures, Play Sets & Nodders - Archie McPhee
Andertoons Cartoons About Writer
Cat Boxes
LOLcats and other icanhascheezburger sites

Please respect the copyrights and licensing protocols.

And while I have your focus on humor, on April Fools Day, the #scribechat at 6 p.m. (PT) may have as a guest, the inimitable Ultimate Cheapskate, Jeff Yeager. The Twitter chat topic is writing humor. No foolin'!

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Grammar & Style

Let's say you're writing or editing. If you're not, why are you reading this? It's a summation of handy resources about styles and grammar goofs. I've mined some of these sites for individual post topics, as Constant Readers will notice.

If you just like learning about grammar (who doesn't?) cruise the Archives of the Grammarcheck newsletters at FreeLists / grammarcheck. It is sad they didn't continue, but the Grammar Girl probably has something similar, and an RSS feed no doubt. The Online Universities Blog offers Fun and Informative Blog Posts Every Grammar Geek Should Bookmark

The next three spots highlight good writing practices. Good editing includes being alert for such violations as those found in Forbidden Words, Misused Words and Missed Spellings. That last is an article on tips to avoid spelling and word errors. Read the whole page for more useful links and a new classic poem Owed to Spelchek by Jamy Schuler.

Moving on to style matters, the eternally sticky wicket among writers and editors. Which one to follow? It depends on what you are writing and who is publishing it. One of my fave starting points is Diana Hacker's site because she keeps me straight on which style applies to which discipline (MLA for literature, e.g.). She provides a descriptions of the major manuals or style guides with some links to them or sites about them.

A specific search at Yahoo! yielded such an interesting list of style guides, that I've saved it for reference. Just in case that link goes wonky, here's the whole URL:

http://dir.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Linguistics_and_Human_Languages/Languages/Specific_Languages/English/Grammar__Usage__and_Style/Style_Guides/

Find an even more comprehensive listing at A Research Guide for Students. Hey! We never stop learning, so we are all always students. Scroll down that page and visit some of the links to other helpful sites.

Finally for a little comic relief:  Everything You Know About English is Wrong blog (and book by the same name). See labels in the sidebar for entries about particular problems.  Enjoy!

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Novels

Creative writers need help at many points in their pursuit of success. Mainly it is a chase to get a novel published. These are some of the most helpful online resources I've retained in the drafts file for this blog. The first contains a common grammar error in its title--using the wrong word that sounds like the right one (expedite). Don't let that put you off.

Hard-Won Lessons from Artists to Expediate the Learning Curve is by Suzanne Falter-Barnes, who writes about overcoming the fears that impede creativity.  Equating writing to creating art seems quite reasonable to me. In this fairly short article for creativity coaches, she provides seven insights to the "real nitty gritty" of the creative process and persisting to completion.

While you are writing your masterpiece, undoubtedly you'll encounter specific problems.  Chances are that Australian writer/editor Marg McAlister has it covered in the Writing4Success Tipsheet Archives. I've received her newsletter for years and learned much about creative writing from it. She has also operated a private writers' club online, but in her recent newsletter (No 173), says she will open "up most of the content to everyone as a free site." She also wrote:

Opening the site to all writers is in the nature of an experiment. Since I have limited time to administer the site, I won't be adding 5-6 new articles each week as I did last year. However, I WILL welcome well-written articles from writers in all genres. If you would like to share some of your expertise, send your article to me at tipsheet.article@gmail.com for consideration.

Once you master your masterpiece, you will benefit from The Blog of Fantasy Author Paul Genesse: How do I get published? I have pointed out this piece in the past (it's three years old) and I think the advice Paul provides is still invaluable for any "real, serious writer" who intends to have a book published in the traditional manner.

Going for the gold standard may appear an Olympian feat these days, but honestly, I don't think it is truly any different from the past.  The best way to find an agent is still by referral.  The best way to have your manuscript submitted to an acquisitions editor is still by an agent talking the editors into taking a look at it.  And if you are aiming for publishers who consider unagented mss, personal contact is still holds the best chance for this to take place.

You may not yet be an Author, but you certainly are a Writer and deserve the best--the best advice, the best help, and the best publishing.

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Writing About Writers

More secrets of a successful writer revealed! Two of these resources are so valuable, I keep them hidden in my browser's bookmarks toolbar.  That also means that I use them so often, I want them right at click, which is the same as at hand. Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac, a service of American Public Media, is more than a database of poetry and authors.  Each day Keillor writes about authorial anniversaries (birthdays, publication dates and other events) providing background and details you might not know.

The Library Booklists and Bibliographies contains an enormous amount of material on books and writers.  The part that I've used the most is similar to The Writer's Almanac, and that is the section on Literary Births. The beauty of both of these resources is the additional information delivered about some of the authors.  Pick your favorite writer and search both sites to find useful material.

Finally, if I'm writing about a particular writer, or even a specific subject, I know I can always find a cogent quotation at Famous Quotes and Quotations at BrainyQuote. For example, the Quote of the Moment is "Every artist was first an amateur."  Ralph Waldo Emerson said it, and I am fond of reminding some that we were all unpublished writers when we began.  

Please, don't introduce yourself as such.  If you're a writer, you're a writer, published or not.  If being published is a criterion for something or someone, you'll discover it soon enough, so don't start out one-downing yourself. Hmm. I feel an "Inspiration" message in the making.

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Bag of Writing Tips

Here's a nicely mixed bag of tips for successful writing.  These links comprise some of the fundamental resources I've hoarded throughout this blog's life.  Before I delete them from the "Drafts" I will gather them into posts. Make note of these resources and mine them for yourself:

Ed 2010 is the place to go for, as Ed says, "your magazine dream job." The WhisperJobs is it's great feature, and now a message board is functioning. Ed's blog seems to have died out a couple of years ago, possibly around the time Ed joined Twitter as @Ed2010news. Do we see a what's what here? BLOG Twitter.

Allen & Unwin is an Australian book publisher with a very useful service called The Writing Center. I especially like the Writers on Writing section.  They currently feature a Q & A with Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Committed and Eat, Pray, Love.

Chris Gobel's Writing Help Page displays his to ten list of "no-no" hints for writing in general.  Some of the links may be outdated, but the easily- understood guidance is evergreen.  This is part of his website, HUMDINGER LITERARY E-ZINE: All kinds of writing for all kinds of readers. This site is now an archive, nay, a treasure, to be plundered systematically for all it's worth.

Another deep, deep resource is the English Usage FAQ Home Page of http://www.yaelf.com/ -- also housing the FAQ page for the old alt.usage.english Usenet group (anybody here old enough to have belonged to Usenet groups?  Waaaay back, predating the World Wide Web.) It might be easier to use this huge website via its site map.

Just as the classics become references to have at hand, while experts and authorities take up more techy methods to communicate, A Writer's Edge Blog will remain right here, while I continue on Twitter. Also available via RSS.

GLHancock 4,801 tweets

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To Be or Not Passive

To be or not to be. That is the question, except to editors.  We eliminate "to be" verbs (is, are, was, were, to be, be, being, been) whenever we can.  The worst constructions littering the language are "there is" or "there were" and similar.

"But whyyyy?" some clients whine.  "What's so bad about sentences starting with "there is?"  Here's your answer:  because they are extraneous words and signs of wordiness in the writing in general. Example:

There is alot [sic] of snarkiness going around the Internet these days.
We see a lot of snarkiness on the Internet now. (Better)
Now snarkiness abounds on the Internet. (Even better)

State of being (to be) verbs also crop up unnecessarily as helper verbs. Variations include forms of "to do" "to have." My favorite example:

James had been being a bad boy, but Santa had been good to him anyway.

To my ears, that reads like nails drawn down a blackboard. Screeeee!

"Although James was naughty, Santa still rewarded him" is a slightly more succinct and sophisticated version.  In the context, you might be able to leave out the "still." Or turn the sentence around:  Santa rewarded him, although
James was naughty/a bad boy/bad.  Reversing the phrases is often the cure for passive sentence construction, too. Example:

Most of the damage was done to New Orleans by the flood waters. (Passive)
Flood water damaged New Orleans the most. (Active)
Flood water caused the most damage to New Orleans. (Active)

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Political Grammar

Politician misappropriates grammar, caught waffling by comedian.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Waffle House
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

It used to be "how to lie with statistics," now it's "how to lie with words."  I like that part about using an auxiliary verb with a slightly more passive mood.

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Take this Blog Private?

In addition to the recent inclusion in the Top 100 Blogs to Improve Your Writing in 2010, you can also find A Writer's Edge fourth in the Online Database list of 150 Useful, Educational, and Inspirational Blogs for Aspiring Writers. And last year, I think, this blog's name appeared in the top 20 finalists for Michael Stelzner's Top Ten Blogs for Writers. Moreover, my name has appeared through the years on several lists as an outstanding resource for writing and book information.

This shaky base of kudos leads me to believe that A Writer's Edge blog is valuable to enough people to warrant at least an attempt to convert it into a subscription-only monthly newsletter.  What I have in mind is providing more in-depth articles rather than blog-type posts.  More thoughtful analysis.  More links to useful resources relating to an article.

Less LOLcats. More serious "stuff." It would also include my "Inspiration" motivational messages, currently received by email by many of you readers.

Please respond with comments or emails and let me know if you think this type of publication is worth paying (how much?) for and whether you would want it monthly or weekly.  Details forthcoming.

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Do You Spraddle?

I saw 'spraddle' in a message and thought, now there's someone speaking from southern roots. The only time I've heard that word used is in the phrase, "jump up all spraddle-legged." My mother claimed her hillbilly boyfriend said it (to her disgust). I must admit, I know what's meant--startled, flustered, in a rush but not knowing what to do or which way to turn. Very colorful description of an impulsive action.  I did not think this was more than dialect.

Indeed, it is red lined by my browser's autodidactic spell-checker. The word does not appear in either of my hardbound dictionaries.  Google it, on the other hand, and you'll find hazy references to straddle, spread and sprawl in a few online resources--but not in the Google dictionary.

Warning:  the Merrian-Webster site forces a popup past all protection, one that tried to take control of my computer.  However, M-W states:  Etymology:  perhaps blend of straddle and sprawl. Date: 1632. intransitive verb 1 : sprawl 2 : to go or walk with a straddling gait. Another suggested a blend of straddle and spread, which makes sense.

Spraddle, and my hillbilly Daddy's phrase, could be useful in characterization for a short story or novel. I'm quite sure I would not use it in straight, nonfiction writing, however.  And that is where I noticed it, albeit on a private mailing list.

Your personal lexicon can be quite revealing, especially when you put it into print.  Out come all those words you think you know from hearing them, but without formally learning them, misspellings and misuses often occur.  In some cases, they betray the reality behind the image you try to project.

What do my words reveal? That I'm a language-lover, dictionary demon, a bit of an egg-head and a lot of geeky nerd? What does your lexicon reveal (if you know) or what are you hiding? Do you ever suspect that your language in use gives you away?  Do you care?  Sometimes I do.  Another writer regularly accuses me of being a stuck-up snob because I use "big words" and encourage other writers to learn and use them.  Well, I'm not going to jump up all spraddle-legged about it.

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Platform for Publishing

PLATFORM is currently one of the most confusing words in publishing. It's like POD. Both words refer to two different but related dimensions. The two dimensions of platform are (1) processes for copying and distributing information (electronic and paper media and networks) and (2) extras an author brings to enhance publishing potential. It is this second meaning that so confounds the usually unpublished writers, especially those writing fiction. Rightly so, because it is much easier for a nonfiction writer to enter publishing with a sturdy platform already in place (whether the writer knows it or not).

Try thinking of platform this way: it is all the book buying groups with which you are already connected that are interested in what you have to offer. Notice I did not say "potential" groups. It is the network that exists before you publish, built and cultivated by who you are and/or what you do (not writing a book, but the book must be closely related to this topic you all have in common).

This is why the romance writer who tells a potential agent, "And I belong to the National Association of Ding-Dong Lovers," isn't going to score any points under the "Has Platform" category.

However, the expert in any subject, one who speaks at conferences, holds an office in the top related organizations, writes articles for professional journals and/or popular consumer publications, appears on television and NPR, gets calls from journalists when that subject is newsworthy -- this is the person with a platform.

O.K. that is the extreme, but who is to say when you become an expert? Fake it 'til you make it. Yes, this seems daunting for the fiction writer, and J.D. Salinger, who died yesterday, was no poster-boy for novelists with a platform.

However, also recently deceased John Updike is a good example. He began social networking early in life, even before his career began. He moved in the circles of people who were interested in the topics he wrote about. He participated in American life through church, politics and memberships in organizations.

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Top 100 Blogs for Writers

How could I have missed this? Top 100 Blogs to Improve Your Writing in 2010 includes A Writer's Edge. The Universities and Colleges organization issued the new list at the beginning of this week. My apologies to Scott Johnson, who wrote:

Thanks for creating such great content, and we look forward to seeing even more this year! If you know of any other great writing sites that we missed, we'd love to hear about them as well.

It would be difficult to find better company, for the list also includes ProBlogger, former Writer's Digest editor Maria Schneider's Editor Unleashed, the top writing site Writer's Digest and 96 others worth a look. These are mostly complete websites with the top blogs embedded, so they offer even more assistance than just blog posts.

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Mini- Review: Write Starts

I am such a sucker for little books!  Hal Bennett's Write Starts did not sound so interesting in the PR blurb.  However, the email came from the publisher's publicity director, and she bothered to fulfill the requests I laid out for contacts: address me by name; include book stats. It was clear the review request came from a traditional publisher (third parameter), New World Library.

The author's name rang no bell, but many of us who toil in nonfiction fields garner no recognitions at all.  The facts that Zinna has over 25 years as a writing coach, workshop facilitator, developmental editor, and is the author of more than thirty books suggested this "slim volume" on jumpstarting your creativity might hold value.
It is so much more than the subtitle promises.  Reading the thoughts of a seasoned writer was such a joy, nay, a comfort.  I saw my advice echoed on printed pages and found nothing that contradicts my experiences, freely shared.

Book provided by publisher on request.
Copyright © 2010 Georganna Hancock

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Importance of Spelling

Do you receive incomprehensible email messages? Mine are usually spam from another land. I give the ESLs a 9.86 for their efforts. Let me see you try to write coherently in Chinese, let alone suck me into a scam!   Aside from grammar issues, the writing problems in these messages usually involve spelling. Misspellings not only include using the wrong letters, but often result from a missing letter. To wit:


see more deMotivational Posters


Consider the differences in meaning between "tweaking" and "tweeking" if you will. Tell me you are tweeking websites for SEO, and I'll click away from your blog post with a chuckle, Chucklehead.

Misspellings are, however, the heart of LOLspeak, seen in captions at icanhazcheezburger.com (home of the LOLcat dynasty and part of a vast empire of silly sites I liek).

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Most Used English Words

Usually the British have marvelous wit, dry, easily-underestimated humor which sneaks up on your consciousness. However, it seems to be missing from the online version of the Telegraph column titled "Quite Interesting," based on "QI," a popular BBC1 show.  A recent topic was one of my favorites:  English words.

QI: quite interesting facts about words proclaimed that, according to a 2006 survey carried out by the Oxford English Corpus, the top 10 most frequently used English words are: the, be, to, of, and, a, in, that, have and I.

I'm thinking this must be a case of habeas corpus, for those are also the most boring words in our lexicon.  Note that two are on my list of do-nothing verbs: be and have. A third, that, is the current bane of most editors. These are not only the most used, but possibly the most over-used English words. Make what you will of "I" being in the top ten. Is this not the "me generation?"

The 10 most popular nouns listed:  time, person, year, way, day, thing, man, world, life and hand.  Well, yes. What can you make of this?  Of course, thing is my personal bugaboo. If one exclamation point is allowed in a manuscript, I have zero tolerance for things.

The 10 most popular verbs are:  be, have, do, eat, sleep, drink, put, keep, run and walk. Eesh! With the exception of sleep, I can think of few more boring verbs.  Fill your writing with them and you will put readers to sleep!

The 10 most popular adjectives:  good, first, new, last, long, great, little, own, other and old. OMG!  How colorless, bland and deaf, but stinking, do you want your conversation and writing?

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E-Reading in Color

See the coming color e-reader, the Mirasol from Qualcomm, demonstrated in this video:



and read about it at SlashGear. They are getting mighty tempting, close to my long-sought idea which will be a netbook/reader with phone built in. Or a phone with Internet and a good screen for reading large amounts of material, like an e-reader. Or ... what's your dream mobile machine?

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Why Do They Do It?

Allow me to vent. Again. About rude publicity persons who send incomprehensible emails. Here's one that arrived early today:

To: None

Subject: Press Release: Haights Cross Communications Files Prepackaged Reorganization Plan

Attach: Haights Cross Reorg Plan Approved 1.5.10.pdf(80.3KB)

The message area is empty but for the senders name, company, phone numbers, and email address. If I wanted to letter-bomb her for sending me a time-wasting empty message with a cryptic attachment, I'd have to research the company name to find her location.

This is why the Goddess created keyboards with a Delete key.  DEL

If you want your messages to be considered seriously, take time to create them thoughtfully with a clear Subject, address the recipient by name and explain your relationship to them and the subject and how it might benefit the recipient to read the attachment. I have no idea if this one was about a housing development's bankruptcy or a communications company's misfiling of its new designs, or what.

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Balls to the Wall

It's balls to the wall this week in my office.  Did everyone resolve to get cracking on publishing? Good, but I can juggle only so many balls before I hit the wall.

You may wonder about that phrase, balls to the wall, and suspect I'm slipping into gender confusion, but no.  According to Dave Wilton, an independent researcher in historical linguistics, etymology and slang origins, it indicates:

an all-out effort, [and] comes from the world of aviation. On an airplane, the handles controlling the throttle and the fuel mixture are often topped with ball-shaped grips, referred to by pilots as (what else?) balls.

Reminds me of "pedal to the metal."  At Word Origins he says the phrase began with Viet Nam War pilots, although other sites like Urban Dictionary and IdiomSite.com list other similar sources dealing with mechanics. Wilton is the author of Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends (Oxford University Press, 2008).

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Using Yourself and Me

Reflexive pronouns abound, but uses are scrambled. They come in a variety of flavors, depending on the person and number of the subject they refer to. That subject--I, you (singular and plural), he, she, it, we, they--must appear in the same sentence.  However, the reflexive pronouns are always objects, not subjects:  myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and  themselves. She finished the painting and cleaned up herself. Right, although in the vernacular, we would probably say "cleaned herself up."

It is not uncommon these days to see a sentence like The new rules apply to all the members, especially myself.  Wrong!  There is no I in the sentence for myself to reflect.  The word required is the objective form, me. Most people get I, myself, correct.  The problem comes in when trying to express more than one an action in one sentence: The teacher gave the tests back to myself and the others.  Try putting the actions into two sentences, and your ear will tell you which form to use:  The teacher gave the tests back to me.  The teacher gave the tests back to the others.

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"Pull" Review on BC

Early yesterday @ghauptf published my review of Pull @bcarticles (http://bit.ly/6kGI2y) after @popgadabout questioned a verb and I changed it. Editors make writers better!

Translation for the non-Twitterati: Early yesterday Gordon Hauptfleisch published my review of Pull: The Power of the Semantic Web to Transform Your Business on BlogCritics after another editor, Bill Sherman ... well, the rest was understandable, I hope. This is the "real review" as opposed to my enthusiastic recent blurb. What's the difference, some may ask. What I wrote here in A Writer's Edge was a very personal reaction to what I was reading.  The review is a more formal and, I hope, fair assessment of the book after I finished reading it.

Possibly it was also a success at avoiding the word "I."  If you find one, let me know in a comment here, and I'll send you my extra copy of the novel Girl Mary.

Writing the "blurb" was quick and easy.  It was all opinion and personal essay.  Writing the review took three hours of hard work, and it still doesn't please me.  On the other hand, when I checked something on the author's website, a sentence from my blurb (with attribution) appeared at the top of a page.  At first I didn't recognize the words.  When I realized they were mine, I thought, "Damn, I'm good!"

Non sequitur:  another notion occurred as I was writing the review: a potential use for my Google Wave account. I also mentioned using Wave in the post about blogs as communities. What I have in mind is a little research project to collect anecdotes about a particular aspect of writing.  Stay tuned!

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Improve Your Blog

5 Quick & Easy Tips For Improving Your Blog from the December Blogcatalog.com newsletter:

1. Purchase your own domain. This will dramatically increase your design and functionality options.
2. Connect with other bloggers. Forming these connections can help inspire you, get you over hurdles and provide a sounding board for new ideas.
3. Try a new theme. While content is king, looks are important too. Catch readers attention with a slick new theme.
4. Find clarity. Clearly defining the purpose of your blog will make decisions about content and design simpler.
5. Always be writing. Good writers are always writing. It keeps your mind limber and gives you a stock pile of good post ideas.

Number 4 is the logical starting point. Too many people feel an urgent necessity to blog but have no idea what to write about. Then they whine and complain about it, about a lack of readers, followers and comments. Why would anyone besides the writer's mother read a blog with no focus? The goal need not be overt, but it guides and shapes your writing.

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Best of Recent Retweets

Even better the second time around: @GLHancocks tweets and retweets, retweeted.

RT @DanGordon: I said it once, I'll say it again: Authenticity. Transparency. Passion. Patience. Perseverance. = Results. #blogchat 7:06 PM Dec 20th from TweetChat Retweeted by C J Jackman Zigante

RT @RKCharron: The word you choose reflects the tone you wish to convey and the image you wish to invoke.| Except in chats! typok #writechat 2:08 PM Dec 20th from TweetChat Retweeted by C J Jackman Zigante

New at AWE -- Santa arrived early for some bloggers! Today Amazon announced Amazon Associates for Blogger, a direc... http://bit.ly/4BrZHI 10:13 AM Dec 17th from twitterfeed Retweeted by Melinda Emerson

Checked out new Google search, found Listorious & a list for NewNewmedia by @PaulLev http://listorious.com/GLHancock/memberships 7:13 PM Dec 15th from Echofon Retweeted by Paul Levinson

Blogs feel very private to you, alone, hunched over your keyboard; but when you hit "Post" you're a naked, plucked chicken to all #writechat 1:24 PM Dec 6th from TweetChat Retweeted by kimberly gonzalez

I have a free article available on Copyright on the Writing Help page of my site: http://www.writers-edge.info/writing-help.htm #writechat 1:19 PM Dec 6th from TweetChat Retweeted by David Gerbino

@WritingSpirit Actually, writing articles is one of the ways recommended for fictionalists to get their names known-adjunct to book #writechat 12:29 PM Nov 29th from TweetChat in reply to WritingSpirit Retweeted by Writing Spirit

#blogpostfail: "If the man you are discretely having an affair with..." Right, only one affair at a time, girls! #copyediting #editing 8:25 PM Nov 25th from Echofon Retweeted by Jane Smith

RT @editorialdept Writers learn from what they're doing right as much as from criticism. Good editors cheer a writer on.#litchat 4:12 PM Nov 20th from Power Twitter Retweeted by pberinstein

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Communication is the Foundation

Guy in bar: my wife doesn't understand me. Cougar: come again?

---

Mr Mousebender: And I thought to myself, 'A little fermented curd will do the trick,' so, I curtailed my Walpoling activities, sallied forth, and infiltrated your place of purveyance to negotiate the vending of some cheesy comestibles.

Henry Wenslydale: Come again?

Mr Mousebender: I want to buy some cheese!

This little scene is the intro to L. Diane Wolfe's 12/18/09 blog post, Spunk On A Stick's Tips: And Now For Something Completely Different!. It often typifies the resultant condition when I verbalize. See? I meant, "When I talk, people don't understand me." Or else they laugh.

Mr. Mousebender and I have in common large vocabularies, and we're not afraid to use them. In my case, the big words spring readily from my tongue before consciousness is engaged. I know what I'm saying and the meaning is perfectly clear. A much better state would be for the reader/listener to find the message perfectly clear and understand it.

Enough barriers exist between sender and receiver. Vocabulary, or lack thereof, need not be one of them: sender ---> MESSAGE ---> receiver = communication. The message cannot be MeSsAwgee! or any other corruption. Listen up, because clear communication is the foundation for all writing. You thought I was going to say spelling or good grammar, didn't you?

What is "clear communication?" Word choices. The more important the message, the simpler the choice. That's why traffic signs read "Stop" and "Caution." These are basic words most all English speakers know. Does that mean I advocate Dick and Jane sentences? Sometimes. They certainly hold up well for news reports and other journalism aimed at audiences that include those with the least education.

Finally, we get to the message receiver, the reader. This is the person to have in mind when you write. For example, if you write a novel to please the critics, book reviewers, you might produce a literary masterpiece and a commercial flop. Write for the masses who still buy and enjoy quick reads, and your book won't appear in the NY Times reviews, but you may make a little money and a lot of people satisfied.

Who is your audience?

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e-Reader Magazines Ahead

Magazine publishers are prepping for tiny formats. A lack of good e-readers for magazines isn't stopping them. They are trying to stay one step ahead by readying small format digital versions of their offerings. A digital newsstand just for magazines is coming out in a few weeks, according to MediaWeek.com's e-Reader Mania Hits Magazine Publishing:

Condé Nast last week showed off what an imagined e-reader version of its glossies would look like, starting with Wired. And Time Inc. is developing e-reader versions of such titles as Time and Sports Illustrated; it’s expected to introduce those iterations early next year.

The article mentions other upcoming editorial products that will soon arrive on small media readers, such as the iPhone.

I've read New York Times' stories on a friend's iPhone. It was surprisingly easy on the eyes, but what I'm wondering is how this will affect writers and editors? Are publishers just going to pour the digitized copy into the applications or will writers need to learn a new, more concise method of preparing stories. Or will editors regain their positions of actually working with words? Will this revolution create more employment or continue the trend of consolidation and layoffs?

Just when we're anguishing over languishing magazines, hope pokes over the horizon.

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Gifts for Writers

Give yourself or writerly friends gifts of services. Design them with me. Ideas: an hour of publishing consultations, any editorial services or manuscript evaluations. Contact Me for details and arrangements or send me an email.

Help is available for improving writing, formatting manuscripts for submission or self-publishing, guidance through the confusing dance of queries, synopses, outlines, multiple submissions, copyright and all the other parts of the path to publication.

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Speech Recognition Programs

While I wait to wireless thoughts into my computer, perhaps speech recognition is the way to go. My dear friend Bonnie Boots alerted me to the possibilities detailed in Speech Recognition for Bloggers -- The Ultimate Guide on Vimeo in which Jon Morrow reviews several programs. He's the Associate Editor of Copyblogger and recommends:

VXI Full Duplex USB Sound Pod
Dragon Naturally Speaking (PC)
VXI TalkPro Xpress Headset
Mac Speech Dictate (Mac)

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Chat with Me

On Twitter today are two chats I usually participate in. Beginning at noon Pacific time (you right coasters--count forward) the Write Chat takes place under the hashtag #writechat . It lasts about three hours.

Then at six p.m. (PST) comes the ever-rowdy, more marketing-oriented #blogchat for an hour or more, depending on how long participants want to continue.

The best way I've found to participate is through Tweet Chat. Sign in with your Twitter info, then enter the hashtag of the chat you want into the space at the top of the page and click on "Go". Zip! You're in the chatroom, ready to begin.

Introduce yourself and say you're new to the chat. We'll be kind! To catch someone's attention, begin your message like this: @GLHancock. Plunge into a convo or initiate one of your own and maybe someone will respond. Messages are limited to about 120 characters because TweetChat automatically appends the hashtag of that chat room. Look around the boxes, and you'll see helpful icons like character count, ways to control the refresh speed, reply and retweet symbols, and even a way to eliminate annoying bots and spammers from view ("block").

If you want to try to participate in a chat via your Twitter interface or mobile device, search for the one you want by hashtag. You'll need to remember to put that hashtag in each post or your message won't go to the chat, just out in your regular Twitter stream. All your remarks in a chat go into your main stream, too. Take care, it's easy to forget that in the heat of debates. Also, you may need to keep refreshing the view to see new tweets. See you there?

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Most Retweeted Tweets

Crowdsourcing tips from my Twitter stream -- these are some of the most retweeted (so they must be good, right?) If you want an explanation or elaboration, tell me in your comment.

Flaws. Fiction: rotten writing, no story. Nonfiction: rotten writing, no logic.

Even if you think you write only novels, you *must* be able to write nonfiction shorts: for promotion.

I left out blog posts and tweets in my list of nonf. items all must be able to write. Don't waste fic on blog

Most any pub that pays well and on acceptance is a "good market" to me.

Absolutely don't put anything on a blog that you intent or may want to sell some day. Blogged IS published. *

My point is that you make ALL work you display to others, the best you can produce Emails too.

Can we offer amnesty? Moratorium on judging by typo? * [in Twitter chats]

You never comment on others' blogs, on forums? Excellent places to show you write well.

No query needed for SS. Just be sure pub takes unsolicited submissions.

Don't confuse feedback for a critique. Know differences between amateurs, readers and professionals.

It's good to consider the source of the slings and arrows that fly about Twitter chats! *

* top retweets

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Universal Literate Dummies

Publishing prediction: by 2013 we will be a world of literate dummies.

Put together Seed magazine A Writing Revolution, predicting universal authorship in three years, with Publishers Weekly Viral Issue: Creating Your Viral Loop on Twitter, providing plans to create book buzz -- and whadda ya' got? We'll all be authors too busy marketing on social media to read each other's works. No, seriously, one is scary and the other, scary useful.

We'll know everything about friending, following, facing up to spaces, tweeting, buzzing, and the content we create ourselves (maybe) and nothing about anything truly needed in life. Maybe.

I'm hedging my bets here, because I've usually been at the vanguard of more than just the Baby Boomers, and I don't have a cell phone! Can you spell "technology backlash"? Our lives are reaching the point of maximum overload in so many areas, all depending on digital innovations. Will paper-print products be the last to go? Bury me with a book, a magazine and a newspaper, please.

All said, however, as I prepare to shift the availability of my writing products to the digital download gizzies at the beginning of 2010. Why not? New decade, new delivery systems. I'm not no dummy yet. (The grammar is always the first to go.)

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Writing Is Not Lonely Work

'Lonely. I'm so lonely' -- the wail of lone writers that writerly advisers whale on. Writing is a lonely art, they moan in unison, repeating until it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. New writers expect to feel lonely and blocked.

On the other hand, they complain about interruptions, finding time to write, finding a place to write. Some wonder, "Is writing really for me?" If you have to ask ...

Admittedly, creative writing in the sense of poetry, short stories and novels may benefit by peace and quiet and a slower pace. I loved rainy days, the house empty but for me curling up in the corner of the couch with a pen and notebook to let the feelings flow into verse ... it all ran out when I moved to SoCal where it never rains. Well, hardly ever.

Could the lonely writers be giving blessed solitude and opportunity a negative connotation, just because they've read and heard the term so often? If Thoreau did not take himself off to a cabin in the woods, alone, would he have produced Walden Pond? Ah, but that isn't fiction, is it? Perhaps I would not have written two novels if I'd had something more to do than make a home for a family which, at one time, included nine Siamese, a flock of hens and a garden in the summer. It was slightly less hectic than writing five news stories before 10 a.m. in a crowded newsroom with phones ringing, editors yelling and teletype machines clacking and dinging.

Some writers even work in tandem, married to their co-writing partners. One of the first published authors who generously advised me, James J. Kilpatrick, confided that he got started writing a children's book with his [first?] wife. "How lucky he is," I thought, "to have someone to share his passion in more ways than one." Kilpatrick's experience and advice existed in the days when the Internet was an academic idea and a military experiment.

Now attention, companionship, notoriety--whatever you want--is as close as your modem. So is education and help. And distraction. Writing requires even more self-discipline and self-control in the Information Age. I should know, having experienced social media overload several times. Can Twitter give one a heart attack? Maybe not, but you need never feel lonely again!

*waves to Tweeps*

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Rotten Writing

Flaws. Fiction: rotten writing, no story. Nonfiction: rotten writing, no logic. No kidding, in essence, these are the most frequent problems in documents submitted for editing or evaluation.

The works are usually beginning writers' first attempts for serious publishing. Without guidance, most of them stumble into the same writing potholes. I can almost predict what I will see from knowing those few facts about a writer and a piece of writing:

weak verbs
nothing nouns
adverb crutches
repetitions
cliches
painful punctuation

Colorless, flabby writing is, "the dog drank the water noisily." Better: "the poodle slurped from a stagnant puddle." Repeated words are understandable. Repeated sentence construction is (for one example) starting most sentences with an introductory clause: "Although she hated seeing herself in the mirror, ..." "When Dick tried to stick his nose into the couple's business to gather more tidbits of gossip with which to titillate the crowd at the bar, ..." (also cliché, and that sentence is going to travel way too far before encountering a needed period). Using the same structure for most sentences produces a sing-song, hypnotic text. Do you want to put your readers to sleep?

A contemporary problem more editors are reporting: needlessly using "that" within sentences. Take that out and listen for the writing to flow as smoothly. "Listen" indicates reading out loud. It is also a good method for checking punctuation, unless you have the annoying speech habit of ending most sentences in a questioning pitch lift. Punctuate where you pause. Punctuation marks in ascending order of pause length: comma, semicolon, colon, end mark (period, question mark or exclamation point.) The British don't call the period a "full stop" for no good reason!

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What's Real Serious Writing?

Are you a "real" writer? Are you "serious" about publishing? No, no sales pitch coming. I'm writing about terminology, what those words mean to writers at different stages of life and careers. They are often hot buttons that provoke knee jerk responses in chats and forums. Heated debate. Words that can't be defined in a tweet. Or a Twitter chat.

I tried to tell someone recently in a LinkedIn group discussion that these words are as controversial as the use of the term "professional" in conjunction with "writer." Everyone has an opinion, almost bound to clash with the next poster.

Beginners are apt to have more liberal, broad ideas of what it means to be a real writer, one serious about getting published, and striving to become a professional in the field (wherever that nebula might hang in space). They prickle at any suggestion that one must already be published, for money, in print, or even earning a living from writing. And rightly so, I think. They feel committed and dedicated; it's their dream and not to be discouraged. They have no idea what's ahead. And few have any notion of what commitment and dedication mean in a lifetime filled with disappointments, roadblocks, and disasters.

But let writers get a few credits to wave around (often from silly sites that anyone can contribute to) and they puff up with narrower viewpoints, considering that they have arrived. Cranky oldsters who began writing careers before Internet was available to the public can similarly set up strictures on the words in play. Some think that "the kids" have it too easy now with email and digital recorders and cameras. Me? I'd rather edit than try to freelance writing now.

Most pathetic are the writers who've "paid their dues" and had some degree of success (in their own limited definition--another hot button!), yet find time to troll the social media picking fights and acting all stick-up-the-butt about it. One implied that journalism is not nonfiction, and that news reporters must write with emotion. Huh? He or she also said I didn't know empathy from sympathy, a Psych 101 distinction learned about 50 years ago!

Sigh! And then you have the most real, professional, seriously published writers, obviously still dedicated to their art/craft (another arguable artificial dichotomy) and committed to write until they drop dead. The Great Ones. And the many midlisters who go one and on, churning out reading that is good for their audiences and publishers. I've never met one who was not gracious and generous in the treatment of less experienced members of the clan. They would not hold back advice or belittle the rawest recruit's efforts. Nor would they engage in arguments over when one is real, serious, or professional. It is inconsequential.

Not coincidentally, a real serious professional writer, Elizabeth Benedict, a big time author with lots of hefty creds (Google her) has edited a book of contributions by other author-stars who tell of people who helped them along on their ways. Mentors, Muses & Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed Their Lives will be published later this month by Free Press. A copy plunked into my backyard, and you can be sure I'll tell you more about it soon. I might even test Benedict's good graces with some questions about finding and working with--or without--a mentor.

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Copyediting Explained

When someone "gets all up in your sentences" what is really going on? Scott Berkun explains in How copyediting looks and feels. I first saw this comprehensive article referred to as "Understanding copyediting for writers." It's not exactly that, but writers should know about this vital part of getting any kind of manuscript published. He explains it in terms of book publishing, but editing is editing and:

Copyeditors have a tough job. They have to sort out what the author was trying to do, and then help them do it. But if a writer botches a sentence or a paragraph (or chapter), it’s hard for copyeditors to figure out the intent.

Berkun's method of editing is incredibly labor-intensive. Most of my clients are happy if I just "clean up" their manuscripts for books, stories, articles and essays. I offer the option of using MS Word's Track Changes feature, but most opt for the quicker fix that does not complicate the document. I suspect most do not even know "Track Changes" exists.

On the other hand, if someone wants a peek inside an editor's mind or is trying to learn editing "by Braille" studying a document that displays the original and changed text could work. If the editor had the patience to explain why she made each change, so much the better.

I usually just tell them, "It sounds better" or "It is clearer" and "I am 65 years old and I've read a lot of books, written countless pieces that were published, and I have the style manuals at my fingertips, that's why." An editor is a harsh mistress.

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Women of Religions

Reading Girl Mary by Petru Popescu set me pondering the books I've read in the last few years about significant women in religions. I thought it must be rather difficult to write about them, especially in light of the current tensions among different groups. Would I dare to fictionalize one, or not, because of fear of retaliation?

I asked Popescu that question, and he indicated he had no trepidations at all, but he did offer to tell us about writing this book. He has advice for approaching historical figures as novel subjects. He said to write with "passion" and that:

When you write about the mystical, you believe in it. That is the rule of thumb and the best advice I can give to writers who attempt to write about religion and its formidably puzzling characters and events.

Read all of Popescu's article.

My saga of books on female religious figures began with The Red Tent by Anita Diamont (Jewish). The most recent were Girl Mary (Christian) and Mother of the Believers by Kamran Pasha (Islamic). I'm still reading Hinduism, which has such deep and diverse roots that no single woman or goddess stands out, though I feel drawn to Kali.

In between these book ends, as it were, are the writings based on the figure Mary Magdalene (Christian): Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, The Expected One by Kathleen McGowan and, of course, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. These books are part of a larger literary saga I've been on, reading about strong women, many of the books set in Asia.

Now, as promised last week, I have copies of Girl Mary to send to the first five people who comment (US addresses only, please). Comments may be on this post or Popescu's article. Be sure to send me your address by email: writers.edge [AT] gmail.com (Give-away has ended.)

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Posting Announcements

Take a cue from advertising. Put enough correct information in your announcements for people to know what you're talking about, who it's for, when it is happening, how much it costs and where they can find it.

I just spent a frustrating five minutes trying to track down what looked like a chat on writing. The poster wrote two items about whatever it was. The first gave a day and time, but didn't list the time zone. The second referred to "yesterday" (always use a date) and provided a wildly invalid link to what was supposed to be a blog post about the event--whatever it was. She also gave a different time, still without reference to time zone. Here's a hint: on the Internet, not everyone lives on the east coast of the U.S. even if they're dogs.

And call a spade a spade. If the event involves streaming audio/video online, don't call it "radio." If it requires a long distance phone call, explain that your "webinar" will probably cost participants, even if no fee is involved. Don't call it "free" unless you're providing a toll-free number that works worldwide.

I like to think I have at least average intelligence, but I'll bet no one other than the originator of the announcement I read knows Who did What, When, Where and Why or How. Gee, now where have I heard that before?

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Bad Writing Advice

Why would I tell you how to write badly? Or give you bad writing advice? Susan K. Perry, Ph.D. is a social psychologist, writer, and writing consultant. Among her books are Writing in Flow: Keys to Enhanced Creativity and Psychology Today saw some merit in having Perry produce 11 Types of Bad Writing Advice.My first reaction was to jump on it and see how I could turn it all about to provide a quick fix of "good writing advice". I'm not alone in an effort to improve life by thinking positive, casting fresh French baguettes across the ocean, as it were. If what goes around comes around, it might as well be nourishing and gourmet! So, let's see what we can do with Ms. Perry's list of bad advice to avoid: anything that limits, cramps, narrows, demeans, distracts, diverts, straitjackets, inhibits, stymies, cripples or dictates.

"Well, duh!" I thought. No, wait. There must be value here or the magazine would not have posted this blog entry, right? Let's apply critical thinking to the kinds of suggestions I give people who want to be writers or to develop their writing skills. The first that comes to mind is the one Jane Friedman uses as the title of her blog: There are no rules! And I realized Perry's piece provides examples of the types of "rules" tossed at newbies like live grenades.

The idea is to not adopt any attitude or practice that shackles you to just one way of thinking, behaving, writing, form, or style. You may think, "That's no help, Lady!", which brings me to my second iota of writing wisdom: It's all guidance, suggested methods to try out and discard if it doesn't work for you. Some of them mean, "Don't do this in excess in one piece of writing." Let me illustrate with Perry's last piece of exaggeration:

Avoid adverbs; never use the passive voice; don't start a sentence with "there are." Every one of these "rules" has been broken repeatedly to terrific effect by top writers. And while there are established formats for query letters, nonfiction book proposals, and novel synopses, for every successful sale based on those formats, there's a major exception.

Aye, here's the rub: the people we are dumping all this advice upon are not "top writers". They are the "bottom writers" (especially if they're pantsers, if you will!) I don't encourage a vertical hierarchy about much in life, so I prefer to refer to those at the center and those on the periphery, hoping to work their way into the swirl that is the writing galaxy. Those at the center did not get far if they began and persisted in "exception" mode.

The idea is first to learn to write well. When you are just starting out, don't lean on the crutches of adverbs, adjectives, do-nothing verbs, colorless nouns and "there are" constructions. You need to strengthen your writing with strong action verbs and descriptive nouns.

Just because John Updike wrote in first person and sometimes used mundane openers like "It wasn't so much that ...", peppered his works with long adjectival passages and didn't hesitate to pop in an adverb to modify an already carefully chosen verb, doesn't mean that your writing will shine if you this do, too, if that's all you can do. Updike was/is one of the brilliant suns we revolve around because of all the other writing woven through these "broken rules", brilliance that can support the lesser structures.

Yeah, yeah. Fly away! Be free! But first begin with some grounding in the basics. It's sort of like sending children to any Sunday School, so that they will have something to rebel against when it comes time to choose for themselves what to believe. Writers, like children, need a context and structure to get them off to a good start.

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Editing Importance

Fired for fancy fonts? According to the NZ Herald, "an Auckland accountant was sacked for sending 'confrontational' emails with words in red, in bold and in capital letters." Apparently, we need to add "courtesy" and good editing to the call for electronic etiquette.

All was not lost for Vicki Walker, for the country's Employment Relations Authority ruled against her employer, ProCare. An authority member explained: "ProCare did not have a style or etiquette guide for employees using email, so it was not clear what was regarded as unacceptable communication." Still, Walker spent thousands suing her former employer and was out of work for 13 weeks.

When you email co-workers DO NOT SHOUT at them. Or me.

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Writing for the Future

If you could have a positive impact on hundreds of thousands of people in the future, would you do it? I'm not setting up a sci-fi plot or harping on global warming (though it applies).

I refer to the opportunity for TV writers, producers, sponsors and supporters to help change factors underlying the most prevalent public health dangers: obesity, heart disease, diabetes, addictions and mental illnesses. According to the ground-breaking Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, these health issues are highly associated with childhood trauma like:

# Recurrent physical abuse
# Recurrent emotional abuse
# Contact sexual abuse
# An alcohol and/or drug abuser in the household
# An incarcerated household member
# Someone who is chronically depressed, mentally ill, institutionalized, or suicidal
# Mother is treated violently
# One or no parents
# Emotional or physical neglect

I saw the valid and shocking statistical results from this well-designed research. The more traumas a person experiences before the age of 18, the greater the probability that he or she will develop one or more of the health problems listed above. Not just "twice as likely", but in the hundreds, even thousands of times greater chances.

After presenting this compelling material, I asked Dr. Vincent J. Felitti, author of the work, about solutions for the resulting health issues beyond psychotherapy and psychoactive drugs. He shrugged and said, "I don't have any." What he does have is a vision for a preventative scenario: soap operas.

"When you go into the homes of these [damaged] people, what do you find? Always, a television. And what do they all watch? Not CNN, but soap operas." He explained that many people need positive modeling to become better parents. We must start this change where it would be most effective. People at risk do engage with television, and watch programs like the soaps, looking to the characters for clues as to how to act, Felitti said.

I've seen this idea play out in the 40 years I've been hooked on "Days of Our Lives", my surrogate family. Last spring, the series featured characters "greening" their homes and businesses (global warming), and everyone carried water bottles and worked out at the gym. Writers could weave in mentoring on the ACE Study factors through the intricate plot lines. I'm thinking that for all her heaving and weeping about being such a good mother, Sami hardly ever has her children around. She neglects them. Maybe Sami could actually learn to be a good mother.

Other TV programs people watch in droves are the so-called reality ones, which suggest another opportunity to begin a parenting revolution. If people are going to suckle at the teat of the great boob tube, let's give them nourishment for the future. It is a challenge that taxes writers' creativity and program investors' far-sightedness and dedication to values easily mouthed and more difficult to actualize.

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Editing Out Errors

It's horrifying to spot typos and grammar errors in new works. I don't even try! They just glare at me from a web or book page. They leap up and assault my eyes with their wrongness. One book was so painful, I refused to review it. A new website I investigated yesterday will not be recommended because of spelling gaffes (not gafs). How can you help writers if you won't proofread your own material, can't recognize ungrammatical constructions, sin with syntax?

I don't mind Shakespeare's "ravel'd sleeve of care", but I won't abide "sleave", or "illude", or "lead" when the word needed is the past tense "led" (my most frequent mistake that will go to press shortly. Sob!) When I'm a writer, I am my worst client as an editor. A writer knows exactly what is meant, and that is what is heard inside the head as the writing is reviewed. I need another editor to look over my writing.

A worse type of mistake I spotted recently is in a listing of classes offered by a writing group. The class title is, "Self Editing Techniques". The presenter is a fiction writer. The description is about using spellbinding and "spellbreakers to hasten the progress of your final draft." One wonders, is this about facts or fantasy? Yes, even a little advertisement needs review by a second set of eyes for whom the material is fresh.

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Value of Newspapers

Buy a newspaper--first impulse when Ted Kennedy's death hit my brain. I watched the coverage on TV for about an hour, but it wasn't good enough. I need a sturdy obit that I can reread, hold in my hands, cut out and save if I want to. Sound bites don't cover enough, and I can't recall what I hear.

What I wanted was top left on the San Diego Union-Tribune front page, jumped to page A10. It is surprisingly even-handed for a conservative enterprise covering the patriarch of liberals. Some of our need to know can only be satisfied by media with staff enough to investigate, collate, analyze and synthesize comprehensive reports. Grassroots journalism online will never be able to perform those functions any time soon. Who could read that much regularly on a monitor, anyway?

The UT's recent purchase by a business specializing in turnarounds begins to show. A couple of weeks ago the Sunday edition featured the return of a TV listings insert. I mentioned on Twitter that I was about to tell the paper I would resubscribe if that happened. Sadly, before I did, the insert disappeared and ads ran offering the listings at an extra cost with a subscription. Maybe I missed the fine print that first week, but I see a bait and switch.

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Week of Contest Nominations

What a week this has been for A Writer's Edge! First, nominated to the 4th Annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers Contest -- more noms (votes) needed. Don't forget to include the URL: http://www.writers-edge.info/Blog.html and a reason--thanksabunch!

Now comes a message from Michelle at The BBAW Awards Committee of the Book Blogger Appreciation Week competition:

Dear Writer's Edge,

I am so thrilled to inform you that you have been nominated for a Book Blogger Appreciation Week Award in the category Best General Review Blog.

This year it takes place September 14-18. If you haven't heard about this contest, that may be because it is fairly new. The site explains:

Book Blogger Appreciation was started by Amy Riley of My Friend Amy in an effort to recognize the hard work and contribution of book bloggers to the promotion and preservation of a literate culture actively engaged in discussing books, authors, and a lifestyle of reading.

The first Book Blogger Appreciation was observed in the fall of 2008 and occurs every September. The week spotlights and celebrates the work of active book bloggers through guest posts, awards, giveaways, and community activities. Book Bloggers are encouraged to register their participation for inclusion in a database of book bloggers.

If anyone practices promotion and preservation of a literate culture actively engaged in discussing books, authors, and a lifestyle of reading that would be me with this blog, reviewing books, and wrangling the Tierrasanta Book Club in real life. Next step: hook it all up with a literacy program encouraging book reading by upcoming generations.

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Magazine Freelancing

Every once in a while I visit Ed2010.com to check out the Helpful Links list. This time I puzzled over the first set of resources. What are these, scandal sheets? I'd only heard of Gawker:

• Jossip
• Gawker
• Gothamist
• iwantmedia
• The Kicker
• Romenesko

It was the magazine list I wanted to review. Just for fun, I looked at ones for which I'd written: Bon Appetit, Family Circle, Harper's, Redbook -- yes, still in business if having a website counts. Many others weren't even listed. It was when I reached YM that a jolt came. The link redirects to a site for Teen Vogue with this notice:

If you're on this page, you most likely came from one of our sister sites, YM.com or Flip.com. Unfortunately, both YM and Flip are no longer being published. In their place, we invite you to explore Teen Vogue magazine and TeenVogue.com.

Magazines have always come and gone like fashion fads, but it's sad to see some old standards MIA (or DOA). Of course, I have Reader's Digest and it's recent bankruptcy filing in mind. Yes, I sold a piece to them, too, in the late 1960s.

Magazine freelancing is a fast-paced kind of work. You must pay attention to all sorts of details, as well as the [cliché alert!] big picture. I recommend following sites/feeds/pubs like Publishers Weekly and Mediabistro to help keep up. Or better yet, set up Google and Yahoo alerts for news about changes in the magazine publishing world. Even Ed's on Twitter (and seems to have abandoned his blog). See http://twitter.com/ed2010news for the latest, and beware, he tweets a lot!

Twitter, a news source?

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Spell Checker Misses

Where must spelling be perfect--other than a dictionary, of course! How about on your resume and job application? On Wednesday, I discussed the importance of good grammar and spelling in your online profiles as aids to job searches. Today we buzz direct employment tools.

Consider these frequently confused words, courtesy the Pongo Resume site, which asks, Are You Smarter Than a Spell Checker? No spell checker is going to help when you're used the wrong word, which is akin to a spelling error. Do you know when to use:

manger vs. manager
precede vs. proceed
lead vs. led
diffuse vs. defuse
stationery vs. stationary
prospective vs. perspective

The Pongo blog post is actually a quiz you can take (no peeking, peaking or piquing at the answers first). Pongo warns:

Any error is a strike against you, and the hiring manager may have a one-strike-and-you're-out policy. Spell checkers are good at spotting real spelling errors, but they're no help if your typo happens to be a real word.

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F + W Violating Copyrights?

Is F+W Publications violating copyrights of contributors to the Writer's Digest forum?

When I checked out a Twitter notice about BingTweets.com, I found a new way F+W Publishing displays contributions to the Writer's Digest forum. The search returned an image, "Printer friendly copy of thread," not the interactive forum page itself.

See: http://forum.writersdigest.com/forums/printer-friendly.asp?tid=1676&mid=, an image of a conversation about freelance contracts. The posts are not editable by the contributors. Even if we deleted our comments within the forum, this file would still be available (as in search engine caches which are occasionally purged or updated).

Discovery process: Twitter.com --> "Bing Tweets n. a nifty way to track Twitter trends and Bing updates," --> "Georganna Simmons" (pretty cool results at http://bit.ly/scs2d) --> WD static page. The returns are also cached.

The WD Forum explicitly states on its home page:

Writer's Digest also reserves the right to reproduce material from the Forum in Writer's Digest magazine, in the Writer's Digest e-mail newsletter and on WritersDigest.com for promotional purposes.

Once an item is posted, it is considered published and public information. Use caution when deciding to post personal information.

To that writers must agree, before being allowed to post, but the contributed content is editable--at that point. Something about copyright is nags at me, ownership of one's writing. More digital fuzziness. Undoubtedly attorney Ivan Hoffman has an article on his website covering the situation. Published does not mean "Public information" or that anyone can reprint an entire piece of writing just because it is published online. That would seem to override copyright law if true. Mr. Hoffman? Did we agree to commit our words to be used as linkbait forever?

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NYTimes Blog Gems

Notes from the newsroom on grammar, usage and style. Great editing posts to help writers from the NYTimes After Hours blog:

• Words We Love Too Much
• Words to Watch
• May, Might, Muddle
• When Spell-Check Can’t Help
• Red Pencils Ready?
• Subject, Meet Verb

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Contact Etiquette Part 2

When you're contacting someone for the first time by snail mail regarding your writing (any form), use a standard layout for a business letter. The first formatting guide is to single space the blocks and paragraphs. That is, the return and sending address information elements are in blocks with the date included either under your return address or centered at the top of the page. The return address block comes first, either flush left or right-justified.

Space at least two lines before beginning the recipient's name and address, left-justified or flush left. If your letter is short, use 1.5" margins all around. For a longer missive, one-inch margins are fine, but no smaller. Under the sender's information block, leave a blank line and then include the salutation which begins "Dear M...:" If you know only a last name and not the gender of the person to whom you are writing, use "Dear M. Lastname:" Notice that the salutation is followed by a colon. A comma is also acceptable for a business letter, although less formal.

Do I sound like Miss Manners?

Insert another blank line after the salutation and begin the first paragraph either flush left, aligned with the recipient block and the salutation, or indented 2-5 spaces. Similarly, insert a blank line between paragraphs, of which three or four should cover your reason for writing. Very short messages can be completely centered on the paper. Indent each new paragraph. After the last one, leave a blank line and start the closing flush left. For business, appropriate closings are "Yours truly," and "Sincerely," or perhaps, "Sincerely yours,". Leave four blank lines to accommodate your signature and type your full name. You can follow it with email/phone/fax/website information, if you wish.

Something I left out of Part 1, electronic contacts: use a black, 12-14 pt., sans serif font (like Arial or Verdana). For print, be sure to use a serif font no smaller than 12 pt. Times New Roman is fine. I use Georgia for my own silly purpose, including the fact that it is slightly larger than Times. Your printer should be functioning well with no variations in the ink coverage. Must I say only use black print on white or cream-colored paper for business letters?

Just in case you're wondering how to word all the information that might go into a recipient's address block, here's an example:

Miss Nora Zane, Acquisitions Editor
Big Six Publishing, Co., Imprint Books
1225 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10025

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