The Writer's Perspective by Maria Schneider - language issues

In honor of National Poetry Month

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:17:56 GMT

Hi Writers,
It's National Poetry Month, so I thought I'd offer up an excerpt courtesy of our wonderful new Poetry columnist Dorianne Laux. This is from the June 08 issue of Writer's Digest (on newwstands 4/15), from a column on word choice:

There’s something in the name Romeo—those three sweet, open syllables—that our English-speaking ears have come to love. No one-syllable Fred, no matter how beautiful of mind, body and spirit, will do. Even if we substituted another three-syllable name more fitting to the times, Christopher, for instance, we hear right away what it lacks. Partly it’s the erotic quality of the Italian language and its lilting syllabics and luscious Latinate endings. Benvolio and Mercutio, Romeo’s friends, also have poly-syllabic names that end in that lovely, open “o.” But only Romeo possesses the particular combination of the warm romantic “R,” mellifluous “m” and rolling “o’s,” so sensual to say and hear.

To get your full April poetry fix, check out our write-a-poem-a-day challenge on Poetic Asides.

Keep Writing,
Maria

PROJECT 20/20: BUILD MY BLOGROLL WEEK #15 ADD!

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 22:40:57 GMT

Hi Writers,
This is week 15 in my Project 20/20 Build My Blogroll project
Please follow the link for details about the project where you'll find many of the writer's blogs nominated in the comments section of that original post.

There's still no shortage of great writer's blogs to add to my blogroll, as you'll see with this week's add: Kelly Spitzer

There's a lot to admire about Kelly's blog, including helpful book reviews and journal recommendations. But one of my favorite features is her Writer Profile Project in which Kelly profiles writers and also editors of small literary magazines and journals.

I love literary journals, but admittedly have a difficult time keeping up with them all. Kelly's blog is going to be my new go-to source for information on what's new and happening on the journal front.

Kelly's also an editor herself. She's the submissions editor of Smokelong Quarterly an online journal featuring flash fiction “about a smoke long.” I'm embarrassed to admit I hadn't heard of Smokelong, but I'm definitely going to become a regular peruser there. The art is striking and they're publishing some recognizable names, including our new fiction columnist himself, Mr. Steve Almond.

So Kelly, welcome to my blogroll, and thanks for doing such great work on behalf of the indie press.

Keep Writing,
Maria

PROJECT 20/20: BUILD MY BLOGROLL WEEK #13 ADD!

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:44:09 GMT

Hi Writers,

It's oh-so-lucky week #13 in my unstoppable quest to add one writer's blog to my blogroll each week for 20 weeks.

And without further adieu, I'd like to announce this week's add:

The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Succes
by Linda Formichelli

If you're trying to break into freelancing, make this blog your go-to source for advice, resources, and just plain chutzpah that's necessary to establish a freelance writing career. I'd pay attention to anything Linda had to say—she's a real pro.

Check out the Renegade Writer’s FAQ advice archives, for lots of sassy, saucy advice for the working writer.

Here's one post I found especially useful in that renegade writer way:

The sneaky way to e-mail a magazine editor:
If you want to e-mail an editor, but don’t have her address, don’t fret — I’ve compiled the e-mail formats of some of the bigger publishing companies. Of course, there are always variations, such as when an editor has a hyphenated last name…but this list will still help in many cases.

The Renegade Writer’s blog even shares some real query letters that won assignments here. I think this is quite useful to help illustrate what editors are really looking for in a query.

Congratulations Linda, you renegade you. My blogroll is charmed by your rebel spirit.

I'm still taking nominations—7 spots to fill!

Keep Writing,
Maria
P.S. A correction: All apologies for neglecting to mention Diana Burrell in my original post. Diana and Linda co-blog on the Renegade Writer site.

PROJECT 20/20: BUILD MY BLOGROLL WEEK 11 ADD!

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:21:15 GMT

Hi Writers,
Wow, we're on week 11 of my Project 20/20 Build my Blogroll Project (see all the details in the left navigation). I've been adding a writer's blog to my blogroll every Friday for 11 weeks now. More than 75 writer's blogs have been nominated so far. I encourage you to check them out in the comments section of the Project 20/20 link.

This week's add is all about the subject writer's hate talking about but really need to know.
And that subject is—you guessed it—MONEY!

I've been acquainted with this writer for a while now. She provides such a valuable service to writers by tracking down grants and making the listings readily available.

Please check out this great resource/ blog by C. Hope Clark:
Funds For Writers

This blog will give you a great boost toward getting funds to enable you to write.

Thanks for all you do on behalf of writers, Hope.

Keep the nominations coming, there are still 9 spots to fill!

Keep Writing,
Maria

PROJECT 20/20 BUILD MY BLOGROLL: WEEK 10 ADD!

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:58:53 GMT

Hi Writers,
It's the 10th week in My Project 20/20 Build my Blogroll Project. You can read all about the project and nominate a writing blog in "Project 20/20" in the left navigation.

This week's add is all about the power of friends.

I've been noticing a trend lately, in the form of multiple writers gathering together to form a blog collective. This makes a lot of sense when you realize the time and commitment it takes to put out a quality blog on a continuous and relenteless basis. And when you consider the exponentially increased audience a group of writers can reach, well, a group blog really starts to make a lot of sense.

One of the first writing collective blogs I came across is this fine blog that was nominated at the beginning of my project. Congrats to our friendly writing neighbors to the north:
The Canadian Writers' Collective
hosted by the following writers:

Melissa Bell
Anne Chudobiak
Tricia Dower
Steven Gajadhar
Tamara J. Lee
Antonios Maltezos
Andrew Tibbetts

I'm guessing with 7 regular writers and specical guests, it's easy to keep the blog fires burning. Not to mention the fun factor of blogging as a group experience.

This blog is a bit of everything you'd want in a writing blog, really. Yesterday they posted a Halloween Haiku contest. There are posts from one writer's "Journal of a Wannabe Novelist" to advice on which writing books to invest in.

I'd love for any or all of the members of the Canadian Writers' Collective to stop in and tell us what it's like to be part of a group blog. I'd like to get into one of those myself!

Keep Writing,
Maria

PROJECT 20/20 BUILD MY BLOGROLL: WEEK 9 ADD!

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:15:47 GMT

Hi Writers,
You may or may not know, I've spent the past nine weeks lurking around the blogosphere perusing writers' blogs, for my Project 20/20, in which I'm spotlighting a writer's blog each week for 20 weeks.

Now, at week #9 I'm almost at the halfway mark and still getting lots of great nominations for my burgeoning blogroll. You can check out many of the nominations—and nominate a blog—on the Project 20/20 Build My Blogroll link on the left navigation.

As I've mentioned several times here on The Writer's Perspective I have eclectic tastes, I read widely and try to not pigeonhole myself into a genre. And I'm really proud of the diverse range of writers assembled so far on my blogroll. So I was looking over the blogroll today and realized, wow, I don't have a poet yet.

Of course, every good blogroll needs its own Poet Laureate. With that, here's my Week #9 add, who I hereby decree the official Poet Laureate of The Writer's Perspective blogroll:

Sage Said So by Sage Cohen

I was charmed by the asthetics of Sage's blog and website, which I think makes such a positive statement about her and her work. It's clean, elegant and makes good use of white space. The simple line drawings add personality and match the graphics on her new book of poetry, Like the Heart, the World. Sage just started her book tour and shares the experience on her blog, which is a wonderful way for writers to promote their work without seeming overly self-promotional.

I loved this recent post: "From Stopper to Striker" in which Sage compares the evolution of her writing career to lessons learned on the soccer field.

Sage, congratulations on being my newest blogroll add, and on your new role as the official Poet Laureate of The Writer's Perspective blogroll.

Have a lovely weekend. And, of course...
Keep Writing,
Maria

a caveat

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 00:59:32 GMT

Hi Writers,
Since I've gotten some negative feedback on this week's blogroll add (below), I'd like to point out that there is some risque subject matter in the blog spotlighted this week. I didn't find it any more offensive than your typical PG-13 rated movie, honestly, but if you're easily offended, it's probably best not to go there.

The blog is definitely not politically-correct, but I personally found it clever and entertaining. Off-color humor or not, it made me laugh. I think it's interesting that the blog cites and catalogs the silly, strange new words discovered on the world wide web. At any rate, it's definitely not for everyone, and I apologize to any who were offended by my recommendation.

Keep Writing,
Maria

PROJECT 20/20 BUILD MY BLOGROLL: WEEK 8 ADD!

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 17:26:50 GMT

Hi Writers,
It’s week 8 in my Project 20/20 Build my Blogroll contest and yes, it's still hard for me to choose from all the great writing blogs out there.

I came across this week’s pick a couple of weeks ago when I was editing a feature this writer wrote for us on how online dating is similar to editor/ writer relationships (to come in our February 08 issue).

As I mentioned before, I like to get an idea about the freelancers who contribute to us. That’s when I found this charming fellow's blog, my week 8 add:

Wordlustitude by Mark Peters.

I don’t really even know what to call what Mark does on his blog, which takes a screwball look at modern English usage. I suppose you could say he's building a sort-of dictionary for fringe elements (note: I include myself as a fringe element).

Maybe you could call Mark a loopy linguist? A loony lexicologist? At any rate, check it out, he’s hilarious (note to the sensitive among us: I wouldn't exactly call this a G-rated site).

Here’s one recent post:

megastitious

noun. This describes you if black cats and other evil portents give you the heebie-jeebies, the creeps, an ulcer, and the wiggins. Boooooooo!

Related term: stitious.

Real citation: “My mom's not just superstitious, she's megastitious. She's emailed my sister and I this chain mail today. My sister has multiple email accounts so mom emails it to her many mnay times...so she gets enough people in so she doesn't end up having bad luck forever, or whatever. Anyway, I thought this one was very funny and had to share.”
(Sept. 3, 2007, Post Punk Kitchen, http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=682545)

Made-up citation: "Despite my atheistic ways, I can be megastitious. If you gave me thirteen cupcakes made of gold and rainbows, I think I'd run the other way."

Mark, I welcome you to my vicious (blog) circle.

Check out wordlustitude, a daily laugh for word nerds everywhere. And I'd like to encourage you all to leave your made-up words here in my comments—I have a feeling that will get Mark’s attention.

Keep Writing,
Maria
P.S. There is some risque subject matter in this blog, so please be advised!

PROJECT 20/20: BUILD MY BLOGROLL WEEK 6 ADD!

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:37:49 GMT

Hi Writers,
It's FRIDAY! the most exciting day of the week in writing blogdom. It's the day of the week I add another writer's blog to my ever-expanding blogroll in my Project 20/20: Build my Blogroll contest. I'm adding one blog a week, each Friday, for 20 weeks.

And today I'm announcing sweet number six, which belongs to a writer who is also a Writer's Digest frequent forumista. In fact, we've been having the most interesting conversation about writing blogs on the forum. Another frequent forumista, Ultimate Cheapskate, seems to think that writing a blog, a.k.a. giving away your work, is pointless. We had a really fascinating, slightly controversial subject about it, of course we had to point out to Cheapskate the error of his ways. Please check it out and add to the discussion you writer/bloggers.

With that I'd like to introduce my next blogroll add: A Writer's Edge
by Georganna Hancock.

Georganna has been blogging since 2004. Three years seems like an eternity in blogdom, doesn't it?

I liken blog years to dog years: 1 year blogging = 7 regular years.
21 years blogging! Amazing!

Georganna is perhaps even more obsessive/compulsive than I am in keeping up on publishing industry trends and news, and she shares freely, along with her own writing tips for success.

Please join me in welcoming Georganna to my lovely blog circledom.

Please note: I've added my original post about Project 20/20, which includes many of the blogs that have been nominated (in the comments section), in the left navigation here.

Keep nominating your favorite writing blogs--there are still 14 weeks to go!

Keep Writing,
Maria

PROJECT 20/20 BUILD MY BLOGROLL: WEEK 5 ADD!

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:42:17 GMT

Hi Writers,

It's week 5 in my ambitious Project 20/20. My goal is to spotlight one writer's blog each Friday for 20 weeks and add it to my ever-growing roster of online writing buddies.

It's always a pleasure to find out one of our freelancer writers for Writer's Digest keeps a blog. In case you're wondering whether or not editors actually read that stuff, I admit, yes I do check in on blogs when we're looking at giving an assignment to a writer who's new to us.

One of my favorite new freelancers to work with is Jenny Rough, and she writes the blog I'm adding to my blogroll this week: Roughly Speaking

If you're a Writer's Digest reader, you may recognize Jenny as the author of one of our October cover features entitled Off the Dole: How to stop depending on other's to support your freelance writing career.

Jenny has a great voice and writes in a down-to-earth style about the nitty gritty of establishing a freelance writing career. Here's a recent blog post she titled "Weekend."

Full time freelance writing often means that one day runs into another into another into another. Instead of “work days” and “weekends” I simply have days. At least, that’s my approach. I realize some writers compartmentalize (on x days I must write x many pages in x many hours), but I tend to go with the flow (well, to the extent that I can while working within the bounds of my assignment deadlines). This often means I might be grocery shopping on Monday morning, but then working late Friday night (or Saturday or Sunday).

As a former freelancer myself, Jenny, I can relate—there is no such thing as "weekend" to the freelancer.

Another thing that really impresses me about Jenny is the consistency of her blogging. Jenny, please tell us how do you keep up the pace? Do you ever get blog burnout? And do you have a yoga move for that?

Roughly Speaking will now, forever and ever, be enshrined on my blogroll hall of fame.

Keep Writing,
Maria

PROJECT 20/20 BUILD MY BLOGROLL: WEEK 4 ADD!

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:08:28 GMT

Hi Writers,
It's the fourth week in my ongoing quest to add one writer's blog to my blogroll each week for 20 weeks.

If you've been following my Project 20/20, one thing you've probably noticed is that I have eclectic tastes. After last week's choice of J.A. Konrath's blog A Newbie's Guide to Publishing, there was some discussion on our forum about whether a writer's blog should offer entry into their personal/writing life.

I think there is a place for it. If you're able to craft scenes from your life into writing for your blog that's relevant to others, I say go for it.

The number one problem I see though, is that many writers, when writing for their blog, seem to forget the number one prerogative for all writers: respect your reader.

They're including lots of mundane, undigested, stream-of-conscious type stuff that doesn't make a lot of sense or have relevance to anyone outside of their circle of acquaintances. I'd strongly recommend that if you're keeping a blog as a highly personal journal or diary—keep a password on it so it's out of the public domain. You don't want to offer the world a poor reflection of your writing.

There are some writers, however, who are doing a spectacular job of incorporating their personal/writing life into their blogs.

Here's a good example of a writer who's doing it well. The Week 4 add to my blogroll:
Shanghai Adventures of a Trailing Spouse by Kristin Bair O'Keeffe

This link takes you to the home page of Kristin's website, which is stunning. This is one great looking website/blog. But lest you writers think I'm choosing style over substance, check out her blog. Her posts are well-crafted and offer great insight into her adventurous writing life as she writes her first novel.

There's much here to offer inspiration to other writers. I especially love this post she did recently, Writing: On Process. The Novel as Pie Crust.

Kristin, please tell us: Did you design this site on your own? Do you take these beautiful photographs? And has keeping the blog helped motivate you to keep pushing forward on your novel?

Shanghai Adventures of a Trailing Spouse is now, forever and always, emblazoned on my blogroll hall of fame.

There's still 16 weeks/16 blogs to go, so keep the nominations coming!

Keep Writing,
Maria

PROJECT 20/20 BUILD MY BLOGROLL: WEEK 3 ADD!

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:14:24 GMT

Hi Writers,
It's the third week in my Project 20/20. My goal: to add one writer's blog to my blogroll each Friday for 20 weeks.

I have a personal favorite to add to the blogroll this week, because it's a blog I really think you will all enjoy and take something away from:
A Newbie's Guide to Publishing by J.A. Konrath, author of the Lt. Jack Daniels thriller series.

I find a lot of what's on Joe's blog helpful to writers, especially in terms of learning how to market your work. Joe's written several great marketing articles for Writer's Digest and it's really been my pleasure to work with him for the past few years. He's so gracious in terms of sharing what he's learned about the publishing world with other writers, and he does so in a way that's always refreshing, down-to-earth and positive.

Of course, he's figured this whole blogging thing out, too. Joe really knows how to cut to the chase and give you something meaningful to think about at the same time. Here's an especially pertinent post:

Blogging is not temporary

Blogging, like newspaper and radio, is often mistaken for a disposable form of information. Yet I get lots of hits from Google on old blog posts, and many of them continue to accrue comments.

Pay attention to what you're posting today, you bloggers of blogland. Because it will still be around tomorrow. If your posts are without purpose, you're not doing yourself a service.

Let me repeat that: Blogging Isn't Temporary. What you do now may one day be surfed by someone who isn't even born yet, and that path will lead back to you. Do you want that path to result in interest or apathy?

Think about why you blog, and what purpose it's serving. Look at your last fifty entries. Will they be of any interest to someone in 2017? If not, why do you think they are of any interest to anyone now?

That's why I don't do memes. That's why I don't blog about personal stuff. That's why I don't push my own books constantly—no one ever seeks out ads. And that's why, except on rare occassions, I don't blog about events, peers, friends, family, or what I watched on TV last night.

Your blog is a tool. But too many people are using hammers to scratch their asses rather than drive nails. If you blog as a form of entertainment, that's no problem—have fun. If you blog to increase your name recognition, you may be doing more harm than good.

A Newbies Guide to Publishing is the 3rd writer's blog to be forever carved into the trunk of my blog tree. I raise a shot of Jack to you, Joe Konrath, on behalf of writers everywhere!

Keep the nominations coming. There are still 17 blogs to add!

Keep Writing,
Maria

PROJECT 20/20: WEEK 2 ADD!

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 18:16:37 GMT

Hi Writers,
I had another fabulous Friday scanning through the many great writing blogs that have been nominated for my project.

Brief but potentially interesting sidenote: Many, many writers have cats, and post multiple photos of cats on their blogs. Kind of made me want to get my own feline to be part of the club. Peer pressure, you know.

Anyway, back to my blogroll project. For various reasons having nothing to do with this project I was feeling a little blue today and really needed a good laugh. Well, I'm so glad I found this blog because it gave me exactly what I needed:
Screw You!: Daily (or thereabouts) diatribes of a frenzied freelancer by Kathy Kehrli.

Irreverently innovative, hilariously hostile and frankly funny, this is your go-to blog to blow off a little steam with your writing buddy Kathy, as she sounds off on the dastardly deeds of her clientele. She also has a straight-up, buttoned down website The Flawless Word and blog for her freelance business with very solid information. Check out both. You may find yourself wondering: Is this really the same person? I do wonder what happens if one her clients inadvertantly stumbles upon her Screw You! blog. Kathy, please get on here and tell us: How do you keep from getting caught, and/or what do you do when you get caught?

Also, I realize this is an unfair advantage, but I gave Kathy bonus points for being from Scranton, PA, the fictional setting of my favorite TV show The Office.

Screw You! is now, forever and always inscribed on my blogroll. Could yours be next? Find out next Friday. Keep nominating your favorite writing blogs right here in my comments.

Keep Writing,
Maria
P.S. As you may have noticed, I tend to over-use alliteration when I'm down. All apologies for that.

PROJECT 20/20: AND MY FIRST ADD

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:54:59 GMT

Hi Writers,
Wow, thanks for all of the nominations for my Project 20/20: Build my Blogroll. I had a wonderful day sifting through the 50 or so blogs nominated. If you get a chance, go check out some or all of the blogs mentioned in my comments section below, there's some great stuff there.

But alas, I had to choose just one for today. And it is:
The Urban Muse: Adventures in Reading, Writing and Living the Creative Life by Susan Johnston

Copywriter by day, freelancer by night, Susan is a young writer who's chronicling her professional writing life, as well as offering resources for her fellow writers. She has some great interviews with industry insiders as well as lots of helpful tips. One of my favorites posts is: Five Ways to Promote Your Blog. Susan's tone is personal yet still polished and professional. The design is clean and readable. There's so much helpful information on her blog, really, I think I'm going to have to get her to do some writing for Writer's Digest. Susan, please do stop by and tell us how you find the time to put this all together.

Susan's URL is now inscribed on my blogroll, which is going to be filled by the end of this year. 20 blogs in 20 weeks. Be my BFF* (blog friend forever). Keep the nominations coming.

Keep Writing,
Your Bloggess (aka "The Pit Boss")
Maria
P.S. you should try to get a job where someone pays you to look at blogs all day, it's really quite entertaining.

* apologies for the lame yet ironic use of IM-speak.

PROJECT 20/20: HELP ME BUILD MY BLOGROLL

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:04:41 GMT

Hi Writers,
I'm kicking off a new project here on my blog: Project 20/20. No, this is not an attempt to solicit funds for my Lasik© surgery (although, if you like, send c/o Writer's Digest, 4700 E. Galbraith Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45236).

This purpose of this project is to build my blogroll. I've been thinking, you know, blogging is all about sharing and connecting and being part of larger and larger circles now, isn't it?

Now, look at my blogroll. I know, except for the (entirely awesome) WD Blogs, it's skimpy. Not being a very good bloggess now am I? (Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure I just made up the word "bloggess").

So here's the deal: There are 20 Fridays left in 2007. Starting next Friday, I'm going to highlight one writer's blog each week then add it to my guaranteed-to-be-fabulous blogroll.

I'm looking for blogs that:
• are dedicated to the topic of writing and/or publishing
• are updated frequently
• are owned and maintained by private individuals

So if you want me to check out your blog, drop a comment here.

Keep Writing,
Maria
p.s. there's still a raging debate on the f*** word going on in the forum.
Thanks to all who expounded so eloquently on the f*** word, especially Jay, who wrote a Master's thesis on the topic in my comments section. This is for you Jay: u*********.

On the f*** word

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:17:00 GMT

Hi Writers,
I have a not-so-shocking confession to make: I curse. In fact, around deadlines, I curse a lot. Most of my verbal spewing is directed at my computer screen. But still, it's not something I'm proud of, and it's certainly not something I want to flaunt.

This confession comes in light of several recent bouts with the f*** word. Every magazine/newspaper/book editor has to grapple with the question: should this word be allowed in their publication?

I've had to make this call several times in the last few months. In our October issue, there's an interview with novelist Chuck Palahniuk along with a brief excerpt from his new book, and the f*** word is part of the excerpt from Chapter 1. We decided to handle it with asterisks.

And last week, a source for a piece we're running on the gay and lesbian fiction market had an issue with our "censoring" the f*** word.

On our forum, we've set up filters to automatically asterisk the word.

We're a writing magazine, so the last thing we want to do is censor the work of writers. I do understand why the word might have its place in fiction—especially in dialogue since it's become so ubiquitous in our language, it would seem almost wrong for certain types of characters not to be using it.

But especially in nonfiction, don't writers need to be the ones to keep the level of discourse high? Hasn't the f*** word become so common that it's almost trite? And is it really censorship if an editor chooses not to print this particular word? As you can tell, this is really bugging me right now, so please let me know your thoughts.

Keep Writing,
Maria

EMOTICON NOTIONS

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:07:11 GMT

Hi Writers,
Oh, the guilt I felt when I read this New York Times article about emoticon usage:
"Just Between You and Me"

Here's a brief excerpt (but I recommend reading the piece in full): There's also a link to a full-range of emoticons for the aficionado.

"Emoticons, the smiling, winking and frowning faces that inhabit the computer keyboard, have not only hung around long past their youth faddishness of the 1990s, but they have grown up. Twenty-five years after they were invented as a form of computer-geek shorthand, emoticons — an open-source form of pop art that has evolved into a quasi-accepted form of punctuation — are now ubiquitous.

No longer are they simply the province of the generation that has no memory of record albums, $25 jeans or a world without Nicole Richie. These Starburst-sweet hieroglyphs, arguably as dignified as dotting one’s I’s with kitten faces, have conquered new landscape in the lives of adults, as more of our daily communication shifts from the spoken word to text. Applied appropriately, users say, emoticons can no longer be dismissed as juvenile, because they offer a degree of insurance for a variety of adult social interactions, and help avoid serious miscommunications."

I have to admit to being a user/abuser and an enabler of emoticon usage. As the moderator of the Writer's Digest forum I've seen first-hand how a well-placed emoticon (on the forum, we call our multi-expression guy the little blue man), can:

• give levity to a sarcastic post ; )

• cheer up a person in low spirits : )

• share the pain in someone's rejection : (

Emoticons may have a place in forums and casual e-mails where discourse moves fast—so the intent of the writer can be quickly surmised. But will their widespread usage ultimately dumb down our language?

Are you an emoticon user/abuser? Should writers try to avoid them in their online writing?

Keep Writing,
Maria
P.S. Here's an exercise in writerly restraint: I challenge you to go emoticon-free for one full week. Try it and we'll follow up on this in next week's post.

WORDS WE LOVE

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:40:14 GMT

Hi Writers,
Thanks to all who contributed to "Words We Hate" (see my previous post). Back on this language sensitivity issue, though, I've been feeling a bit like an uptight English teacher who's picking on the bad kids without acknowledging the good ones.

So in that spirit, I'd like to share with you "Words I Love" and I'd like you to share your darlings, too.

I love words that have double oos:
oomph (even though it's an onomatopoeia and I hate the word onomatopoeia)
smooth
spoof

I love French menu sounding words, and try to work them into my writing whenever I can get away with it, without sounding pretentious (which is a challenge):
frisson
flambe
beignet

I love almost all words that begin with a Z:
zip
zither
zest

I don't know why I like these words--maybe one of our resident linguists can tell us why.

So let's hear it: What words make your heart beat faster?

Keep Writing,
Maria

Is there a language sensitivity gene?

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:15:35 GMT

Hi Writers,
I just read an interesting "On Language" column in the NYT this week written by Jaimie Epstein, "Sentence Sensibility"

This column (difficult to get through due to the satiric(?) use of Jane Austen-esque run-on sentences that could poke a person's eye out) brings up an important question for writers to obsess over: "Is there a language-sensitivity gene?"

From my own observations, I'd have to say, absolutely, yes. Case in point: This very weekend a song came on the car radio. It was a locally produced song, circa-1978 called, "Music, Sex and Cookies." I hadn't heard this particular song in at least two decades. Well, my passengers were stunned to witness that I knew the lyrics in their entirety.

This happens often and I never really think about it until I'm with non language sensitive types, and they infer how utterly freakish it is.

This, coupled with the fact that certain words will turn me so pale that our managing editor keeps smelling salts in her desk, leads me to believe there is, in fact, a language sensitivity gene.

To prove my point, I'm going to list one of my most hated words right here so you'll see for yourself:

penultima...

See, I just passed out.

Here's my question to you: Is there such a thing as a language sensitivity gene?
Also, what's your most hated word? Go ahead and share, it's good to let it out.

Keep Writing,
Maria
P.S. A loyal WD forum member (cooltouch) has correctly pointed out that I offer no sound scientific findings in my thesis here stated. I am ordering DNA testing of grandparents on both sides and will report back on the results.

Help Me Christen My Blog

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 16:31:08 GMT

Hi Writers,

As this is my first ever blog posting, it seemed appropriate to set it off in the right spirit with a christening of sorts, so here goes:

The world is always ready to receive talent with open arms.

This fortune cookie wisdom has been taped to my computer monitor for the past four years I’ve been an editor here at Writer’s Digest. It was left behind by the editor before me, and it helps motivate me when I’m getting ready to write.

It’s rather ironic that I’m just now entering blogdom, since I wrote an article on blogging when it was the hot new thing, way back in the dark ages of 2001 The Art of the Blog. It was difficult to even find bloggers to interview back then, let alone someone who could speak quotably on the subject.

So here I am, editrix of Writer’s Digest, blogging for the first time. You’d think I’d have my hands full trying to keep Brian Klems, Kevin Alexander and all of the WD forumites (who call me “the pit boss”) in line.

But the thing is, I’m a lifelong obsessive-compulsive reader, and I like to share what I read. In fact, on a neurotic note, I think I may have hyperlexia: “A condition in which the main characteristics are an above average ability to read accompanied with a below average ability to understand spoken language. The symptoms are closely related to those of autism.”

And possibly even hypergraphia: “An overwhelming urge to write. It is not itself a disorder, but can be associated with temporal lobe changes in epilepsy and mania.”

(Thank God for the Internet, how else would we research our obscure psychological disorders?)

Anyway, disorder or not, I do a ridiculous amount of reading. Lucky for me, I finally landed a job where they pay me to read. But it occurred to me that you writers may not have fallen into a gig where someone pays you to do what you’d probably do for free (shhh… don’t tell my bosses).

So here’s the deal, let me do the scanning for you. I’m going to keep an eye on the publishing industry and other writerly news and report back to you by providing links you might be interested in, along with commentary. Agree or disagree, I’d love to hear from you either way. The WD forumites will tell you that I enjoy verbal sparring as long everyone’s having a good time--so let’s mix it up.

And to kick things off, I’m asking anyone dropping in to help christen my blog properly by posting the quotes you have taped to your writing desk or computer. Until next time...

Keep Writing,
-Maria