A little newsletter-type thing that I've been getting via emails for the last few years. I'm embarrassed to say that I've often NOT had the time to read them. There is a truckload of info in this little newsletter. It comes out of the University of Wisconsin.
http://www.dcs.wisc.edu/lsa/writing/extrainnings/
A couple things I'd like to share that really impacted me in the latest #25 letter. There was a cute little story about a magic pen and if you bought and used that magic pen, you would be a writer. I got a kick out of it. I know better. It's me and my Muse that write. :)
One of the best things in this issue is: "Oft-overlooked rules of English." Page 3. Quite fun! My favorite, being as I'm from Ohio and I think we are born to do this, is Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. In Ohio - they are! Another favorite is: One should never generalize. In a sentence, the nouns has to match the verbs. You get the idea.
I liked Perry "Paw Joe" Stone's column. He does what I do, which definitely makes me his fan. He writes and then immediately edits. Sometimes he only writes a paragraph or a sentence and then edits. Made me feel better about myself.
Norma Sundberg wrote: A friend listened to me going on and on
about my publishing success and said, "Oh! we all know you like to brag!" “NO, I told her. It's called MARKETING! And we all know that marketing is a whole 'nuther world' altogether??!!
I very much like this thought - mostly because I feel a bit self-aggrandizing when I'm telling folks about 'Blue.' But now I understand. I'm just MARKETING! :)
Life is such fun.
Many publishers expect their writers to do their own marketing. That's why you can find so many blogging, on FB and Twitter, and doing book signings and other events. I don't have the contract yet, but I've already made plans for an event in 2013. :-)
ReplyDeleteInteresting that my verification word was 'pride.' :-D
Thanks for the link, I've bookmarked that site!
ReplyDeleteI am always aware of sentences that end with prepositions, and I do everything I can to avoid it, and when I edit other people's stuff, I always rewrite those parts. Sometimes it's hard, though, because a lot of times we actually do talk that way!
This is my favorite thing to avoid from the list: "While a transcendent vocabulary is
laudable, one must nevertheless keep incessant
surveillance against such loquacious, effusive,
voluble verbosity that the calculated objective
of communication becomes ensconced in
obscurity." :-D
Yes, Judy, marketing is now part and parcel of a published authors life. I watch my editor go out on jaunt after jaunt with school visits and book signings and such. Incredible amount of work!
ReplyDeleteI swear, Margaret, we in Ohio cut our teeth on ending sentences with prepositions. I never knew about this rule until a couple years ago!
ReplyDeleteAs for the 'transcendent vocabulary' it is my favorite, too. I just didn't want to take all that time to write it down. ROTFL