The first seven chapters of 13th Summer are now available at:
http://www.authonomy.com/books/32797/13th-summer/
You may have to register to view the chapters, but it's a painless process.
If you believe this middle grade/YA novel would be a good candidate for publishing, please comment below.
If you are a publisher or agent who wishes to review the entire manuscript, please contact me at nwollenberg (at) cox (dot) net.
Thanks!
That's all for now.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Writing Tools Part 3: Let's Get Physical... errr... Active, I Mean.
Passive Versus Active Voice
Remember back in my previous post when I wrote about revisions? This post has a very close relationship to that one. We're talking about tools that we, as writers, have in our toolboxes. We've talked about eloquent vocabulary, high-end grammar skills and strong verbs and nouns. Now we're going to talk about active and passive voice, which is directly related to strong verbs and nouns.
To put it bluntly, passive voice is for wussies. Passive voice whines on the page and blames everyone else for all of its problems. As a writer, you must destroy passive voice! I'm going to have some examples here in a second, but writing in passive voice pisses me off, so let me take a few deep breaths... there, all better. Okay, here is a passage that uses passive voice and let's add weak nouns and verbs for blandness and some adverbs and adjectives for nausea:
The car was being driven along the road quickly. Loving thoughts of Tom ran through Jane's head as the gravel hit the bottom of her car. The beating of her heart was like the bongos that Tom played in the jazz band. Once she was at Tom's house, her kisses would ignite his passion and their lovemaking would wear them out.
Wow. I'm so thrilled at this point I could vomit. Obviously, this is really crappy writing in the first place, but the passive voice turns it into a mushy bowl of Cream of Wheat.
If we make a few adjustments, though, we can salvage the sentences and maybe make it a bit more exciting.
Gravel tattooed the undercarriage of Jane's Mustang as she raced down the road toward Tom's mobile home. Her mind became a twisted playground of erotica and her heart thumped like Tom's jazz bongos as she contemplated shoving her tongue down his throat. She knew that when she locked lips with him that they would make love through the night and they would be overwhelmed with the exhaustion of lovers.
Meh. The writing still sucks. But at least we gave it some action, right? This is the difference between active and passive voice. In the first example, you have sentences that are like a limp-fish handshake. In the second example, the active voice grabs you by the lapels of your rental tux and shakes you like an overbearing father on prom night.
This is what has to happen with your writing. It's okay to go through and write the first draft and have sentences here and there that are in passive voice. The point of the first draft is to get the story down. Once you start the revision process, though, passive voice has to be flushed down the toilet. This is what it means to twist every sentence until it cries "Uncle!"
I realize this is a short post. I know you've grown accustomed to me rambling on and on, but I'm going to leave it at that and cover the rest of this in part four. Sometimes short and sweet is what makes the grade.
That's all for now.
Remember back in my previous post when I wrote about revisions? This post has a very close relationship to that one. We're talking about tools that we, as writers, have in our toolboxes. We've talked about eloquent vocabulary, high-end grammar skills and strong verbs and nouns. Now we're going to talk about active and passive voice, which is directly related to strong verbs and nouns.
To put it bluntly, passive voice is for wussies. Passive voice whines on the page and blames everyone else for all of its problems. As a writer, you must destroy passive voice! I'm going to have some examples here in a second, but writing in passive voice pisses me off, so let me take a few deep breaths... there, all better. Okay, here is a passage that uses passive voice and let's add weak nouns and verbs for blandness and some adverbs and adjectives for nausea:
The car was being driven along the road quickly. Loving thoughts of Tom ran through Jane's head as the gravel hit the bottom of her car. The beating of her heart was like the bongos that Tom played in the jazz band. Once she was at Tom's house, her kisses would ignite his passion and their lovemaking would wear them out.
Wow. I'm so thrilled at this point I could vomit. Obviously, this is really crappy writing in the first place, but the passive voice turns it into a mushy bowl of Cream of Wheat.
If we make a few adjustments, though, we can salvage the sentences and maybe make it a bit more exciting.
Gravel tattooed the undercarriage of Jane's Mustang as she raced down the road toward Tom's mobile home. Her mind became a twisted playground of erotica and her heart thumped like Tom's jazz bongos as she contemplated shoving her tongue down his throat. She knew that when she locked lips with him that they would make love through the night and they would be overwhelmed with the exhaustion of lovers.
Meh. The writing still sucks. But at least we gave it some action, right? This is the difference between active and passive voice. In the first example, you have sentences that are like a limp-fish handshake. In the second example, the active voice grabs you by the lapels of your rental tux and shakes you like an overbearing father on prom night.
This is what has to happen with your writing. It's okay to go through and write the first draft and have sentences here and there that are in passive voice. The point of the first draft is to get the story down. Once you start the revision process, though, passive voice has to be flushed down the toilet. This is what it means to twist every sentence until it cries "Uncle!"
I realize this is a short post. I know you've grown accustomed to me rambling on and on, but I'm going to leave it at that and cover the rest of this in part four. Sometimes short and sweet is what makes the grade.
That's all for now.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Writing Tools Part 2: Giving verbs and nouns a workout.
So, effective tools for writing. In part one of our tool talk, we covered two tools, hammers and duct tape... I mean, vocabulary and grammar. In this segment, we'll cover a couple of other tools and in our third installment (if there is a third) we might cover some things that shouldn't be in your toolbox.
Muscular verbs and nouns
The strength of your writing is directly related to how hard you work your nouns and verbs. Verbs and nouns that haven't been eating their Wheaties will be beaten to a pulp by an agent or publisher who reads your manuscript. Pity the day when you go to your mailbox and find that sad little self-addressed, stamped envelope carousing with the electric bill and the grocery ads. Picture it if you will. Your address has been smudged and glazed donut fingerprints have collected dirt from miles traveled. You carefully slip your finger under the ripped flap and tug. Once open, you find the pink rejection slip along with your manuscript. As you pull it from the dusty interior of the envelope, you see the red swaths of an editor's Sharpie like a blood pattern on a wall at a crime scene. You turn each page and find the same words written over and over: STRONGER VERBS AND NOUNS! Your jaw goes slack, a tear works its way from the corner of your eye. Your precious manuscript has been... murdered!
Okay, perhaps it isn't quite as melodramatic as all that. In fact, neither an agent nor an editor will take the time to go through each page of your MS and mark it up. It's more likely that they'll look at the first paragraph and make a decision based on that. Not a how-do-you-do, not a smile or tease or even tube of lube, but you'll still feel like you've been screwed.
But I digress.
My point is that without strong verbs and nouns, your writing will be like your first attempt at a soufflé: bland and flat.
The recipe for divining weak verbs and nouns and driving them out like an exorcist is as follows. One portion constant reader, several dollops of revision, a plethora of editing, let the mixture sit for a few months, repeat as necessary.
Your constant reader should be someone who will tell you the truth. Too many people give their manuscripts to their moms who in turn tell them how amazing and wonderful it is. Here's the deal, if your mom isn't brutal in her critique of your work, don't let her read it. The key to finding out whether or not you have buff nouns and verbs is to give the MS to someone who has a good grasp of the English language and who understands what constitutes a strong verb or noun. I'm lucky in that my wife taught language arts for over 14-years. She has a clue and she's brutally honest with me.
Dollops of revision means that you simply aren't satisfied with your first draft. Or your second, third or fourth. Revision is the process of tightening your sentences up until they scream. During the process of revision, you'll take your constant reader's advice and you'll be changing words like "poop" into words like "excrement."
Editing is different from revising. They can work together, but editing is the part where you make sure commas and apostrophes are in the right places, phonetically challenged words like "whine" are changed to "wine" because no one wants to read a book about whining, but everyone loves books about drinking, right? Editing is a pain in the ass, however, so are tetanus shots. Both are necessary.
Finally, let the MS rest for awhile. Push it back into a dark drawer for three months and leave it alone. Don't look at it, don't touch it and for God's sake, don't read it! Once you've allowed it to "season" for awhile, take it out and read it as if it were a book you were opening for the first time. I guarantee you'll find new things to change and make better decisions about the work.
Once you've done this, you'll probably have to repeat the process. Maybe even twice. Whatever it takes to tighten that baby down.
I'm going to go ahead and finish this post. I had thought I would be able to cover at least two more tools for your tool box, but alas, I'll have to save Passive and Active voice and Show, Don't Tell, for another post. But I won't leave you without some examples.
Instead of "Jimmy ate his scrambled eggs in big bites" you might say, "Jimmy shoveled his scrambled eggs into his mouth."
Instead of "Anna ran to the school bus stop" you might say, "Anna raced to the school bus stop."
I think you get the point. I'm simply substituting words that seem to have more of what my Grandpa called gumption. They're vigorous and active.
Now for a couple of nouns then we're done.
Instead of "Joey was a strong-willed boy" you might say, "Joey was a whippersnapper."
Instead of "John drives a crappy car" you might say, "John drives a jalopy."
In many cases, when you have a weak noun, it'll be preceded by an adjective. We'll talk about those pesky bastards in another post, but if you read the sentence about John's car, you'll notice that I replaced "crappy car" (crappy being the adjective), I was able to get rid of a word, which editors love and replace "car" with something more descriptive.
Writers, this is what you love and this is what you'll learn to hate, but if you use these tools, your stories will rock, editors will rejoice and books will sell.
That's all for now.
Muscular verbs and nouns
The strength of your writing is directly related to how hard you work your nouns and verbs. Verbs and nouns that haven't been eating their Wheaties will be beaten to a pulp by an agent or publisher who reads your manuscript. Pity the day when you go to your mailbox and find that sad little self-addressed, stamped envelope carousing with the electric bill and the grocery ads. Picture it if you will. Your address has been smudged and glazed donut fingerprints have collected dirt from miles traveled. You carefully slip your finger under the ripped flap and tug. Once open, you find the pink rejection slip along with your manuscript. As you pull it from the dusty interior of the envelope, you see the red swaths of an editor's Sharpie like a blood pattern on a wall at a crime scene. You turn each page and find the same words written over and over: STRONGER VERBS AND NOUNS! Your jaw goes slack, a tear works its way from the corner of your eye. Your precious manuscript has been... murdered!
Okay, perhaps it isn't quite as melodramatic as all that. In fact, neither an agent nor an editor will take the time to go through each page of your MS and mark it up. It's more likely that they'll look at the first paragraph and make a decision based on that. Not a how-do-you-do, not a smile or tease or even tube of lube, but you'll still feel like you've been screwed.
But I digress.
My point is that without strong verbs and nouns, your writing will be like your first attempt at a soufflé: bland and flat.
The recipe for divining weak verbs and nouns and driving them out like an exorcist is as follows. One portion constant reader, several dollops of revision, a plethora of editing, let the mixture sit for a few months, repeat as necessary.
Your constant reader should be someone who will tell you the truth. Too many people give their manuscripts to their moms who in turn tell them how amazing and wonderful it is. Here's the deal, if your mom isn't brutal in her critique of your work, don't let her read it. The key to finding out whether or not you have buff nouns and verbs is to give the MS to someone who has a good grasp of the English language and who understands what constitutes a strong verb or noun. I'm lucky in that my wife taught language arts for over 14-years. She has a clue and she's brutally honest with me.
Dollops of revision means that you simply aren't satisfied with your first draft. Or your second, third or fourth. Revision is the process of tightening your sentences up until they scream. During the process of revision, you'll take your constant reader's advice and you'll be changing words like "poop" into words like "excrement."
Editing is different from revising. They can work together, but editing is the part where you make sure commas and apostrophes are in the right places, phonetically challenged words like "whine" are changed to "wine" because no one wants to read a book about whining, but everyone loves books about drinking, right? Editing is a pain in the ass, however, so are tetanus shots. Both are necessary.
Finally, let the MS rest for awhile. Push it back into a dark drawer for three months and leave it alone. Don't look at it, don't touch it and for God's sake, don't read it! Once you've allowed it to "season" for awhile, take it out and read it as if it were a book you were opening for the first time. I guarantee you'll find new things to change and make better decisions about the work.
Once you've done this, you'll probably have to repeat the process. Maybe even twice. Whatever it takes to tighten that baby down.
I'm going to go ahead and finish this post. I had thought I would be able to cover at least two more tools for your tool box, but alas, I'll have to save Passive and Active voice and Show, Don't Tell, for another post. But I won't leave you without some examples.
Instead of "Jimmy ate his scrambled eggs in big bites" you might say, "Jimmy shoveled his scrambled eggs into his mouth."
Instead of "Anna ran to the school bus stop" you might say, "Anna raced to the school bus stop."
I think you get the point. I'm simply substituting words that seem to have more of what my Grandpa called gumption. They're vigorous and active.
Now for a couple of nouns then we're done.
Instead of "Joey was a strong-willed boy" you might say, "Joey was a whippersnapper."
Instead of "John drives a crappy car" you might say, "John drives a jalopy."
In many cases, when you have a weak noun, it'll be preceded by an adjective. We'll talk about those pesky bastards in another post, but if you read the sentence about John's car, you'll notice that I replaced "crappy car" (crappy being the adjective), I was able to get rid of a word, which editors love and replace "car" with something more descriptive.
Writers, this is what you love and this is what you'll learn to hate, but if you use these tools, your stories will rock, editors will rejoice and books will sell.
That's all for now.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Writing Tools Part 1: Oh Ye of Gargantuan Vocabulary and Flawless Grammar
Every endeavor requires tools. Writing is no different. In fact, Stephen King suggests in On Writing that our writing toolbox have roughly four shelves and that it must be portable. I'm a big fan of tools, myself. I have some tools in my garage, but never the right one. I want to start working on a project only to find that I don't have the necessary tools to complete the job. Writing can be the same way, especially if your toolbox is short a few sockets or missing a hammer.
There are many different types of writing tools, but I want to concentrate on a few that are extremely important.
The first tool that you need to have in your toolbox is vocabulary. Much like a hammer, vocabulary is a tool that you will use constantly to pound your point home. Be wise in your use of vocabulary, though. For instance, using capacious and convoluted words may cause discomfort to your reader. My last sentence is a prime example of this. It's much better, as Twain said, to get right to the point. If you can use a nickel word to describe a dollar thought, do it. So, point one, Don't hesitate to enhance your vocabulary, but be careful in your use of big and complicated words in your writing.
One other comment on vocabulary. Don't be embarrassed about the size of your vocabulary. There's a boatload of excellent writers who use single syllable words in the majority of their writing. Hemingway was one of them. For example:
"Now is the time to think of only one thing. That which I was born for." -Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Vocabulary doesn't have to be huge to be powerful.
The second tool that you need to have in your toolbox is grammar. Like it or not, if vocabulary is your hammer, grammar is your duct tape. Quality grammar holds your vocabulary together. Much like oxygen is required for us to live, grammar is required for your writing to live. Obviously, I'm not going to cover all of the aspects of grammar in this blog post. However, I want to point out a few things that you need to understand.
This is only my opinion, but I believe you need to build sentences in such a manner that they are structurally stable. Word placement and punctuation are extremely important. The point is, poor grammar causes confusion. I'm not going to go into detail on sentence structure or what parts of a sentence are what. You either understand how to write a sentence or you don't. In my experience, though, I've found that there are a couple of things that people who know how to write decent sentences struggle with. The first is the comma and the second is the apostrophe.
I'm not going to go into all of the rules that govern comma usage, but there are a couple of instances where you absolutely should know how to use a comma. The first is in a sentence that begins with an introductory clause.
For example:
All things considered, the event went as planned.
"All things considered" is the introductory clause and "the event went as planned" is an independent clause.
The way that I remember this has nothing to do with knowing the type of clause. I simply look at the sentence and figure out if there is a complete sentence that has been added to a partial sentence. You wouldn't want to write "All things considered." as a complete sentence, however, "The event went as planned." can be used as a complete sentence.
In my opinion, the second most important use of the comma is when separating two independent clauses when they are joined by a coordinating conjunction.
John was sunburnt to a crisp, but Jan had used sunblock and was as cool as a cucumber.
"John was sunburnt to a crisp." is a complete sentence, as is "Jan had used sunblock and was cool as a cucumber." I don't want to separate them, though, because they are both sentences that share a relationship with each other.
The third most important area of comma usage, for me, is when I need to offset clauses, phrases or words that aren't important to the sentence. The test for this is whether or not the sentence works without the words, phrases or clauses that are offset.
For example: Yesterday, which happened to be February 29, John slipped on the ice.
If I remove the words that I've offset with the pair of commas, there should still be an independent clause left.
"Yesterday, John slipped on the ice."
As you can see, there is. Notice also that "Yesterday" plays the role of an introductory clause. If I were editing and following the rules of my previous post about Mark Twain's writing rules, I would take away the offset words and the introductory clause and be left with the sentence, "John slipped on the ice."
The third and final area of importance (and yes, there are more, but we're not going to cover them here) is when separating a group of three or more words in your sentence.
For example: John's wife asked him to purchase butter, cereal and milk.
You can also write the sentence using the "Oxford comma", which is an optional comma that is placed before the word "and".
For example: John's wife asked him to purchase butter, cereal, and milk.
My own preference is to skip the Oxford comma, but you may certainly use it if you like.
There are a lot of other rules about commas, but in my experience, those are the most common. If you're able to master those three comma rules, you'll be well on your way to excellent comma usage.
The other important piece of punctuation I want to cover is the apostrophe. Apostrophes can be tricky. Let's take a quick look at some important rules governing the use of apostrophes. Basically, there are three times when you use apostrophes. First, if you need the possessive form of a noun. Secondly, if you omit letters and thirdly, if you're showing certain plurals of lowercase letters.
Possessive nouns tend to be where things get confusing. The reason for this is because of plural possessives and how the apostrophe functions with all of those cranky "s's." Let's take a look at some examples.
Add 's to a word in its singular form even if it ends with an s.
For example: Neal's house.
I simply added an apostrophe and an s to my name. A singular word that ends in s always seems to trip people up, though. The name "James" is a prime example. Sometimes people get confused and want to add the apostrophe between the e and s. This would be wrong. It gets even more confusing. Adding an apostrophe to the word James without an additional s is also acceptable.
To form the possessive of the word James, you add an apostrophe and an s or just an apostrophe.
For Example: James's and James'
Plural forms of words that do not end in s need an apostrophe and s as well.
Examples: mice's, people's, men's, women's, feet's
Plural nouns that end in s simply need an apostrophe added to the end of the word.
Examples: dogs', does', friends'
Compound words need an apostrophe and s to show possession.
Examples: mother-in-law's
An apostrophe and s should be added to the last noun in a sentence when there are two nouns that share joint possession.
Example: John and Rudy's science project was the envy of the sixth grade class.
When you're taking letters out of words, as in contractions, you need to use an apostrophe.
Examples: would not = wouldn't, could have = could've, she will = she'll
Other examples of omitting letters: '69 = 1969, Bitchin' = Bitching
The final area where you use apostrophes is when you need to create plural forms of lowercase letters.
Example: When he was on Wheel of Fortune, John purchased a vowel and received three o's.
I don't have any tried and true method of remembering how to use apostrophes. As a child, I was forced into using quality grammar by my father. My best advice is to look over these rules and try to memorize them. If you get stuck, simply refer back to them or use Google to search for "apostrophes."
I do want to add one caveat before I end this post. There are several occasions where you don't use apostrophes. Any time you have a possessive pronoun, a noun plural or the relative pronoun "who."
First of all, possessive pronouns are already possessive, you don't need an apostrophe.
Examples: ours, yours, my, its, her, his.
You should also remember that its and it's are two completely different beasts. "Its" is a possessive pronoun. "It's" is a contraction of "it is."
The relative pronoun "who" confuses people because of the similarity of the phonetics of "Who's" and "Whose." Who's is the contraction of "who is" and "whose" shows possession.
Example 1 "Who's": Who's the cute girl out on the football field playing quarterback?
Example 2 "Whose": Whose brother is in the boyscouts?
I'm going to go ahead and end this post, now. There will be at least one more part, possibly two depending on how deeply I dig into the writer's toolbox. Please understand that I'm not an English major and I do not, repeat, do not have a complete understanding of the complexity of English grammar. For the most part, I simply try to write sentences that reflect how I speak and sound right when I read them. It's sort of a mixture of following the rules and doing what I think is right. So, if you find mistakes that I've made in this post, please don't skewer me. Shoot me an e-mail and I'll do my best to correct my error.
That's all for now.
There are many different types of writing tools, but I want to concentrate on a few that are extremely important.
The first tool that you need to have in your toolbox is vocabulary. Much like a hammer, vocabulary is a tool that you will use constantly to pound your point home. Be wise in your use of vocabulary, though. For instance, using capacious and convoluted words may cause discomfort to your reader. My last sentence is a prime example of this. It's much better, as Twain said, to get right to the point. If you can use a nickel word to describe a dollar thought, do it. So, point one, Don't hesitate to enhance your vocabulary, but be careful in your use of big and complicated words in your writing.
One other comment on vocabulary. Don't be embarrassed about the size of your vocabulary. There's a boatload of excellent writers who use single syllable words in the majority of their writing. Hemingway was one of them. For example:
"Now is the time to think of only one thing. That which I was born for." -Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Vocabulary doesn't have to be huge to be powerful.
The second tool that you need to have in your toolbox is grammar. Like it or not, if vocabulary is your hammer, grammar is your duct tape. Quality grammar holds your vocabulary together. Much like oxygen is required for us to live, grammar is required for your writing to live. Obviously, I'm not going to cover all of the aspects of grammar in this blog post. However, I want to point out a few things that you need to understand.
This is only my opinion, but I believe you need to build sentences in such a manner that they are structurally stable. Word placement and punctuation are extremely important. The point is, poor grammar causes confusion. I'm not going to go into detail on sentence structure or what parts of a sentence are what. You either understand how to write a sentence or you don't. In my experience, though, I've found that there are a couple of things that people who know how to write decent sentences struggle with. The first is the comma and the second is the apostrophe.
I'm not going to go into all of the rules that govern comma usage, but there are a couple of instances where you absolutely should know how to use a comma. The first is in a sentence that begins with an introductory clause.
For example:
All things considered, the event went as planned.
"All things considered" is the introductory clause and "the event went as planned" is an independent clause.
The way that I remember this has nothing to do with knowing the type of clause. I simply look at the sentence and figure out if there is a complete sentence that has been added to a partial sentence. You wouldn't want to write "All things considered." as a complete sentence, however, "The event went as planned." can be used as a complete sentence.
In my opinion, the second most important use of the comma is when separating two independent clauses when they are joined by a coordinating conjunction.
John was sunburnt to a crisp, but Jan had used sunblock and was as cool as a cucumber.
"John was sunburnt to a crisp." is a complete sentence, as is "Jan had used sunblock and was cool as a cucumber." I don't want to separate them, though, because they are both sentences that share a relationship with each other.
The third most important area of comma usage, for me, is when I need to offset clauses, phrases or words that aren't important to the sentence. The test for this is whether or not the sentence works without the words, phrases or clauses that are offset.
For example: Yesterday, which happened to be February 29, John slipped on the ice.
If I remove the words that I've offset with the pair of commas, there should still be an independent clause left.
"Yesterday, John slipped on the ice."
As you can see, there is. Notice also that "Yesterday" plays the role of an introductory clause. If I were editing and following the rules of my previous post about Mark Twain's writing rules, I would take away the offset words and the introductory clause and be left with the sentence, "John slipped on the ice."
The third and final area of importance (and yes, there are more, but we're not going to cover them here) is when separating a group of three or more words in your sentence.
For example: John's wife asked him to purchase butter, cereal and milk.
You can also write the sentence using the "Oxford comma", which is an optional comma that is placed before the word "and".
For example: John's wife asked him to purchase butter, cereal, and milk.
My own preference is to skip the Oxford comma, but you may certainly use it if you like.
There are a lot of other rules about commas, but in my experience, those are the most common. If you're able to master those three comma rules, you'll be well on your way to excellent comma usage.
The other important piece of punctuation I want to cover is the apostrophe. Apostrophes can be tricky. Let's take a quick look at some important rules governing the use of apostrophes. Basically, there are three times when you use apostrophes. First, if you need the possessive form of a noun. Secondly, if you omit letters and thirdly, if you're showing certain plurals of lowercase letters.
Possessive nouns tend to be where things get confusing. The reason for this is because of plural possessives and how the apostrophe functions with all of those cranky "s's." Let's take a look at some examples.
Add 's to a word in its singular form even if it ends with an s.
For example: Neal's house.
I simply added an apostrophe and an s to my name. A singular word that ends in s always seems to trip people up, though. The name "James" is a prime example. Sometimes people get confused and want to add the apostrophe between the e and s. This would be wrong. It gets even more confusing. Adding an apostrophe to the word James without an additional s is also acceptable.
To form the possessive of the word James, you add an apostrophe and an s or just an apostrophe.
For Example: James's and James'
Plural forms of words that do not end in s need an apostrophe and s as well.
Examples: mice's, people's, men's, women's, feet's
Plural nouns that end in s simply need an apostrophe added to the end of the word.
Examples: dogs', does', friends'
Compound words need an apostrophe and s to show possession.
Examples: mother-in-law's
An apostrophe and s should be added to the last noun in a sentence when there are two nouns that share joint possession.
Example: John and Rudy's science project was the envy of the sixth grade class.
When you're taking letters out of words, as in contractions, you need to use an apostrophe.
Examples: would not = wouldn't, could have = could've, she will = she'll
Other examples of omitting letters: '69 = 1969, Bitchin' = Bitching
The final area where you use apostrophes is when you need to create plural forms of lowercase letters.
Example: When he was on Wheel of Fortune, John purchased a vowel and received three o's.
I don't have any tried and true method of remembering how to use apostrophes. As a child, I was forced into using quality grammar by my father. My best advice is to look over these rules and try to memorize them. If you get stuck, simply refer back to them or use Google to search for "apostrophes."
I do want to add one caveat before I end this post. There are several occasions where you don't use apostrophes. Any time you have a possessive pronoun, a noun plural or the relative pronoun "who."
First of all, possessive pronouns are already possessive, you don't need an apostrophe.
Examples: ours, yours, my, its, her, his.
You should also remember that its and it's are two completely different beasts. "Its" is a possessive pronoun. "It's" is a contraction of "it is."
The relative pronoun "who" confuses people because of the similarity of the phonetics of "Who's" and "Whose." Who's is the contraction of "who is" and "whose" shows possession.
Example 1 "Who's": Who's the cute girl out on the football field playing quarterback?
Example 2 "Whose": Whose brother is in the boyscouts?
I'm going to go ahead and end this post, now. There will be at least one more part, possibly two depending on how deeply I dig into the writer's toolbox. Please understand that I'm not an English major and I do not, repeat, do not have a complete understanding of the complexity of English grammar. For the most part, I simply try to write sentences that reflect how I speak and sound right when I read them. It's sort of a mixture of following the rules and doing what I think is right. So, if you find mistakes that I've made in this post, please don't skewer me. Shoot me an e-mail and I'll do my best to correct my error.
That's all for now.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Mark Twain On Writing
Since my last post was about one of Samuel Clemens' master works, I thought it might be appropriate to get his take on writing. Obviously, interviewing Mr. Clemens would be the way to go. However, since he's been dead for a number of years, I think I'll just take his top twelve list of writing tips and, with my limited understanding, try to expound on them.
1. Substitute "damn" every time you’re inclined to write "very." Your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.
I think Mr. Clemens' point here is that we need to choose our words wisely. Eliminate unnecessary words and be precise in your writing.
2. Write without pay until somebody offers to pay.
If you are writing to make money, you're doing it for the wrong reason. Ultimately, you'll probably get tired of it and move on. When you write, it must be because you love to write.
3. The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say.
In a word, "revision." As a writer, you will spend more time revising and re-writing your work. Get used to it. It's time consuming and it's not a lot of fun, but it will make your work stronger.
4. Anybody can have ideas–the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph.
Tighten up your writing until it screams.
5. It was by accident that I found out that a book is pretty sure to get tired along about the middle and refuse to go on with its work until its powers and its interest should have been refreshed by a rest and its depleted stock of raw materials reinforced by lapse of time.
Take a break. Sometimes your break will be short, sometimes it will be long. Writer's block and exhaustion happens. The best cure is time away from the writing.
6. Great books are weighed and measured by their style and matter, and not the trimmings and shadings of their grammar.
I love this one. To me, it adds weight to saying "Content is King." To be sure, grammar is important, but ultimately, the story and the telling of the story are the important aspects of writing.
7. As to the Adjective: when in doubt, strike it out.
No need for explanation, this is pretty straight forward.
8. I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English–it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in.
Word play is certainly fun, but don't let it get in the way of the writing.
9. Don’t say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.
Show, don't tell.
10. I don’t give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
I have a feeling that Dr. Seuss lived by this rule. It's okay to be creative sometimes. There are times when you may need a word that doesn't exist. If that's the case, make one up!
11. The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.
I couldn't say it better. I mean, you could say "gutted" but I've always loved the word "eviscerated". Words with muscle (strong nouns and verbs) work harder and rarely need the help of adjectives or adverbs.
12. The more you explain it, the more I don’t understand it.
If the concept is that hard for the reader to "get" then maybe you need to rethink the concept. Be clear, be concise and be economical with your word usage.
And that's it. Twelve tips from our friend Sam that, if followed, will help all of us be better writers.
That's all for now.
1. Substitute "damn" every time you’re inclined to write "very." Your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.
I think Mr. Clemens' point here is that we need to choose our words wisely. Eliminate unnecessary words and be precise in your writing.
2. Write without pay until somebody offers to pay.
If you are writing to make money, you're doing it for the wrong reason. Ultimately, you'll probably get tired of it and move on. When you write, it must be because you love to write.
3. The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say.
In a word, "revision." As a writer, you will spend more time revising and re-writing your work. Get used to it. It's time consuming and it's not a lot of fun, but it will make your work stronger.
4. Anybody can have ideas–the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph.
Tighten up your writing until it screams.
5. It was by accident that I found out that a book is pretty sure to get tired along about the middle and refuse to go on with its work until its powers and its interest should have been refreshed by a rest and its depleted stock of raw materials reinforced by lapse of time.
Take a break. Sometimes your break will be short, sometimes it will be long. Writer's block and exhaustion happens. The best cure is time away from the writing.
6. Great books are weighed and measured by their style and matter, and not the trimmings and shadings of their grammar.
I love this one. To me, it adds weight to saying "Content is King." To be sure, grammar is important, but ultimately, the story and the telling of the story are the important aspects of writing.
7. As to the Adjective: when in doubt, strike it out.
No need for explanation, this is pretty straight forward.
8. I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English–it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in.
Word play is certainly fun, but don't let it get in the way of the writing.
9. Don’t say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.
Show, don't tell.
10. I don’t give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
I have a feeling that Dr. Seuss lived by this rule. It's okay to be creative sometimes. There are times when you may need a word that doesn't exist. If that's the case, make one up!
11. The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.
I couldn't say it better. I mean, you could say "gutted" but I've always loved the word "eviscerated". Words with muscle (strong nouns and verbs) work harder and rarely need the help of adjectives or adverbs.
12. The more you explain it, the more I don’t understand it.
If the concept is that hard for the reader to "get" then maybe you need to rethink the concept. Be clear, be concise and be economical with your word usage.
And that's it. Twelve tips from our friend Sam that, if followed, will help all of us be better writers.
That's all for now.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The Artistic Eye (or Let's Get Offended)
As someone who has spent a lot of time drawing, painting and designing, I'd like to think that I have a fairly decent eye for composition, color and line. Because of this, I'd like to make a few proposals. First of all, I'd like to go in and change Leonardo DaVinci's "Last Supper". I'd like to take Judas Iscariot out of it. To be honest, he just offends my Christian sensibilities. I mean, the man sold Christ out for 30-pieces of silver. The second thing I'd like to do is add some more details to almost all of Claude Monet's work because I think that Impressionism is just too vague. Finally, I'd like to gesso over all of Jackson Pollock's work and completely repaint new paintings ont he canvases because I'm offended by the fact that they're non-representational.
Are you cocking your head and arching an eyebrow, yet? Maybe thinking this guy is off his rocker? If you are, then you're probably not alone. The art I'm mentioning is classic stuff, perfectly in tune with what the artist intended and exactly the way the art was meant to be. In short, I have no right to change what the artist has already created and I should back the truck up and shut the heck up. Wouldn't you agree?
You'd probably also agree with me that writers are artists as well. They spend time and creative energy developing endearing characters, sketching gorgeous settings and creating eloquent prose. In short, since they are artists, we should leave their work well enough alone. Period.
Unfortunately, back in January of 2011, Alan Gribben, a Professor of English at Auburn University Montgomery in Montgomery, Alabama and New South Publishing made a decision to edit out the n-word from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The uproar among Twain historians that followed was nothing short of explosive.
Gribben's reason for removing the word (which is by all standards probably the most repulsive word in the English language in my opinion) is noble, but, I believe, misguided. Gribben is quoted in a Wikipedia article as having stated:
For nearly forty years I have led college classes, bookstore forums, and library reading groups in detailed discussions of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in California, Texas, New York, and Alabama, and I always recoiled from uttering the racial slurs spoken by numerous characters, including Tom and Huck. I invariably substituted the word “slave” for Twain’s ubiquitous n-word whenever I read any passages aloud. Students and audience members seemed to prefer this expedient, and I could detect a visible sense of relief each time, as though a nagging problem with the text had been addressed.
As an author, I can't accept this as a valid reason for mutilating the work of an artist. Simply put, Twain is a master of the writing craft and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a masterpiece. There should be no change to the book, chapters, paragraphs, sentences, words or letters within this work of art.
In fact, Hemingway once said of the book, "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called 'Huckleberry Finn.' If you read it you must stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating. But it's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since." -Ernest Hemingway The Green Hills of Africa.
Twain's word choice was ruthless and meaningful and within the historical context of a nation that was ready to embark upon one of the most painful moments in its history. It confronted the issues of racism and slavery and mercilessly eviscerates the status quo. To remove this word from the text of Twain's book is to rob the work of its power to confront the issues of racism, slavery and unequal, horrendous treatment of human beings head on.
Gribben counters that the use of the word makes students and teachers alike uncomfortable and that because of this, the book is being eliminated from the curricula of many school districts. Therein lies the real problem. Do we re-paint Munch's "The Scream" because it makes us uncomfortable? Do we hide Egon Schele's canvases because they show us the true physical nature of our humanity? Do we burn Andres Serrano's photograph "Piss Christ" because it upsets our sensibilities? We do not. We allow the artist his or her vision and we respect their right to produce their art.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is meant to cause discomfort. It's meant to strip away the glossy enamel of our safe, non-confrontational and non-controversial lives and force us to start a dialogue about these issues. It's meant to force teachers to help students ask the question, "Why would Huck Finn refer to his friend Jim in this manner if he knows it's wrong?" "Why were people like this during this time in history and do we still face these same types of challenges today?"
While this issue grabbed headlines back in January, I noticed something that bothers me even more than the editing of the n-word that Gribben has done. Gribben also edited the word "Injun" into "Indian". In general, the reference to "Injun" is in the form of dialect and dialogue when people refer to a character named "Injun Joe". This subtle change is simply another shot across the bow of the artist's vision. In both cases of word edits we are seeing the beginnings of blatant censorship. Further, I believe that this type of activity by an editor and/or publisher may cause authors to self-censor to the extent that the works we read in the future will be nothing but non-confrontational, non-controversial, bland and flavorless bits of pathetic prose.
Gribben makes another statement that I want to call out. He tells The Birmingham News, "I’ve gotten dozens and dozens of e-mails, most of them very critical of me," he said. "One thing that has amused me about it is that in the e-mails that take me to task for substituting the word ‘slave,’ not one of these hotly worded e-mails has mentioned the n-word. ... They won’t say the word, and they won’t write the word."
You'll notice that within the text of this blog post, I too have chosen to avoid using the n-word as well. Professor Gribben, there is a reason we don't use the word. There is no need. In e-mails sent to you and in this blog post, you know exactly what word we're referring to. In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there is a necessity for the reader to be confronted with the discomfort of that most hateful word.
For the record Professor Gribben, I don't despise you for what you're doing. You have the best intentions, I'm sure. Unfortunately, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and you've just laid down miles of new asphalt headed in that direction.
That's all for now.
Are you cocking your head and arching an eyebrow, yet? Maybe thinking this guy is off his rocker? If you are, then you're probably not alone. The art I'm mentioning is classic stuff, perfectly in tune with what the artist intended and exactly the way the art was meant to be. In short, I have no right to change what the artist has already created and I should back the truck up and shut the heck up. Wouldn't you agree?
You'd probably also agree with me that writers are artists as well. They spend time and creative energy developing endearing characters, sketching gorgeous settings and creating eloquent prose. In short, since they are artists, we should leave their work well enough alone. Period.
Unfortunately, back in January of 2011, Alan Gribben, a Professor of English at Auburn University Montgomery in Montgomery, Alabama and New South Publishing made a decision to edit out the n-word from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The uproar among Twain historians that followed was nothing short of explosive.
Gribben's reason for removing the word (which is by all standards probably the most repulsive word in the English language in my opinion) is noble, but, I believe, misguided. Gribben is quoted in a Wikipedia article as having stated:
For nearly forty years I have led college classes, bookstore forums, and library reading groups in detailed discussions of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in California, Texas, New York, and Alabama, and I always recoiled from uttering the racial slurs spoken by numerous characters, including Tom and Huck. I invariably substituted the word “slave” for Twain’s ubiquitous n-word whenever I read any passages aloud. Students and audience members seemed to prefer this expedient, and I could detect a visible sense of relief each time, as though a nagging problem with the text had been addressed.
As an author, I can't accept this as a valid reason for mutilating the work of an artist. Simply put, Twain is a master of the writing craft and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a masterpiece. There should be no change to the book, chapters, paragraphs, sentences, words or letters within this work of art.
In fact, Hemingway once said of the book, "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called 'Huckleberry Finn.' If you read it you must stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating. But it's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since." -Ernest Hemingway The Green Hills of Africa.
Twain's word choice was ruthless and meaningful and within the historical context of a nation that was ready to embark upon one of the most painful moments in its history. It confronted the issues of racism and slavery and mercilessly eviscerates the status quo. To remove this word from the text of Twain's book is to rob the work of its power to confront the issues of racism, slavery and unequal, horrendous treatment of human beings head on.
Gribben counters that the use of the word makes students and teachers alike uncomfortable and that because of this, the book is being eliminated from the curricula of many school districts. Therein lies the real problem. Do we re-paint Munch's "The Scream" because it makes us uncomfortable? Do we hide Egon Schele's canvases because they show us the true physical nature of our humanity? Do we burn Andres Serrano's photograph "Piss Christ" because it upsets our sensibilities? We do not. We allow the artist his or her vision and we respect their right to produce their art.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is meant to cause discomfort. It's meant to strip away the glossy enamel of our safe, non-confrontational and non-controversial lives and force us to start a dialogue about these issues. It's meant to force teachers to help students ask the question, "Why would Huck Finn refer to his friend Jim in this manner if he knows it's wrong?" "Why were people like this during this time in history and do we still face these same types of challenges today?"
While this issue grabbed headlines back in January, I noticed something that bothers me even more than the editing of the n-word that Gribben has done. Gribben also edited the word "Injun" into "Indian". In general, the reference to "Injun" is in the form of dialect and dialogue when people refer to a character named "Injun Joe". This subtle change is simply another shot across the bow of the artist's vision. In both cases of word edits we are seeing the beginnings of blatant censorship. Further, I believe that this type of activity by an editor and/or publisher may cause authors to self-censor to the extent that the works we read in the future will be nothing but non-confrontational, non-controversial, bland and flavorless bits of pathetic prose.
Gribben makes another statement that I want to call out. He tells The Birmingham News, "I’ve gotten dozens and dozens of e-mails, most of them very critical of me," he said. "One thing that has amused me about it is that in the e-mails that take me to task for substituting the word ‘slave,’ not one of these hotly worded e-mails has mentioned the n-word. ... They won’t say the word, and they won’t write the word."
You'll notice that within the text of this blog post, I too have chosen to avoid using the n-word as well. Professor Gribben, there is a reason we don't use the word. There is no need. In e-mails sent to you and in this blog post, you know exactly what word we're referring to. In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there is a necessity for the reader to be confronted with the discomfort of that most hateful word.
For the record Professor Gribben, I don't despise you for what you're doing. You have the best intentions, I'm sure. Unfortunately, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and you've just laid down miles of new asphalt headed in that direction.
That's all for now.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Organized or Why I Am Where I Am.
One of the many things that my wife has taught me is how important it is to make lists. Lists allow you to organize what you do and give you a sense of accomplishment once you have everything checked off. She's a huge proponent of organization (stackable plastic boxes with lids make her eyes glaze over). I, on the other hand, suck at organization. No, "suck" really isn't the right word. Maybe terrible at it, horrible at it, unteachable... yeah, those are probably a bit more accurate, but I guess "suck" kind of generally conveys what I mean.
Here's the kicker, though. If I were more organized, I could get more done, which would allow me to spend more time doing the things that I'm really good at. If I spend more time doing the things I'm really good at, I might actually be able to monetize those things. For instance, if I were to make a list of all of the things I need to finish up, I could spend more time writing and blogging. If I spent more time writing, I'd be finished with 13th Summer and Fool's Gold. I'd get those babies submitted to agents/publishers and be well on my way to being a poor writer with lots of pink rejection slips, or maybe I'd get published. If I could spend more time blogging, people might actually notice my blog and maybe it would become popular and I could sell lots of ad space on it and make some scratch.
I really do believe that organization could be the key to becoming immensely wealthy based on the talents you have. Unfortunately, in my experience, I see a lot of creatives who just lack the drive to be organized, myself included. Honestly, it's too much work and we don't really like work. We like playing and doing the things we want to do. For me, that's writing, painting, playing music, etc. But wait, didn't I just create a catch-22? Be more organized so that I can do more of the things I want. But I hate being organized because I want to do the things I want to do. But... I have to work to make a living and I just don't feel like being organized so I think I'll sit here on the couch and not do anything. Such a conundrum we creatives create.
Personally, I think that creatives have a hard time being organized because we just can't access the left side of our brain. There's just too damn much going on that we have to see, touch, feel, do. Besides, we can always do stuff like write, blog or paint tomorrow, right? Oh wait, that's procrastination and that's another post entirely. I mean seriously, I'll get to it later...
Here's the kicker, though. If I were more organized, I could get more done, which would allow me to spend more time doing the things that I'm really good at. If I spend more time doing the things I'm really good at, I might actually be able to monetize those things. For instance, if I were to make a list of all of the things I need to finish up, I could spend more time writing and blogging. If I spent more time writing, I'd be finished with 13th Summer and Fool's Gold. I'd get those babies submitted to agents/publishers and be well on my way to being a poor writer with lots of pink rejection slips, or maybe I'd get published. If I could spend more time blogging, people might actually notice my blog and maybe it would become popular and I could sell lots of ad space on it and make some scratch.
I really do believe that organization could be the key to becoming immensely wealthy based on the talents you have. Unfortunately, in my experience, I see a lot of creatives who just lack the drive to be organized, myself included. Honestly, it's too much work and we don't really like work. We like playing and doing the things we want to do. For me, that's writing, painting, playing music, etc. But wait, didn't I just create a catch-22? Be more organized so that I can do more of the things I want. But I hate being organized because I want to do the things I want to do. But... I have to work to make a living and I just don't feel like being organized so I think I'll sit here on the couch and not do anything. Such a conundrum we creatives create.
Personally, I think that creatives have a hard time being organized because we just can't access the left side of our brain. There's just too damn much going on that we have to see, touch, feel, do. Besides, we can always do stuff like write, blog or paint tomorrow, right? Oh wait, that's procrastination and that's another post entirely. I mean seriously, I'll get to it later...
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