Thinking About Style

Maya Angelou with Bloomberg and Nadler in the background. This picture was taken as part of a government event, the commemoration of the African Burial Ground National Monument in New York City on October 5, 2007. Therefore it is in the public domain.

Thinking About Style

I am reading Copyediting and Proofreading for Dummies by Suzanne Gilad. I enjoy reading this kind of book. It is for my own entertainment. Writersinthesky mentioned it on Twitter. http://twitter.com/writersinthesky . Words fascinate me, especially written words.

Reading Copyediting and Proofreading For Dummies has made me think of some of the stylistic choices I make in writing this blog. I sometimes write my posts out longhand then type them up in Wordpad before posting them. I want to keep the process as simple as possible, so I don't use Wordperfect which has a grammar and spellchecker built in. This probably leads to more grammar and spelling mistakes. But, it also makes the style much more personal. There is a certain charm in not being quite perfect.

I realize that my grammar is not perfect. I try and focus on using grammar to provide clear statements about what I am writing about. I am not as much concerned about the finer technical points of grammar and structure. Like most bloggers, I don't have an assistant or editor to check what I am writing.

There are a few stylistic points which I would like to make. I don't indent paragraphs, instead, I put in a line break between paragraphs. I also break my posts into sections with headings that are bolded. I think this makes it easier for people to read my blog. I put in my own paragraph and line breaks using html.

I also write out the full url of any links which I put in. This is because of a style of web searching which called stripping. I like to see the whole url when I am going to a blog or website. This allows me to parse the url into sections; I can then use pieces of the url to go to different parts of a website. I also can use various search commands to find information about a website; the url command allows me to find all the pieces of a website, the link command allows me to find who is linking to a web site, and the document type at the end of the url allows me to search for specific types of documents attached to a specific website.

I try to include an image with each post I write. This is usually of something writing, publishing, or library related. I often use Wikimedia http://www.wikimedia.org/ ; or public domain image websites listed in Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain_image_resources . I try to use public domain images as much as possible.

Somtimes, I will include a Youtube video. This is usually something which is directly related to the post which I am writing about. For example if I am writing a review of a Neil Gaiman book, I might try and find a Youtube video of Neil Gaiman reading from the book which I am reviewing.

My writing is also not formal. I am not writing to have my work published in magazines. Although recently, I have submitted a book review to The Society of Midnight Wanderers, book reviews to the Book Review Blogcarnival, and to some of the Blogcatalog threads: http://www.blogcatalog.com/group/book-readers/discuss/entry/the-book-review-thread

I have also been picked up with links from several different authors for the reviews I have written. This is a link from Slow Train To Arcturus by Dave Freer and Eric Flint. http://davefreer.livejournal.com/#entry_82576

I may have to reconsider the formality of my writing style. David Henderson who wrote The Media Savvy Leader Visibility, Influence, and Results in a Competitive World sent me a copy of his book for reviewing purposes. I was very surprised and pleased with this. I also enjoyed the book a lot. http://twitter.com/davidhenderson

I am constantly trying to improve the quality of my writing. I don't mind if people criticize me for the content that I am writing. I want to improve considerably. This is one of the reasons I am reading Copyrighting & Proofreading for Dummies. I have read numerous other books on writing and reviewed a few of them here. One of my favorites was Writing Begins With The Breath by Laraine Herring. http://bookcalendar.blogspot.com/2008/10/writing-begins-with-breath-laraine.html

Style is of course a matter of personal taste.

Poetry, Afternoon Thoughts. Books to Film

A Book on a Plinth by a Rose Bush at the Ruins Simon Saint-Jean (1808-1860)

Poetry, Afternoon Thoughts

I finally finished reading Writing Begins With The Breath, Embodying Your Authentic Voice by Laraine Herring. I am not sure that I will ever be truly finished with this book. There are pieces of it that require me to do things which I haven't done yet, like write a novel. This would take me at least a year to finish. As part of the process, I of course wrote a few more poems.

I also revised the poem, The Green Dream because of this book. It still needs work. I think I'll slowly revise the poem into something unique.

Ego

Strip yourself to bones
Let your bones turn into dust
You are half way there

Flower

There is a clear plastic snowglobe
With a flower in it
A piece of flawless clear crystal
A flower painted on it
A living blooming red flower
In a small purple vase
It is a flower in my thoughts
A blooming red rose

Lost

I have lost my faith
Politicians, teachers, preachers, bigots, zealots
No longer hold me tight

I went to see the doctor this afternoon. I am finished with my bout of bronchitis. Now, I have to work on my diet and exercise. I have to lose a considerable amount of weight. I feel like one of those weight loss blogs making this statement. It is a rather bothersome idea, but I have to do it for my heart.

Books To Film

Ridley Scott plans to direct the film, The Forever War, a classic science fiction title by Joe Haldeman. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/oct/13/ridley-scott-forever-war Ridley Scott directed Blade Runner and Alien. This could possibly be the best science fiction film ever made if it is done correctly. I thought Blade Runner the directors cut was fantastic.

Tim Burton is currently directing Alice In Wonderland. It is a mix of live action and cgi animation. I am really looking forward to this. Johnny Depp is going to be the Mad Hatter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_in_Wonderland_(2010_film)

Both of these are films which I definitely plan on seeing in the future.

Writing Begins With The Breath-- Laraine Herring-- Thoughts

Writing Begins With the Breath Embodying Your Authentic Voice by Laraine Herring

This afternoon, I sat drinking tea and eating almonds. I also was doing writing exercises from Writing Begins With The Breath. Each chapter is quite short and concise. In each chapter there are short easy body exercises to increase awareness; open and close your palms like a book, check your pulse, breathe in and out from your nostrils eight times on each side. They are easy things, but focused on paying attention.

At the end of the chapters are writing exercises. Maybe three or four of them. They are designed to get you to pay attention to different aspects of your writing; relationships, acceptance, empathy, body as source, ancestors as source, and many other topics. I have spent about an hour each day doing the exercises from a chapter. They dredge out emotions, feelings, and ideas many of them you didn't know you had. It has been both frustrating and enjoyable doing these exercises.

I write them out long hand on a folded in half piece of paper. This gives me four sections to write on. I don't keep a journal. I like to keep things jumbled together in a small pile. Among the responses, I include some poetry. These are not great poems. They are about my inner life. I have three more of them. Some would call them unplanned sloppy. In a way, they were written as part of a simple exercise.

Shadow

There is a shadow
It follows me everywhere I go
I think it likes me

Manure

Soft and stinky runny cheesy
Brown, gooey, full of red earth worms
It replenishes the world

Garlic

Wonderful reeking smell that
Drives away vampires and businessmen
Keeps away colds and kisses

I have finished some 15 chapters in this book and still have far to go. Sixteen days of reading is far more than I usually do on any book. I find this book fascinating because it combines psychology with creative writing with awareness exercises. I have many more chapters to go. I may renew the book so I can redo some of the exercises.

I have found many of the exercises to be quite helpful in improving the quality of my writing and self expression. I am beginning to think of my voice as my shadow which follows me everywhere and is with me all the time.


The author Laraine Herring has an MFA in Creative Writing and a MA in counseling psychology. I have not read her two novels and her counseling books, so I can't really comment on them. This is her blog: http://laraineherring.blogspot.com/ . The writing is crisp, clear, and readable.


The book is published by Shambhala which produces many quality meditation, new age, buddhist, texts on mysticism, and other esoteric titles.

Morning Thoughts, Writing Begins With The Breath, The Sound on the Page

Morning Thoughts

I was very tired yesterday. More than I usually am. I found myself a little upset about Saturday because there has been a change in who I am working with. I much preferred working with my old colleague who is leaving. Even though we had some differences, she was easy and pleasant to work with the majority of the time. I hope she has good luck wherever she is going. There is a box with cake in the basement, but she is not here to eat it right now.

I sometimes think I try to get along with people too much.

Writing Begins With The Breath

A book on developing your voice came in today, Writing Begins With The Breath, Embodying Your Authentic Voice by Laraine Herring. It is very hard to write exact what I feel sometimes. I have a certain sense of discretion which limits what I say. This book has a lot of meditation exercises around writing. It appears to focus on spiritual aspects of the written word. It is c2007, Shambhala Publications.

The book opens with an interesting quote from Abraham Maslow:

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is ultimately to be at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be.

The Sound on the Page Style and Voice In Writing

The Sound on the Page Style and Voice In Writing is by Ben Yagoda. It is a book on how to develop a personal style or voice. The author writes about a number of different authors style and voice.

I think that style and voice are a critical piece in the success of an author. Often this is overlooked to the authors detriment. Some authors can make a piece of lint interesting, simply because of the way they write.

Because I have been criticized for being boring, I am going to take a break from my usual books and write a review on what I learn from these two books. I think it may be useful for you as an audience.