I used to think spring was the season that represented newness, change. After all, it’s when the plants begin to bloom after the cold of winter. Lately, however, I’ve pretty much embraced the idea that early autumn is considered a time of change in my life. (Maybe it has secretly been that way all along – I mean, the start of a new school year always begins in autumn.)
Quite a bit has been happening in my life in the last two weeks, but I didn’t realize the extent of it until I sat down and brainstormed possible topics to write about for this blog post. I was surprised to discover that there have been ten different occasions where some new change had transpired. Ten! With everything going on, no wonder I feel like the days have blurred together.
To give you an idea of what kind of new changes I’ve been experiencing, I’ve compiled a brief list below. (You don’t get all ten, though. Gotta keep some things private on a public blog, you know.)
1.) The “summer” part of my internship officially ended on Sept 21. (I submitted my last assignment on the 19th.) However, I signed on to be a continuing intern, so I’m still with the press. The “fall” session begins tomorrow. Therefore, I basically had a break for a week and a half. It was nice to use that time I used to proofread and just read a book for fun.
2.) Speaking of which, I started Book #19 on Sept 20. I’m roughly 54% complete with THE KNOWING by Sharon Cameron. I’m really enjoying it so far.
3.) I also met my new bible study group on Sept 19. Most of the people (like myself) were in this group for the past year, but now there are five new girls, and three of our former members had to jump into another group due to scheduling conflicts (except one - she left because she’s now officially a leader of her own group). Additionally, I met my brother and sister group three days prior to that. Surprising for an introvert, I like meeting new people; I’m just terrible at the small talk that comes with getting to know someone. But I’m looking forward to hearing about their lives in the next coming months.
4.) and 5.) My sister’s birthday was last week, so we’re now officially the same age. Quarter of a century. She also picked up her brand new car that day. (It was time to retire her sixteen-year-old car. It was falling apart.) It’s odd to see such a different car sitting behind mine on the driveway.
6.) I had my annual eye doctor appointment yesterday, and even though I’m an avid contact-wearer, I picked out a new pair of glasses. (This was the last time I’d be under my dad’s insurance, so I took advantage of my eligibility.) I still really like my light chestnut brown glasses that I chose four years ago already, but now I’ll have a black/dark tortoiseshell pair. Thank goodness my prescription hasn’t changed in years (my eyesight is bad enough), and now I can alternate glasses at home. It reminds me of my high school days where I used to rotate between three different glasses depending on what day of the week it was, haha.
So yeah. Autumn may have just started, but I’m beginning to feel its effect on my life. The trees around here haven’t quite changed colors yet, but if you look closely, some of the very tops of tall trees have leaves that are beginning to look rustic. I find myself wearing a light jacket now. (I forgot how much I dislike the cold. But I like fall fashion the most, so I don’t mind wearing layers and jeans instead of shorts.)
Also, my sister’s birthday kicks off “birthday season” around here, so I’m back to doing All The Birthday Celebrations. And before I know it, NaNoWriMo will show up, shortly followed by the holidays.
With all the new changes happening lately, I began to internally categorize everything as if it were a book. You know, like how each story starts with the inciting event, which triggers everything else in the story? I tried to pick the “inciting event” within my own life from the last couple of weeks, but instead I only narrowed it down to three changes. Basically I have multiple “story lines” going, depending on which chapter direction you want to follow.
But hey! Life itself is quite complex, so my comparison can only go so far.
I’m trying to embrace all the changes, though. I’ve had periods in my life where I felt like everything was moving at a standstill so at least all the new occurrences tell me that my life is actually moving forward. Even if it’s typically at such a slow pace. Like how it takes a few weeks for a tree to transform into brilliant colors before shedding its foliage. Until all that’s left is its sturdy structure.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Kerrytown Bookfest 2018
Last Sunday (September 9), I took a trip out to enemy territory Ann Arbor to attend the 16th Annual Kerrytown Bookfest. It’s basically an all-day celebration of independent presses and bookstores (plus book-related arts and crafts were sold). I had never attended before, but since my current and former internships at a publishing house were going to have a booth there, I decided to check things out. After all, I figured it would at least be nice to physically meet the editors.
When I left my house that morning, the sky was overcast and threatened rain. I was worried it might downpour by the time I arrived in Ann Arbor. All the booths at the Bookfest were underneath tents, but it was still outside – and I hate being outside in the rain. It only sprinkled briefly during my drive, so I saw it as a good sign. The drive itself took me longer than my GPS had predicted, but then again, I had taken the wrong exit at one point and had to turn back around. Needless to say, I’m still terrible at directions and prone to getting lost. But I eventually got there! (This could easily be said as a metaphor for my life.)
The Bookfest was really neat, though. I made 3-4 rounds to really take in all that the booths had to offer. I think I spent more time gazing at all the craft items being sold than at actual books, haha. In the end, I only bought a bookmark for $2. There was even one booth that was not only selling homemade notebooks filled with homemade paper, but the vendor was periodically making the paper at the table. I wish I got to witness it; watching her make paper would have been intriguing.
As for the publishing presses that I personally know, I went over and stopped by my former internship place first. Unfortunately for me, the publisher was not there. She decided to stay in Colorado so that was disappointing, but I understand why she didn’t fly all the way over to Michigan for this. Instead, I spoke with the three girls manning the booth as representatives. (Well, one of them didn’t talk to me. She just listened.) One was an intern for them three years ago, and the other girl was a current intern. It almost felt like a gathering of interns, past and present.
Conveniently, three booths away was where my current internship’s location was. The editor was busy talking to someone else when I arrived, so I actually talked with her husband first. Opened up one of their upcoming fall books that they were promoting, because my name is credited on the inside as one of the proofreaders. Once the editor was free, she invited me behind the booth and we chatted for a good 15-20 mins. One of the things we talked about was what my tasks would be as I transition into a continuing intern. We expressed how relieved we were that it hadn’t actually rained.
At 2:00 p.m., I attended a seminar about YA books. I feel like I’m pretty well-versed in this genre, but I wanted to hear what these authors had to say. There were three authors who were on this panel. One of them actually grew up in the Ann Arbor area. As for another one, I actually own (and obviously read) a trilogy of her books! So I was pretty thrilled about that – even if I felt a little guilty about not reading Joelle Charbonneau’s newest three books.
At 2:30, it started to downpour. The joke was that now no one was going to leave the seminar now, thanks to the safety of our large tent. The session only lasted forty-five minutes, so I think that’s my only complaint about it; I wish it lasted a bit longer. Afterward, all three authors were available to sign things. I half-contemplated about standing in line, but I didn’t want to risk spending money for their signatures. Especially since I have never read books from the other two authors.
At that point I was hungry, and I had to think about heading out soon. I feel like I walked through half of downtown Ann Arbor in the rain, trying to find some sort of café to eat dinner at. I finally found an opened sandwich place that I’ve never been in before, and I was quite pleased with the food. It was also nice to rest my feet for a little bit, for my shoes had ripped up my heels from the day before, and I had to keep reapplying a Band-Aid on my worst scab.
But I couldn’t dawdle too long, because I had to be somewhere at 6:00 p.m. Luckily, it stopped raining at this point, so the drive wasn’t too terrible. I was just tired of driving when I pulled into the church parking lot at 5:25.
Overall, I’m glad I went to the Bookfest. It was nice to meet at least one of the editors of the publishing presses that I’ve interned for. I just wish the drive to get there was shorter. And maybe for the weather to be a little bit nicer.
When I left my house that morning, the sky was overcast and threatened rain. I was worried it might downpour by the time I arrived in Ann Arbor. All the booths at the Bookfest were underneath tents, but it was still outside – and I hate being outside in the rain. It only sprinkled briefly during my drive, so I saw it as a good sign. The drive itself took me longer than my GPS had predicted, but then again, I had taken the wrong exit at one point and had to turn back around. Needless to say, I’m still terrible at directions and prone to getting lost. But I eventually got there! (This could easily be said as a metaphor for my life.)
The Bookfest was really neat, though. I made 3-4 rounds to really take in all that the booths had to offer. I think I spent more time gazing at all the craft items being sold than at actual books, haha. In the end, I only bought a bookmark for $2. There was even one booth that was not only selling homemade notebooks filled with homemade paper, but the vendor was periodically making the paper at the table. I wish I got to witness it; watching her make paper would have been intriguing.
As for the publishing presses that I personally know, I went over and stopped by my former internship place first. Unfortunately for me, the publisher was not there. She decided to stay in Colorado so that was disappointing, but I understand why she didn’t fly all the way over to Michigan for this. Instead, I spoke with the three girls manning the booth as representatives. (Well, one of them didn’t talk to me. She just listened.) One was an intern for them three years ago, and the other girl was a current intern. It almost felt like a gathering of interns, past and present.
Conveniently, three booths away was where my current internship’s location was. The editor was busy talking to someone else when I arrived, so I actually talked with her husband first. Opened up one of their upcoming fall books that they were promoting, because my name is credited on the inside as one of the proofreaders. Once the editor was free, she invited me behind the booth and we chatted for a good 15-20 mins. One of the things we talked about was what my tasks would be as I transition into a continuing intern. We expressed how relieved we were that it hadn’t actually rained.
At 2:00 p.m., I attended a seminar about YA books. I feel like I’m pretty well-versed in this genre, but I wanted to hear what these authors had to say. There were three authors who were on this panel. One of them actually grew up in the Ann Arbor area. As for another one, I actually own (and obviously read) a trilogy of her books! So I was pretty thrilled about that – even if I felt a little guilty about not reading Joelle Charbonneau’s newest three books.
(The guy sitting to Charbonneau’s left is Caleb Roehrig. He sounds like he would be a cool guy to have as a friend.)
At 2:30, it started to downpour. The joke was that now no one was going to leave the seminar now, thanks to the safety of our large tent. The session only lasted forty-five minutes, so I think that’s my only complaint about it; I wish it lasted a bit longer. Afterward, all three authors were available to sign things. I half-contemplated about standing in line, but I didn’t want to risk spending money for their signatures. Especially since I have never read books from the other two authors.
At that point I was hungry, and I had to think about heading out soon. I feel like I walked through half of downtown Ann Arbor in the rain, trying to find some sort of café to eat dinner at. I finally found an opened sandwich place that I’ve never been in before, and I was quite pleased with the food. It was also nice to rest my feet for a little bit, for my shoes had ripped up my heels from the day before, and I had to keep reapplying a Band-Aid on my worst scab.
But I couldn’t dawdle too long, because I had to be somewhere at 6:00 p.m. Luckily, it stopped raining at this point, so the drive wasn’t too terrible. I was just tired of driving when I pulled into the church parking lot at 5:25.
Overall, I’m glad I went to the Bookfest. It was nice to meet at least one of the editors of the publishing presses that I’ve interned for. I just wish the drive to get there was shorter. And maybe for the weather to be a little bit nicer.
Friday, August 31, 2018
A Reflection of a Disappointing Summer
Well. Here we are, already the last day of August. In Michigan, we usually don’t view the conclusion of summer until after Labor Day, which is in three more days. However, September is just a few hours away, and I don’t care what you say: September is an autumn month. (After all, as I’m writing this blog post, I’m also watching the first MSU game of the season. Doesn’t get any more autumn-like than watching football.)
I think back what I managed to accomplish during the past 3-4 months, and honestly, I feel a bit disappointed at how much I didn’t get around doing what I was hoping to do. (It probably didn’t help that I spent half of my summer evenings watching my sister’s puppy whenever she was out. Puppies are like newborn babies; they have a lot of energy and are quite needy.)
In a fit of panic, I probably did more summer-y activities during the month of August than what I did in the other months. Once again, I did not go on any vacations or out-of-town day trips. (That’s what happens when you’re strapped for money.) The kayak trip from two weeks ago was my attempt at trying to enjoy the summer sun, to pretend that I was someplace not ten minutes away from my house.
I’m currently on Book #17 of the year (ONE DARK THRONE by Kendare Blake). Technically, I’m still on schedule to reach twenty-two books by the end of the year, but I didn’t read as many books this summer that I wanted. (To be fair, though, I’ve also been doing a lot of manuscript reading for my internship.)
I’m also disappointed that I didn’t work on any writing projects this summer. I haven’t written anything that’s considered fiction writing since my Spring Project was completed in the middle of May. I’m itching to write something, but I don’t have any short story ideas to work on. Of course, all I really need to do is just sit down and force myself to write, but that act is easier said than done. I’m hoping it's not going to be November when I finally write something creatively. (The poem from earlier this month doesn't count.)
Then again, I’ve been feeling very frustrated with almost everything the last two weeks. Nothing seems to be working in my favor. Last Friday, my phone even died. Upon waking up that day, I was greeted with a completely black screen, unwilling to turn on. Anything linked through google was saved (i.e. all of my pictures), but I lost all text messages older than 90 days and four years’ worth of Memo notes. (I guess this is just the summer of me losing data. Remember my Word document I mentioned back in May?) As you can guess, I had a fun weekend dealing with this. Luckily, I got a free replacement phone because when my phone started acting up last year, insurance was placed on it.
So even though summer may be drawing to an end, and I didn’t accomplish nearly as much as I was hoping, perhaps fall will serve me better. The last four months of the year always fly by for me. Not that I want it to slip away in a blink of an eye – after all, I have my work cut out for me for the next month and a half before my birthday. I’m not ready to turn 26.
Send help.
I think back what I managed to accomplish during the past 3-4 months, and honestly, I feel a bit disappointed at how much I didn’t get around doing what I was hoping to do. (It probably didn’t help that I spent half of my summer evenings watching my sister’s puppy whenever she was out. Puppies are like newborn babies; they have a lot of energy and are quite needy.)
In a fit of panic, I probably did more summer-y activities during the month of August than what I did in the other months. Once again, I did not go on any vacations or out-of-town day trips. (That’s what happens when you’re strapped for money.) The kayak trip from two weeks ago was my attempt at trying to enjoy the summer sun, to pretend that I was someplace not ten minutes away from my house.
I’m currently on Book #17 of the year (ONE DARK THRONE by Kendare Blake). Technically, I’m still on schedule to reach twenty-two books by the end of the year, but I didn’t read as many books this summer that I wanted. (To be fair, though, I’ve also been doing a lot of manuscript reading for my internship.)
I’m also disappointed that I didn’t work on any writing projects this summer. I haven’t written anything that’s considered fiction writing since my Spring Project was completed in the middle of May. I’m itching to write something, but I don’t have any short story ideas to work on. Of course, all I really need to do is just sit down and force myself to write, but that act is easier said than done. I’m hoping it's not going to be November when I finally write something creatively. (The poem from earlier this month doesn't count.)
Then again, I’ve been feeling very frustrated with almost everything the last two weeks. Nothing seems to be working in my favor. Last Friday, my phone even died. Upon waking up that day, I was greeted with a completely black screen, unwilling to turn on. Anything linked through google was saved (i.e. all of my pictures), but I lost all text messages older than 90 days and four years’ worth of Memo notes. (I guess this is just the summer of me losing data. Remember my Word document I mentioned back in May?) As you can guess, I had a fun weekend dealing with this. Luckily, I got a free replacement phone because when my phone started acting up last year, insurance was placed on it.
So even though summer may be drawing to an end, and I didn’t accomplish nearly as much as I was hoping, perhaps fall will serve me better. The last four months of the year always fly by for me. Not that I want it to slip away in a blink of an eye – after all, I have my work cut out for me for the next month and a half before my birthday. I’m not ready to turn 26.
Send help.
Friday, August 17, 2018
A Ripple Effect
I enjoyed both of them but the first one seemed to have more of a storytelling voice, which I was drawn to. Unfortunately, I watched another video before I went to bed that night, and instead of actually sleeping, I pondered about the poet’s dog and how it enjoyed getting dressed up because maybe it wanted to be pretty like a teenage girl.
And then I traveled down the rabbit hole of memories, remembering when I took a poetry workshop class two years ago. It was a tight-knit class of only eight students (including myself), and when you have to trudge through the snow in the early hours to reach this class three times a week (gotta love those 8 a.m. classes), it was certainly memorable.
Not only did we have to read multiple chapbooks, but we were required to attend at least two poetry events on campus during that semester. I wasn’t too thrilled about it at the time, but now I see why my professor had forced us to go.
One of the events I attended was a Poetry Slam. While waiting in the lobby, I located a shy classmate of mine and made small talk with her. Another classmate of mine found us, and eventually, the three of us found seats together inside the lecture hall. The Slam consisted of various students reciting their spoken poetry, hoping to win one of the prizes at the end. A guy from my poetry class was one of performers, so we all made sure to show our support for him. (In the end, he did not win anything, though.)
Needless to say, after I spent so many hours in this poetry-like headspace, I wrote my first poem of the year two weeks ago. So even though I haven’t written any fictional stories lately, at least I have that.
Except now I’m spending quite a bit of time thinking about metaphors.
For example, I visited my local metropark this past Tuesday. The weather was great, and I had nothing going on that day except to do some proofreading in the evening, so I decided I’d go kayaking. I had wanted to go all summer, but everyone I know is always too busy, so I made the decision to go by myself.
Like I predicted, no one is really out on the lake on a Tuesday afternoon, so it was quite peaceful. At one point, as I was following the coastline of an island, I found myself paddling along in the part of water that was filled with vegetation. Farther up ahead, something caught my eye.
A single white flower on a lily pad among a sea of green.
I felt compelled to capture the beauty of it; I slowly rowed closer so I could take a picture.
As I was snapping the photo, my kayak began to drift. I promptly crashed into the entire cluster of lily pads, causing it to dip underneath the water and destroy the scene. I maneuvered myself away as quickly as I could, apologizing to the lily pads as if they could respond. When I glanced behind me the flower had bobbed back up, and the lily pads reassembled themselves back into formation. I felt guilty for colliding into nature like that, but I admired their resiliency.
After spending two full hours kayaking, I returned my rental and found myself a nice picnic bench along the water. The grass gently sloped downward not far from where I was seated, and the launching dock was nearby enough where I could watch all the people taking off on their own adventures.
I spent the next hour reading my book (BURIED HEART by Kate Elliott) and spent another hour after that writing (which was a little challenging due to my three new blisters on my thumbs from kayaking).
In between the reading and writing, I walked over to the shore and stepped into the water. Squinted my eyes against the sun, listened to the soft ukulele music being carried by the wind, and watched the minnows scurry away from me. When I wiggled my toes in the sand, I was mesmerized by how far the water rippled in every direction. I don’t think I could throw a stone far enough to reach where the rippling ended.
As I stood there on the makeshift shore, I wondered how far the ripple effect of my life had extended to various people. Do any of my old classmates ever wonder what I’m up to? Or those old friends that either moved away for a job or simply faded away in time?
Do you ever truly know how far the ripples extend until you look back in hindsight and can pinpoint its origin?
Did it start when I stepped into the lake? When I drove to the park? When I saw how great the weather would be that day? When I decided to kayak by myself this week? After I had kayaked for the first time last summer?
Perhaps it doesn’t really matter. Maybe I just wanted to witness nature humbly showing off as if it too were a teenage girl, looking for affirmation.
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
On the Word "And"
For the past couple of days, I was experiencing writer’s block on what I kind of subject I should speak about for this blog post. I almost thought about doing another life update – which I’m sure would have been entertaining – but I just did a life update blog post exactly a month ago.
Personally, various things have been frustratingly stalled for the past two weeks. I just started reading my leisure book again after having to take a three week break due to busyness, and I really want to get back to writing creatively – I haven’t done so since my Spring Writing Project – but I don’t exactly have time for that either. (It’s bizarre not to work on a July Writing Project; I’ve had one for the last 3-4 years.)
And just when I figured I might have to wing this blog post, because forcing yourself to write is really the only way to overcome writer’s block, a youtube video came to my rescue.
I’m referring to John Green’s video about prepositions. As an English writer and speaker, I found it so fascinating. I also never really thought much about the phrase “on the phone,” and how weird it actually is.
Mainly, I was relieved that I wasn’t the onlycrazy person who has put so much thought into certain seemingly ordinary words lately.
For me, though, I haven’t been pondering about prepositions. Instead, I’ve been focused on “and.”
My new obsession came about because of the last two manuscripts I had to read for my internship. In them, both of the authors loved stringing along lengthy sentences by incorporating multiple and’s within the sentence. Every time I came across this word, I had to pause and determine if a compound comma was needed in front of it.
In one manuscript I even had to suggest an edit to eliminate an “and,” because it was just too much. There were five and’s that had showed up, so I crossed the third one out and replaced it with a period. Boom! Two new complete sentences.
Maybe it’s just a writing style that some people have? Using many and’s to give it more of a poetic voice? There is a better way at writing lyrically or whimsically, right? (Not to say that it’s completely wrong to overload on and’s, though. I can see it being used to convey the panic or rambling of a character written in first person perspective.) Of course, this is coming from a girl who creatively writes in a more direct way. I prefer shorter sentences; they get to the point and if done well, packs a better punch. You know, trying to use my active voice rather than a passive one. Also, I was always taught if you can convey your sentence in less words than what your have, then go that route. Nobody likes to read a run-on sentence.
Basically, I wish people would rethink how often they use the word “and” in their writing. Also, I should probably find a better hobby. Or at least get outside more.
P.S. In case you were curious, I used the word “and” sixteen times within this blog post. However, seven of those times were me referencing the word “and.” (<---This last one wasn’t counted.)
Personally, various things have been frustratingly stalled for the past two weeks. I just started reading my leisure book again after having to take a three week break due to busyness, and I really want to get back to writing creatively – I haven’t done so since my Spring Writing Project – but I don’t exactly have time for that either. (It’s bizarre not to work on a July Writing Project; I’ve had one for the last 3-4 years.)
And just when I figured I might have to wing this blog post, because forcing yourself to write is really the only way to overcome writer’s block, a youtube video came to my rescue.
I’m referring to John Green’s video about prepositions. As an English writer and speaker, I found it so fascinating. I also never really thought much about the phrase “on the phone,” and how weird it actually is.
Mainly, I was relieved that I wasn’t the only
For me, though, I haven’t been pondering about prepositions. Instead, I’ve been focused on “and.”
My new obsession came about because of the last two manuscripts I had to read for my internship. In them, both of the authors loved stringing along lengthy sentences by incorporating multiple and’s within the sentence. Every time I came across this word, I had to pause and determine if a compound comma was needed in front of it.
In one manuscript I even had to suggest an edit to eliminate an “and,” because it was just too much. There were five and’s that had showed up, so I crossed the third one out and replaced it with a period. Boom! Two new complete sentences.
Maybe it’s just a writing style that some people have? Using many and’s to give it more of a poetic voice? There is a better way at writing lyrically or whimsically, right? (Not to say that it’s completely wrong to overload on and’s, though. I can see it being used to convey the panic or rambling of a character written in first person perspective.) Of course, this is coming from a girl who creatively writes in a more direct way. I prefer shorter sentences; they get to the point and if done well, packs a better punch. You know, trying to use my active voice rather than a passive one. Also, I was always taught if you can convey your sentence in less words than what your have, then go that route. Nobody likes to read a run-on sentence.
Basically, I wish people would rethink how often they use the word “and” in their writing. Also, I should probably find a better hobby. Or at least get outside more.
P.S. In case you were curious, I used the word “and” sixteen times within this blog post. However, seven of those times were me referencing the word “and.” (<---This last one wasn’t counted.)
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Simple Writing Mistakes I'm Tired of Seeing
You know how, once you start looking for something or noticing it, you begin to see it everywhere? In the past, I’ve done this with shoes. I was interested in buying boots for the winter, but I didn’t know what kind was in style anymore. So every time I was out in public, I would glance at all the footwear of women who walked past me, noting what kind of boots they wore. Once I determined what sort of boots I should buy, I stopped paying attention to everyone else's shoes.
Lately, I find myself doing this with any sort of writing I come across. I’m mainly referring to non-polished work – pieces found on the internet or drafts of another’s work. With my current internship, I’ve somehow trained myself to pick out all the errors found in a writer’s sentences, even though my noticing of them is not going to make a difference.
There seems to be certain words and grammar mistakes that continue to pop up, which baffles me because I thought the correct way was pretty straightforward. I would like to give people the benefit of the doubt – like, perhaps they’re just typing too quickly? – but I’m pretty sure it’s because no one pointed it out to them. Or they’re relying too much on how the sentence sounds to their ears without realizing how it’s actually incorrect when it comes to writing.
But mainly, I think it’s just me being a stickler about grammar and writing in general.
Things I cringe whenever I see them in someone’s writing:
1.) toward/towards
“Towards” is considered slang, people. Unless you’re a writer living in the UK or Australia, I don’t want to see it spelled this way. It’s always “toward.”
2.) farther/further
If you’re speaking quickly, I can see why you might get these two words mixed up; they sound almost identical to our English ears. However, they do have slightly different meanings. “Farther” refers to a physical distance, whereas “further” refers to something figuratively.
Although, I will admit that sometimes there are certain contexts where it gets tricky figuring out which word to use. I’ve been told that if you’re unsure, it’s probably safer to employ “further.”
3.) etc./ect.
I’ve recently began noticing how people use “ect.” at the end of a list instead of “etc.” I had never seen this, and I started to wonder if this was some sort of shorthand that I wasn’t aware of. But, no, people are just switching the order of these words around because of how it sounds to our English ears again. The Latin version of “and the rest” is “et cetera,” so you really should be using “etc.”
4.) When to capitalize “mom” and “dad”
I get why people might have trouble figuring out when/if to capitalize these words (I used to be one of them, once upon a time), but it’s actually not that hard.
If you’re using the word in placement of someone’s name, then it needs to be capitalized.
For example: Can you give this toy to Mom?
Any other time, it doesn’t need to be capped. If the word “my” precedes it, it’s a dead giveaway that you shouldn’t capitalize it.
For example: This is my dad.
5.) Shouty caps
I never realized how much people like to use shouty caps for emphasis or when a character is yelling.
For example: “I told you, I CAN’T GO!” (Extra cringe whenever I see an exclamation point thrown in there. It’s so redundant.)
In books, it’s usually frowned upon and will be changed to italics. However, this tactic might slide if the novel leans more experimental. Mainly, I just view it as a cheap way of creating emphasis or emotion for the reader. If you’re a skilled enough writer, you can find a way to describe the situation without capping everything.
6.) Ellipses
First off, this is another thing that I was always taught to avoid when it comes to fiction writing - either mention how the character’s voice has trailed off or end your sentence with a period to make it declarative. I have been surprised at how frequently ellipses have been used.
Second, I didn’t realize that people would actually mess up on how to properly use those three dots. There’s no need to include all those extra spaces, either between each period or before and after words.
For example: What … what do you mean by that? (incorrect)
What . . . what do you mean by that? (incorrect)
What… what do you mean by that? (incorrect)
What…what do you mean by that? (correct)
Easy, right? There’s no need to make your writing appear weak with these silly mistakes. You’ve got more important things to worry about when it comes to polishing that piece. Like whether your sentence really needs a compound comma or not. (Kidding. Although they can be tricky buggers, many people won’t actually know if you’re using them correctly or not. Unless the reader is a proofreader of sorts.)
Lately, I find myself doing this with any sort of writing I come across. I’m mainly referring to non-polished work – pieces found on the internet or drafts of another’s work. With my current internship, I’ve somehow trained myself to pick out all the errors found in a writer’s sentences, even though my noticing of them is not going to make a difference.
There seems to be certain words and grammar mistakes that continue to pop up, which baffles me because I thought the correct way was pretty straightforward. I would like to give people the benefit of the doubt – like, perhaps they’re just typing too quickly? – but I’m pretty sure it’s because no one pointed it out to them. Or they’re relying too much on how the sentence sounds to their ears without realizing how it’s actually incorrect when it comes to writing.
But mainly, I think it’s just me being a stickler about grammar and writing in general.
Things I cringe whenever I see them in someone’s writing:
1.) toward/towards
“Towards” is considered slang, people. Unless you’re a writer living in the UK or Australia, I don’t want to see it spelled this way. It’s always “toward.”
2.) farther/further
If you’re speaking quickly, I can see why you might get these two words mixed up; they sound almost identical to our English ears. However, they do have slightly different meanings. “Farther” refers to a physical distance, whereas “further” refers to something figuratively.
Although, I will admit that sometimes there are certain contexts where it gets tricky figuring out which word to use. I’ve been told that if you’re unsure, it’s probably safer to employ “further.”
3.) etc./ect.
I’ve recently began noticing how people use “ect.” at the end of a list instead of “etc.” I had never seen this, and I started to wonder if this was some sort of shorthand that I wasn’t aware of. But, no, people are just switching the order of these words around because of how it sounds to our English ears again. The Latin version of “and the rest” is “et cetera,” so you really should be using “etc.”
4.) When to capitalize “mom” and “dad”
I get why people might have trouble figuring out when/if to capitalize these words (I used to be one of them, once upon a time), but it’s actually not that hard.
If you’re using the word in placement of someone’s name, then it needs to be capitalized.
For example: Can you give this toy to Mom?
Any other time, it doesn’t need to be capped. If the word “my” precedes it, it’s a dead giveaway that you shouldn’t capitalize it.
For example: This is my dad.
5.) Shouty caps
I never realized how much people like to use shouty caps for emphasis or when a character is yelling.
For example: “I told you, I CAN’T GO!” (Extra cringe whenever I see an exclamation point thrown in there. It’s so redundant.)
In books, it’s usually frowned upon and will be changed to italics. However, this tactic might slide if the novel leans more experimental. Mainly, I just view it as a cheap way of creating emphasis or emotion for the reader. If you’re a skilled enough writer, you can find a way to describe the situation without capping everything.
6.) Ellipses
First off, this is another thing that I was always taught to avoid when it comes to fiction writing - either mention how the character’s voice has trailed off or end your sentence with a period to make it declarative. I have been surprised at how frequently ellipses have been used.
Second, I didn’t realize that people would actually mess up on how to properly use those three dots. There’s no need to include all those extra spaces, either between each period or before and after words.
For example: What … what do you mean by that? (incorrect)
What . . . what do you mean by that? (incorrect)
What… what do you mean by that? (incorrect)
What…what do you mean by that? (correct)
Easy, right? There’s no need to make your writing appear weak with these silly mistakes. You’ve got more important things to worry about when it comes to polishing that piece. Like whether your sentence really needs a compound comma or not. (Kidding. Although they can be tricky buggers, many people won’t actually know if you’re using them correctly or not. Unless the reader is a proofreader of sorts.)
Saturday, June 30, 2018
What a Busy Month
June has been one of those months for me where I feel as if I’m frantically running around, trying to keep all my plates in the air, but it never ends because gravity is not on my side. I’ve been crazy busy, and there just doesn’t seem like enough hours in my day to finish everything.
First off, I had three birthdays to celebrate and shop for. And after Memorial weekend, I had Father’s Day, and now Fourth of July is around the corner. (Today my family is doing a pre-Fourth of July BBQ, so I’m quickly cranking this post out. I ran out of time to write it days earlier.) And two days after that holiday is my Mom’s birthday, so guess who has to celebrate (and spend more money) again?
It seems like I’m Editing All the Things lately, too. Earlier in the month, I managed to acquire another internship at an independent publishing house (because unpaid writing/editing positions seem to be what anyone will ever offer me…hopefully all the experience I’m racking up will be worth it). I’ve proofread two complete manuscripts in the past four weeks. I find it oddly satisfying nitpicking all the sentences, locating all the incorrect usages of grammar and misspellings and inconsistent details. Of course, it can be time consuming though, since I have to read twice as slowly in order to carefully read the pages. My fingers are itching to do some content or line editing (especially with the second manuscript I had to read), but at least it appears that my project for next week will involve actually doing track changes to the writing instead of just recording all the errors on a separate document.
But that’s not all! Two weeks ago, I volunteered to be a part of the Writing & Content team for the young adults/professionals (people who are mainly in their twenties) at my church. I figured it was probably time that I should do something more than passively showing up and participating in their activities. And when they launched the program for this summer, they just happened to be seeking out some writers and proofreaders to join (which was decided on the day of the launch).
So there’s a total of only six of us on this Writing team, and I’m the only one with some actual experience. One was part of his college’s newspaper, but he majored in Political Science. Another writes a lot of report stuff at his job, but it’s more of a financial advising slant. As for the other three people, they’re just doing it as a hobby. (Well, one was actually roped in by our leader because the Writing team is the smallest group, and this friend of his didn’t know which team to join.) It’s heartening to read all their writing in each of their blog post drafts (especially as I’m going through and proofreading them), but I fear I may be overstepping or becoming too intimidating/intense. I’m basically doing the same tasks that I did when I was the Editor-in-Chief for the Oakland Arts Review, and I find myself slipping back into my old role. I’m just trying to make sure things are moving smoothly, everyone! And that your work is polished so you look good!
Speaking of writing…
Tomorrow is the first of July, and I was originally hoping to begin my Summer Writing Project on that day. But sometime last week, I decided it wasn’t going to happen. Not on the first of the month, anyway. I haven’t really thought about what kind of project I want to do, and I feel like I need to wait until things start to settle down in my life before I dive into a new project. So perhaps in the middle of July I can get back to writing creatively?
Currently, there are three different stories that I’m pondering about. One is something that I wrote for NaNoWriMo last year, and it’s sitting at about 5k words. The other possible story is even shorter at only 681 words. (It was originally supposed to be a short story, but then last September I began to sketch out the world and its characters a bit more and the plot grew.) And the final story is the basic idea I mentioned in a previous blog post – you know, the Shiny New Idea that started to distract me during my Spring Writing Project.
Except…part of me thinks, after the two-month long project I completed for the Spring, I should take a break from long-form stories and focus more on writing shorter stuff. So I don’t know.
I’m disappointed at my lack of reading books this month, too. I only read one book: NOW I RISE by Kiersten White. And I finished that novel back on June 9. I suppose the manuscript reading I’ve been doing could count, but it’s not quite the same. I have to read those. Also, the pile of unread books sitting on my dresser is currently at eighteen.
Of course, it doesn’t help that I decided to watch a season of one series on Netflix during this month, too. But since I started it seventeen days ago, I’ve only gotten around to watching 8/13 episodes. I just keep running out of time in my day to watch (or read) anything.
So here’s to hoping that July will settle down a little bit…but probably not.
First off, I had three birthdays to celebrate and shop for. And after Memorial weekend, I had Father’s Day, and now Fourth of July is around the corner. (Today my family is doing a pre-Fourth of July BBQ, so I’m quickly cranking this post out. I ran out of time to write it days earlier.) And two days after that holiday is my Mom’s birthday, so guess who has to celebrate (and spend more money) again?
It seems like I’m Editing All the Things lately, too. Earlier in the month, I managed to acquire another internship at an independent publishing house (because unpaid writing/editing positions seem to be what anyone will ever offer me…hopefully all the experience I’m racking up will be worth it). I’ve proofread two complete manuscripts in the past four weeks. I find it oddly satisfying nitpicking all the sentences, locating all the incorrect usages of grammar and misspellings and inconsistent details. Of course, it can be time consuming though, since I have to read twice as slowly in order to carefully read the pages. My fingers are itching to do some content or line editing (especially with the second manuscript I had to read), but at least it appears that my project for next week will involve actually doing track changes to the writing instead of just recording all the errors on a separate document.
But that’s not all! Two weeks ago, I volunteered to be a part of the Writing & Content team for the young adults/professionals (people who are mainly in their twenties) at my church. I figured it was probably time that I should do something more than passively showing up and participating in their activities. And when they launched the program for this summer, they just happened to be seeking out some writers and proofreaders to join (which was decided on the day of the launch).
So there’s a total of only six of us on this Writing team, and I’m the only one with some actual experience. One was part of his college’s newspaper, but he majored in Political Science. Another writes a lot of report stuff at his job, but it’s more of a financial advising slant. As for the other three people, they’re just doing it as a hobby. (Well, one was actually roped in by our leader because the Writing team is the smallest group, and this friend of his didn’t know which team to join.) It’s heartening to read all their writing in each of their blog post drafts (especially as I’m going through and proofreading them), but I fear I may be overstepping or becoming too intimidating/intense. I’m basically doing the same tasks that I did when I was the Editor-in-Chief for the Oakland Arts Review, and I find myself slipping back into my old role. I’m just trying to make sure things are moving smoothly, everyone! And that your work is polished so you look good!
Speaking of writing…
Tomorrow is the first of July, and I was originally hoping to begin my Summer Writing Project on that day. But sometime last week, I decided it wasn’t going to happen. Not on the first of the month, anyway. I haven’t really thought about what kind of project I want to do, and I feel like I need to wait until things start to settle down in my life before I dive into a new project. So perhaps in the middle of July I can get back to writing creatively?
Currently, there are three different stories that I’m pondering about. One is something that I wrote for NaNoWriMo last year, and it’s sitting at about 5k words. The other possible story is even shorter at only 681 words. (It was originally supposed to be a short story, but then last September I began to sketch out the world and its characters a bit more and the plot grew.) And the final story is the basic idea I mentioned in a previous blog post – you know, the Shiny New Idea that started to distract me during my Spring Writing Project.
Except…part of me thinks, after the two-month long project I completed for the Spring, I should take a break from long-form stories and focus more on writing shorter stuff. So I don’t know.
I’m disappointed at my lack of reading books this month, too. I only read one book: NOW I RISE by Kiersten White. And I finished that novel back on June 9. I suppose the manuscript reading I’ve been doing could count, but it’s not quite the same. I have to read those. Also, the pile of unread books sitting on my dresser is currently at eighteen.
Of course, it doesn’t help that I decided to watch a season of one series on Netflix during this month, too. But since I started it seventeen days ago, I’ve only gotten around to watching 8/13 episodes. I just keep running out of time in my day to watch (or read) anything.
So here’s to hoping that July will settle down a little bit…but probably not.
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