Avoiding Common Punctuation Errors Part 1: The Vocative Comma

Commas Save Lives

Your story is written.  You have compelling characters, a rich setting, deep symbolism, and a perfectly twisty plot.  You're ready to share your creation with the world.  But take a moment to consider the underrated art of punctuation.

Punctuation isn't a ridiculous torture device invented by English teachers.  It's a guide for your reader.  Used properly, those little commas, periods, and quotation marks help your reader interpret your words correctly the first time.  After all, you masterpiece isn't a masterpiece if people keep getting tripped up by punctuation (or lack thereof). 

Today we'll consider just one little rule, simple but often ignored.

The Vocative Comma:

When you address someone or something directly, use commas to set off the name or title. 
    Your car is ready, Mr. President.
    Alex, turn off that horrid music.
    At the end of the day, folks, the only thing that matters is how many people we help.
    Stupid computer, can't you just work right this once?

When authors forget this rule, at best the result is clunky or awkward.  At worst, it creates an entirely different meaning.  Here's the most classic example: 

           Let's eat Grandpa.
           Let's eat, Grandpa.

If your character is a heartless cannibal, the first version is fine.  Otherwise, you need the comma.

More Examples:

I don’t know Mom (character denying any familiarity with his mother)
I don't know, Mom (character telling his mother that he doesn't know something)

You are Sigmund.  (Revealing to an amnesiac that his name is Sigmund)
You are, Sigmund.  (Answering Sigmund's question, "Who's the crazy one here?")

Children put your toys away.  (You have very young servants who clean up your toys for you)
Children, put your toys away.  (You're telling your kids to put their toys away). 

I killed, John (character admitting to John that he killed someone)
I killed John (character admitting to the police that he murdered John)

You called me father (I'm not really your father, but it touches me that you consider me like a father.)
You called me, father.  (You're my dad, and I'm returning your phone call.)

I'll see you in February June. (You're a little confused about dates)
I'll see you in February, June (You have an appointment in February with your friend June)

And that man is the truth. (You're apparently looking at the god of truth or something)
And that, man, is the truth. (Man, I'm telling the truth)

Don't marry, Alice (Alice, stay single!  Marriage is for the birds.)
Don't marry Alice (Alice is bad news.  Don't marry her.  Marry me instead.)

Conversely, if you use the comma to set off a name or title when you're not addressing someone directly, you get results like this:

Those irresponsible cows!  Why won't they keep their dogs under control?

If you want your masterpiece to shine, pay attention to punctuation, and join me next month for more common punctuation errors.

Avoiding Incorrect Punctuation Pt 2:  Commas and Periods in Dialogue

Melinda Brasher wrote the cover story in this month's edition of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show.  Check out the artwork here.  She loves writing, but can't read anymore without unintentionally editing, and loves a good punctuation or grammar joke.  Nerd power!  Check out her author page at Amazon.

4 Major Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Blog Posts

By Karen Cioffi

Writing is a craft, a craft that needs to be learned. With that being said, there are many successful bloggers who had no writing training.

You might consider writing as being doubled sided. There are research papers, resumes, articles for medical and scientific use, business and health content, and even short stories, children’s books, and novels.

To write for these genres, you need to learn the craft of writing. Depending on the genre you write, you need to know how to write dialogue, how to reference quotes in a nonfiction article, and how to write POV (point of view). You should know the difference between a comma and a semi-colon, and how to use each. You get the idea.

On the flip side, there is web writing: blog posts and writing copy. In these niches there aren’t many rules, aside from grabbing the reader and making your content engaging and shareable.

While there aren’t many rules for blogging, there are four mistakes you should avoid:

1. Avoid aiming for perfection.

If you wait for the perfect time, the perfect circumstance, the perfect topic, the perfect anything, you’ll be forever waiting.

While you do need to be a responsible writer and respect your reader by providing quality content and doing the best you can, you shouldn’t wait for everything to be perfect. There’s nothing wrong with learning as you go along.

I love what George Fisher said about perfection: “When you aim for perfection, you discover it's a moving target.”

2. Avoid confusing and unfocused content.

The quickest way to lose a reader is to make your content confusing. If you’re topic is ‘allergies,’ don’t go on a rant about the latest clothing styles.

Blogs posts should be in easily digestible pieces of information that are focused. From the title to the concluding paragraph, keep it on topic.

In addition, you want to lead the reader down your post. In the beginning let the reader know what to expect, what’s in it for him. This will motivate him to read on.

3. Don’t write long paragraphs.

We all lead hectic lives. We want to get targeted information as quickly as possible. For this reason, your content needs to be easy to read and written in short paragraphs. This is especially important for skim readers.

Keep your content clean and leave plenty of white space. White space is the space between paragraphs, between words, and such. It’s the blank space on the page.

4. Don’t use grandiloquent language.

Here we go back to the premise that people are in a rush and along with this, most people don’t want to have to look up words to get the gist of the article. This is another quick way to lose a reader.

Keep your writing simple. Write how you would normally speak.

In addition, choose your words with care. C.S. Lewis knew the importance of this when he said, “Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.”

Following these ‘four mistakes to avoid’ will help you write blog posts that readers will appreciate and will want to share.

Original Article Source: http://www.karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com/2014/01/4-major-mistakes-to-avoid-when-writing.html

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You Know You're a Writer When Your . . . Part 2

Dare to dream  Photo by Linda Wilson

 

Build a strong foundation:  Read as much as you can. Study your weak areas so you can improve them. Share your work with a critique group. Take courses. Attend workshops and conferences. Build a marketing platform. Write the best article/book/poem/memoir you can. Ask a professional editor to proof your work. Whatever you do, don't give up. You've covered the bases. You are on a sure road to success.

And, don't forget: write from your heart. For, without putting your heart and soul into what you write, your works would have little meaning. To find meaning you need only to look inside. As one editor put it, "Go to the well. That's were you'll find what to write." Sound easy? It hasn't been easy for me. Nestled in among the flowers inside there are weeds, weeds that I sometimes don't want to see. But when I take a good, hard look, each weed that I pluck adds meaning; and in the end, could be the very reason for my story to linger.

What has made up your well is the sum total of your past, your thoughts and feelings, your experiences; in short, where you come from. While reading through this small sampling of the main forces that have shaped great authors' careers and how far their humble beginnings have taken them, think about how your own writing choices originated; how these choices have driven you, even challenged you, toward the subject(s) you write about today.

You know you're a writer when your . . .

. . . relative is a journalist.

• Brian Doyle, the editor of Portland Magazine at the University of Portland, Oregon; and author of thirteen books, most recently The Plover, published in April 2014, writes that he is asked how he became a writer in almost every class he visits. His short answer is "By writing." In an article for The American Scholar, Doyle imparted precious gems he learned from his journalist father: "My dad was a newspaperman, and still is, at age 92 . . . he taught me immensely valuable lessons. If you wish to be a writer, write . . . Note how people get their voices and hearts and stories down on the page . . . Be honest with yourself about the size of your gift . . . The best writers do not write about themselves but about everyone else . . . The best writers are good listeners."

. . . family is your biggest influence.

• As an extremely shy girl, Jane Austen, the youngest of seven, centered her world around her family. The author of six novels, including Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, Austen drew her "comic abilities" and "knowledge of the sea" from her brothers. Though Austen never married, she drew much of her fiction from her own life.

• Eudora Welty grew up in a house full of books. After attending college at the University of Wisconsin and Columbia, she returned to her childhood home in Jackson, Mississippi, where she lived most of her 92 years. She never married, saying, "It never came up," and of her life at home, said, "I am a writer who came of a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within." Welty wrote four short stories which were reissued in 1980 as The Collected Stories; five novels, a volume of essays, The Eye of the Storm (1978), and a memoir, One Writer's Beginnings (1984).

. . . life is changed by a catalystic event.

• In answer to why he became a writer, on his website Stephen King writes, ". . . there was nothing else I was made to do. I was made to write stories and I love to write stories." King grew up without a dad. Endearing to me is that he made a success of himself in spite of that. Though he grew up with meager finances which continued for the first part of his career as an English teacher, he and his brother David benefited from a loving mother. At six and seven years old King's mother read aloud to them. Stephen loved her choice of stories, from the comic book series, "Classics Illustrated," to Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. She said of a thin, plain "grown-up" book, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, "This one's a scary one. It's about a man who changes into something else." Stephen begged, "Read it to me." She gave in. The story only fanned the fires already burning in Stephen's heart. Even at the tender age of seven he thought, "I have to do that, but I have to do that worse."

• When Stephen was eleven years old he and David amused themselves by going to the movies. They liked the scary ones best. One matinee, The Pit and the Pendulum, moved Stephen so much that he wrote his own version and passed copies of it to his friends. Movies helped develop his unique writing style: "I write down everything I see. It seems like a movie, and I write that way."

• Yet King's most poignant influence came at the discovery of an old box of his father's books--horror stories--that he found in his aunt and uncle's attic. Among the books was a 1947 collection by H.P. Lovecraft, one of the first noted horror writers, called "The Lurking Fear and Other Stories." Like Lovecraft, King was from New England. King realized, too, that he could establish his stories in the place he knew best--Maine.

. . . life experiences have moved you to help others.

• Offering examples from the experiences of the patients in his psychiatric practice, M. Scott Peck, M.D., developed a philosophy discussed in his best-selling book, The Road Less Traveled (1978). It is an engaging read which, in the first part, focuses on the importance of discipline in helping solve life's problems and in living a fulfilling life. Peck sums discipline up in neat categories, such as: Delaying gratification: the process by which some children by the age of twelve "are able to sit down on occasion without any parental prompting and complete their homework before they watch television;" Acceptance of responsibility: the ability to accept responsibility for our actions and not avoid it by expecting others to be responsible; Dedication to truth: "Courageous people must continually push themselves to be completely honest, yet must also possess the capacity to withhold the whole truth when appropriate," and; Balancing: the ability to handle situations appropriately. Peck argues that by trying to avoid legitimate suffering, people ultimately end up suffering more. The last two parts of The Road explore the nature of love and the power of grace, respectively.

• "Be in control of your life and live the life of your dreams." That's the mission stated on Dr. Wayne Dyer's website. Dyer is the author of over 40 books, many audio programs and videos, speaker in the field of self-development, and guest on thousands of television and radio shows. His belief that every person can live an extraordinary life is particularly poignant, for he grew up in orphanages and foster homes. In the late '80s, I listened to audio cassette tapes by Dr. Dyer in which encouraging words were spoken by him in rhythm. The rhythm matched the steps I took on walks, and provided reassurance at a time when I needed it most. Dyer's books and audio products have evolved since then; I haven't been able to find that specific program I enjoyed while on walks. But Dyer's works, available in print, CD and audio download, cover the gamut of encouragement.

Writers from our own ranks at Writers on the Move exemplify the urge to help their readers by virtue of their writing choices. Readers can scroll down from this post to the list of contributors and by checking out our writers' websites and blogs, can find a treasure trove of expertise and heartfelt advice.

Now for my humble beginnings: Chronicling my life in diaries has satisfied a natural inclination to record anything that strikes my fancy, from childhood on. Serious efforts began by reading "how-to" books and writing for local newspapers and periodicals. Today, after retiring from teaching elementary school, my dream to write for children has finally come true. The best part is that writing for WOTM has allowed me to delve into topics that I enjoy writing for adults, too. I feel I have arrived at the best of both worlds.

Sources:  http://theamericanscholar.org/how-did-you-become-a-writer/#.U3Z7XznnZaQ;  "Jane Austen: Get the Particulars," by Ginny Wiehardt, at http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/interviews/a/JaneAusten.htm;

http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/reviews/p/welty.htm; http://stephenking.com/ and "Stephen King," Biography Today, vol. 1, 1995; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.Scott_Peck; 
http://www.drwaynedyer.com/

Next month: Know Your Audience

Linda Wilson, a former elementary teacher and ICL graduate, recently completed Joyce Sweeney's online fiction course. Linda has published over 40 articles for children and adults, six short stories for children, and is in the final editing stages of her first book, a mystery story for 7-9 year olds. Follow Linda on Facebook.

 

Be Who You Are and Take the Risk

You are creative.

You have a voice.

You can write in a way no one else can.

But are you getting lost in the mechanics and not writing from your gut?

Don't get me wrong. I am all for learning the particulars - the basics of word usage, writing tight, grammar rules, etc. But don't let these things overshadow your creative yearnings!

When I think about famous painters or composers over the centuries, rules were broken and personal style took precedence. Can you imagine if they all started and ended with cookie cutter methods?

Get the basics down, but let your style shine. You are the only one that can find this balance. 

If no two snowflakes are alike, no two finger prints, doesn't that spell U N I Q U E?

Yes!

There are many ways to tell something and you are going to tell it the way no one else can. And you may use some unconventional ways to do it.

Going with our gut is risky. Sometimes we're wrong. But there is something that wells up inside of us that says go for it! We might fall flat on our face. But it was worth the sheer enjoyment of putting ourselves out there. That's because you know what you're good at. And even if everyone won't applaud your work, there is someone out there who will.

You just have to find them.

pHotosHo0x / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

What writing project are you struggling with? Could it because you are trying to be someone you are not? 

~~~

After raising and homeschooling her 8 children, Kathy has found time to pursue freelance writing. You can find her passion to bring encouragement and hope to people of all ages at When It Hurts -http://kathleenmoulton.com

Write on Your Summer Vacation

Summer is almost here and I have vacation on my mind. This trip is also my annual writing retreat. I chose the accommodations and I will have the freedom to roam about town.

Sitting around on park benches and hanging out at outdoor cafes allows me to people watch. There might be a ballgame or concert going on at the park. Maybe an artist will be painting a local scene.

I can visit museums and shop at stores. I might see an object that starts telling me a story. Maybe it’s an antique, something that was well loved by someone long ago. Perhaps it’s a piece of art or a photograph that speaks to me.

In the evening, when it’s cooler, I may go for a walk. I might see historic houses and wonder who used to live in them. Perhaps I will watch the birds move about, searching for food and flying back to their nests.

I may meet some interesting people. One year on vacation, I met a mystery writer. He was working on his latest creation at the inn where I was staying. On another trip, I was able to chat with a children’s author. She was selling her new book at a local festival.

When you plan your summer vacation, think of  it as an opportunity to be inspired, to write about what you see and do each day.

What plans are you making for this summer?

Whatever you decide to do, have fun and good luck with your writing!

Debbie A. Byrne has a B.S. in Mass Communication with a minor in History. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and is working on her first children’s book.

When Taglines Don't Work. Part III

Two months ago we looked at what taglines are, and what they're meant to achieve. I also encouraged you to try your hand at creating your own. Last month we looked at some author taglines that work well. This month, I want to round off this theme by looking at a few taglines that don't work, and why.

AT&T had a catchy tagline: Reach Out and Touch Someone. As an inspirational writer who has a lot of contact with people going through cancer treatment, I often encourage people to touch their friends and family if it is appropriate. By touch, I mean to reach out and hold a hand, or give a hug, to show them some love and care. So that seemed a good tagline.

That's before I looked up AT&T and discovered they are a mobile network company. Hmm. Where I understand what they're trying to say (I think) the idea of someone reaching out and touching me from my cell phone kind of gives me the creeps! This doesn't say what it's meant to say.

Electrolux marketed vacuum cleaners in the United Kingdom with the tagline, Nothing sucks like an Electrolux. That is a great recommendation for a vacuum cleaner or course, but it sure sucks as a promotion. Incidentally, although this was regarded by many as a huge blunder, the company claims this was a deliberate effort to gain attention. It worked! So, is this a good tagline or a bad one?

If you know Electrolux is a vacuum cleaner, it's a clever line. But if you don't? I know Electrolux is a well-known brand, but it is just possible there are some people out there in our global village who don't know. And that sucks! This tagline has a double meaning.

Kentucky Fried Chicken's finger-lickin' good is a well-known tagline, but they need to be careful if they translate it into Chinese. It then becomes "We'll Eat Your Fingers Off!" So it works well for its American market, but if it's used globally, and of course KFC is pretty world-wide now, it could cause some concern.

A well-known author uses the term HEA in her tagline. I read a comment by her on a blog recently where she says, "People would have to know what HEA stands for of course, but I’d assume most romance writers do."

Well, as a matter of fact I didn't. But then, I'm not a romance writer. So I Googled the term. I found it could mean:

• Higher Education Act
• Higher Education Authority
• Hypospadias and Epispadias Association
• Household Economy Assessment
• High Energy Astrophysics
• Happily Ever After 
• and another 40-odd possibilities.

Ahh wait! She assumes most romance writers know what HEA stands for, so I'm guessing it's Happily Ever After. It's not her fault I didn't know that's what she meant, but then surely she wants her tagline to reach out and appeal to more than just romance writers? Maybe not.

Then we have

• the car company that says We put people in front of cars. Really?
• the airline that says, We get you there. Umm. That's probably a good thing. But they don't say how! It doesn't enthuse me to use their service. 
• the spice that says it's Distilled in hell. As a Christian I would be apprehensive of sprinkling this on my food!

I could give many more examples but they're all there on the World Wide Web. You only need to Google "Bad taglines." The Internet has dozens of them.

It's not my intention to belittle the people who came up with these taglines. They're all pretty clever when you know what they mean. But what have we learned from these examples?

1. Don't rush your decision. We need to consider the different cultures we're writing for, and think of whether readers in another land will understand our meaning.
2. Be cautious of a clever play on words. The Upper Room, a devotional magazine that is published in over 40 languages, refuses to use any idioms that would not make sense to other cultures. That is a challenge; but then we're writers. We're up to challenges.
3. Make sure it gives the message you want it to.  No creepy hands coming out of the mobile! Or people standing in front of cars!
4. Avoid initials or abbreviations unless we are only using our tagline "in house," with a group of people that will know what we're talking about.

Hmm. Suddenly my tagline, The Write to Inspire doesn't seem so clever. It is of course a play on words: The Right to Inspire. Back to the drawing board!

How about you? Do you have any more advice? Points we should beware of when we come up with that startling, all-important, tagline that's going to shoot us up the charts of fame?

SHIRLEY CORDER lives on the coast in South Africa with her husband, Rob. Her book, Strength Renewed: Meditations for your Journey through Breast Cancer contains 90 meditations based on her sojourn in the cancer valley.

Please visit Shirley's Write to inspire and encourage website or at  RiseAndSoar.com, where she has the Write to inspire and encourage those in the cancer valley. You can also meet with her on Twitter or FaceBook. 

The first two parts of this theme can be read here:

Part I What is Your Tagline?
Part II Some Taglines that Work

How do You Capture Writing Time?

As I approach 60, I know that life occurs in stages and I wake up amazed some days at where I am in relation to where I thought I would be. I find when talking to others my age, they are either pursuing their dream or feeling overwhelmed and disappointed that there is never enough time to reach their goal. As a nurse and also a shop owner,  I have heard it more than once from peers..... "I will do such and such when I have more time" or " when I retire I want to take up sewing, quilting, writing, painting, volunteering," and the list goes on. Well folks, I am here to say for the record for those who want to pursue writing the time is now.







While some other skills, hobbies, or crafts may have to wait because of finances or family obligations, writing can be done with little investment and with as little time as 15 minutes a day. It is all about capturing those precious moments of time to pursue your writing dream.




 Writers just beginning need only a piece of paper and a pen. Simple enough, and of course the desire to say something to the reader. I dare say that those of us with some experience need only a pen and paper as well. The vast amount of courses, books, and software that help writers to hone their skills are invaluable but a writer needs a pen, paper, the spark of an idea, and TIME to pursue the dream.


So how do writers capture writing time?


 I find that the most important thing is to prioritize. Making a list of activities that take time in each day and writing this in on the page helps to identify snippets of time that can be directed towards writing time. Scheduling a set time for writing on the calendar makes it as important as any other item you schedule, but only you/I can decide how important to make it.




Preparing is another way to capture writing time. Always carry a small notepad and pen with you wherever you go. Writing phrases of a conversation, the colors of a sunset, the scents, sounds, or adjectives describing an emotional or important event can be jotted down. Later those few words may be all it takes to flesh out a great story or article. Technology allows many notes to be made or recorded on your cell phone deleting the need for pen and paper so being prepared can be a simple as knowing how to utilize those apps on your phone or notepad.




I find that the best way to capture writing time is to actively pursue it After I prioritize the list of tasks for my day, then prepare by having pen and paper, I am better able to pursue valuable writing time every time I have a few extra minutes during the day. I work a part time nursing job and run a quilt shop but I can still flesh out a scene during my lunch break or write a character description during a lull at the shop. I use waiting time at appointments, extra minutes in the early morning or 30 minutes before bed.


 Capturing writing time can be a challenge for those who have kids at home but so rewarding as you find time to squeeze writing in between homework, bedtime, and other family activities. Try for at least 15 minutes a day and you will gradually be able to add more time as your story or article begins to take shape.




For those who pursue writing full time,  an eight- ten hour writing day might be the norm. Others like myself must grab writing time in between another job or business. When writing is a priority, capturing writing time is as much a part of life as doing laundry or making dinner. You just do it. Prioritize, prepare, and pursue.


 How do you capture your writing time?









Terri Forehand captures writing time between nursing, quilting, running a quilt shop, and being a grandma. Author of The Cancer Prayer Book and The ABC's of Cancer According to Lilly Isabella Lane, she writes from her home nestled in the hills of Brown County Indiana. Visit her author blog at http://terri-forehand.blogspot.com and her author website at www.terriforehand.webnode.com