If you are engaging in a writing career, whether full or part time, you can't do without the basic tools of the trade. Sure, you've learned to master the construction of sentences, paragraphs and have even mastered the art of maintaining a coherent line of thought for the reader to follow throughout your article or short work of fiction. I'm not referring to intellectual tools you have obtained through training or by trial and error. I am discussing, rather, the physical tools you need to get the job done. You need more than a good personal computer or laptop with a decent spell/grammar check program to succeed as a writer. You need a little help from some trusted old friends.
The first friend I'd like to re-introduce to you is the dictionary. Yes. I know your PC has a spell checker and your grammar check program might even help you out with rewording a sentence that suffers structural issues. Neither of these sources is going to provide you with the meaning of a word. You can go with the tried-and-true book form of the dictionary or use one of the on-line versions. No good writer, however, is going to be caught in the process of working without one or the other handy.
The next of your four friends is another very familiar fellow. Roget's Thesaurus has been helping us find the right word or words for a very, very long time. Any thesaurus can prove to be an invaluable tool when you are in search of a word or feel like there is a better way to phrase something. Again, you can get either a hardbound book or a piece of software, but keep the thesaurus at the ready.
One friend that might not have come so easily to mind is a good book on English grammar. I prefer a very basic one that doesn't take you too far into the "depths of literary learning" and sticks to basics such as subject/verb agreement, punctuation and other grammatical bogeymen that must be dealt with regularly in this profession. It's surprising how often you'll feel more comfortable about the quality of a sentence or phrase if you spend five minutes assuring yourself that it meets the book's criteria for good grammar. While there are some decent grammar primers on-line, I'd stick with the book in this instance.
Finally, and this might not be a help to those of you who have great memories or exhaustive vocabularies, I like to keep a book that lists synonyms. Mine is an ancient out-of-print book from the 1960s. You can probably find one more up-to-date, and doubtlessly some enterprising individual has an on-line version. I use this book when I am forced to do a lot of repetitive writing and feel as if I'm using the same terminology over and over. The use of a synonym to replace a repeated term can open the work up and enliven the flow thought. It can also get you out of a mental bind.
So, keep your four friends handy. I am old-fashioned. I like to keep mine on my desk in worn, dog-eared book form. You might prefer on-line versions or software applications instead. The point is not what form you keep them in, but that you do keep them close by for easy reference. These are the sorts of tools that, as they are used, will enable you to improve your writing skills and, as such, will help you succeed in your endeavors.
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Barnes & Noble Launches Online Storytime
Parents of picture-book readers needn’t leave home to enjoy story time with their children. This week, Barnes & Noble.com debuted its Online Storytime program dedicated Web site, videos featuring pan-and-scan filming of picture books accompanied by readings by authors or celebrities. A new Online Storytime entry will be added to the site on the first Tuesday of each month. The inaugural offering features Jane O’Connor narrating her Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly (HarperCollins) along with displays of Robin Preiss Glasser’s illustrations. more...
Make something different for dinner tonight.
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"Barbara Kingsolver has written a book of historical fiction that reads like a Frida Kahlo painting: allegory, poetry, beauty & pain. Kingsolver writes likes a great artist paints."
In the confrontation between
the stream and the rock,
the stream always wins.
Not through strength,
but through perseverance.
H. Jackson Brown
“It is delivery that makes the orators success.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Last week’s blog about networking events not working, got me thinking about the word ‘networking’ itself. I have often thought it a rather unfortunate choice of word for a people skill deemed so important in business. Whilst you may hear that ‘networking’ may help you to run your business successfully, this word really doesn’t convey the power of people and strong relationships in business.
Indeed ‘net-working’ can at times seem slightly contrived and manipulative especially when people only start to network because they desperately need new customers or a new job. Whilst stop-start networking activities also can also add to the feast and famine syndrome in business, networking itself may be unsuccessful when speed seems of the essence. Frequently people simply fail to grasp that good relationships just cannot be rushed!
I want to be happy for no reason this year except that I am here and alive and I claim this moment as my own. It's mine. Its got my name on it!
This year, I want to spend more time in nature, not on the path near my home, with its iPods, and cell phones and incessant chatter, but deep in a forest, where the earth recognizes my step, and the ground kisses my feet as I walk.
This year, I want to say no, more often, and not feel guilty, and say yes, more often, and not feel embarrassed.
I want to take the time to grieve fully this year, for those people that I have lost and mourn those things that I shall never have or be again.
I want to hear the sounds of creation and I can't tell you what those sounds are, because I have never really heard them before. I 've been too busy for that. But their music beckons to me in the stillness when I have finally given up my need to control.
I want to see, really see the sights of the universe and I can't tell you what those sights are, because I have never really seen them before. I've had my eyes closed. But their vision haunts me in my dreams and gently calls forth to me in my waking hours.
I want to take the child in me out to play more this year and step in mud puddles, get my feet wet, eat cotton candy, build a snowman, talk to strangers, kiss furry dogs and chase mangy cats.
This year I want to eat my spaghetti with a fork and forget about the spoon and get my face really dirty.
I want to get to know my teddy bear more this year. After all, he is really the only one who has always been there for me, in my darkest hour, comforting me and whispering sweet messages into my heart, that were more accurate than any psychic ever could be.
I want to see the world with new eyes this year, as if I have never seen it before, like an alien on an unfamiliar planet, and not take anything for granted.
This year, I want to talk less and say more. I want to taste more and eat less.
I want to write more about those things that really matter to me, with passion, the things that I know in my gut, the things that stir up my soul, and not give a damn about keywords or tags or where I rank in Google.
I want to sit with a flower this year and watch it bloom, and know what it feels like to finally surrender to life, to succumb to a purpose bigger than my own.
I want to talk to the moon and bask in the sun and gaze at the stars for hours and hours.
I want to be much more silly this year, and care much less about what people think of me. I have forgotten just how much fun being silly can be.
I want to laugh, harder than I have ever laughed before. And cry less for all of the pain and suffering that I think I can't fix, because I know that I can. Every time that I make the choice to be free, there is less suffering in the world, not a world with less pain, but less pain in the world.
I want to love more this year, not the sappy, greeting card kind of love they sell on Valentine's day cards, but a love that surpasses all distance, time, space and differences.
This year, I want to make friends with those parts of me that I am afraid of and attempt to do those things that still scare me to death. Well, at least some of them.
I want to appreciate more and complain less, accept more and judge less, forgive more and blame less. I want to ultimately do nothing and allow everything.
This year I want to break open the windows of my life and knock down the doors, remove the shackles and stare down the illusion until it sets me free.
So you won't find goals here or projects or timelines or objectives or plans or directions or bucket lists or targets.
You'll only find me.
Veronica Hay
Veronica Hay is the author of In a Dream, You Can Do Anything. An extraordinary collection of writings that will uplift you, motivate you, inspire you, and gently guide you along the inner path of your life.Go to: http://www.insightsandinspirations.com or feel free to email your comments about today's message to: veronicahay@telus.net
School Library Journal and TOON Books offers teachers and librarians the chance to win FREE Easy Reader Comics.
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