Changing the world, one word at a time.

Again, here’s another marginally writing-oriented post. Writers do need to exercise their brains a little outside the written word on occasion. Besides, we’re kindred spirits with visual artists.

The “Big Spanish Castle” illusion will cause you to have a “yeah, right” moment when you read the instructions. Just do it. You won’t believe it otherwise. It freaked me out the first time I did it.

The theory behind this is based on the concept of afterimage. You can find a neat experiment and explanation of this here.

The guy who created the castle illusion also includes a helpful tutorial on how to make your own from any image (look below the image on his page).

What I found interesting about both of these was that after going through the experiments once and then going back and doing them again later, I could sense a moment when what I was staring at started to look ‘different’, which seemed to coincide with the moment my retinas got ‘tired’ (see the afterimage link above). I didn’t have to wait the full 30 seconds, just until I sensed whatever it was that was different.

If nothing else, it’s a fun diversion. So enjoy, then get back to writing!

(and all other visitors too!)

If you got here by way of one of our words at The Big Word Project, all this worked! Welcome!

I started this blog because I make my living and my life as a writer. I eat, sleep, breathe, and think writing during most of my waking moments and many of my non-waking ones.

I’m looking to expand the content of this blog as time in our freelance workdays permits, but until then, stay a while, read the posts, and subscribe to our blog. More importantly, leave a comment! Say hi, ask a question, say something witty, say something not witty, or do whatever gets your muse perked up.

For starters, I suggest reading my Some of my other beliefs post along with the page on my main site called Writing Otaku to give you some introduction. Or, just start reading and don’t worry about it.

Glad you made it!

Happy Birthday to the Gutenberg Bible! On this date in 1455, what in my mind is the greatest invention in human history was first put into action with the mass printing of the Gutenberg Bible in Mainz, Germany.

Just think about how the written word affects every facet of our lives. As words became available to the masses and one’s message became so easily distributable, the ability to influence society increased exponentially. Every social revolution and cultural transformation that followed owes their success to Gutenberg.

The influence of the written word has taken another quantum leap forward with the Internet and blogs. Everyone has a voice now, everyone can be heard by millions, and it’s nearly impossible to silence anyone. It’s not without its problems, but it’s also proven to be the world’s greatest leveler.

As writers, may we be good stewards of all the tools we’ve been given.

This isn’t explicitly about writing, but I think this is a fascinating site. Obsolete Skills is compiling a wiki-style, master list of skills that used to be important in our society but no longer are.

A ’skill’ can be actual job skills (programming in BASIC), everyday actions people no longer perform (dialing a rotary phone), or skills that just aren’t useful anymore (like doing hexadecimal conversions in your head – which was questionably useful to begin with). Sadly, at one point I did all three of these. One caveat – some things in the list really are still used and remain useful – like understanding the Dewey Decimal System – so clearly this is a work in progress.

If you need a bit of writing inspiration, go there, pick a random ‘obsolete skill’, and write about a character who has that skill. Great cure for writer’s block!

Somewhere in your 30s, you become both tragically unhip and oblivious to the jargon that builds up in professions not your own. As a writer, though, if we are to communicate well with our readers, we have to try our best to keep up with how the world talks to each other. Whether it’s a marketing letter, a technical document, or two characters in dialogue, you need to know the language appropriate to your audience and your writing.

Here are a few sites I’ve used to do help me with this.

• Acronym Finder – It’s pretty much what it says it is.
• Abbreviations.com – This site is a nice compliment to Acronym Finder!
• The Free Dictionary – They cover jargon galore with their Medical Dictionary, Legal Dictionary, and Financial Dictionary.
• Urban Dictionary – Here’s a resource of slang for the woefully unhip. [salty language alert for those of you who care]
• Text Message Shorthand @ Netlingo – Personally, ‘IM speak’ drives me bat-crazy, but you may need to translate it…
• The Phrontistery – This site celebrates the incredible depth and breadth of the English language with whole lists of obscure words. Word-ophiles will love it. Go for the words but stay for the Compendium of Lost Words, lists of words that fell out of use long ago but ones you may need if you’re writing something like historical fiction.

Enjoy!

While just getting something published – even in a non-paying market – can be fun and rewarding, neither you nor I are going to turn down some cold, hard cash for our writing.

While something like Writer’s Market is an invaluable resource for breaking into paying markets, it’s also intimidating. There are plenty of smaller, friendlier-feeling, new-writer-welcoming markets out there far too numerous to make it into Writer’s Market. Keeping up with these opportunities requires a personal touch and a passion for helping all writers succeed.

That’s where C. Hope Clark’s FundsforWriters.com comes in. Every two weeks, Hope sends out a newsletter that lists grant opportunities and well-paying markets and contests only. At a ridiculously cheap $12/year, you can’t beat it.

I heard her in an interview a while back and love her spirit and commitment to her work and to writers everywhere. She has a ton of material on her site, so go have a look.

I recently discovered the FreelanceSwitch blog, and it easily made it onto my daily reading list. Their purpose is to offer advice, share their wisdom, and create a community atmosphere for freelancers everywhere. It’s a place where freelancers can work together to overcome the challenges of freelancing and find ways to improve their chances of success.

Definitely check out their recent article “How Much is Your Time Worth?”, the ever-present issue that freelancers everywhere wrestle with.

I’ve only explored a fraction of their extensive site so far. Go now and check it out!

Lake Superior State University maintains a List of Banished Words that they believe are some combination of overused, annoying, trite, wrongly-used, or otherwise worthy of being expunged from common usage.

I think they’re too hard on some of these words, but for the most part I agree with them. I like the word wordsmith because of its connotations of attention to craft, quality, and artisanship. I agree with them, though, that the way wordsmith is commonly used has sucked much of the positive meaning from it. That may be their point. When people drive good words to turn bad, it’s time to banish them for a while.

Some of these words and phrases are great to use sarcastically in your writing. (”Back in the day, we didn’t even have YouTube!”) If it’s something your character would say, use it!

I’ve read a lot of advice over the years that writers should focus on getting the words right and leave the graphic designers to deal with fonts and the other pretty stuff. Employed writers often work as part of a diverse team where everyone has a specific role. Writers who work at ‘non-writing jobs’ and write stories and poems in between the nooks and crannies of their day often don’t have time to worry about anything else.

With the proliferation of self-employment and self-publishing, it’s getting harder and harder for writers to just write copy or stories. Competition for freelance work can be fierce. The more writing and design services you can (legitimately) offer, the more likely you are to get work. The more design work you can do on your book, the better it’s going to sell. If you rely on self-publishing houses to do your design work for you, expect much more often than not to be disappointed.

What I find fascinating is that graphic designers are typically much more willing to write copy for the pieces they create – such as brochures – than copywriters are to offer a design to go with their copy. Traditionally, these have been two separate fields and remain so in many places. A great designer who can write adequate copy or a great writer who can at least do adequate design are instantly more marketable.

Does this mean you should punt outside help from anyone? Of course not. But if you seek outside design help, you should know enough to know the right questions to ask and to evaluate how good that help is.

I feel that the days of just providing straight copy to a client are quickly waning. In talking with prospective clients, I discover that many of them have received bids for just writing the text for their project leaving them to wonder, “you mean I have to find somebody else to do the design and printing?”

I think if you bid on a job to produce an e-mail newsletter, you ought to know how to actually create and lay one out in HTML as well as how to use a couple of online services who help companies distribute those newsletters. The copy in those newsletters is still the most important part, but most clients I’ve talked to or worked with want more than a Word document with the copy in it. They want the project done so all they have to do is click Send.

That said, there are still plenty of places that want the copy and then want you to go away. That’s fine. They’re set up for that kind of process. I think, though, that there are ten orders of magnitude more places that would hire you if you could take them from beginning to “click Send”.

If you dread learning the skills needed to do that, then don’t. Aim for places that just want the copy. I’ve just found that I have a lot more options if I can provide more services. It helps tremendously that I love learning this stuff, and it gives me a place to express my creativity in those areas.

It feels good when talking to clients to say, “I write and…” Your “and” should be something you love, or are at least fascinated by, that also adds value to your writing services. That “and” will get you work.

So, what’s your “and”?

Connie, Maybe easily is one of the best short stories I’ve heard in a long time. It was featured eons ago on Escape Pod, which is currently one of my favorite podcasts for short stories.

Connie, Maybe by Paul Martens is a story about a man from a rural town claiming to have been kidnapped by aliens, though no one in town believes him. The fear of an alien conspiracy rises as people in town start becoming ‘different’. But which is easier to accept as the reason for these changes – aliens, or that even in small towns people can change just because they want to?

Wichita Rutherford reads the story and gives a beyond-brilliant performance. You have to hear it to believe it. I heard he does an occasional podcast of his own. That’s worth looking up!