http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/?utm_source=rss Writers Talk About Writing Copyright 2009, Thinkmap Inc. All Rights Reserved. en Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/images/common/logo_on_white.gif http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/?utm_source=rss Search for a word in the Visual Thesaurus word http://www.visualthesaurus.com Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1878?utm_source=rss My husband has a great voice and he loves to sing. Loves it. He's performed in an auditioned community choir called Jubilate since our triplets were age 2. And, yes, I'd appreciate a drum-roll for me — for the essential backup job of looking after three high-maintenance toddlers (now teenagers), alone, one night a week! Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1878 Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1841?utm_source=rss I recently met with a client — the CEO of a non-profit organization — who announced that he wanted a communications plan. Having been around the block a few times I knew enough to ask a tough, penetrating question: "What exactly do you mean?" Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1841 Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1810?utm_source=rss I don't pretend to be a great public speaker; I think I had more nerve as a 14-year-old debater than I have now! But I was keenly motivated by the gleam of trophies in high school and I learned the tricks it takes to do reasonably well at speaking. In later years, I also wrote speeches for industry leaders and CEOs. So when a friend emailed to request advice on how to write speeches, I decided to summarize the seven things I know. Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1810 Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1767?utm_source=rss It's been snowing where I live. Okay, I know it's winter and all, and that might not seem like a strange complaint (unless you live in, say, Australia) but I'm in Vancouver -- the wet capital of the world. Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1767 Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1730?utm_source=rss Mim Harrison, author of Spoken Like a Pro: An Insider's Guide to the Language of Professions (http://www.levenger.com/pagetemplates/product/product.asp?params=category=14-238|level=2-3|pageid=5067) and Smart Words (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399534644?ie=UTF8&tag=thevisualthes-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0399534644), has some simple advice in these tough economic times: "Talk like a pro and you could save some dough." Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1730 Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1722?utm_source=rss On the occasion of Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday, Dennis Baron (https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/debaron/www/) discovers that the Great Emancipator was also the Great Reviser. Baron is professor of English and linguistics at the University of Illinois and writes regularly on linguistic issues at The Web of Language (http://illinois.edu/blog/view?blogId=25). Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1722 Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1713?utm_source=rss I was in high school when former U.S. president Richard Nixon resigned. I don't remember seeing him give his official TV farewell, but I strongly recall his gravelly voice, his pursed lips and his shuffling gait. I devoured All the President's Men when it was published in 1974 and saw the movie starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as reporters Woodward and Bernstein when it was released two years later. Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1713 Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1669?utm_source=rss In November, I had a stroke. My second one in six years. Both strokes were established in similar ways -- the puzzling outcome of having had mild abdominal surgery. I'm not trying to make you crazy here. It doesn't seem logical to me -- or to many doctors -- either. Although I have freakishly low blood pressure and exercise regularly and eat healthily, there's something about my body that doesn't like surgery. I have surgery and the main source of blood flow to the brain, my carotid artery, breaks apart (this maneuver is called a dissection) and a stroke spins off into my brain. Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1669 Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1635?utm_source=rss A few months ago, I ended up in Emergency for 15 hours. (Long story; it was nothing serious.) But the debacle caused me to miss a deadline. The client was the picture of understanding but for me, a former daily newspaper editor, it was deeply embarrassing. Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1635 Word Count http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1617?utm_source=rss Last week (http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1610/) in the first part of our interview with journalist David Wolman about his book Righting the Mother Tongue, he told us how he was inspired to set out on a journey to discover the origins of the maddening English spelling system. Now in part two, Wolman explains why ambitious spelling reforms are doomed to failure, and how 21st-century technology may be accomplishing what the reformers were never able to do. He also muses on the enduring popularity of the National Spelling Bee. Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1617