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Backstory
Jon Clinch, Author of "Finn"
Sat Mar 17 00:00:00 EDT 2007
At the outset, a famous novelist warned me that if I insisted on writing Finn I ought to be constantly on my guard. "Mr. Clemens," he said, "will be looking over your shoulder." He didn't know the half of it. And frankly, neither did I.
Only when I showed early bits of the manuscript to other writers did I begin to understand. There was plenty of encouragement, of course, and lots of praise, but beneath it all was an undercurrent of, How dare you?
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Blog Du Jour
Books, Books, Books
Wed Mar 14 00:00:00 EDT 2007
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Word Count
Poetry: The Power of "Hal-ku"
Wed Mar 14 00:00:00 EDT 2007
Hal Sirowitz's special education students in the New York City public school system were doubly lucky: Their devoted teacher was also an award-winning poet. Now retired after 25 years as an educator, Hal is the author of four books of poetry including Mother Said and Father Said -- delicious dry humor based on his parents' harping. From 2001 to 2003 the borough of Queens honored Hal by naming him their "Poet Laureate." We spoke to him about his poetry and how he incorporated it into his teaching.
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Dog Eared
Hal's Poetry Books
Wed Mar 14 00:00:00 EDT 2007
Prizewinning poet Hal Sirowitz, who we interview in this week's "Word Count" feature, recommends these books of poetry and teaching poetry:
"For new haiku enthusiasts, read Basho and Issa. After you read them you'll understand why they only had one name. Michelangelo only needed one name, too. Need I say more? I also recommend Kenneth Koch's book Wishes, Lies, and Dreams for teaching poetry."
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"Bad Language"
Surprise and Delight: Ten Tips for Writers
Mon Mar 12 00:00:00 EDT 2007
There's a great post on Creating Passionate Users about user delight and the guy from the train phenomenon. My old French teacher, who was also a poet, used to come out with things like: "and now Matthew will give us his translation of this paragraph with acrobats and high kicking." I don't know where he got it from but the fireworks of his everyday speech in the classroom are still with me 20 years later. Anyhow, here are my top tips for writers to create the same kind of surprise and delight:
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Blog Excerpts
Buzzword Blends
Sat Mar 10 00:00:00 EST 2007
Coworkers afflicted with BBS? "You've seen it in meetings. Someone who's addicted to incorrectly using business jargon. It's known as Buzzword Blending Syndrome, or BBS," explains a cheeky website from Babson College. Click here to help decipher those buzzword blends -- or let the website create new ones for you!
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Backstory
Margo Rabb, author of "Cures for Heartbreak"
Sat Mar 10 00:00:00 EST 2007
I wrote Cures for Heartbreak over a period of eight years, though when I started writing it I had no idea that it would take so long to finish.
Cures for Heartbreak is a very personal story for me: the fifteen-year-old narrator, Mia Pearlman, loses her mother to melanoma days after the diagnosis, just as I did. It seems that many writers are drawn to personal material for their first books, and when I started writing fiction, the material that I couldn't keep away from was about my mother's death.
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Behind the Dictionary
Word Court: The Judge Is In
Wed Mar 07 00:00:00 EST 2007
The next time a language usage brouhaha has you ready to scream, come to blows or file for divorce -- wait! Cool down and contact Barbara Wallraff. The author of The Atlantic's popular Word Court and Word Fugitives columns and a weekly syndicated columnist for King Features, Barbara has been sorting out thorny language questions -- and occasionally saving marriages -- for over a quarter century. She's also written three terrific books on the subject: Word Fugitives, Your Own Words and Word Court. We had a lively talk with Barbara about usage, the role of dictionaries and the hidden power of Google:
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Dog Eared
Barbara's Usage Books
Wed Mar 07 00:00:00 EST 2007
Language columnist Barbara Wallraff, who we interview in this week's "Behind the Dictionary" feature, recommends these books on usage:
Garner's Modern American Usage, by Bryan A. Garner. "The best single book on the niceties of contemporary American usage."
Modern English Usage, by H.W. Fowler. "The 1st or 2nd edition (not the 3rd edition, Burchfield's Fowler's, which is an entirely different animal). A classic, and a pleasure to read."
The Careful Writer, by Theodore M. Bernstein, "among other usage books by Bernstein. Also classics."
Lapsing Into a Comma and The Elephants of Style, by Bill Walsh, "the Washington Post's very smart, no-nonsense copy chief."
The Language Instinct, by Steven Pinker. "Fascinating information about how language 'works.'"
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Blog Du Jour
Barbara's Usage Sites
Wed Mar 07 00:00:00 EST 2007
Barbara Wallraff, the language expert featured in this week's "Behind the Dictionary," suggests:
Google News. "As discussed in the interview."
The OED Online. "Expensive, but I'd be lost without it."
The Linguist List, "for when you want a scientific perspective on language."
World Wide Words, "for accurate, intelligent word lore."
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