I received a circular e-mail recently titled ‘Quiz for people who know everything’ with some thought-provoking questions. I don’t know everything. I didn’t, for example, know that the answer to ‘Which famous North American landmark is constantly moving backwards?’ is Niagara Falls. But because I’m a word nerd, I was able to name the 14 punctuation marks in the English language. Can you?
The exclamation mark; a source of consternation for many editors. Yes, it can add emotion to prose but it’s overuse has led to cries for it to be exiled. Exclamation marks are used in popular messaging mediums - SMS and e-mail - to convey a sense of urgency or excitement and here they are perfectly acceptable but they have little place in formal writing. Some editors will, upon noticing the offending mark, immediately transfer the submitted piece to the recyling bin.
Recently I rewrote an introduction for a client’s website. There were numerous exclamation marks intending to convey the owners passion for her work but instead the paragraph read like a line of script from American Pie: “This one time! At band camp!”
As with all punctuation, usage of exclamation marks is a matter of personal preference. My views on the matter are that exclamation marks should be restricted to dialogue and informal writing.
Think very carefully about using exclamation marks particularly in articles and press releases. Try it without and see what happens. Take that cherry of the cupcake; it will still taste sweet.
I just stumbled across a great blog by a US based work at home mum. The blog provides advice and opportunity for those wanting to freelance. I’ve added the site - Work at Home Mom Revolution - to my blogroll.
This link provides work-at-home / self-employment opportunities for Aussies: http://www.careermums.com.au/self_employment_opportunities.php
This one is focused on part-time and casual work: http://www.yourparttimeworkforce.com.au/
This is a new ’boutique job board and social networking site’ for work-at-home-mums: http://www.hiremymum.com.au
And here’s a video about a new networking site for small business owners / work-at-home-mums: http://www.radio4smallbusiness.com.au/buswomun.htm
I also came across this article some time back and shelved it for future reference. Now seems like a good time to slot it in: http://smallbusiness.smh.com.au/managing/management/when-work-and-home-collide-909317693.html
As a word nerd, etymology (the origin of linguistic forms) is another area of interest. I’m currently studying medical terminology and it’s quite fascinating to discover the connection between medical terms and every day words. But sometimes I have more questions that answers. Why, for example, if we are most closely related to primates such as chimps and apes do we create heart valves from cows and pigs?
Knowledge of medical terminology is also handy for making things appear more serious than they are. If I wanted to phone in sick I could say I’ve got coryza and rhinorrhoea, both of which are essentially symptoms of the common cold. Alas, being self-employed, calling in sick is kind of pointless.
Here’s another homophone (words with different meaning that sound alike) that often causes confusion during transcription: incidents and incidence.
Incidents is simply the plural of incident: an event or situation, a seperate unit of experience. For example, “The incident between Bridgit and Britney was blown way out of proportion.”
Incidence, on the other hand, is the degree or extent of occurance. For example, “The incidence of celebrity hairstyle blunders is increasing.”
The incidence of homophone mishap is high and I intend to blog about them individually as the incidents occur.
We bake a cake, we ice it carefully, we display it on a pretty stand and then we serve it to our guests. Where are the napkins? Where is the cutlery?
Good writing is often as much about reader preference as it is about technical skill. This is called style. My natural style tends to be wordy, incorporating lengthy sentences with lots of punctuation. This style is not popular with internet article writing. Internet browsers want concise, snappy information. They don’t want to have to concentrate or wade through complex structure.
But there’s more to it than style and technicality. There’s also form. Let’s look at an example because everybody loves examples. The following paragraphs were extracted from any article titled How To Vacation With the Kids by Jack Fitzgerald, published in the June edition of Aussie Kids, a parenting publication:
“Planning ahead is vital, and that planning should start as soon as the destination has been chosen. It may seem silly to plan that summer vacation when the snow is still falling, but that advance planning can pay off in the end.”
Apart from the questionable placement of commas in this paragraph, the word ‘plan’ - or some variation of it - occurs four times in two sentences. Yes, the message is clear (plan ahead) but the delivery could have been better.
And here’s an example of a paragraph -actually a sentence - by the same writer that also gets the message across but would really benefit from some punctuation. Try saying it aloud in one breath without any pauses:
“So whether you are planning a getaway to the country or a few days in a resort the fun doesn’t have to start when you arrive and the memories should last a lifetime.”
It’s like eating cake without a fork; you get fed but miss a lot of crumbs in the process.
With the start of the new financial year, I thought I would highlight my reasons for starting this blog. Partly it is to share my experience of being a VA but largely it is because of my love of writing and grammar. It’s hard for non word-nerds to grasp the importance of punctuation and grammar so to put it in a more visual way, unpunctuated writing is like driving on a road without any signposts. How do you know when to stop? Which direction to take? Which speed to be at?
Many people with poor spelling skills rely on built-in spell checkers but these don’t allow for grammar, punctuation, tone or homophones (words that sound alike but have different meaning). Is it important? Yes, because a mispelt word or a wrongly placed apostrophe impedes the flow of prose. The purpose of any writing is to get a message across and if the reader has to stop to consider an incorrectly spelt word or a badly positioned comma then message delivery is hindered.
Advancements in technology and a profileration of writing sites allow anyone to ‘publish’ their work. Everyone has something important to say and it makes sense to say it in a way that is going to have maximum impact. If your article or message is being read, the reader already has interest. If the article or message has been poorly constructed, the reader is going to lose interest very quickly.
I recently saw another case of apostrophe abuse on a TV guide, though will admit this one was probably a typo: Bridget Jone’s Diary. Bridget Jone has a diary?
One of the basic punctuation rules of possession is to stick an apostrophe s on the end. Examples: This is Lorraine’s blog; that is Belinda Neal’s iguana.
Trouble seems to arise when the owner’s name results in s. Even so, the apostrophe + s rule still applies and thus we end up with Bridget Jones’s Diary. A fact she probably wouldn’t be too pleased about.
As with every rule there are exceptions and in this instance the additional s is dropped when the name ends in an ‘iz’ sound. Perhaps because of their accent, Americans have latched on to this idea and frequently drop the additional s altogether. Over there, it’s Indiana Jones’ Diary.
So which is correct? Let’s use Ms Britney Spears as an example (she’s apparently been used for everything else). Is it Britney Spears’ tragic hairdo or is it Britney Spears’s tragic hairdo? According to the rule, it should be Britney Spears’s tragic hairdo but it depends on your location, your audience and your editor’s preference. Either way, it’s still tragic.
Whichever rule you decide to follow, it’s important to be consistent and remember that it is never Bridget Jone’s or Britney Spear’s (the tragic hairdo of Britney Spear). If in doubt, consult an expert and not the Telegraph.
I was watching a cartoon on ABC television this morning when I saw something that horrified me. (I feel compelled to point out that I do not normally watch ABC Kids but the TV happened to be on and I just happened to be passing).
The theme of the show was ‘How to be a Star’ and the main character took us through 10 easy steps on how to reach celebrity status. At the end of the 10 steps, a badge was flashed up proclaiming “YOUR A STAR!”.
I found myself wondering, what is an A star? Because your is the possessive form of you. “Here you go Mr Tim Brooke-Hunt, your A star as requested.”
This is a blatant case of apostrophe abuse. Where is the poor, hard-working apostrophe that belongs in this sentence? The badge should have read, “You’re a star!” Note the apostrophe, which in this instance is serving to remind us that YOU’RE is a contraction of YOU ARE.
ABC Kids, you’re doing a great job of disappointing your viewers.
While completing a transcription recently, I was momentarily thrown by a phrase about walking by a garden. Did the participant walk past a garden or passed a garden? I found this particularly tricky because she did both; she did walk past a garden and she also passed a garden.
Past / passed is frequently a cause for pause when writing. In this case, the actual sentence was “I walked past a garden” but equally it could have been “I passed a garden”. It could not, however, be “I walked passed a garden” or “I past a garden”.
The golden rule for this one; T is for time. Past as a noun refers to the time before the present or as an adjective to an event having already occurred. Passed is the past tense of the verb to pass. Example: The deadline for this transcription has passed.
In his book Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson explains that language is constantly evolving and though it can be distressing for us word nerds we have to accept that some words will be lost to history and some other words that make us cringe may find their way into the modern dictionary.
The word ‘youse’ for example is commonly used when referring to more than one person as a sort of bastard pluralisation of the word you. “I told all youse kids to stop saying that.” Yes, I’m a word snob and it makes my toes curl but I’ve even heard it from the lips of a teacher so consequently I fear that this particular verbalisation may overtake the masses. Unfortunately when it comes to word usage, democracy usually rules and this one is recognised as a valid form in American English.
Another example often heard is the word seen. The word seen in itself is perfectly valid of course but it’s frequently used in the wrong sense. The past tense of to see is saw. It is possible to say “I did see” in place of “I saw” but I seen - as in “I seen one of those dictionaries once” - is lazy grammar. I hope this particular use is not one that becomes popular because personally I seen enough of it.
Whether you’re a natural writer or you’ve hired someone to assist you write your life story, what do you do once the manuscript is complete? A story remains untold if it has not been read. Traditional publishing via an agent is out of reach for most authors but fortunately self-publishing has become more acceptable and is a straightforward process.
Many VAs have undertaken a specific course to obtain qualification as an author’s assistant and can guide writers through the self-publishing process. This includes researching suitable publishers, checking copyright, obtaining an ISBN and much more.
For many, a finished autobiography will be the end of the line. Something to hand out to family members and keep on the bookshelf. But why stop there? There are many marketing mediums available and again, a VA can help you with a book launch and promotion if you desire to see your autobiography mass produced.
Today I received a swish piece of marketing from OnceOnline; a fold out list of “things to do before you die.” I’ve achieved a few of the suggestions and there are more than a few that I would have no intention of trying to attempt, however, what intrigued me was the number 1 proposal: “Write the story of your life - let’s face it, the odds of anyone else doing it are pretty remote.”
I believe that everyone has a worthwhile story to tell. Even the shortest life has inspiration and interest because all lives touch another. Everyone should be encouraged to tell their life story. But what’s the best way to go about it? It’s all there in your head of course but how do you go about getting your life on to paper?
There are many options. If you can type and find your way around a keyboard then using a word processing program would be the most convenient option. But what if you’re a two-finger typist or prefer pencil and paper? Writing your life story may well take a lifetime. You could dictate your story and hire a Virtual Assistant to transcribe it for you. If you don’t want to go to the expense of buying a digital or tape recorder, there are software options that enable you to dictate directly to your PC or over the phone. Some VA’s have their own recording equipment for you to use.
So if you do harbour the desire to tick this particular suggestion of your list of 100 things to do, don’t let logistics stop you.
By the way, my favourite suggestion on the list of 100 things to do is number 36: “Go out shopping in just a Drizabone - because going shopping in just a fur coat is not PC anymore.” You can view the rest of the list here.