Couldn’t keep the camera still. Blurred world. Motion beyond my control.
No prose. No verses tonight. I just thought this bad photo was visual poetry.
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Author: gege
Somebody asked me the secret to expanding one’s vocabulary.
First off, I suspect that right now, you know pretty much all the words you need to know to survive in your chosen career. I don’t prescribe memorizing a new word a day. Life is too short and stressful as it is. Just use the words you already know as well as you can.
But for the sake of continuous improvement, and if you really want to deposit more into your word bank, let me share with you a few tips:
Audience – Who is your target reader? With whom do you frequently communicate? Are they entrepreneurs? Then read a lot of business magazines and use the terms frequently used — capital, investment, bottom line, strategy, sustainability –and use them literally or metaphorically in your sales letters. Do you write articles read by sports enthusiasts? Pepper your write-ups with words about winning, teamwork, the finish line. Google specific glossaries and list down words you might be able to use in your writing. Do not overdo it. Plain English is still better than jargon. Just use enough to get the attention of your readers, who would appreciate that you use their language.
Books – There are two main tips I give to aspiring writers. One is to write, write, write. And another is to read, read, read. Read aloud. Underline the words which you are not familiar with and look them up. Google them to see how these words are usually used. Experiment by using these words in your speech or written pieces. Just make sure you are using them in context.
Crossword Puzzles – I kid you not. In my youth, I discovered the word ecru through crossword puzzles. Find the difficulty level you’re comfortable with but one that is challenging as well. And yes, you can peek and cheat. That’s how you discover the words you do not know.
Dictionary – The most obvious place to look. I don’t prescribe reading it from A to Z. Rather, check it out when you have certain words you want to look up. I recommend Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. These days, however, it so much more convenient to go to www.dictionary.com. Don’t just read the first meaning. Read through it so you understand the nuances of the word.
Enjoy the Process – Play word games online. Play scrabble with a really good player. Listen to good speakers and learn which words inspire the audience. Experiment with new words. Don’t go through the motions of memorizing one word a day when you find the process tedious. Try to use a newly discovered word 10 times a day. Use them for knock knock jokes. You’re bound to remember them better.
F7 – Microsoft’s Shift F7 is such a blessing to writers. It’s a very convenient thesaurus. Use it when you think you’ve been repeating a certain word too much. You might be tempted to use an extremely impressive sounding word that no one else you know has heard of. Don’t. The point is to be understood. Write to express, not to impress. So, stick to words that most people will understand. And be careful that you are using the word properly or else you will be taken as a pretentious fool.
So, there you have it, the ABCs of expanding your vocabulary. Again, I encourage you to read as often as you can. Read a balance of fiction and non-fiction. Read well-written books. Read books on writing. Read books that discuss topics you are interested in.
The process of expanding your vocabulary is not an instant thing. It takes time. And remember, it is not the words you know, but how you use the words you know that will help you write effectively.
Interesting and helpful article at http://mikeswritingworkshop.blogspot.com.
Interview with Lee Gutkind
Lee Gutkind, Editor/Writer/Teacher/Filmmaker
Lee Gutkind is the founding editor of the anthology series Creative Nonfiction: The Literature of Reality, a teacher, filmmaker, and an award-winning author/editor of over a dozen books. He’s often been called “The Godfather behind Creative Nonfiction.”
Here is my exclusive interview with Mr. Gutkind:
Mike: What is the best piece of writing advice you ever heard?
Gutkind: That you need to build a habit of writing. To write every day and on a schedule.
Mike: Should you edit your work during the process or after you’ve finished? MORE HERE.
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Signs of the Times
More funny signs at: http://www.oddee.com/item_96446.aspx
Thanks to Maydiwayata for sending the link.
The Flips Flipping Pages gathered on the last day of January 2009 to talk about their best and worst reads of 2008. It was supposed to be done ala-Show and Tell. Since most of my books have been boxed, I could not show my books. So I prepared this image instead. 
My absolute worst read was Heaven is Real. Never mind that is is badly written, repetitive, and solipsistic. What I didn’t like about this was that it’s so unbiblical, I think the devil itself wrote this. It deserves to burn, hence the lower right image. I just did not want to talk about it and dignify it, so my official worst read was Lauren Weisberger’s The Devil Wears Prada. A slightly more entertaining take on the devil.
I saw the movie first and loved it. I suppose this only works in film, with the fashion montages, Meryl Streep, and Emily Blunt. The movie is crisp, fast-paced, and sharp-witted. The book is a major disappointment. Writing is mediocre, cumbersome, and tries too hard to be witty. I’m guessing it was just the Anna Wintour allusions that made this book a bestseller.
Check out my top 10 reads. Noteworthy are:
Lolita – Best Writing
I did not want nor expect to like this, but the I was blown away by Nabokov’s writing. It takes great skill to make readers sympathize for such a despicable character.
Review at: http://islandhopper.blogspot.com/2008/11/lolita-by-vladimir-nabokov.html
To Kill A Mockingbird – Best Message
Review at: http://islandhopper.blogspot.com/2008/12/to-kill-mockinbird-by-harper-lee.html
Balzac and The Little Chinese Seamstress – Most Charming
and The Best Cinematography in the Movie of My Mind
Review at: http://islandhopper.blogspot.com/2008/11/balzac-and-little-chinese-seamstress-by.html
The Shack – Most Thought Provoking
Review at: http://islandhopper.blogspot.com/2008/11/shack-by-william-p-young.html
And the Best Read for 2008 was not the best written, not the most famous, not the one that made me cry. I chose it because it was the one that was most personal, the one that I could relate to the most, the one that struck a chord. A Celibate Season is about a husband and wife separated for a season due to the wife’s work. This reminded me so much of the 7 months I spent working in Hanoi, Vietnam — the loneliness, the misery, the growing independence, communicating through written words, the challenges to be faithful, and eventually the realization that very few things are worth the prolonged separation of husband and wife who want to keep a marriage healthy. Review at: http://islandhopper.blogspot.com/2008/11/celibate-season-by-carol-shields-and.html
2008 was definitely about books. I have never ever bought and read as many books as I did last year. I was hard put to choose the one best book, but there were many, many good reads. I felt so accomplished having set aside that much time for reading. The FFP book discussions challenged me to read books I wouldn’t normally read, expanded my comfort zones, and forced me to form and express opinions about books. I discovered authors. I learned. I enjoyed. I met people even more passionate than I was about books. Thousands of pesos spent on books. Hundreds of miles and hours walked in search of books. Tens of square meters of floor space disappeared under mountain piles of books. The experience of falling in love with books over and over again — just priceless.
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Journal Your Way to Better Writing
There’s a special group of people who live the last quarter of every year with trembling hands, nerves on edge, and a tendency to get too excited. By the middle of January, they start calming down.
Don’t worry about these folks. It’s not a chronic disease. It’s just a symptom of overcaffeination. A natural result of trying to consume 12 cups of regular coffee and 9 more cups of the holiday varieties. Their goal: to earn enough stickers to get themselves a free journal from Starbucks.
I understand. I’m a rabid collector of journals myself. I prefer the ones with unlined pages. I prefer paying for them since I do not have the patience for collecting stickers. Some people are crazy about moleskins. Some people like them big. Some people like them small and handy. But really, any kind of notebook will do to enable you to journal your thoughts.
There are many benefits to writing a journal. One of them is improving your writing skills. I always tell my students that one of the most effective ways to become a better writer is just to write, write, write. Journal writing enables you to do that while having fun.
Write as often as you can. You do not have to wait for something monumentally significant to happen. You can write about the mundane. Write about your daily activities. Write about that guy who always takes the same jeepney you ride on the way to work. Write about your boss and her weird habits. Write about your plans to have a haircut in the coming weekend. Or your plans for the next five years. Or how you spent the last 5 hours. Write about anything. Just write.
Journal writing may not automatically improve your grammar, but as you develop the writing habit, you would find writing to be enjoyable and well worth the effort to consciously improve.
royalty free image from www.fotosearch.com
You asked:
Which is correct?
A block of rooms has been reserved.
A block of rooms have been reserved.
Grammar Pulis answers:
Yippee! A subject verb agreement question.
I’ll answer your question by first, giving the right answer, and then explaining why.
The grammatically correct sentence is:
A block of rooms has been reserved.
Why? The verb has to agree with the headword or the main noun. In this case the headword is block. “of rooms” are modifiers. Because the headword (block) is in singular form, the verb (has) needs to be in singular form as well.
Here are more examples that follow this rule. I have used bold font for the headwords.
The stack of records has been moved into another cabinet.
A series of concerts has been scheduled for summer.
A herd of zebras passing by is making me dizzy.
A cast of thousands gets ready for the first shooting day.
My set of silver and onyx jewelry is missing.
At your service,
Grammar Pulis
Source: Understanding Grammar, Third Edition by Martha Kolln
ISBN: 0-375-83100-2
Hardbound
556 pages
My copy
Bought: September 22, 2008 from National Book Store, SM Manila for PhP200
Read: January 2009
Markus Zusak couldn’t quite make up his mind if he wanted this novel to be a heart tugging tearjerker or a charming piece of whimsy. So he did both. Alternately.
When it’s being whimsical, the reader awwws and ooohs and aaahs and falls in love with Liesel Meminger, feisty, kindhearted, intelligent, and funny. The relationship between her and golden haired Rudy Steiner has got to be the best love story I’ve ever encountered in a long time, maybe ever.
When it’s tugging at your heart, it makes you despise war and prejudice while being awed by how pure goodness can happen against a backdrop of evil. Your heart breaks at the losses and shame Liesel has to deal with.
Her being of Aryan descent saves her from an acid shower, but doesn’t spare her the terrors of war and an evil rule. At the start of the novel, Liesel loses her brother (by death) and her mother (by disappearance). Her foster parents, who live in the poor side of town, subsist on very little but manage to lavish her with love. Mr. Hubermann’s love is more obvious, softer than Mrs. Hubermann’s brash, savage affection, which frankly borders on abusive.
The appearance of Jewish Max Vanderburg spikes their lives with drama and danger, but also knits their family closer, brings out the good in Mrs. Hubermann, and intensifies Liesel’s love for books.
Books–one of the elements that make this story even more appealing. The lengths that Liesel goes through to steal books, her fascination with the Mayor’s library, the power of words channeled by Max Vanderburg as he tells his own story–I can relate. Zusak cannot fail but endear himself with the book nuts who read this.
All the events are narrated by Death. Cheeky. Sarcastic. Tortured. Death without the scythe. Warm. Compassionate. He’s just doing his job.
Zusak uses bullet points and asides as a helpful devise to add meaning to the story. Sometimes the writing borders on gimmicky. Some parts are predictable.
Much of its predictability is also intentional. Zusak is his own worst spoiler. He shifts from the linear flow and goes fast forward to the future to warn you of pending doom. So you brace yourself for the worst. And when the worst does come, Zusak delivers the drama tersely, quickly. And just as your eyes brim with tears, he shifts his tone and gets charming and funny again. So if there’s anything that I hate about the book, it’s that I never get to a full 5-hanky bawl. And I so wanted to cry. I want my money back.
Okay, I didn’t get my money’s worth of tear duct purgation. Nevertheless, I loved The Book Thief. If the author was pandering to my sentimentality, well, it worked. This is fine story telling. This is a young adult book that adults can appreciate. It’s hard to pick up another novel after reading this as visions of the book thief still lingers.
Categories
On Behalf or In Behalf?
“In the half of management, I welcome you to the Annual Planning Workshop.”
Management and employees scratch their heads as they start the meeting. It takes a full minute for the snickering to stop.
Okay, so we know that things like above only happen in bad dreams. We know that the word “behalf” should take the place of that awkward and plainly wrong phrase, “the half.” But there seems to be some confusion on the preposition that precedes it. Is it on behalf or in behalf?
Not a lot of grammar books can clarify this for you. The good news is that the answer is easily googled. But since you’re here, I might as well help you out.
Both phrases are correct, but each has a particular use.
On behalf means “as a representative of.”
“On behalf of the Management team, I thank you all for attending this meeting.”
In behalf means “for the benefit of.”
“We are raising funds in behalf of the typhoon victims.”
So there, the next time you speak on somebody’s behalf, you can be pretty sure you’re using the right preposition. There will be no snickering. Promise.
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THE DEAN’S DECEMBER by Saul Bellow
Let’s do a Covey and start with the end in sight. (Yes, I know that is a paraphrase.) This has got to be the most frustratingly perplexing ending I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading, and not in an I-am-so-intrigued-and-delightfully-mystified-I’ve-got-to-buy-the-sequel kind of way, but in a head-scratching, what-the-fafaya-was-that-all-about way.
The start and the middle were not all that satisfying either. According to Wikipedia, Bellow’s style tends to be brooding, and this particular novel is a broodfestmania.
It is set in late 70s Bucharest. Post-earthquake, communist-ruled, dictator-led, impoverished Rumania. Not exactly party central. Dean Albert Corde is there to accompany his wife to deal with the impending death of her mother. He spends a lot of time sitting in his wife’s childhood bedroom. Ruminating. A whole lot of ruminating. I guess there’s nothing else to do. His mind travels back and forth between Bucharest and Chicago. In Chicago, he has suddenly become a social and academic pariah because of a controversial article he wrote. He replays the events in his mind and contemplates his past motivations and his inclinations for the future. In Bucharest, he encounters the workings of a totalitarian regime and he criticizes and scrutinizes . All in his mind. He doesn’t really do anything much with his thoughts. In Bucharest, he doesn’t do anything to resolve his righteous anger and defy the authorities. Back in Chicago, he doesn’t even put up a fight for his post.
Though the narration is by a third person, the perspective is that of Dean Corde. And because Corde mostly just sits and ruminates, the plot moves at an excruciating crawl. Each progression of event is merely used as a jumping point to recall and reflect on past events. Yes, more brooding. If you delete all his introspection and retain only the narrative, you would be left with a very thin book.
Once in a while, he turns his attention to the cyclamens in bloom, seeing them as symbols for his state of mind and life. But the symbolic meanings can get too obtuse for the non-horticulturist reader.
Is it all that bad? When I managed to keep myself awake, I did spot some good writing, good turns of words and phrases. I liked his descriptives. Probably the most entertaining parts of the book. More like commentaries really.
“This heavy woman, and pale, eyes large and dark – – she was as intelligent as she was stout. Her hair, parted evenly down the center in two symmetrical waves, suggested that the fundamental method of her character was to balance everything out, and that she kept a mysterious, ingenious equilibrium, her fat figure and her balanced thoughts being counterparts. “
Also entertaining are some of the little stories Dean Corde encounters as a journalist. His fictional accounts of a ghastly rape, of rats and corpses in the trenches, are so dark; I think to myself, “How can Bellows think up fiction this vile?”
Mildly amusing is his nightmarish experience at the crematorium. He sweats through his coat in the middle of a harshly cold winter.
Bellows won the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature years before he wrote The Dean’s December. And his writing showcases (shows off?) his intellectual chops. This is a book that cannot be read in isolation or ignorance of other books. Bellow litters the novel with allusions to other literary works, historical events, and philosophical ideas that the author assumes his reader knows. Huh! He didn’t account for some fluffhead like me reading this.
I would still like to give Bellows another chance if I find another one of his books. Hopefully, pre-Nobel, and not something as slow, introspective, and repetitious as this.