Author: Elizabeth Spann Craig

There is definitely a personality type out there that I’m running into more and more frequently (especially now that my following has increased on Twitter and Facebook.) This type of person is usually very bright and enjoys bringing up valid, if provocative, points on something that I’ve written or a link that I’ve tweeted.

From the way they’ve worded their response to the topic, it’s more in the form of a challenge. It’s occasionally a little on the rude side. It’s clear they’re looking for me to debate the topic.

And I’ll write back and just agree that I can see where someone would share their point of view and leave it at that.

When I agree that a person has a valid viewpoint, an argument is usually defused.

So, recently, a gentleman disagreed with something that I’d tweeted (regarding a post I hadn’t written, but that I’d shared.)

As usual, I wrote back and mildly said that I could see where someone might share his opinion (being, as I always do, careful not to state my own opinion.)

He wrote me back: “It’s not as much fun when you won’t argue the point!”

Do any of us benefit from getting into arguments or debates on Twitter, Facebook, or any other forum?

Here’s why I won’t take the bait:

I know there is more than one way to look at an issue.

I don’t like confrontation.

Something that starts out on the friendly side can deteriorate.

I have more to lose than I have to gain.

I don’t have time to argue.

I don’t care enough to argue.

It doesn’t matter to me if I’m right or not.

There is no way I will come out looking good from an argument.

I don’t gain anything from being argumentative.

Words live forever online.

I’ve heard several stories from authors that they had an email from their publisher over a political position the writer took on their blog or an ill-advised argument they had online. I have no desire to get in hot water with my publishers. In some ways I represent them, too.

Do I really want, ten or twenty years from now, my kids to be able to access a pointless argument I had online when I was having a bad day? Or my grandchildren even? This stuff stays out there.

One of the reasons I’m blogging and active in the online community is because I’m interested in hearing a variety of different approaches and ideas from different writers. In fact, I really want to be saturated with these ideas, because that’s how I grow.

So I won’t take the bait—I’m more interested in hearing your argument than in being right.

Have you ever gotten baited online? (I’ll admit to hoping for a ‘yes’ answer because I’m starting to think it’s just me!)

Tuesday, I was going through my daughter’s weekly folder of graded school papers–parents are supposed to review the papers, help the kids with any problem areas, and sign that the folder has been checked.

Everything looked great until I saw a writing project paper that stopped my quick flipping through the pages. There were red marks all over it, which was unusual. And my daughter’s writing looked different.

She ordinarily has a fun, and breezy writing voice. This writing was stilted and forced.

Even her handwriting looked different. It was very formal and stiff. There were perfectly-formed letters as if she’d tried to do calligraphy instead of the messier writing I see when she’s in the flow and is trying to put her ideas down on paper.

What on earth had happened?

I really didn’t want to approach her in a critical way (especially with this particular subject and coming from me), so I was just clearing my throat and figuring out what to say when she saw me holding her paper and burst into tears. Which was the last thing I wanted, of course.

They’d started a new creative writing program and the grading was going to be very strict, she said. She pointed out the rubric grid that was stapled to the back of the paper. The rubric was detailed, with four sections detailing what the paper would be graded on… from mechanics, to content, to neatness.

And she’d totally freaked out.

Honestly, it really had little to do with the assignment and a lot to do with her. I’m just completely delighted to see creative writing taught in public school at all, honestly. And it is time to really focus on getting the mechanics perfected….she’s nine years old.

For her, though, it messed her up to look at this rubric while she was writing. When I suggested that , in future, she make a rough draft first and then make corrections in the second draft, she was all smiles.

Apparently, she’s her mother’s child. :) It makes me freeze when I think too much about the mechanics of my writing while I’m being creative.

For other writers, it’s completely the opposite. Seeing all the typos and other mistakes in the first draft distracts some writers so much that they can’t move forward until the mistakes are corrected first.

There’s really so much advice out there on writing. Much of it is contradictory because it’s what works for that particular writer—and each writer is different.

I wish there was a faster way to know what works as a writer, but I know it took me ages to figure out if I was an outliner or a pantster, if I could research as I wrote or if I needed to wait, or if I should edit as I wrote or at the end.

I tried each method and just paid attention if it was a struggle or not. I noted if I stalled when it was time to write or if my writing was really unnatural and stilted—and then I tried something else.

I’m always looking for ways to be a better writer. And I think I’m still looking for ways to have a better writing process. I probably just need to stick with what works and leave it alone. :)

Have you learned what trips you up as a writer? And what works for you?

First up, thanks so much to everyone for their reception of the Writer’s Knowledge Database yesterday. I really appreciate it and am so glad you found it helpful! Please continue sending in any suggestions you’ve got for the resource.

My post today goes a little off my usual topics, although I think it’s still very important to writers…it’s about encouraging children to read.

It’s hard for many of us to imagine, because we were probably all avid readers when we were kids. But I have parents emailing me every month asking me for book recommendations or general recommendations for getting their children to read.

I’m lucky that both of my children enjoy reading. But I work hard talking to classrooms and other parents to try to encourage kids to read. There are so many other distractions these days and I want to ensure that there’s a next generation of readers and writers.

Again, this is an area where I’m not an expert, but something that I feel strongly about. While I was a traditional reader as a kid, I’m happy to think more outside the box in order to loop in new readers. If I’m talking to a school or a Scout group, I’m going to think of as many ways to tempt readers as I can. These are my tips and thoughts for encouraging kids to read:

Put books everywhere. I’ve even been known to stick Popular Science on the coffee table in front of the Xbox when my son’s friends are over. They will definitely leaf through it.

Scan book blogs to find YA releases and what’s hot for juvenile literature. Sometimes if their peers are reading the newest, coolest book it might pique their interest. And then maybe they’ll move on to other things.

Shel Silverstein for the kid who won’t read a book straight through.

Try non-fiction for the reader who can’t seem to get into a novel.

Challenged readers? Give them a book above their reading level…maybe a Harry Potter. And download the book onto your Ipod or MP3 player..and let them follow along in the book and gain confidence (and an increased vocabulary.)

Look for ‘Best of 2010 (and other years) lists. You’ll find an amazing list of recommendations for different types of books for children (and adults, too) at this site: Largehearted Boy.

Graphic novels have come a long way. You can now find beautiful graphic novel versions of major classical works, even. And there are series like the Bone series that create whole worlds for kids to explore.

Not getting anywhere with books? See if a download on a Kindle makes reading more interesting.

Pick up some picture books. I bring picture books home from the library every time I go and just leave them on the kitchen table. The kids (who would definitely say they’re too old for picture books) will still read them with a lot of enjoyment, savoring the pictures and words.

Sometimes reading aloud to children every night is the best or only solution to get them interested in a book. I’ve gotten my kids started several times on books that initially didn’t appeal to them by reading the story to them, then handing the book over when I got to an exciting part.

Magazines for children and teens are another way to sneak in some more reading for reluctant readers.

Know what your child most likes to read. And for the most reluctant of readers, know what they will read. Is there just one particular book that they really enjoyed? Look up that book on Amazon and books similar to that one will crop up in their “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” section.

Any other ideas or tips for encouraging our future readers to read?

Google doesn’t always deliver.

If you want to search for information on POV, try plugging the term into Google.

The top sites returned for POV are a video that PBS made (which isn’t on writing POV), a couple of definitions by Wikipedia (several of which have to do with automobiles), a racy YouTube video, and some freeware.

That’s right—nothing to do with the craft of writing.

When I started subscribing to writing blogs, I did it to access in-depth information on the writing craft—written by working writers and industry professionals.

After amassing a huge (1587 and growing) number of writing blog subscriptions, it occurred to me that other writers might be interested in the same type of information….and that maybe they didn’t know where to look.

That’s when I started tweeting the info I found.

Realizing that not everyone was on Twitter, I started sharing the links, weekly, on my blog.

Still, the fact that the links weren’t easily searched bothered me. What if there was a writer who didn’t need that great link on book marketing now? Maybe they needed an agent post on penning the perfect query. Would they just miss out on the marketing link since they wouldn’t need it for a while? Would they bookmark it for later and end up with a ton of bookmarks?

I put a couple of pages up on my blog to try to archive the links and make them, to some degree, searchable. Still, the searching wasn’t particularly efficient.

I mentioned on my blog one day, “I’m sure there’s got to be a better way to do this, but I can’t think of it.”

Enter Mike Fleming, software engineer.

Mike knew exactly how to make the links searchable—create a specific search engine for writing links. He emailed me to bat the idea back and forth with me (actually, it was more of a one-sided tennis game, since he’s way over my head in terms of technology.)

But I loved the idea of a free resource for writers. A way for writers to access information that would help them write better books or articles.

After a lot of work on Mike’s part, the Writer’s Knowledge Base was created.

As Mike stated on his blog:

The search is done instantly over thousands of writing-related articles ranging from character development to author promotion on social media. Unlike Google, all of the results are relevant to you as a writer. They may not all interest you, of course, but at least searching for “plot” will bring back articles on how to plot your story and not news articles on terrorist plots.

Mike has also included a fun feature where a writer can browse the links and find random writing-related articles.

Who are the authors of these blog posts? Writers, agents, editors, book marketing experts. Some of your blog posts may be included, too. Writers won’t only be accessing the information they need, but they’ll also be finding new and helpful blogs to follow. And Mike will continue adding the links that I uncover each week.

When you have a minute, we’d love for you to give it a try. What do you think? Please tell us what you like, what you’d like to see added, and any ideas or thoughts you have. You can comment on either of our blogs, email me at elizabethspanncraig (at) gmail.com or Mike at mike.fleming (at) hiveword.com.

And feel free to spread the news. I’d love for this to be a real resource for writers.

I wrote a post on this last year, but it’s a topic that has cropped up again for me.

I tweet a ton of different writing blogs on many different topics. I’ve subscribed to blogs that have nothing to do with my particular area of interest (graphic novels, scriptwriting, etc.), but which I think other writers might find interesting or helpful.

A couple of times in the last couple of weeks, I’ve gotten direct messages on Twitter from users about typos in different writing blogs that I’ve tweeted.

One tweeter said that they just couldn’t finish reading the writer’s article at all because they were so distracted by the typos. It made me pull that blog post up again on my computer and look at it with a more critical eye.

The post’s content was very helpful, I thought. The writer had a refreshing take on the writing craft and sound tips to follow that could prove useful to someone facing the same issue with their writing.

I did see typos. And there was even a pretty flagrant typo in the post’s title. Was it distracting? English Major Me would have said yes. And it still distracted me a little…but not enough to keep me from tweeting the post because I found it useful. That’s because I was searching for content.

The second time was a couple of days ago and I got a direct message from a tweeter. She said sadly that she wished typos didn’t bother her…but she couldn’t seem to stop being bothered by them. I pulled up the blog post for the writing blog she’d referred to. I skimmed the author’s blog, then skimmed it quickly again. Finally I saw it…due instead of do. Homonym issue.

Again, that person’s blog post was worthy of tweeting…this tweeter was being especially picky. The post was a list of archetypes found in a particular genre. I hadn’t seen a post like that and knew that people who wrote that genre would find it interesting.

Typos happen. I think some writers don’t have an especially wonderful grasp of spelling, either. And some could use a grammar brush-up. I was an English major and am the daughter of an English teacher, but– I still have typos, especially in blog posts, which I tend to write quickly. I do put more time into my manuscripts, as do other writers, I’m sure.

So…the question is, how picky are agents and editors? If just random writers on Twitter can get badly tripped up by spelling, grammar, and carelessness, how badly do the gatekeepers get tripped up by reading it?

I think, if the mistakes are flagrant, they can be distracting, no matter how good the content is. It would be like a person arriving at a job interview in a really inappropriate outfit—maybe they’re an excellent candidate for the position, but the fact they showed up in torn jeans and a rock band tee shirt makes the interviewer think twice.

Former Writer’s Digest publisher and editorial director, Jane Friedman, wrote in a post last summer entitled “Why I Don’t Care About Grammar (and Why You Should Stop Worrying”). Jane’s main point was that perfect grammar didn’t necessarily mean good writing.

I agree with her and I think, in my small way, proved that we can become immune to typos, etc., in the search for good content when I became temporarily oblivious to the mechanics of the interesting posts that I tweeted.

But still, I think about all the competition out there. I wonder what goes through an editor’s mind when she sees two equally good manuscripts—but one needs a heck of a lot more editing (which equals more time and money) than the other. And I think about the poor impression someone makes when they show up at a job interview in torn jeans and a rock band tee shirt.

Janice Hardy had a nice post about areas every writer should be familiar with—great summary.

With spelling and typos, I think you just have to be super careful to check your work. And not just with the spell-check program on your computer, either—it won’t catch a homonym problem.

Here are some other resources that might be helpful:

Grammar, Punctuation, Mechanics, etc.:

Online guide to grammar and writing
Daily Writing Tips
Grammar Girl
The Grammarphobia Blog
Mighty Red Pen
Crystal Clear Proofing

Usage:
Common Errors in English Usage

Style:
The Chicago Manual of Style Online
The Elements of Style

Some writers might benefit from the help of independent editors. I know there are several who frequently comment here, including Helen Ginger, Marvin Wilson, Crystal from Crystal Clear, and Victoria Mixon.

How easy is it for you to ignore others’ typos? And, are there resources that you’ve come across that you’d like to share?