In less than twenty days, it will be November, 2009. So what? After all, November is merely the month between Halloween and Christmas. Well, for the world’s community of writers, November does mean something all on its own.
November is National Novel Writing Month. Now in its eleventh year, this free fiction writing contest has two simple rules. One, only new words of fiction written during the month of November count. Two, in order to win, write at least 50,000 words during the month of November. Everyone who makes it to the 50,000 mark before midnight local time on November 30 joins the winners circle. Take it from one who made it last year: the more winners, the more satisfying it feels.
I first learned about it for the first time last year, and submitted my registration information a few minutes before midnight on November 1. Thus, I started out with one day completely gone, as far as writing goes. Still, I joined the winners before the 30th.
What goes through the mind of a first time participant? Well, I progressed from “that sounds simple” through “50,000 in 30 days? Am I nuts?” to “I think I might actually be able to do this.”
Somewhere around the middle of the month my thinking changed to “50k in 30 days? No prob.” So, yes, with persistence and patience, even first time participants can join us winners.
People often wonder if it is self defeating for an author to emphasize quantity over quality. After all, only high quality manuscripts ever have a chance at getting published. Actually, every year, the number of nanowrimo manuscripts that become published novels increases. And, yes, some of these manuscripts sells rather well. The New York Times bestseller Water for Elephants first saw the light of day during NaNoWriMo. Who knows? Some year, a NaNo manuscript might break through and win a National Book Award, a National Book Critics Circle Award or a Pulitzer. Hey – we can always hope (and keep writing.)
I will be participating again this year (it is becoming the highlight of my year). Unlike last year, when I started out completely cold turkey – no plot ideas, no genre, no title – this year I have all three already firmly in mind. This year I am experimentally tackling an Avalon Career Romance that gives NaNoWriMo’s local write ins a very positive plug. Since Avalon’s preferred manuscript length is in the neighborhood of the NaNo winning word count, I am mulling over also at least starting an Avalon mystery during November as well.
So yeah, I’ll be there, writing up a storm. Won’t you join me? All you have to lose is a month’s worth of sleep (just kidding.)
Monday, October 12, 2009
“Whatever” is America’s most annoying word or phrase? Get out.
This past week, the Marist Institute of Public Opinion, located at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY released the results of a poll on language use. This poll asked respondents which of five words or phases – “whatever”, “anyway”, “ you know”, “it is what it is”, and “useless” – they disliked the most. By a statistically significant margin “whatever” was picked most frequently. Of the 938 people polled, nearly half picked it over the other choices.
In the comments section on their website, most of the comment authors nominated “like” as even more detestable than “whatever.” Many other words and phrases were suggested as well. Even they missed a few that I feel should be defined as verbal graffiti.
Some of the missing words that I find overworked and largely vacuous come from the business world. There are many times when it seems like business people – particularly corporate executives – have decided to invent a business-only language largely divorced from mainstream English. For example:
“Tasked” – no one is “assigned” to a project (or a project team), they are “tasked”. What, corporate drones now have chores to do at work?
“Prioritize” – I know this is a perfectly legitimate word, with perfectly valid uses. However, why does everything have to be “prioritized”? From the way business people toss this word around, I have to wonder: when they go grocery shopping (unless they “task” another family member to do it), are their shopping lists “prioritized?” Probably.
“Conference” used as a verb. Last time I consulted the Oxford English Dictionary, conference was listed as a noun. Its traditional (and most frequent) use is to describe a group of people gathering in one place for a specific reason. So how did it become a verb as in “we will conference about that next week.” Hmmm . . . is “conferencing” the source of all “tasking?”
The world of advertising and entertainment is not exempt from contributing to this list. Some examples:
“Get out!” apparently used in the sense of “I don’t believe you.” I suspect it has other intended meanings that I haven’t figured out yet.
“Absolutely the best” Advertisers love to gush this empty interjection into advertising copy. It is meaningless and a little dishonest because the only way you can label something in that way is if all existing examples of the product (or service) is assembled in one place and evaluated by the same person. In addition, without clarification about the rating criteria used to make the determination, claims like these carry little validity.
“Ultimate” This belongs in the same class as “absolutely the best” and for the same reasons. Through the years I have noticed many products that have been hailed as the “ultimate” . . . until the next “ultimate” comes along.
Many of these examples will be included in American slang dictionaries of the future, because that is what they are – slang. Even though I have always liked Mark Twain’s definition of slang as “language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands, and gets to work”, still there are venues where it is inappropriate. If business executives need to use commonly understood lingo during staff meetings as a form of shorthand that is one thing. When they use it in the media in an attempt to sound erudite, then it becomes as inappropriate as if they peppered the mostly retired non-word “ain’t” into every sentence.
One sentiment is hinted at in the comments to the poll results announcement on the Marist Institute website that I heartily agree with. While on one comes right out and says it, now that a new Administration is in Washington, it is time to retire the tired phrases (and one glaring mispronunciation) of the Bush Administration. In particular his coinages “you’re either with us or against us”, “you’re either with us or with the terrorists” and “axis of evil” all need to be buried in a desert, in a deep, unmarked hole so on one can ever revive them. At the same time, I do hope that politicians will get the pronunciation of the word “nuclear” correct . . . for a change.
On this entire subject of tired, worn out and irksome words, everybody has their own opinions and lists of words (and phrases) they would like to eradicate from English. I have shared some of mine. Now, readers, it is your turn: what verbal utterances drive you up the wall?
In the comments section on their website, most of the comment authors nominated “like” as even more detestable than “whatever.” Many other words and phrases were suggested as well. Even they missed a few that I feel should be defined as verbal graffiti.
Some of the missing words that I find overworked and largely vacuous come from the business world. There are many times when it seems like business people – particularly corporate executives – have decided to invent a business-only language largely divorced from mainstream English. For example:
“Tasked” – no one is “assigned” to a project (or a project team), they are “tasked”. What, corporate drones now have chores to do at work?
“Prioritize” – I know this is a perfectly legitimate word, with perfectly valid uses. However, why does everything have to be “prioritized”? From the way business people toss this word around, I have to wonder: when they go grocery shopping (unless they “task” another family member to do it), are their shopping lists “prioritized?” Probably.
“Conference” used as a verb. Last time I consulted the Oxford English Dictionary, conference was listed as a noun. Its traditional (and most frequent) use is to describe a group of people gathering in one place for a specific reason. So how did it become a verb as in “we will conference about that next week.” Hmmm . . . is “conferencing” the source of all “tasking?”
The world of advertising and entertainment is not exempt from contributing to this list. Some examples:
“Get out!” apparently used in the sense of “I don’t believe you.” I suspect it has other intended meanings that I haven’t figured out yet.
“Absolutely the best” Advertisers love to gush this empty interjection into advertising copy. It is meaningless and a little dishonest because the only way you can label something in that way is if all existing examples of the product (or service) is assembled in one place and evaluated by the same person. In addition, without clarification about the rating criteria used to make the determination, claims like these carry little validity.
“Ultimate” This belongs in the same class as “absolutely the best” and for the same reasons. Through the years I have noticed many products that have been hailed as the “ultimate” . . . until the next “ultimate” comes along.
Many of these examples will be included in American slang dictionaries of the future, because that is what they are – slang. Even though I have always liked Mark Twain’s definition of slang as “language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands, and gets to work”, still there are venues where it is inappropriate. If business executives need to use commonly understood lingo during staff meetings as a form of shorthand that is one thing. When they use it in the media in an attempt to sound erudite, then it becomes as inappropriate as if they peppered the mostly retired non-word “ain’t” into every sentence.
One sentiment is hinted at in the comments to the poll results announcement on the Marist Institute website that I heartily agree with. While on one comes right out and says it, now that a new Administration is in Washington, it is time to retire the tired phrases (and one glaring mispronunciation) of the Bush Administration. In particular his coinages “you’re either with us or against us”, “you’re either with us or with the terrorists” and “axis of evil” all need to be buried in a desert, in a deep, unmarked hole so on one can ever revive them. At the same time, I do hope that politicians will get the pronunciation of the word “nuclear” correct . . . for a change.
On this entire subject of tired, worn out and irksome words, everybody has their own opinions and lists of words (and phrases) they would like to eradicate from English. I have shared some of mine. Now, readers, it is your turn: what verbal utterances drive you up the wall?
Saturday, October 10, 2009
I’m Back after a too-long gap, and while gone I gained some valuable insights
It has been eight months since my last post to the Blog, and I apologize to any readers. While I was away, I uncovered some things that can waylay writers, and some things t be on guard for,
I somehow failed to recognize the warning signs at the time, and that bothers me. Up until the end of June I had been seeing a succession of mental health counselors in an attempt to deal with a variety of psychological issues that are keeping me trapped on Social Security Disability and other benefits. I felt they were helping me move forward with my life, so I kept going. As I continue to discover, they were subtly pulling me in the wrong direction, and were actually keeping me from developing my talents and writerly passions.
This is hard-earned lesson number one: the only person who truly knows you is yourself. All counselors can do is make suggestions and point the client in one direction or another. Ultimately it is up to the client to do the actual recovery work that emerges from the counseling relationship. This is why counselors and other advisors must be chosen wisely, deliberatively and cautiously. The right counselor at the right time can be a great benefit. The wrong counselor, even if the time is right, can be downright destructive.
At the same time, medical practitioners need to be chosen carefully. Keep conscious of the fact that it is the patient (the consumer) who can be said to retain ultimate authority in any physician-patient relationship. At the first sign that your deepest concerns are not being adequately addressed, or are being seen as trivial by the physician, you do have the right to change physicians.
I last saw my primary care physician on March 31. The appointment was a complete downer because the message that came through all too clear is that apropos my primary health concerns, I am entirely on my own.
This is not an admission of pride, or a trumpeting of success. Rather, it is a statement of fact: I need to lose about 250 pounds to get back to a healthy weight level for m frame size and type. This amount of excess weight drives my Body Mass index, or BMI up by quite a bit, which, in turn, makes me an ideal candidate for the most successful form of weight loss (or bariatric) surgery.
However, because of a complex mess of regulations and qualifying criteria, I am also enrolled in both the Federal Medicare program and the Federal-state Medicaid program. For those unfamiliar with these programs, essentially they are publically funded health care plans that function like private health insurance plans.
Unfortunately the operational mind set is the same and is definitely not patient oriented. Numerous examples that underscore this opinion exist, but I will mention only a couple.
Idaho’s Medicaid program is notoriously averse to promoting sound dental health. There are many Medicaid clients trying to function normally in life despite having no teeth at al in their head.
For clients desiring bariatric surgery, Medicaid forces the patient and her doctor to deal with a paperwork and documentation chain that typically lasts two and a half to three years. At the end of this exhausting process, Medicaid reserves the right to still say “no.”
For me, the outcome of this medical appointment threw me into a deep, downward spiral that completely disrupted all creative processes and project progress. Only within the past month have I begun to emerge from this “dark night of my creative soul.” This blog post is one of the key steps I must pursue to fully break free of this lingering negativity.
I somehow failed to recognize the warning signs at the time, and that bothers me. Up until the end of June I had been seeing a succession of mental health counselors in an attempt to deal with a variety of psychological issues that are keeping me trapped on Social Security Disability and other benefits. I felt they were helping me move forward with my life, so I kept going. As I continue to discover, they were subtly pulling me in the wrong direction, and were actually keeping me from developing my talents and writerly passions.
This is hard-earned lesson number one: the only person who truly knows you is yourself. All counselors can do is make suggestions and point the client in one direction or another. Ultimately it is up to the client to do the actual recovery work that emerges from the counseling relationship. This is why counselors and other advisors must be chosen wisely, deliberatively and cautiously. The right counselor at the right time can be a great benefit. The wrong counselor, even if the time is right, can be downright destructive.
At the same time, medical practitioners need to be chosen carefully. Keep conscious of the fact that it is the patient (the consumer) who can be said to retain ultimate authority in any physician-patient relationship. At the first sign that your deepest concerns are not being adequately addressed, or are being seen as trivial by the physician, you do have the right to change physicians.
I last saw my primary care physician on March 31. The appointment was a complete downer because the message that came through all too clear is that apropos my primary health concerns, I am entirely on my own.
This is not an admission of pride, or a trumpeting of success. Rather, it is a statement of fact: I need to lose about 250 pounds to get back to a healthy weight level for m frame size and type. This amount of excess weight drives my Body Mass index, or BMI up by quite a bit, which, in turn, makes me an ideal candidate for the most successful form of weight loss (or bariatric) surgery.
However, because of a complex mess of regulations and qualifying criteria, I am also enrolled in both the Federal Medicare program and the Federal-state Medicaid program. For those unfamiliar with these programs, essentially they are publically funded health care plans that function like private health insurance plans.
Unfortunately the operational mind set is the same and is definitely not patient oriented. Numerous examples that underscore this opinion exist, but I will mention only a couple.
Idaho’s Medicaid program is notoriously averse to promoting sound dental health. There are many Medicaid clients trying to function normally in life despite having no teeth at al in their head.
For clients desiring bariatric surgery, Medicaid forces the patient and her doctor to deal with a paperwork and documentation chain that typically lasts two and a half to three years. At the end of this exhausting process, Medicaid reserves the right to still say “no.”
For me, the outcome of this medical appointment threw me into a deep, downward spiral that completely disrupted all creative processes and project progress. Only within the past month have I begun to emerge from this “dark night of my creative soul.” This blog post is one of the key steps I must pursue to fully break free of this lingering negativity.
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