Words on the Page

Marathon Time

Posted on by lwidmer

Just two days left to save – sign up for the Mastering the Invoice for Maximum Profits webinar before November 30th and save $20! Click here for more info. NaNo count: Don’t ask. Just. Don’t. Here’s the thing – I was on track with NaNo until Tuesday. That’s when the parents arrived. I had been…

Happy ….?

Posted on by lwidmer

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Mine was great. The parents were in, all but one kid was home (and I miss him), and the girls did the cooking – all of it. I can’t remember the last time I was able to sit down on a Thanksgiving and watch tv and enjoy…

When You Hold the Cards

Posted on by lwidmer

I’m still hanging around with the folks, so I’m scheduling this post in advance. I had a chat with a writer friend earlier in the week. He was talking about his most recent client meeting and how he managed to stand firm on his rate to a client that was doing a little dancing around…

Headache-inducing Marketing

Posted on by lwidmer

NaNo count: same as yesterday I swear they smell when you’re thinking about a vacation. I’m taking time off beginning noon today. I decided that Friday. That’s when projects began to arrive, all needing priority, most having the same deadline. It’s about to get interesting. My mother is the type who leaps out of bed…

Monday Morning Dash

Posted on by lwidmer

NaNo count: 35,025 words How was the weekend? I’m glad to be back at the computer. As much as I love time off, I’m aching and tired from cleaning. We have all four bedrooms full and the basement had to be set up for one more bed. I wish everything was finished, but I’ve made…

Link Love Friday By the Numbers

Posted on by lwidmer

NaNo count: 31,104 words It’s hard to imagine how much one thing can really dictate the day for you. Yesterday I spent the day working, but my focus was on my daughter’s boyfriend. He’s upstairs right now getting over pneumonia. He came for a weekend. Last week. Poor kid was burning up and there was…

Why Writers Need Strong Backbones

Posted on by lwidmer

NaNo count: 30,115 words Super day yesterday. I lined up a few interviews for the article assignments, then I spent the rest of the day talking with new clients. One was a referral, which was a surprise phone call. Another was the confidential client whose vetting process took a bit longer than expected. But I’m…

Organization 101

Posted on by lwidmer

NaNo count: 27,551 words Super day yesterday in terms of actual seat leather. I picked up two article gigs and was able to get busy on them right away. I have a few of the interview sources lined up already, so it’s a matter of scheduling and getting it done. I spent some time working…

Technology and Today’s Writer

Posted on by lwidmer

Nano count: 25,015 I took a partial day off yesterday (three hours, to be exact). It felt like a week. For some reason, I came back to this desk feeling like such a slacker. I hadn’t touched my NaNo manuscript much, so maybe that was it. I did manage to get some queries out and…

Deep Breaths

Posted on by lwidmer

Nano count: 23,204 words Maybe it’s because I had so much going on that it felt like the weekend was a blink. Here it is, Monday again. I did get some “me” time in, plus yesterday was our group meditation practice in the city. Nice way to start a new week. The Firebird Festival is…

Cathy Miller

Hi Lori from sunny San Diego-I hope it stays that way for the Walk.

The other thing that was so disturbing about those comments was the tone. They didn't just point out errors, they mocked and were just plain mean. What was interesting to me was the fact that several had no full (and in some cases real) name attached to them or links to their own websites – where I am sure we would find 100% error-free writing.

The sad, rude side of blogging.

Devon Ellington

Proofing is important, but we all do make mistakes.

If I hit a blog that gives advice and it's full of errors regularly (as in, I read several posts to see the writer's style), I just go away and don't go back.

Blogs are more informal, but they are also a showcase of our work. We've got to try for consistency and polish. A typo here and there is one thing, but poor construction in the work is something else, especially if you're trying to position yourself as a professional, and the blog is professional rather than personal.

That being said, there are also gracious ways to point out errors, and part of that is to do so privately. Graciousness and cordiality cost nothing. Public derision says more about the poster than the person on the receiving end.

I know that I have to re-read as soon as I post because I miss A LOT of errors on the composition screen that I'll catch on the posted screen. And even then, I don't catch everything, and I just want to kick myself.

I have made some major Malapropisms due to typos I didn't catch in time on the blog.

Devon Ellington

By "our work", I mean our style, not work samples. That's very much a personal choice, whether to have work samples on a blog, and those HAVE to be polished.

My Mercury already went retrograde, a week and a half early! 😉

Lori

Cathy, I think that's what I object to in these online blood baths – the implication that these are professionals who hold themselves to a higher standard. That's great, but don't get offended should your own karma come back to bite you at your next mistake. And it will come back – it always does.

I agree with you, Devon. They are a showcase of our style, and we should be trying to do our best. But the public stoning is indicative of the character of the person throwing the stones.

I do the same with my posts – I spell check, read it, then post and re-read. I still let mistakes through. We're human.

In all these years, I've had one person point out my error (ironically, it was on a grammar thread). He did so publicly, and it was the only comment he'd ever left. I'd like to think he was teasing, but it didn't sound like it.

Ashley

"Graciousness and cordiality cost nothing."

AMEN, Devon.

I wish people would remember this in all areas of life. This world would be a much different place.

Amelia Ramstead

I practically gloat when someone points out an error in something I've written… and has their own error right there in the correction. And it happens ALL THE TIME.

I do try to keep my blog as clean as possible (you never know who might be reading), but I certainly don't give it the same kind of attention I would give something I'm being paid for.

Gabriella F.

Have a great walk this weekend, Cathy! You're a good soul!

On the issue of correcting people, I'm also torn. I do an internal "ouch!" when I see a blogger I like and respect post with mistakes. However, I have WAAAAY too often made my own mistakes in both informal writing and actual assignments. So I generally sympathize.

That said, I have NO sympathy for people who go online to attack others. I was just thinking about it this weekend. I usually don't read comments on news stories because every time I do, I'm disappointed in the meanness and pettiness of my fellow man.

I haven't seen the blog post and comments you're talking about, but I generally think those types of comments say more about the commenters than the blogger–and it's nothing good.

In short, I decided this weekend that if you're taking the time to attack others online, you've got a screw loose. You're small, and karma will bite you in the bee-hind someday.

Paula

Diplomacy is a big part of what we do, and the public chastisers just don't get it.

Public criticism is something I've been pondering a lot lately. I know some people who always have to be right, even when they're wrong. They tend to get away with such boorish behavior simple because the rest of us are too diplomatic to take them to task.

I actually had someone "correct" one of my childhood memories, saying I was wrong because she never played a certain game. Less than five minutes later she's telling a story about how she almost fell asleep playing the SAME GAME with someone else. If I'd done that, she would have pounced, "But you just said…" But I just tried to stifle a laugh and didn't say anything about how contradictory her two comments were. Then again, I don't need to build myself up by embarrassing someone else. In the end I think people like that wind up embarrassing themselves, anyway.

Jake P

"Graciousness and cordiality cost nothing." Ashley already seconded it, so I'll vote "aye" and we can consider the motion approved.

There was one time, back in my staff editing days, that a proofreader mailed me one of my magazine pages marked up and improved, with a very pleasant note saying she thought she could help us out. I gave her a call, we hit it off, and I hired her each month to proof every darn page at galley stage–it took a load off my mind to know someone was checking the stuff I didn't have the time to or might have missed. But it was the way she handled it–discreetly, politely, and without making me feel stupid–that sealed the deal.

Fiona

Like Cathy, I was horrified by the sheer meanness (and anonymity) of the comments. Of course, the blog in question is one I will continue to come back to for useful advice whereas those who left comments have not stuck in my mind at all as contributing anything of use.

Anne Wayman

awwww, geeee… toe drawing circles in the dirt.

Lori

I'm fourth-ing that (can you say that?), Ashley. Devon, as always, says it exactly.

Amelia, isn't that true? I see it, as well. You've hit on the larger point – we're not paid for this. The attention has to go toward the paid stuff first. I know a few times I've thrown together a blog post and had it online in minutes (I have my own internal deadlines for even blog posts). I know that I should never A) write when I'm exhausted, B) write when I just get up, or C) write when I'm in a hurry.

Gabriella, there are some screws loose – I have to agree. LOL I know of a few blogs run by people I'm not particularly in agreement with or even fond enough of to follow. They screw up all the time. For some reason, I think that's forgivable due to the nature of blogging. But I would never point that out to them in public. You just don't.

Jake, you're why I'm "fourth-ing" that vote. 🙂 Your proofreader is a perfect example of how to do it properly. Offer it as help and polite suggestion, not as a public "Wow, did you ever screw up!"

Fiona, I thought it was mean, as well. I won't identify the blog to keep everyone from being further embarrassed, but there really wasn't any helpful information in the comments, nor a sharing of information.

Lori

Anne, it's a pity that it happens. Are people really that bored that small mistakes become major kerfluffles?

Anne Wayman

well, an unkind view might be that they don't feel very sure of themselves unless their trying to criticize someone else… many, however, were truly trying to be helpful. It's pretty easy to tell when you read the posts… heck, at least they're talking to and about me.