Topic: Self-Publishing

Purpose of this blog: Topics related to writing.

10-second review: Should you self-publish?

Title: “Should You Self-Publish?” Marcia Meier. The Writer (October 2010), 36-37.

Quote: “For years, self-published books have suffered from an industry bias—in many ways justified—that such books would never see the light of day with a ‘legitimate’ publisher. Typically they suffered from bad writing and editing, adding to the belief that a self-published book is inferior. “

Comment: I have self-published a book, Teaching English, How To…. Xlibris, 2004. It’s 538 pages in length. I’m an English teacher and in my estimation it is pretty well written. What it isn’t is “pretty well edited.” Once you have scoured the text for editing, you have to pay for every mistake you discover afterward. After poring over those 538 pages, time after time, I quit. I couldn’t afford to pay for the corrections that I continually found. And, in truth, there are a ton of mistakes that I continue to find. Taking on the work of self-publishing and self-editing is a crusher. RayS.

Quote: “Unless you have a good understanding of the entire process of book production and can do your own marketing, self-publishing is probably not for you. But particularly if you have a nonfiction book project and already have some publishing savvy-or are willing to put a lot of time into learning—it just might be the perfect choice.”

Topic: Research and Authenticity in Writing

Purpose of this blog: Topics related to writing.

10-second review: Nothing beats first-hand experience—or from interviews—when it comes to providing authentic details.

Title: “Add Texture to Your Novel with Solid Research.” Joseph Finder, author of The Moscow Club. The Writer (October 2010). 20-21.

Quote: “When I was struggling to write my first novel, The Moscow Club, I got to know another aspiring writer, a cynical and embittered (but funny) man, and told him I was immersed in research for a spy thriller I hadn’t begun to write. He shook his head slowly and scowled. ‘That’s a sign of desperation,’ he intoned ominously. ‘Research is an excuse for not writing.’ ”

Quote: “The longer I write, it seems, the more research I do. For The Zero Hour, whose hero is a female FBI counterterrorism specialist, I managed to wrangle official cooperation from he FBI, and I spent a lot of time talking to several FBI special agents. I also interviewed past and present terrorism experts for the CIA.”

Quote: “I’ve done interviews with a convicted forger for details on how to falsify a U.S. passport; with a bomb-disposal expert about how to construct bombs; with an expert in satellite surveillance to help me describe how the U.S. government is able to listen in on phone conversations. I’ve called upon homicide detectives, retired FBI agents, helicopter pilots, pathologists, even experts in embalming (or ‘applied arts,’ as they are called).”

Quote: “Since an important character in The Zero Hour is a high-priced call girl, I interviewed prostitutes, expensive call girls, and madams. As a result, this character is more sympathetic and believable than I’d have drawn her otherwise.”

Comment: All research is not in books. If you need authentic details, you need research. You need to go to the places about which you are writing. You need to interview specialists or people who have experience with what you are writing about. RayS.

Topic: "Who or Whom?"

Purpose of this blog: Topics related to writing.

10-second review: A review of the rules that control the use of “who” or “whom.” This is probably the one-millionth attempt by people to simplify the rules for “who” and “whom” that, regardless how simple they try to make it, are not simple.

Title: “Who or Whom?” Arthur Plotnik. The Writer (October 2010), 19.

Quote: “Many usage gurus say it is Ok to stick with ‘who’ in all cases except when ‘whom’ is idiomatic (as in ‘To Whom It May Concern.’….) ‘Whom’ is likely to be obsolete in a few years, they say—as word watchers have been saying for two centuries. And yet the word still roosts in the expectations of sophisticated listeners and readers, including editors.”

In careful writing, Plotnik offers the following:

“Use who when it performs an action (is the subject of a verb); ignore phrases that aren’t part of its action: Who do you suspect spilled the soup?’ ”

“Use whom when it receives the action: ‘Whom she fired had nothing to do with the soup.’ ”

“Use whom if it follows a preposition…. BUT Ignore the preposition when the pronoun who acts: ‘I’ve got something for whoever spilled the soup.’ Ignore the preposition when the pronoun is tied to a to be verb: ‘It depends on who the schlemiel is. ’ ”

Comment: I’ll let that explanation sink in. RayS.

Topic: Holistic Scoring in Writing Assessment

Purpose of this blog: Topics related to writing.  

10-second review: “Holistic ratings should not be ruled out as a method of evaluating writing abilities, but those who use such ratings must seriously consider the question of the validity of the scores that result.” p 79.

Title: “The Validity of Using Holistic Scoring to Evaluate Writing: A Critical overview.” D Charney. Research in the Teaching of English (February 1984), 65-81.

Quote: “The research available suggests that even in carefully supervised rating sessions, holistic ratings may be unduly influenced by superficial features of writing samples” [like handwriting and spelling]. P. 65.

Quote: “A reliable measurement is capable of replication under equivalent conditions So a reliable method of assessing writing ability would yield a consistent judgment of a student’s abilities if applied again, all else being equal. A valid measurement assesses what it claims to assess.” P. 65.

Comment: So if the raters rely on perceptions of surface features (like handwriting, spelling and grammar) in writing, true writing ability—unity, coherence, structure and word choice—would not be measured accurately by holistic scoring. RayS.

Topic: How to Begin to Write: Brainstorming (2)

Purpose of this blog: Topics related to writing.

10-second review: “There are no rules about what constitutes a proper seed. It can be a character, a name, a situation, structure, overheard dialogue, a setting, a theme, even a vague feeling.” P. 8.

Title: “Where Can You Find the Seeds of A Good Story?” Alexander Steele. The Writer (October 2010), 8.

Comment: All right. You have picked a topic. Now what do you do? You brainstorm. (2)

Instructions for Brainstorming.

I suggest to students that they put the topic at the top of the page. I tell them they will have 15 minutes to drain their minds of all of their ideas on that topic. I urge them to use every minute available to them. If they feel they have written all they can, I ask them to keep trying. “Often when you think you’re finished, some of your best ideas will come.”

.Put your topic at the top of the page.

.Concentrate on the topic. List your ideas as they come into your mind. Do not try to organize. Do not worry about spelling, punctuation or grammar. Just empty your mind of ideas on your topic.

.You will have fifteen minutes.

The preceding is from my book, Teaching English, How To…. By Raymond Stopper. Xlibris. 2004, pp. 126—129.

The next steps are to study your brainstorm and construct a thesis. Next, write a draft, including the thesis, the middle paragraphs, the final paragraph. Construct an interesting introduction. Revise and edit. RayS.