Things are slow. It's winter and the piles and piles of snow make things very blasse. But there's never a better time to start some mischief than in the winter when it comes to editors and grammarians. March 4th was National Grammar Day. I know, you were all excited, right? I completely forgot.

However, upon reflection, I got to thinking about grammar, its function, its importance, its draconian nature. So I've decided to do a string of grammar-related posts that I think will aid those who follow my blog. I know of a number of writers who struggle with grammar - even the basics - especially when it comes to writing solid fiction. Editors love nothing more than to toss out a story on the slush pile for bad grammar: it's an easy rejection, and it shouldn't happen.

So I'll start out with a bit of a background into my thoughts. In the next day or so, I'll post some actual grammar thoughts.

I went through school as a Presciptivist*. There were certain rules that grammar had, and you always followed them. I knew the rules; I studied the rules; I yelled at people for not knowing the rules. You knock on a door and say "It is I" not "It is me"! Then I went to college.

In college, I took a number of similar grammar classes, but I was fascinated by linguistics. So I learned the nature of Descriptivists**. There are rules, and yes they guide the language of the written word, but communication and interpersonal relations go beyond the need for rules so long as meaning is conveyed. If you can get your point across in grunts and head-slapping, that's language (it's a very bad example, but it's true).

When it comes to printed form, though, one has to keep in mind that there are still certain standards that writers must follow. I work with a variety of clients - from fiction writers to business writers - and there are rules that each class of writer must follow. Those rules are ever fluid, and any good writer knows how to follow that fluidity and use it to their best advantage. It also helps to know some of the rules that allow for that fluidity.

These short posts will be similar to grammar girl (who seems to have gone by the way-side), but I'll give a bit of personal insight into them and maybe some point-counter-point analysis.

Wikipedia articles with a bit more information:
*Prescriptive Linguistics
**Descriptive Linguistics

Table of Contents:

1. That's It. Period: A post on the full stop.
2. OMG! What's the Deal?: A post on question marks and exclamation Points
3. Commas, Commas, Commas: A post on the use of commas
4. You Say Potato; I Say Potato: A post on semi-colonsl
   

Timothy Spall's character, Thomas Tipp, in the movie "Vanilla Sky" shouts at David Aames (Tom Cruise) that "people will read again" in response to Aames's visibly failing publishing empire. I like to use that quote a lot, because I feel the same way. I'm optimistic in that way.

I think that one of the things I enjoyed most as a child was listening to my parents read me stories. Every now and then I'll read a story aloud to my wife, or my writers group will read aloud some of their workshop items that they've written only moments before. It's a wonderful experience to hear a writer's words voiced, because it gives it new character. But I digress.

Children today seem to be less and less interested in picking up a book and reading it than they are in picking up a new video game and becoming entranced in it. (No, this isn't a rant against the video game industry). What I find unsettling is the trend towards that even in the parents of these children. This post is for the children.

I promised to write this up a while ago, and it's been a bit getting around to it. Elizabeth Flanagan (who I met through StoryWrite; a site similar to Writing.com) is the organizer of Raeni Day Story Station. From the website:

Inside, you'll find a wonderful assortment of original works created by our family that we hope you will enjoy and share with others.

It's a wonderful little site that has all sorts of potential for parents and children. I love sites like this that promote not only reading for children but writing, as well. Kids love to create things because it's in our nature to create things. What better way for some kids to do that than to fashion their own stories and then see them in print. It's great.

Another wonderful site that is doing really great things for kids is NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program. While I can gripe and moan all I want for being beaten soundly last year by NaNo, I can't say enough about how great they are when it comes to promoting reading and writing in kids. It's a wonderful tool for teachers, and it's a great motivator.

I've been working lately to try and establish a writers workshop here in the city that's geared towards kids (and is free). Redbird Studio just branched off and founded Red Oak Young Writers, which focuses on writers from ages 8 and up. These are wonderful groups, and I hope to provide a similar service in the vein of The Milwaukee Writers Workshop for those in high school. Writing is a key skill to have in this world, and I think a lot of students are finding it more and more difficult as they get into college to produce quality nonfiction works in the form of essays, articles, and research material, which is essential in college and beyond. Those kinds of skills are things that I hope to work with, as well as providing a creative outlet.

So that's that. It's all for the kids, really.

I live in Wisconsin, and it snows sometimes, and it gets cold. It's something we live with here in in the Near Arctic (not really, but we complain enough like it it). Over the past few weeks since Christmas we've had a fair amount of snow and a few days of extreme cold. The local news has seen it fit to describe it in other words, though, and it begins to rub a very small hole into the base of my skull that gives me a headache.

We've been plunged into the deep freeze, dumped on, sent into the double-digits below zero, and forced to brave a harsh winter. Why not just say "it's cold; keep your extremities covered"?

John McIntyre is a master of pointing out terribly-used cliche, and I believe he would cringe at some of the usages in our local media coverage (especially on the radio).

I just wanted to post a quick rant. Sometimes it gets to me too much to deal with.

So it's been a while; it's been too long, in fact. I've been both distracted, busy, stressed, and inattentive in regards to my blog. I have, however, been having good conversation with both old and newly-acquired colleagues. Which leads me to my topic.

How do you deal with a client that is disagreeable?

I suppose it depends on a fundamental question: do you have a contract with them? If you don't, then you should. So I'll respond to the question for each situation.

Contract:
To be honest, this is quite simple. Remind them of the contract that you signed with them. If they're having difficulties understanding what's expected of them and what they should expect of you, tell them very plainly that they signed a contract that clearly states those things. If it doesn't, well, that's a different matter; it should, though.

You can be very cordial about things but still be firm. That's probably one of the keys to being a good professional freelancer. You're allowed to set boundaries for yourself, your clients, and your company in order to maintain an image of professionalism. And you can tell your clients about that, too. Just be sure to be tactful about it.

No Contract:
This is tougher. If you're working with someone entirely on the whim, it's hard to be able to tell your client that they're being difficult or unreasonable. However, the plus side is that you're not obligated to them in as legally-binding a way as having signed a contract with them would make you (granted, you don't want to just bail on them; that would be bad form). You can very politely remind them that you're doing this work without a contract and willing to coordinate with them as much as possible, but you do have the right to discontinue working with them if they aren't willing to cooperate with you. Plain and simple.

As it usually happens, John McIntyre over at You Don't Say has a good post about editing and tact. There is a bit that really struck something with me, though, as the organizer and moderator of The Milwaukee Writers Workshop.

The professional demand is for all concerned to look at the text as an artifact, a thing, a production that is separate from the producer. To point out shortcomings in this thing is not to identify them with the producer of the thing. So professionals, writers and editors, try to avoid the second-person pronoun. It is the story, not your story. Refer carelessly to what you did wrong here, and armed missiles start to rise out of silos in Montana. (Restrict the second-person pronoun to instances of praise.)

Take into consideration this: John's thoughts are directed toward the world of journalism, but I believe they pertain to the community of writing workshops in a direct way.

Workshops are never about belittling a writer. They're never about trying to prove that you - the critiquer - is better than the author being critiqued. It's about constructive input regarding a story in order for the author to improve upon that work in the hopes of getting it sent out for publication. So one should always keep in mind when going over a story that the author is not equal to the work.

Anyone looking to join a critique group should always learn some of the rules of that group. Each one operates differently and knowing those little rules will help make the process a lot easier. One of our rules is that the author isn't allowed to chime in during the critique unless asked a direct question pertinent to the discussion. The reason for this is to allow the discussion to flow freely about the writing and the work without the author interrupting to defend that piece. Too much interruption can lead to the group getting distracted or frustrated because some people aren't being heard. Plus, it allows for the author to sit back and absorb everything: they can take notes, make comments, process what's being said.

As John says, learn the dance. A good critique group consists of writers and editors who know how to both praise and critique a piece of writing without making the author feel as though he's just been through the firing squad.

I recently met a new colleague, Phil Martin, who runs Great Lakes Literary. He's done a good deal of work as an editor both professionally (i.e. - for a company) as a freelance and small business owner. He's a good contact, and he knows what he's doing. He's also joined - or tentatively joined, as he works both here in Milwaukee and in Madison - The Milwaukee Writers Workshop, which is a great addition to our members.

I've also recently begun the job search again (having found a sense of renewed purpose with a proposed idea for a writers workshop/group for high school students interested in continuing on to college for degrees in journalism, english, communications, or other related fields) and hope to find something in the non-profit field that will allow me to shop this idea out to locals schools who might be willing to sponsor or fund the group.

Right now my first candidate for sending out my resume is Our Next Generation Kids, which is a great local mentoring group for kids.

In other news, The JB Dryden Company will be updating its website to incorporate all of its divisions and move over some of the current information to a dedicated site for its editing services and its consulting services. Our hope is to better focus each site to its intended client base. I'm eager to hear everyones' opinions once those sites go live.

NaNo Update: After a bout of being unable to produce anything at all on my novel (now turning into a novella) I finally had a breakthrough in the story and have since produced a whopping ten thousand words. So we'll see what happens at the end of the month.

I had planned on doing something a bit thought-provoking this week, but I was prompted to this post by two things: a pleasantly flattering email I received and an article in Writers' Journal. So what's the topic? Writers Groups, of course. Last Post I listed a number of the local writers groups.

In response to said email and magazine article, I'd like to post my own thoughts on how to craft a good writers' group. I believe there are a few different types of groups, and there are merits and flaws to each one. I will give my best attempt at detailing those, and I'll also give a brief run-down of how The Milwaukee Writers Workshop operates.

Critique
This is a group that focuses on bringing in unpolished works by its members with the express intent of having the other members read and critique those works. Once this round-table group has gone through the story, it is the hope that the author will have something to work with to polish it up before sending it out to various publishers. This is the most demanding on your time and efforts, but it is the most rewarding in that you get a good amount of feedback on your writing - much of it you can use. You also learn to trust in your fellow writers through learning their critiquing styles.

Critique groups can operate in two ways: reading the stories aloud at each group or reading the stories ahead of time. The article in Writers' Journal speaks very specifically about this type of group.

Workshop
This is a group that meets to work on the craft of writing through exercises, reading materials on writing, etc. Each group will focus on a different element of writing and work with the group as a whole to improve each individual's writing. Workshops only work well when there is a moderator to really drive the group to do consistent exercises.

Discussion
This is a group that typically gets together for a more social gathering to discuss writing, perhaps discuss market news, and other writing-related topics. It tends to be a lot less formal and may include a variety of things included in a workshop or critique group. They also tend to have much of a goal in mind other than enjoying one another's company. They can be hit or miss, but typically they are a good deal of fun.

Book Club
This isn't really a writing group, but many times a discussion group tends to devolve into a book club. Book clubs are nice as social gatherings, but they rarely benefit a writer trying to improve their writing.

So what is the best combination? Whatever works best for the members of your group. However, don't be afraid of change, suggestions, or the fact that some of your members may want something different and may want to strike out on their own. If and when they do, support them, because it's always good to have more than one option in the writing community.

The Milwaukee Writers Workshop
Our group is a combination of the first two. We meet twice a month (the article suggests meeting at least once a month) at a local coffee shop. It's comfortable, but it's also conducive to writing and discussion, and it's a great environment that everyone's comfortable. We offer one critique session each month and one exercise workshop.

For anyone who is in the area and interested, we will be adding another session on a monthly basis in a different area of town.

We also try to spend a bit of time doing a selection of the following: market news, going over rejections, various writing activities throughout the city, submissions updates, and general writing news. It's a good social gathering, but all of us are serious about getting our work out there, and we spend a great deal of time offering ourselves to our members and giving back when the time comes.

So what does your group do? I'm interested in groups from all over. What do you differently from MWW or other groups in your area?

If you have questions about our group or how to start your own (and you'd like my thoughts), please email me. I look forward to your thoughts.

Also, thanks to M. Ahmad for the email.

Update: NaNo is kicking my butt. I've put out a few very nice scenes, but the story is going off in a direction that changes my ending a bit, and I'm not sure how to reconcile them yet. I have 24 days to figure things out - or at least reach 50k and worry about it later.

On to other things . . .

Recently I was told that an ex-member of my writing group would be starting her own group. I was pleased to hear about it. Due to her own busy schedule - and a slightly personal distaste for how I operate things - she moved on and is now doing her own thing. Another writers group in the area is great: it allows for more feedback in different areas. I must admit I can be a bit draconian when it comes to my group and at times we go through spells of one type of fiction, but I like the rigidity of it, and some people don't. It's good to have other options, though, and I think it's wonderful that we have someone new to promote.

She is a writing teacher at the moment and does very well at it - and has a strong eye for good writing. You can contact her here.

Here is a list of other groups in the area, though, that I think everyone should at least look into if you're hoping to get your work looked at. (If you're on this list, and you'd like some info changed, please email me and let me know).

1. Milwaukee Writers Workshop, James Boone Dryden
2. Milwaukee Writer's Group, Liz or Trevor, contact available on the site
3. Redbird Studio, contact: jb@redbirdstudio.com
4. Woodland Pattern Bookstore, topical workshops, Julie Strand, contact: woodlandpattern@sbcglobal.net
5. Writer's Ink, Gail Toerpe
6. Broad Vocabulary, contact: info@broadvocabulary.com (they have a nice calendar of events to check out)
7. Hotcakes Art Gallery, Mike Brenner
8. Barnes & Noble Bayshore workshop, fourth Monday of each month at 7:30. You can email me for more information

If you're not on the list and would like to be, please contact me. If you have questions about any of the above places, don't hesitate to call them and ask about their programs; I'm sure they would love to hear from you and tell you about what they offer. Most of them are free; some of them are not.

I have said it before, and I will continue to say it: writers groups - no matter which one you choose - are beneficial. Unless you're in school, where you're surrounded by your colleagues, you don't always have the opportunity to get feedback on your creative ventures. Writers groups help foster that feedback and allow for a range of input.

I am finishing up Amy Einsohn's The Copyeditor's Handbook (I know, it seems like I've been taking a while, but I got distracted by other things). The most recent section I read brought up a question in my mind about the nature of "PC" - you know, that 80s term that came around: it means "politically-correct". More specifically (or more truthfully) it means "gender-racial-sexual-orientation-correct".

The discussion is centered around the gender-nonspecific use of the slash-paired 'his/her' in lieu of the word 'their' in sentences that are ambiguous about the gender of the subject.

Ex. "Everyone took their seat." vs "Everyone took his or her seat."

As an editor, the jarring nature of the second sentence irks me, and I will change it to the former. Why? Because it sounds better, and its just as grammatically correct. What also bothers me about it is the feeling of many authors to PC-ize their work in order to satisfy some unseen naysayer who's going to chastise them for being some sort of biased just by their use of 'their' instead of 'his/her'.

There is a distinction to be made here, though: business writing and fiction operate very differently. When you're writing in a business or trade setting, keep in mind that there are some standards and the 'their' usage might be frowned upon, but feel free to stand your ground and back yourself up with proof from the DEU that 'their' is a legitimate neutral pronoun. On the other hand, if you're writing fiction, don't write yourself into a PC nightmare just because you don't want your book to be banned for using the "N-word" when it might be justifiably pertinent to your story.

There is a place for PC; and there is a place for it to be thrown aside. Use your judgment, but always consider consulting someone (possibly an editor) when you have a question.

Coincidentally, two editors - John McIntyre and Angela Booth posted on similar topics this week, and I think it pertinent to respond to them with my own opinions, though I already did give a bit of an opinion on Angela's post.

I would have to agree more with John in saying that my characters are only ever mechanisms to further my story. That isn't to say that I can't write empathetic characters or realistic ones, but I can't say that a character has ever gone off to do his own thing. My characters do what I tell them to do, because they are my creation. As well, while I know my characters well, I never really craft them in such a way that I'm conversing with them at every turn of the corner.

Characters can be as you wish them to be, though, and I would say that however you create your characters works for you. So long as they are fully completed when they are placed into the story and successfully act their part to further the story in such a way that it brings across your point.

So how do you create a character? Do you go through the process of living their life through story? Or do you chisel them from a block of character clay and mold them as they are put through the plot of the story?