Posts Tagged ‘creative writing’

A couple nights ago I was watching the new show “Trauma” with my hubby. In the episode, a building catches on fire and one of the EMT’s said something along the lines of ” at least we got here before the entire place burns down”. And being me (and a little strange), that triggered my memory and I asked my hubby, “Does a house burn up or burn down”? After looking at me like I was crazy (I’m not, I swear!), I explained that it was the title of an essay I remembered reading as a kid – about some of the weird parts of the English language – and that it was called “does a house burn up or burn down”. I didn’t remember who wrote it, but I decided I needed to find it. Unfortunately, I found nothing with that title. So, after spending some time thinking, I remembered a few other lines of it, and searched for those.  Luckily Google and I finally found it! And it wasn’t an essay at all. It is an entire book called Crazy English, by Richard Lederer! I was very excited to find it, and even more excited to find the excerpt from the book that I remembered reading in school. So, for a little mid-week break, enjoy some of the craziness of the English language, as written by Richard Lederer:

English is a crazy language—the most loopy and wiggy of all tongues.

In what other language do people drive in a parkway and park in a driveway?
In what other language do people play at a recital and recite at a play?
Why does night fall but never break and day break but never fall?
When a house burns up, it burns down. You fill in a form by filling it out and an alarm clock goes off by going on?

Why is it that when we transport something by car, it’s called a shipment, but when we transport something by ship, it’s called cargo?
Why do we pack suits in a garment bag and garments in a suitcase?
Why do privates eat in the general mess and generals eat in the private mess?
Why do we call it newsprint when it contains no printing but when we print on it, we call it a newspaper?

Why does a man get a hernia and a woman a hysterectomy?
Why—in our crazy language—can your nose run and your feet smell?

Language is like the air we breathe. It’s invisible, inescapable, indispensable, and we take it for granted. But, when we take the time to step back and listen to the sounds that escape from the holes in people’s faces and to explore the paradoxes and vagaries of English, we find that hot dogs can be cold, darkrooms can be lit, homework can be done in school, nightmares can take place in broad daylight while morning sickness and day-dreaming can take place at night, tomboys are girls and midwives can be men, hours—especially happy hours and rush hours—often last longer than sixty minutes, quicksand works very slowly, boxing rings are square, silverware and glasses can be made of plastic and tablecloths of paper, most telephones are dialed by being punched (or pushed?), and most bathrooms don’t have any baths in them. In fact, a dog can go to the bathroom under a tree—no bath, no room; it’s still going to the bathroom. And doesn’t it seem a little bizarre that we go to the bathroom in order to go to the bathroom?

Why is it that a woman can man a station but a man can’t woman one, that a father can father a movement but a woman can’t mother one, and that a king rules a kingdom but a queen doesn’t rule a queendom? How did all those Renaissance men reproduce when there don’t seem to have been any Renaissance women?

Sometimes you have to believe that all English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane:
In what other language do they call the third hand on the clock the second hand?
Why do they call them apartments when they’re all together?
Why do we call them buildings when they’re already built?
Why is it called a TV set when you get only one?
Why is phonetic not spelled phonetically? Why is it so hard to remember how to spell mnemonic? Why doesn’t onomatopoeia sound like what it is? Why is the word abbreviation so long? Why is diminutive so undiminutive? Why does the word monosyllabic consist of five syllables? Why is there no synonym for synonym or thesaurus? And why is there an s in lisp?

English is crazy.

If adults commit adultery, do infants commit infanticide? If olive oil is made from olives, what do they make baby oil from? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian consume? if pro and con are opposites, is congress the opposite of progress?

Why can you call a woman a mouse but not a rat—a kitten but not a cat? Why is it that a woman can be a vision, but not a sight—unless your eyes hurt? Then she can be “a sight for sore eyes.”

A writer is someone who writes, and a stinger is something that stings. But fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce, hammers don’t ham, humdingers don’t humding, ushers don’t ush, and haberdashers do not haberdash.

If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn’t the plural of booth be beeth? One goose, two geese—so one moose, two meese? One index, two indices—one Kleenex, two Kleenices?

If people ring a bell today and rang a bell yesterday, why don’t we say that they flang a ball? If they wrote a letter, perhaps they also bote their tongue. If the teacher taught, why isn’t it also true that the preacher praught? Why is it that the sun shone yesterday while I shined my shoes, that I treaded water and then trod on the beach, and that I flew out to see a World Series game in which my favorite player flied out?

If we conceive a conception and receive at a reception, why don’t we grieve a greption and believe a beleption? If a firefighter fights fire, what does a freedom fighter fight? If a horsehair mat is made from the hair of horses, from what is a mohair coat made?

A slim chance and a fat chance are the same, as are a caregiver and a caretaker, a bad licking and a good licking, and “What’s going on?” and “What’s coming off?” But a wise man and a wise guy are opposites. How can sharp speech and blunt speech be the same and quite a lot and quite a few the same, while overlook and oversee are opposites? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell the next?

If button and unbutton and tie and untie are opposites, why are loosen and unloosen and ravel and unravel the same? If bad is the opposite of good, hard the opposite of soft, and up the opposite of down, why are badly and goodly, hardly and softly, and upright and downright not opposing pairs? If harmless actions are the opposite of harmful actions, why are shameful and shameless behavior the same and pricey objects less expensive than priceless ones? If appropriate and inappropriate remarks and passable and impassable mountain trails are opposites, why are flammable and inflammable materials, heritable and inheritable property, and passive and impassive people the same?

How can valuable objects be less valuable than invaluable ones? If uplift is the same as lift up, why are upset and set up opposite in meaning? Why are pertinent and impertinent, canny and uncanny, and famous and infamous neither opposites nor the same? How can raise and raze and reckless and wreckless be opposites when each pair contains the same sound?

Why is it that when the sun or the moon or the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible; that when I clip a coupon from a newspaper I separate it, but when I clip a coupon to a newspaper, I fasten it; and that when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I shall end it?

Today is the final one of the 7 sins of creativity and writing. If you haven’t seen the rest, start with the first 6, lust, gluttony, greed, sloth,  wrath and envy.

Wrapping it up is pride. While taking pride in your work is important, too much pride is dangerous – so dangerous that pride is actually considered the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins, and indeed the ultimate source from which the others arise.

But what makes pride so dangerous? Pride sneaks up on you, it is subtle and very good at hiding just under the surface. You don’t even realize that you have been overwhelmingly boastful until it’s too late and you have alienated someone with your attitude. Unfortunately, we all boast in our writing, even the top bloggers are guilty.

Ari Herzog did it when he talked about getting fans to facebook like he did, Copyblogger did it when he wrote about how he made tons of money using Amazon affiliates, Chris Brogan did it when talking about new book being a best seller. While all of those posts were designed to teach something (facebook fan pages, how to use amazon better, and how to get a book promoted) the undertone of pride was almost too much to bear.

But, we give them a break because they know what they are talking about, have a blog with a lot of readers and are considered experts in their fields. We allow them to write in this manner, and don’t say a word.

The question of the day: Should they be granted that free pass to be prideful just because they are good at what they do? What about someone like me who may have had too much pride when I wrote about starting my own business?

Lastly, never one to keep an incredible find to myself, I just discovered that the entire Divine Comedy, the book that started my curiosities of the sins, Dante Alighieri’s incredible work, is available entirely online and for free! I’ve read it twice, but somewhere in all the moves I have made over the last 5 years, it was lost. I am so excited to be able to read it again and I cannot recommend it enough: The Divine Comedy, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

So far, we have covered Lust and Gluttony. The next in line is Greed. Traditionally, Greed in the 7 sins stood for the desire for copious amounts of wealth and a person who would stop at nothing to acquire that wealth. Over time, greed has been more loosely associated with the desire for too much of anything.

Whenever I think of greediness, the first thing that comes to mind is a book my mother used to make me read every time I was being greedy… The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies. Whenever I would start asking for too much, or acting ungrateful for what I had, she would threaten to make me read it again. It worked really well.

*honestly, if you have children and don’t have this book, I’d be surprised. The entire series of Berenstain Bears is actually worth owning as they cover almost all of the ‘lessons’ kids go through…I cherish the set I have of them.*

So, what does writing and creativity have to do with Greed?

Unfortunately, a lot!

Writers and creative types tend to be very greedy – and I am not sure why. I just know that anyone who I know who is creative or a writer (sadly, including myself) tends to be a bit greedy by nature.  As a person, I think those who are creative tend to want more out of everything. They want more attention, they want more appreciation and they want more recognition. Creative people do not make their money in basic 9-5, doing what someone tells them to, jobs. At least not those who are really hell bent on being creative. The creative types go out on their own and create their own businesses. Which means in order to do well, they must get noticed. So they talk about themselves, promote their work and show off. They gather a little bit of attention and all of a sudden, boom! They become greedier and greedier for that attention. They don’t want to share it, they don’t want anyone else to get that attention, they want it all to themselves.

I know what you’re thinking, “not all creative people/writers are like this. There are plenty of writers/creative types that show off other peoples work and are happy to share the spotlight”. I have to disagree. There are some, yes, that share the spotlight now that they are super successful, but have you noticed that even when they share the spotlight, they still have at least 51% of the attention? It is a challenge of personality that I think all creative people need to face, and realize, otherwise they risk it overpowering them.

Now, with this all said, I am not saying that creative/writers are the most greedy, or even in the top 10% (hello Bernie Maddoff? Imedla Marcos? George Steinbrenner?). But, I do believe that there is an inherently greedy nature to those involved in creative fields, and definitely in writers.

What do you think? Is there an inherent greediness or am I just assuming based on those whom I know?

Yesterday, I started my 7 sins of creativity and writing with lust. Today, we are on to sin #2, Gluttony.

Gluttony is traditionally defined as over-eating (either in amount of food or amount spent on food). In modern times, it has become more vague, and can be used to define anything done to an extreme. For example, a writer who writes too often and never gives the floor to someone else would be considered a gluttonous writer. Or one who writes about themselves all the time, and never shares the stories of other amazing individuals. So that I don’t fall into this category , I would like to share an incredible view on creativity from Brad Marley, a PR professional who shares his thoughts on his work, his life and anything else that pops into his brain on his blog at BradMarley.com. He has become a virtual friend via twitter and our blogs, and hopefully I will get a chance to meet him soon. So thanks Brad, for saving me from being a glutton, and for sharing your thoughts with my readers!

Creativity is Terrifying

Some of us are born with the ability to create things that others are willing to pay to experience.

Most of us are not.

If you’re one of the few that emerged from the womb a creativity prodigy, you can stop reading this blog post right now. Go ruin an iconic image with technology, or something.

Oh, good – everyone is still here. Let’s continue.

In public relations – where every company with a job opening is looking for creative individuals – it’s no different.

Rare is the opportunity when we actually put our creative chops to use.

We like to gather in conference rooms and brainstorm the craziest, most outlandish ideas for our client’s product roll-out…then bury them in a PowerPoint deck that the client never sees.

Why?

Because these creative ideas truly terrify us.

If they don’t stick, we look and aloof and careless; that little exposed part of our soul shrivels up and dies. Creating the ‘World’s Largest Rolodex’ seemed cutting edge among our peers, but put it in front of the CEO of a company?

No way.

And it’s like that in all walks of creativity.

The greatest idea you have ever compiled carries no resemblance to the end product. What seemed so clear and concise in your brain comes out looking like a Rorschach symbol. Your audience shares looks of confusion. Their casual indifference might as well be punches to the face. At least then the physical bruises would distract everyone from the mental anguish.

From there, creativity is off-limits. Everything you produce – from your best friend’s wedding speech to the eulogy at your grandfather’s funeral – is straight vanilla. Your wardrobe consists entirely of muted tones.

The world is a drab place. The sun never shines.

You eat nothing but Oreo cookies.

But then, one morning, you wake up to birds chirping and a shining sun.

It – this world where people make up stories and draw characters in costumes for a living – suddenly becomes so clear and obvious.

Creative people are crazy.

And you long to associate yourself with them.

Over the next 7 days, I will be covering the 7 sins of creativity, the things that you just can’t do if you want your writing powerful and your creative juices to stay strong. The idea was given to me by Andi, your online go to gal, one my blog readers. She created a fabulous series of the 7 sins of social media…and I loved the idea so much that I had to take it and run with it…changing it to the 7 sins of creativity and writing.

For those who need a refresher course, the 7 sins are:

1. Lust
2. Gluttony
3. Greed
4. Sloth
5. Wrath
6. Envy
7. Pride

Today is all about lust. Lust is traditionally tied to an overwhelming sexual desire, but over time, the word has been attributed to an overwhelming desire for almost anything. With creativity and writing, lust can be one of the most dangerous sins.Very similar to envy, lust is about the desire to have something someone else has. Unlike envy though, lust is more about your own personal gain, rather than anger towards someone for being successful

Many writers see someones success and have an overwhelming desire to have that same success. What they often forget to think about is the time and the energy that person put in to get where they are. Writers are not born overnight, they are trained, practiced and studied in their craft and spend every working moment improving what they do. Those new to creativity lust after the spotlight that great writing might bring them. They day dream about the money and fame they could acquire from a best selling novel. What that lust does is blind the writer to their own errors and leaves their writing on the back-burner. To overcome lust, one must take a step back and analyze what it is they are really lusting after. Once you have discovered the root of your lust, you can find a way to remove it.

Thanks to your comments and requests last week, two-word tuesday will stay! Thanks for your opinions, and here is this weeks words:


Remember Youth

On Monday, I posed the question: “What makes writing so important“. I was attempting to make the point that writing is a freedom that we are given, and that we often take it for granted, forgetting how we got to where we are. I examined the difficulty that it used to take to get your writing seen, and wondered whether the difficulty made that writing more important. I concluded that the importance of writing had nothing to do with how it was written, but simply that it was written.

After talking with my mom about the article, she gave me a new question to ponder: “What makes words so important”? She explained that words are the beginning of writing, and therefore must be thought about before questioning the writing itself. She reminded me that words are not just sounds that we make, or inanimate objects to toss around, but words carry emotions, memories and evoke feelings. She reminded me to think about the words that are used on an individual basis and judge their importance…before attempting to judge the importance of the act of writing. She recommended going back to the process I used through college (I was a rhetorical communications major in college, which meant I spend a lot of time analyzing words and deciphering the hidden meanings behind them.) I love getting my mom’s thoughts on things…she always gives such a great perspective.

Anyway, after chatting with her, I began to really think about words again, and I got lost.

I started thinking about words, like creativity, which are so important to this blog. What does it mean? Creativity. By definition it means one thing, but to each individual person it means something too. To me, creativity stirs the emotion of passion. It means openness and color. It stands for freedom of expression and creates my livelihood. But to someone else, it may be scary and evoke terror. Some one who is afraid of reaching outside of the box, or being free to come up with their own ideas without restraint could be terrified of the idea of being creative.

And this is where I got lost.

I started to question every word that we use, and  how someone else can interpret them. No word is really safe from this process, even a word as simple as “word”. Say it to someone stuck in the 90’s, and they might think it means ‘right on’, talk to a Microsoft exec and they think computer program, an author thinks of it as a tool, and still someone else may see it as a source of frustration, as in being unable to think of the right word to use.

Now I was completely lost.

What’s your take on words and their importance? Am I reading too much into this?

Celebrate Today

Just tuning in and not sure what it’s all about? Check out the launch of two-word tuesday.

With Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and more, it is so easy to forget how to communicate in a more personal manner. Emails are a quick way to send out thoughts or questions to someone, that means a little more than a direct message or a wall post. Most of us avoid email because we feel it takes too long, we have to write long messages, etc. Completely untrue. These 5 emails can all be written in under 30 minutes, and are guaranteed to make a difference. I know, I just did them all.

Write to:

1. Someone who is doing better than you are in one area of your business. Whether they have their accounting system managed more efficiently or they are getting more referrals than you, pick something you want to improve. Send them a quick email asking them for a bit of advice. Not sure how to start? Be honest and heartfelt. Most people are willing to help someone they inspire, even if they are in the same field.
2. Someone doing worse than you in one area of your business. We have all been at the point in our business that we need some help, but many of us are scared to ask. What if someone were to just offer a little advice without you having to ask? Wouldn’t that make your day? Thought so. Just remember, be helpful and caring, not condescending or all-knowing.
3. Someone on twitter in your same neighborhood that you have chatted with before but never met IRL. The only way to bring a connection out of the web world and into the real world is to reach out. Invite them to coffee, and give the connection a chance to grow outside of twitter.
4. Someone who influenced you this week. Did they write a stellar blog post? Just send you a tweet or wall post that boosted your mood? Or maybe they were just there at the right time. Tell them thanks. Thank you goes a long way when you mean it.
5. Someone that you have lost contact with. Is there someone that you have met in the past that you haven’t talked to in a while? Send them a message just to say hello. See how they are doing. Make the first move.

I know what you’re thinking: “What if I don’t have their email address”? My answer? Go find it. Almost everyone has their email on their website, or if nothing else, a contact form. Still can’t find it? Ask someone else who is connected to them if they can help you get it (make sure to tell them why).

Let me know which ones you do today, and what happens!

In the last few weeks, I have gotten some amazing two word responses to my two words on Tuesday. However, that was not my original plan for these words.

Originally, I hoped that people would take my two words and either create a longer blog post with them, then link back, or to add a comment that does something with them…adds to them. But now, I realize that no matter what I thought it was going to be, once you give something to your readers, it is up to them! So, I am stepping back from what I though this should be, and letting it become whatever it is. Thanks to my amazing readers for showing me what happens when you ‘plan’ and forget who actually executes that plan. Take these words and really, do with them what you will (don’t forget to share, of course)!

Face Reality