The Beach Writer 4:38 pm on February 20, 2012
Tags: Beach ( 30 ), pelicans ( 3 ), photography ( 2 ), photos, real camera, Writing

My kingdom for a “real” camera

A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!

–Richard III, Shakespeare

As The Beach Writer I spend a good bit of time on the coast, and I spend a lot of my coast time walking. I need and enjoy the exercise, sure, but I walk because it helps me create. As I walk along the beach I see what I can see, and I think about what I can make of it.

Most days I snap an average of 20-50 photos with my iPhone camera, some of which I’ve posted here. I don’t fret about their quality. After all, they are snapshots, a glimpse of what I saw, a reminder of what caught my eye or tickled my brain that day. I don’t usually focus on what I can’t reasonably assume I can capture with the limited capabilities of my “camera.”

That changed last Friday.

I blame the pelicans.

Friday’s walk started out uneventfully. The day was overcast gray and breezy enough to wear a jacket, while not cold enough to stop me from walking barefoot and wading in the surf. In the beginning my husband was walking beside me but then something in the sand caught his eye for a photo and I heard the familiar “go ahead, I’ll catch up.” Soon we were separated by a quarter of a mile or more of beach, and that’s when they buzzed me on the left.

They being the pelicans. A pair of them snuck up from behind, flying no more than a couple of feet above the sand, and passed within 10 feet of me. They flew a couple of football fields ahead and then landed at the water’s edge. They were still there when I reached their landing spot and I noticed that just coming into view in the distance was an entire flock of pelicans mixed in with gulls, terns and skimmers.

The pair basically dared me to take their picture, allowing me to slowly walk within about a dozen feet of them and kneel down in the sand while clicking up a storm with my iPhone. But I wasn’t fooled. I knew I wasn’t going to get anything good. Maybe if it had been sunny I’d have gotten lucky with a couple of shots. But I have taken enough gray day beach photos to know that my iPhone camera can’t handle low lighting and doesn’t have a proper zoom function.

What I needed was the camera and lens that I used when I published the newspaper. That was a “real” camera.

“Where are you?” I asked my husband moments later, having given up on the camera feature and using the iPhone as, surprise, a phone instead. “There are pelicans here!”

Yes, I sounded 12. No, my husband was not shocked. We’ve been married a long time.

As we talked, a jogger approaching from farther down the beach startled the birds flocked ahead and soon all were in flight around, over and past me, making a beeline for my husband.

“They’re coming for you.”

I counted 18 pelicans plus the pair before I lost track. Easily more than two dozen flew past me, the most I’ve seen at one time and certainly the most I’ve seen that close. When I met back up with my husband up the coast, nearly half of the flock was floating just off shore, within wading distance, feeding on something clearly both tasty and abundant.

We watched them together until the wind picked up enough that standing still was undesirable, and then returned home without a single decent photo between us, but at least one shared thought.

It’s time to invest in a “real” camera.

The Beach Writer 6:26 pm on February 13, 2012
Tags: Creativity ( 22 ), photography ( 2 ), sculpting, Sunshine Award, Writing

Sunshine State of Mind

Ahh, sunshine. It lifts spirits, warms hearts, and helps everything grow. Thanks to Word Flows it now also graces my blog page.

Thank you, Word Flows, for thinking of me and my love of the spotlight, but especially for your kind words about my blog!

Of course these things come with customs, so let’s get right to them.

The Rules:

Thank the person who gave you the award.
Write a post about it.
Answer a few deeply personal and revealing questions.
Pass it along to ten people and let them know they received the award.

The Deeply Personal and Revealing Questions:

Favorite colour: Blue
Favorite animal: Labrador Retrievers
Favorite number: 27
Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Tea
Facebook or Twitter? Facebook
My passion: Writing. It’s always been writing. It will always be writing. Unfortunately for my fitness level, my passion has provoked hours of sitting down indoors. Thanks to my relocation, I have taken to following my passion sitting down outdoors, in the sand near the surf. I am working on writing via dictation while walking on the beach.
Getting or giving presents? Giving
Favorite pattern: I’m a solid girl
Favorite day of the week: Friday, because on that day the weekend still holds all the promise and possibility I can imagine
Favorite flower: Lilies…all makes and models.

Pass It Along:
This is where the rule breaking begins, or, to put it in terms relevant to writers, where the taking of creative liberties begins.

I am not picking 10. I am not picking any arbitrary number. Instead, I have decided to pick according to a theme, which, when applied, led to me picking five.

Indulge me an explanation. When I think of sunshine, I think of creativity. And when I thought of handing out Sunshine Award nominations, I decided that I wanted to let that be an opportunity to give a shout out to the creative people who inspire me the most.

At first I thought of calling them my Algonquin Round Table, which in many ways they are. But that would imply that we all interact and fuel creativity in each other, when in reality not everyone on this list knows each other. Nevertheless, each of the people who write the blogs I’ve listed below are creative people who inspire me to write, and to keep writing when my own enthusiasm is running low. I don’t get to interact with most of them offline much anymore, but thanks to social media I get to banter with them from time to time, sneak a peak into their worlds and keep them caught up with mine.

I have known each of these bloggers for many years, a couple going back to my college days and the rest from my former life as a newspaper publisher. In the interest of full disclosure I will say that one is my husband, and the rest are friends who continually inspire me with their writing, sculpting, photography and offbeat perspectives of our world. Their blogs brighten my day, and hopefully will brighten yours.

Oh Goody, another iPhone Photo Blog – I listed my husband’s blog first because, well, I do have to live with him. And because he is #1 of course! Jeff takes pictures of things we walk past together, and then shows me what I failed to see.
Rabbitville Road – Rita is the queen of creativity as a sculptor, fellow writer, and Nana extraordinaire. She not only inspires me to build my career upon my creativity, but is also an excellent role model for blending personal and professional in a way that enhances both while maintaining the boundaries of each.
Life, Times & Memories – Small town journalists have to stick together to survive, even if they write for competing publications, because they all answer to the same readers. That’s how I met Krystal, and though I still enjoy reading her news stories occasionally, I love her blog about daily small town living even more.
Classic Film and TV Cafe – Kent knows what I should be watching, even before I do. Just this morning he posted the cure for my Downton Abbey withdrawal. He’s so thoughtful that way!
Coyote Watches – When I met Bryan at college he was prince of the city. Then and now he reminds me that life is a game we are compelled to play, so why not revel in the wonder of it all?

Note to recipients above: You are not obligated to accept this award. Yes, I know it resembles a chain letter. You can break the chain, or cheat as I have done. The world won’t end and you still get to add the pretty flower graphic to your blog page…but only if you want to. 🙂

The Beach Writer 6:39 pm on February 6, 2012
Tags: interview tips, interviewing, put interviewee at ease, Writing

Small talk your way to a good interview

I often conduct interviews to gather the information I need to write. As a former journalist I interviewed politicians, police officers, athletes, award winners, and experts on various topics too numerous to clog this blog with, in order to write articles ranging from feel good features to front page news. As a technical writer I have interviewed company officers and directors, engineers, and workers on the plant floor in order to write manuals, procedures and work instructions. Some of the fiction I’ve written required interviewing someone experienced with the topic I was writing about.

Whatever the reason for needing to conduct an interview, writers sometimes find themselves looking for a blueprint, a plan, any advice at all to make it as painless as possible for both interviewer and interviewee.

The web is awash in advice for interviewing. Naturally some of it is great, some good, and some barely adequate. Many seem to focus on making the interviewer more comfortable by feeling in control. But the best advice, I believe, is to focus instead on putting the interviewee at ease.

How can you do that?

Treat the interviewee like a person you’ve been wanting to meet and get to know. Start off with small talk. From there move the discussion to issues of comfort (where they’ll sit, if they want something to drink, etc.). Continue talking about anything but the interview subject until it’s time to begin, working in a discussion of the ground rules (such as on vs off the record, how to stop the interview if either party is uncomfortable, or a review of the purpose of the interview) alongside talking about the weather or bad traffic, or the funny sign you saw on the way there. It doesn’t matter what you talk about as long as it isn’t the topic of the interview. What’s important is establishing a connection by treating the interviewee as a person first, and an interviewee a distant second.

By the time you get to the interview itself, both interviewer and interviewee should be feeling at ease and ready to discuss the topic at hand.

The Beach Writer 4:48 pm on January 30, 2012
Tags: professional writing ( 4 ), writer ( 29 ), Writing, writing basics

There’s a reason why they’re called The Basics

I frequently read ridiculously funny things on professional writing forums, most of which, sadly, weren’t intended as a joke. Since I live in a creative household, I tend to share these little gems with my husband and adult offspring so that we can all enjoy. But sometimes I read and share something so outrageous that we skip the laughter and land on righteous indignation.

“Seriously? Somebody posted a question asking How important is grammar and punctuation (i.e., subject verb agreement, conditonl clause, etc.) for a technical writer? Unbelievable!”

Believe it. The bold portion is word for word, complete with the misspelling of conditional.

Call me a snob. Call me an elitist. But I simply don’t understand how someone can call themselves a writer, or worse a professional writer, if they can’t or don’t understand and follow the most basic grammar and spelling rules.

They got it right the first time, and then failed to duplicate their efforts on the second line

That’s like getting paid to be a plumber and not being able to tighten a sink faucet. It’s like calling yourself an artist, a painter, but not knowing the difference between watercolors and acrylics. It’s akin to claiming to be a mechanic without knowing how to open the hood of a car, or how to jump-start the battery. Or it’s the same as getting paid to run a multi-billion dollar corporation without understanding that failing to serve your largest customers will erode your profits and eventually cost you your job.

Ok, wait, that does happen an awful lot lately. But it doesn’t make it right. And it isn’t right to call yourself a writer, personally or professionally, if you don’t know the basics.

By basics, I mean [bey-siks], the fundamentals of using the language (English for our purposes) to communicate information to a reader.

I’m not going to teach a grammar lesson with this entry. I’m not even going to provide links to those who do, although I likely will add those on a resources page here eventually. What I am going to do, however, is indulge my desire to list my personal basic pet peeves.

These are the tools I expect professional writers using the English language to have mastered.

The fact that every sentence requires a subject and a verb. The subject can be implied. The verb cannot.
Punctuation–what it is and why it’s necessary, even in a text message, or a Facebook or Twitter post
The difference between and appropriate use of:

its and it’s
there, their and they’re
to and too
your and you’re
effect and affect
except and accept

Subject verb agreement–what it is and why it should be second nature if you make your living, or hope to make your mark with words

It’s ok if you can’t explain what a gerund phrase is or diagram a sentence. But you should have an ear, or an eye, for sentence structure and paragraph flow. And you MUST know the basics.

If you don’t, you’re not a professional, regardless of how long you’ve been writing or how much you get paid.

The Beach Writer 3:17 pm on January 23, 2012
Tags: Versatile Blogger award, writer ( 29 ), Writing

A word about an award

I want to thank The writer, the reviser, the visualizer at Write Or Revise Daily (WORD!) for choosing me for a Versatile Blogger award (http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/)! Write or Revise Daily is one of my favorite blogs and it’s a treat as well as an honor to be recognized by a fellow blogger!

For those of you who, like me, aren’t familiar with how this works, there are rules. Rule #1, don’t talk about Versatile Blogger award. Wait, that is definitely not right!

The real rules are as follows.

Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.

Done and Done. But thanks again! I appreciate the recognition and encouragement.

Share 7 things about yourself.

1. I don’t handle praise or recognition well. It’s not that I don’t welcome or appreciate it. I do! But although I often come across as an extrovert, I am actually shy about being in a spotlight not of my own making.

2. Although I have been a writer all of my life, I was first published as a photojournalist when I was a teenager. I put away my camera professionally in favor of a keyboard long ago, but this blog is allowing me the chance to revisit my photographic roots a bit.

3. Speaking of journalism, I once owned and published a weekly newspaper.

4. I was born and lived most of my life in the incredibly, landlocked, ocean-free Midwest.

5. In 2011 I decided it was a good time to have a mid-life crisis and rather than buy a sports car I relocated from snowy winters to a southern city with a beach.

6. I live in an all-creative household. My husband is a poet, photographer and writer. My son is an artist, lapsed poet, and master of puns. My daughter is a dancer and writer.

7. My favorite food is sushi.

Pass this award along to 15 others.

I am nominating blogs I always look forward to reading. Each of them has something that draws me back post after post no matter how busy I think I am. Hope you enjoy them as well! They are, of course, in no particular order.

1. Fibromy-Awesome
2. Cerridwen’s Cauldren
3. 1 Story A Week
4. Terribly Write
5. Wordsmith Six
6. Writers Write Daily
7. Susie Lindau’s Wild Ride
8. Robotic Rhetoric
9. Word Flows
10. David Gaughran
11. Savvy Writing Careers
12. Outside the Box
13. Villanova Junction
14. Cdeminski’s Blog
15. Alice Dusenberry

I also want to link to one more blog that would have made this list if he hadn’t been the one to nominate The writer, the reviser, the visualizer...Pete Denton – Writer. Maybe now I’ll get around to adding each of these to my blogroll?

Contact your chosen bloggers.

In process!

Thanks again to Write Or Revise Daily for the vote of confidence and to everyone for reading.

The Beach Writer 4:05 pm on January 17, 2012
Tags: Beach ( 30 ), know your audience ( 3 ), writer ( 29 ), Writing

All kinds of people

Busy Jax Beach, Jan, 1, 2012

People are drawn to the beach by many things.

The waves attract surfers, body boarders, kayakers, and splashers of all ages. The water attracts swimmers and fishermen.

The sea spits out a daily dose of shells for the beachcombers.

The sand provides a soft landing spot for sunbathers and ample open space for the recreation of throwing footballs and frisbees, flying kites, playing bocce ball and tossing beanbags. The sand is also the building material of sand castles, simple and elaborate, the backdrop for sand writers and artists, and the hiding spot for treasures revealed by passing metal detectors.

The sun is there for everyone.

The beach is home to is a seemingly endless supply of wildlife to watch and interact with. Sea gulls and pigeons scavenge and kvetch. Ospreys and pelicans soar over head and then plunge into the water to come up with dinner. Crabs, sea stars, and other creatures that hug the coast move about in the shallows and on the sand. Jellyfish and occasionally something bigger become stranded on land as the tide recedes. Dolphins, sharks, and more can be spotted offshore with a sharp eye.

The beach is also home to people who have no home.

The beach serves as an outdoor gym for walkers, runners, and bicyclists. And it’s a wonderful people watching locale, topping both the mall and the airport as a gathering place for all kinds of people.

All kinds of people visit the beach to enjoy what it has to offer them. The same is true for your writing.

When writers follow the commandment to know your audience, we tend to focus on our target audience. That is as it should be. But it’s also important to remember that all kinds of people may come into contact with our writing, and to think about what our blog post, article, procedure, manual, course, or book has to offer them.

We shouldn’t try to be all things to all people, but it’s good to be aware that there are multiple perspectives, desires, and goals held by our readers. Our target audience is our primary reader, sure, but not the only one.

Keeping that in mind allows us to get to know our audience a little better.

The Beach Writer 5:39 pm on January 9, 2012
Tags: Beach ( 30 ), Inspiration ( 4 ), just keep writing, Sea Star, writers block ( 2 ), Writing

Just keep writing

A Sea Star I saw as I walked the beach today searching for inspiration.

Like most writers I have my little tricks for those days when I don’t feel inspired to write. Music. Caffeine. A walk on the beach.

All three failed me today. The only thing I felt inspired to do was nap.

Napping, however, is rarely compatible with meeting deadlines.

What do I do when a deadline beckons and all I have to offer is a white screen, doubts, and regret? Well, I complain to anyone who will listen and also to those who won’t. Then, as a last resort, I usually just sit down and write.

Yep, that’s right. I just write. I write anything, even if that means I write “I don’t want to write a blog post” for line after line. I just keep writing until I have something to work with. Once I have words in front of me, I can cut and rearrange until I have something readable.

I was given this advice decades ago when I first started writing seriously. I have given it to other writers. But it never gets old. I’ve yet to meet a writer that doesn’t need to hear it over and over again.

Just keep writing.

The Beach Writer 5:03 pm on January 2, 2012
Tags: Business writing ( 3 ), creative nonfiction writers, dialogue scenes, listening, technical writing ( 2 ), Writing, writing exercise

Listen Up

In my former life as a writing instructor and coach there was a homework assignment that I gave students to help them create more authentic dialogue scenes. Students were required to spend 15 minutes in a public place such as the local college campus, mall, or park, and listen for snippets of conversations from people passing by them.

At this point someone in the class would start snickering because we’ve all done this. We’ve all caught parts of conversations and repeated them later to family or friends or played them over in our minds wondering what came before and after what we’d heard.

Writing students easily guessed the second part of the assignment. Fiction writers were supposed to create a story around the dialogue they overheard. Creative Nonfiction writers and Journalists were supposed to present what they heard in its actual context, setting the scene for the reader and often adding commentary on its meaning and relevance.

But writing what we imagine or surmise is not the purpose of the exercise. Listening is.

Listening is a critical skill for writing well.

This is not only true for fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and journalists, but also for business and technical writers. After writing dozens of procedures, instructions, manuals, or training presentations, technical writers can make the common mistake of thinking that they are the expert and that the client or committee of co-workers should be doing the listening as the professional writer explains what they need. Instead, the professional writer’s first task is to listen to what the client or committee is saying.

Only by listening can the writer be certain of what to write, how to write it, and who they are writing it for. Only by listening can the writer discover what questions to ask to fine tune the request. The knowledge gathered by listening and asking is essential for producing the content that the reader needs and wants.

Listen first. Ask questions later. Write only when you’re sure of what you know.

The Beach Writer 11:56 am on December 26, 2011
Tags: Evernote, moleskin, technical writing ( 2 ), writer ( 29 ), Writing, writing tools

Tools don’t make the writer

Twice last week I read blogs and forum discussions involving writers judging other writers by what tools they use.

According to a blogger who writes fiction, you aren’t a real writer if you don’t carry a moleskin notebook and fancy pen with you everywhere. And according to a professional writer in a forum discussion, you aren’t a real technical writer if you use, and especially if you prefer, the most commonly used word processing program rather than the program currently favored by the DOD.

I have carried a moleskin notebook in my past and remember how richly appealing they are to hold and scribble thoughts in. But my notes and writing fragments are just as valuable captured electronically using Evernote on my smart phone. That frees me from lugging around a bag big enough for a moleskin and continually fishing in it for my favorite pen.

I have used several different programs to develop manuals, procedures and instructions, and I enjoy learning new ones whenever possible. But I find that each has its pros and cons and believe that the perfect technical writing software has yet to be designed. I therefore prefer the tool requested or required by the employer or client because that is the tool that enables me to get the job done.

It is beyond my expertise to explain why some writers develop a tool obsession, or why so many humans in general feel they have to put others down to build themselves up. But both are a waste of time and talent.

Writers are writers because of the content they produce, not the tool they use to capture, display or distribute it.

Go forth and write something worth reading.

The Beach Writer 1:33 pm on December 9, 2011
Tags: business-speak ( 2 ), communication ( 2 ), jargon ( 2 ), professional writing ( 4 ), Writing

In a timely manner, the sequel

Right after posting yesterday’s blog entry, as I was making my rounds through business article sites, I found two articles talking about the persistent problem of poor business writing.

The first, from Forbes, reminds us that words matter. The second, from a website for HR personnel, focuses on workers feeling that their colleagues don’t communicate well.

Although these articles vary in perspective, they have a couple of things in common. One is the overuse and misuse of the word “cascade” in the business world. And two, that there definitely is a problem.

I wrote yesterday that poor business writing was so common that it rarely prompted comment anymore. I am happy to be wrong about that!