Simply the Best?

December 19, 2008

Written by Karen D. Swim

The gracious Joanna Young invited everyone to reflect upon this past year of blogging and select their best post from 2008. Now I must admit when I saw the title Simply the Best I wondered how Joanna would tie Tina Turner to writing. I still sing the song every time I read the title (ha ha now you will too) but I digress. My first thought was my best post is the one I have not yet written but I can’t link to an empty page so I had to pick from what had already been created.

So without further ado, the post I selected is Truth or Madness Monday. This post is simply the best because the community shaped it with active discussion and insightful comments. It was fun to write but the participation was even better.

Reading through my archives made me realize the wonders of blogging. There are posts that reflect my “best” writing to date, others that have my “best ideas” and still others that are average but have the “best” number of comments.  Most of all it inspired me to  learning, growing and experimenting.

How would you describe your best? The Simply the Best Writing Project is open until December 24. I hope you’ll join in too!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Psssttt…something really BIG is happening over at the Zone. I have been sworn to secrecy but I can give you a hint, the target is 100. I’ve said too much already but stay tuned, all will be revealed on December 21. Uh oh, I think I hear Robert coming, shhh, don’t tell him I told ya!

The Gift of Words

December 12, 2008

Written by Karen D. Swim

“A book is a gift you can open again and again.” –
Garrison Keillor

I awakened to a cold dark morning. Without a trace of daylight, there was no external sign that it was in fact morning. I arose and made my way through darkness to open blinds and curtains in hopeful anticipation of light.  As I peered out my front window I spotted a light from across the pond and silently recited: “But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? ” It is a line from Romeo and Juliet (Act 2, Scene 2) and it’s tortured romance seemed to fit my morning unrest.

As I pondered the line again, I realized that I have not read or thought of this play in several years. My introduction to it was 40 years ago and yet the words effortlessly sprang to mind.  While partly a testament to the beauty of Shakespeare’s writing, the larger truth speaks to the gift of words.

Words have staying power.  The reasons a particular combination of words live on in our minds are as varied as the individuals who recall them. I only know that when we need them words are there.  Words are not the sole domain of the artist but like open source software they are free to everyone. We can tweak them, create new applications, and use them in ways not originally intended.

Our words can be a gift that we freely give each day. A simple note tucked into a child’s backpack can fill a heart with warmth when discovered and read. A favorite movie line spoken to a friend in need can inspire her to get back on track. “I’m sorry” can heal a wound, “I believe” can change a life.  Our words need not be eloquent or lengthy, simple and heartfelt are all that is required of this gift.

This time of year we box up presents in fancy wrap and top it with a bow.  In our rush to give we may miss the opportunity to give and receive a gift that is with us daily.  Words of kindness are in endless supply. There is no line on which to wait for a cheery “Good Morning” or “Have a wonderful day.” Words of gratitude will not be taxed when given to those who stand behind the counter.

I wish for you today a day that is filled with words that bring peace, joy and laughter.

Can you recall a time when words were a gift? Feel free to share your favorite memories, quotes, lines or songs or anything else that’s on your mind. Your comments are always welcomed.

Sha Na NaNo - In the Key of Thanks

November 26, 2008

Written by Karen D. Swim

When I committed myself to National Novel Writing Month (NaNo) I had no idea how it would impact my days. Before the month began, I planned to awaken at 5 am, go for my morning run and then write. By 8 am I would be at my desk and ready to continue on with my pre-NaNo schedule.

My plan fell apart on day 1. 5am came and went but I never saw it. I awakened in a panic at 6:30 am and groggily tried to reorganize my day.  I took deep breaths and fell back on Plan B, write, work, then work out.  By 10 am, I was on to Plan C. Who knew that the first 1700 words would not fly from my fingers in one hour? On Day 1, I had a new respect for NaNo, like running a marathon it was a distance that demanded respect.

I plodded through week one. It was neither smooth nor elegant but I stumbled through. In week two I fell into a groove, still a little sore from week one but the movement was getting easier.   My glee over finding the right gear was however, short lived.  In week two,  every client that had thought of using my services decided to sign me up.  I found myself knee deep in a business feast (no complaints mind you!) with little time left to breathe between bites. My idyllic dreams of luxuriously writing, working and tweeting went up in a puff of smoke. Getting up at 5 or even 6 was out of the question when I was going to bed at 1am.

My phone was ringing off the hook, my days were filled with back to back meetings, and in spite of my persistence my email climbed to over 800 messages.  My father, who is recovering from a stroke was also still hospitalized. I was being pulled in so many directions I felt a little like Gumby.  With only so many hours in the day, I dropped several of my spinning plates. I was tired and found myself crying over cell phone commercials, and falling snow. I was a mess but I was still writing.

In week three, the work kept pouring in but my Dad finally came home from the hospital. I was still on target with NaNo and somehow I had settled into the craziness of my life.  I sometimes forgot to eat and had more bad hair days than I care to share but I made it.

Now, here we are in the final stretch, week 4. I am roughly 4500 words away from goal, and will finish ahead of the November 30th deadline. The words are pouring out so fast that I can’t type fast enough. Business is still coming in and I am managing my customer’s expectations and enjoying the work. I have missed tweeting and blog commenting and visiting with friends.  It has been a wild and wacky ride but in spite of it all, something magical happened this month.

I pushed the boundaries of my limitations and learned that I am capable of more than I believed.  I failed early and often and am thankful for the lessons.  I grew more passionate about all of you. I really missed you and had time to really reflect on how thankful I am to be part of this wonderful blogging community.

Even though I was MIA (missing in action) when I popped my head up in twitter or stopped by your place for a visit, I was warmly welcomed. I got messages of encouragement and support and continued to be inspired by your talent. So it seemed appropriate on this Thanksgiving Eve to say THANK YOU.  You let me in your space, and I don’t take that for granted. You so graciously share your ideas, dreams, and fears. As you learn and grow you help me to do the same. You make me laugh and sometimes make me cry. This blogging thing is so much more than publishing content, it is being part of a community of people. You are my neigbhors and friends and I am just so happy to share space with all of you!

Whether or not you celebrate Thanksgiving, I am giving thanks for each and every one of you!

Blunders and other Wonders

October 16, 2008

Written by Karen D. Swim

A twitter conversation with Rosa Say has resulted in my first guest post for Joyful Jubilant Learning. Joyful Jubiliant Learning is a group blog fueled by an optimistic community of contributors.  The theme at JJL this month is Blunderrifix - mistakes, lapses of judgment, screw-ups that have been fixed with learning.  I hope you’ll join me as I share one of my many slip-ups and the lessons learned from the experience.

I hope to see you there!

Welcome Back Joanna Young!

August 25, 2008

Written by Karen D. Swim

Joanna Young has been offline for two weeks. After moving her blog from TypePad to WordPress, she had to go offline for a house move. Needless to say, not two things I would want to tackle in a single month!

When Brad Shorr came up with the idea of a surprise Online Welcome Back party for Joanna, I was immediately on board. He recruited Robert Hruzek and like two elves, they set about planning a surprise. Daniel Smith (who is also moving) graciously pitched in to create a button for the day. So, you may be wondering, who is this Joanna Young and why all the hubbub?

I started my blog in 2005 but didn’t wrap my arms around it until January 2008. It was a godawful mess but lucky for me, no one was reading! That all changed in late February when I participated in one of Joanna’s group writing projects. Her link love sent traffic my way. For the first time, I had actual comments -yippee!

It did not stop there. Joanna came to my blog and brought friends. She started conversations and others joined. She encouraged me when I was down and coached me in my efforts. She embraced me into her community and suddenly I was not alone. Under her tutelage, I found focus and even (gasp!) did ordered lists.

Joanna, we missed you! We really, really missed you! Join the party, by popping over and saying hello. While there you can read one of my favorite writing inspiration posts, How to Become a Fire Breathing Writing Dragon .

If you’d like to join in on the fun, it’s not too late. Write a post and link to Confident Writing. We can keep the party going all week long!

5 Tips on How to Look Good Naked

July 28, 2008

Written by Karen D. Swim

How to Look Good Naked is a television program which first aired on British TV and now has a USA version. The premise of the show is helping ordinary women to rebuild their self-esteem through a series of confidence boosting exercises culminating in a nude photo. The lesson of every show is learn to love your body “as is” and then add the proper garments to flatter it.

I caught the show at a gym and it helped pass the time on the dreadmill (I hate indoor runs!).  In spite of the cotton candy pop psychology, and corny tiara chirpiness, I found myself smiling as I picked up a lesson or two about “dressing for success.”  As I stole a peek at my own sweaty silhouette (and wondered if my sweats made me look fat), I began to see the parallels to writing. Whether writing articles, novels or marketing messages we can all benefit from learning how to first look good naked.

1. Start with a solid foundation.  On the TV show, all women get an attitude makeover before they begin shopping for a single garment. For the writer the foundation begins with listening. You must attune your eyes, ears, and mind to hear the words and the silences between them. When you listen with all of your senses and without imposing your own prejudgment you will really hear the your characters, your story, your muse or your target audience.
2. Add the right first layer. With the body the initial layer makes a huge difference in how clothes look and fit. Your idea must also be outfitted with a good structure. Before you wrap it in artsy covers, graphics or glossy brochures, your writing must stand on the strength of the words. Your message/story must be able to stand in just their skivvies and still look good.
3. Don’t hide out in a muu muu. It is tempting to hide flaws and imperfections under bulky outer layers. However, rather than hiding the muu muu only brings attention to the most unwanted areas. You cannot cover a flawed idea, or message in layers of words. It adds unnecessary girth and makes your structure look unattractive.
4. Work what you have!  You may not be the writer you desire to be today. Rather than wringing your hands in angst or comparing yourself to others, work what you have today. Play up your strengths (yes you have them!) as you work on areas that need improvement.
5. You are your worse critic. We are often so much harder on ourselves than others will ever be. We distort the truth with our own feelings of inadequacy. You will not churn out a masterpiece every time you sit down to write but you also will not suck every time.
6. How to Look Good Naked reinforces that every woman regardless of shape or size can learn to put her best self forward.  Women are transformed from frumpy to fabulous without diets, exercise, or surgery. With just a few tweaks, you can have the same results with your writing.

What are your tips for looking good naked?

Business Writing Bad

May 6, 2008

by Branden R. Williams, CISSP, CISM

Have you noticed that most of the business writing you read is hard to understand? Or that the author did not run a simple grammar or spelling check? Complain if you must about Microsoft Word reminding you to use active voice and pointing out all your sentence fragments and verb agreement. Word’s spell check feature is good for creating a document without spelling flaws; but a perfectly spelled document can still be difficult to read or understand.

“Step 1: Extinguish the precipitous rubescent LED-based luminosity.”

The Thesaurus wants to be our friend. His content is like crack—your first synonym is free. Instead of using the word “hint” you find that “clue” is a much better match for your writing. It’s a win-win (or as Michael Scott learns, a “Win-Win-Win”). Once you are hooked, the Thesaurus starts charging for finding synonyms. No, you don’t slip a twenty inside the pages of the Thesaurus, close your eyes and speak the word you need a synonym for, and the book magically falls open to a page written for you. Instead, the cost is much higher—your career.

Companies have developed a poor vernacular that removes the readability from memos, e-mails, policies, and other internal documents. We’ve all read language like what you see above and wondered, “Why can’t they just say ‘Turn off the solid red light?’” This is a major problem with writing in business. Often we write to try to sound smart; but instead our readers toss our writing in the garbage because they can’t understand it. Murky, jargon-laced writing does not make you smart, it makes you difficult to understand and ultimately an ineffective communicator.

William Zinsser highlights writing for business in his book “On Writing Well.” He says, “Managers at every level are prisoners of the notion that a simple style reflects a simple mind. Actually a simple style is the result of hard work and hard thinking.” It’s easy to use jargon, but hard to write in a manner that everyone can understand. Simple writing is usually the result of laborious rewriting and revising. Write (and rewrite) to a tenth-grade level and watch the clarity in your writing rise above your peers.

The other writing problem I often see is simply the abuse of our language. I’m not talking about the minor bruises from ending a sentence with a preposition, or adding ‘ize’ to any noun or adjective to make it into a verb (can we PLEASE stop that). I’m referring to the bludgeoning caused by poor sentence construction, overuse of passive voice, and cluttering phrases such as “due to the fact that” and “it should be noted.” Microsoft Word’s grammar check can only do so much. Reading your writing aloud can catch much more.

One way to remove the excess clutter from your sentences is to remove words and see if the sentence changes meaning. If the words are required to keep the meaning the same, then leave them in. Otherwise, use that delete key! Zinsser says that he hates writing, but loves rewriting.

The moral of this column is to take the time to ensure that every word plays its part in the end, just like a composer scrutinizes every note in his symphony. Better writing output shows that you care about your legacy. Just a small amount of time spent learning the language will demonstrate your utility and ensure you a spot at the top!

About the Author:

Branden R. Williams is an Information Technology and Strategy Leader sought after by the world’s foremost corporate executives. His rare combination of technology and business expertise have gained him respect and recognition among global top named clients and industry insiders. To learn more about Branden and his expertise visit his website.

The Mysteries of Michigan

March 24, 2008

by Karen D. Swim

“Try to find forms of literature out in the world and see how they work in fiction. Letters to the editor, recipes in cookbooks, lists. Look in different places for language and characters, and you’ll get inspired by writing not usually considered literary.”
-J. Robert Lennon

I have only lived in Michigan a short time. I can write with ease about my home of California but have not yet quite absorbed Michigan. I’ve decided to make an effort to really get to know this unfamiliar place. Michigan is so different from California. I have too often only noticed what was missing - traffic, an abundance of Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s markets, smoke free restuarants, earthquakes and Santa Ana winds- and failed to fully appreciate what is present.

Lennon’s quote inspired me to begin to absorb Michigan into my bones. This week the focus is on high drama. Just as I was beginning to miss televised car chases, the Detroit Mayor’s office serves up enough drama to script a soap opera for the next year.

A rumorored party at the Mayor’s Mansion that ended in a fight between the mayor’s baseball bat wielding wife and an exotic dancer who was later brutally murdered on the streets of Detroit. An investigation shrouded in secrecy with missing documents and reassignments or firing of police officers eager to get to the truth.

A torrid affair between the mayor and his chief of staff (now former) denied on the stand but later revealed in steamy text messages. Thug contractors who gained multi-million dollar city deals. An assistant police chief hungry for power who colludes with the mayor and his staff behind her boss’ back.

All of this in a town where people call soda “pop” and 19 year old waitresses call customers “hon.” A place that sometimes moves so slowly I wonder how they dare call it a city.

It all seems surreal as I gaze out the window at the sun shining brightly on the barren trees. I spy a mallard standing at the edge of the semi-frozen pond seemingly assessing the conditions. Corruption, scandal, and murder all seem impossible on a day like today.

Yet, this is the Michigan I’m coming to know. It is not enough to judge it by the surface for so much more is happening behind the scenes. Just as the morning sunshine will soon give way to scattered snow showers, this town will soon reveal its secrets and I will be there absorbing it all.

What does your town have to offer? Have you absorbed it in your bones or are you merely observing it from a distance?

Photo Credit: lonebluelady, Flickr

The Sun Will Come

March 18, 2008

By Karen D. Swim

Today is a gray and dreary weather day. The kind of day when it is light enough to be daylight but dark enough that the outside lights have not yet turned off. Most of the snow piles have melted and the brown grass is now fully visible. The barren trees stand tall against the dark sky as rain gently falls.

As I sip my morning coffee, I stand in the doorway watching a light mist of rain fall from the sky. I’m tempted to work in my pj’s but I know that will hinder my productivity. I take a deep breath and muster up the memories of warm sunshine, gentle rays falling upon my face. Spring is only days away and I suppose this is winter’s swan song reminding us that soon all will be new again.

It seems like a perfect time to breathe deeply and reflect as I prepare for a new season. The beauty of spring is that dead things are revived after the harshness of the cold winter season. As spring nears, I find myself yearning to stretch myself personally and creatively. As I shake off the winter doldrums, inspiration is everywhere awaiting discovery. This week I have indulged myself with a neglected love of poetry. I have been devouring podcasts of spoken poetry and reading classic and modern poets. Below is one that seems to match my mood today.

Keep Me Fully Glad, by Rabindranath Tagore

Keep me fully glad with nothing. Only take my hand in your hand.
In the gloom of the deepening night take up my heart and play with it as you list.
Bind me close to you with nothing.
I will spread myself out at your feet and lie still. Under this clouded sky I will meet silence with silence. I will become one with the night clasping the earth in my breast.
Make my life glad with nothing.
The rains sweep the sky from end to end. Jasmines in the wet untamable wind revel in their own perfume. The cloud-hidden stars thrill in secret. Let me fill to the full my heart with nothing but my own depth of joy.

# # #

What are you doing to prepare for Spring? Are there new things in store for you? I am sure that I will be inspired by your insights, so please share.

Wishing you all sunshine (inside and out)!

Karen

Photo Credit: The beautiful photo is courtesy of the talented photographer and writer, Amy Palko, courtesy of Flickr. Do stop by Amy’s blog, you will be delighted you did!

Lying Authors and their Tales of Woe

March 8, 2008

Another author has been outed as a liar. Margaret Seltzer is the latest author to pass off fiction as a memoir. In the language of the ‘hood she professed to have lived, her own sister “dropped a dime on her” (translation, her sister told). Seltzer’s book “Love and Consequences” was supposedly a memoir detailing her violent and drug running childhood in South Central. Writing as Margaret B. Jones the critically acclaimed novel enjoyed a week as a literary darling before the lies were exposed.

Seltzer/Jones now joins James Frey and Stephen Glass in the growing list of writers who lie their way to fame. Lying authors make it harder to gain the reading public’s trust. The internet and “reality” TV have already taught us to be leery of what is spun as truth but there was a time you could trust a memoir to be true.

Seltzer’s story is both tragic and laughable. A news reporter checked one part of Seltzer’s story, her college education, in 5 minutes, something her publisher never bothered to do. Uncovering the lie before publishing certainly would have raised red flags and prevented the now humiliating venture.

Other clues were obvious. To begin with, “South Central” is a media term. No one who actually knows Watts, Compton, Inglewood or LA actually uses the misnomer. Insiders also would have never fallen for her half white / half Native American drug runner for the bloods. I am from Southern California and know these neighborhoods well including Seltzer’s real hood - The Valley! But I digress….

What really bugs me is why authors feel the need to pass off fiction as fact? Why not just write a good story and call it what it is – fiction? Readers do still love a good story, don’t they? In fiction, you have the freedom to pull in bits and pieces of reality and twist and shape them into a good tale.

Thanks to Seltzer and others the book public has once again been duped, and the writing community stung by the shame they bring to the profession. May their pens melt at the touch!

Karen

Photo: © John Weise | Dreamstime.com

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