So!

Why do radio and TV pundits all begin their sentences with the word, “so”? Robert Peston and scientists are the worst offenders – (I’ve also noticed that there are a new breed of Robert Peston imitators appearing on the media now). it has a way of making the questioner seem stupid and the person making the statement aloof. Worse than that, it make them sound impatient with the questioner and as though they haven’t really listened to the question – as though they are spinning a line and hope you don’t see the joins.

Please stop it, everyone! (Now you’ve read this, you will hear it all the time and it will become very annoying for you too!)

Writing School

I must have learned something over the years about writing, so I’m going to share my experience on youtube. Here’s the first video – just an introduction.

If you like it, please rate it with the stars in the top left hand corner.

iPad

Being a long-time mac fan, starting off with an LCII, now with an Imac to work on, an iPhone to travel with and an iBook for on the sofa – yes, I have mobile me too – I’m slightly underwhelmed by the iPad.

Yes it’s beautiful, yes it does the job beautifully, It may be okay to read books on it, that depends on the screen. Apple has always bigged-up screen quality and I’ve never thought they were as good as they hyped them.

The ipad is a laptop replacement, but it doesn’t do what a laptop does.

You wouldn’t want to hike it around just to do what an ipod or iphone do already. It doesn’t take photos or video and it doesn’t run run mac applications. It only runs proprietry applications.

Steve Jobs shows us what a brilliant web browser it is by reading the New York Times. Of course he doesn’t mention that the page is littered with little lego blocks that tell us that iPad does not run Flash. I’d cope with that on a phone, but on a machine that is sold as the best web-browsing experience in the world? A web-browser without Flash – get real!

The only additional feature is the bookstore. I don’t think that is a killer app. I’m sure the hard-core fans will buy it, but I’m not sure who else will.

The entry price is good, but I’d rather have a proper computer that can do all the things I want it to. I’m sure the screen keyboard is much better than the iPhone’s, but I don’t want to write a manuscript on it.

Sorry Apple. I’m sure I’d like one to have a round, but I dons’ see the point of paying money for it.

Is Punctuation Important?

We had a very interesting discussion this morning. Is punctuation important. Beth, the teacher I’m working with at the moment, was frustrated by the way children expect to get maths and sport right, because there are defined goals and targets. There’s a right way and a wrong way to both score a goal and get a sum to add up.

But writing is different. I think there are a couple of reasons.

The first is because writing splits into two distinct phases – the creative ideas and planning stage followed by the sequential craft and graft stage. We are generally good at one or the other. None of us likes the punctuation bit.

I was looking at quite a bit of writing this morning. A few times I started to suggest adding or taking away punctuation then changed my mind as I heard the writer’s voice in my head and realised that I was making a style change rather than a comprehension change. It is this element of personal style that makes us loathe to criticise. This hesitation compounds itself to the point where we don’t like to point out anything that needs changing, however glaring the mistake.

If your computer programming teacher suggests you should change a comma to a semi colon, you would do it without argument. Programming languages are very precise. One wrong instruction (or piece of punctuation) and, at the best, the program stops working – at worst, it crashes and you lose a week’s worth of work!

Why should writing stories be any different. The pattern and order of words should be laid out in a particular way that the reader can interpret the intention of the writer. A piece of writing is just a storytelling program. Stray from the protocols and the reader interprets the text differently to the writer’s intention.

Maybe children don’t know why they are writing at school. Who is their audience? Notes can be written any old how – they are not for publication and we presume the writer will be able to read them back. (Although this is frequently not the case!)

Any other writing must surely be done consciously for an audience, with punctuation in the right place. Style can be argued over later.

The reader needs the correct program instructions, otherwise the writing does not make sense and their brain crashes and stalls, fed up and frustrated.

You can be the most graceful and powerful footballer in the world, but if you don’t aim at the goal, you’re not in the team.

P.S. I’m not perfect, so please don’t nag me about my punctuation. I like to think I have my own style!

AND – is not a connecting word!

So often, when reading children’s writing, I come across the word, and. When I challenge the children about it, they tell me it’s a connecting word. Well, I say it’s an adding word. It adds sentences together, like a sticky, gunky goo, making them grow longer and longer, and windier and windier.

What’s wrong with a full stop? Often, replacing and with a full stop adds pace to a story. It increases the sense of action. Give me short, snappy sentences – any day!

IMMISERATE – Word Of The Day – build your word power

I heard this word used on the radio to describe the conditions the people of Haiti have had put upon them by the earthquake. It struck me as a very powerful word.

Immiseration the imposition of poverty, not something you would want to do to anyone unless you were really mean or plain careless.

Learn a new word every day.
Repeat it and remind yourself what it means at least three times in a day.
Try to use the word in conversation or writing today.
Get a dictionary and look words up.

EXPONENTIAL – Word Of The Day – build your word power

Basically this means getting faster, but it should really have a mathematical or statistical element to the increase in speed. So tomorrow you may go twice as fast as today, and the dafter you may go twice as fast again. Kind of like how we are depleting the resources of Planet Earth.

Learn a new word every day.
Repeat it and remind yourself what it means at least three times in a day.
Try to use the word in conversation or writing today.
Get a dictionary and look words up.

DEPLETE – Word Of The Day – build your word power

To deplete is to exhaust a resource that was one available in abundance – kind of like what we are doing to the Planet Earth and all it’s resources.

Learn a new word every day.
Repeat it and remind yourself what it means at least three times in a day.
Try to use the word in conversation or writing today.
Get a dictionary and look words up.

Editing

I’ve had a very positive morning with my yr5 writing group at Whitchurch Primary School. I was acting as editor with my chosen group, working my way through 15 minute individual sessions – I even put my phone timer on!

Each child is a different stage, has different talents and they all see the world and work in quite different ways.

Two main themes kept recurring: The first was that punctuation does matter. We are writing stories to be read by others. Private diary entries can be written any old how. Stories, that are meant to be read by others need to be clear and readable.

The role of an editor is to be the reader’s champion and pull out of the writer what the reader wants to read. (I know this. My editor, Sarah, is working very hard on me at the moment! When she makes a great suggestion, I feel foolish for having not thought it myself. But in a way I have, I’ve just not made clear my intention. Sarah can see what I mean and wants to make sure the reader gets it too.)

So often, on typed and printed stories, I found myself getting confused by the lack of paragraphs. A new line for a new speaking character, is so helpful in decoding the text.

There is a technical problem with typing on a computer. If you don’t know about indents or extra space after paragraphs, the text can turn into a forbidding block of words that scares the reader. A double carriage return – that means pressing the enter key twice in new money – opens up the story and lets the text, and the reader breathe.

That one small change makes all the missing or incorrectly placed commas and full stops much more obvious.

The second theme was simplicity. In the thinking and planning stages, some of the children had wonderful ideas for lots of characters and scenes. But it is hard work handling a lot of characters. It’s best to pick the best goody and baddy and pitch them against each other. Sidekicks are great fun, but they are also more work and can often get in the way. Learn to handle two characters first, before trying to write the next Harry Potter on one side of A4.

It’s like learning to juggle. Get comfortable juggling two balls before you add another. Only add extra balls once you are comfortable with the new number.

Oh yeah – editing isn’t easy. It takes patience, guile, interest, vision, an ability to walk on eggshells, midwifery and nurturing skills and lots of tea and coffee. Good editors are worth their weight in gold. If you’ve got a good one, hang on to them.

CAPTOLOGY – Word Of The Day – build your word power

Woah! I came across this quite by accident. Captology is the study of the use of computer technology to change people’s attitudes or behaviours. Scary!

Find out more here.

Learn a new word every day.
Repeat it and remind yourself what it means at least three times in a day.
Try to use the word in conversation or writing today.
Get a dictionary and look words up.