2009 February | Beyond the Elements of Style

The fascination of
words and writing

Archive for February, 2009

Where Am I? Who Knows?

Friday, February 27th, 2009

As the internet continues to grow and absorb more and more of our time and energy, it behooves us to take a step back and see what really is out there. So I’m going to write a series of articles here about the web, and how you can put it to use for you … instead of just letting it use you.

Because the reality is that your name is out there. Perhaps you’ve worked hard to get it out there, and this is a good thing. Perhaps you have no idea where it is, who might be talking about you, referencing you, mentioning you. Perhaps you don’t remember that forum in which you lost your temper one night and berated someone more explicitly than might have been appropriate. Words have power; isn’t it time to see where yours have ended up?

The first step is something that is occasionally and unfortunately called egosurfing. It’s simply looking to see how many places on the web your name appears. On Google and most other search engines, simply enter your name surrounded by double quotes in the search field (like this: “Your Name”). You may be surprised to discover that you’re famous on someone’s webpage or that the local committee meeting report you helped write got put on the web.

Check it out and see where you are. And then you’ll be … beyond the elements of style!

Posted in Research, Technology, Tools, Website Sstuff, Words | No Comments »

Lists? Let Me Count The Ways

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

Some time ago there was an article in the New York Times about the popularity of life lists. The article was constructed to reflect the list, and it was an interesting conceptualization of form following function.

More recently, both friends on Facebook and fellow members of various email communities have challenged others to create lists. Some are odd, some require reflection, and all encourage one to summarize a part of one’s life in short numbered sentences. Talk about being concise!

I live with lists. I am never as happy as I am when I have a list by my side. Things to do on Monday. People with whom I need to communicate this week. Grocery list, hardware store list, trip-to-Orleans list. There’s a sense of being in control that comes with making a list, consulting a list, crossing accomplishments off a list.

It’s an illusion, of course; the fact that none of us is really in control is demonstated to us daily. But maybe an illusion is better than giving in to the dark side of that lack of control: panic, anxiety, depression.

So what does this have to do with words? As writers, we can also serve the same function as lists. We can remind readers to dream, encourage them to accomplish what they’ve been putting off, challenge them to become great. Words are far more inspirational than lists; we just need to remember why we’re writing them. And then we’ll be … beyond the elements of style!

Posted in About Writing, Doing the Right Thing, Process Matters, Words | No Comments »

Texting as Writing?

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

I have two stepchildren. Anastasia is fifteen, and Jacob is seventeen. Until a few years ago, I understood most of what they had to say … and write.

That changed once they obtained mobile phones.

Now their speech and writing alike are peppered with obscure acronyms, the exclusive use of lower-case in all written communication, and expressions that are at best nonsensical. One wonders what the standards will be in another few years, when the generation raised on text-messaging will come of age. Will entire books be written this way?

A member on a list to which I subscribe writes incessantly in iChat or instant message format—not so much the IKYN and AFAICT abbreviations, as “prolly” this and that, no punctuation that follows any rule with which I am familiar, an almost complete lack of capitals, and a rigorousness of thought to match. It’s like reading messages written with alphabet cereal … in the bowl.

Okay, so I’m a curmudgeon. I’ll freely admit it. But I love love love the English language and fear that I’m seeing its waning days. Let’s try and keep texting on mobile telephones, and reserve “real” (as in, correct) language for other communication? And then we’ll be … beyond the elements of style!

Posted in About Writing, Doing the Right Thing, Usage, Words | No Comments »