My Very Own Blogetary (Blog: Web Log; etary or ary: engaged in or pertaining to)

According to Wikipedia, the source for mostly accurate information on the web, the word journal comes from the Latin term diurnalis, or daily. The more pedestrian word is diary, though the term “journal” is considered more sophisticated and less personal than diary writing, but they really are the same. Although considered mostly the purview of teenagers, use of the diary was at one time common in most educated people’s lives. History would have a lot of holes if it weren’t for people faithfully penning their thoughts on a regular basis. Julia Cameron’s “Morning Pages” in her book The Artist’s Way, however, has pushed journaling into a renaissance of sorts, at the forefront of the public conscious. It’s become the new “thing” in a writer’s life.

At the very least, journals (or diaries) are used as a way to recount the days, documenting events, and in some cases used by the writer to think over and examine those events. Not only are journals and diaries used to provide the raw data for historical research, but workshop writers, therapists, and English teachers have used journaling as a way to get people writing, and get them into the mode of self-examination.  Journaling puts that inner dialogue with the self to work, to helping the writer work through problems. In fact, at least one study done by Dr. James Pennebaker at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, has shown that journaling can help relieve stress, thereby lowering blood pressure and increasing health. This study showed a link between increased good health and using a journal as a means of self-expression, including examining and expressing very deep, troubling, and traumatic events.

Could it be that writing in a journal could be equally as important as getting daily exercise? If writing three pages a day in a journal every day could improve your health, would you add it to you list of other healthy habits like drinking more water, eating more vegetables, and exercising? Whether one is a writer, or simply a thoughtful person in need of a safe space for introspective thought and venting, journaling is the way to go.

Journaling doesn’t help, however, if it is not done on a regular basis. Journaling doesn’t just mean buying a notebook, grabbing a pen and writing whenever the spirit moves (though there’s nothing wrong with that). Journaling is an intimate adventure with the self, as well as a good habit to cultivate. As with any good habit, such as exercising, it should be done regularly, especially at the beginning. Julia Cameron suggests writing three pages first thing every day, even before having that first cup of coffee, just as some people exercise first thing every day just so they are sure they get the exercise in.  If that works, fine. Other people might find it better to write in a journal in the evening so they can examine the day’s events.  Others snag the commute time on the bus or train for their journaling time. Again, as with exercising, it depends on whatever works.

Don’t think of journaling as a chore. This is a chance to express yourself without censure or correction. It might help to think of it as a reward; the one safe place where anyone can truly express themselves freely. That is what journaling is all about. Don’t get along with the boss? Don’t blog it or tell a coworker, that’s too risky. Put it in the journal. Have a problem that needs figuring out? Work it out in the journal. It’s the next best thing to a therapist. If you feel like saying that the sky looks purple, then say it. Anything you want to write you can put in that journal. No one else is meant to read it. It’s all yours, your very own. In that journal you can say whatever you want. It’s absolute freedom of speech and thought.

Journaling is meant to help the person journaling feel better and not make them feel like they need to “perform”. Forget about good handwriting, lines, spelling, punctuation, or grammar. Journaling is all about expression and breaking through to what is really going on inside.  In fact, the sloppier, the better. Loosen up, don’t tense up muscles or write as if someone were looking over your shoulder. Natalie Goldberg, in her book Writing Down the Bones, talks about how important it is to relax into the writing. As she points out, the act of writing is physical exercise (50). With hand on pen (or fingers on keyboard), the writer is physically engaged in pouring inner thoughts onto a visual medium – the blank page.

Other writers, such as Rita Mae Brown in Starting from Scratch and Orson Scott Card in How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, also talk about the physicality of writing and how important the health of your entire body comes when it comes to being a writer (Brown 25; Card 134).  Anyone who has sat at a desk for hours at a time understands the back, shoulder and neck strain that can occur from being hunched over a computer too much. The same goes for journaling. Get the wiggles out of your system before sitting down. Dance around to a favorite song, do a yoga stretch, go up and down the stairs, take a breath, shake out the tension, then go.

Now, you have your favorite writing tools — favorite purple pen and blue paper for example (yes, that can be important for some people). It’s your favorite time of day. You have water, tea or coffee by your side. All you have to do is put down on the page whatever comes to mind. It doesn’t have to make sense. It doesn’t need to be meaningful or well written. You just need to get it out on the page.  Sometimes all you need to do is start with a sentence like “I don’t know what to write today,” and things will flow once you’ve set the pen in motion on the page. If you are journaling in the morning, maybe try to remember some of the dreams you may have had the night before. If you are journaling in the evening, think about something that happened during the day that struck you as odd or interesting. Natalie Goldberg suggests keeping a list of topics on one of the pages towards the back of your notebook (19). When you have ideas you want to write about but don’t have time to journal about them then put that idea on the list. Then next time you are journaling and can’t think of what to write you can go to the list and pick a topic  to run with, exploring more deeply in your journal what was just a nugget of an idea before.

Journaling can be a very important part of our physical, emotional, and mental health.  In journals we don’t have to worry about the approval or disapproval of peers, editors, agents, or readers. In our journals we can be ourselves.

That’s right!  If you live in the Mid-City or Mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles and are looking for a writer’s group to hang with once a month then we’re it!  No dues (yet). Whether already published, or just not quite yet, we’d love to see you. We are not a writer’s workshop; we are a support group. We meet the first Saturday of every month. This Saturday, we’re meeting in the community room, 3-5 pm at the Fairfax Library on Gardner between Beverly and 3rd. Parking is a pain so either get there early, or carpool or take the bus or ride your bike.

If you can’t make it to the writer’s group, think about showing up at the West Hollywood Book Fair at the West Hollywood Park (San Vicente between the butt end of Melrose and Santa Monica), Sunday September 28, 10 AM - 6 PM. There are authors, artists, panels, signings, performances, snacks, and IT’S FREE!

The September Issue of Chocolate Zoom is out. Drop by and check it out. It’s full of lovely tastings, such as Chocolate and the Printed Word or Bestsellers That Oughta Be Dipped in Chocolate. Then there’s chocolate as regards to your decorating choices, and chocolate that is healthy for you. If you want to learn about some innovative ways that chocolate is being used in cooking, checkout Hotel Chocolat. And if you want to know about the current craze overtaking the country grab your umbrella cuz It’s Raining Cupcakes!

I want to publically thank Jim (and Lyle) for aiding me in my hunt for cupcakes and taking pictures!

Personally, my favorite cupcakes were the Lark Cupcakes.

From left to right they are vanilla, lemon, berry shortcake, and chocolate mousse. I LOVED the lemon one.

What is Proofreading?

According to the Business Dictionary, the definition of proofreading is: “Careful reading (and rereading) of a (yet to be finally-printed) document, to detect any errors in spelling, punctuation, or grammar. It may also involve checking of different elements of a layout (such as headlines, paragraphs, illustrations, and colors) for their correct dimensions, placement, type, etc. Every author knows that (despite the spelling checking abilities of modern word processors) a human proof reader is indispensable. See also editing.”

Proofreading and copy editing are not interchangeable terms, though they very often occur at the same time or are performed on the same document at different times. Copy editing addresses concerns such as awkward sentences, logic flow, fact-checking, voice, etc, depending on what is needed. Copy editing is usually the step after writing a document, but before proofreading it (I will cover copy editing in another blog post later). Proofreading is one of the final stages before sending a document to print (a human reads the “proofs” before sending them to be published).

What Proofreading is NOT

Proofreading is not revising or editing a document.

What Does a Proofreader Do?

In some cases, proofreaders will work in tandem if one document has been copied into another. One proofreader will read off material while the other checks that it has been accurately transferred or copied into the other.  Proofreading includes not just checking for misspelled words, but also wrong words. Spellcheck will not check that the autocorrect on your word processing program chose the correct word. Only a human can distinguish, for example, whether “form” or “from” is needed, or that the writer meant “who” rather than “whom” or “how”. And only a human will be able to tell if numbers have been switched or lists misnumbered when transferring data from one document to another.

Proofreaders also check for grammar and punctuation errors. These errors can include (but are not limited to): repeated words, run-on sentences, misplaced commas, whether an apostrophe is needed and where (”its” v. “it’s” for example), dropped periods, proper capitalization, pronoun agreement, dropped words, proper use of other punctuation marks such as em-dashes, colons, and semi-colons, paragraph formatting, and other common problems (”you and I” v. “you and me” for example). Proofreaders are not perfect, but they do try to make sure the copy they are proofing is as perfect as possible before it gets printed and read by the outside world.

How to Proofread a Document

First and foremost, the proofreader makes sure they have the proper tools: dictionary (New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, for example, or the good old-fashioned Merriam-Webster), word usage or grammar book (Strunk and White’s Elements of Style is a favorite), and/or document reference manual (Gregg Reference Manual, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, and the AP Stylebook, are four examples).  These are typically not cheap books to find, so you may decide to bookmark special sites that can help you in proofreading your documents, such as: Grammar Girl, The Owl at Purdue, and the Quick Reference Associated Press Style. There are also a variety of free dictionaries on the internet to help you with spelling and word choice, such as Your Dictionary, Dictionary.com, and the Business Dictionary quoted above.
Next, decide on whether proofreading will be done on the computer screen or on a hard copy. Proofreading a hard copy is better in the long run as the reflected light off paper and ink is easier on the eyes than the constantly moving pixels on a computer screen. This means mistakes are more easily seen and corrected on a paper copy than they may be on the computer screen. However, proofreading may done either way.

When proofreading for yourself on hardcopy, you can use whatever marks work for you, and whatever type of pen or pencil you like. However, if you are proofreading for someone else, pencil or red pen may be the accepted tools. Below is a list of some proofreading marks, which may also be found in many reference manuals.

For proofreading on the computer screen you may simply read and make changes as you see fit. However, when working with people in a team, or for someone else, using the Track Changes feature in MS Word may be a good option. This way the owner of the document or team member may decide whether or not they want to keep your corrections or changes.

Now it’s time to settle in and use your brain. There is no short-cut to proofreading. In the end, as the definition says at the beginning of this article, proofreading is the “careful reading (and rereading)” of a document. However, it is sometimes easier to catch mistakes by scanning a document. When reading a document, your brain will often fill in and correct where there are dropped or misspelled words. While you still need to read the document to make sure it makes sense, and to check for whether a paragraph mark needs to be started or deleted, etc., it is also good to scan.

One way to do this is to begin by reading a page of the document from beginning to end. Then, read/scan back through the page from end to beginning. Because the words are being scanned/read out of order, your eyes may be able to pick up on out of place words and misspellings more easily.  Do this page by page until the whole document has been proofed. Another way to do this is to read through the document completely, marking what you see the first time through. Then, go back through the document more thoroughly the second time, checking for mistakes your eye glossed over the first time.  One of the better ways is to start off with proofing the hard copy, then when making corrections to the document on the computer; you’ll probably find more problems you didn’t see when reading through the hard copy.

If something looks wrong, but you’re not sure, look it up. That’s why you have your tools. They don’t just sit on your desk to look pretty or impress people.

If you are proofreading a document you have written yourself, it is best if you have not looked at that document for a week. This way, you can come at the document with fresh eyes and will probably see mistakes that you glossed over when writing it. Most of the time, however, people do not give themselves the time to be able to lay aside the document and come back to it later. If you can at least wait a day, though, that would be good.

There is no magical way to bypass the proofreading process. Even the best writers need to have their work proofread. No matter how many drafts they have written of something, chances are there is a mistake somewhere that needs to be corrected. Proofreading is an important step in finding and correcting those mistakes.

If you would like more information on finding someone to proofread your documents for you, contact me at Putt Putt Productions.

So, sometimes as a break between things I like to Google family and friends I’m trying to track down, especially if I’m feeling particularly nostalgic. I’ve reconnected with quite a few people that way.You also run into quite a few blogs, profiles, pics, and forums for people with the same or similar names, who even look like the friends you’re trying to track down except they’re the wrong age or something. Or you end up with pages and pages of someone who is in science or tv or film with the same or similar name, but it’s not your friend or aunt or cousin, etc.

My last name, Olivier, is French. Old family tales say it actually started in Sicily as Olivieri and then the “i” was dropped once someone moved to England (extension of same legend has it that it was a soprano and a baritone who ran off together to get married since the baritone wanted a divorce to marry the soprano and Italy doesn’t grant them — supposedly the baritone  left the soprano as well). This changed the name from Italian sounding to French sounding, the English hating the French slightly less than they hate the Spanish or Italians ;-P.  Another family legend has it that in one of the generations twins were born. One became a thief and the other went into the church. We come from the thief side and Laurence from the other. Yes, I scoff at that one, too (I mean, if that were true, wouldn’t we have more twins in our family?). Except my Uncle Tony did look an awful lot like Sir Laurence Olivier, my dad only a little less so. And from what I hear, they all had similar temperaments.

Anyway, as long as I can remember I have had to correct people on how they spell and pronounce my name. People don’t see the second “i” so they’ll say and spell “Oliver” instead of “Olivier” or they’ll say “Olivee-er” instead of “Olivee-ay”. I remember going to a legal proceeding and hearing the roll call that was filled with Russian, Spanish, and Chinese names. All those names were correctly pronounced. Not mine.  Automatically, I popped up with the correct pronunciation as the legal people all looked at me as if I had a second head.  Another time I remember getting a new lease from a landlord and called them to correct the spelling of my last name. They had put “Oliver” on the lease instead of “Olivier”. Their reply? “Well, spellcheck said it was the wrong spelling.” *glower*

Now, I know what you’re saying. What’s the diff? I mean, Oliver, Olivier, Olivieri, Oliviera, and Olivera, and all those variations all mean the same thing. Olive, Olive tree, or Peace or some such. Same derivation anyway you look at it. (Maybe that explains why I like dirty martinis.) But having your name misprounounced at you over and over and OVER again can get old. I seriously want to hug people when they get it right on the first try (and have thanked them).

So, that brings me to today, Googling relatives and friends. With my last name I usually end up having to sift through French and Canadian profiles, as well as the regular Laurence Olivier and Olivier Martinez sites.  And if Google thinks you spelled something incorrectly they ask, “Did you mean….”.   Well, today I was doing my little searches and noticed after a while that I wasn’t getting anymore Olivier’s and was getting nothing but Oliver’s. I checked my own spelling, did the same search, same thing. There was no note from Google asking “Did you mean…”.

EVEN THE INTERNETS AND INTERWEBS GET THE NAME WRONG!

Cripes!

What’s that saying? Can’t win for losin’.

Getting a yes NEVER gets old, and rejections always set ya back a little. Today, I got a yes for a little thing I wrote that I didn’t know what to do with. So, I sent it to an editor who tends like my writing more than dislike it and he knew exactly where to put it.

Yay!

That’s all I have to say. Back to work now.

Yep, that’s right. Norman Bogner’s debut on YouTube with his discussion about his new book, out in July, 99 Sycamore Place. And yes, though he writes suspense thrillers and family epics, this is what he’s like in real life.

Norman Bogner has a new book out, 99 Sycamore Place, a suspense thriller. It came out in July, but he’s had some distributing problems. You can find it on Amazon now, though, and Barnes and Nobles, so check it out. He should also be coming out with a brand new shiny website any day now, with new tweaks and fun bits.

I am pretty boring these days. If you run into me, don’t be surprised if I am monosyllabic, or tend to be self-involved and only talk about my website and my business. My brain is preoccupied with many things these days, things like what free advertising can I find online? How many names can I remember  from high school and college that I can Google and find on Linked In or can use as a business connection somehow? Where else can I put out my website and email address so I can get orders in for resumes, cover letters, and proofreading and copy editing? When will I be able to pay my phone bill? Should I finally take Johnny Depp off my voicemail and put on a more business-like message? How long will it be before I can pay my parents and friends back? Will I ever be able to afford to pay for advertising and will it be worth it? What can I do to keep my talents and skills at the forefront of everyone’s minds so that I’m the first one they think of when they need writing, proofreading, or copy editing help? How can I get Pye to sleep on the bed and NOT on the desk? Does he understand I still love him if I move him out of my way? Should I keep trying to sell stuff on Amazon, or should I give up and sell at a loss to Amoeba?

I wake up with these questions. They run through my brain all day. I go to sleep with them. As a result, I am not doing any reading (I just can’t - my brain is not there). I do skim through the blogs and leave a comment occasionally, so even if you don’t hear from me, I am reading you (you out there with the blogs….). Another result is that I am writing less because I am so preoccupied with trying to get more writing jobs. Backwards, I know. But I sit down to work on an article, or story, and the next thing I know I’m wondering if one of the guys from my graduating class who is a writer now has a website or is online somewhere so I can connect with him, or maybe there’s one more free online directory I haven’t checked out yet, and I’m off.

So, I am really going to need to buckle down to get this writing done, and the reading, if I can get my brain to settle down enough to do it. I may need to cut out any blog reading altogether. Doesn’t mean anything other than I’m just pretty darn busy. Don’t worry, you’ll hear from me when I re-emerge from the business/writing/organizing fog. It just may take a while.

Job hunting is a little bit like dating, a little bit like selling stock in a company no one yet knows about, and a little bit like those MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) documents you get telling you about the difference parts and/or chemicals in whatever new handy dandy thing you just bought. You have to convey information as well as sell yourself: who you are, what you do, how well you do it. All this hinges on how well you communicate these points to future employers. Resumes and CVs (Curriculum Vita) are documents that we use to communicate this information. They are responsible for communicating information about what we have done in the past and where we may be headed in the future.

However, besides being informational documents, they are also MARKETING documents (see the bit up above about selling yourself). You are advertising your wares, putting everything you want to sell about yourself in the best light possible, and conveying it as clearly and succinctly, and easy to read, as possible. Whether you are writing your own resume, or have hired someone else to do it, remember that resume or CV is like a brochure, a leaflet, a website, or a dating profile. It’s what people see before they decide on whether or not they want to see you.

I know you’ve heard this before, but the people who have read those resumes have read a million others BEFORE they got to yours. Their eyes are tired. The resumes are typically scanned for keywords, and being read on computer monitors (which are harder on the eyes than reading regular paper documents), and by the end of the day, that person has a headache.  In addition, they may have an ideal person in mind, or they may be subconsciously comparing you to the last person who held that position — comparing YOU in a way that could be either positive or negative. How you measure up, either way, could be the deciding factor as to whether you end up in the “keep” file or the “toss” file.