Watch those apostrophes
No Comments »9th January, 2009; Category: Writing Hints
My daughter is a secondary teacher of many years of experience. She sometimes calls herself “The Apostrophe Nazi” and is horrified by the abuse this poor little item of punctuation suffers. She has been known to openly correct the misuse of apostrophes on staff room notice boards, newsletters and other items on public display. She has been sorely tempted to carry a pen with her and correct the abuse of this form of punctuation in public places such as shops.
Imagine her horror a few days ago when I pointed out more errors on a public notice. We were on holidays in the Sydney and went for a day trip to the Blue Mountains. We were buying an afternoon tea treat in a small bakery. I was looking at the public notices in the window. On one of them – only a short notice mind you and I forget the intent of the notice – there were no less than six abuses of the use of the apostrophe.
Aaaaah! Her brain had trouble coping. She didn’t snap – but came close to it.
For further reading on this topic click here.
The poet’s art
‘The poet’s art must be learned.’ Frances Stillman: The poet’s manual and rhyming dictionary.
- Poets are born, not made.
- Â Poets are made, not born.
These two statements seem contradictory. I contend that there is an element of truth in both.
I certainly agree that poets need to be born with a certain aptitude for language or they will struggle with the demands of poetry. Good poets are naturally gifted in this area. Nor has everyone the necessary inspiration to write effective poetry.
At the same time, I acknowledge that competent poets need to have their skills developed. Poetry writing can be taught, or learned, in a systematic way. The technical demands of writing a sonnet, for example, can be taught. Not everyone will be able to write one nor will many write classic sonnets that will last for centuries. Just like I am able to play a basic tune on a piano but I will never be a great concert pianist lauded the world over.
What I have enjoyed and deeply appreciated while studying the writing of poetry during my Master of Arts in Creative Writing course over the last year is the deliberate and systematic methods that have been employed in the teaching of poetry. We have learned many technical skills that are the building blocks of good poetry. I am starting to master meter and rhyme. I have learned to write sonnets, sestinas and near rhymes, and a host of other skills. Even today my wife commented on how dramatically my poetic style has changed over the last year. The next few years will be exciting as I further develop these skills with regular, deliberate practice.
Good writing.
To be a writer you need to go shopping
Before Christmas I took my wife shopping. Nothing unusual about that; we often go shopping together. The major target of our shopping was clothing. While I was waiting for her to try on some clothes – I’d already bought all that I needed – I wandered out into the mall near in front of the shop. I found a seat and did some research for my writing.
I had a small notebook in my pocket but I didn’t get it out. In retrospect I should have started jotting down a few sentences. You see, I had an intensive half hour of writing research right there in that mall. I was endlessly fascinated by the passing parade of people. People watching is essential research for writers of fiction in particular.
I saw fat people, skinny people, people of all ages, tall people, short people, people with fair skin, people with dark skin and some whose skin was so dark it glowed in the sunlight. I saw fair hair, red hair, curly hair and some with no hair. I saw elderly people leaning on each others’ arms for support, I saw people in wheelchairs loaded up with Christmas presents, I saw babies in arms, one in a papoose carrier and more in prams and pushers. One baby leaning over his mother’s shoulder gave me the most heart warming smile. This pleased me; babies usually burst into tears after just one look at me.
I saw people dressed up like they were on their way to church while others looked like they had come straight from the beach – it was less than a mile to the beach so that’s no surprise. I saw security guards in uniform, a cleaner emptying rubbish bins, couriers loaded down with parcels and gangs of teenagers wandering without purpose now that school had finished for the year. One young girl was chastised by her mother for buying an icecream while toddlers whined impatiently wanting to go home. I even saw Father Christmas riding a suitably decorated golf buggy.
What a fascinating collection of people. What a rich vein of writing gold just waiting for my mind and my pen to dig into.
When you want to find an interesting character for your story – go shopping. If you open your eyes you’ll find enough material for a dozen stories.
Good writing.
Happy New Year
Adelaide International Rose Garden
Happy New Year to all of my readers.
I hope that the coming year will see you have much success with you writing endeavours. I am looking forward to completing my Master of Arts in Creative writing this year. My thesis will be a 40,000 word novel for children – stay tuned for the process I go through to complete this major undertaking. I also plan to send off many manuscripts written over the last year to publishers.
Good writing.
Adelaide International Rose Garden