Weirding Word®

SOPA and PIPA = Big Brother Infringement on Our Rights

SOPA and PIPA would effectively make YOU responsible for the content of websites that you link to on your own website or blog. It would also give individuals and private businesses the power the shut down YOUR website.

Copyright and intellectual property protection are important, but these bills go too far and inhibit the free exchange of information that is a cornerstone of our democracy. Contact your congress(wo)man and senators to oppose SOPA and PIPA. Look them up on Sopa Track at http://sopatrack.com/. Then call them and tell them what you think.

Weirding Word®, a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, is a publishing house that promotes engaging books and novels, and provides editorial, design and marketing services.

Copyright 2007-2012 Gaea L. Honeycutt. All rights reserved.

The First Time Is Seldom As Good As the Last

It's always helpful to remember that a first draft is just that -- the very first, roughest go at it among all of the revisions and iterations that will come along.  However, that lonely little underappreciated first draft is a doorway to opportunity. It's an opportunity to clarify goals. A chance to assess direction and style.  It literally illustrates where we can improve and how far we've come.

Maybe you know what you want the piece to accomplish or to explain, but the how of it is not quite straight in your head.  You want it to be engaging.  To be clear.  To be simple.  To be better than the competition!  And yet, ACK, that poor little first draft is not what you'd hoped!  Whatever that was supposed to have been.

So, is there any way around that painful first contact?  Whether you write the piece yourself or hire someone to do it for you, these tips will help:

1. Find samples of the things you like -- whether an entire document or just a feature in an article.
2. Briefly outline the main goal of what you're writing. (HINT: More than 3 goals means you probably need to rethink it.)
3. Know your topic -- don't get tripped up trying to explain something you don't quite understand.
4. Write to your strengths -- use your own authentic voice in the first draft and leave the polish for later drafts.
5. Edit, revise and edit some more until it's what you want.
6. Have someone else review and comment on the document.
7. If you've hired someone to do the writing, discuss the process and number of revisions ahead of time.

Keep hope alive and keep on keeping on.  That final draft is going to shine.

 

Weirding Word®, a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, is a virtual publication department that provides editing, freelance writing, and publication and web design services.

Copyright 2007-2010 Gaea L. Honeycutt. All rights reserved.

Beltway Poetry's Tenth Anniversary Events for September

Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Book Release for Lip Smack: A History of Spoken Word Poetry in DC by Kim Roberts (Beltway Editions) featuring a guest performance by Regie Cabico, and tabletop exhibits on The Word Works, Inc., Split This Rock, and Beltway Poetry. Part of The Humanities Council of Washington, DC 30th Anniversary Celebration and Grantee Showcase. Exhibits, readings, performances, and film, with an awards ceremony, and a champagne and cake reception.
Historical Society of Washington, Old Carnegie Library, Mount Vernon Square, DC. (202) 387-8391. Free, but reservations required.

Friday, September 24, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Book Release Reading for Lip Smack: A History of Spoken Word Poetry in DC (Beltway Editions) featuring Kim Roberts, with performances by Chris August, Twain Dooley, Gowri K, and Patrick Washington. 15th Annual Baltimore Book Festival, Festival Stage, Mount Vernon Place, 600 block of North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD. Free.

Friday, September 24, 2010 at 6:30 pm
"Baltimore Celebrates Beltway Poetry": a Beltway Poetry Quarterly Tenth Anniversary Reading . Featured readers TBA. 15th Annual Baltimore Book Festival, Festival Stage, Mount Vernon Place, 600 block of North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD. Free.

Weirding Word®, a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, is a virtual publication department that provides editing, freelance writing, and publication and web design services.

Copyright 2007-2010 Gaea L. Honeycutt. All rights reserved.

The Hardest Habit To Break: Bob Edwards on the Art of Interviewing

Award-winning radio journalist Bob Edwards recently delivered a candid, intriguing presentation on the art of interviewing for MediaBistro at the National Press Club.  Between audio clips of his interviews and stories about the making of those interviews, Edwards answered several questions.  His answer to my question surprised me most.

When asked about his biggest lesson in the field, Edwards didn't talk about ensuring balance in a story, or question preparation, or even mastering new topics.  He talked about finding your own distinctive voice.  His hardest habit to break was abandoning the voice of a journalist he admired, and creating that unique sound, style and cadence we've all come to recognize through his more than 30 years in radio.

And, this advice is relevant not only to broadcasters, but to those of us who conduct interviews, focus groups, client consultations, and any number of person-to-person forms of inquiry.  That includes journalists and freelancers, social researchers, recruiters and headhunters, performers, consultants and more.  Discovering and wielding our authentic voices -- through the flood of others' voices inside and outside our own heads -- is a skill that's key to success.  It's that unique voice that inspires and engenders confidence, trust and respect in those with whom we communicate.

What are some ways to harness your unique voice?

• Use your own words and terminology
• Approach the interview as a conversation
• Convey your interest and happiness to be there
• Begin with smalltalk instead of diving into the questions

I'd love to hear other recommendations for drawing on and using your own unique voice when interviewing people.

Gaea Honeycutt
blog@weirdingword.com

Weirding Word®, a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, is a virtual publication department that provides editing, freelance writing, and publication and web design services.

Copyright 2007-2010 Gaea L. Honeycutt. All rights reserved.

Beltway Poetry Quarterly Spotlights Poets Laureate with Guest Editor Dan Vera

An exciting new issue of the journal Beltway Poetry Quarterly features essays, interviews and poems by and about US Poets Laureate, guest edited by Dan Vera.

Contributors include Peter Montgomery, Christy J. Zink, Michael Gushue, Jean Nordhaus, Grace Cavalieri, Alan King, and Danielle Evennou.

Contributors celebrate the history of Poets Laureate at the Library of Congress, with close looks at the institution itself and the poets Kay Ryan, Charles Simic, Joseph Brodsky, Mark Strand, Anthony Hecht, Maxine Kumin, William Stafford, James Dickey, Randall Jarrell, William Carlos Williams, and Joseph Auslander.

Gaea Honeycutt
blog@weirdingword.com

Weirding Word®, a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, is a virtual publication department that provides editing, freelance writing, and publication and web design services.

Copyright 2007-2009 Gaea L. Honeycutt. All rights reserved.