Writing Gooder

Didactic (dahy-dak-tik) – intended for instruction; instructive.

On the AP American Literature test you will most likely see this word in refrence to Puritan literature, and more specifically, Johnathan Edwards. An example would be Edward’s Sinners In the Hands of an Angry God. The definition is self explanatory, I would say. Almost like a fable, but more direct.

I started to realize how many new words I learn in my literature class, and how many of them I didn’t know before at all. I thought it would be handy if I started a daily lit word sort of things. Note to all you AP Juniors: These are AP terms, too!

Caesure (si-ˈzyu̇r-ə, -ˈzhu̇r-) —A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.

Example:

O powerful western fallen star!
O shades of night — O moody, tearful night!
O great star disappear’d — O the black murk that hides the star!
O cruel hands that hold me powerless — O helpless soul of me!
O harsh surrounding cloud that will not free my soul.

From part Two of Walt Whitman’s poem When Lilcas Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.

You’ve likely heard of a synonym and an antonym, but how about a retronym? The term can be broken down into “retro-” meaning “backward” and “-nym” meaning “name”. A retronym is a term for something that needs clarification due to modern advances and/or technology. The classic example is “acoustic guitar”. It was simply called a “guitar” for many years; that is until the electric guitar came into existence. The word “acoustic” was quickly added to the term “guitar” to make it easier to understand which type of guitar was meant by the speaker.

Wikipedia has a nice list that includes examples such as:

-bar soap
-analog watch
-black and white TV
-manual transmission
-Old Testament
-sit-down restaurant

Retronyms are a prime example of how technology and advances constantly keep us on our toes. Imagine having to pass laws that are constantly being outdated!

I just finished sending inquiries to the four major Presidential candidates at this stage; Romney, McCain, Obama, and Clinton (sorry Rudy); concerning three non-political questions: their favorite book, favorite author, and what advice they have for aspiring young writers.

Hopefully, I’ll receive a response in due time, although I can only imagine the deluge of mail their campaigns must be getting at this time.  I worked for two years as a Legislative Correspondent on Capitol Hill, and we would get well over 200 pieces of mail on a good day (over 1,000 on a bad day!).  Fortunately, technology allowed us to respond to all of those people quickly and efficiently, but that’s just from one tiny area of Florida.  I can’t imagine the amount of mail a national campaign must get.

Still, here’s hoping!  If I get responses from their campaign staffs, I’ll be sure to post them here.

Teens buying books at fastest rate in decades.

Like a lot of teens, Leslie Cornaby has a crowded schedule — her days crammed with homework, hobbies and an array of techno diversions. When she’s not checking e-mail, she’s cruising YouTube or scrolling her iPod to tunes by Pink or Christina Aguilera.

She’s also reading — just for the glorious fun of it — and says, “Most of my friends are readers, too.”

The Shorecrest High School sophomore may not realize it, but she’s enjoying the fruits of one of the most fertile periods in the history of young adult literature.

It’s a time of strong writing and strong sales as readers in the 12-to-18 age group rock the marketplace.

“Kids are buying books in quantities we’ve never seen before,” said Booklist magazine critic Michael Cart, a leading authority on young adult literature. “And publishers are courting young adults in ways we haven’t seen since the 1940s.”

Credit a bulging teen population, a surge of global talent and perhaps a bit of Harry Potter afterglow as the preteen Muggles of yesteryear carry an ingrained reading habit into later adolescence.

Not only are teen book sales booming — up by a quarter between 1999 and 2005, by one industry analysis — but the quality is soaring as well. Older teens in particular are enjoying a surge of sophisticated fare as young adult literature becomes a global phenomenon.

All of which leads Cart to declare, “We are right smack-dab in the new golden age of young adult literature.”

 Read the rest here.

The Power of Books II

Never, ever mess with a monkey and his book. Never.

I concur.

I always see people on the forum asking about publication, so I thought I would share my “secret”. I found this web site, and I am not entirely sure how. Duotrope’s Digest is a large collection of publishers of poetry, short storys, and novels. It is a search-able index, and it is incredebly useful. This is where I’ve found magazines to submit to and I hope it can help others find somewhere to get published!

Does anyone else know of good collections like this?

Nate was in the midst of changing servers in YWS when he started tooling around with the code. YWS users, unaware of the dangers, logged on to YWS as if it were just any other day. The moment they clicked that log in button, they got more than they bargained for.

Read more in the storybooks section of YWS. 

Instinctually, all of us are quite aware of the power that words can hold. Saying just a mere ‘Hello,’ or ‘Thank you,’ can turn someone else’s day around. Equally, saying ‘scum bag,’ or ‘doody head,’ can make what was a great day for someone turn terrible.

Yet, when I read stories not only on web based forums like YWS, but also in literature and in textbooks, it seems as if most writers forget not only the powerful connotations behind words, but also how you will use different words according to your own set of views.

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