Overcoming the Beautiful Little Fool

By My Web Writers

“I hope she’ll be a fool — that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”  ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Image courtesy of CNN and Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Fitzgerald’s line has been turning in my mind like a sweaty, little penny.  After all these years, does truth remain in what Daisy said about her daughter in the Great Gatsby?

No.  Of course not, the entrepreneur in me would say.

But then, I read a post by Jane Copland entitled, Women As Entertainment in the SEO Industry and was bothered enough to start a conversation with her on Twitter.  Jane is a speaker, but has had her share of remarks from men who think it’s perfectly okay to be aggressively forward and inappropriate with an attractive, young woman.   Her post was written in 2011.  She says her personal experiences are better today, however, she actually had a guy on a conference floor yell at her for her stances.

A few days after my conversation with Jane, I saw a news story about two men who were recently fired from their jobs for making sexually inappropriate comments at a tech conference.  What seemed unusual was that the woman who called them out by tweeting their pictures to alert conference officials was fired, too.  Wanting to know more I read Courtney Stanton’s post, A Woman Walks Into a Tech Conference, which highlights a slew of recent, inappropriate gender-related incidents.  Stanton reviewed what happened and linked to Adria Richard’s conference story.  While it appears that Richard might have crossed the line with how she reported the incident, placing her as the focus of the problem is off-base. Look it over and read the eye-opening comments below the articles.

And so Fitzgerald remains relevant.  But, he doesn’t have to be.

I’m pulling out a soap box for a moment.  Please listen up.

If you’re a woman- especially feeling alone in a sector like tech, stand strong for yourself and other women.

You can do it.

Don’t let the remarks of the random knucklehead diminish the respect due to good and decent men.  The majority do what’s right or want to do what’s right. But, if something happens that’s illegal or against your company’s policy, call authorities.

Have the courage to look the guy who’s offended you in the eye and say, “I think you’re wrong here” and then seek the grace within yourself to forgive – if not for his sake then for yours.

If you’re a young man who hasn’t been taught that sexual, juvenile, or degrading jokes, comments, and gestures don’t belong in the work place or at conferences then as a piece of advice, from a Mom raising boys – stop.

Really.  You need to stop.

Find a male counselor or mentor to help you process the issues and your feelings.  You’re probably a good guy who’s lost his way, but the encouraging news is that you can change!

Channel your smart and witty thoughts into developing code, creating business solutions, and figuring out how to harness the intellectual and social talents of your female counterparts.  Then, you’ll be a hero.

Sometimes mistakes are made – on both sides.  Read Men vs. Women in the Workplace for a few insights into working with differences.

By the time you get a little older your perspective begins to change and you grow weary of gender tension.  You have a few kids and you realize how beautiful and precious your girls and your boys are and how you wouldn’t want someone hurting either.

I can only imagine how Malala Yousufzai’s mother and father felt when their little girl was shot in the head by the Taliban for writing blog posts about how girls in Pakistan should be educated.

Her $3 million book deal was just signed to educate the world about the importance of being educated.  Malala is not a beautiful, little fool.

Neither are you.

~Jean

How Do I Become a Writer?

By My Web Writers

Photo by Virginia Hammer

Ernest Hemingway allegedly quipped, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Writing is a hard, often frustrating processes. Nonetheless, for those with the talent and the desire to write, there isn’t much more rewarding. To become a writer, you’ll need more than talent and practice, you’ll also need to find your niche, join a community of writers, and train yourself in the craft of selling your writing to editors, publishers, and readers.

Finding Your Voice

If you study the lives of great writers, you’ll find that they all practiced their writing. A lot. Work on your writing every day, even if it’s only for a half an hour. As you produce more work, even if it’s not good, you’ll begin to notice the techniques you’re really good at and those that still need more practice. More importantly, you’ll begin to learn what your voice sounds like as a writer.

What type of writer you want to be will determine how you practice your writing. Different types of writing careers demand different conventions and styles. For example, if you want to write essays and articles for magazines, read the best magazines out there (The New Yorker, TIME, or major titles in your fields of interest) and study what makes a great article. Then practice. Do research, conduct interviews, and commit yourself to writing an article a week. That way you’ll train your voice and produce a solid portfolio of pieces to pitch to possible employers and editors.

If you want to write poems, books, or other literature, keep up with new titles and trends in contemporary publishing. Learn what is selling currently and consider how your unique voice fits in or fills a gap. Produce a poem, short story, or chapter a week and continue to revise.

Blogging can function as a way to practice and train these skills, too. Post new work to your blog at least on a weekly basis (the more frequently the better), network with other bloggers, and get feedback on your work. (Check out our tips about making your blog a brand.) Focus your blog on demonstrating your particular genre or style of writing. That way you can both work on your craft and on making a name for yourself.

Writers’ Communities

An essential part of developing a writing career is an active writers’ community. One of your most valuable resources is the feedback of other people. Other writers will be able to give you better insights than someone who isn’t thinking critically about writing (or someone who loves you, like your mom). Search your area for local workshop groups or find an online writing buddy. For those striving for a literary career, one of the best ways to really develop your writing is to enroll in an M.A. or M.F.A program in creative writing. These days many successful journalists also have a Master’s degree. Whether you’re already in school, or thinking about enrollment, the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) conference is an excellent resource. Their annual conference draws thousands of writers from across the country to network, workshop, and have fun.

Find Your Audience: Writing is a Business Too

Though a lot about writing has changed since Hemingway sat down at his typewriter, the basic skills for turning your creative passion into a publication or a career continue to hinge on your ability to sell your writing. Writing is an art, but it’s also a business. In addition to daily practice of your writing, you’ll need to learn how to write a query letter in order to find an agent or a job. If your aim is a literary career, practice writing queries, synopsis, and sample chapters. Hand them out to writers in your workshop group and ask them if they’d buy the project you’re pitching. The Literary Marketplace is your guide to finding agents and places to publish. If your goal is a freelance or marketing career, check out our list of  Job Sites for Copy Writers. In the meantime, keep up with that blog to maintain your online presence.

To become a writer you’ll need to figure out how your voice contributes to the existing marketplace or field. What makes your writing worth reading? Continue to practice what makes your work unique as well as strengthening the areas where your writing is weak. Developing an awareness of what your writing offers is a key way to selling your writing in query letters and manuscripts. ~Kasey

Good luck!

What Would History Say About Google Authorship?

Image courtesy of https://plus.google.com/authorship

I know this association is going to tick off a few, but as one of the older people now in the Internet realm, my intent is to cause pause before running out and linking blogs or websites to Google Authorship profiles in order to secure better rankings on SERP’s for personal brands.  I’m a Mom, so I’m just going to say what Moms say, “If everyone were jumping off a cliff, would you jump off, too?”

Truth be told, I like Google and I’m all about being with the times.  I know it’s not going to seem that way, but I do understand the benefits of claiming your brand.  I’m just really wrestling with the herd mentality of doing something because Google says we have to do it. The industry reaction appears to be admiration and support through blog posts and conference panel discussions.  Get the writers on board and you can change the world.  If you control the content makers and their careers, you can control the content (to a degree).

I’m also old enough to know how fast what seems indestructible can change.  I have an uncle that spent his life in a nursing home after serving overseas in combat during WWII.  Forgetting history is not an option for me – really for any of us.  My (our) ancestors would be disappointed if I (we) did.

What if Google’s leadership and vision ever changed – forcibly or through death or sale?  Would you want your personal identity stored in a data base for the new owners?  Some of you are more skeptical of our current president or gun control then you are of handing over your identity and all linking to a search company’s data bases.  True, we’re already tracked in so many ways, that for most of us, our identities were compromised years ago when we first opened our Facebook accounts.  But, let’s just hand over more?

As a reminder, between 1939 and 1945, the below image was a reality.  Hitler would have really appreciated access to profiles that connected the dots to everything people did or thought, everyone they communicated with, and everything they liked or disliked.

Image courtesy of http://arnaudstecroix.weebly.com/

It’s an awful association, but profiling happened.  It’s not a new idea.  People were identified and categorized, while scared onlookers stood by, watched, and participated because if they didn’t they might lose what they have. Those who spoke up were shunned or eliminated.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia

While the hot talk is about securing your brand, just don’t forget what happened a few decades ago.  Prisoners from this era would probably shake their heads at our naivety.  I’m not so sure that I can completely dismiss their lives by saying, “Yeah, but this is a different time and place.”

I also don’t have a good answer for reconciling what was learned, while moving into today.  I’m signing this post with my first name knowing full well, that even without a profile, you can research who I am.  The best I can do is write to warn the writer, who hasn’t become public, to first carefully consider the potential consequences before publishing online.  ~Jean

Other Articles:

My 2013 SMX Conversation with Matt Cutts about Google Authorship

Ethical Guidelines When Using Social Media: An Interview with NIU’s Dr. David Gunkel

The Direction of Search – Stalking, Censorship, or Simply Great Results

 

Writers, Don’t Give Up the Day Job Until You Pass Our Spelling Quiz

by My Web Writers

Because most people compose on word processors with squiggly red lines and spell checkers to point out errors, there are few excuses for misspelled words. Most mistakes are chalked up to typos or common homophones that slip through the cracks. Take our spelling quiz to brush up your skills and focus on commonly switched homophones and misspelled words. The first section focuses on words that sound the same but have different meanings. Often writers accidentally use the wrong one. The second section includes words off Dictionary.com’s frequently misspelled word list. Test your spelling knowledge!

Commonly Misused Homophones

Insert the correct word into each blank in the sentence below:

1) The child _______ refused to eat her vegetables. She was ______ going to be in trouble.

a)  Defiantly   b) Definitely

2) The woman relished in the _______ as her shoes were a perfect ______ to her new dress.

a) complement    b) compliment

3) The company was happy to ______ the proposal, _______ they asked for some minor adjustments.

a) accept  b) except

4) The school’s ______  felt her _______  duty was to support the teachers and keep the school running with discipline.

a) principal b) principle

5) The father was concerned with slimming his ______, bu the also didn’t want to _____ food from the table.

a) waist  b) waste

Frequently Misspelled Words

Select the correct spelling below:

6) a state of equality, a scale, a equilibrium:

a) balance b) ballance c) balence

7) Terrible; inspiring awe:

a) awfull b) aweful  c) awful

8) One who robs or steals:

a) burglar  b) burgler

9) Not a professional, a beginner, a hobbyist:

a) amatuer  b) amateur  c) amature

10) A promise or warranty:

a) garantee b) guarantee c) garentee

11) A thousand years:

a) millennium b) millenium c) milennium

12) Something one owns:

a) posession b) possesion  c) possession

13) A place to go out to eat:

a) restarant  b) restaurant  c) restaraunt

14) To suggest or praise:

a) recommend  b) recomend  c) reccommend

15) A machine that cleans your floors; an empty space:

a) vaccuum b) vacuum  c) vacume

Answer key

1.  a, b  2. b, a  3. a, b  4. a, b  5. a, b  6. a  7. c 8. a  9. b  10. b  11. a  12. c 13. b 14. a 15. b

For more help, consult this list of Commonly Missused Words to make sure you’re not just spelling he word correctly, but that you’re using the right word to begin with. You can also continue to test your spelling on your smart device using the A+ Spelling App. My Web Writers also has additional resources for making your copy editing swifter and more accurate. Give your writers our Grammar Test and read our tips for how to Be a Better Editor. ~Kasey

My Mother Has ALS. Can She Borrow Your Eye Gaze Equipment?

By My Web Writers

Today’s post is a personal one and an excerpt from a speech that I recently gave at Huntington University.  I hope you draw some inspiration from it.   ~Jean

My father delivered some news to me over the phone when I was a senior in college.  Mom was diagnosed with ALS.  Some of you don’t know what that is, but some of you know all too well.  It started with weakness in her limbs.

I had no clue what Lou Gehrig’s disease was, though I’d heard of it.  Looking back, I’m sure my parents wanted to protect me from fully understanding what the diagnosis meant because Dad’s details were sparse.

I headed over to the university’s library to research the disease on microfiche and micro film.  I can still remember the shock of reading, “Decline in the motor neurons…weakening of extremities … eventually the diaphragm stops…mind stays aware… death occurs in most patients from 18 months to 3 years.”  The best prognosis seemed about 5 years, though about 5% of cases could live as many as 20 years. My mother was 59.  I was 22. I started crying in the library. Life had changed.

Tonight, I’d like to honor my mother by attempting to demonstrate how she carried her personal torch through that time period.

Droves of neighbors, relatives, and friends made the pilgrimage to our home to visit my mom that next year.  She greeted each of them and encouraged them that she would beat this disease.  They smiled at her, read Bible verses, gave her hugs, and said they’d pray for her.

I suspect this is when you begin to think you really might die.  Otherwise, none of these people would be visiting all in one year’s time.

It’s a reminder to all of us to visit the people you care about today – and don’t assume tomorrow will give you that opportunity.

Dad always said that Mom could outlive him, but when he passed away the family had a deer in the headlights look.  We thought Mom would go first.  Now what?

She lived by herself in a handicapped accessible home that Dad had built for her before his death.  She wanted to maintain her independence in her own home for as long as possible.

But when it was time to stop driving or to move to a retirement community, she knew it, and as an act of personal responsibility, she didn’t put up a fuss about it.

Mom demonstrated that handicaps, terminal illness, being a widow, and senior citizen status are not barriers to having fun and enjoying life. We’re all terminal.

She started a romance with Peter, a former bank president.  I remember Mom bragging to her older sister that she was now dating a banker.  Mom’s sister smiled and said, “You sure know how to pick ‘em, Joan.”

Mom was quite taken by Peter’s whit and go-getter personality.  He loved jazz and would take Mom out to shows.  I think several ladies had a crush on Peter, but he and Mom became an item. These people were like teenagers again and we kids were like the protective parents.

Mom took several trips with my family.  One time, in Plymouth, we stayed in a home right on the beach, but it had a steep ramp, so we had to go slowly to get her in and out of the home.  Just to say we did it, Mom and I took over an hour, one afternoon, navigating and struggling over a short, rocky path to the shore. 

We eased her into a kayak.  After 11 years with ALS, she was afloat in a bay!

On a different trip to Florida, we hitched a ride in a groundskeeper’s pick-up truck and set up Mom’s walker at the Gulf’s edge.

We met my cousin, Jon, there that day.  He has since passed on.  Don’t let a task that seems too overwhelming or burdensome keep you at home on the couch.  If my Mom could do it, you can do it!  I’m so glad we didn’t skip this moment.

Mom’s mobility decreased through the years and she developed dementia.  She could not remember where we had been or why we had been there on the way home from being bedside during her sister’s passing.

Many relatives and friends never suspected that this frail, little lady would actually outlive them- my Dad, the next door neighbors on one side, the next door neighbors on the other side, members of the church who prayed for her, all of her siblings, several nephews, friends of mine, her high school classmates, friends from the retirement center, and even Peter, who passed suddenly from a heart attack.  She outlived them all!

A few weeks ago, Mom’s RN indicated that it was time for hospice.

Some might choose to stop eating at this stage as a last measure of control, but my mother chooses to chew her food each day, even when she chokes on it. She gathers tears in her eyes when we tell her how much we love her.  It must be difficult not to be able to answer with a voice.  She does have dementia, but in those moments when her thoughts are clear, I think she wants to express herself beyond her sweet gazes.

I’ll confide that I am trying to find someone who would be willing to let us borrow their Eye Gaze equipment.  Maybe it’s sitting in a closet getting no use.  Because my mother is now receiving hospice services, I’m told that Medicare will not cover the costs of this expensive equipment.  My sister, who selflessly cares for our Mother, questions if the dementia will make it too difficult to learn and use the equipment.  But given what we know about Mom, we’d like to give her a shot at trying. If you would take a moment to share this story, maybe we’ll find someone who can give Mom a chance at a voice in her time left here.