Stuart Aken's Blog, page 289

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Purposely or purposefully?

Purposely or purposefully? Image via WikipediaPurposely:adverb - on purpose or by design; donewith intention, deliberately.
Purposefully:adverb - having a purpose or meaning;designed or intentional; with a definite purpose in mind; resolute.
Whatyou do 'purposely', you do deliberately.Whatyou do 'purposefully', you do resolutely and with some purpose in mind.
So:
'Jasonplaced the bar of wet soap purposely to see Jane step on it, slip and land inthe bath full of cold water.'
'Janepurposefully surveyed the floor before entering the bathroom, knowing Jason waslikely to try to play some dirty trick on her.'
15 September 1971Greenpeace was founded. I joined them later in the same decade, about 1976, ifI remember rightly.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Zealot

Zealot: noun – originally, a member of a Jewishsect in Palestine, whose passionate opposition to foreign rule led to theJewish uprising against Rome, ad 66–70; someone who is zealous for a cause;someone carried away by excess of zeal; a fanatic.
'Most of those criminal idiotswho strap explosives to their bodies and kill innocents indiscriminately,consider themselves zealots, but any reasonable person knows they aresociopaths without a shred of respect for any life.'

Pic: A bright subject to counter the depressing one conjured by today's word.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Practise or Practice?

Image via Wikipedia
Practise or Practice?Practise: verb - perform or carry out constantly or habitually; act upon insteadof simply professing a belief;exercise or pursue a profession oroccupation, such as law or medicine; observe, actively follow the doctrines of areligion; actually carry out a law or command; do something repeatedly toacquire a skill; train or drill someone; make practical use of, employ; try todo something; Design a means to bring about, plan; plot an evil or unlawful act;try out or use experimentally.
Practice: noun - doing something; the usual or customary action orperformance; a custom; a habit; in Law - established method of legal procedure;exercise of a profession or occupation; the business to which a lawyer or doctorbelongs; repeated performance of an action to gain or keep proficiency in it;activity undertaken to this end; practical application as opposed to the theory;exercise; a practical treatise.
We all know that 'practise' is theverb and 'practice' the noun, but this is not easy to remember for many.However, if you think aboutsimilar words this might help.Advise is similar to 'practise'and has the advantage that you know that 'to advise' is a verb.Similarly, advice is similar to'practice', and we all know that 'advice' is a noun.
'Unless you practise more, Miss Bennett, you'llnever be proficient.'  Pride andPrejudice.
'Kim had been a doctor for severalyears and had her own practice on the high street.'

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Yammer

Yammer: noun - an instance of yammering; a loudnoise, din, voluble speech.
'Jock found he couldn't hearwhat anyone else was saying because Mac was yammering on and on about nothingin particular, as usual.'

Pic: Wheat ripening in an East Yorkshire field.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Persuade or convince?

Image via Wikipedia
Persuade or convince? Persuade:verb - using a person as the object –be successful in urging someone to do, or not to do, something; lure, attract, orentice to something or in a specific direction; lead, cause, or make to believea statement, doctrine, or the truth of it; try to lead to do, urge or advisestrongly: using an idea as the object - recommend the acceptance of a statementor opinion; inculcate, advocate or recommend an action; prove, demonstrate; talkearnestly with someone to gain agreement or compliance; expostulate with, pleadwith.
Convince:verb - master in argument, confute; persuadesomeone to believe firmly in the truth of something; satisfy by evidence or argument;persuade someone to do something; bring someone to awareness of their sins orerror; prove; expose the true character; disprove or refute some idea or doctrine.
Anotherexample of the subtlety of the English language, and an illustration of why itis easier to say something precisely in this widely understood tongue.
Ingeneral terms, you motivate someone using persuasion, but you change theirminds by convincing them.
'In spite of her naturalmodesty and a certain prudery, inherited through her father's career as a minister,Prudence was persuaded by Gerald to indulge in moonlight skinny-dipping, anddiscovered the joy and freedom  ofswimming without the encumbrance of a costume.'
'You'll never convince anyman of reason that the myths of religion are anything more than stories unlessyou're able to provide some hard evidence that they're more than the words ofmere men.'

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Xenophile

Xenophile: noun - someone fond of and/or attractedto foreign people and things.
'Fascists and the moreextreme amongst the patriotic are generally not xenophiles; their distorteddistrust of everything not of their own culture and state making them afraidand driving them into unreasoned prejudice.'
'As a citizen of theworld, first and foremost, I consider myself a xenophile and love to travel andexperience all facets of the different nationalities and cultures encounteredbeyond the shores of my own country.'

Pic: Red roof of farmhouse, East Yorkshire.

Guest Blogging

Just to alert my regulars, or anyone else who's interested, I'm a guest blogger on this site - http://mesmered.wordpress.com/ and the interview there has generated quite a lot of comment. Take a wander over and see what you think. Maybe even add a comment of your own?

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: People or persons?

People or persons?  Yourchoice here is really no more than a stylistic one, since these words areessentially interchangeable. It's generally the case, however, that 'people' isnow the standard usage and 'persons' is used only for formal purposes or whenit's a substitute for 'bodies', as in; 'This lift is intended to hold no morethan 13 persons.' Or 'The scanner can be used to identify dangerous objectsheld about the persons of terrorists.'
In yourusual writing, 'people' is the preferred term.
'Peoplegathered from all quarters of the town to hear the inspirational speaker.' Ismuch more natural than; 'Persons gathered from far and wide to listen to thepreacher.'
Pic: A Red Kite flying overhead in East Riding of Yorkshire: a bird of prey re-introduced after near extinction.

Author Interview with Karen Pokras Toz

Hello Karen, please tellus about you, as a writer.
Well – I wasn't always a writer. I enjoyed reading as a child and hadmany stories floating around in my head that I wanted to write. Unfortunately,I was not very good at writing, or at least I didn't think I was very good.Math was my subject. I always believed you were either a math person or anEnglish person, and so I never pursued writing. In school I studied finance,accounting and law. My writing was always with numbers. Thirteen years ago, Iheard a news story on television and began creating a novel based around thissingle event – all in my head, of course. I'm not sure what made me decide itwas time to put pen to paper, but at some point last year I began writing. I amnow hooked!

Your middle grade book isNATE ROCKS THE WORLD; perhaps you'd you give us some insight into it in a fewsentences.
This is the first book in the NATE ROCKS series, about a quirky youngboy who draws cartoons that come to life. NATEROCKS THE WORLD uses humor and adventure to show that even kids canaccomplish great things. The book is geared toward 7-12 year olds.

How did you come to writethis particular book?
I knew I wanted to write a fun book that would encourage kids to read.The inspiration really came from my children. My oldest son is an artist, mydaughter is very creative, and my youngest loves to role-play. I sort ofcombined all three of these traits to come up with my main character, NathanRockledge.
Do you have a favouritecharacter from the book? If so, who and why this particular one?
That is such a hard question because I really love all of mycharacters. Of course I love Nate, but I think Nate's mom is my favorite. Shetries so hard to cook and sew be the perfect mom and housewife, stumbling everystep of the way. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a little bit of me in her.
Where can people buy yourbooks?
NATE ROCKS THE WORLD is available online in both print anddigital copies from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, the Apple Store andmany more outlets.
Print copy - direct frompublisherPrint & Kindle -Amazon.comNook, Sony Reader, Apple, Kobo & others
For a complete list, please visit my website: www.karentoz.com
What qualities does awriter need to be successful?
For me, determination, focus and commitment are key. Everyone has astory to tell – I truly believe that. There are so many resources out there tohelp you along the way. Grammar, style, and technique – those are all thingsthat can be developed over time with the right guidance. It took me 13 years torealize that.
What's your working method?
I am a morning person. I like to try to get up an hour earlier than Ineed to, make my coffee, and get writing. I do write sporadically during theafternoon when it is quiet, but nothing beats that morning time for me.
What's the single biggestmistake made by beginner writers?
Well, speaking as a beginner, I would say rushing has been my biggestmistake. Also – it is worth the investment to have both a professional editorreview your manuscript, and a professional designer to create your cover.
To what extent aregrammar and spelling important in writing?
Grammar and spelling are so important! Mistakes jump off the page atreaders and can be major distractions and turn-offs. You want your reader todrift into your story without having to re-read sentences. Hopefully, betweenmy editor and myself, I won't be eating my own words!
How much do you reviseyour MS before sending it off?
I honestly lost count!
Many authors seemarketing as a bind. What's your opinion on this, and how do you deal with it?
Marketing certainly takes away from writing time. I am doing all of myown marketing. I really don't see any way around having to market your ownmaterial – especially for a debut novelist such as myself. It has definitelybeen a challenge, as I have no previous experience in this arena. However, atthe same time, I have found it quite rewarding and have developed somewonderful relationships. Trying to find the right balance between marketingtime and writing time is key.
If there's a singleaspect of writing you find frustrating, what is it?
Definitely editing – and editing – and editing some more. As a writer,I always find myself asking if my manuscript is finished. Should I addanything, should I take something out, have I caught all my typos, is the tenseconsistent, and my personal favorite: are all the commas in the right place?Even with a professional editor giving the manuscript a once over, it is anever ending and exhausting task.
Is there a particularfeature of writing that you really enjoy?
I love writing dialogue. I think it is because with dialogue, I canjust get straight to the point without worrying about setting up the scenecorrectly... or maybe it is because with three kids, I can rarely get a word inedgewise!

What are you writing now?
I'm working on two projects actually. I am revisiting my firstmanuscript, which I never published, called invisible.It is the story of a woman who finds herself suddenly famous and thrownunwittingly in front of the paparazzi. I hope to release invisible by early 2012. I am also several chapters into the nextbook of the NATE ROCKS series.
Do you have a website orblog where readers can visit?
I have both! I love to blog. I write about my daily life as a mom,writer, wife... basically it is just me rambling about whatever happens to beon my mind at any particular moment. Every week, I post a 'Friday Five' where Isum up what's been going on in my little world and can be found at http://kptoz.blogspot.com If you read something you like, let me know! Comments really make myday.
I also have an author website www.karentoz.com . Here you can find information aboutmy book, including reviews, a free chapter download, and purchase information.
Given unlimitedresources, where would you do your writing?
That's an interesting question. I think I could probably writeanywhere as long as I had a quite space, my laptop, and a large carafe ofcoffee!
Where do you actuallywrite?
I write at home – often in the living room or in the bedroom. I findthose rooms to be the most peaceful. I like quiet when I write. We are in theprocess of setting up an office in one of our spare rooms, so perhaps I willenjoy writing in there as well.
Thank you so much for having me!

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Wade

Wade: verb - move onward; of a weapon - go through something; walk inwater, liquid or other soft substance that impedes movement; pass over a river orstream on foot; tackle a laborious or tedious task, a long or uninterestingbook; go on with difficulty or by force; run over in one's mind; of the sun ormoon - appear to move through clouds or mist.Noun - something that can be waded through, a ford; wading.
'Having spent fourexhausting days travelling through the desert on foot, the party reached thewide river and had to wade across it to reach civilisation on the far bank.'
'Jonathan had promised toread the book to the end, in spite of the poor English and questionable plot,so he was forced to wade through the bad writing until he reached the finalfull stop.'
Pic: North of Dalton, East Riding of Yorkshire.