Alexander M. Zoltai's Blog, page 110
December 14, 2015
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The title of this post is a woman’s name…
Image Courtesy of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Back in September of 2011, I wrote about her in the post,The Danger of A SingleStory.
Here are a few excerpts:
“One story, about anything, can be extremely dangerous.”
“Most novels relate their theme from many characters’ perspectives—many stories.”
“Most news media cling to Single Stories.”
“What’s the danger?”
“If the Single Story is believed, there may follow certain prejudices or...
December 13, 2015
Playing it safe is a dangerous game
Today’s re-blog shows how trying to please some folks by following all the “rules” of writing can, easily, offend and annoy many other folks…
Here’s an argument I sometimes hear:
Sure, some of the so-called “rules” of English that you hear about are silly and pointless – don’t split infinitives and so on. But there are still a fair few people who believe in these rules, so it’s worth toeing the line to avoid annoying them.
This sounds like a reasonable, pragmatic position: play...
December 12, 2015
Finding a Way to Be
Today’s re-blog is from a Nonfiction blog…
Wonderful essay about a “writer” wanting to be an “author” :-)
Sandra A. Miller (photo by Miranda Loud)
By Sandra A. Miller
As a writer I struggle with the verb to be, less a grammatical concern than an issue of presence, of being. But I want to forget about being for a quick moment—we will come back to it—and talk about the things I am as a writer. They are:
Industrious. (Thank you caffeine and fear of failure.) Pretty g...December 11, 2015
The #Reading of #Writers (and, an Editor…)
There’s a website called The Millions that says it’s “…an online magazine offering coverage on books, arts, and culture since 2003.”
And, 12 years in Internet time is a looong while…
Plus, theThe New York Times calls it“The indispensable literary site”.
It appears I’ve reported on articles from The Millions seven times over the years…
And, since my post the other day was,Is There Such a Thing as Reading Too ManyBooks?, I thought it appropriate to feature The Millions here again.
They havea se...
December 10, 2015
When You Feel Like Quitting… Consider This
Even if you’ve read all about perseverance and never quitting, take a few moments to read today’s re-blog—it has a refreshingly new twist to reveal about why you should push on :-)
You work hard toward your writing and business goals.
You spend time on the big picture and getting daily tasks done.
You make strides, you celebrate milestones, and you continue working and building your dream.
But there are hiccups and stumbles along the way.
And sometimes, whether i...
December 9, 2015
Is There Such a Thing as Reading Too Many Books?
I have 10 books on my desk—research for what I think might be my next book…
I have at least 3 important unread books on my Kindle Tablet…
I’ll more than likely read all of those books…
Image Courtesy of Antony Ruggiero ~ http://www.freeimages.com/photographer/Dreegez-39056
…sometime during or after I read the 67 books stacked up in my Wattpad To Be Read List…
But, I don’t have a schedule for all this reading—no time when I must have it done.
However, back in January, I wrote the postReading Y...
December 8, 2015
Cognitive Dissonance and Writing
Excellent re-blog today!
Learn a very cool technique to help you find and discard beliefs that you don’t need………
Originally posted on Live to Write - Write to Live:
Cognitive dissonance is a psychological term that refers (in my words) to what happens psychologically when a person holds two opposing thoughts (beliefs) in their mind. Holding two conflicting beliefs causes a psychological discomfort, or dissonance, that is difficult for us to live with. The way we resolve thi...
December 7, 2015
Free “World-Wide” Delivery of Books? ~ Twice Over :-)
Believe it or not, some folks think the only place to buy books is Amazon…
Image courtesy of wynand van niekerk ~ http://fgx.co.za/
I mean, they do seem to discount books, right?
Well…
Sort of…
Sometimes…
I’ve bought a lot of e-books from Amazon because I own one of their Tablets and they make it so easy (it is possible and I do take advantage of loading e-books from other sources on my Tablet {especially Free ones…}…).
But then, there’s the whole thing aboutliking physical books; and, other...
December 6, 2015
Who let that word into the dictionary?
Today’s re-blog points toward the folks who really decide what goes in whose dictionary…
After you read it, you could scroll down my left side-bar to the Top Tags and check out “Dictionary”—you’ll find 7 or 8 past posts :-)
Originally posted on Sesquiotica:
Originally published on The Editors’ Weekly , the blog of Editors Canada
Every so often, Oxford or Merriam-Webster will release a list of words recently added to one of their dictionaries, and many people become grouchy a...
December 5, 2015
Book Reviews Versus Critiques
Today’s re-blog makes very clear a critical distinction of response to books………
Originally posted on Have We Had Help?:
Since sites like Amazon gave the general public the opportunity to review any book they have read, what many still fail to understand, or indeed appreciate, is the difference between writing a review and what amounts to a critique.
***
Here is a typical example of a professional newspaper review:
The Secret History of the Blitz by Joshua Levine, review: ‘...
