sherrymims.com » writing

Grammar’s Dirty Little Secret

Sherry — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:08:19 +0000

Bonnie, my longtime friend and honorary Florida Press Club member — you might remember her as my arm candy at the 2010 banquet — sends along this Wall Street Journal blog post, which pretty much tells grammar freaks to chill out. (You trying to tell me something, Bonnie?)

Listen, we’re going to let you guys in on a little secret: You can really put your commas anywhere. Grammar’s all a big sham.

Now, being a copy editor, I can’t completely agree with the premise. You should use proper grammar. People will judge you if your writing is full of errors and doubt your expertise.

While thinking less of someone for using a serial comma, for example, is completely silly, I have to know the correct rules. It’s my job. However, I’m not going to freak out if I read something with a comma before “and” unless someone’s asked me to edit it. Even then, I won’t freak out. I’ll just remove the comma.

Still, rules change. As I mentioned in the previous post’s comments, cellphone and smartphone are written as one word again per AP Style. The stylebook may change a word or go back to an original use. You have to pay attention.

Until the Wall Street Journal’s prediction comes right —

English will eventually evolve into a language without vowels, as they will be entirely replaced by the letter h: Sthrt prhcthchng yhhr vhwhl rhmhvhl skhlls nhw hnd hmprhss yhhr frhhnds.

I will do the best I can to bring grammar back into vogue.

And if all our vowels disappear? I will be one step closer to reading Hebrew.

Why press releases are a good thing

Sherry — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 06:40:23 +0000

Last night, we had photographs for a standalone centerpiece, but unfortunately, we had no text. If we had no information and the event was over for the night, we might have run just one photograph and a cutline. Fortunately, I received a press release on my desk about the Spring Break Nationals, an annual mobile electronics show in Daytona Beach, and we used two great photographs by Nigel Cook.

The press release was made up of four paragraphs that gave the who, what, when, where, how and why, and it gave contact information.

See, we do use press releases, especially if they’re well-written. Together, with the help of the metro editor, this is what we came up with on the fly:

That rumble you may have felt as you passed the Ocean Center on Saturday probably came from the wall-shaking sound systems cranked up at the 25th annual Spring Break Nationals in Daytona Beach.

The event, which continues today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., is a mobile electronics show with manufacturer displays highlighting automotive sound, vision navigation, Bluetooth devices and other products.

Organizers expect at least 10,000 spectators and more than 1,000 trade participants.

Daytona Beach-based International Auto Sound Challenge Association and two other industry associations brought judges from four of 28 affiliated countries to judge the “Soundoff” event, featuring hundreds of vehicles in a world-final competition.

DJs and performers keep the event lively as contests, custom-car exhibits and educational seminars take place on the convention floor.

Children 12 and under are free with an adult, whose tickets are $15, cash only.

For more information, go to springbreaknationals.com or call 386-767-3030.

(Posted on my website because my work disappears from the News-Journal website after two weeks.)

New Year’s means new experiences

Sherry — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 20:53:32 +0000

One of the silver linings of working on holidays is that work is low-key. Usually all the stories stay the same, and you know in advance what you’re doing. Sometimes, too, that gives you the opportunity to do more — like write short 1C copy block about the change in weather on New Year’s Day.

(To read “Warm Resolutions: New year means new weather” with the pictures and the cutlines I wrote with information from photographer David Massey, click here. The News-Journal takes down articles after two weeks, so I’m posting this here for posterity LOL)

After weathering the coldest December since 1935, walkers with possible cases of cabin fever took to area beaches and enjoyed the warmer weather that lingered in the 70s for most of New Year’s Day.

Foot traffic increased from Flagler Beach to Daytona Beach. Family pictures were taken. Others even braved the 57-degree water.

Expect the change to continue, according to AccuWeather.com. Lows will be in the mid-50s while the high will also be in the mid-70s.

For more information on today’s weather conditions, see our Weather Page

It’s nothing big, but I like having time to do something different!

Numb for NaNoWriMo

Sherry — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 05:13:45 +0000

I hadn’t noticed that the National Novel Writing Month website now has a nifty tool to track your progress. While it’s fantastic, it also reminds me I have lots more to do. For instance, I need to write 2,475 words a day to reach the total 50,000-word goal. Uh huh.

But onward! My Cambridge-based BFF with 12,273 words provides motivation. We keep each other accountable. After all, this is the most progress I’ve made since 2004 when I finished my vampire novel (before their popularity returned, naturally) because of NaNoWriMo.

As much as I’m committed, though, reality also intrudes. My (work) to-do list includes:

Transcribing and posting the interview I conducted with TM Forum President Martin Creaner.

Writing another Supper Club review for the Daytona Beach News-Journal

And last but not least, mailing the remainder of the plaques and the certificates. (I’m really sorry that they’re not all out yet, but please remember I’m only one person mailing out seven boxes of awards to newspapers (who all have a different preferences for shipping). The awards are coming. Promise! To expedite the service, please tell me a mailing address and let me know whether you have UPS or FedEx codes.

I Write Like

Sherry — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 06:25:52 +0000

Looks like I’m not the only one perplexed about my “I Write Like” results.

From the Associated Press:

The New Yorker found that an invitation to a birthday party was James Joycean. Many others were aghast to discover they wrote similarly to “The Da Vinci Code” scribe Dan Brown.

I know I was!

Chestnykh [whose second language is English] modeled the site on software for e-mail spam filters. This means that the site’s text analysis is largely keyword based. Even if you write in short, declarative, Hemingwayesque sentences, its your word choice that may determine your comparison.

Most writers will tell you, though, that the most telling signs of influence come from punctuation, rhythm and structure. I Write Like does account for some elements of style by things such as number of words per sentence.

Chestnykh has uploaded works by about 50 authors — three books for each, he said. That, too, explains some of its shortcomings.

This is one of those Internet sensations we should have seen coming (or thought of first). After all, all of us have taken the taken a “Harry Potter — Hogwarts House Sorting Hat Quiz” at one time or another…

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

Cà d’zan

Sherry — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:37:07 +0000

Writing a journalism blog is difficult when you’re not exactly writing anything. Well, that isn’t quite accurate; I am working on that travel essay. And, sure, I copy edit and design for a newspaper, but it’s not as compelling as, say, escaping the Taliban. (Er…not that I would want to be captured by the Taliban. I prefer my nice travel pieces, thanks.) However, it is enough to give one a complex, and you know we writers are _______. I’ll leave that up to your imagination.

With that said, I’d like to introduce my new blog feature, Off the Wall, where I will show some of my travel photos, whenever/wherever I might have taken them. Guessing is part of the fun–plus, a shameless ploy to get non-spam comments in my blog!

First up, Cà d’Zan Mansion in …

Cà d’Zan Mansion, as seen in the 1990s film version of “Great Expectations” was the home of John and Mable Ringling. “Cà d’zan” translates to “House of John” in Italian.” The house is beautifully ornate and overlooks the bay. I sit there all day with such a view.

For more information, visit Ringling.org.

Top 5 things I like about being a journalist

Sherry — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:45:29 +0000

I inform people about people, places and/or events they should know about.
I meet the most fascinating people doing interviews. I’ve interviewed artists, actors and people in far out fields, such as steamboat operators!
My co-workers are all educated and well-read.
You can read books, screen movies and try products for review purposes for free before they’re released to the general public.
When people ask you what you do for a living, most of them seem impressed. Even though the job isn’t glamorous, people seem to think it is.

Speaking of reviewing books, my book review on “White Witch, Black Curse” by Kim Harrison published on Sunday. I really enjoy doing book reviews, especially since I can use my downtime at work constructively.