Election Day 2010: Go Vote Already!

Mid-term elections are here! The polls are still open, get out and vote already! True to Words is a politically neutral entity (even if I'm not), but the act of voting is non-partisan. So I'm posting today to remind you to VOTE and take a friend or two with you while you're at it.

Though about 50 to 60% of all voting age citizens turn up at the polls every four years for the presidential elections, only about 30 to 40% participate in mid-term or local elections. Conversely, I'd say 100% of our population complains about their representation (completely making that up, but it sounds good - and fairly accurate). Yet, if you didn't cast your vote, you didn't make your voice heard, and it’s hard to blame your representative. After all, they're just doing what they were asked by the people who elected them. And that especially wasn't you if you didn't vote at all.

Instead of allowing your choice to be made for you by others without adding your 2 cents, go out and vote for the person or persons who best represent your interests. Yes, it can be inconvenient and yes, it takes time and yes, you might have to stand in line and, YES, even after all of your effort, there is always the distinct possibility that your candidate will lose. But win or lose, your vote counted for something. Yes, it did.

"But I'm just one person! My vote won't make a difference."

That's what lots of people say. When looking at the big numbers of vote totals, it can seem like your vote would be lost in the throng. So I'll use small, easy numbers to show just how valuable your vote is. Simple is better anyway, 'cause Dammit, Jim, I'm a wordsmith, not a mathematician!

In comparison to the millions of people that live in a state like, say, Minnesota, how small of a number is 225? Pretty small, that’s smaller than the high school class with which I graduated. That's a big wedding guest list or a really small town.

225 votes sent Senator Al Franken to Washington and sent Norm Coleman packing in the 2008 elections. That's 225 people who might have thought their vote wouldn't make a big difference either, but they made the trip. In the end, their candidate won.

How about 537? A little less than twice as many people. But 537 votes made the electoral difference in Florida to send George W. Bush to the White House instead of Al Gore. 537 people who went to the polls, despite the fact that it was raining (I've been watching CNN). It's beautiful outside, you don't have that excuse!

These are just the federal-level races that in recent years made national headlines. In local district, county, and city/town elections, where population pools are the smallest and where government has the greatest direct impact on individuals, the margins of victory and defeat can be even smaller. Especially in these cases, voting every four years instead of every two really is unacceptable. If more people chose to participate in the mid-term elections, we would have a far more accurately representative government overall – from the local level all the way to the top.

Need one more reason to vote? When January comes and it is time again to complain about the new things our senators and representatives are doing to piss us off, don't discredit how immensely satisfying it is to say "Hey, I didn't vote for him/her, I voted for the smart one!"

Hip Hop and the English Language

Trying to find something good to post about today, I found this article called "Hip-Hop: An Indelible Influence on the English Language." Oh, there is a lot of fodder in here for me, mainly because I'm not a huge fan of hip-hop and because I believe the title is true. Much like how e-mailing and texting has had a lasting influence on our culture, it is obvious today to see how hip-hop has also left its mark:

Whether it is the addition of the phrase "bling-bling" to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2003 or the inclusion of the term "crunk" in the 2007 volume of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, hip-hop culture is changing the nature, the sound, and the rules of the English language. Words such as "hood" (short for neighborhood), "crib" (which translates as place of residence), and "whip" (meaning car) have become commonplace within everyday conversation. Phrases such as "what’s up" (hello), "peace out" (good-bye), and the extremely popular "chill out" (relax) are frequently used in television shows, movies, and even commercials for Fortune 500 corporations.

I used to like it. Hip-hop and rap used to have good qualities, but I'd say its one of my least favorite genres now. Part of it is the music, I'm a big fan of guitars and drums, while most hip-hop music is created with electronic synthesizers. They even use synthesizers on their voices, because apparently they don't have a decent sound. You know, back in the day you had to have some kind of talent, now anyone with a computer can get a record contract. But I digress.

A huge part of my difficulties with hip-hop is the language it uses. Hip-hop was establishing its roots between 1965 to 1984, according to the article and Bakari Kitwana's "The Hip Hop Generation." The music was entertaining, but at the time, it was also used by African-Americans to express concerns of political, social, and personal issues.

But hip-hop has evolved and what it was during that time period no longer exists. The valid, intelligent issues raised in these songs like racism and poverty have been replaced with language revolving around hos and bling, yet racism and poverty are still very real. Lots of hip-hop music seems to emphasize material possessions over quality relationships. Much if it is also considered degrading to women. The hip-hop movement has gone a step further and glamorized gang-banging and drug-dealing.

And I haven't even touched on the acts of murder many hip-hop artists commit on words. "Back in the day," there seemed to be a sense of pride among hip-hop writers in having a wide vocabulary and using words creatively. Now, consonants and vowels are dropped or misspoken on purpose to try and make the rhyme fit. This is just lazy and I can't respect it the same way I respected the hip-hop lyricists who came before. Compare the lyrics of Ice T, Public Enemy, NWA, and, yes, even The Beastie Boys to today's Flo-Rida, Ne-Yo, and Fabolous. Even their names are ridiculous. I mean... Jay-Z and Eminem needed to come back!

Now I'm not saying that hip-hop hasn't had any good effects on culture or that it hasn't made people think about language in an entirely different way. I have a few hip-hop favorites that I still listen to. But there is a reason why record sales have been down since 2005 and rumors are circulating that the death of hip-hop could be drawing near. Something has changed in its dynamic, and now it no longer seems to be contributing much of anything good to society, let alone language.

Additionally, with the current economic and social climate, hearing about a celebrities bling and expensive cars isn't what people want to listen to when they're struggling to make sure there is food on the table or a roof over their heads. Crime, poverty, and discord are abundant right now. If hip-hop went back to its roots and discussed political, social, and personal issues in the intelligent and thought provoking ways that it used to, it could make a come-back.

Banned Books Week in the United States

Sponsored by the American Library Association, it's Banned Books Week here in the land of the free and the home of the brave. The land of supposedly free speech and freedom of expression. During the last week of September every year, hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. As Ron Dzwonkowski of the Detroit Free Press points out, this is one national week of recognition that we shouldn't need in our country.

Sadly, according to the American Library Association there were 513 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom just in 2008. The top ten contested books were:

• And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
• His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman
• TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
• Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
• Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
• Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
• Uncle Bobby's Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen
• The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
• Flashcards of My Life, by Charise Mericle Harper

Personally, I haven't read most of these, but I did read the entire "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" series when I was in junior high. They're freakin' scarey stories to tell in the dark! They're supposed to be edgy!

Other books that were banned or challenged last year were J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck, Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” John Grisham’s “A Time To Kill,” and J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series. Many, many books have been challenged or banned in some places, including beloved classics. Check out the ALA's Frequently Challenged Books section.

The banning of books threaten the freedom of speech and expression. For society and civilization to thrive, we need to be able to freely exchange ideas. Also, I just generally don't agree with trying to put books in a corner (or a fire). So go ahead to Amazon.com, where every one of these books are still available for purchase. Read something someone else thinks is inappropriate.

Or perhaps you already have?

The 2009 celebration of Banned Books Week is September 26 through October 3.

True to Words

I feel like I should explain why I chose the name of this blog. Believe it or not, I've had a few search term hits from people trying to find the meaning of the phrase "true to one's word." As the basis for this blog's name, I'm almost ashamed I didn't create this post earlier.

To be true to one's word is to keep a promise or follow through with one's intentions. An example sentence could be "True to her word, Samantha arrived just in time to meet her friend at the library." Or "True to her word, Sara finished her client's project with time to spare." (shameless plug)

There are a few related phrases of this ilk: True to form, true to type, true to principle, true to oneself. They all describe the same concept of commitment to something.

With that being said, when deciding what I would name this blog, I wanted it to be descriptive of both it's intended purpose and my personality. True to Words is perfect for a few reasons. First, it describes my commitment to communication and the written word. Second, True to Words: A blog about language and writing is a promise to readers of what to expect: The exploration of the meaning of words and their use in language. Third, it is in itself a linguistic curiosity and an example of what I like to talk about here because it is an idiom.

An idiom is an expression that means something other than the literal definition of its words. If you hadn't already heard the phrase "I smell a rat" or "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," you would probably be confused (unless of course a rat or gift horse were present). Because of this, idioms tend to be unique to the culture in which they are spawned. Idioms are often "lost in translation" literally because they do not translate to mean the same thing in another language.

I couldn't find many other blogs that talk about idioms, though I did find some translation blogs that mentioned their difficulty. I could barely find any information on gaffes in marketing that were caused by translation problems, even though they happen all the time when campaigns cross boarders. It looks like a have an idea for a new series of posts to do! Stay tuned to this blog to read how major-league campaigns turned into major pains.

Language Obsessed

Okay, I think I have to confess something. When you're an addict, supposedly admitting you have a problem is the beginning of recovery, right? I'm coming clean, but I hope that I never "clean up," so to speak.

I'm obsessed with language. Even when I'm not working, my brain is still in work mode, constantly picking apart words around me, rearranging them, correcting grammar, condensing messages. Newspaper headlines, e-mails, packaging labels, each imperfect phrase is a word puzzle waiting for me to solve. Part of this obsession is due to a daily project that involves distilling news stories down to fewer than 200 characters. It has streamlined my writing by forcing me to increase my vocabulary, a pre-requisite for saying anything of substance in such a small space.

But what has really made my addiction worse is Twitter. Express full messages in 140 characters or less? Half the reason I like Twitter is because it's a personal challenge to convey the most information and tone with the least characters. It's truly a feat because I am generally wordy at minimum and "Are you seriously still talking?" at maximum.

Twitter's #haiku tag is also responsible for recent bouts of poetic expression. A scroll through my blog will tell you that Haiku News is a regular feature at True to Words. Crafting 140 character phrases is okay, but it isn't too challenging because unlike science or math, there aren't any hard-and-fast rules. But Japanese Haiku requires one to convey ideas in exactly seven syllables. Now everyday I get lost in an endless form of word Tetris, where fitting the correct phrase in the right place determines if I win or lose the game. A game that I find myself playing more and more each day.

So like I said, I'm addicted, but I'm not trying to sober up. Immersed in a world of wordplay as a freelance writer is heaven for me. What I really want to know is if anyone reading this finds themselves playing with language, too? If so, do you have rules for your "games" and what is your strategy for keeping your vocabulary well-stocked?

Lost in Translation

When I was 16-years-old, I became the co-editor of our high school's student-run magazine. I had been an avid contributor before, but I was excited about having the chance to be behind the scenes on a print publication (even if it was only read by other kids at our school). Additionally, I had known my co-editor for two years, highly respected his writing, and was looking forward to working with him.

This publication wasn't really a magazine in the traditional sense. We accepted pretty much any creative work that could be put on paper, whether it be poems, short stories, photographs, doodles and drawings, etc. When the previous editors were in charge, they just took the collected works, taped the random scraps of paper together, and made photocopies that would be distributed as an anthology. It had its own amateurish charm, but my teammate and I had other ideas: We would retype everything into the computer, scan all the photos and drawings, and then weave the images and text together so that the magazine itself was a completed piece. Then instead of printing it on plain white paper, each monthly edition was printed on its own unique color, like green, blue, or pink.

It was a great idea, we completely revamped the magazine and its popularity rose. More people were talking about it more often, asking when the next issue would come out and where can they make their submissions. But I eventually noticed that some of our regular contributors stopped sending as many submissions. I assumed they were busy.

Then I fell in love. You know, sickly sweet, puppy dog, high school love. Being the mopey teenager and aspiring writer that I was, of course my natural inclination was to write poetry. Lots and lots of love poems, most of which didn't rhyme or follow any general poetic guidelines - except for one full page poem of which I was particularly proud: Six to seven stanzas written in quatrains with all the frilly, Shakespearean style language I could muster. I worked feverishly until it flowed just the way I wanted it to, then I submitted it to the magazine under a pseudonym when no one was around.

When we put the magazine together, I did not reveal my secret - but I also didn't proofread my own poem when it went to print. To do so would have revealed my secret. When the magazine was distributed, I grabbed my copy hot off the press and went to my classes. A few hours later at study hall, I flipped through our finished work, stopping to read my poetic effusion of love.

It had the same title, and looked similar, but it was decidedly not my poem. There had been at least one change in nearly every line and in some cases, entire phrases. The quatrains no longer rhymed. The embellished language was subdued and awkward sounding. My co-editor had actually EDITED my poem so that it was grammatically correct. In doing so, he had completely changed its tone and message.

I was livid. It turned out that he had been editing grammar in most of the written pieces we'd received. The only works that hadn't been changed were the ones he had written himself. Suddenly I understood EXACTLY why people had stopped submitting - their works were being changed or outright censored by my "partner". While the previous editors sloppy-looking copy-job wasn't as crisp and clean, at least everything in it was the artists' original works.

I tried to explain to him that there was more to writing than having perfect grammar and obeying the rules of English language. Creativity doesn't follow any law or decree. I'm not sure if he ever quite understood it the way that I saw it, but the practice of altering other people's intended work was halted (except in the case of misspelled words).

I learned three things from this experience that have stayed with me until this day:

1. Always, always, always do a final read-through of any project before it goes to print, even if you're absolutely certain every vowel, consonant, and apostrophe is in place. Once its printed and sent out, there is no taking it back.

2. Know your audience. Our primary audience (or customers) was mostly our writers and when they saw that their original works had been changed without consent, they lost faith in the magazine (product) and stopped submitting (buying).

3. Sometimes conventional rules have to be broken in order to get a message across the way you intend it. Testing those boundaries can mean the difference between simply being understood or leaving a memorable impact.

Knowledge vs. Experience

I’ve been doing a lot of reading other people’s blogs, trying to garner some inspiration to help me write my own posts, and I came across this one by Jurgen Appelo called Professionalism = Knowledge First, Experience Last. It really got me to thinking about my own skirmishes revolving around experience, knowledge, and the gap that seems to exist in between. Nearly every job opening requires that someone have previous experience as if it’s the most important dimension of the perfect employee. This practice has grown more and more popular, but I don’t think it results in better outcomes for the companies that exclude candidates because they don’t meet a pre-determined set of criteria.

After I graduated from college majoring in English, naturally all I wanted to do was write for a living. “What are you going to write?” people would ask, and I would say “Whatever someone will hire me to do.” No one wanted to hire me, as it turned out. Though I had knowledge of my chosen field in spades, I did not have any “real world” experience. I was crestfallen. I couldn’t prove myself unless I got a foot in the door. How was I supposed to gain experience if no one would hire me due to my lack of it?

An even better question to ask may be “Is the time spent in a given position (experience) proof of ability to tackle problems (knowledge)?”

Appelo says that when he interviews people for a position:

I expect professional people to know what modern techniques and practices are. And if they don't know, then I'm not at all interested in their "X years of experience".

Later, he makes a poignant, if gruesome point:

Do you trust a doctor with diagnosing your mental problems if the doctor tells you he's got 20 years of experience? Do you still trust that doctor when he picks up a knife and ice picks, and asks you to prepare for a lobotomy? … Would you still be impressed if the doctor had 20 years of experience in carrying out lobotomies?

If given the choice between this doctor and, say, a second-year resident, which would you choose?

Pick a field or industry, almost any one, and all too often perfectly knowledgeable, talented people are passed over because they don’t have experience. Though there are entry-level positions available, in labor climates like this they are few and far between. On the flip-side of the same coin, I personally have known people with years of experience in a given field that lost their jobs and could not get hired into a similar post because they didn’t hold a degree. And in a category all by itself, everyone has seen completely inept people promoted to jobs beyond their grasp, simply because they logged a certain amount of years at a given company.

When rigid education or experience requirements rule out otherwise-knowledgeable candidates, companies end up losing-out on serious talent. Soon, they may have to start reconsidering the standards they’ve made for themselves. Despite recent financial turmoil the most experienced and largest generation ever seen in the workplace, the Baby Boomers, will be retiring over the years to follow. In the spaces left behind, some reorganization will have to take place and Generation Y (a.k.a. The Millennial Generation and the biggest one since the Boomers) will have to be part of that process. Because most of them have grown up with all the knowledge in the world just a few keystrokes away, they may be the most disproportionately knowledge-rich-but-experience-deficient generation ever. To fill the empty spaces that will be showing up in workplaces, hiring managers will have to start taking calculated leaps when it comes to the employees they choose.

Knowledge can’t be measured in years of experience. When that is more generally acknowledged in common corporate culture, it could result in a boost of productivity and innovation as fresh minds, flush with information and ready to prove their worth, tackle the problems of the day. Given the imminent departure of the Baby Boomers from the workplace, it’s going to be soon.

It could be another Renaissance in the making. The next question is: Who will be riding the wave and who will be left in the dust?

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Today, January 11th, 2009, is my one year anniversary as a freelance writer. Though I had been working as a proofreader, writer, and editor since 2004, it was just one year ago that I had had enough of the "rat race" and became a full-time freelancer after turning over my letter of resignation to my former employer. Someone asked in the comments on my first post how I had gotten into the field. I thought there would be no better day to explain my path to freelance writing than today. And then ask if other writers reading this blog could briefly share their experiences.

I went to college at the University of Minnesota, Morris, and graduated with a BA in English in December 2003. In April 2004, I started working for a small telemarketing company as an assistant and one of my main jobs was proofreading the scripts that would be read at the call centers. In December 2005, that company was bought out and I was laid off.

I was determined to collect unemployment until I found a position that focused more on writing or editing and didn't have any sort of "assistant" duties. I didn't have to wait long as someone at John Ryan saw my short resume and interviewed me for a Junior Editor Position. They knew full well that the only experience I had was what I'd learned in high school, college, and my one post-college proofreading assistant position. They took a chance on me anyway, much to my surprise. I worked on FlashPlayer spots for their in-bank kiosks. This is a system of plasma screens which have been mounted in 500 bank branches that play content to entertain people while they stand in line. Every day, I peruse national headlines and local news in 25 major cities and reduce the stories to 200 characters so they can be played on the screens.

It’s a fun job and they paid me well, but it didn't take up the full 40 hours they had me working. I felt like I was wasting their money and my time. I wanted to learn and do more copy writing, but they had other, more experienced writers for that. Also, having had a group health plan and 401k at my previous job, I really wanted to be employed someplace, not a contractor. I renegotiated my contract down to part time, strictly working from home. I still do that for them as of today and for the foreseeable future.

In January 2007, I took a job that I thought would make me happy with its withholding of taxes, health plan, 401k, profit sharing program, and mere 10 minute commute. It was proofreading the names, dates, and locations that would be etched into stone, glass, or metal awards. Mind-numbingly boring. Needless to say, this was a short-lived period of employment and the first time I have ever been fired. It was just too obvious that I wasn't a good fit.

Still working for John Ryan, I was able to support myself. Wiser that benefits won't make me any happier, I broadened my search. I took a position with a tiny advertising company that promised me all the copy writing I could handle. It really ended up being a glorified executive personal assistant position with the occasional written blurb. But working as an assistant to the principal, I had a better idea of how the advertising and marketing industry worked than before. Because I was so unhappy answering phones and composing e-mails, I quit, but with the knowledge that I wouldn't be seeking a new job. I even gave them a copy of the rates I would be charging for my services, and they became one of my clients (still are!).

I had already been writing short web content pieces for one of my favorite clients, Barker & Hedges. After they knew I had quit my job, they increased how much work I did for them. As I picked up more and more clients, I had more work to show to others who may be considering my services. They also talked to other people, and soon I was picking up local small business clients just on word of mouth. I gained confidence and started sending my resume and samples to newspapers and other marketing companies. Those that responded have become regular clients of mine.

Over the last year, I've had a lot of time to think about "How did I get here?" I've been asked more than once how I got into writing or became a writer, and I can't point to anything I did specifically. My part of getting to where I am now has been not being satisfied with a job that provides a paycheck and realizing that the group health plan and 401k aren't the grail. Even when I was comfortable, I wasn't happy and life is too short for that.

The real catalyst to my career path has been a handful of people and organizations that took a chance on someone with an unproven writing record but with a lot of enthusiasm for the written word. Seriously, when I went to John Ryan to interview for the job, I brought them college English papers and a copy of the high school student-run magazine I co-edited. I did not expect to leave that meeting with a job, but I did.

Now that business appears to be stable, I’m trying to branch out into more specific areas of writing that I want to pursue, specifically news and historical research articles. I only have a few under my belt, but I’m working on that. I’m also working on using photography to enhance my work. For the newspaper articles I’ve written, I’ve also been my own photographer!

Anyways, this is long enough. I thought it would be more easily explained, but every job I’ve had since I graduated has been a stone in the path to where I am at now. It has been a process, for sure, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love what I’m doing so much it almost doesn’t feel like work, which was the whole reason why I picked English as my major in the first year of college. As long as I can continue to seek new challenges and pursue new assignments, I will never tire of this.

So… Are there other writers that would like to share how they got to where they are? You can leave your response in the comments or if this inspired you at all (or your path is long, like mine), write a post about it in your blog and share the link here. I would love to hear from you and others who are trying to get into the field may as well.

My Blog - First Post

I've been meaning to start my own blog for a long time now. After all, I am a writer. I've been so wrapped up in working for other people, I've forgotten to write for myself. It has been stifling my creativity and leading to difficulties in accomplishing my work. There is an easy way to remedy that, right? Right. And here it is.

This blog will hopefully jump-start some creativity and help me improve my writing skills, while hopefully engaging other writers and readers in meaningful conversation. This isn't going to be some spectacular start, but it is a beginning. Now that this blog has been created, I can't use "I have no creative outlet" as an excuse. Here it is, in all its just-starting glory.

Though there isn't much here right now, I plan to add to this blog often over the next few weeks and months. Writing to learn and have fun is my goal, here. I hope that other people will read it and comment, so that some great conversations can be started.

Blog created, first post entered, ideas for additions in the future. So far, so good. Now for the more complicated part: creating compelling content regularly! Stay tuned... We'll see how this goes!