“For the love of all things literary, please quit banning words like ‘said’ in your classrooms,” he howled. He demanded. He cackled. He barked. He spat. He bellowed.
He Pleaded
Scrivening a New Scrivener
“The last thing your creative brain needs is a klaxon shouting WRONG while you’re in the middle of a creative thought. Eventually, as you use Neo, you’ll stop thinking about spelling and typos. This will push your creativity to the next level. You can always step through a spell check any time you like. But not while you’re writing.” Hugh Howey, author of the Wool series, proposes a new word processor called Neo.“I’m currently talking with programmers and consultants on how to get this done,” he writes on his blog, describing the application's potential features. “Might be a decade before anything comes to light, so don’t hold your breath. But I’m willing to invest the time and money to make this a reality.” Pair with programmer Philip Hopkins's meditation on code and writing.
Poem Piece
"Take your pants off / before you fight." Apparently Yoko Ono's releasing a new book of poetry.
Don’t Even Ask about the Goggles
Looking to show your fellow beachgoers just how rich and erudite you are? Then mosey on over to the Paris Review Store, where you can buy four pairs of nifty-looking swim trunks that each cost $320.
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This Is Just to Say [VARIABLE VARIABLE]
I’ve noted before how William Carlos Williams’s famous poem, “This Is Just to Say,” has become an internet meme, but I haven’t noted the ongoing and delightfully random “Just to Say” Twitter bot. And also, I haven’t before linked to Tammy Ho Lai-Ming’s riff on Williams’s rhythms.
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Love Advice from Chaucer
"Ich am Geoffrey Chaucer, and my litel poeme the Parliament of Foweles was the first to combyne the peanut buttir of Februarye the XIVth wyth the milk chocolate of wooing. And so Ich feel responsible to helpe wyth sum advyce on thys daye." Love advice from Chaucer, via NPR.
Sensitive Issues
You may have heard that Jess Row has a new book on shelves. The plot follows a man who undergoes a surgical procedure to change his race. In an interview at Guernica, the author talks to Grace Bello about writing and race, teaching in Hong Kong and what it means to grow up in Baltimore. You could also read the author’s Year in Reading entry.
Oscar Wilde Was a Self-Plagiarist, Too
Oscar Wilde’s first and only office job was as the editor of The Woman’s World, a British fashion magazine. Millions contributor Kaya Genç tells the tale, and even explains how Wilde self-plagiarized, too.
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The Most Evil Children
From the Telegraph, and only four months early for Halloween, comes a list of the most evil children in literature, from Graham Green's Pinkie Brown to John Steinbeck's Cathy Ames.
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I took this up a couple years ago: http://ellenakins.com/stop-using-those-strange-dialogue-tags-she-chided-exclaimed-exhorted-quipped-chirped-opined/
Just as long as we aren’t forced to go as far as Elmore Leonard in his unjustly celebrated writing tips: “#3 Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.”