Human Poet or Computer Bot - You Decide

 

A little fun for the Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday this week.  An amusing and fascinating site: Bot or Not. A lot of fun for poets and amateur poets - other readers and writers as well. Read a poem and decide whether a human or a computer wrote it. 

Enjoy!

One Writer’s View On Daylight Savings

It isn’t often that I go off on a rant – well at least this kind of rant. Mostly as my followers know I write about writing and reading and associated things in that area.  But this does apply to writers and workers. It’s hard to create, work, whatever when your brain is fuzzy from screwed up sleep cycles.

So, today I can’t help it. I don’t know about you but I, personally, am so sick of Daylight Savings Time I could hurl invectives at the nearest politician, local or national.

Really, for something that was begun in the early 1900’s (I hear so workers could work all day, then do some gardening in the evening for the war effort – correct me if I’m wrong on that), aren’t we done with it yet? 

It’s simply idiotic, jerking us back and forth twice a year between one time an another.  And now with it beginning even earlier in the year, courtesy of the late Bush administration, we barely begin to crawl out of the deep morning darkness of winter when we’re thrown back into it again. The average worker who gets up at 6 a.m. to go to work now gets up and goes to work in the pitch black. Kids who were seeing daylight for more safety at bus stops are now in the dark again (I understand there are more school bus crashes as well when daylight savings sets in though I have no statistic to back that one up). Statistically more heart attacks occur the week after daylight savings. Sleep patterns are wrecked (I fall into this category) for weeks after.  There are all sorts of negative effects of daylight savings.  Don’t believe me? Just Google “detrimental effects of daylight savings” or “negative effects of daylight savings” and watch the millions of pages pop up (no kidding, over 2,300,000 last time I googled – many of them relating to health problems it causes and talking about countries that have sensibly stopped the practice).

All this so it’s lighter a little longer in the evening – big whoop. 

Look, there are so many hours in the day.  There are so many hours of sunlight and darkness, determined by what time of the year it is. That’s it. Pick a time and stay with it. Enough of this ongoing idiocy.

And many people agree with me.  In fact I can’t talk to someone who doesn’t ‘hate’ daylight savings time. Trouble is everyone just stumbles through it like the Zombie Apocalypse and no one complains – except to each other.  And the ones who don’t actually hate it are generally pretty neutral. It’s a really rare bird who loves it.

So why is it still here? Is it yet another case of ‘follow the money’? I know I for one pay higher utility bills this time of year courtesy of this obnoxious foolishness. It’s dark when we get up, lights go on. It’s cold because it’s dark. Heat goes on.  Are there other monetary reasons I can’t quickly come up with?  If one occurs to you,  add it to the comments here.

I’ve written to local politicians trying to lobby for it being eliminated in our state (like Arizona sensibly has done a long while back) and I’ve written on the national scale to Congressmen and Senators. None seem to want to do anything or even really think or talk about it.  I guess they’re too busy well, screwing up the finances of the country or worrying about things like declaring a national cookie.

Folks, if you really don’t like Daylight Savings time, take a minute to email your local representative at state level AND your Congressmen and Senators. Heck drop the Pres. A line while you’re at it.  Because unless people start complaining to someone besides each other, nothing’s going to change – except perhaps for the worse as this latest jerk into the abyss originally by the Bush administration and now sticking to this Obama administration – proves.

Really, it needs to end. Stop it already.

End of rant.

Writers and Readers Websites Wednesday - Emerald City Comicon

 

All right readers, writers, and comic book lovers - Emerald City Comicon is almost here - March 28-30 at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle Washington. My writer niece, Corinna Bechko and her great artist and writer husband Gabriel Hardman will be there with a whole lot of other folks - so what're you waiting for?

I Know All Those Words - The Writer's Confusion

“I know all those words, but that sentence makes no sense to me.”

 ― Matt Groening

How many of us have been there when we’re reading? You read a sentence, then read it again, then shake your head. If the book or script is good otherwise you may well try continuing to read, hoping you won’t run across another sentence like it, or you might give up.  For myself, I plunge on as soon as I can sort the meaning out, but be warned writer, do it again and you’re likely to lose me as a reader.

As a writer, those kinds of sentences are horrifying. Especially if you wrote it! I doubt there’s a writer out there who hasn’t been rereading a piece he or she’s written and paused, did a double take and wondered, ‘what was I thinking?’ It’s kind of a scary zone to be in and it just re-emphasizes the need to reread time and again. And if possible, ask others to read as well. And may I add, reading out loud doesn’t hurt either when making sure the material you’ve written actually reads smoothly and makes sense. It’s all part of keeping readers in the wonderful fantasy trance they enjoy when picking up a book to escape with.

So how do jumbled, unintelligible sentences and paragraphs happen? 

It’s so easy as the writer to make this error. You know what you’re thinking, you know the plot and what the characters are up to and you might have gotten into a real zone, writing furiously, sure every word you’re laying down is brilliant. You become blind to what’s actually being laid down on the page (whether computer screen or paper) because you know what’s happening and it’s downright exciting.

At other times you might be tired, have written past your limit and what comes out onto the page when you press on isn’t the most intelligible copy. Sometimes you have to write it badly first, that’s okay.

But, this is why writers talk about, emphasize and beat to death the idea of rewrite.

Rewriting, editing and rereading is where you can catch jumbles like what Mr. Groening is talking about.

Regrettably I can’t give you a magic wand or provide the perfect formula for eliminating this problem in your writing. There’s no software (yet) that I know of that can catch this kind of snarl like your spell check can highlight misspellings (though of course you better  reread anyway to catch things like ‘there’ and ‘their’, or ‘dessert’ and ‘desert’, etc.).  Even if such a software is developed I’ve no doubt it won’t be any more perfect than your spell check.

On your own, bravely facing the storm, it is up to you, to ferret out snarls, to clarify your thoughts and to make sure they come across to the reader in a clear manner.

So readers have a laugh at the writer’s expense. This whole writer thing just might not be as easy as it first appears.

And writers, let’s try to give those readers less reason to put our books down. Engage, clarify and draw the readers in.  

Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday - the Blog of

Yes, today I'm recommending the blog of fellow writer Seumas Gallacher. He's a Scottish Kilted Author living in Abu Dhabi where I gather it's rather warm most of the time. Maybe the kilt is cooler.

Good for some grins, some good books. and all around nice guy.  Did I mention he's prolific as well?  

Hook up with his blog and enjoy.

Writers Love Their Readers

And not surprisingly they want them to keep reading.

So what is it that might make a prized reader just stop reading, set the book aside, give up? Fantastic to hear your book kept a reader up all night, okay to know they stick in a bookmark and take a break, just awful and nightmarish to think that reader won’t pick the book up again.

So why don’t they pick it up again? 

There can be many reasons, but here are a few basic ones you might consider while writing.

Is there too much description? Do you go on and long with long, flowery descriptions and narrative that just doesn’t move the story forward. The days of the writing of the classics is long past and the reader today want succinctly written scenes with few details allowing their own imaginations to take over. It’s a fine line to walk, but there you have it. Too much, too long on the description, narrative and wandering dialog and the reader is, well, bored into putting the book down.

Are your characters realistic? Are they so bland they’re boring? Do they have quirks and problems that are unique and unusual?  If your characters don’t come across a real people with real problems odds are your reader is going to slap that book down and not pick it up again.

Did you hear somewhere sex sells?  Offensive language gets attention? Violence rivets the eye?  Well, yes, to a point. However, in general, readers don’t appreciate all that. If ‘all that’ isn’t key to a character or essential to moving a plot forward, don’t just write gratuitous sex, violence and filthy language scenes because the feeling is they’ll ‘sell’. There are moments where those things belong in a story, but make sure they do BELONG before you put any in. If it seems to your readers that you’re just waving it before their faces for shock value, odds are they’re going to put that book down. And they’ll look for your name on another book – so they don’t buy it by mistake.

Have you got firmly held beliefs? Moral codes of your own? Your own way of seeing the world?

Great!

Use them to move readers with a powerful theme, but don’t preach to them. Readers hate preachiness. If instead of being drawn in by an engrossing tale your readers feel you’re trying to force your own agenda on them, to cram a message down their throats, they’re going to turn on you. Keep in mind not everyone shares your values and point of view. There are many world views out there. They may well be hooked by a well-written story based on a viewpoint at a one hundred and eighty degree flip from their own, but that doesn’t mean they’ll tolerate being told they have to share that perspective. Preaching is a big turn off and frequently the reason a book is cast aside. If you want to get a ‘message’ across, be more subtle. Make it into a powerful, positive theme in your book and let the readers come to their own conclusions.

Hope these handful of hints is cause for thoughts. And readers, be sure and share other reasons you have for not finishing a book below in the comments. Good writers always want to know.

Writers and Readers Websites Wednesday - Looking for Answers

Writer? Reader? Student? Just curious? 

Here's a great site for research and answers. Answers.com

Animals, cars, taxes, sports, history and politics, hobbies, science, technology and much more. Sail on over and rummage about for answers to fill in your research gaps, for personal info, or just for the heck of it.