The Write Room

News!

admin — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 21:35:02 +0000

New Book Launch! We are launching the latest book by Vancouver psychologist Dr. Bea Mackay, titled Two-you work: How to work with the self in conflict on October 26, from 5:30-8:00, at Hycroft Mansion. Contact us if you are interested to join us for the launch!

Peter Philippson, M.Sc., Founder Member of the Manchester Gestalt Centre and Full Member of the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy, as well as author of Self in Relation and The Emergent Self’ wrote:

I am glad that Dr. Mackay has written this book. Too often, two-chair work has been taught as a technique, or as the whole of Gestalt Therapy, but without an understanding of how it fits with the theory and practice of the approach. What Dr. Mackay has achieved is to produce a clear, usable account of the method that honors its origin in a theory of relational selfhood and polarities. While there are some areas I would debate with Dr. Mackay (and have done!), I have no hesitation in commending this book as an important addition to training literature.

Dr. Mackay’s book will be officially launched on October 26, from 5:30-8:00, at Hycroft Mansion. Contact us if you are interested to join us for the launch!

Editing

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:18:34 +0000

All good writing is achieved through rewriting, and even the work of the most seasoned writers is advanced through editing services. An experienced editor can refine the message your document is aiming to convey, whether through style or form.

Whether we edit a fiction or non-fiction manuscript, our overall objective in working with your project is to improve your text, as well as to identify your work’s strengths and weaknesses. We also endeavor to show, through the revisions made, how you can improve your writing in general.

Editing Services

Writing

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 23:21:03 +0000

Writing—whether fiction or non-fiction—is, unlike what many people think, not a way to wrap up your thoughts. Rather, it is a way to think, making re-writing a process of re-thinking. In our view, all good writing is achieved through rewriting, making good writing a time consuming process. Yes persuasive and concise writing does not only take time, it also takes good writing skills. Not everyone has the time or skill to write effectively. Our experienced writers can use their expertise to express or refine your message.

Writing Services

Publishing

admin — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 23:21:23 +0000

The Write Room Press is an independent non-fiction and academic press. We publish non-fiction and academic manuscripts for specialized audiences, as well as manuscripts that challenge popular norms or ideas. In short, we publish works that may not be profitable enough for large corporate publishers.

By working closely with the author throughout the publishing process, we are able to publish and market books quickly and efficiently.   We can take care of everything needed to make your work easily accessible. Plus, we offer a variety of publishing and distribution options, professional presentation, and personal attention.

Our extensive experience with non-fiction, academic, and technical publications can work for you. The Write Room Press is the best way for non-fiction writers to quickly publish and market their work to a worldwide audience without the delays that typically accompany traditional publishers.

Publishing Links

Eliminate Clichés

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:58:12 +0000

After you’re done writing, look for clichés. Take a phrase out if it is vogue (bottom-line), frequently used (finding ones’ self), predictable (cry like a baby), or ill-defined (few and far between). To eliminate clichés in your writing, identify them, and think about what you really wanted to say. Then say it in your own way, without relying on ready-made expressions.

An example:

I crawled up in the fetal position and cried like a baby.

Two clichés here: “crawling up in the fetal position ” and “crying like a baby.”

Ask yourself what you really want to say: “I felt hurt, lonely, and sad.

Replace the ready-made expression with your own way of saying things. From Vancouver author Billie Livingston: “Tears scratched at my eyes like a wet dog at the door.” Another by her: “Resentment sat in my stomach like a cold slab of meat.”

Eliminate clichés and instead, create your own unique ways of saying what you want to say. It’ll make your writer’s voice stronger and your writing more engaging.

Qualifiers

In Strunk, White, and Kalman’s words (2000), “the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words” (p. 106). Qualifiers such as little, very, pretty, best, worst, I guess, rather, I think, sometimes, indicate uncertainty and willingness to concede. They weaken your argument. We tend to use qualifiers unintentionally; bring them to the fore of your mind and remove them from your prose.

For example: “Qualifiers can be pretty irritating, but I guess it will be rather tough to be very aware of using them. We are all a little guilty of using them sometimes.”

Anyhoo…

This word is one of the new words entered into the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in September 2009. Its increased popularity in North America to indicate a change of subject in the conversation has earned it a special and distinct entry. Certainly, some simplified words eventually take hold and replace the orthodox spelled version (thruway for example, and another recent one, blankie, added in December 2007 in the OED). Use simplified spelling with caution though. Being a lover of words, the aesthetic value of the word is, among other arguments such as the historic value and meaning of orthodox spelling, enough to warrant caution against toe curlers like anyhoo. Words like anyhoo, boyz, bratz, nite, and wassup are, even in informal writing, jarring, inhospitable, and just plain ugly.

Anyhoo, as Masha Bell points out in a BBC interview (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6250184.stm), “if u hav a por memmory yor chances of becumming a good speller ar lo. But wors stil, yor chances of lerning to read ar not good either, because of phonnic nonsense…”

U mite think simple spelling is butiful, but reading this onely slos me down. Plus, it’s ugly.

Writer’s Block? Try Focused Free Writing

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:56:47 +0000

Writer’s block, while a cure for writer’s cramp as Inigon DeLeon so aptly pointed out, can be a real pain, especially for those of us who are facing tight deadlines. If you are struggling to get going, try focused free writing to collect your initial thoughts and ideas:

Turn your computer screen off, or if you work from a laptop, turn the light off (just so that your inner editor does not get distracted by the red lines under misspelled words). Put a timer, watch, or clock beside your keyboard and give yourself five or 10 minutes. Once the clock starts ticking, write. Have your topic/question in the fore of your mind, and write, write, write whatever comes to mind on that subject matter. Do not take your fingers off the screen. Write for 10 minutes straight. Don’t worry about it if your mind goes blank for a minute and you end up writing, “I really have no clue what to write next.” Just keep on writing, fingers on keyboard. After 10 minutes, you can turn the screen/light back on, and you will find that there are sections you can use, ideas you like and can work with, or further develop.

Focused free writing is similar to a warm-up you might do before exercising and a great way to cure for writer’s block.

Less is More

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:56:08 +0000

Good writing is clear. If a word, a phrase, or a sentence does not have a purpose, take it out. Make each word count. A simple exercise can help you do this: Once you are done with a draft, reduce the word count by 30% without changing the content or meaning.

Some examples of unnecessary words that clutter from page 39 of Strunk, White & Kalman (2000). Elements of Style (4th ed.). N.Y: Penguin (This, by the way, is how to properly reference a certain edition according to APA style guidelines.)

* the question as to whether- whether (or the question whether)

* that story is a strange one- that story is strange

* he is a man who- he

* used for fuel purposes-used for fuel

* the reason why is that- the reason why

Be Kind, Avoid Initials

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:55:03 +0000

Some writers are so familiar with their own topic area that they tend to jump from A to C, assuming that the reader will be able to follow. Don’t assume! Take your reader by the hand and lead him or her from A to B then C.

One way to be hospitable to your reader is to avoid initials for the names of organizations or movements, unless you are sure that your reader is familiar with it. For example, not everyone may know what AA stands for, or BCAA. We all, at one time or another, come across these initials for the first time. A good rule of thumb: Write names in full the first time they appear in your work followed by the initial between parentheses. After that (once the reader knows it), use the initial.

Good writing is hospitable to the reader. Keep your reader and the need to be kind to him or her in the fore of your mind as you write!

Incomplete and Incorrect Comparisons

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:54:29 +0000

Good writing is clear and concise. Incomplete and incorrect comparisons take away from clarity, and should therefore be avoided. Yet many of the authors I work with have a tendency to use incomplete comparisons.

For example:

Incomplete: This technique will give students a more positive view of homework. More than what?

Wrong: A chicken egg is smaller than an emu.

Complete: Upon learning this technique, students will have a more positive outlook of homework than they had prior to learning it.

Correct but a bit wordy: An egg of a chicken is smaller than an egg of an emu.

Clear and concise: An egg of a chicken is smaller than that of an emu.

Ditto. Clear and concise: An egg of a chicken is smaller than an emu’s.

The Serial Comma

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:53:59 +0000

Debates about the serial comma are fierce and ongoing. I myself am a fan of the serial comma, the comma that is used right before a conjunction (i.e. and/or) before the last item in a list. I believe that good writing is clear and concise and the serial comma adds to clarity.

A much cited example, the book dedication: “This book is dedicated to my parents, Sam and Nicole.” It seems as if the author acknowledges four people, the parents and Sam and Nicole, but it is also possible that the author is naming the parents (my dad Sam and my mom Nicole). This is confusing. If the author meant to dedicate the book to four people, the serial comma can avoid ambiguity: “This book is dedicated to my parents, Sam, and Nicole.”

Another example: “My favorite dresses are blue and green, silver and black, red and white and blue.” Do I have three (i.e. one blue and green, one silver and black, and one that is red white and blue), or four (one blue and green, one silver and black, one read and white, and one blue)? The serial comma clarifies: “My favorite dresses are blue and green, silver and black, read and white, and blue.”