Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with writing and resolved

How Do We Get Into Grant Writing?

musofire — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:40:24 -0800

How can we get into grant writing for other people? I've had good luck getting money out of the Canadian government for my screenwriting, I've done successful book proposals, and my wife has done all sorts of other successful applications. I am told a grant writer can claim 30-35% of a successful grant. How do we get into this line of work?

Difficulty of writing and speaking English?

ragtimepiano — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:25:53 -0800

Is English much more difficult than most languages to speak and to write? I have a good friend who is a high school English teacher. He is frustrated by the many errors in the papers he grades. Some common errors: "Your" for "You are"; misuse of the apostrophe, such as "apple's for sale"; improper grammar such as "Me and him went to the game".
We are wondering if students in other countries speak and write incorrectly as much as American students do? I speak a little Spanish, and I realize Spanish is an elegant, easily pronounced and spelled language, with a grammatical structure that maybe makes more sense than that of English. But French? And how about the convoluted syntax of German?
Multi-linguists of the hive mind, what do you think?

Help me become a better scientist

Lord Force Crater — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:27:11 -0800

My goal is to have a career as a successful researcher in the biological sciences; however, I do not like writing. Is my goal unobtainable? I'm currently working on my master's degree and I've considered pursuing a PhD. Before deciding, I'd like some hive wisdom on what the future holds for me as a scientist. I'm very confident in my abilities to conduct experiments and use the proper methodology to generate results. I'm able to troubleshoot procedures and instruments, quickly become competent in new techniques, and really grok the technical aspects of whatever I'm working on. But when it comes to writing out what I've done for publishing, I falter. I feel like what I'm writing is trite. I'm not confident in my abilities to write clear, informative discussions of experiments and to correctly interpret the results. If I'm not certain that what I'm doing is being done properly, I procrastinate. When the deadline is no longer avoidable, I rush through the writing and the resulting spew is quite poor. My writing angst has me feeling like a one-trick pony.

If anyone has been in a similar position and successfully moved on, I'd like to know what steps you took to prosper. I feel that my understanding of English grammar is quite poor, and I think that may be contributing to my writing insecurities. I'm also afraid that what I put down will be construed as plagiarism. I need to know how to gain confidence in a skill that I don't really consider myself to have an aptitude for, but must do so in order to make clear my abilities that I'm really proud of. Not enjoying the writing process because I feel that I'm incapable of doing it properly is crushing me and disappointing my colleagues.

How can I talk to children?

meadowlark lime — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:16:01 -0800

How can I talk to children? I'm working on some writing projects that require me to know how children talk. I think I have a fairly good ear and memory for it from my own childhood, but you inevitably forget things, or you never would have noticed certain patterns when you were a child.

I would like to speak to children aged 6 - 13. I cannot think of a direct way to do this. Obviously, I'm not going to be the creepy guy lurking around a playground with an open notebook. I think observing classrooms would help, but I don't know any teachers who live near me.

What I'd like to do is to be able to sit down with some kids with a tape recorder running and just talk to them in a free-ranging way. How can I set something like this up? I don't want people to think that I am doing market research for some corporate product, or misrepresent my intentions in any way. Do you think there is some kind of school / church / community group that would let an outsider come in to talk to kids?

need publisher, imagination will travel

gypseefire — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:49:06 -0800

I've recently begun work on a children's book. It is inspired by my granddaughter. I was wondering if anyone had any information on how to get a children's book published? Suggested Publishers? Also, any other information pertaining to this process, would be appreciated. ***I realize that children's books are a dime a dozen...but mine just might be spectacular ;)***

What well-known novels lack any character description aside from names?

odinsdream — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:05:32 -0800

What well-known novels lack any character descriptions aside from names?

I can't think of any famous hellholes.

Jason Land — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:58:13 -0800

A friend of mine is writing a memoir about traveling to every country in Europe at the age of 23. He wants to compare being stuck in a crappy part of Romania to a well known literary or film hellhole. We can't think of any. In the book he's talking about being stuck in a crappy part of Romania for 20 hours, instead of the short layover he expected. He used the placeholder of Amity Island (Jaws). This obviously doesn't fit as it's a pleasant place with the exception of the killer shark in the water.

We can't seem to think of anything that most everyone (of the US literary audience) would be able to recognize. We're thinking of things like Silent Hill, Sleepy Hollow (in the story, not the real life place). I feel like we're both missing something super obvious. It can be from any pop culture reference, as long as most people will get it.

Would a suitable solution be something like "East Germany, circa 1960"?

Club Fundraising

Holygrail2 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:53:18 -0800

I'm trying to think of ideas for creative-writing-related fundraisers I'm involved in a college club dedicated to promoting and cultivating creative writing among members. We get together and have free-writes and brainstorming sessions, etc. I'm trying to think of some fundraising ideas for our club that will both a) be effective and b) incorporate creative writing.

I'm not great at this sort of thing. Any ideas?

(I'm trying to find a way to incorporate the upcoming NaNoWriMo too but, again, I'm not great at this sort of thing).

Improve your writing by imitating the greats.

ekpyrotic — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:10:41 -0800

Improve your writing by imitating the greats. I am a middling writer. I have won college writing awards. I once published two pieces in a national newspaper.

I am eager to learn. At night I often find myself scanning http://delicious.com/search?p=writing. The result is frequently the same, either (i) the articles are old, or (ii) the content is old news, Use the active voice, Delete unnecessary words, or other Shrunkian globules of wisdom.

I have read that there comes a time when you should turn to the masters: Hemingway, Nabokov, Chekov, Kafka. Read them; distill their lessons; imitate them.

How do I do that? Are there specific exercises?

Political Speech Writing

roxie5 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:03:23 -0800

How to break into speech-writing, specifically political speech-writing? My boyfriend, who is a staff person for a state senator, is interested in writing more speeches. But how to break into such a thing? While he writes some remarks for his current boss, his job is mostly administrative. He is, of course, keeping an open eye at the capitol and making contacts, but is there anything else he could be doing to make more opportunities for himself? He is a great writer so if anyone has any tips on getting into this field, they would be much appreciated it!

Reporter's notebook

Brittanie — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:07:27 -0800

Journalists' notes: how do they take them, store them and reference them later? I am looking for resources and tips on how journalists take and manage notes, especially how they store them for later reference.

I've read this question but specifically I'm looking for info on the actual taking of notes and then organizing/filing them away once the story is finished.

What is an extended abstract?

JoshSmith — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:04:39 -0800

What should an extended abstract (in the humanities) look like? This is for philosophy in particular, though I assume it might be a similar style for other disciplines. I'm responding to a CFP which asks for both an abstract and an "extended abstract." I'm unfamiliar with extended abstracts in the humanities, and most resources online are directed towards science writers.

To be clear, the CFP requests that applicants submit both an abstract (< 100 words) and an extended abstract (1,000-1,500 words). The papers themselves are expected to be under 7,000 words.

What all should be included within an extended abstract? References? What level of detail is usually expected? 1,200 words comes to about 2-1/2 typed single-spaced pages, and I'm well aware this is not a lot of space to go into extensive argumentation.

Any direction anyone can provide would be fantastic. Thanks in advance!

Insert Creative Title Here.

the NATURAL — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:05:10 -0800

You are a subscriber to McSweeney's and/or The Believer. Convince me that [either magazine, or both] is worth the not-insubstantial subscription costs. I've heard great things about both of these periodicals, but living in Hawai'i (not the most literate or quirky of places) finding these to peruse through and form my own judgment will be next to impossible.

And, although there's a special offer ($90/both for a year), that's still a pretty penny for someone like me, fresh out of school with meager wages yet an insatiable need for literary input.

Please convince me to:
- subscribe to one
- to subscribe to both
- to subscribe to neither
based on what you've experienced of McS/TB.

Thanks, MeFi.

Shoot for the moon...

Muirwylde — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:20:19 -0800

Got space-related idioms and phrases? "Cool your jets", "Jumpin' Jupiter!", "Heavens to Mergatroid!", "Over the moon!", "Off like a rocket!", "Out of this world"... So fellow space cadets...got any space-themed idioms and phrases I can add to this rather short list? I'm stumped. I know a lot of these are 50-60's era but don't want to preclude older vintage and more modern phrases. What'cha got metamind?

What does it take to author and illustrate kids books?

filthy light thief — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:10:58 -0800

My wife and I are interested in writing and illustrating kids books and getting them published. I realize there are plenty of neat books great illustrations, so what's the best way to find out what we'd be getting into if we were to pursue this as a hobby, or even as a main source of income?

My obsession with Miss Manners knows no bounds

ThePinkSuperhero — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:41:02 -0800

I need help finding something Miss Manners said about budgets and guest lists. I've been searching my copy of the blue bible, but I haven't been able to find it so far. It might still be in there, another book, or a column. Heck, it could be some other etiquette writer (but I doubt it, because I love Miss Manners above all others).

The passage said that when you're putting together a guest list for a party or a wedding (I thought wedding, but I've scoured that section and found nothing, so maybe it was something else), you should think first of the people you want to invite and then build a party from there based on what you can afford to provide for those people, instead of thinking of your party first and your guest list second.

I want to reference it in something I'm writing because the thing I remember was so Miss Manners and so perfect, but I cannot find it and I hope I didn't imagine it. If you can find it, a link or page number would be most appreciated, because I am going crazy.

Where can I find the best writing on the internet?

jpg15 — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 01:29:38 -0800

Is there a web site which recommends the best writing on the net on a periodic basis? There are plenty of great blogs and websites out there to read, and no shortage of recommendations. This post, for example, recommends lots of different sites. But I find my own interest in wading through all of it on a feed reader gradually waning. I am wondering if anyone knows of any human-run site which recommends excellent writing.

I am interested in high quality, thoughtful, even controversial writing on any subject. The closest thing to this that I am aware of is Arts & Letters Daily, but a significant number of their posts are book reviews or appeal strictly to very well-read humanities students. I am interested in suggestions which draw from the features and opinions of all of the major US (or English-speaking world!) newspapers, magazines, blogs, and sites.

Can literary journals ask for a reading fee?

uans — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:32:52 -0800

There is a literary journal currently asking for a $1 "handling fee" to fast-track submitted stories. Is this okay? What really, is the point of asking for a dollar?

Anyone know an online tool that randomly scrambles the order of sentences in a body of text?

holdenjordahl — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:04:33 -0800

Does anyone know of a free, online program that, for lack of a better phrase, I'll call a random sentence scrambler? I see there are a lot of anagram makers but I want one for about 500 word bodies of text. Theoretically I could paste in the text and it would spit it out with all the words intact, the sentence structure preserved, just arranged into a new sequence. Thanks.

I don't know, I just write this stuff...

EmpressCallipygos — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:22:00 -0800

I've picked up a freelance job writing simple financial-advice articles, but now and then the topics they give me to write about don't always work. Sometimes it's easy for me to spot the ones that don't make sense -- but not always, because I don't have a financial background. Can someone who does tell me if this statement (inside) about loans makes sense? This is a very basic-info type of site -- I've jokingly called it "Finance For Dummies" -- which features 200-500 word articles in a lot of discrete topics. For each of my assignments, I'm given a title (which I CANNOT change), and a couple key words. I must write the article to fit the title -- for example, if I get the title "How to apply for a HUD loan in ten steps," the article must describe the process one goes through to apply for a HUD loan, and I must have exactly ten steps. You get the idea. But I just got a title which sounds completely nonsensical. I've been asked to write about: "Should I Prepay My Credit Card Debt Consolidation Loan?"

Now, from what I'VE found, it isn't even POSSIBLE to prepay a debt consolidation loan. As I understand it, a debt consolidation loan means that you take out one big loan to pay off smaller loans, and then you make monthly payments towards that big loan. Am I right about that, and if so, am I right that you cannot prepay a debt consolidation loan even if you wanted to? Or is there something about the world of debt consolidation that I don't know about?

Fortunately, if I get an article title that doesn't make sense, I can contact the editors for clarification (I recently did that for something that made no sense whatsoever, and the editor agreed that he didn't get it either and changed the title); but I'm often loath to do so, because I don't have a financial background, and I like to be sure that any of my misunderstanding isn't just my own ignorance talking.

Thanks.

How can I become a better writer in English?

papalotl — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:19:27 -0800

Help me be a better writer in English (as a second language) I'm a native Spanish speaker. In Spanish, writing is my life. I've been writing short stories, poems and essays since I was a kid. I keep a literary blog and I believe my writing is quite good. I graduated as a journalist and a multimedia producer, I worked as an editor and for a long time I worked creating digital storytelling techniques. Writing and storytelling is what I enjoy doing.

I now live in the US. I've been working in bilingual settings for 10 years and I can translate quite well. My English is fine for everyday communications, email and technical documents. My conversation is OK, I make mistakes and I have an accent, of course. I read voraciously in English, mostly contemporary literature, non-fiction, everything I can get my eyes on. I scored 117 out of 120 on the TOEFL and in general, I have no problem writing short, boring, mediocre copy. It also takes forever: these 4 paragraphs have taken me 40 minutes.

I've tried grammar books, style books, writing technique books... they all seem designed for people who are native English writers. All ESL courses I've found are designed to take people to a functional level.

I feel like I've lost my only superpower. How can I become a good writer in English? Should I take English composition college courses? Any other ideas?

How to read this French date?

rom1 — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:22:31 -0800

How to read this date written in French? Obviously, the letter was written in Verdun, in 1920, on the 17th but of which month?

Note Tab

FunkyHelix — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 06:40:00 -0800

I'm looking for a Firefox add-on that would open a note pad into a new tab. I tend to write in a program called Notetab Plus. But I'll write a couple minutes, my mind wanders, and then I'm checking e-mail and surfing the web. Eventually I save my work and close out the writing program because I get irrationally annoyed at running a browser and another program.

What I'd like is just a plain note pad add-on that would throw up a tab to type away in. Then I could go do something else and come back to the writing. I think I'd be more productive.

I know I could just open something like Google docs in a tab and then protect the tab. But I don't want Google docs. I just want a little notepad. A big blank tab that I can just write in.

I've tried searching through the add-ons, but I'm not seeing anything like this. Maybe you know of an add-on, though, or something like it?

need to write a will, on the cheap

LittlePumpkin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:53:45 -0800

can i write a valid, effective will without a lawyer? are there helpful, free models?

Alien vs Hunter gets made but my friend's script doesn't?

arniec — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:04:35 -0800

Help me understand the writing industry, specifically as it relates to Hollywood, etc. I really hope this is not dismissed as chat filter as I have a specific question, but admittedly this question is based in assumptions and opinions.

I have several friends who are living in L.A. and trying to be hired as screenwriters. One has entered several screenwriting competitions and even won a couple 2nd and 3rd place awards in minor competitions. Yet these friends, for the most part, cannot get anyone to review their scripts or even really give them the time of day. By the nature of what Hollywood is they all "know a guy who know's a guy" but nothing seems to come of it.

These are people working their butts off, working day jobs and working nights writing more scripts, but they get nowhere.

Now I had always written this off to "Hollywood has more people wanting to work than they need (be it actors, writers, directors, etc) and so a large amount of people go unemployed."

However recently I read a book called Crystal Lake Memories about the making of all the Friday the 13th movies, and in it Sean Cunningham talked about how his film company has people pitching him scripts, but because he is a small company they're only pitching it to him after it's been pitched to, and passed on by, all the major studios. And thus, per Cunningham, many of the scripts are sub-par.

So part 1 of the question is: why can't an aspiring writer who is actually GOOD pitch to Cunningham and his ilk, so that small film studios like Cunningham get good scripts by unknown writers rather than crap scripts by people who are already processed through the system?

Then part 2 is: Given the utter CRAP that is made, movies like Mansquito and Atomic Twister, Mother May I Sleep With Danger, etc. how is it that talented individuals can't even get their scripts looked at, but yet such utter tripe is not only seen, but produced and released?

I'm not saying any of my friends are the next Charlie Kaufman, but their stuff is certainly better than Manticore.