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Out, damn'd cliché

November 20th 2008 00:08
bloggercise pen

Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.


Orwell's edict, a fundamental rule of good writing, is about clichés. The word is taken from the French word for stereotype. In English, we use it to denote words, phrases or ideas which have been overused to the point where they lose their force.


To say something should be avoided like the plague would have been clever, amusing and memorable back whenever that expression was fresh. With overuse, it has become dull.

Use of clichés is lazy communication. In text, they denote an impoverished writer. They are a sin, and every time you use one the ghost of George Orwell writes your name in a large black book.

What follows is a writing exercise. The five sentences below contain clichés. Identify the infected area, spray with a mixture of one part red ink and three parts editorial zeal, and rewrite with words kissed by freshness.

Post your efforts as a comment so we can all see how you did. For each good effort, George's ghost will remove one mention of your name in that black book.

My darling, you look pretty as a picture.

I'm warning you, don't tempt fate.

It looks impossible, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

She's not the sort to judge a book by its cover.

Do that and you open a can of worms.



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Bloggercises: Spelling 5

November 19th 2008 03:59
bloggercises pen

It is not hard to become a good speller. All it takes is a little practice. Look at the words below. They may or may not be spelled correctly. Write down these words the way you think they are spelled, then check the second list below the Chinese character for the correct spellings.

If you don't get them all right the first time, return in a day or two and repeat the exercise until you do get them all right.


destructability

seminary

withold

mischievous

oficious

benefactor

nintheenth

ashphalt

anguler

equilibrium

chinese character friendship

INTERLUDE
The Chinese character for friendship

destructibility

seminary

withhold

mischievous

officious

benefactor

nineteenth

asphalt

angular

equilibrium

See also:
Spelling 4
Spelling 3
Spelling 2
Spelling 1


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Bloggercises: Redundancies 3

November 15th 2008 02:28
bloggercises pen

This is a simple exercise aimed at helping you become a better writer. The exercise is not difficult. It is not a test. The aim is to foster the habit of checking for redundant words or phrases. Text cleared of redundancies shows that you care about your message. The rule holds for poetry, trash talk, descriptive prose, commentary etc.

In each of the following sentences, remove or change words to make the writing tighter. The answers are below.

----------------------------- ----------------------------- ----------

They have offices in more than 160 countries worldwide.

We are confident she will pull something out of the hat, so to speak, before she is due to address the nation.

As a spectacle, it was beautiful, fascinating and truly unique.

We expect announcements to be made shortly.

As per usual custom, this store will not open on New Year's Day.

I will be there punctually at 8.30am tomorrow morning.

Put that report in an envelope clearly addressed "Refer back to author for corrections".

Having listened to the evidence, we are fully satisfied as to her innocence.

The American GOP party is in mourning.

Mixing with the general public every day can be tiring.

Bloggercises interlude
INTERLUDE
Morning Hair, by Torii Kotondo (theartofjapan.com)


They have offices in more than 160 countries.

They seem confident he will pull something out of the hat before he is due to address the nation.

As a spectacle, it was beautiful, fascinating and unique.

We expect announcements shortly.

As usual, this store will not open on New Year's Day.

I will be there punctually at 8.30am tomorrow.

Put that report in an envelope clearly addressed "Refer to author for corrections".

Having listened to the evidence, we are satisfied as to her innocence.

The American GOP is in mourning.

Mixing with the public every day can be tiring.

With help from grammar.about.com


See also:

Redundancies 2
Redundancies 1
Redundancies 1 Answers


29
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Orble challenged by Kiwi blog site

November 12th 2008 19:08
Haven't I seen this all before? Are they copying someone's business model? Is Orble's dominant position at risk? And look, they're offering a "commission equal to 75% of the revenue derived from their page views". Where's my abacus - oh, they only take 25% of what you earn compared to Orble's 50%.

The gauntlet is down. The heat's on. Let the Bloggisloe Cup commence


[ Click here to read more ]
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Heavyweight book store title fight

November 10th 2008 00:22
book store

The world's biggest book store is at 20 Edward Street, Toronto.

[ Click here to read more ]
47
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bloggercise pen

We have looked in previous postings at some of the characteristics of high-end literature. In terms of rules and definitions it can be anarchic: the emaciated prose of Hemingway, the opulent writing of Atwood and the chaotic creations of Joyce are all, by popular acclaim, worthy of the highest accolades of literature. So what can we learn from this in terms of rules of good writing? At first sight very little. At first sight we are given an overwhelming impression of vastly different styles adding up to the same thing: literary merit. Come up with a unifying definition of great literature from this sort of evidence? Might as well try to build a house from moonbeams and quicksand.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Bloggercises: Spelling 4

October 25th 2008 00:27
bloggercises pen


It is not hard to become a good speller. All it takes is a little practice. Look at the words below. They may or may not be spelled correctly. Write down these words the way you think they are spelled, then check the second list below the Chinese character for the correct spellings. If you don't get them all right the first time, return in a day or two and repeat the exercise until you do get them all right


[ Click here to read more ]
30
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Bloggercises: Redundancies 2

October 24th 2008 20:09
bloggercise pen
This is a simple exercise aimed at helping you become a better writer. The exercise is not difficult. It is not a test. The aim is to foster the habit of checking for redundant words or phrases.

Text cleared of redundancies is a sign of an effective writer. It makes your reader feel comfortable


[ Click here to read more ]
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10 rude rules for troubled bloggers

October 15th 2008 03:50
1.
Stop moaning. Stop whining and pouting and looking for someone or something to blame for your blog's lack of success. Admit that this is your fault. Yes, it is. Go on, say to yourself, "This is my blog, this is my responsibility, this is my doing." There, feels strange doesn't it. That's because you are now ready for point two.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Defining good writing

October 14th 2008 00:13
I have struggled to define "good writing". We all know what it is, but can you put it into words?

A Google search on "definition of good writing" offers remarkably few useful results. The first page of offers links to Orwell's five rules for effective writing, to guides on good "content" and "what makes a good writing assignment", to a definition of what makes a good blog ("There are sqillions [sic] of blogs out there and I canot [sic] read them all", it starts, which is where I stopped), and to "Landmark Essays on Bakhtin, Rhetoric, and Writing


[ Click here to read more ]
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