I'm 23 and still can't apostrophe!

I have been saving this blog post for the last week of class because it is something that is very embarrassing to admit. In school, we dedicated an entire unit to the apostrophe. We learned when to use it, when not to use it, and what it means. I was paying close attention during this unit - because the apostrophe is something I have always struggled with - but the rules didn't stick.

Honestly, I was beginning to believe that I was one of those people who were destined not to understand how to properly use this very important piece of punctuation.

Then, Lindor Reynolds from the Winnipeg Free Press wrote a column that discussed the apostrophe specifically. She called herself the "Cranky Grammar Lady," and she made some valid points (even though she did make some spelling and grammatical errors of her own). After discussing the article in class, I decided that it was time I learned how to use the apostrophe correctly once and for all.

Over the last few days, I have conducted a self-help apostrophe session. I read the Canadian Press Stylebook, re-read the grammar book from Writer's Craft, and searched online for websites that offered additional information. I think I've finally got it figured out, and now I will explain how exactly the apostrophe works.

To the best of my knowledge, that is...

Let’s start from the beginning. In the dictionary, the apostrophe is defined as "a sign that is used to indicate the omission of letters in a word, to indicate possession, or to show contractions."

Here are some examples of each:

1) When indicating omission: she’d, it’s, ‘30s, couldn’t, won’t, and he’d.

2) When indicating possession: the children’s toys and a person’s legal rights. But, dealing with possession is a little bit more complicated than that.

• Use an apostrophe + s (‘s) with:
• Almost all single nouns: Mr. Bates’s House, the class’s record, and a fox’s bushy tail.
• Plural nouns that do not end in s: women’s rights, the people’s voice, and the geese’s flight.
• Use an apostrophe (‘) alone with:
• Plural nouns ending in s: the two girls’ coats, the boys’ gymnasium, and the parents’ car.

3) When indicating contractions: can’t [cannot], what’s [what is], we’re [we are], and so on...

• Do NOT use an apostrophe:
• With possessive personal pronouns such as his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs, and whose.
• With ordinary plurals or verbs: stores, stars, etc...

The Canadian Press Stylebook has additional information about when to use an apostrophe and when to exclude it, but it’s just too much information to remember at once. My recommendation is to look up specific situations on a case by case basis.

A good way to check if you need an apostrophe is to try and substitute the use of “of.” For example: In the sentence: “Amanda’s house was well-organized,” think of “the house of Amanda was well-organized.”

If you still are confused about proper usage of the apostrophe, here are some games below that can help. They are mostly for children, but are still quite helpful. Try using the “of” rule as you go through and answer the questions.

Basic Sentences game: http://bit.ly/aBnLlp
Re-write the sentences quiz: http://bit.ly/dnVWaf
Apostrophe trivia game: http://bit.ly/cJuiVx

Tips for bloggers

Last Tuesday, Wendy Sawatzky – online content manager for the Winnipeg Free Press – spoke to our Editing for Print and Online Media class. She discussed her job, what it entails, and what it is like working for the Free Press.

Sawatzky also provided a list of tips and guidelines that a writer should follow when publishing anything to the web. I hadn’t really thought too seriously about my blog posts – and how I format them – but after talking to Sawatzky I realized format is everything. Online editions of newspapers are competing against everything else (Facebook, television, phone calls, email, etc...); therefore, the content must be designed in a way that is easy to read, interesting, and eye-pleasing.

Below, I have included a list of tips for online writers and bloggers...

When writing something to be published to the web:
- Keep paragraphs short (100-ish words or less)
- One idea per paragraph
- Break up copy with subheads
- Bulleted lists are great
- Use active verbs

When writing a headline for the web:
- Keep it short
- Keep it factual
- Include specifics (such as geographical information and names)
- Use key words (this will make a headline more searchable)
- Make your headlines “Elevator door” headlines (If you had to explain the most important information about a story to another person, and you only had the amount of time it takes an elevator door to close to do so, what would you say?)

When including links:
- Make sure they work
- Make sure the site you’re linking to is reputable
- Clearly explain what the reader will find at the link (meaning, don’t simply write “click here”)
- Only link to sources outside your own website when necessary

When including images:
- People look at images of things they want to buy and/or consume
- Most people ignore online advertisements
- Ordinary stock images that look staged are ignored
- Moving graphics and photo galleries are beneficial, but only if the reader is in control of how and when they move (none of that automatically-changing stuff)

When adding a video:
- Keep it short
- Keep it relevant
- Clearly explain what the video is about

Hopefully these tips are helpful! They sure changed the way I format my posts.

Save that extra info

In class, we have been talking about different ways to edit effectively. I have been writing my IPP full-time for just over a month now, and I want to share one of the most important editing tools that I utilize.

One of the first tips my journalism instructor gave me when I started CreComm was to keep everything I write. If an assignment called for 400 words, and my initial draft was 600, he said to keep those extra 200 words because one never knows when it's possible to fit them into another assignment, story, or document.

I started doing this, and continued to do so for the entire first year of school. I kept one Microsoft Word document labelled “Cut Pieces” open at all times whenever I was writing something. Every time I decided to leave a piece out, I would copy and paste the information into this file first. At the very least, that extra stuff might make a decent blog post, I would always think to myself. Now, at the end of the year, that first Cut Pieces document has over 10,000 words in it.

When I started my IPP, I created another Cut Pieces document, just in case. I have been shuffling through my stories lately, adding a thousand words to one, three thousand to another, and removing quite a few paragraphs in the process. Then, on Friday morning, I decided to read through the Cut Pieces document to see if there was anything good worth expanding on. I found a blurb that I wrote three weeks ago. It looked fairly promising, so I copied it to a blank document, and started writing...

It took seven hours, but the blurb I found turned into a draft of one of my six short stories. It is currently 13,500 words, and I’m quite happy with it.

The moral of the story is this: keep everything you write, because you never know when something that was decent in the past will become perfect in the present.

Before I end this post, here's another tip: When revising a document, make a copy and label it as the second edit of that particular piece. Keep the original as it is. That way, you will have a preserved copy of your first draft, in case you can use it later for something else, and also a second copy to make edits on.

CP Style perfectionists... majority or minority?

Last week, I was helping my friend Kristen write a letter asking businesses for prizes for her upcoming wedding social. As we were racking our brains to find the right wording, I also instinctively ensured the letter followed proper Canadian Press Style. Kristen asked me what exactly I was doing when I changed the number “9” to “nine,” so I explained the rule behind numbers. I also explained a few other general rules, such as spelling PM as p.m., and when to use a comma versus a colon. Kristen listened – bless her heart – and commented that it’s crazy how many different rules there are for proper spelling.

Then, last night, Kristen and I were talking. She mentioned that she now notices how numbers are spelled when reading articles, and that she thinks back to my little mini-lesson about CP Style. I thought it was great that someone actually took the time to listen to me and remember one of the rules.

We started discussing the “general public,” and mused over whether or not most people have even heard of CP Style. News writing is experienced in print and online formats by people all over the world, but do readers know the amount of effort that goes into each story to ensure it is both technically and grammatically correct? After a lengthy debate, we both agreed that no, most people don’t know, and probably don’t care, how “nine” or “p.m.” are spelled in the article they are reading.

So, why bother in the first place?

This question has been stuck in my mind all morning. If most people don’t care how a story is written, why do journalists take such pains to ensure they follow the proper format? The CP Stylebook is almost 500 pages long, and it includes everything anyone could ever think to ask about how to write correctly. Numbers, grammar, pronunciation, cultural sensitivity, it’s all there. Both the right and wrong way to write something is clearly defined for any journalist to look up and follow.

In my opinion, Canadian Press Style is extremely important. Print journalism is a major news source, and it presents local, national, and international issues to the public in an objective and easy to understand format. If journalists are able to write as they please, and follow any format they like, the medium is not consistent.

And consistency equals credibility.

In CreComm, we have something called an Auto Fail. If we spell a proper name incorrectly, or have an obvious spelling error, we automatically fail the assignment. This may seem cruel and unusual, but it forces us to get it right the first time. There are enough errors in news stories as it is, and our instructors want to make sure that once we graduate, we will always get it right.

Next time you are reading a story in a newspaper or online, take a look at how the piece is written. What do the numbers look like? What about punctuation? Someone had to go through the story and edit it before it was published. They checked facts, double-checked proper names, and ensured every word properly followed Canadian Press Style.

Just in case you’re still curious about what rules I’m referring to, I’ve included a few from the CP Stylebook below...

1. In general, spell out whole numbers below 10 and use figures for 10 and above.

2. Percentages should be written as per cent, and do not use the symbol. But, write out the word percentage (as in “percentage points”).

3. Follow spelling of official names, even when it is at odds with Canadian Press Style (e.g. Tim Hortons is actually incorrect).

4. Monetary units should be preceded by a dollar sign, and do not write the word “dollars” after the amount (e.g. $2 not $2 dollars).

5. Write p.m.

6. Use figures for numbers up to 999,999. Above that, switch to words (like million and billion) if absolute precision is not required.

7. BUT, when writing a headline, many of the above rules are null and void. Just to make things a little more complicated.

Confused? It happens. But at least you’re one step closer to understanding the importance of CP Style!

Can you read this?

We have been talking about eye tracking in class this week, which is how a person experiences words and visuals on a page. One of my classmates mentioned a website that used the below passage as an example, and I thought it was quite interesting. See if you can read it...

I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too.

And, just to compare, here's the correct paragraph...

I couldn't believe that I could actually understand what I was reading. Using the incredible power of the human brain, according to research at Cambridge University, it doesn't matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter be in the right place. The rest can be a total, mess and you can read it without a problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself, but the word as a whole. Amazing, huh? Yeah and I always thought spelling was important! See if your friends can read this too!

Pretty interesting, eh?

Read every line.

Since I entered CreComm last fall, I have started looking carefully at everything I read. I question what the writer was thinking, where they obtained their information, and what circumstances surrounded the story. But more than anything, I search for spelling and grammatical errors.

Writing a grammatically and technically perfect piece of writing is hard work. It takes a lot of time and dedication, and a person really has to know what to look for when trying to edit.
In class last week, we were talking about the fact that basic spelling and grammar really isn’t taught effectively in school. Most students learn the parts of speech early, and have a refresher course in high school. That’s not nearly enough exposure, and the number of twenty-something’s who don't know what a noun or adjective is astounds me.

With that being said, I have included a few grammar sites that I think are quite helpful...

http://www.grammarbook.com/english_rules.asp
GrammarBook.com - This site breaks down basic grammar and punctuation rules. If you're confused about when to use a comma or colon, check it out!

http://www.splashesfromtheriver.com/spelling/spelling_rules.htm
Splashes From the River - This site explains some basic spelling rules. It's worth a read, and even if everything seems common sense, the refresher is good.

http://www.creativeteachingsite.com/humorgrammar.htm
Humorous Grammar Rules - This site is funny, but the rules make sense.

http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/branches/elearning/tsl/resources/subject_area/ELA/ELARR/Spelling.shtml
Spelling - This site is decent enough. Read the poem

Hopefully some of these websites will help. Maybe not. At the very least, they are an interesting read.

P.S. If there are spelling or grammatical errors in this blog, I quit.

University essays... I don't miss you.

In CreComm, we are taught to write. Now, I don’t mean that we aren’t able to write. We just don’t know how to write in specific formats until we are properly trained. Journalism news stories, public relations news releases, and advertising copy. These are just some of the things a first-year CreComm student becomes acquainted with, and we are worked hard to refine each medium. Out of every class and every style I have been introduced to this past year, I must admit that I found writing for journalism to be the most difficult.

I had just graduated with a history degree, and the four years preceding my entry into CreComm were spent writing essay after essay after essay. University professors are specific about what they want to see in university calibre essays, and what they really want are words. Lots and lots of words. Big words, little words, simple words, complex words. It doesn’t matter. Throw a 15,000 word essay at a professor and you’re good to go. Things are not so simple in CreComm, and I found myself struggling at the beginning of the year to adapt to the difference.

I have spent the past eight months in journalism class learning to cut out unnecessary adjectives, construct stories in inverted pyramid style, and refrain from editorializing. My first story of the year was a testament to my university days, and despite being quite embarrassed about the piece, I will share what I wrote. We were given an assignment in which we had to interview a classmate and write about them. I really wanted to impress my instructor, so the following was my lead:

It was with the early morning traffic and first shift change of the day that Thomas Shirtliffe entered the world peacefully on January 24, 1990, at 6:30 a.m.

Ouch. That’s pretty much as wordy and watered-down as imaginable, and there is unecessary stuff floating everywhere in that sentence. I’m not even going to touch the fact that the sentence itself is crap. The point I’m trying to make is that I was used to making sentences long, drawn out, and full of descriptive details. That seemed to be how one was supposed to write in university.

My instructors comment about the lead was as follows: Why is this significant or interesting?

U huh. He’s got a point. When writing a history essay, many of the details can be uninteresting or downright boring. But professors want those details, so students deliver.

When writing a journalism story, everything that is not necessary or relevant should be omitted. After that, the story should be edited, revised, and cut some more. If your best friend’s, sister’s, next door neighbour’s grandmother didn’t have anything interesting to say, don’t quote her in the story. Don’t use a phrase like “his achievement level blossomed and flourished by leaps and bounds” when “he improved” will suffice. Finally, don’t assume things and include them as fact. How do I know if there was traffic the morning Thom was born? What if the shift change was at five-thirty, and not six-thirty? Why did I think writing that was a good idea in the first place? Granted, you’re not supposed to make things up when writing most essays either, but whenwriting for journalism,a falsified detail is the best way to be shown the door.

I am glad that I had the opportunity to attend university, and learn to write essays. I am also glad that I started attending Red River College, and have now learned how to edit, chop, dissect, and otherwise mutilate a piece of writing until it contains only the most important words. It has made me a better writer, and has taught me that it isn’t always necessary for a sentence to be long and detailed for it to be interesting. Hopefully, by the end of my summer class, I will be the best editor I can possibly be, and I will be able to axe any piece of writing to perfection.

Before I end this post, I want to include another example of my own writing. Just before class ended for the year, we were given the same assignment as at the beginning of the year. We interviewed a classmate and wrote about them – again – and the point of the exercise was to see if our skills had improved. Here’s what I wrote for my lead the second time around:

Sports are an integral part of life for many men and women throughout the world, and for Keith McCullough, they are also a necessity.

At least I didn’t mention his birth date, time of birth, or circumstances surrounding his birth. I think that’s progress.

Funny billboard errors never cease to amuse

This summer, I am taking a course called Editing for Print and Online Media. Each week, my classmates and I are required to write a blog entry about something related to the course. For these entries, the possibilities are endless. I can write an in-depth expose about my hatred of the semi-colon, discuss the horrors of an auto fail, or rant about adjectives. Or, I can continue with what I have compiled below, and let pictures do the talking.

I felt it would be fun to include a few photos of billboards and signs that have very obvious – and stupid – spelling errors. If I was responsible for editing ANY of examples below, and made such obvious errors, I would quit my job on the spot, move to Mexico, purchase a small hut to live in, and spend my days alone with a pet crab musing about how I failed at life. Enjoy!