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Begin to wonder what you do write about. Or if you have anything to say. Or even if there is such a thing as a thing to say. Limit these thoughts to no more than ten minutes a day; like sit-ups, they can make you thin. -- Lorrie Moore
 I wonder how many people I've looked at all my life and never seen. -- John Steinbeck |
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The
writer should never be ashamed of staring. There is nothing that does not
require his attention." -- Flannery O'Connor
All images ©April Minerd
A feeling
[not regret]
craves breath.
An omission
[not hope]
grates against a throat.
Winded lungs
lend to nerves
sensations
[not hers]
denied
with words.
Sitemap:
· About April
o Biography
o Contact
information
o Twitter
· Photography
o Images
by me with brief introductions to each piece
· SHU Blog
· Creative Writing
o My
fiction/poetry
o Samplings
of the revision process
§ Writing Tips
o A
collective of websites I believe to be helpful to writers
§ Book List
o The
books I've read or am reading
o Books
on the writing process
What has been my progress in Writing for the Internet you ask? I can now successfully edit images and create videos for the web, and I am in the process of learning html, which is as daunting as it sounds. I have improved the titles of my entries since portfolio 2, and it shows in that I received more comments this time around. From this course, I am becoming conscious of the role of audience in internet based writing as well as how to make that writing accessible and user friendly.
Interaction...
I commented on several of my peers' blogs. I am the anonymous contributor on Bethany's blog talking about dialogue as a writing prompt. I talked a little about children in the music industry and Willow Smith's career with Ashley. I commented on the quality of Erin and Patrick's multimedia project.
Depth...
I talk about commitment and what it means to blog purposefully in Blogging as Goal Fulfillment.
In Dear Semicolon, I spend some time commenting on punctuation usage as a stylistic choice.
Discussion...
In this tweet, I link to an outside source that pinpoints the pros/cons of ranting in a blog, which I shared with Beth Anne.
My entry on Julie Powell's choice to blog her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking started a nice discussion about the purpose of blogging.
Outside Material...
I incorporated photos, videos, or links in each of my blogs. If I mention/ reference something my readers might not be familiar with, I always link to content that will help orientate them with the subject.
Ethos...
17.5 Thoughts Entertained on Route 119 is an example of my propensity for reflection, especially regarding the mundane.
Convention...
A Picture and a Word is an entry where I used multiple images that I cropped in Gimp then stored in Picassa.
Kayla and I's multimedia project best represents the progress I am making with technology.
Dear Semicolon,
I
wish I knew you better. Your mysteriousness was intriguing at first, but now it
is just frustrating. If things do not change, if I cannot make sense of your
touch and go ways, I am going to have to say goodbye - forever.
Conditionally
yours,
April
The semicolon has been omitted entirely; it has been used superfluously. Kurt Vonnegut hated it; Virginia Woolf adored it. And in the last two sentences, I think I've technically used it properly. The problem is using a semicolon is more of a stylistic decision than a grammatical one. It is also one form of punctuation that is entirely unnecessary. According to Noah Lukeman, in A Dash of Style, which I am pulling my information from, it is a punctuation best suited for the creative writer. But how is a writer to decide when to embrace the semicolon?
Like the comma, its uses are up for debate. The semicolon has been called the bridge between the comma and the period and has several functions in writing. Its modern usage was established by Italian painter and publisher Aldus Manutius. Lukeman explains the semicolon as a luxury that elevates from the utilitarian, and that your use of it can reveal a lot about you. Over-users, for instance, are likely to be more prose than plot oriented.
In short, the semicolon can slow the pace of your writing and give it an artistic edge. But one has to be careful to use it rightly, else she looks amateur.
Here are a couple writers' views on the semicolon:
Sometimes you get a glimpse of a semicolon coming, a few lines farther on, and it is like climbing a steep path through woods and seeing a wooden bench just at a bend in the road ahead, a place where you can expect to sit for a moment, catching your breath. - Lewis Thomas
Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college. - Kurt Vonnegut
What is your
relationship to the semicolon?
Make yourself necessary to somebody. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
To have a child is momentous. It is to forever have your heart go walking around outside
your body. - Elizabeth Stone
There are no facts, only interpretations. - Friedrich Nietzsche
I was born modest; not all over, but in spots. - Mark Twain
All images ©April Minerd
©2008, Horia Varlan
I am eager for a near future filled with Christmas cookies and books of my own selection, a moment of breathable space before the spring semester. I intend to steal some ME time somewhere in-between the holiday chaos. I am hoping to get in a few good reads. I don't yet know what.
That is where you, whoever is reading this post, come in. Tell me what I should read? Tell me to read your favorite book, poem or author. Just make sure to tell me why.
Be passionate about your suggestions! If a work impacted you in a remarkable way, I'm interested to hear about it.
Recent Comments
Irina Benoit - Hypnotherapist on A Picture and a Word: There are no facts, only inter
April M. Minerd on The Book List: Thanks for sharing, guys. I ha
April M. Minerd on A Picture and a Word: Actually, it's a blind deer an
April M. Minerd on 17.5 Thoughts entertained on Route 119: Thank you. And no. I am a beli
PatrickSchober on 17.5 Thoughts entertained on Route 119: Interesting thoughts, I just h
PatrickSchober on A Picture and a Word: Great stuff. Is that a deer an
PatrickSchober on Dear Semicolon: Haha, I love this! And I appre
Bethany Bouchard on The Book List: My favorite book is White Olea
Matthew R Moore on The Book List: I’m looking forward to the bre