Volume IX, Issue 21
May 20, 2020
Word of the Week: friendly
Dear ,
When Under Construction member Kathy Brown read us her blog post "The Art of the Friendly Letter" a few weeks ago, we all cracked up.
Yes, it's a lesson in punctuating a friendly letter, but it's also a very funny story about homeschooling during the time of coronavirus. (It's this week's featured writing, so you can check it out below.)
It was truly a happy day when warm, friendly Kathy (front right, in the grey top) joined the group.
Photo courtesy of Mary Struble Deery
Kathy brings a great sense of humor and strong writing skills to this class that supports writers in accomplishing their writing dreams and goals. (If you're interested in learning more about Under Construction classes, email info@wordplaynow.com. There are just a few open spots in the bonus summer sessions I'm offering via Zoom, and it's a perfect time to try one out to see if this is a good fit for you.)
You can read below to hear Kathy's thoughts on her fellow writers. I'm crazy about all of them! While I miss meeting in person, how grateful I am each week for Zoom, so that I can see their faces in what we refer to as our "Hollywood Squares." (Well, either that or the "Brady Bunch!")
May you be greeted, either online or in person, with friendly faces this week, and perhaps a friendly letter or two as well, with all the commas in the right places.
Love and light,
Maureen
These two books are for anyone who is grieving the loss of a loved one—whether the loss is
impending, recent, or in the past. (The holiday season, for all its overt merriment, is often a time we struggle the most with grief.)
The contemplative exercises within are a guide through the “many waters” of grief (from Madeleine L'Engle's A Two-Part Invention), including "treasuring" and "keeping" as well as regret and sadness.
What is grief, after all, but a sign of the depth of our love? On the far shore is always gratefulness, for, as the French proverb says, “Gratitude is the heart’s memory.” Those who enjoy writing will likely also find poems, essays, and/or stories emerging as they make their way through these
pages.
I created the process shared in these two books in June of 2002, shortly after my mother died, as a way to mindfully mourn this loss—and celebrate her life. I shared it with a beloved friend, the Reverend Rebecca Taylor, when she lost her father, and she encouraged me to make it available to others. Here it is, in two versions, both of which offer quotes, reflections, prompts, and space to write about your loved one, as well as beautiful photographs by Wendy H. Gill that enhance each part of the process. Either
version makes a thoughtful condolence gift for a friend or family member.
How Do I Say Goodbye? is for those of any faith, with quotes from many different sources to accompany the process. It can be purchased on Amazon here.
Praying You Goodbye is specifically for Christians, with accompanying quotes from Scripture chosen by Reverend Rebecca Taylor. It can be purchased on Amazon here.
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION: YOUR WRITING
(Fulfilling Writing Dreams & Goals;
Revising & Polishing Your Writing)
Special offering! If you'd like to try out a class like the one Featured Writer Kathy Brown speaks of below, there are a few spots available in WordPlay's short summer
sessions. I'd love to talk with you to discuss if the class is right for you. Email info@wordplaynow.com for more information.
This class is designed to fulfill your writing dreams and projects. You’ll set goals and support structures and watch your writing flow! You’ll also get feedback on your
work (any genre) and learn revision tools and methods. Through examples of accomplished writers, you’ll learn techniques to aid you right where you are in the process.
* For the benefit of participants, an audio recording of the class will be made each week so that participants are able to listen to classes they miss and/or review material
covered at any convenient time and place. These recordings are available throughout the class session, along with all handouts, in a shared Dropbox folder.
WHERE: ZOOM from your own
home
WHEN: Wednesday mornings from 10:00 a.m. – noon
(Other class time/day of week may be available. Email info@wordplaynow.com for more information.)
COST: $35 for one
session
TO REGISTER: Please email info@wordplaynow.com to start the registration process by filling out a short “Clarity Tool” to share your writing dreams and goals and where you are in the process. (Anywhere you are is a perfect place to begin.)
Featured Writer
Meet Kathy Brown
Kathy Brown is a writer and freelance copy editor when she’s not making sandwiches for her three sons. After graduating from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism (BS, MS),
Kathy was a staff writer and editor at various magazines, first in Charlotte and then in London, where she lived with her husband from 2000-2003. After returning to North Carolina and having kids, she was the copy editor of Little Ones, a local parenting magazine, for eight years, and a contributing writer for Business North Carolina and Charlotte Magazine. These days, in between carpool runs, she focuses on writing fiction and recently finished writing her first novel.
Kathy is also an avid reader and semi-professional coffee drinker who’s obsessed with proper punctuation.
Find out more about her editing services and read her grammar and punctuation blog at www.kathybrownwrites.com/blog.
What Kathy says about WordPlay
As a journalist, I was accustomed to writing nonfiction articles, but I had never been trained how to write fiction. When my youngest son started kindergarten, I finally had the time to fulfill my lifelong dream of writing a novel. I quickly discovered that it was a lot harder than I’d imagined! I found myself buying books such as Writing Fiction for Dummies and spending long
hours alone with my laptop at the kitchen table, frustrated and out of my element.
It wasn’t until I joined Maureen’s Under Construction class two years ago that the pieces finally started coming together. Through Maureen’s loving guidance and my critique group’s priceless feedback week in and week out, I began to understand the elements of fiction, and I began to write with confidence and enthusiasm. This spring, in the midst of the pandemic quarantine, I completed writing my
first novel, a contemporary adventure story for middle-grade readers. I can honestly say that it never would have happened without the support of Maureen and my classmates. What I needed most was a group of fellow writers to coach me, challenge me, and cheer for me, and that’s exactly what I found through the writing community that Maureen fosters.
Featured Writing
The Art of the Friendly Letter
by
Kathy Brown
Oh, the joys of quarantine. My husband and I have tried to use the extra time to teach our three boys a variety of “real-world” skills. He showed them how to change a flat
tire and how to build a fire. We taught them how to play Spades and paid one to figure out how to put together our new patio furniture.
I took it upon myself to teach them the art of writing a friendly letter.
“What do we write?” one said.
“Why can’t we just text whatever we want to say?” said another.
“Why would you pay to mail a letter when you can email one for free?” the eldest said.
“All good questions!” I replied. “But you can’t go through life not knowing how to write and address a letter.”
“I bet we can,” one said.
He might have been right, but I persevered, because as a friend recently pointed out, unless we teach the children about the postal system, their adult selves won’t know to check their mailboxes regularly and will subsequently default on their
car payments.
It took my children all of three minutes to handwrite their letters—one to a cousin, one to Nana, one to a friend. Then it was time to address the envelopes, and that’s when the fun really began.
They struggled with where to put the return address. Where exactly does this stamp go? How large should I write the addressee’s address? How small is too small? How can I possibly fit that whole address in that space? Gross, I’m not licking
that.
Then one child inserted a comma after the state postal abbreviation. My blood froze.
“No commas after postal abbreviations!” I shouted, because at that point, my patience was as thin as their word counts.
There is a punctuation lesson here, and I’ll keep it brief, because reliving the friendly letter session is giving me a headache.
When addressing a letter, use a comma after the city name but never after the state postal abbreviation. For example:
Charlotte, NC 28270 (CORRECT)
Charlotte, NC, 28270 (INCORRECT)
Back at the table with the friendly letters, massaging my temples, I explained that this punctuation rule conflicted with the rule for state names found in the text of a
letter or a book. In that case, you always include a comma after both the city and the state, and you should spell out the state’s name instead of abbreviating it.
For example:
I live in Charlotte, North Carolina, with my kids who despise writing letters. (CORRECT)
I live in Charlotte, North Carolina with my kids who despise writing letters. (INCORRECT)
I made my children march their letters to the mailbox signed, sealed, and addressed properly. Things were decidedly unfriendly at that point, and I told them to text me if
they needed me for anything before dinner.
~ from www.kathybrownwrites.com/blog
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt
This is WordPlay—so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's “friendly.”
PROMPT: Write a friendly letter of your own to someone who would love to hear from you. Then address, stamp, and mail it. Or write a letter poem. Or, if you're a fiction writer, have one of your characters write another character a friendly letter.
MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of
Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and three collections of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water.
She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, “We are meant to midwife dreams for one another.” Maureen also believes that serious “word
work” requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best
learn—and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours!
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