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Posts Tagged ‘Canadian spelling’
By the time I knocked off on Monday, I’d already received two get-rich-quick offers about writing ebooks. By the end of the week, I expect my inbox will be bursting with them. Now that everybody is getting tired of talking about Facebook, ebooks are the next big thing.
The pitches all go like this: Turn your archived content into an ebook that will rake in millions while you sleep. Get ready for your closeup with Jon Stewart.
Ignore that an ebook involves a lot more than pasting dusty old content into a shiny new template. Don’t think about the many months it takes to produce something primed to go head-to-head with the competition from traditional heavyweights and the coming flood from self-publishers.
Stuff my Dad says
As my Dad asked when I told him I was writing an ebook: “But why would you write a book, now that everyone with a computer can?”
After I brushed away the little-girl tears, I told myself the old coot doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Two years later, getting ready to publish the second edition, I have to concede he had a point.
Because everyone can publish a book, lots more will. So your book has to be good. Make that spectacular.
Stuff Seth Godin says
Just ask ever-bright Seth Godin who has been blogging about this for The Domino Project where many of us ebook writers are seeking advice and support.
Let me be honest and admit that my first edition, a PDF on my website, did not even keep us in groceries, in large measure because I didn’t tell many people aside from my family, friends and subscribers. I had read all the hype about quality content going viral and figured I would be discovered, much like Lana Turner in Schwab’s Drugstore.
After talking to my readers and the people who took my workshops, I realized I had missed a few things. The reason the second edition is taking so long is that I keep coming up with more. I’m taking the project much more seriously than when I dreamed of going viral. Now I’m working at it.
Sloggers and slooks
The get-rich-quick guys would tell me to stop being so fussy. They were giving bloggers the same advice a few years ago. They kept telling us to post raw and frequently, writing quality and subject expertise be damned. How many of those sloppy bloggers — I will call them sloggers — are still around?
If you’ve seen my kitchen cupboards, bookkeeping or blog typos, you know that I will never be a perfectionist. Not even close. But my book has to be my best. Not a slook.
When I tell people I’m writing an ebook, some offer to let me write theirs. No, they won’t pay me for that lost weekend, a week if it’s complex. But they’ll give me a big cut of the money they’re confident will flow in.
No thanks.
Listen to what you need to hear
It’s not that I don’t think they have enough content, some languishing on their site, the rest lodged in their brain. Because they listen to the people who tell them what they want to hear, they don’t appreciate the huge investment of time and editorial skill involved in pulling it all together. Then there’s all the money for chores they should not do on their own.
If there’s an ebook in your soul, go for it. I’m thrilled that the doors have opened. Just be prepared to pour in years of learning, months of prep time and days of worrying.
That is how legends are made. After all, the Lana Turner story turned out to be a hoax. Going viral is way harder than sneezing on people when you have a cold.
I’ve always known that clear writing was behind much of what’s good in this world. We need to understand each other. Often we do that through the written word.
An article earlier this week in the Globe and Mail quotes a report about a Windsor, Ontario hospital where two cancer-free women were given mastectomies because of inaccurate tests and other problems.
On top of concerns about medical and management issues, the authors insisted that “reports need to be complete and readable. Inconsistencies, ambiguities or significant typographical errors can lead to misinterpretation by clinicians, treatment errors and miscommunication to patients.”
The next time someone fails to grasp the importance of clear writing or thinks all I do is “add spin,” I’m sending this link.
I thought about it again, this morning when I was reading comments in the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators) Linked discussion about why business communication is so awful and how we can improve it.
Natalie pointed out that “there’s no obvious ROI because poor writing doesn’t generally sink ships. It just alienates customers and prospects…produces unsuccessful proposals and reports…and creates hugely inefficient organizations. Not to mention all those unknown missed opportunities.”
If unclear hospital reports can contribute to surgical mutilation, there’s every chance bad writing could lead to much worse, not just in hospitals.
I’d love to start collecting examples of when unclear writing sinks ships. Do you have any you’d like to share?
Recently my colleague Judy Gombita questioned my use of American, instead of Canadian, spelling. She suggested I was “pandering” to the Americans.
I became concerned when Judy said she sometimes stops reading Canadians who choose American spelling. I don’t have the numbers to risk losing any readers. I love you all!
In an email exchange, we debated Canadian versus American spelling. I’m sharing the gist here, to calm any Canadians who might stop reading me and to encourage some dialogue about our mashup of flowery British and plain American spelling.
The way I see it. American spelling is a baseball cap. British spelling is the fancy hat.
Canadian spelling is not the winter toque of our stereotype. It’s more like a baseball cap with random feathers. Not a good look.
Pandering is so last century
Before I explain more about why I prefer American spelling, let me stress that I am not one to pander, especially to Americans.
Like most Canadians, I think we’re better than the American because of our much lower rates of crime and gun ownership and somewhat lower levels of obesity and personal debt. And don’t get me started about their healthcare, racism and Wall street crooks.
Despite this, I have American friends, work for American clients and enjoy American TV, movies and books. Like Judy and I, Canadians and Americans enjoy a lively debate on many issues and sometimes agree to disagree.
To be honest, I feel sorry for those proud Americans, who see their world status sinking while Canadians swim merrily along. But I digress.
Simpler American spelling
I choose American spelling because it is simpler. Why write the Canadian “centre” when “center” is easier to understand. I don’t care about Latin roots.
Then there’s the superfluous “u” we add to “neighbour.” How can that be better than the American “neighbor?”
Judy expressed concern that I might have trouble switching back and forth between different spellings. No problem.
Individual idiosyncrasies
As a freelancer, I often have to adapt to clients’ style idiosyncrasies. This is a particular challenge with capital letters, when one clients wants only proper names and the first word in a headline capitalized, while the next insists on capitalizing every concept currently loved by the CEO.
Then there’s my Canadian client expanding in the U.S. Though corporate insists on Canadian spelling, there’s no way those American employees and customers are going to voluntarily switch.
Style whimsy
Spelling and style are often more whim than Canadian Press Style Guide. For example, I have one client who insists on using the word “alumni.” No good reason, but at least she’s consistent. Unlike the Art Gallery of Ontario and other bipolar places that use both fancy hat “programme” and baseball cap and Canadian “program.”
With all this inconsistency, and my desire to communicate clearly, can you blame me for deciding on my own preferred style when I’m blogging?
As I wrote in my book, Write like you talk–only better, it’s best to pick a style you’re comfortable with and apply it consistently. Unless you’re given box seats at the Royal Ascot and make an exception to dress for the occasion.
Pro-choice spelling
I don’t understand why Canadians like Judy strongly defend our American/British spelling compromise, though I respect their right to choose.
But given the choice, when I’m not writing for clients, I prefer the simpler American spelling. So do other respected Canadian bloggers like Mitch Joel.
I’m surprised that Australians go for the fancy hats, given their reputation for crocodile hunting an surfing. A hangover from colonial times, the influence of Dame Edna or what?
Then again the Aussie blogger Darren Rowse spells mostly American, though he told Judy he encourages his writers to use their country’s choice of spelling.
So tell me, people from outside the United States and United Kingdom, which spelling hats do you wear?
Does it matter if some people prefer fancy hats while others sport baseball caps?