Canada Writes - Deadline November 1, 2013

It's that time of year again.  Canada's richest literary award for unpublished writing in poetry, short story and creative nonfiction.  As such, there are thousands of submissions each year.  It's a tough little competition, but a writing highlight I look forward to each year.

I have been contributing to this award for almost twenty years and approach it like an exercise. This is my chance to add a little pressure to my writing mix.  My regular writing routine is invariably stress free, boundary free and deadline free.  I contort my creative writing time around full-time commitments, and this is the fate of many budding Canadian writers.  The Canada Writes contest is an opportunity to stretch under a mild pressure.

The reward: at the top of the heap are six, first place awards of $6000.00 in each of the three categories, French and English.  Your win is published in Air Canada's enRoute Magazine.  A two week writing residency awaits you at the Banff Centre.  CBC will interview you on live radio.  And to this, there is the exposure of your work to the national audience.  This is a wonderful and potentially valuable opportunity.  So contribute.  You just never know.  It might be the start of a new career.

CANADA WRITES Online.

New Words From the OED

Here are some of the tech-inspired new words entering the dictionary:

• click and collect
• derp
• digital detox
• emoji
• FOMO
• hackerspace
• Internet of things
• MOOC
• phablet
• selfie
• space tourism
• squee
• srsly
• TL;DR

   LINK for BBC piece!

Words, Communication and Community as a Power

Oh the world we live in!

You know, in certain situations, telling it (or writing it) like it is can be the best avenue of approach, especially when dealing with an act so unconscionable, so morally deplorable it knots one's stomach in apoplectic rage.

The author of a hate-filled letter directed at Max Begley, an autistic boy from Ontario, has inspired the ire of an entire nation, if not the world.  The letter went viral, and the overwhelming response to this self-described "pissed-off mother" has been loud and reverberating disgust.  Though none have been as colorfully eloquent as Canadian Blogger, Idnami.  Her clear, overtly sardonic, matter-of-fact, and yes, sometimes saucy retort to this repugnant woman sends a clear and appropriate message - bullies are assholes and need to be called out with all the vim, vigor and legal support an empathetic society can muster.

Now, I love words.  Their endless shapes and subtlety of meaning.  Idnami's letter contains no subtlety.  And it shouldn't.  Here simply is a wonderfully acerbic response to a soulless and intolerant creature we all have the great displeasure of sharing our planet.  Will she learn from this experience and the community response against her?  Will she ever comprehend the evil of wishing euthanasia upon a special needs child?   Likely not.  And Max Begley?  He will continue with the love of his parents and extended family, throwing balls over fences and basking in the support of a stand-up community who came out loud and clear against another bully in our midst.

See Idnami's letter below, or click the link here.

Warning!  There is very strong language in this letter.

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An open letter to the bitch that wrote this letter

And the award for Worst Human Being on the Planet goes to…

Well I’m torn between Vladimir Putin and the CEO of Nestle. However second prize, hands down, goes to this bitch:

And here is what I have to say to that:

Dear One pissed off mother!!!!!,

You poor, put upon woman. How sad and unjust that you have to put up with such an upsetting disturbance in your neighbourhood. A kid making noise!!!!! It’s unbelievable that in the modern world your children must face the horror of a child who is different from them! Simply intolerable.

Yeah, no.

Where does one even begin to address the sheer and utter repugnance of a person who could not only write this, but actually post it? What could have been going through your nasty, narrow mind as you dropped it in the mailbox? Are you actually incapable of imagining the challenges this family faces? Were you sadistically picturing that woman’s face crumpling in tears, or did you just not think at all?

I thought this was a hoax when I first saw it. I truly did not believe that any human being could be so self-centred, ignorant and lacking in empathy to write with such unadulterated cruelty. I believe even the Westboro Baptist church would think twice. So thanks a lot for ruining just a little more of my faith in humanity.

Let me tell you something, you pathetic sack of shit, having “normal” children does not give you the right to special treatment either. Where on Earth do you think you live? How did you come to believe that you somehow have more rights than anyone else? That you are somehow entitled to never have to face that which you don’t like or understand?

Now, I’ll admit it. Some people are goddamn unsettling to be around. Mentally challenged people are sometimes really disturbing. It’s true and I’m not so politically correct that I can’t say that. But dealing with people who challenge your tolerance is what living in a society is all about. And you have every right to feel unsettled and disturbed, but you don’t have the right to take a shit on someone else’s life just because you’re upset.

Here is the difference between you and that autistic boy. He can’t help the ugly sounds that sometimes come out of his mouth. You can.

He scares your kids does he? Teach them not to be afraid. Teach them that some people are different. Teach them that just because something scares them doesn’t mean it’s bad.

Of course in order to do that you’d have to be conscious of that yourself. You’d have to stop thinking the universe revolves around you and your precious kids for a minute.

Speaking of your kids, what if you had a child with mental disabilities? You can coldly tell a child’s grandmother to have him euthanized, but would that be your attitude toward your own child? If the answer is yes, you just got even more horrible. If no, then you understand the choice his mother made in loving the child she gave birth to and giving him the best life she can. But you are still horrible.

As it is, you are raising children who are doomed to be as poisonous as you are. I hope that when you are old and feeble and “no good to anyone” and they dump you in a nursing home and never look back that you aren’t too surprised. I hope you remember who made them what they are.

Or maybe they’ll just do us all a favour and have you euthanized.

I have a nephew who suffers from ADHD and autism. He’s a tough kid to handle sometimes but I love him all the same. He has shitty neighbours too. Not as shitty as you of course but they make his life harder and I hate them for it. They are disgusting human beings and they need a kick in the face for having it in them to be cruel to any child. You need several. Like, one for every exclamation point in your awful, awful letter.

You surely can’t have missed the fact that your vicious words have gone viral on social media and that every news outlet is running this story. You’re internationally famous! And lady, you deserve to be renowned far and wide for the ugliness of your character and the crappiness of your grammar. I hope you become such a pariah that you have to move. That would be poetic justice.

In closing, learn to spell. And then go fuck yourself.

Sincerely,

One outraged auntie

*UPDATE* Please note that this post has been seen by WAY more people than I ever expected and I have a bit more to say about it here.

Also there appears to be a misconception that I am the boy’s auntie. I’m not, I don’t know them at all, but I have a nephew who faces similar issues and this letter made me mad.

10 writing lessons from the late Elmore Leonard!

A nice little piece in tribute to the late author, Elmore Leonard.

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10 writing lessons from the late Elmore Leonard!


Elmore Leonard's 10 rules for writing went viral after his death. He was 87.  A bestselling author with almost fifty novels to his credit, including "Get Shorty". He was a popular crime writer and as blogger Jessica Levco said, "Judging from Leonard's list, he'd want me to skip the prologue about his life and get right to the writing advice."

So here is the list, along with humorous quips from Jessica:

1. Never open a book with weather.
This is a good tip for conversations, too. I avoid conversations when I overhear people chit-chatting, "The weather's great," "Looks like rain," and/or "It's so hot out." What makes a good story is that it takes you away from all that blah, blah, blah. Leonard says, "If it's only to create atmosphere, and not a character's reaction to the weather, you don't want to go on too long."

2. Avoid prologues.
All that intro stuff is going to bog down your reader (especially if you're stuck on the weather). Get to the heart of the story - quickly. He's OK with the prologue in John Steinbeck's "Sweet Thursday," but that's because the main character is making valid points about what makes a good story. Plus, Steinbeck coins the word, "hooptedoodle." You can't go wrong with hooptedoodle.

3. Never use a verb other than ''said'' to carry dialogue.
Dialogue should speak for itself. Leonard said, "said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied."
"Indeed!" she erupted.

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb ''said"…
He said this sincerely.

5. Keep your exclamation points under control.
Leonard said you're "allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose." A story riddled with exclamation marks makes you sound like a third-grader. Instead, use a semicolon; that will impress everyone.

6. Never use the words ''suddenly'' or ''all hell broke loose.''
"This rule doesn't require an explanation," Leonard said. I agree.

7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
I used to write for my hometown newspaper in southern Indiana. The best quote I ever got (and I can't even remember what the story was about) was, "It feels like you're watching NASCAR in the sky." Ahh, that's great. But if I started writing the way everybody talked to me, it would be a disaster. Leonard says, "Once you start spelling words in dialogue phonetically and loading the page with apostrophes, you won't be able to stop." Yee-haw. (I wanted to put a half-dozen exclamation points at the end of that, but I stopped myself—suddenly.)

8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
One main reason why books that are made into movies turn out so badly is that as a reader you had all these ideas in your head as to who each character was supposed to be (well, except for Colin Firth in "Pride and Prejudice"—he did just fine.) In "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway, Leonard says the reader sees "the couple and know them by their tones of voice, with not one adverb in sight."

9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.
Same as the above. Keep it simple, and let the reader's mind wander, "unless you're Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language or write landscapes in the style of Jim Harrison," Leonard said.

10. Leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
I love to read, but it's true: I don't read every word of a book. When you write, think like a reader. Think about what your eyes would gloss over. Leonard makes a pretty good wager: "I'll bet you don't skip dialogue." True. Especially when they're talking about NASCAR in the sky.

A Sad Day For International News Buffs Indeed!

I just received this Editorial from a journalist friend of mine stationed in the Middle East.  It's not entirely unexpected, especially if you understand the scope of interference by corporate stakeholders endemic in America's top media outlets.

See also - Why the Arrival of Al Jazeera America Today Matters

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Editorial:   So Long AJE

It is a sad day. A recurring theme for those who care about news these days. Al-Jazeera English (AJE) has left the US today. One of the most important resources for international news coverage in the US has gone dark for Americans. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC long ago relinquished their role as providers of international news. Al-Jazeera English, France24 and BBC World News stepped into the fold years ago and became the sole, reliable purveyor of knowledge. 

In IntelCenter's operations center, CNN was booted from the 100" main screen and in came AJE. For hard news reporting of international events it could not be beat. No more breaking away from key international stories for Tammy Faye Baker interviews with Larry King as CNN did during the 2005 Sharm al-Sheikh bombing. There is nothing more depressing than when you have 18 screens up covering critical events from around the world and the three American 24-hour news networks are showing reality tv court coverage. Apparently TMZ has left gaps to be exploited.

The very thing that made AJE great is being lost to create al-Jazeera America (AJA). America has enough domestic news and American-centric reporting. AJE was good for the simple fact it did not have an American focus. It is the same reason that CNN International continues to provide solid news coverage, albeit unbeknownst to Americans who are stuck with CNN Domestic and Headline News (HLN).

I do not want to see American personalities talk about what marketing surveys say Americans care about.

I do want to see hard news coverage of events in Nigeria, Libya, Syria, Pakistan and India. I also want that coverage to remain on when the rating gods ordain some local domestic trial worthy of around the clock coverage. Yes it is cheaper then sending reporters to Pakistan and Mali if you do not count the involuntary collective brain rot of those in the US trying to remain informed.

How many Americans do you know that can find Niger on a map? After of course you explain to them that you do not mean Nigeria.

The US does not need al-Jazeera America or even BBC America. It needs easy access to al-Jazeera English, BBC World News and France24. If Americans are not going to be informed in school, if their careers do not require it, if the news does not cover it, please explain to me how America will ever climb out of its abyss of ignorance?

International channels should not debase their coverage to the current level of American broadcast news. They should bring their multitude of perspectives and insights to challenge Americans to expand their minds. The moment one confines themselves to the singular perspective of those who think and see as they do, is the moment of their inevitable demise.

Yes, I know. Many of you will say there is the Internet. Alas, but no there is not. AJE is blocking its Internet stream to American customers.

Perhaps Americans can use the same censorship dodging web proxies the Iranians use...

by Ben Venzke

Amazing Bookstores!

Apparently, these are sixteen bookstores you have to see before you die.  See some of them below:

 

An Overview of SEO Content and Writing

I'll keep this short and sweet.  I've written a lot on SEO content and why it is an important integration in Business Web Development or Web Upgrading.  Here is a wonderful article I've found outlining the 'whys' of including an SEO strategy when developing or improving your business web content. It's an older article (2009), however Ben Kemps' material, his insights, and his experience is still very relevant.

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"The Why of SEO: A Thermal Life-jacket for the Economic Ice Age"

Despite the many and varied articles written on how SEO is done, most people have only a vague appreciation of WHY it is absolutely essential. As the economic downturn bites into revenue streams, can you afford to ignore a key website business strategy?

That includes a depressing number of website designers, some of whom actually tell their clients that SEO is a waste of time and money, and that it’s quite unnecessary these days because Google is smarter than ever before... Au contraire - it becomes more and more critical every day, as website numbers expand exponentially! Lack of knowledge is not confined to website designers, it also includes a number of wanna-be SEO firms who make outrageous claims about their special relationship and affinity with Google etc, but have little idea of what it takes to consistently succeed in attaining Top 30 rankings.

There are many articles written on the HOW of SEO, covering the many and varied aspects of the art of improving your site’s position in search engine ranking pages (SERPs). Whilst most people have heard the term "search engine optimization" and have a vague appreciation (or apprehension) of the hoped-for outcome, surprisingly few people seem to really understand WHY it is absolutely essential.
Be very aware that in most cases website design is taught as an Art, not as a Business discipline. Website designers are rarely taught anything about search engine optimization, and few are interested in mastering the skills required to produce optimal results. That’s all very fine and dandy – but it leaves a lot of website owners desperately disappointed in mediocre results! You’ve probably heard the analogy about building a shop in the middle of a forest too, I bet? Seriously, it really does not matter how beautiful the site is – if no one finds it, then it’s just a gorgeous waste of virtual space.

Content is Still King
Regardless of the various conflicting opinions, Google conspiracy theories and misinformation, it comes down to a very simple concept - content quality, and accurate content classification. Content is where many sites fail dismally! The sites that thrive are those with well written, well organised original, interesting and useful content. Don’t copy other peoples stuff. Aside from being illegal, at best it immediately downgrades you to second best… As a general rule, from an SEO perspective, bear in mind the most fundamental issue - Google loathes duplicate content!

Classification
There are literally millions of websites, each competing for viewers in a particular niche. Reasons for their existence vary across the A to Z spectrum - advertising, entertainment, comedy, educational, humour, informational, music, news, promotional, sports, wine, video, zoos... you get the picture, right?

In the world of books we have the Dewey decimal classification system. Every published work is assigned an ISBN number, and libraries classify all books under a rigid hierarchical subject classification system. It’s not perfect, but it works pretty well because every one uses and understands it! Erudite people write insightful book reviews, which are sometimes included in advertising and promotions. Hold this thought, its relevant to a following section. You want to find a book on a particular topic, or by a specific author, you do a search and Eureka! You’ve found it, there's a list, even! The best books are reviewed multiple times, and take pride of place in the “best sellers” rack.

Relevancy Ranking
Using different terminology, search engines are trying hard to do the same thing – to give their searchers the most accurate list possible, containing exactly what they want, so they can pick and choose from it! Unfortunately, there is no Dewey classification system on the web. The closest thing to a hierarchical subject listing is the Open Directory, Yahoo, or one of the thousands of other web directories - all of which are inconsistently organised into completely different illogical structures!
So, here we have Google and other search engines trying valiantly to index and categorize the billions of pages on millions of websites, in hundreds of countries in a multiplicity of languages. Then, they have to calculate each page's relevance to specific search queries…

Are You Helping or Hindering?
That’s where YOU come into the picture… It’s a big, big task – have you made any effort at all to help Google to help you? Or is your website fuzzy and unfocused, with no clear statement of content or purpose? In most cases, sites are constructed with vague intentions to do SEO as an optional extra sometime in the future… What, you want Google to do everything for you?

Done Any Homework?
Do you have any idea how your primary audience searches for the information, products or services you offer? Do the pages on your site describe your content using terms your clients use? Because that’s the only way Google can match searchers with relevant content! What? You actually forgot to do any market research before launching the site? You have no accurate, researched, hard data on the keywords your potential clients would use? You asked your friends at work for ideas? Absolutely incredible!

Let us pretend you’re looking for clients for your small bed & breakfast business in Christchurch, New Zealand. You are optimistic that potential customers in New Zealand, Australia and the UK will be able to find your website amongst the millions of competing B&B pages on the web, be convinced by your persuasive advertising copy and elegant pictures… you’d also like them to come and book directly with you, to avoid hefty commission payments on the dozens of B&B Advertising Directory sites who also want you to pay to advertise! Dream on!

So You Want Google To Work For You?
You’d really like Google et al to help connect your potential clients to your business via Search Engine Results Pages by making your site No.1… And you certainly want “qualified” traffic from Google, visitors who are specifically looking for exactly what you offer!
Anyone who thinks they can survive online without Google, Yahoo and MSN is either a thoroughly well-rounded idiot, or is a household name who does not need to advertise to generate qualified traffic. There is no middle ground.

But here’s where it gets hard! How will Google do that? What solid information have you provided Google in your on-site content, and in the off-site links to your site? Have you got a Domain Name which encapsulates your business type and location; Bed-Breakfast-Christchurch.co.nz? Or a cryptic name, like; BnBChChNZ.com? Of the two, which is most likely to give the SE its first clue as to what your site is about?

What is On-Site SEO
Think about it this way… Does your home page have an explicit and accurate Title that provides a direct and unequivocal statement of the site’s business purpose in 70 characters? Does the Title say “Bed & Breakfast Accommodation, Christchurch New Zealand” or does it say “Welcome to Dusty Lodge” or something equally asinine?

Does your home page have an explicit and accurate Description that provides a brief outline of your business purpose, unique selling proposition, and call to action, encapsulated in 150 – 200 characters? Or does it contain some vague warm and fuzzy drivel about beaches and sunsets?

Keep the book analogy in your mind, and take a look at your Home page, particularly the first heading and first paragraph… “Welcome to my website” is not a productive approach! What does it tell your visitors about you? It tells me that you are at best naïve and both you and your website designer need SEO counselling! And think about that first paragraph… is it an accurate summary of the site’s reason for existence? Eliminate that fruity, cheesy, fluffy verbiage immediately!

If your website is required to deliver a return on investment, particularly by selling products or services, or delivering customer service, informing or entertaining, your really need to accurately describe your website’s content, and allow it to become visible online. What’s that I hear? Oh, you want it to make you rich as well? But you don’t really want to make a serious commitment or effort to do the job properly? Right… good luck with that! And remember that old GIGO acronym – “Garbage In, Garbage Out!”

What is Off-Site SEO?
This may surprise you, but some people are dishonest about their site content. Frankly, some people handle the truth in a very awkward fashion indeed… Telling Google that your site is about Pamela Anderson, when its actually selling Bart Simpson comics, is deuced annoying to the people who visit it! Therefore, Google and other SE’s decided long ago that some external verification of every website’s content would assist their efforts to deliver the most relevant SERPs to their clients. Makes perfect sense to me…

How is this achieved, I hear you ask. Well, you’ve heard of links, right? Back to the book analogy – think of good links as being like a series of book reviews! What if lots of people are writing positive things about your site? What if multiple, external, widely distributed sites are all saying that your site is about “Bed & Breakfast Accommodation Christchurch NZ” huh? The balance of probability that your site is relevant to such a search is positively impacted by this external confirmation! A coincidence of keywords in on-site content and off-site links reassures Google immensely! Those keywords in the off-site links are referred to as anchor text, and should form the link title.

No, Its Not Rocket Science
Frankly, search engine optimisation, in the pure sense of the term, is not particularly difficult to understand, or to do. The aim of the search engines is to provide their customers with the content most relevant to the search they are making. Therefore, your salvation lies in making your content relevant to the known searches! Do some thorough keyword research, learn and understand your target audience’s searching behaviour. Plan pages that target specific, high-volume, low competition search phrases.

Don’t be vague, don’t waffle, and help Google to help you!

When the economic gravy pot is bubbling merrily, and there’s ample business gravy slopping over, even the mediocre get a share. But when the economic ice age casts midnight shadows at noon, and credit wolf packs softly pad the empty streets, howling balefully at the waning moon… then, when you’re sucking the last congealed streaks of business gravy off your tarnished website spoon, ask yourself... Can you afford your website to be second rate, disorganised and drifting ever further into the icy wastes of mediocrity?

With a better understanding why SEO is so important to your website's success, will you continue to ignore it?

About the Author

Ben Kemp, a 10-year veteran SEO consultant and website designer with over 21 years in the IT industry.