The Writer's Mailbag: Installment 296

Hi Bill. Like you, so many scenes come my way which are great for articles but, as always happens, I just don't write these immediately afterward. Most of the time, they are forgotten. My mind is full all the time but they very seldom get on paper.

Bro... I suddenly feel inspired. Will U please grade my poem?

Billy Bro, You're such a treat

But what U cook, we cannot eat.

Just stay at UR desk

& do what U do best.

Let Bev man the kitchen

And bake the chicken.

The last time U tried

We know U lied

When U swore that U plucked the FEATHERS!

Love, Ur ever-so-talented Sis :)

Look, gimme a break. It's that time during winter, I just get stir-crazy!

Hi Bill. My two cents, again.

I've stopped using the double space after a period because, with the advent of computers and such, it's no longer necessary. The double-space rule came about because given the typesetting used it was easier to see when a new sentence began.

The more you know...

What exactly does that mean? Anyone?

Catch you later, Bill.

Bill, when I realized you had posted the mailbag three days ago I...dashed...right over to read your hub. When I got here—an avalanche of dashes and dots practically buried me. But then I saw your answer to my question. Thank you for giving my question so much consideration. You suggested a couple of things that I will put into practice immediately. I have not written an exceptional story when I was under an artificial time limit. Also, my best work has never happened in response to a challenge with prompts—even your prompts. I've produced my best stories when I've waited for that magical inspiration and just wrote what I saw. I love those times. Ok, well...that's enough for now—I'll let you get on with your...day. By the way, I like the em dash with no spaces to bring about a pause in the narration.

So many meaningful questions and answers this week. I learnt quite a few of new things. And, yes, I would comment on someone's hub who is totally unfamiliar to fill the HP with some positivity.

Happy Thursday, Bill.

Love to Mr. & Mrs. Bill Holland!

As long as we're offering opinions, far be it from me to be left out, Bro. Maybe I have more of a "wish," than an opinion. I wish it was perfectly acceptable to write as we speak.I'm with you on "ellipses." When I'm talking with anyone, I do pause......add a word or phrase (possibly for affect) & then complete my thought. Why the big deal?

And, Lord help us, one more time? Has the rule changed about TWO spaces after the end of a sentence? And what about the dastardly preposition at the end of a sentence? Is it still a mortal sin?

I like to remind everyone of James Frey's "A Million Little Pieces." He broke every single rule in the book & by the way, reaped a few millions little bucks!!

Peace & Love, Sis

This one is full of packed intelligent questions and answers. The en-dash, em-dash, and ellipses are always conflicting and confusions creators among different editors. I use the endash only and there are very rare occasions of using ellipses.

Regarding numbers, I think any title or sentence starting with a number should be in numbers only not spelled-out. And, it is always better to use numbers greater than 99 in the middle of a sentence instead of at the beginning so that they can be spelled out clearly without damaging the style.

I keep reading articles of people whom I do not follow, occasionally.

I wish you a nice coming-weekend.

Thanks for all the information on dashes! I think I will use the en dash and ignore the em dash, lol.

I am pleased to hear that you have had sunshine, Bill. I think you sent the floods over to the UK. But you make a good point about encouragement.

I was interested to read your thoughts on creativity. I have learnt a lot about dashes recently and now numbers too.

I often struggle with the summary box and leave it until the end. Knowing that the first few words of the summary appear on Google makes me feel kind of pressuised to come up with a good one to attract readers.

Thanks for answering the creativity question. I was impressed with how your plots develop. Your technique puts paid to the essay plan we were taught to make at school.

You end with a great suggestion. I hope I can overachieve at least on this each week.

Interesting Bill about the British and American English standard ad of y keyboard symbols. and agree with Ann Carr.

W have had many warm days feels like spring has come earlier. You have shared important and great ideas to know of the English language issues to think of here.

Firstly, bill, I have read a couple of 'newbies' lately and left encouraging comments, so job done on that score!

Dashes drive me mad and, reading the above, I think there are different rules with British v American English. We don't tend to use the 'long' dash at all which suits me fine, though today I found that HP has 'edited' one of my articles and replaced a series of short dashes with a long one - I don't care! It's in a recipe so makes no difference to me. I don't even have a long dash on my keyboard.

The muse is definitely worth waiting for. I find that happens again and again and it's always productive.

Have a terrific Tuesday, bill!

Ann

Happy Monday--ugh, Tuesday, Bill! I am already behind for the week...Not a great way to start off, but at least I can always rely on the mailbag to arrive in a timely fashion, even if my responses are sometimes delayed. I have to laugh at all the en and em dash discussions. Twenty plus years ago, I started off as a proof reader of financial documents. It was very important to the underwriters that we follow their style and that meant making sure that the en or em dashes were used correctly per their underwriting guides (especially using correct typeface and fonts). I have happily ignored them for a couple decades now, lol.

Hope you have a great and productive week!

Morning Bill. So many rules, so little time. My punctuation skills are nil. But I do like to rhyme. Thanks for always delivering the mail on time. Cheers!

I feel good, Bro. This particular Mailbag is so much fun! Perhaps I'm one of the 'mentally challenged' people. (Chuckle)

Chris is such an awesome writer! Tell him that Manatita says he thinks too much! Tell him to feel that Love is all that matters; that everything else could be taken lightly. Then his work will flow.

P.S. I used the semi-colon above to replace 'and', but here ellipse (Three dots) could easily have worked for the 'pause' effect. Hope this helps.

I remember the girl and one guy. In a strange way, I felt for the girl.

Thanks for sharing another useful set of questions and answers. The question about dashes, made things clear. Other answers are also helpful.

Good to know that you are getting lot of Sunshine. Life becomes dull without the Sunshine.

I liked your advice about reading some new writer's work and encourage them with the comments.

Thanks for sharing another wonderful mailbag. Its awesome to see that it would be completing another century.

I suppose the real issue here is the language itself. English has so many rules and it seems for each rule there is an exception or ten. Ex. i before e as in 'thief' except for weird, forfeit, seize, etc.

After I've revised something a few times I run Grammarly to pick up anything I've missed. We don't always agree but it's my story so what I say goes.

I'm more interested in the reader understanding my intent rather than be a slave to rules.

Catch you later, Bill.

This edition of the Mailbag contains some interesting questions. Congratulations on installment 296, Bill.

I looked at my Chicago Manuel of Style and the link provided by Heidi Thorne. Of course, the Chicago model said spell out numbers one to one hundred and those that begin sentences. Zulma and I spelled out only one through nine. That is the APA model. So, it depends on which one you follow. But, I'm not one to argue with nuns.

A jam-packed mailbag this week! I love it!

I, too, find that creativity strikes completely out of nowhere, when I'm doing basically nothing, and I also have a stack of ideas and half-written things that I've never thrown out. You just never know when you might need them or want to finish them. As for spelling out words, I learned something new. I was always taught that numbers one through ten should be spelled out, but anything after that should be the actual number. I didn't realize there was so much debate about it. haha! I'm probably in the camp of people who don't use ellipses right. I have a habit of just doing what feels right with my written grammer and I have no idea how to type an em dash. I suppose a quick Google search would inform me, but then again, I honestly don't care. I usually let the editors do their thing, roll my eyes at the changes they make, and move on. I've gotten better at crafting my articles to what they want, for the most part, but I'm still a little salty about their criticism toward my exclamation points and commas. Who doesn't appreciate a little enthusiasm and excitement in life? Besides, commas are awesome! haha! Have a wonderful week!

Hi, Bill, re" the jerk commenter, I've finally learned there is a "deny" button on the comments section. Just don't let him on.

We definitely agree on the mechanics of using dashes, Bill. You said that there are a couple of people on line who say there is no spacing before and after. I would be cranky and ask them to quote their sources, please. My sources are: 1. Chicago, 2. APA, which echoes Chicago and HP uses as their authority, and 3. The old AP Stylebook. So there, I ask them to trump me if they can. I like the em dash, but never for an identifying appositive. Why would anyone ever say "his father --John Davies -- ... unless he has more than one father? Did you know that if you only have one of something, one sibling, one aunt, etc. commas aren't necessary in that instance. If you have two sisters, you would say "my sister, Jane, said" to identify which sister, otherwise it is correct to say "my sister Jane said ..." Try this: “Janie had a blistering temper – hot enough to melt the chrome off a bumper.”

As for the ellipses, I don’t like this usage: “Janie had a blistering temper … hot enough to melt the chrome off a bumper.” The reader really doesn’t know if something is redacted, as the video put it, or if it is being substituted for an em dash, which is being used for emphasis rather than a comma. But I guess in this case, it could be a little of both. Oh well. Are you confused yet, dear friend?

Happy Mailbag Monday and, this week, it's still Monday!

Re: Numbers. I ran across this really helpful tip sheet from the University of North Carolina that I think easily sums up the rules on expressing numbers in APA.

https://ssw.unc.edu/files/web/pdf/Current%20Studen...

That's all I got this week. Have a great week ahead!

Hi Bill. Nice week for the mailbag. So glad the sun finally came out, hopefully it continues. Have a great week.

Great questions and answers. To Fellow Hubber, always ignore the long and/or argumentative commenters if they are people with nothing to say but prattle on or are baiting. I do this on social media too and it's very effective. When you don't bite, they move on to another target. As Bill did with one, you can report them to HP and they are good at taking care of them.

Bill, I am enjoying your memoir very much. Congrats on a job well done.

I am happy that you have finally experienced a few days of sunshine. There were some excellent questions this week regarding the use of dashes, etc. Many of us derive our inspiration from childhood memories and living life in general. You are an expert in writing about your experiences and where your muse takes you.

All of this hubbub about dashes and people disliking them so? I like them and use them whenever I want. I hated when HP made a big deal that there is no space between them and the words they are separating but otherwise I’m good with using them.

You are an encouraging person Sir Billy :) I have poems like save it for later :) I agree one shouldn't force creativity :) Take care and God bless you!

This mailbag helps me regain confidence in my sanity. I was questioning it after some edits I had seen. Knowing I'm not alone is reassuring. Thanks.

Now that's a full mailbag keeping you out of the sun. I think I will go find someone I haven't followed before and leave some positive feedback. You always leave positive feedback for me. Time for me to pay it forward.

Blessings,

Denise

Great to see a full mailbag this week.

I generally don't use the em dash. When proofing an article for my daughter, she sprinkled them around like confetti. Drove me nuts!

I have a question about reading poetry. I struggle with it because I am uncertain whether I have the rhythm correct. I feel, I would enjoy it more if knew I was reading it the way it was intended to be read.

I know you have many readers who enjoy writing poems. What am I missing?

Whole numbers from 1-100 are spelled out? I thought it was 1-10. I've been doing that for years and no one's ever called me out on it. You don't suppose that no one really knows what the rule is about numbers so they just make it up on the spot and swear it's gospel?

Bill, it always makes me smile when you explain your method when it comes to writing. I always imagine a small crowd leaning towards their monitors, waiting with bated breath for the pearls of wisdom that will finally kickstart their own writing. Only to hear that your making it up as you go along. lol

I get it though. There have been times when only a couple of sentences get typed up and that's as far as it gets. Other times a torrent of words spill onto the page that must be put into some coherent order. My favourite, though, is when your characters hijack the story and take it in a new direction. It's fun to see where it will lead.

Have a good day, Bill.

Great box of goodies today.

Look at me not knowing the names for EM-dashes and ellipses.

I am bored with rules for numbers. I cannot see starting a sentence with a numeral but I think the rest is the context of the sentence. I might have Mr. big pants speak with words and Joe the schmuck speak with numerals.

Chastise me if you care to - Teach.

I think I was a "stalked" of your reference.

Dashes smashes!

Why does 'edit' sound so much like 'idiot' - and yes I uses those quote marks wrongly so sue me.

Just another grumpy Monday for me. Another holiday and backdoor football, golf, basket ball and baseball catch. Nerf wars will wait so at least I get some stuff done.

Thanks Bill. I might have had the article in edit mode, anyway I now know the probable problem. Cheers

I hate the idea of having to report anyone, so I hope it never comes to that. Most people who're annoying aren't evil, they're just a bit too earnest. Thank you for an interesting article.

Well this was a packed mailbag, Bill. Interesting questions and answers too. Glad to see you have finally had a couple of days of sunshine. We have had more rain so far this year than we had in the whole of 2019.

I shall certainly take your challenge to read a HP article of a writer who I have never followed. I probably do that at least once a week anyway. OK, you have a great week.

Happy Monday Bill and thank you for tackling my question. Perhaps some of the editors at HP should sign up for your $50/month writing assistance.

This was a heavy mailbag. I hope you had some help lifting it. I enjoyed the questions and all of your responses. What sets you apart is that you write in a very conversational way. What you write is exactly like sitting across the table from you with a cup of coffee.

I will follow your advice and find someone new on HP and give them a kind word or two. We all need that at times. Thank you for your encouragement and for all that you do for us.

Have a great week my friend.

Finally some sunshine here, as well after two weeks of off and on rain. Crazy as we have had no snow really this winter, but tons of rain. But still glad it is sunny as my girls have off this week for Winter Break and going to try to make the most of it hopefully. But had to stop in and wish you a very Happy Monday and week ahead now :)