Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Humor & Inpiration in Writing: When Words Behave Like Toddlers

Cover art for Sugar and Snails
I think I've found my calling. Hosting the Humor & Inspiration features ranks right up there with writing 10K words and/or bagging an adorable pair of shoes at 50% off. 

Anne Goodwin is my first across-the-pond...um, Humour & Inspiration feature. Known to Twitterdom as @annectdotist, she describes herself as a writer, blogger, slug slayer, and recovering psychologist. I'd describe her as a lovely person, a talented writer, and a mentor to others in her field. I never suspected that she fights a different battle than most writers, which is a compliment to her professionalism. But she'll fill you in on that. Just be prepared to laugh and be inspired!
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When Sarah invited me to contribute a post about humour and the writing life, I wondered if it might be a case of mistaken identity. I tend to frequent the dark places and I’m not known for my capacity to raise a laugh. But never one to forgo the opportunity to strut my stuff on someone else’s blog, I agreed to give it a go.

Due to repetitive strain injury, all my fiction and all my blog posts are produced with the assistance of voice recognition software. I say assistance, but it’s much slower for me than typing ever was, as the programme has a mind of its own and every other phrase requires checking and correction. Because the errors are proper words, they can easily dodge my radar leading to a catalogue of embarrassing blog comments and tweets. On more than one occasion, I complimented the author of Black Lake on her novel Black Lace; an entirely different animal altogether.

It’s as frustrating as a toddler who wants to examine every crack in the pavement when you’re already late. But in the right mood, as with a toddler, its perspective on the world, and in particular its indifference to logic, can raise a smile.

I don’t know if it will evoke amusement, or sympathy, but I thought I’d share some of the nonsense that has recently appeared on my screen. With the erroneous words in bold, I’ll leave you to do the translation; the words in italics how I’d reply if the blasted thing could be relied upon not to mangle my words.

but it’s much lower for me than typing of awards             
though higher for you, perhaps, as I am rather too short to get the prize

balancing blog comments            
with the weight of bananas, perhaps?

my off the platform                        
definition of a somewhat unstable author platform

the author flanking the publisher in the acknowledgements       
Hello! Paula mentioned that you might be interested in doing a feature on my website next year. I'm pretty sure the theme would be right up your alley! On Humor and Inspiration in Writing and Life 500 words or less. Keep it brief, fun, and interesting. Feel free to go in any direction you'd like. (For example: what inspires you, keeps you going, how humor influences your writing, keep you from jumping off a cliff...or throwing your laptop off the balcony, etc.) Attach a fun head shot and any other pics, memes, and gifs that are pertinent to your post. If you're an author, a clean cover art image is always welcome. Attach links to your blog/website and any purchasing links you'd like to have featured. Feel free to add a brief book blurb, bio, or whatever you'd like promoted. Plugs are great! I'll take care of all the editing, snarky asides, and formatting. Totally my forteHello! Paula mentioned that you might be interested in doing a feature on my website next year. I'm pretty sure the theme would be right up your alley! On Humor and Inspiration in Writing and Life 500 words or less. Keep it brief, fun, and interesting. Feel free to go in any direction you'd like. (For example: what inspires you, keeps you going, how humor influences your writing, keep you from jumping off a cliff...or throwing your laptop off the balcony, etc.) Attach a fun head shot and any other pics, memes, and gifs that are pertinent to your post. If you're an author, a clean cover art image is always welcome. Attach links to your blog/website and any purchasing links you'd like to have featured. Feel free to add a brief book blurb, bio, or whatever you'd like promoted. Plugs are great! I'll take care of all the editing, snarky asides, and formatting. Totally my forteI know it can be a close relationship, but shouldn’t they give each other some space?

But if you read Philip living, there’s an advantage            
preferable to reading Philip dying, perhaps?

with disgust choir bit on your blog           
what’s your problem? I wasn’t trying to sing at you

a mere two has la                            
appropriate baby language for a toddler

how I’d reply if the plastic thing                                
okay, a writer shouldn’t have to rely on expletives, but who are you to censor my output?

as Orion crudity was to the Nazis             
obscene stargazing among the fascists

You get the idea? Somewhat paradoxically, given the expectations of greater professionalism, the publication of my novel has left me less anxious about the toddler in my computer. Not only because I’ve had editors and proofreaders checking my words, but because my title has a tendency to bring out other people’s inner toddler. Maybe that’s inevitable when Sugar and Snails is adapted from a nursery rhyme, but it always makes me smile when it’s quoted as Sugar and Spice. I’m not proud, whatever tempts you to read it is fine by me. Although it addresses a serious topic, it’s definitely not devoid of humour.
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Anne Goodwin’s debut novel, Sugar and Snails, about a woman who has kept her past identity a secret for thirty years, was published in July 2015 by Inspired Quill. Her second novel, Underneath, about a man who keeps a woman captive in his cellar, is scheduled for May 2017. Anne is also a book blogger and author of over 60 published short stories. 
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Anne Goodwin:
Author, Blogger, Recovering Psychologist
Catch Anne Goodwin online: 
Website: annethology 
Twitter @Annecdotist

Grab a copy of Sugar and Snails

A snippet of Sugar and Snails:
At fifteen, Diana Dodsworth took the opportunity to radically alter the trajectory of her life, and escape the constraints of her small-town existence. Thirty years on, she can’t help scratching at her teenage decision like a scabbed wound.

To safeguard her secret, she’s kept other people at a distance ... until Simon Jenkins sweeps in on a cloud of promise and possibility. But his work is taking him to Cairo, and he expects Di to fly out for a visit. She daren’t return to the city that changed her life; nor can she tell Simon the reason why.

Sugar and Snails takes the reader on a poignant journey from Diana’s misfit childhood, through tortured adolescence to a triumphant mid-life coming-of-age that challenges preconceptions about bridging the gap between who we are and who we feel we ought to be. 
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Isn't Anne a gem? Reach out to her online and you'll see what I mean. Just like the other Humor & Inspiration writers (see their links below), Anne has been a pleasure to feature.


As always, thanks for dropping by! If you're a writer, author, or blogger and you'd like to be featured in a Humor and Inspiration post, leave a comment below. Thanks!

29 comments:

  1. This WAS such a fun read...and I feel like my children hear and analyze my words the same way your computer does yours. Your book sounds great, I'm off to add it to my "to read" list!

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    1. That's what we want to hear, Cathy! I think I need to grab a copy too!

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    2. Thank you both. And if you do manage to read my novel, do let me know if you find any toddler words left in it!!! (Note to the suspicious – I'm pretty certain there aren't any!)

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  2. "Plastic" is my favourite! I might make it my new swear word. ;)

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    1. Hee hee hee! I'm particularly fond of Hells Bells, but that's just me. I have to use random swear words in front of the kindergarteners, so sometimes I get creative too. :)

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    2. It does take it a bit far when it starts editing my swearing (mild as it is already) but would be good if we could make plastic an official swearword.

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  3. Great theme for guest bloggers and Anne excelled! I rather like the idea of writing "on" or "off" platform as a way to describe one's activities as benefiting or detracting from the author's platform. While I do not dictate to a toddler in my computer, my so-called-smart phone came with one installed. Last night I asked if my SIL had time to "chat" and she called laughing, asking if I meant to type "Viagra." What? How can they possibly be similar! Somebody is having a joke on the rest of us with these programs (my conspiracy theory). Thanks for the laughs!

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    1. I think we all suffer at the hands of autocorrect. Evil technology. It's the downside of all this convenience we live with. And yet, is sure is fun!

      Thanks for reading, Charli! If you'd like to participate in the Humor & Inspiration features, message me.

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    2. Ah, Charli, your smart phone beats my computer's toddler any time – I wonder what the conversation would have been like if she'd taken you up on your offer to discuss Viagra!

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  4. Fun! My children are old enough now to no longer restate my meaning for me, but I have a "smartphone" to do that for me. Hands free gives me such gems as the "Gaia caliphate" when I'm saying nothing of the sort.
    Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Maybe smartphones were invented to help mothers over the missing-the-toddler stage! Gaia caliphate is a great one – think of all the stories that could be created around that.

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    2. True story! Modern technology will make idiots of us all! My favorite is when you see the mistake after you've sent it. Blech! Thanks for dropping by, Caroline!

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  5. Hi Anne, nice to catch you here! I guess you have to articulate more carefully with vice recognition. Does that make you write more articulately?

    I checked this comment and had to laugh at my. Is typing and I left it for you!

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    1. Brilliant, Caroline – so it's not just me!
      Actually, with my vice recognition software you're supposed to be able to speak naturally, but my naturally doesn't connect very well with theirs. You can train hit, but I think it hasn't learnt to manage my accent in over ten years, it's never going to.

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  6. More mistyping. Didn't check the final bit. *mistyping*

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  7. Very funny... but as if producing novels wasn't hard enough as it is! Underneath interests me very much - I look forward to it :)

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    1. Thanks, Terry, I imagine I could well have left a couple of traces of my toddler on your blog already.

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    2. I still love this post. Autocorrect has bitten me in the...well, it's bitten me more times than I can count. And yet, regardless of that, you can't keep the words inside. Even if they come out backwards and upside down, we MUST let them out!!!

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  8. So funny. These days (with brain fog, and forgetfulness) I often speak gobbledegook anyway, so goodness knows what your computer would make of me... or, perhaps, it would understand me better than those around me do ;)

    'Hells-Bells', Sarah. That's an old but familiar one. I remember my Mum saying... 'Hells bells and little bloody fishes' when I was a child. I'm not sure where the little bloody fishes stemmed from.

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    1. I LOVE the little bloody fishes! Old phrases are lovely, aren't they? So much better than the nonsense of today's autocorrect. Not good at all. Thanks for dropping by, Kimmie!

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    2. I LOVE the little bloody fishes! Old phrases are lovely, aren't they? So much better than the nonsense of today's autocorrect. Not good at all. Thanks for dropping by, Kimmie!

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    3. Oops, I meant for my reply to go here – can't blame this muddle on the toddler.

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  9. I didn't know you used voice recognition software..I have rheumatoid arthritis in my hands and am slowly slowly finding it harder to type...may be going down the same route, so this was interesting as well as fun to read.

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    1. Might indeed be the answer for you Carol – let me know if you need a more serious perspective on my experience!

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  10. Ah, Kimmie, you've made me think of another advantage of using voice recognition – I can blame my own gobbledygook on my toddler! There are occasions when I'm not quite sure about a word that I might use very infrequently and spill something out to see what the computer makes of it. Very occasionally it is more articulate than me.

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  11. What a delightful post and comments. I smiled all the way through - in recognition of those electronic vices that keep popping up when we least expect it to wreak havoc on our intelligibility or lack thereof. Lovely to meet you Sarah through a link on Anne's blog.

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  12. Of course, we have met on Twitter, but that's different! :)

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  13. And lovely to meet you here, Norah, as well as everywhere else!

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