BB8's elements of style

hi grammar nazis! (HI! big gloved, 3 fingered hand a waving at you) yes, you know who you are. ( i only know you by 'anon' ). i thought i should maybe clear the air on a few things for you today. lest you've been up late, hand wringing.
1. i'm not a 'journalist' and don't try to be. so reminding me that my journalistic skills are "less than that of a 5th graders", is sort of like telling someone, who's rolling up a beach towel, that they're sushi making skills are sorely amiss.
2. i do own strunk and white's elements of style. i actually read it. i just don't really care to follow their elements of style. and i'm not really a writer anyway so i don't really have to follow anyone else's rules. (to which i say, "sweet!")
3. no i am not an e.e. cummings fan. (anti-semites rub me the wrong way) i just find it gets in the way to have to stretch my pinky, down there to hit that shift button. (read: i'm a bit lazy) when i do write, as in pen something, i actually write, in all block lettering. but if i did that here, you all would think i was screaming at you. and nobody likes that blog.
4. and you're right, i rarely go back and read what i've written. or use spell check. i don't have a really good reason for this. but i will say, you get very spontaneous commentary from me this
way.
5. and yes, i DO make up words all of the time. but sometimes you just have to. i'm a visual person who gesticulates when i speak. writing doesn't allow me to explain something as well as i'd like (maybe because i'm no, journalist). so, i smoosh words together, borrow from the kid working the tilt-o-whirl at the santa monica pier, use acronyms-- whatever it takes. yo.
and lastly, i do hope you'll continue to read BB8, warts and all. it's all for fun, mank.

Comments

Anonymous said…
And lest anyone wonder who the amazing Roger Angell is (as in "foreword by"), he is a foremost writer on baseball (one of my loves) whose prose can bring me to tears, an essayist for the New Yorker and the son of Katherine Angell White and stepson of E. B. White (if anyone doesn't know who they are, they didn't grow up in the USA).

If anyone needs something to read, pick up a New Yorker sometime.

Megan, you don't need Strunk & White's Elements of Style, you could write your own guide to style (albeit on completely different elements).

QED.
SGM said…
Never change, bb8! I mean it.
72 and sunny said…
gosh, darn, you guys. thanks! (actually i mean that, thanks)

i'm just trying to stop the bleeding from readers, commenting on my lack of journalistic abilities!I GET IT ALREADY!!! i got it when i got a "D" in A.P. english for god's sake.


becky, i had no clue that the forward was by the step-son of E.B. White.

thanks for the enlightenment.
Anonymous said…
visiting one's blog and making a comment on their style, spelling, grammar, WHATEVER is like walking in their home and critizing their housekeeping, cooking, etc. If it bothers you, don't come back. Some people are so consumed by ever undotted i and uncrossed t, that they miss the whole meaning. I'd rather read an enthusiastic stream of consciousness post than a dry, rehearsed humorless blog. Besides that Anon, it's considered rude.
72 and sunny said…
halcyon-- yes! period. you articulate what i mean to say.

i just rattle. i do. basically anyone who reads this blog, has a conversation with me. a real one. not contrived. and i started all of this out of joy. that's it. i just wanted to share my joy of things that i see (sometimes it's the joy of seeing things that i think are very wrong or odd)

and if ya don't agree. that's cool. and if it really ruins your day....move on!

the rest of you, pull up a chair. because i love having you here!
cotedetexas said…
Let me get a chair, cuz I'm staying, bad grammar and all.
Mrs. Blandings said…
When I stared blogging you told me I would find my voice. I hear your's loud and clear (literally) right here. That is why I visit every day. Thank you, darling, for your initial encouragement and your continued inspiration.
72 and sunny said…
you guys are making me blush. but i'll take it all.

group hug.
Anonymous said…
YES, GURL.

"...not that I loved Cesar less, but that I loved Rome more..." Anyone who has a deep, deep love of the Strunk & White, knows exactly what I mean (for those of you who don't, grammer is Cesar and BB8 is Rome. You'll find this quote on p.20 of the 3d edition, in the 2d chapter, Elementary Principles of Compostion). I've read it cover-to-cover multiple times. And I love me some Megalicious.
Anonymous said…
bb8 (with an aside to anon) -- i love your site & visit regularly. you've got taste, sass, and a great pov. i'm also in the publishing biz & now do freelance copy editing, proofreading, manuscript evaluations, etc. anon: you're giving us a bad rap, and generally alienating decent folks. besides, you're not a pro. a pro knows an author's intent and audience, and works exactly from that center. and a pro NEVER shames or intimidates an author. bb8's blog prose clearly doesn't concern itself with the chicago manual of style, and your fetish for "the rules" hasn't been solicited. a moment's engagement with this site and it's obvious your opinions aren't required or relevant. you want polished, walk-the-line prose, prose which seeks to be rigorous, prose that considers itself prose, for crying outloud, there's the door. use it.

i'm serious, and i take my work seriously, but this is nonsense. the NYT and LAT? slate or salon? now those are legitimate targets --you're obviously someone who needs a target -- and there's plenty of sloppiness and inconsistency at all of them to keep you busy this decade. or, pick up three NYT best sellers, and open to any page. but here? you make grammar a tool of harrassment and belligerence, and you serve nothing and no one. bb8: on behalf of the rest of us, please keep writing in your own voice, with a sense of play and liveliness. you absolutely get to explore your own desires and priorities here. i know you know that; i just want to high-five you on it.
Unknown said…
yay bb8! i'm soooo with you. made up words rock! anyone can use adjectives from webster's dictionary, but when you make up your own, you lend YOUR personal style to your observations, and isn't that what blogging is all about?

and as a fellow shift-o-phobe, who needs those pesky upper case letters anyway? i am a typing dyslexic- if i had to worry about capitalization, in addition to concentrating on typing "the" instead of "teh" and "and" instead of "adn", well, i'd never even a basic email sent.

keep up the good work, and thanks for speaking up to the anal retentive grammar trolls!

with lower case love,

maison21
phranklee i beleive grammer to be hi-ly overrated. grammer-schrammer.


I'm all about your clever wit. Your writing is brilliant, inventive, savvy, skilled and versatile. Just like you!
Anonymous said…
1. What clh said (and really, really well).

2. Anonymous, I'd like to point out what a little phenomenon your snotty comments have created. You've brought out lots of love for BB8, and while it was obviously unintentional, it's still a good, good thing.

Well done!
Unknown said…
Personally, I applaud all forms of bad grammar and horrific spelling as I am a fan of both. Anyone who spends their days surfing the web in search of misused words and badly formed sentences deserves the crappy life that they are undoubtedly living. Blogging is about being real - there is nothing worse than to watch a good blog go from true heartfelt realism to commercial, pseudo "journalism". Hope I spelled all of that crap right! Love BB8 don't change for the haters.
J

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