wordsintotype

The Bitter Bush

Welcome to the interior of Liberia, West Africa. This is the setting for my first full-length screenplay, THE BITTER BUSH (previously called The Beckoning Bush and The Beautiful Unknown).

It is 1965. As the movie opens, John, Judy, and Michal Lundgren are leaving Minneapolis, Minnesota, to start a Lutheran mission in a village in Bandiland, in the hinterland of Liberia. 

Many people who read The Bitter Bush assume I lived in Liberia and am the 12-year-old protagonist, Michal. But the Liberia of 1965 lives in my imagination only. It is a world created by years of studying Liberia, reading first-hand accounts, and interviewing people who were missionaries there. It is to these people, especially, that I owe such a debt of gratitude.

Here are some photographs my missionary friends shared with me to help me create the fictional village in the script. Please note that while they shared their personal story with me, they are nothing like John and Judy Lundgren, who in the movie end up doing almost more harm than good. My missionary friends are people who made many personal sacrifices to better the lives of others half-way across the world.

Sadly, the Liberian civil war in the 1980s destroyed many villages in the interior. The photos you see here are a glimpse into a world that may never exist again.

  Fishing is women's work. These ladies make these nets.

People of all ages carrying staggeringly heavy loads on their heads.

  This is how the villagers wash their clothes.

  Bricks of mud and straw, drying in the sun.

This is the house that was built with the above bricks. It was the inspiration for the Lundgren house in the screenplay.

 

A young Bandi man—the inspiration for the character Nafua in the screenplay.

 A typical Liberian village. The women are beating the husk off of rice. Goats wander around freely.

 

Joy.

Hildy and Me

HILDY AND ME is a short script that tells the poignant true story about a day in the life of two sisters when one—a little person—goes missing.

What you can't tell from the above log line is that the incident happened during the Great Depression in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and that the girls in the script are my mother, Louise, and her sister, Marie.

The script was most recently a Top 100 Semifinalist in the 2015 Table Read My Screenplay Competition. I'm hoping that this and other competitions attract the attention of someone interested in producing this inspiring story.

Here are some pictures of my mother and her sister, the character Hildy in the script.

My mother, Louise Mastaglio (left), and her older sister, Marie (right), in the early 1930s.

 

Marie (left) and Louise.

 

 

Five Little-Known Uses for Baking Soda; or, What to Do When Zombies Come Knocking

Like most people, I’m trying to live more simply and economically. So I just bought a 12-pound bag of baking soda. Have you read about the miracles of baking soda? You can use it for everything, I kid you not—from washing your hair to getting melted plastic bags off your toaster. According to the blog post “75 Extraordinary Uses for Baking Soda,” I learned that it can also be:

• Applied on a jellyfish sting to draw out the venom.
• Put under sinks and along basement walls to repel cockroaches and ants.
• Added to the water when you’re boiling a chicken to help the feathers come off easier.
• Added to your bath to remove the odor of skunk spray.

That got me to thinking. With the coming Zombie Apocalypse, I’m going to need a lot more than a basement full of canned goods and bottled water. While my son has assured me that he has a plan, which includes clever new ways to use household objects to fend off the walking dead, it looks like I’ll be the one left cleaning up the mess. Teenagers.

With that in mind, I’ve devised five important new uses for baking soda, and believe me, you’re gonna thank me when the unkempt hoards come dragging toward your place.

1. Sprinkle liberal amounts of baking soda around the foundation of your house to repel them. Note: Do this well in advance.
2. Throw baking soda in their face. It burns their eyes but also clears up their skin.
3. If zombies outnumber you and manage to get into your house, amaze them with the drain-cleaning properties of baking soda. It will momentarily distract them while you locate your hatchet.
4. Douse yourself with baking soda and stand against a white wall. Gets them every time. Heh heh heh.
5. Have you ever tried to get the stain of entrails out of carpet? Two words: baking soda.

On second thought, I’d better lay in a bigger supply. I’ve noticed that my neighbor is developing a slight limp.

I Told You So: Online Spelling Mistakes Cost Companies Millions

It's what I've been saying all along. Now there is analysis to back it up. "Customer spending on a website can be cut in half by a spelling mistake," says an online business analyst in the UK. This from a BBC News story about how such mistakes on a company's website can destroy its credibility:

Mr Duncombe says that it is possible to identify the specific impact of a spelling mistake on sales.

He says he measured the revenue per visitor to the tightsplease.co.uk website and found that the revenue was twice as high after an error was corrected.

"If you project this across the whole of internet retail, then millions of pounds worth of business is probably being lost each week due to simple spelling mistakes," says Mr Duncombe, director of the Just Say Please group.

Spelling is important to the credibility of a website, he says. When there are underlying concerns about fraud and safety, then getting the basics right is essential.

Why Stop at Spelling Errors?

I'd add incorrect punctuation, subject and verb disagreement, dangling modifiers, and grammatical errors to the list of online offenders.

Maybe when businesses see the financial benefits of well-written and -edited copy on their websites, they'll start hiring quality writers, editors, and proofreaders. And maybe then what we do will be considered more than "just copy."

A Note to BBC News

Dear BBC News, there is a punctuation error in your article. "Millions of pounds worth" should be "millions of pounds' worth."

But hey, your credibility is safe with me.

 

3 Reasons to Say No to Free Tote Bags

AND WHY GREEN MARKETERS SHOULD STOP GIVING THEM AWAY

About six years ago, I was a marketing director for a large natural grocer. This meant that I participated in a lot of green-lifestyle events. To promote our business, we gave away tote bags with our logo on them. At the time, this was a new marketing idea. People attending the events were thrilled to get a sturdy canvas tote bag—free. Free? Yes, we'd say, a $20 value, Free!

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Who wouldn't want to bring re-usable totes to the grocery store instead of using bags made from dwindling natural resources?

Not that many people, as it turns out. But that didn't stop us, as well as every other company at every imaginable kind of event, from giving away totes with logos on them.

It has continued to the point that we are now (here it comes) tote-ally saturated. We don't need any more totes. But because of some less-than-flattering human impulse, We Keep Taking Them Because They're Free. I'm not immune to this impulse. I used to have a coat closet. Now I have a tote closet.

It's time for companies whose mission is to help us live less wasteful, more sustainable lifestyles to break the tote habit. Here's why:

1. They Aren't Very Practical

Have you ever noticed that most totes don't work very well? Take the paper grocery bag re-interpreted in canvas. Put a couple of bottles of fruit juice in it and it sags inconveniently under the weight, sending the bottles clanking toward each other instead of standing neatly at attention the way they do in a doubled paper bag. The only way to make these kinds of totes work better is to line them with—you guessed it—a doubled paper grocery bag.

There are now stiff recycled plastic totes that solve this problem. Until quite soon their handles become brittle and break, and then you retire them to your tote closet because to throw them away would be wasteful.

2. They Make You a Walking Billboard

Do you really want your personage to be plastered with yet one more logo? And do companies think this works? (Hey, I'm going to buy that product because I saw it on someone's tote bag!) Besides, people who go to out-of-town conventions and walk downtown city streets all carrying the same tote emblazoned with the name of the seminar, looking like they don't know where they're going (because they don't), are prime targets for pickpocketers.

3. They Aren't Very Sustainable

I realize that this is a controversial statement. Yes, if you remember to take your totes to the store, and yes, if by using them you are keeping virgin paper and plastic out of the waste stream, totes are sustainable. No argument there. But how many of us really do that? Or what if you've done it so faithuflly that you've worn your totes out? Look at your pile of tote bags. (I know you have one.) Canvas. Recycled plastic. Recyclable plastic. Nylon. Neoprene. If you actually did want to recycle them, where would you take them? Nowhere I know of, unless you consider Goodwill a recycling company.

I'm Not a Tote-Hater

I actually like totes. I've bought totes. And that's the key. Because the totes I use are the ones I've bought. I bought each of them for some uniquely practical attribute. Like the stiff-bottomed recycled-plastic tote with six compartments I bought from my neighborhood liquor store. It reminds me to take advantage of the discount I get when I buy six bottles at a time, and I no longer come home with brown paper bags whose useful life was the 5 minutes it took me to drive home from the store. Or like the crocheted cotton bag I use for produce at the grocery store. It helps me eliminate the countless individual  plastic bags I used to waste just to transport my produce from store to refrigerator. Or like the canvas tote with the long sturdy handles that's perfect for carrying my library books. 

I'm a Tee-Tote-aler

All I'm saying is that as green marketers, let's be mindful of what we do to promote our values. If there is a uniquely practical, environmentally friendly, sustainable tote you'd like to give away, I'm all for it. If not, I propose that when we host an event or have a booth at a convention, we include a blurb on the invitation that there will be free samples of cool products, so bring a tote from home. If you forget, sure, we'll happily give you one. But we won't be automatically handing you something you really don't want but can't resist.

Now that we're used to hearing "Paper or plastic?", it's time for us to say, "Did you bring your own tote?" I guarantee you that your prospective customer will remember that interaction with your business long after she's forgotten the tote at the bottom of the pile.

Tote Fail

 

I recently tested a newly acquired free tote bag on a trip to Dunn Bros. coffee. Trying to make as little impact on the environment as possible, I walked the mile to the store instead of driving, bought a re-useable jug of coffee, and carried it home in this tote. I knew that the 64-ounce jug of Infinite Black would test the tote to its limits. This nylon tote holds up to 40 pounds. True to its claim, it held up to the weight of the jug. But the fabric was so slippery that no matter what I did, the straps kept sliding off my shoulders. I ended up holding both straps with one hand and cradling the bottom of the tote with the other just in case it slipped. It was awkward and uncomfortable and attracted strange looks from passers-by.

I'm not about to give up my Dunn Bros. Infinite Black (insert shameless plug here), so I'll report back when I find a tote that's up to the challenge.

 

Oops! When Good Websites Make Bad Mistakes

It always disappoints me to see typos, grammatical errors, and just-plain-the-wrong-words-used online. It's especially disappointing when it's a site I respect, such as the New York Times. The effect it has is to erode my confidence in the reporting.

At least the New York Times (print and online) is aware of its errors. (See the excellent After Deadline blog, which points out and dissects mistakes that slipped through the cracks or made it past the copyeditors. And note how readers comment when there are errors in the blog itself.)

But There's No Time

The excuse I hear most often about why there are errors on websites that post new content frequently is that there is no time to fully vet the content. Well, guess what? Newspapers do it every day. That's because they have copyeditors who edit, fact-check, and proofread the stories before they're printed. (And yes, I'm aware that these positions are being eliminated by many publications as we speak.)

This is a message to everyone in editorial charge of websites that aim to be serious journalism: Accuracy = Trust. Accuracy includes spelling, usage, and grammar. Please take the finished product as seriously as you take the content itself. You can do that by hiring a copyeditor.

Here are just a few of the avoidable mistakes I see on websites and in blogs that I respect. I'll keep adding to the list, so check back often.

 

Mashable

Deepak Chopra Apologizes for Starting Earthquake on Twitter

—Headline of story, posted April 4, 2010

Wordsintotype: He didn't start the earthquake on Twitter. He apologized on Twitter. Should be "Deepak Chopra Apologizes on Twitter for Starting Earthquake"

 

Planet Green

After languishing in reputation hell for years, and reputed to cause heart disease on the level of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils (which were considered to be better for your health!), renowned nutritionist-biochemist, Mary G. Enig, Ph.D championed the health benefits of including coconut oil in ones diet.

—"Is Coconut the New Soy?", posted April 7, 2010

Wordintotype: Should be one's. There are also several comma errors in the sentence.

 

TreeHugger

The planes are due to start flying on Tuesday, which is welcome news to the 150,000 Brit's who are stranded around the world.

—"Under the Volcano: Impact Of The Air Shutdown in London," posted April 20, 2010

Wordsintotype: Should be Brits (plural). Adding an apostrophe makes it a possessive, which it's not. Also note that the story headline is incorrectly capitalized.

Curt spent hours in the local library pouring over financial newspapers.

—"How a Can Collector Died a Secret Millionaire," posted March 31, 2010

Wordintotype: Should be poring, not pouring.

The virtues of the virtual office was something TreeHugger Founder Graham Hill believed in from the beginning . . . .

—"Ask Graham Hill About Managing a Virtual Office," posted April 5, 2010

Wordsintotype: Virtue was, but virtues are.

Mind the Gap: Remove Extra Character Spaces in Your Web Content

Putting.  Two.  Spaces.  Between.  Sentences.  Is.  Distracting.

Why? Because a word processor is not a typewriter.

Two spaces were used back in the days of typewriters, when each character took up an equal amount of space (called "monospacing"). "Two spaces, it was believed, made it easier to see where one sentence ended and the next began," writes Jacci Howard Bear, on About.com. "Today, with the prevalence of proportionally spaced fonts, some believe that the practice is no longer necessary and [is] even detrimental to the appearance of text."

If you want your online content to look as clean as possible, then use only one space after a period between sentences. If you find the two-spaces habit hard to break, or if you're editing someone else's work, use the Find and Replace tool in Microsoft Word to close those unsightly gaps. Simply type two character spaces in the "Find" field and one character space in the "Replace" field and click "Replace All."

The Editorial Style Sheet As Web Content Asset

I haven't worked for an interactive agency that produces content as a specialty. Sure, I've worked for agencies that have a content department. But while those agencies have the best of intentions, and really believe they understand and value content, I've found that they're often lacking the infrastructure needed for producing and maintaining it.

I won't go into what that infrastructure is or how to create it if it doesn't exist. If you want to know, please read Kristina Halvorson's Content Strategy for the Web. She does a great job of explaining it.

Instead, I'm going to focus on a small part of content strategy. It's something that originated in print publishing but isn't widely used in web content creation: The editorial style sheet.

Is That Website or Web Site?

I'll bet you've heard that question a few times. If you don't know how to answer it, your agency needs a style sheet. In fact, your agency needs more than one style sheet. But more on that in a moment.

As an agency, you produce two different kinds of content. Content that represents you and content that represents the client. Content that represents you includes your company's marketing and promotional materials, your company's website, presentations to clients, and creative briefs. Content that represents the company includes the company's website and any collateral materials produced to support it.

It's a best practice to have an internal style sheet for your agency as well as a style sheet for each client (and if you do more than one website for that client, a style sheet for each site).

But We Already Have a Style Sheet

Are you sure? An editorial style sheet defines your editorial (content) style. It should not be confused with the style sheet that the visual design department creates for websites that documents fonts, colors, etc. An editorial style sheet includes the following:

• Primary dictionary. Webster's or American Heritage? They don't always spell, capitalize, use, or hyphenate words the same way. Pick one and make it the Bible.
• Primary style book.  No need to reinvent the wheel. Choose a style book such as the Chicago Manual of Style or the Associated Press Stylebook.
• Exceptions to the style. Let's say that you really like the Associated Press style, but you feel strongly that serial commas should be used. Note that as an exception, and any others, in your style sheet.
• Industry-wide terms. Should it be Web site? Or web site? How about Website or website? Have a discussion with key players in your agency and then pick one and stick to it. Period. Also in your style sheet include all frequently used terms and their proper spelling and capitalization, such as Flash (not flash).
• Company-wide terms. Make sure to include the correct spellings and capitalization of all proper words and terms used in the company, such as names of subsidiaries, departments, addresses, and trademarked products.

(I won't go into the details of how to physically create a style sheet. For that information, see the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edtion, 2.54 and figure 2.1.)

The Client/Project Style Sheet

As I mentioned earlier, you should have an internal style sheet and a client/project style sheet. Let's say, for example, you're working for a large company like UnitedHealth Group (UHG). Now let's say you're working on one of its many websites. If UHG has an editorial style sheet that applies to all of its websites, you'll want to start with that and flesh it out. (You'd be surprised how many large companies do have editorial style sheets. All you have to do is ask.)

For instance, you can see from UHG's main site that its style preference is for Web site (two words, first word capitalized), and health care (two words, not hyphenated as an adjective), and no serial comma. This may contradict your internal style sheet. That's fine. Just know that you need to follow your client's preferred website style unless you discuss it with them otherwise.

Also make sure to note things like the spelling, capitalization, and trademarks of your client's business groups and products. For example, UnitedHealth Group encompasses UnitedHealthcare and United Health Foundation, all different entities. If they aren't all on the style sheet, add them. Note which ones have trademarks and know the rule for when and where you need to use the trademark symbol in your content.

The Value of Editorial Style Sheets

Style sheets should always be part of the assets delivered to your client. They add value in three ways:

1. Time. In the process of putting together a style sheet for a project you will undoubtedly run across inconsistencies and questions. Resolve them in the beginning and you'll save time and frustration for your QA department as well as client approvers. And let's not forget that time = money.
2. Accuracy. Content creators have a responsibility to know the client's business and to be stewards of the information that goes public. If you're confused about a business segment or a product, be proactive and get informed. Make sure others benefit from what you learned. Which brings me to the next value.
3. Credibility. Inaccuracies hurt your reputation with the client. (They can even hurt your reputation with potential clients who look at your agency's work online and see glaring errors.) Use UnitedHealthcare when you mean UnitedHealth Group and you risk losing the account for your agency. Once you have a style sheet for a client or project, share it with everyone—account directors, business analysts, information architects, creative directors, and quality assurance analysts. There is a lot more that goes out the agency door than content documents. There are emails, presentations, SOWs, and more. Anyone in your agency who communicates with a client should refer to the style sheet when putting anything in writing. Spell the CEO's name wrong and you have zero credibility.

You may work in an agency that isn't familiar with editorial style sheets or doesn't support your taking the time to create them. Begin by including them in the list of assets your content department will deliver. Include an estimate for the time needed to create one. Make the case that a style sheet will save time in the long run.

And may just save your reputation as well.

The Correct Way to Abbreviate 2010

It's not even ’10 and already I'm annoyed.

Granted, I'm annoyed year-round. But at this time of year, when, like the two-faced Roman god Janus, we are at once looking back at the old year and looking forward to the new, I've got a scowl on both my faces.

Folks, it's time to learn about apostrophes.

When abbreviating a year, remove the first two numbers and indicate the omission by using an apostrophe:

• 2009 becomes ’09 (not ‘09)
• 2010 becomes ’10 (not ‘10)
• 2525 becomes ’25 (if we're still alive)

Notice I said apostrophe, not single opening quote. In other words, if you see the little punctuation thingy curling toward the right, it's wrong. If its little tail is pointing left, it's right. Got that? (See above.)

Sadly, blog software like TypePad's automatically inserts straight quotes for all apostrophes and single quotes. You'll see that all the apostrophes in this post are straight, except for the ones I changed by manually inserting the html code.

So please, learn the code. My faces hurt.

Sighted. Cited.

"The top green stories of the ‘00s"

–Headline on the home page of Grist, December 31, 2009

That Which Be Who's You

Oops. Your interactive is showing. Yes, you. The web writer who used that instead of who.

To oversimplify, here is the rule for relative pronouns: That is for animals and things. Who is for people.

Correct:

The web writer who used that instead of who.

Incorrect:

The web writer that used that instead of who.

Yes, there are exceptions to the rule (see the Chicago Manual of Style, 5.58–5.60). And there are usage experts who argue that no distinction needs to be made (see Theodore M. Bernstein and H. W. Fowler).

I favor making the distinction. I think it makes one's writing sound more dignified, less digital.

To me, that's a good thing.

Sighted. Cited.

"Reynolds' presentation Saturday was preceded by a summary of what JoAnne Berkenkamp has learned in her discussions with all the "lunch ladies" around the state that are dipping their toes into farm-to-school efforts."

—Twin Cities Daily Planet, March 1, 2010