19500 words

And so to bed

maybe a novella by tomorrow?

Today I have only accomplished a few over 5000 words, bringing my total up to 12,600. Clearly I am not going to write 60,000 words by the end of the day tomorrow, but I believe I can write a respectable novella. I "just" need another 5000 words to hoist me over the 17,500 mark.

53,000 Words to Go

Thanks for asking. My word count yesterday was 7,000.

I'm aiming for a 60,000-word novel. If you divide that over the three days of the contest, that means I should be writing 20,000 words a day. Yikes.

Back to work.

Wish Me Luck, Please

As I embark once again on the 3-day novel contest. Writing a novel is intimidating; I don't believe I can get it perfect so I'm reluctant to start. If I know I only have three days, how perfect can it be? I lose that fear.

In fact the novel I wrote for the contest in 2007 was rather dull, but how proud I was for completing it. Let's hope for better results this time.

Today's ad for Sunday School Registration

The ad is due today: a quarter-page in the local paper. It's a lot of money for one church, but if I can get four to chip in it's a little over $100 apiece.

So far, three churches have agreed to participate. Wish me luck.

Now all I need is ad copy. How does this sound?

Increase your child's life expectancy by 8 years

• Improve her attitude at school
• Increase his school participation
• Reduce her risk from alcohol, tobacco and drugs
• Reduce his chance of committing a crime

The benefits of Sunday School go way beyond learning Bible stories. Bring your child to a local (denomination name) church for a Sunday morning education with lifelong advantages.

This September, the (denomination name) churches below are beginning a new Sunday School year. Please visit the churches or call the numbers below to learn more about the valuable lessons waiting for your child in Sunday School.

I have to add this, because my denomination goes by a different brand name outside the United States: The Episcopal Church is known in other parts of the world as the Anglican Church. Remember, wherever you are,

The Episcopal Church Welcomes You

I am writing this to collect my thoughts because I will be throwing the actual ad together quickly during my lunch hour.

If the facts above interested you, you may want to visit The Life Benefits of Regular Church Attendance

I Wish I'd Said That

(T)he more you look at Gerrymandering and partisan redistricting, the more egregious it is: it enables representatives to choose their constituents, instead of the other way around.

Dennis Kucinich likened himself to spinach because they were both good for you. And look how far that got him.

When I opened What You Should Know about Politics...but Don't by Jessamym Conrad, I was afraid it would be as edifying and unamusing as spinach. I can't say that What You Should Know is the perfect beach read, but it has enough insights and witticisms like the one above that I am enjoying it.

Semantic Stretch II: Low Redefinition

Julian Baggini has another name for semantic stretch: low redefinition. In The Duck that Won the Lottery: 100 New Experiments for the Armchair Philosopher, Baggini writes.

The advertising industry often uses low redefinition to make the ordinary sound extraordinary. My personal favorite is the wide use of "passionate."....This devalues the truly passionate, whose ardor is now put on a par with a corporate desire to make good curtain fittings.

You could say that semantic stretch or low redefinition is the act of appropriating a word or symbol that people have learned to respect (such as "passionate") for one's own personal gain.

This just in-- Tiffany Sharples tells us in the August 10 Time Magazine that words really do have power. Using profanity allowed study participants to withstand greater discomfort, and it decreased their perception of the intensity of pain. "(P)eople should not overuse profanity," Time quotes Richard Stephens, lead author of the study in question. "...it blunts [swearwords] of their power when you do need them."

So, you semantic stretchers and low redefiners, stop sapping words of their power. Appropriating words to promote your product is just as dishonest as counterfeiting LiveStrong bracelets or concrete certification tests or antivirus software.

Ps. No one is more surprised than me that this is my 100th blog posting. Thank you very much for continuing to read and post comments. kh