Still Progressing - "On Sexism in Literary Prize Culture"

In light of the first nomination of a woman for President of the United States by a major national political party, we want to celebrate. During the remainder of the 2016 elections cycle, we'll offer a few nuanced takes on some of the experiences of women around the world in the business of writing. Further, we'll take a look at the experiences of women in society in and around literary culture. Leading the way today, Natalie Kon-Yu via Literary Hub:
On Sexism in Literary Prize Culture | Literary Hub

Political Communication - Worse due to Procedure?

Letters from one politician to another certainly must be constructed well in order to have the desired effect upon receivers. This is why I'm wagering that Bill Cassidy's letter to his fellow members of U.S. Congress [2013] about the Senate's immigration reform bill was penned by one close to the campaign, then handed off to an intern to send . . . meaning that no writing professional set serious eyes upon it before being sent.

Otherwise, assumptions of authorship are true and-- either way-- the letter represents an all-too-familiar form of personal tirade that never was meant to be part of the official political process or for anything but media fodder. Of course, I could be wrong . . . you decide! These links contain an image of the letter in question. Take a look! I'd like to know what you think.

The Art of Propaganda - In Defense of Writers

Prepositions hanging and no one cares?

Using a preposition at the end of a sentence is something only a fastidious process or sort would notice, under normal circumstances. For example, if you were to make such a mistake on an advanced academic paper or some professional document, it'd most likely be noticed.

Commit the same 'offense' on social media and it's not really a thing at all. Not much notice is taken, even when a writing group posts a blatant language mistake. On one hand, this is an understandable reality of the casual nature of social media. But we're looking at the other hand today.

A Writer's Inspiration

In every one of these samples, the prepositional term "from" could/should have been eliminated.  

Take the following Twitter stream excerpt, for example. Notice the common theme of a hanging, aka dangling, preposition:

We've removed names, Twitter handles & profile images only

Maybe the issue doesn't seem common here, when these errant tweets are all collected together this way. In this short view, it looks like anyone who's wondering (via Twitter) about a writer's source of inspiration might let a preposition hang about once per month. Keep in mind that this is only a short, cropped version of errs. 

"But wait," they say. "It's Twitter, and normal people talk that way." 

Sure we do. Certainly, there are times when it's okay-- standard, in fact-- to end with a preposition:

Where are you from?

Things are looking up!

Then, there are other times when it's just not going to be right no matter what, because it's redundant and redundancy is a thing that almost any living thing can sense. It's too much language! Every sample in the Twitter image above would be complete and able to be understood without its attached, dangling preposition. There would have been no ill effect, and that is the rule to remember. After removal, we can see and hear (say them out loud) the difference that clean language makes:

• Oh yes, you can see where writers get their inspiration - [...] 
• How and where do writers get their inspiration?
•  
•  
•  
•  

Go ahead and try the rest by rewriting the tweets without the dangling preposition; maybe, you'll see how the preposition "from" is an extra, useless word "hanging" there on the ends of these Twitter thoughts. It's a hanging preposition, to be avoided when possible. While it may not be the end of anything to ignore such language fluency, let's not deny that a cleaner approach could do us well. Remember to heed the following simple rule for dangling prepositions:

If a sentence works without a preposition tacked onto the end, then leave it off!

Because this is Twitter we're talking about . . . 

Social media and messaging pros know, character count and brevity matter. Seamless as possible language can be important in many instances. Ask yourself, "Who am I representing, and why?"

Call Generation Y and Leave a Message - Better Yet, Text

But What about Gen X

Well, it depends. When we talk about generational marketing studies, much can be derived from that conversation when we reject skepticism and are willing to bend the rules a bit. As usually occurs when we open our minds in this way, we free ourselves up to greater possibilities.

When we look at generational characteristics in marketing, we can deduce that there is some overlap in these characteristics and that these overlaps are noteworthy. Recognize that overlap can be present on both ends of a measure, and consider that these marks can further nuance targeting efforts.

What would such an overlap in generational qualities look like? 

While gen Y is certainly a group that (generally) views phone calls as a form of bad etiquette, there are as well gen X members who possess the same communication value. This means to us that, when possible, those qualities which project from one generation to another should be considered as to whether (and how) to be used in outreach efforts.

As well, in day-to-day business we should strive to use the preferred communication forms of our counterparts. When we pay specific attention to those with whom we engage, we're more likely to get and keep their attention by catering to their preferred methods. As we do, we're still able to structure our way of business around our preferred methods and thus use our own measures to encourage behavior.

REF:

Pulizzi, Joe. "5 Content Marketing Tips for Understanding Generation Y". Content Marketing Institute. Understanding Your Audience.  22 September 2012. Web. 16 July 2016 http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/09/5-content-marketing-tips-for-targeting-generation-y/

Question: Which generation are you a part of, and how do you prefer/mostly communicate throughout your day? 

The History of Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson

Did you know: the birth of fictional Dr. Watson coincides with the later death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

Sherlock Holmes in The Five Orange Pips

Read about this macabre coincidence and more, including the inspiration behind Sherlock and his eventual demise at History.com.  


REF:

Public Domain Image - Sherlock Holmes in "The Five Orange Pips", which appeared in The Strand Magazine in November, 1891. Original caption was "HOLMES," I CRIED, "YOU ARE TOO LATE."

Wikipedia contributors. "Dr. Watson." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 6 Jul. 2016. Web. 7 Jul. 2016. 

History contributors. "1852
Birthday of Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick, Dr. Watson". This Day in History. Web. 7 Jul. 2016 

*Fact Check Flag (post in comments any supporting evidence)