Enjoy your weekend loves.
Tag: writing
Books are…
“Books are meat and medicine
and flame and flight and flower
steel, stitch, cloud and clout,
and drumbeats on the air.”
― Gwendolyn Brooks
Lay vs. Lie (vs. Laid) and Lain
I know I am not the only one to have been confused between these words. I love writing, but grammar has not always gotten me very excited. It’s like running for fun (writing) but not wanting to exercise (Grammar). While I’ve always excelled in English, this is one confusing language! It’s the only one where a maybe, possibly, perhaps, and I’ll try exists. Everyone else just says yes or no! In any event, we must know these things as writers because our English teachers said so. Sooo, below is an excellent breakdown I found online on the difference between Lay, Lie, Laid, and Lain by Brian A. Klems:
Lay
Lay and lie are both present-tense verbs, but they don’t mean quite the same thing. Lay means to put or set something down, so if the subject is acting on an object, it’s “lay.” For example, I lay down the book. You, the subject, set down the book, the object.
Lie
Lie, on the other hand, is defined as, “to be, to stay or to assume rest in a horizontal position,” so the subject is the one doing the lying—I lie down to sleep or When I pick up a copy of my favorite magazine, Writer’s Digest, I lie down to take in all its great information—and not acting on an object. In both these cases, you, the subject, are setting yourself down. Are you with me so far?
I Lie Down vs. Now I Lay Me Down (to Sleep)
To clarify things further, I’ll answer this question that you’re probably wondering: How can you be lying down in your examples while the classic nighttime prayer for kids clearly begins “Now I lay me down to sleep”? You must be out of your mind! It’s true, I’m totally out of my mind, but both the examples I used and the kids’ prayer are correct—and here’s why.
In I lie down to sleep, there is no object to the sentence, just subject (I). In Now I lay me down to sleep, there is a subject (I) and an object (me). Even though the subject and object are one and the same, the object is still present in the sentence, so you must use lay.
Laid vs. Lay vs. Lain
In the past tense, “lay” becomes “laid” (Last week I laid down the law and told her it was inappropriate for her to pick her nose) and “lie” becomes “lay” (Yesterday she lay down for a nap that afternoon and picked her nose anyway). Yes, “lay” is also the past tense of “lie.” And the confusion doesn’t end there.
To throw you for another loop, “laid” is also the past participle form of “lay.” So, when helping verbs are involved, “lay” becomes “laid” and “lie” becomes “lain.” Grandma had laid the chicken in the oven earlier this morning. The chicken had lain there all day until it was cooked all the way through and ready for us to eat.
Remember: Lay and laid both mean to set something down, while lie, lay and lain all mean the subject is setting itself down.
And now, I lay this question to rest. (Enjoy this totally awesome chart below to help you keep track of when to use lay, lie, laid, lain and more.
Lay vs. Lie Chart
Infinitive Definition Present Past Past Participle Present Participle
to lay to put or place lay(s) laid laid laying
something down
to lie to rest or recline lie(s) lay lain lying
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OK, I think I got it. I think. 🙂
Paper
Nice. This the kind of writing that makes me want to write a poem, yesss. Excellent. Love the Imagery.
I like to think of my paper, my notebook sheets, as having texture. I want the lines to stick like staples punched through to the other side. Their long, skinny forms, plucked up from the page in an effort to rise above. I want the page to feel rough and gritty. Hard and torn through in spaces just empty enough to fill with small rips of imperfection. Lines like ridges would guide my pen in a steady cadence. Trotting through a white desert, my landscape would guide me in the right direction.
Instead my page is one long ice rink. Its smoothness leaves no gaps big enough to see through. The torn spots and crinkled edges are invisible. My paper has flat lined.
My instant reaction is to pump it back to life. Electricity in the shape of a fat black marker needs to run down the center. Cutting up…
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Writer’s Quote Wednesday – Jean Jacques Rousseau
For this week’s installment of Writer’s Quote Wednesday, I take my inspiration from Jean Jacques Rousseau:
There’s an ancient proverb that says that patience can cook a stone. What this means is that the impossible is possible with patience. You cannot literally melt a stone down into a cooking pot unless you intend on waiting for a very very VERY long time. Waiting, it is the bitter taste of patience. Not only is it sometimes stressful to have to wait, but to remain diligent while you wait is often our greatest challenge. Writing and producing takes a lot of patience but people who possess persistence are capable of achieving great things because they took their time preparing for it. Sometimes we get an idea in our head that is not meant to be acted upon right now. Sometimes these ideas are just there until it is time for them to bloom into that sweet reward that comes from hard work. Creativity then is also wrapped up in patience because waiting for the right time often nourishes our ideas; helps to organize them into realistic goals.
That’s it for this week’s episode of Writer’s Quote Wednesday. Follow the links to see how you can read other amazing quotes from amazing bloggers.
4 Common Sense Reasons It Can Benefit You to Self-Publish
Twenty years ago, a book followed a routine process: You poured your heart and soul into a manuscript, and when you finished it, you started calling agents and editors who most likely told you to send them a query letter.
The next step is the book proposal and a few sample chapters. Then the waiting game started, usually ending with disappointment.
On the other hand, the option to Self-Publish was there, but it had a certain stigma that, thankfully, has waned in this digital era. That stigma can be identified by statements such as, “Your book isn’t really published because you couldn’t get it accepted by a ‘real publisher.'”
However, being a Self-Publisher only means you are in charge of the direction of your book. The publisher (in this case, you) is the one who puts up the money. If you invest in your own printing, you are a Self-Publisher. If you begin to take in manuscripts, you are a small publisher. If you grow, you become a large publisher. Still, many Self-Publishers still wear this “badge of shame” for choosing not to go the traditional route, as if they were the scarlet woman or something.
This list can help clarify and simplify things for you.
4 Common Sense reasons it can benefit you to Self-Publish
• Ownership
Self-Publishing can be the road to your independence. Do you dream of being your own boss? Do you desire more personal freedom? You can turn that dream into a reality. You own all rights to your book as a self-publisher, whereas a traditional publisher would likely own the rights. If they lose interest in your book, you cannot print additional copies unless you purchase those rights. Traditional publishers often require you to purchase your book from them to do any promotion you choose to do for your book. As your own publisher, you print as many books as you need. Here is a dynamic, proven way to shape your own destiny.
• Timing
Traditional publishers work on a long production cycle. They often plan a year to a year and a half—or even longer—to get a book out. As a Self-Publisher, you can do it in a fraction of that time. It’s your material, your career move – you can take control of when you want to publish.
• Increased Income
Self-Publishing offers the potential for huge profits. When you use creativity, persistence, and sound business sense, money is there to be made. Most publishers require their authors to do their own promotion, but if you have to do your own promotion, why not Self-Publish it anyway and make more money? Even if you don’t make much, Self-Publishing allows you to get back what you put in. If you set a plan and work hard at it, you’ll be “making it rain” in no time. Or, you can work hard for some big-time publisher to tell you that you’re just not good enough.
• Control
Self-Publishing gives you the final say on the direction of your book. It reflects your vision and not someone else’s. You can personally guide every step or hire professionals to be on your team. You can choose the cover you like, the typeface, and the title you want. You maintain absolute control over your own book.
Whether you publish Traditionally or Self-Publish, completing a book is a great accomplishment. As to whether or not you’re making money from it, that’s up to you. So go ahead, finish that masterpiece, self-publish if that’s what you want to do, defy the stereotypes, and live happily ever after.
Patience
Whether were talking about blogging or life in general, we have got to start being more patient with one another. As soon as we see something different, be it a viewpoint or belief system, so many of us are ready to throw in the towel. The concept, however, of networking is to learn from each other, and to build while gaining insight along the way because the fact of the matter is that we don’t know everything; which means that everyone you meet will always have something new to teach you. Their eyes have seen what yours have not and their strengths may in fact include what you are still striving to obtain for yourself and vice verse. We can’t be in such a hurry to condemn and to judge someone’s actions because we can’t see how it is relatable to our lives at this very moment. The most cowardly thing I’ve seen online, for instance, is when one blogger chooses to disagree with another person’s blog but instead of approach the person directly, to this person’s dismay, they have to read about it in that person’s post and then guess whether or not they’re the person being spoken about. If this sounds confusing and juvenile that’s because it is. I see this many times on Facebook and sadly it has not escaped the blogosphere but is something people seem to do often on social media. Not that this has happened to me personally, I’m just using this as an example. It is never good to assume and always worth it to ask questions. Nothing anyone says or does is always about you personally. You see, patience is everything and covers many different angles. So it’s easy to miss something if we can’t control our emotions and are quick to fly off the handle. Did you really think no one on the internet would ever disagree with you? Ever? I allow varying viewpoints on my blog because that’s the real world. As much as we would like to make our blogs our own little world in the corner of a room it doesn’t work like that. It’s not going to always be lollypops and rainbows, but sometimes there will be a little thunder. Reaching people is not just about sitting around the table talking to people who already believe exactly as you do because it’s no growth in that. For this reason, I allow people to have disagreements here because it’s that way in life. Being flexible doesn’t mean to give up what you believe in, it just means to understand how to navigate the world around you. Leaders are born from patience.
The PBS Blog 