WriterByNature.com

February 23, 2010 8:14 am

In my quest to improve my skills as a naturalist and a writer, I have been blessed to develop friendships with many respected nature writers, including Jim Capossela.

Writers like Jim often send written, rather than spoken messages. In our first email exchange, I learned that we have both adopted “Happy Trails” to sign off our correspondence.

Do brilliant minds think alike?  (more…)

February 16, 2010 8:37 am

I have been a Michael Pollan fan since I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma. In his current book, Food Rules, Rule Number 31 is: Eat Wild Foods When You Can. I want to hug him. He gets it.

This latest book follows In Defense of Food which suggests we: “Eat food. Not too much Mostly plants.” Ironically, Pollan’s complete book titles are longer than the core message. His skillful writing  keeps me reading.

I aspire to Pollan’s mastery of word conservation and his diplomacy. What he calls “edible foodlike substances,” I call “corporate chemical concoctions.” (more…)

January 17, 2009 8:27 am

I love to play with words, which motivates my 20^th Century brain to attempt to follow the ever-changing 21^st Century rules.

When brain is composting, I often make lists of baffling English words. Years ago I came up with a list of paradoxical words that had opposite meanings. Among my favorites were:

• Clip –what you do to a coupon, or what you do with a paper clip
• Note –what’s written on paper, or a specific tone a musical instrument makes
• Sanction – which can mean either to permit or to penalize
• Seed – to plant them for food, or to remove them from food
• Seeded – added to the bread’s crust, or removed from fruit or vegetables
• Shade – a color’s hue, or refuge from the sun under a tree or large object
• Trunk – what grandma packed for a voyage, or a tree’s stem

Context is crucial to the meaning of these words. If you teach English as a second language, you have my deepest respect.

Apparently I’m not the only writer to ponder this baffling ambiguity. My clumsy keyword search did lead me to  this website:   http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cellis/antagonym.html.

The writer claims to have created the word ANTAGONYMS to describe this group of words. That works for me. The author was also kind enough to create a longer list than my few examples, including slang circa 1999.

November 25, 2008 6:50 am

“A chorus of our differences,” Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker said in a recent interview.

Do you ever wonder why metaphors work? Or more important, how to write a powerful metaphor?

Let’s start with what a metaphor is:

A well-written metaphor forms a bridge connecting two apparently unrelated things, providing logical balance to both sides. A poorly written metaphor distracts the reader.

When they efficiently create an image in the reader’s mind, metaphors also help develop the theme.

Consider how Barbara Kingsolver masters this technique in ANIMAL DREAMS:

“The man had a compass needle in his cerebral cortex. And for all that,  he’d still in the long run declined to be the guiding star I needed.”

Try this exercise to build your metaphor-writing skills: (more…)

November 21, 2008 8:01 am

This is one of a series of articles designed to equip any naturalist with words that enhance learning and make field observation easier. Whether you’re a forager or a gardener, it’s useful to have a common vocabulary when talking about how plants grow. Here is a list of the more commonly used words for:

Flower Parts (more…)

October 25, 2008 9:21 pm

This is one of a series of articles designed to equip any naturalist with words that enhance learning and make field observation easier. Here are the botanical terms for:

Plant Parts Below the Soil

Root – supports the stem and stores water and food for the plant.

Rhizome – a stem growing underground, often horizontally.

Tuber – a swollen, fleshy part of an underground stem.

Bulb – an underground leaf, which stores nutrient reserves.

Corm – an underground stem, which stores food.

(more…)

October 15, 2008 6:47 am

As if harvesting blueberries and acorns simultaneously isn’t surprising enough, I was really shocked to see this blueberry plant flowering. Yes, the climate is changing.

In the autumns of my childhood, blueberries were no longer ripening in September, color was past peak by mid-October, and witch hazel bloomed after their leaves and nuts fell in November .

I’m tempted to stress out over the political decision-making that has contributed to climate change (not to mention our economic woes), but it’s leaf season and as long as there are autumn displays, I will honor them.

(more…)

February 26, 2008 5:45 am

Style, like DNA or fingerprints, is what identifies a writer.

Here are some techniques you can use to create the appropriate style for your written work: (more…)

February 5, 2008 6:29 am

A reader contacted me recently and asked:

Do I walk into, or in to the building? Do I go into the bedroom to get dressed, or do I go in to the bedroom to get dressed. I believe ‘into’ in both cases. Right, or wrong? I sometimes have problem with this. Is there a rule?

I had to meditate on this for a while. But there is a clear distinction between into and in to.

Use the word into, when you mean enter or transform.
Use the phrase in to, when you mean anything else.

The best example I found when searching for an illustration of the difference comes from writer George Roupe. Consider the following two sentences:

Turn the assignment in to the teacher.
Turn the assignment into the teacher. (more…)

January 8, 2008 11:23 pm

There is a connection between the brain and the hand.

The longer I live, the more I’m convinced that I need to actually write on paper in order to recall information I have learned but not yet internalized.

I use my eyes and hands differently when I keyboard. I need to actually grip a pen or pencil and push it across paper in order to remember. (more…)