Stop Using These Two Fake Words

Photo by faeparsons

Every day you probably hear people use words that don't really exist; often, the people using them think they're being intelligent and insightful, when it's just the opposite.

Here's two of these words you should probably never use because they don't mean anything.

Conversate

This is increasingly being used, as in, "I'm looking for someone to conversate with."

Problem is, there is no such word as "conversate." It doesn't exist.

The correct word is "converse."

Better to say, "I'm looking for someone to converse with."

"'Conversate' is what is called a 'back-formation' based on the noun 'conversation,'" according to Paul Brians, Professor of English at Washington State University and author of the book Common Errors in English Usage.

What is a back-formation?

Wikipedia says, "In etymology, back-formation refers to the process of creating a new lexeme (less precisely, a new "word") by removing actual or supposed affixes. The resulting neologism is called a back-formation. Back-formations are shortened words created from longer words..."

Basically, people have taken the noun "conversation" and turned it into a verb, "conversate."

But of course, there's already a verb based on "conversation"--"converse."

If "converse" sounds too pretentious for you (conversate sounds even more pretentious, though), then say something like, "I'm looking for someone to talk with."

Eliminate the non-existent word "conversate" from your speech, and absolutely never use it in your writing.

Irregardless

"Irregardless, I don't want the job."

Many people use this fake word.

The real word is "regardless."

"The error results from failure to see the negative in -less and from a desire to get it in as a prefix, suggested by such words as irregular, irresponsible, and perhaps especially, irrespective," Strunk and White say in The Elements of Style.

Dictionary.com gives some background to this vile word's development:

"Coined in the United States in the early 20th century, it has met with a blizzard of condemnation for being an improper yoking of irrespective and regardless and for the logical absurdity of combining the negative ir- prefix and -less suffix in a single term."

If you want to let people know that, regardless of the benefits being offered, you're not interested in something, say, "Regardless, I'm not interested."

Do not say "irregardless," because that is not a real word.

Do the Right Thing

The simple placement of a few letters--"ir" and "ate" in "irregardless" and "conversate"--has tremendous consequences on how you're perceived. If you use the correct, real words, you'll come across as intelligent and well-spoken.

If you go along with the made-up words that are becoming increasingly used in popular culture, you risk being viewed as ridiculous when you use those words among people who know better.

Besides, wouldn't you rather just use the right words anyway?

Jesse Hines is a freelance writer in Newport News, Virginia. He has written company profiles, investigative articles, press releases, and marketing copy. If you have a project you think his experience could help you with, send him an email at jessehines@hotmail.com

Related Posts

Choose Your Words Carefully: Your Reputation Depends On It
Bad Grammar and Punctuation in Emails Can Hurt Your Career...or Worse

Freelance Face-Off: EzineArticles Versus Associated Content

Photo by rgk27

[Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by John Lockwood, the author of Inklit.com, an Internet Writer's Blog]

Two popular web sites where you can publish your articles are EzineArticles.com and Associated Content. The two are very different in how they compensate authors. I've tried both sites, and even though Associated Content pays their writers a small amount for their work, in the long run I believe freelancers will profit more from writing free articles on EzineArticles.com.

Associated Content -- Just Enough Pay To Say There Is

Unlike EzineArticles.com, where authors receive link credits for their work, Associated Content has two types of cash payment for their authors. You can make $1.50 per thousand page views if you submit your article for "Performance Payment" only. Your article will typically be approved faster this way. You can also opt to submit your article to receive an "Up Front Payment." Many authors report the up front payment range as $3 - $40, but the Associated Content web site currently gives a range of $3 - $20.

Assuming you got a mix of up front and performance payments, these numbers might work, but at least one Associated Content author has reported numbers that are more discouraging. Christina Freeman tells us that she wrote twenty-nine articles and made about $7.00 per article, with each article taking about 45 minutes to write.

Christina is optimistic about her future earnings at Associated Content, but there are two problems that her arguments do not address.

First, California minimum wage is $8.00 per hour. Granted, $7.00 for 45 minutes works out to $9.33, but given that independent contractors pay self-employment tax, the difference doesn't amount to much. Moreover, the argument that you can make a whole $1.33 more than minimum wage is hardly compelling either way.

Equally telling is the issue of how much you can make even in principle. Much of Christina's argument that her numbers will improve over time focuses on ideas like writing better SEO optimized pages and writing more popular content. To me this seriously begs the question of how well you can do at $1.50 per 1000 views.

In contrast, I have only been running Adsense for a short time, and certainly haven't yet explored all the ways to optimize it, yet my average for this month is $3.53 per 1,000 page views. In other words, I can use tools I'm familiar with, where my articles are guaranteed to be accepted, and make more than twice as much as I can on Associated Content, from Adsense alone (let alone whatever else my content might be selling for me).

EzineArticles.com

Given what I've said so far about Associated Content, where you don't get paid much, you would think I'd really hate EzineArticles, where you don't get paid at all. Yet I'm spending considerable time there and like them a lot!

Before you decide I'm crazy, let me explain. When you write for EzineArticles, you're writing for recognition and links. Unlike Associated Content, where your byline promotes your Associated Content profile, EzineArticles.com lets you include up to six links in your author byline section, three of which may be "self-serving," i.e., may point back to the web site(s) of your choice.

From a Search Engine Optimization perspective, there's an advantage in having good quality articles with links pointing back to you, especially if they can be widely distributed through a service such as EzineArticles. Granted that the search engines probably give less weight to links from duplicate articles, there's still some advantage, not to mention the publicity from the articles and the traffic you can get from the links themselves.

Because there's a search engine advantage to article distribution, EzineArticles helps freelancers promote their businesses. Even more importantly, this is a benefit that can be sold to others in turn. Many SEO firms and marketing companies offer article syndication as part of their services. There's a viable business model in selling to the SEO experts as a subcontractor, as Jennifer Williamson pointed out recently. Depending on your technical background, you may also want to offer it to your clients directly. I plan on offering this myself, so I'm currently working on building up my EzineArticle inventory.

One thing I'll have to keep an eye on, however, is how well the articles at EzineArticles get distributed. If there isn't a fairly wide distribution, then the benefit of writing for them diminishes substantially. I'll be researching this going forward.

EzineArticles the Winner on the Small Stuff As Well

To recap, EzineArticles wins on the major argument. As a businessperson, I don't mind doing something "for nothing," if that something will help me make more money in the long term. I find this better than getting less than half of someone else's Adsense revenue, especially when I could be developing that revenue stream on a new or existing web site that might pay me in other ways as well.

Before leaving the two, however, I want to also mention that EzineArticles is also easier to use than Associated Content. The sign-up process for EzineArticles is much shorter. Moreover, the editing and previewing interface in EzineArticles is a joy to use, while Associated Content's was more cumbersome.

On the editorial side, when Associated Content held up my first article on the basis of having bullet points, I decided that their editorial standards were a bit too strict for minimum wage. The list format is an enormously popular and easy to write format, so I don't understand their justification in disallowing it. In contrast, I ran afoul of the editorial guidelines on EzineArticles only on my third article.

John Lockwood is a freelance writer with a background in residential real estate sales and software development. He is the author of Inklit.com, an Internet Writer's Blog. Inklit is currently running a Six Month Free Ad promotion -- please mention Jesse Hines and VigorousWriting.net if you subscribe to help Jesse win the ad.

If you liked this post, subscribe to future Vigorous Writing updates in a reader or get Vigorous Writing updates delivered to your email.

Related Posts

Almost Everything in Life is Negotiable--Even for Freelance Writers
How Much Time Should Professional Writers Spend Blogging?

David Mamet's View of Today's Writers: Not Real Enough

Photo by kushwaha

Author and film director David Mamet, "known for [his] clever, terse, sometimes vulgar dialogue, arcane stylized phrasing, and for his exploration of masculinity," according to Wikipedia, is profiled in the April 2008 issue of GQ Magazine.

Some of Mamet's popular works include Glengarry Glen Ross and Wag the Dog.

A couple of eye-grabbing excerpts from the article:

From the writer of the piece, Alex Pappademas:

"[In] a glib, bloggy age where the romantic ideal of the Writer has been replaced by images of the sad-sack content providers, hunched over their iBooks at the corner coffeehouse, dreaming of health insurance, Mamet's still out there doing manly things (jujitsu! The man is 60!) in order to write about them..."

From Mamet himself, quoted in the article:

"Y'know, I grew up in a different generation. I grew up after World War II, and boys did different things in those days. You went camping. You went hunting. You boxed. And the image of a writer, to someone starting off in those days, was not some schmuck who went to graduate school. It was Jack London, Nelson Algren, Ernest Hemingway. Especially coming from Chicago--a writer was a knock-around guy. Someone who got a job as a reporter or drove a cab. I think the reason there are a lot of novels about How Mean My Mother Was To Me...is because the writers may have learned something called 'technique,' but they've neglected to have a life. What...are they gonna write about?"

Great insight.

There are so many people writing about so many things today, but how many of us have actually lived a life full of experiences that give real credence to our writing?

It's one thing to research something and then write about it; it's another to have actually experienced it and then write about it from the heart.

Read the entire profile in this month's issue of GQ magazine.

**Note: as mentioned above, Mamet is sometimes fairly vulgar, so the article contains some salty language. It's not terrible, but it's enough to warrant mention.**

Updates

I posted earlier this week that I'm getting rid of Entrecard and that I'm giving away my built-up credits, which are now over 200. By the end of the week, when I finally remove the widget (after all of the currently scheduled ads have finished running), I will have over 200 Entrecard credits. If you want them, get five people to sign up for my feed and email me the names and blogs of the five people you referred--I'll transfer my 200 credits to your Entrecard account. First come, first served.

Last week, I ran a post on author George Beahm's new sales and marketing blog, noting that he was off to a fast start, posting 15 times in three days. Well...he's already killed it, with plans to renew it soon as a blog about the "business of writing, editing, publishing, marketing, selling, and promoting books," he says, which has been his profession for the past 30 years.

I've Moved--Please Read

My new blog is Robust Writing, at robustwriting.com/blog

Sign up for the new feed at:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/RobustWriting

Related Posts

How Much Time Should Professional Writers Spend Blogging?
Writers: Sometimes It’s Better to Stop Writing Before You Hurt Yourself

How to Make Your Blog Stand Out from the Rest: C.S. Lewis on Originality and Truth

Photo by pshutterbug

Most writers, especially bloggers, strive to be original so they can distinguish themselves from their countless competitors and gain real recognition. Given the rapid growth of blogs, it's vital that bloggers do find and present a unique voice to the world if they ever hope to be noticed on a significant level.

Technorati says it currently tracks 112.8 million blogs and that bloggers "update their blogs regularly to the tune of over 1.6 million posts per day."

In addition, Technorati says there are over 175,000 new blogs started every day.

So what can you do to stand out, to become known as an original or unique blogger?

C.S. Lewis

In this installment of the Writing Advice from the Greats Series, we look at C.S. Lewis, the Christian apologist. He has some solid, simple advice for becoming a more original writer as well as growing your blog readership.

C.S. Lewis (1898–1963) was an Irishman and an English professor at Oxford University, where he became a close friend of J.R.R. Tolkien. Lewis authored The Problem of Pain and The Chronicles of Narnia, among many other books. His "works have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold more than a million copies per year. The books that comprise The Chronicles of Narnia have sold more than 100 million copies," according to Wikipedia.

Originality = Truth

"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it," Lewis said.

I believe he's right. Most everything that could be said has already been said, and most of the "new" ideas that catch fire are usually modern spins on old ideas. If you're intent on creating something totally unique that you think hasn't really been done or expressed yet, you're probably going to fail. Pretty much everything is already out there. For example, how many "make money online" blogs are there? How many "improve your writing" blogs have you seen, all often saying much the same things?

You likely won't create a successful blog by setting out to cover a subject that no one else has or covering that subject in a way that no one else has (because it's likely been done already many times over)--but you may well find success as a blogger by simply telling the truth.

Be honest about who you are and present your subject in as honest a fashion as you can. Have something valuable to say, know exactly what your take on that subject is, and present it clearly and honestly. If you do this consistently, you should find that readers will begin to grant you the labels of "original" or "unique" even though you haven't really presented anything new or even done it in a new way.

By simply being genuine and genuinely passionate about your subject, you will come across as an original voice in whatever genre you blog or write about. There are so many bloggers who are covering the same subject you are but doing it in a cheap, hit and run way that when you simply blog honestly, genuinely, and thoroughly, you stand out in a good way.

Example from Real Life

An episode in Lewis' life exemplifies his advice. He wrote A Grief Observed after his wife, Joy, died from bone cancer. Lewis was so brutally honest in discussing his pain and sorrow that he originally released the book under a pseudonym to "keep readers from associating the book with him. However, so many friends recommended the book to Lewis as a method for dealing with his own grief that he made his authorship public," according to Wikipedia.

A couple of quotes from A Grief Observed that demonstrate Lewis' honest and raw introspection laid bare before the world:

"Part of every misery is, so to speak, the misery's shadow or reflection: the fact that you don't merely suffer but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer. I not only live each endless day in grief, but live each day thinking about living each day in grief."

And:

"Am I, for instance, just sidling back to God because I know that if there's any road to H., it runs through Him? But then of course I know perfectly well that He can't be used as a road. If you're approaching Him not as the goal but as a road, not as the end but as a means, you're not really approaching Him at all."

Lewis simply told the truth to his readers about what he was experiencing and how he tried to deal with it, complete with his questions and doubts about the goodness of God--all this from the 20th century's most popular Christian apologist.

Tell the Truth

This isn't an excuse to start blogging about your personal life or the personal lives of those nearest to you in excruciating detail, airing your and their dirty laundry--as if that would even necessarily be interesting to many people.

Rather, the idea of telling the truth as a means of becoming an original writer is simply this: by being honest about who you are and what your credentials are to opine on a subject and presenting your subject in an honest, accurate, and thorough manner, you can establish yourself as a fresh and authoritative voice in your chosen arena.

So if you want to become an original writer, first focus on being an honest writer.

If you liked this post, subscribe to future Vigorous Writing updates in a reader or get Vigorous Writing updates delivered to your email.

Related Posts

Writing Advice from the Greats Series: William Faulkner
Writing Advice from the Greats Series: Ray Bradbury
Writers: Sometimes It's Better to Stop Writing Before You Hurt Yourself

Three Timeless Principles for Success as a Freelancer (or Anything Else)

Photo by PhillipC

You can spend several hours a day, several days a week reading various self-improvement blogs, websites, magazines, and books that offer up new twists on the same proven methods of success. As a freelance writer, or aspiring freelancer in any field, you're probably drawn to this stuff (as I am), but how much good does it really do you?

You might read a "Top 30" rules for success list in one place and at another, read something titled "You Must Do These 19 Things to Become Successful."

Many of these sources do give some really good information, but beyond a certain point, they're all just repeating each other, and often, themselves. And...the advice given is often blatantly obvious--did you really need the 37th self-improvement blogger to tell you that you need to do the best job you can or that you should make it a habit to be on time?

Do you really need a "top 10" list for everything in life?

It seems to me there are really three foundational principles for success that most of the myriad others stem from--these three seem to have worked for those who are really successful, such as the Michael Jordans and the John McCains of this world.

They're very simple, very obvious, and truly beneficial.

1. Do what's right: Be honest, treat others well, do top-notch work, keep a clear conscience.

2. Work hard: Do what you have to do when you have to do it the way that you're supposed to.

3. Pursue your passion: Whatever you're truly motivated by, do that, and do it with gusto.

Yeah, these are basic. But amidst all of the self-improvement and lifestyle-design gurus advising you to follow their "25 top success tips" this week and their "30 biggest success hacks" next week, you might be better off and actually have time to accomplish real success if you minimize the reading of never-ending advice and simply do what's right at all times, work hard at whatever you do, and pursue your passion in both work and play.

What do you think? Is this too simplified or do we truly need to follow a new top 10 list of success tips every single week?

If you liked this post, subscribe to future Vigorous Writing updates in a reader or get Vigorous Writing updates delivered to your email.

Related

Elimination is a Key to Better Writing and Better Living
Vanishing Mists: How Wisely are You Using the Short Time You've Been Given?

Choose Your Words Carefully: Your Reputation Depends On It

Photo by popofatticus

Being precise in your choice of words will enable you to write more clearly and persuasively, as well as set you apart from the many other writers who are too casual in their word usage.

I've picked out three sets of words and word pairs that are commonly misused. I'll explain what's wrong with them and suggest which words you should use instead.

Try To Get It Right

Many writers and speakers will use the phrase "try and" when they should use "try to."

Wrong usage:

"You should try and talk to him."

Why is this wrong? Because the use of "and" is supposed to join two or more separate items together; there's nothing to join here. There's only one thing to do: talk to someone.

Correct usage:

"You should try to talk to him."

Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style is right:

"Students of the language will argue that try and has…become idiom. Indeed it has…But try to is precise, and when you are writing formal prose, try and write try to."

Very Important

C.S. Lewis, author of the Chronicles of Narnia series and Mere Christianity, said:

"Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite."

Lewis' point is that if you too casually use adjectives in your copy, you end up diluting their effectiveness. Use them only when they truly add color to your other words and they are accurate. Let's look at Lewis' example.

According to Dictionary.com:

As an adjective, "very" means "precise; particular… actual…true; genuine; worthy of being called such…rightful or legitimate."

As an adjective, "infinitely" means "immeasurably great…indefinitely or exceedingly great…unlimited or unmeasurable in extent of space, duration of time, etc.,…unbounded or unlimited; boundless; endless."

The main difference between the words "very" and "infinitely" is this: "very" describes something that is great but measurable; "infinitely" describes something that is not only great but also immeasurable.

Reserve the usage of "infinitely" for the rare subjects that are truly without measurable standards or limits. Use "very" when dealing with subjects that are precise and exact and have measurable limits.

Fewer Misuses of Words = Less Respect Lost

This a major misuse. People will often use "lesser" when they should be using "fewer."

Wrong usage:

"He won less awards than you."

Correct usage:

"He won fewer awards than you."

Mark Israel states the basic rule well:

"Use 'fewer' for things you count (individually), and 'less' for things you measure: 'fewer apples,' 'less water.'"

"Fewer" should be used when there is a concrete, specified amount that you can count--you can count how many awards someone has won.

"Less" should be used when it is not possible to exactly count something or specify an amount, but the item is still measurable in some way.

For example, you would use "less" this way:

"He has won less respect than you."

You can determine who has earned more respect in the cumulative eyes of others, but there's no mathematical figure you can find to quantify the level of respect.

It wouldn't work the other way around:

"He has won fewer respect than you."

So, use "fewer" when you're talking about something exact and mathematically countable; use "lesser" when you're talking about something more open to interpretation and not able to be counted.

You've Got to Be Precise

The more precise you are in the words you choose for your copy, the more clear and effective your writing will be, and the more respect you will garner.

Take some time before you publish anything or submit it for publication to ensure that the words you've used truly mean what you've intended to say.

If you liked this post, subscribe to future Vigorous Writing updates in a reader or get Vigorous Writing updates delivered to your email.

Related

Be Precise Both in Your Writing and Use of Time
Bad Grammar and Punctuation in Emails Can Hurt Your Career...or Worse
60% of Business Writing Contains Errors?

What's Your Special(ty)? How Hardee's Thickburgers & Narrow Focus Can Help You Make More Money as a Writer

Photo by Chiara Marra

I recently bought a Jalapeno Thickburger from Hardee's, and as I was eating that spicy monstrosity, I started reading (as writers are wont to do) the copy on the Hardee's bag. It contained a valuable lesson for aspiring writers.

Entitled, "The Thickburger™ Story," and penned by Andy Puzder, president of Hardee's, it explains how Hardee's sought to reposition itself in the fast-food market by moving back to specialization.

Puzder writes:

"Fellow Burger Lovers,

A few years ago when I became president of Hardee's Restaurants, we were selling so many things that we had truly become a 'Jack of all trades and a master of none'....

The chain needed to become known for doing something really well again….I challenged my menu development folks to come up with a new line of burgers that would make people say, 'Wow! I can't believe I can get burgers that good at a fast-food place.' And they did. They came up with thick 1/3-, 1/2-, and 2/3-pound burgers, every one charbroiled-to-order and made with 100% Angus beef. They made the buns heavier and a little sweeter, and then they buttered and grilled them like you'd find at great burger joints. They used sliced red onions, which no other chain was doing at the time, and they even used better pickles. And, they called them 'Thickburgers.'"

Hardee's plan has worked out well. I don't know the sales numbers, but I do know the general perception of most of my fellow burger-eaters--when we want a real, large, filling, flavorful burger, we head to Hardee's. It costs a little more than McDonald's or Burger King, but Hardee's Thickburgers are definitely better. Before the introduction of Thickburgers, I didn't have nearly as much interest in eating at Hardee's. Now, whenever I think of Hardee's, I think of Thickburgers, and whenever I think of top-notch burgers, I think of Hardee's.

What's on Your Menu?

So…how does this help you as a writer? Simple. You will probably make more money if you specialize in a segment of the writing industry and become known as an expert in it. Many writers just want to make money with their writing skills and thus try to write whatever they can find that will pay them money. They might write marketing copy for a brochure one day, an opinion piece for a newspaper the next, some web SEO content for a website later on, and feature articles for magazines as well. They'll write on any topic in any segment as long as they're getting paid.

But…you can't really market yourself well with that approach. Nor will you likely make as much money if you're not able to position yourself as an expert in a certain sector.

Jennifer Williamson of CatalystBlogger writes,

"[H]igh-paying clients look for writers with a portfolio of work that looks just like what they're looking for--not versatility.

If you're a generalist, your competition is every other writer out there--other generalists and niche writers for each specific job. But if you only write for one specific niche, word might get around that you're the "go-to" guy for that niche--and you'll have much less competition."

Think about it. Say you own a BMW and your engine starts to run badly. Where would you rather take it--the auto mechanic who boasts that he works on all cars, both foreign and domestic, both new and old, or a certified BMW mechanic, perhaps one who only works on BMW's? You most likely would want the expert, the guy who works on BMW's every day.

Bob Bly adds,

"[O]ne way to make sure you are always in demand is to specialize.

You can specialize in a subject: gardening, content management, wastewater management, investments, interpersonal skills, health and fitness. Or you can specialize in a format or medium: multimedia presentations, Web sites, e-mail marketing, direct mail, speeches, annual reports.

Must you specialize? No. But as a rule, specialists earn more than generalists, are more in demand, and have an easier time finding work than generalists….If you are only one of a handful of known experts on your topic, the demand for your writing services will exceed the supply, and you can pick and choose your assignments."

Become Special

You can certainly write across spectrums and industries--do corporate copy writing as well as magazine articles, for example--but you should probably pick no more than a couple of specialties. With a clearer focus on what you want to do, and can do well, you can pour more energy and time into developing those skills and marketing to a tighter market. You can also begin to position yourself as an expert in the couple of areas you've chosen. By choosing a clearly defined goal, you are more likely to achieve it; by choosing to become a top writer in a certain area, you are more likely to have more work and make more money.

You've got to have a plan. Just wanting to write and make money from your writing isn't enough. There are plenty of good writers who can write well on a lot of things, but they don't have a clear plan for their business, and thus don’t market themselves in a way to elicit significant, sustained, good-paying clients.

If you're particularly knowledgeable about or experienced in a certain field, say, such as boating, you may want to leverage that--create a boating blog/website, pitch articles to boating magazines, and contact every boating vendor to offer your copy writing services.

The point is, while so many other writers are out there offering a "wide variety of writing services to meet clients' every need," and getting some clients here and there, mostly unrelated, you can be creating an image of yourself as an expert in a particular industry or of a particular type of writing. Done correctly, you will probably end up much more successful than your "do everything under the sun" competitors.

If you liked this post, subscribe to future Vigorous Writing updates in a reader or get Vigorous Writing updates delivered to your email.

Related

How Much Do Writers Make?
Elimination is a Key to Better Writing and Better Living