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Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Inspiration » Page 8

Inspiration

O I C, U C?

By Bob Hostetleron May 20, 2021
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I’ve been a fan of James Taylor (he of “Fire and Rain” and “Carolina on My Mind” fame) since I first heard “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” on the radio at a particularly lonely time in my life. That’s a story for another time; we won’t get into it right now. But from that day I bought or stole every album he ever released. On his 1979 release, Flag, he included a song titled “B.S.U.R. (S.U.C.S.I.M.I.M.).” As he sang it in the chorus of the song, it became clearer to any listener: “Be as you are, as you see as I am I am.”

I’ve since learned that there’s a word for what he did there. (Of course there is.) It’s called a grammagram. (And, no, that’s not a photo app exclusively for grandmothers, smart aleck.) A grammagram is a word that can be expressed phonetically as a string of letters; and as James Taylor showed (call me, James, okay?), whole sentences can be formed using (or as) grammagrams.

SKP is a grammagram (for “escapee”). So is XLNC (“excellency”) and NMNE (“anemone”). As well as (no hints for these) ODS and RKDN and what is thought to be the longest single-word grammagram, XPDNC.

The brilliant author William Steig (he of Shrek and Abel’s Island fame) wrote a couple of picture books—C D B and C D C? using only letters, numbers, and symbols to make sentences, such as “C U N 10SE.” Sure, adding numbers and symbols (such as ¢ 10 EL) is cheating; and pictures make the meanings a bit clearer. But both books are clever and fun.

So, do you know any grammagrams? Can you write any sentences (or sonnets, Andrew? hmmm?) using letters only (or, if you like, letters, numbers, and symbols)? 

Why not give it a shot in the comments? Bonus points for anyone writing a complete book in grammagrams.

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Category: Humor, Inspiration

Made for Such a Time

By Dan Balowon April 1, 2021
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Today is a difficult day for Christians as we remember the final full day of Christ’s life before his crucifixion. Deep down, I wish Jesus didn’t have to go through all he did. Reading through the Gospels, it is clear the events of this week were part of a plan and purpose for Jesus living a human existence. He had a unique and stated purpose, even coming right out and saying it numerous times …

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Category: Book Business, Inspiration, Theology

Every Book Doesn’t Need to Shake the Earth

By Dan Balowon March 11, 2021
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If you look at any list of best-selling books expecting every one of them to be a literary masterpiece, you are probably setting yourself up for disappointment. “Are you kidding me? A book about famous racehorses of the 20th century is a bestseller? People bought that instead of my 1,200-page book on linguistic anomalies in Hebrew and Greek biblical texts? For Pete’s sake, half of the horse book …

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Category: Encouragement, Inspiration, Pitching, Platform

Coming Full Circle

By Guest Bloggeron February 17, 2021
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by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Today's guest blog is from Kim Vogel Sawyer a best-selling author whose books have topped the sales charts and won awards since 2005, when she left her elementary school teaching job to write full time. Her books have won the Carol Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Her stories are designed to offer hope and …

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Category: Career, Get Published, Guest Post, Inspiration, TamelaTag: Career, Get Published, Inspiration

Christmas for Writers

By Bob Hostetleron December 23, 2020
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It’s almost here! We are on the threshold of the annual celebration of Jesus’ birth! As I think someone has said (and sung) before, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. And, though I know you still have things to wrap and things to bake and things to bedazzle, you must be reading these lines for some strange reason, right? So I want to wish everyone out there in Writerworld (which is slightly …

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Category: InspirationTag: Christmas

Can Silence Make You a Better Writer?

By Bob Hostetleron September 2, 2020
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Decades ago, when I was barely out of diapers, I started taking annual (sometimes twice-yearly) prayer retreats at the Abbey of Gethsemani in the hills of central Kentucky. It’s a silent Trappist monastery, and it’s been a boon to my prayer life. A lifeline, sometimes. It’s also been a boon to my writing life. Once I’ve checked in and been immersed in and surrounded by silence (interrupted only by …

Read moreCan Silence Make You a Better Writer?
Category: Inspiration, The Writing Life, Theology

Instrument (A Writer’s Prayer)

By Bob Hostetleron May 13, 2020
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God, from ancient days to modern times, you have chosen human language to communicate with men and women; in fact, you are a writer yourself, having written your commandments in tablets of stone, my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and your Word in my heart. You have also given me a love for the written word, and have indebted me to the writings of many gifted men and women. So, while I am a …

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Category: Inspiration, The Writing Life, Theology

Quotes from Recent Books I’ve Read

By Bob Hostetleron May 6, 2020
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Prolific western writer Louis L’Amour wrote in his autobiographical Education of a Wandering Man, “A writer’s brain is like a magician’s hat.  If you’re going to get anything out of it, you have to put something in first.” That’s why reading well and widely is crucial to a writer’s development. You don’t have to read everything, of course; just everything I’ve written. I’m only half joking. But in …

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Category: Inspiration

Is It Ready to Submit?

By Bob Hostetleron April 29, 2020
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You’ve poured out your soul. You’ve written your heart out. You’ve struggled and sweated over how to say what you want to say. You’ve paced the floor, clicked your heels, and now you think maybe it’s ready to submit. But how do you know? Good question. “Good question” usually means you’re going to get a lousy answer. I won’t promise you anything different now, because it can be so hard to know if …

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Category: Book Proposals, Editing, Grammar, Inspiration, Pitching

A Writer’s Prayer of Confession

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 4, 2020
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Most holy and merciful Father: I confess that I have sinned by my own fault in thought, word, and deed; by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. I have let the idea of being a writer distract me from devotion to you. I have made myself busier with words than with your Word. I have been consumed by my writing plans and …

Read moreA Writer’s Prayer of Confession
Category: Encouragement, Faith, Inspiration, Theology
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