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The Steve Laube Agency

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 » Writing Craft » Page 46

Writing Craft

Leap into Word Play

By Steve Laubeon February 29, 2016
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February 29th comes every U.S. Presidential election year. It is called Leap Year day. I pondered what we could do to celebrate this reaccuring phenomenon.

Should we sing along with Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance” when Frederic discovers that he was born on February 29th and the whole story turns on a most ingenious paradox?

Instead I thought we could play around with all the uses of the word “leap” in the English language. A study in cliches! Here is what I came up with (can you add more?):

Leap to mind
By leaps and bounds
Quantum leap
Leap Frog
Leap of Faith
Leap to conclusions (or jump to conclusions)
Leap at the opportunity
Leap for joy
Look before you leap
Leap in the dark

Or the famous statement by Neil Armstong, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

All our daughters are involved in the arts (music and dance) and two majored in Ballet and Dance Performance, respectively. Despite that, I know next to nothing about ballet other than how hard it is to perform at a high level. I did learn that ballet has a special vocabulary for their various moves. Ballet even has many different words for leap or jump. I looked them up… Jeté. Grand Jeté, Sissone, Pas de Chat, Sauté, Petit Saut, Emboîté, and Entrechat. Who knew? I usually just watched slack-jawed and said “wow, she jumped good…”

Your turn

Try your hand at a couple other words and see if you can list their various uses. Words like:
Basket
Fork
Time
Hit

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Category: Creativity, Writing CraftTag: Creativity

Publishing Acronyms

By Steve Laubeon February 22, 2016
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After being in an industry for a while there is a natural tendency to speak in code. Acronyms flow freely and can be a foreign language to those new to the conversation. Below is an attempt to spell out some of the more common acronyms in the publishing industry and some specific to the Christian publishing industry. They are grouped by topic in a rudimentary way but in no particular order. If …

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Category: Book Business, Book Business, Communication, Contracts, The Publishing LifeTag: Acronyms, publishing

The Sound of Words

By Karen Ballon February 10, 2016
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One of the things I love most about working with words is that I will never reach the point where I can say, “There, now. I’ve learned it all.” Love, love learning new things. Especially when it’s something I can share with all of you. So, have you ever heard of phonesthesia or sound symbolism? Basically, it’s the idea that the sound of a word plays into it’s perceived meaning. That there are …

Read moreThe Sound of Words
Category: Communication, Craft, Creativity, Editing, Humor, LanguageTag: Language, words

You Might As Well Face It, You’re Addicted to Input

By Dan Balowon February 9, 2016
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With great fear of being sued by Robert Palmer for messing with his song lyrics: You like to think that you’re immune to the stuff…oh yeah It’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough You know you’re gonna have to face it You’re addicted to love INPUT. Publishing is such a subjective field of endeavor that at one point or another an author, editor or …

Read moreYou Might As Well Face It, You’re Addicted to Input
Category: Career, Communication, Editing, The Writing Life, Writing CraftTag: Career, Input, The Writing Life

Don’t Waste Your Time

By Karen Ballon February 3, 2016
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Some days…those rare, out-of-the-blue, once-in-awhile days…God speaks an amen that reminds me all this is worth it. This past Saturday was a day like that. I spoke at a writer’s conference and had a delightful time. At the closing sessions I spoke on passion and why we Christian writers do what we do. How the goal can’t be publication, but obedience to the task God has given us. How writing for …

Read moreDon’t Waste Your Time
Category: Career, Conferences, Get Published, TheologyTag: Get Published

Deadlines: Pre-Emptive Strike

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 28, 2016
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Last week I wrote about a process on how to manage deadlines. Despite our best efforts, events may put us awry. To avoid this, eliminate overconfidence. When you see a contract and the advance – one you may desperately need, you may be tempted to say, “You know what? I really don’t need to go to the beach this year. I’ll write all summer instead.” Or, “Sure, I can write 3,000 words a day, seven …

Read moreDeadlines: Pre-Emptive Strike
Category: Career, CraftTag: Career, Deadlines

Can You Handle the Edit?

By Karen Ballon January 27, 2016
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There’s a lot about being a freelance editor that’s fun. But some things that just…aren’t. Like telling a writer that his manuscript isn’t ready to be edited. This happens most often before an editor agrees to do an edit, when they read the sample of the manuscript. There are times, though, when those first pages are pretty good, so the editor takes the project on. And then, when he’s deep in the …

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Category: Career, Editing, Writing CraftTag: Editing, Writing Craft

Meet Deadlines with Simple Math

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 21, 2016
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During your publishing journey you may have the delightful problem of too many deadlines. You may have to ask yourself if you can accept another contract because you’re so busy. I’ve advised many clients about this over the years, taking them from panic to peace. Simple math can help. Determine time Look at all your contracts and how much time you have to write the books. Calculate how many days …

Read moreMeet Deadlines with Simple Math
Category: Career, CraftTag: Career, Deadlines

Hope to See You at a Conference This Year

By Steve Laubeon January 18, 2016
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We are often asked which conferences we will attend and where. Below is a list for each of us with a link to each event. We all hope to see you in person some time this year. Someone from the agency will be in nine different states and Canada and in all four time zones at some time this year. Steve Laube: Feb 4-7 – Hershey, PA – Writer to Writer Conference March 18-22 – Mt. …

Read moreHope to See You at a Conference This Year
Category: Conferences, Get PublishedTag: Get Published, writers conferences

What Keeps You from Following Up?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 14, 2016
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You’ve been to a conference, probably at great expense and some trouble. You’ve met a few agents and editors. And you probably got at least a couple of requests to follow up with a manuscript. Now you’re home. And it’s time to follow up. Will you? If not, why not? Fear Fear is a natural emotion. In fact, if you don’t feel any fear, maybe it’s time to be scared. Or at least, worried. When you …

Read moreWhat Keeps You from Following Up?
Category: ConferencesTag: Conferences, Follow Up
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