There's "something" I want to say

There is something sacrosanct about quotation marks. As a writer, they signify something true, something that was actually said, something that can be taken to the bank. I think about once a week I say “let me quote…” or “he said, I quote…” because if it was said, it can be quoted. You might just as well engrave it on your forehead.

Of course not everything said is true. Not everything said is worth quoting. Sometimes it begs the question: why say it then? I could take that advice a little more often, God gave me two ears and one mouth for a reason, they say.

But there’s that “other” use for question marks. Born from the “air quote sign” you make by putting your hands up in front of your face and scrunching the first two fingers downward, the “air quote” has morphed into something a little different in writing.

Suddenly there are quotes you can find around random phrases online, in advertising, wherever someone wants to, I don’t know, boost the credibility of the words.

“These words are in quotes! So they are True! You can rilly rilly believe in them!”

I stumbled across this blog, The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks: misinterpreting bad punctuation since 2005.

The blogger doesn’t so much make fun of unnecessary quotation marks as much as she deliberately misinterprets them. In doing so, I hope what she really does is point out why you should only use quotations for their real purpose: quoting people or text!

Meme answers and my favorite writing (related) quotes

Carolyn's posted a Meme (and funnily enough, I always read the 'meme' thing as 'me - me'. A friend of mine used to debate the whole concept of 'meme' because, even in the broadest sense of the word, viral quizzes and other things that pass on via blogs aren't - technically - memes. That's probably a rant for another time though ;)

So, without further ado, seven things...I'm more self indulgent that Carolyn, so don't mind talking about myself :D.
1) I'm writing a set of books based around a pattern of seven. Its a police/thriller style book, and my MC, Elliot Peters, is visually based on Chris Meloni (from Special Victims Unit, Oz, and a guest appearance in Scrubs).
2)I've just finished my first year of Uni with what I hope to be a 2:1. I've done really well on most courses, which I'm very proud of.
3)I am genuinely flummoxed by the need that most women I know (please note, not all) to have more than a minimum amount of shoes. I've got six pairs and that feels like about three too many.
4)I've written close to 40 novels. Now to sell them...
5) at one point I owned 500 websites. I'm cutting it down rather rapidly, but I still own a huge amount. I wish I could find someone to take them off my hands, cause all that most of them need is a little TLC.
6) I am 30 this year. I only just discovered I like spas (I went for the first time last night) and I play roleplaying games at least three nights a week in person and once or twice a week online on World of Warcraft.
7)I hate letting people read what I'm writing, as I'm writing it, which, in part is why I won't take part in LiveBlogging events. I LIKE time to think about how silly I'm looking.

And some favorite quotes:
"If you don't know there's a trampoline in the room, you're not going to dust the ceiling for prints." - Captain Craigen SVU
Now, before you wonder what this has to do with writing, that's the easy bit to explain. No writer should ever ignore the angle that everyone else has overlooked - its our JOB to show people that there was a trampoline in the room, and to go ahead and dust that ceiling. In other words, we're here to give a perspective that people understand and relate to.

'Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.'

T S Eliot

I love this quote, because it lines up with something that slid into place with one of my lectures. My lecturer had been ranting about how 'soul' means something different to each and every person we encounter. He also told us that poetry should leave 'gaps' for the reader to fill in. My brain somehow rearranged it to 'poetry leaves gaps for readers to fill in with bits of their soul'. And I think that's a great way to be with ANY piece. We're supposed to leave enough room for people to understand - to fill in with their experience, their imaginings, their loves and hates.

'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.'

E L Doctorow

Again, this is great. And its totally true, though in my case, I've got deja vu when I get to certain bits. Been there before. Oh gods, I know what happens now, do I really want to watch?
LOL.

And finally...

"Are you going to come quietly, or do I have to use earplugs?"
Spike Milligan

Sometimes its not about doing it right, or politely - or within reason. Sometimes its about shouting from the top of the roof, at the top of your lungs, with that huge loudspeaker - when everyone else is being quiet. Sometimes - just sometimes - its about doing it my way. And that one line from Spike Milligan, whom I share some similarities with, reminds me every single time that writing isn't about doing it any other way than loud, proud and in as many faces as possible.