July 28, 2010

On The Ball: The Ergonomic Writing Life


Sitting at a desk too long can be a big pain in the downside of your writing life. So get on the ball - a medicine ball, Swiss ball, exercise ball, Pilates ball, or one of those big blue balls kids play with – sort of like a thick-skinned beach ball for giant babies.

Regardless what you call the thing, the idea is to get on the ball then sit there, using those tiny little muscles, which might otherwise be unbeknown, to keep your balance. Strengthening those muscles will help to strength your back, which, if you’re in a poorly fitted chair, will hurt more and more as your writing life gets rolling. (I speak from experience!) Some people also use a ball to sit at their computer, but I prefer an ergonomic chair with lumbar support and knobs to adjust the height, arm width, and, especially, the tilt.  

Besides my tendency to sit way too long at my desk, my own back and spine problems caused me to research the subject and write The Encyclopedia of the Back and Spine Systems and Disorders for Facts On File. The same company also published my book The Encyclopedia of the Muscle and Skeletal Systems and Disorders, which the American Library Association honored as a nonfiction academic favorite for the year. I’m not mentioning that to brag (okay, maybe I am) but to let you know that I know backs and back pain, and the two do not automatically go together.

A well-fitted, ergonomically correct chair improves your desk posture, which helps you to avoid those backaches caused by fatigue. As you adjust your chair to fit you and your work station, notice each joint of your body. Then think in terms of right angles or an L-shape to ensure a neutral position.

In a well-adjusted chair:

Your knees will be at 90-degree angles while the bottoms of your feet hold down the floor.

Your back and thighs will form a capital L as you sit in a neutral position.

Your neck will not bend or stretch toward your monitor or twist to one side.

Your elbows will rest lightly against your waist.

Your wrists will be straight as your fingers cup the keyboard.

After all of those gyrations, however, you still might not be able to tell whether you’re in a neutral position. If not, check a reflective surface or ask someone to look at you squarely and see if anything needs adjusting to sit you comfortably upright.


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(c) 2010, Mary Harwell Sayler

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July 10, 2010

Writing Winner Nonfiction For Kids


Each year I judged entries in the children’s literature category of an international writing contest I kept hoping to find well-written nonfiction articles or interesting chapters excerpted from dynamic nonfiction books. Some actually did arrive, while others seem promising before descending into a central set of flaws.

In an obvious effort to be fresh and lively, many writers started their nonfiction for children with scenes from a novel. For example, they might begin with dialogue, a problem, a child’s thoughts, or an amusing conversation that reads like the opening of a sit-com. Often, a main character asks a grandparent about a subject soon to be addressed but, unfortunately, not nearly soon enough. These novel openings sound good at first but quickly bring confusion since readers will rarely be able to tell what the book is about until they read a page or two or three.

Another problem arises with credibility and accuracy – or the lack thereof. With no bibliography to cite sources at the end of a manuscript, no one knows if the author has spent weeks searching, sorting, and sifting through reliable information or just passed along personal opinions and assumptions as fact.

A more common flaw occurs in the quality of the writing. For instance, passive voice seems particularly prevalent as illustrated by circling phrase after phrase that states, “It is” or “There was.” Such a passive voice usually comes across as a passive writer, who did not take time to search for active verbs and strong nouns that readers can readily picture.

Speaking of pictures, young readers need to be able to envision what they’re reading whether the pages contain illustrations or not. For the writing to be this clear, each sentence usually needs an easy-to-picture noun that brings to mind a person, place, or thing, but not a vague idea. An active verb can then put that noun into motion. If the nonfiction manuscript happens to be the text for a children’s picture book, those mental images on every page become vital or, voila, no picture book.

That seems obvious, but, fortunately, so do solutions to each of the problems mentioned. Most writers have fine minds and can figure these things out for themselves once they recognize a problem or even know to look for one. What often happens, though, is that we get caught up in stories we can’t wait to share with our kids or grandkids, forgetting that children can not follow unless we remember they’re right there beside us, waiting for the next picture, the next thought, the next word they can easily connect with, enjoy, and understand.

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(c) 2010, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.



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Me, Myself, and Eye Care

  Over a decade ago I began this blog, and, as time has flown, so has my vision. With a few other blogs to maintain, I hope to post/ repost ...