Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores Are Bringing Their A-Game: Help Spread the Love

Do you love being able to walk into your local bookstore and actually pick up a book and look through its pages?

The boom in e-reader and tablet sales are creating stiff competition for brick and mortar bookstores. Just as the corporate chains threatened to gobble up the independent competition in the pre-tablet, today’s digital media giants threaten brick and mortar merchants. Bookstore owners and managers are forced to think outside of the proverbial box in order to find creative ways of marketing their tangible wares for a public increasingly drawn to cloud storage and digital copies.

Many bookworms who are still dedicated to their physical copies don’t realize just how much they can help these bookstores increase their reach. Here are a few ways to spread the love and help them boost visibility and increase vitality.

• Shop Locally – Everyone knows about the cultural shift to shopping locally in response to growing corporate monopolies. Still, the “buy local” ethos doesn’t always extend to books and the local stores that sell them. Part of supporting your community is supporting local businesses, which includes bookstores as much as groceries and boutiques.

• Be a Buyer, Not a Browser – One of the most troubling new trends in book buying is brick and mortar browsing, but online purchasing. Booksellers refer to the phenomenon as the “brick and click” mentality, and it’s actively using the resources of a local store while driving revenue to online retailers. These days, it’s not uncommon for customers to browse their local bookstore, ask the staff for recommendations or assistance, then leave empty-handed in order to purchase those recommendations at bargain prices online. Reading a few pages, checking out displays and sifting through staff recommendations makes it easy to choose intriguing new reads, but using your local bookstore as a tool to build your online shopping list doesn’t help to support your local seller’s bottom line.

• Become a Promoter – Follow your favorite local bookstore through social media outlets. Broadcast their hard work with clever displays by snapping a photo, then tagging the store when you share it on your own page. Retweet and share promotional updates, especially for in-store appearances and special author events. In a bid to stay relevant as they move into the digital age, more bookstores are making a point of hosting special events with which online retailers can’t hope to compete. Make a point of becoming a cheerleader for your local bookstore, potentially driving more traffic to their pages and customers to their storefront.

• Support Affiliate Programs –There’s no denying the convenience and joy of carrying hundreds of books in one small device. One thing even many dedicated e-book lovers don’t know is that plenty of independent bookstores have jumped on the digital bandwagon in their own unique way. Some e-reader manufacturers have actively paired with local booksellers in order to facilitate a profit share for e-books sold while others operate on an affiliate system. When you purchase your e-books through a local bookstore’s affiliate program, you’re able to fill your device while still supporting your favorite brick and mortar store.

Your local bookstore is working hard to prove their relevance to a new generation of readers, and you can help by supporting those efforts. Shopping at your local bookstore and encouraging others to do the same is a great way to make sure more of your money stays in your community, supporting job growth and helping the local economy flourish.

Embrace Your Geekness With the Character Sketch

You are a writer. You enjoy what you do, and you do it well. So, what do you love most about writing? Could you pick one specific thing? Are we speaking of fiction, nonfiction or poetry? Essays maybe? Where does editing fit in here? Be careful, it quickly becomes a complicated question.

If we parse out all of the elements of writing, there are literally thousands of specific mechanics from which we could choose. So, which one draws you back to the keyboard? The words, the phrases, the syllables? Perhaps you love a perfect metaphor, delivered like a soft kiss. Or is it the lilting sound of iambic pentameter in poetry that gets your ink flowing?

Each writing element presents a unique delight to the literary aficionado. However, one of our favorites here at Grammarly is the character sketch. A character sketch has the ability to stretch our collective imagination and serves as a literary witch’s cauldron – magically producing endless places and characters for use in fiction writing and poetry.

The term “character sketch” has its origins in portraiture. It was later nabbed as a literary term during the infancy of the English novel. Painters would often do a quick pencil sketch, or charcoal, of a subject. Using this sketch as a physical reminder, the painter could later elaborate upon it, transferring the subject to a larger canvas with much more patient skill.

The theory is the same for a literary sketch. Jotting down a few notes, or even a paragraph or two, the writer captures the unique essence of a character. The sketch then becomes a gestalt from which the writer can design a more in-depth literary portrait. It is a type of literary shorthand.

An easy technique to learn, the character sketch has become a staple of fiction writing. Many novelists begin a new work with an idea, then flesh out that idea by writing a sketch for each of their main characters. The process becomes a creative machine that breathes life and depth into each of their heroes and supporting cast. Many of the sketches spring forth from characters who people the writer’s imagination.

Try it sometime. To begin, you can always use subjects from real life. This removes any stress from the exercise and alleviates the pressure of performance. You don’t have to be Charles Dickens here, working on Sketches by Boz. Just think of it as an act of reporting, which indeed it is. Take a notebook with you the next time you go to a restaurant. Jot down what you notice about your server, or another person eating at a booth across from you.

“He is young man with blonde hair. His hair is longer in the back. His uniform is brown and gold. There is a yellow seal embroidered at his left breast. He is tall and lanky. His uniform does not fit well. His shoes are black. He walks hesitantly. There is a cloth belt wrapped around his waist.”

This is a basic character sketch. It contains all of the essential elements needed to give the reader a brief glimpse of this particular character. Using this thumbnail, a writer can then elaborate upon it as much as he or she wishes. Try writing a few of them and see how many unique characters your imagination can conjure.

“The windows in the restaurant did little to let the light in. A thin film of grease covered each one. The wan sunshine fell over each table lazily, as if it were too tired to try. The blonde man’s name was Zach. I saw the letters stitched on the front of his brown uniform. It hung off his tall frame like a scarecrow’s sack-suit. The embroidery was dull with grime and too few visits to the drycleaners.  He walked with a limp, some old injury perhaps, and his black shoes clunked. The chaotic swing of his server belt caught my eye like a pendulum. It was tied on too loosely and threatened to slide down to his knees with each step.”

Intrigued? July 13 is “Embrace Your Geekness” day. Try it with a character sketch!

Altogether vs. All Together

• Altogether means “completely,” “all things considered,” or “on the whole.”
• All together means “everyone together” or “everything together.”

It’s often said that the whole isn’t necessarily the sum of its parts. That maxim applies when you turn “every day” into “everyday,” and it’s the same when you turn all together into altogether—you get something completely different.

The Difference Between All Together and Altogether

All together refers to all the members of a group. It can mean “everyone or everything together,” or simply “in a group”:

We went all together to the party.

It’s not uncommon to see a noun or a verb between the elements of the phrase:

They put all the tickets together in a wallet.

After the reception, you should all come together to the garden.

Altogether is altogether different from all together. It’s not a phrase—it’s a single-word adverb that means “completely,” “all things considered,” “on the whole,” or “all in all”:

Some of the professor’s lecture is altogether impossible to understand.

Altogether, we can say that our team couldn’t have gotten a better result.

It’s less expensive to buy a computer part by part; you can save a few hundred dollars altogether.

More Examples

Still others have gone out of business or closed their trucks altogether.

Chicago Tribune

Altogether, North American sales gained 3.3 percent to $2.66 billion.

Bloomberg

Prior to that they were all together for the opening of Stockholm’s ‘Mama Mia! The Party’, which was held on January 20, but they didn’t perform on that occasion.

Independent OnLine

Through it all, through the dark times of seemingly daily bereavement and the angry political debates and the bitter divisions of Brexit, we had a television show that brought us all together.

CNN

Whilst vs. While—Which Is Correct?

Whilst and while are two words with identical meanings—usually. But you can’t always use whilst instead of while.

Typically, Brits use whilst and Americans use while. That’s the main difference. When used as a conjunction or an adverb, while and whilst are interchangeable:

There wasn’t much Stanley could do while he waited.

There wasn’t much Stanley could do whilst he waited.

While Danny was sleeping in, his little brother swiped his cell phone.

Whilst Danny was sleeping in, his little brother swiped his cell phone.

However, while can also be used as a noun and a verb, and whilst can’t:

We chatted for a whilst.

We chatted for a while.

We used to whilst away the long summer days in the pool.

We used to while away the long summer days in the pool.

Examples

I took their fly-tying and rod-building classes more than 30 years ago, and I’ve whiled away many an otherwise dreary winter hour cranking out thousands of flies and adding new fly rods and spinning rods to my ever-burgeoning collection.

Charleston Gazette-Mail

Mane will be joined by Divock Origi in attack whilst Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum will play in midfield for the Reds.

The Sun

With some important data still to come in, the possibility of GDP either inching forward or backwards remains evenly balanced, while there is little chance the RBA of moving at all.

ABC

Everyone vs. Every One?

Everyone vs. Every One

The pronoun everyone may be replaced by everybody. It is used to refer to all the people in a group. Written as two words, every one emphasizes each individual who makes up a group, and it means each person.

Unlike every time or everytime, everyone vs. every one is a decision that must be made with consideration to the meaning of the term in the context of your writing.

Everyone vs. Every One

Everyone (one word) should be used when referring to all the people within a group. A good way to remember this is to note that the pronoun everyone may be replaced by everybody. See the examples below:

The new protocols will affect everyone positively.

The new protocols will affect everybody positively.

Every one (two words) should be used when referring to each individual member of a group. Every one is the version you want when it’s followed by an “of” phrase. Consider the following examples:

My mother would like to thank every one of you who offered assistance during her illness.

My mother would like to thank everyone of you who offered assistance during her illness.

By applying these quick tips, the issue of everyone vs. every one should never trip you up again!

Correcting People’s Grammar: Just Don’t Do It

As grammar nerds, we care a lot about correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. If you’re a grammar lover, maybe you’ve found yourself fighting the urge to correct a misspelled menu item at a restaurant. Perhaps you’ve even corrected a “who” to a “whom” when your friend used the wrong word in a story.

When it comes to grammar correction and education, where is the line between agitating and helping? As grammar lovers, our intentions are often good. We care about language and communication, and we want to make sure people are understood clearly. However, grammar lovers too often overstep the boundaries of appropriate correction.

Here’s a tip: Whenever you feel the urge to correct someone’s grammar, take a step back and ask yourself: does this person want to be corrected? If the answer is no, or even just maybe, keep your knowledge to yourself. Sometimes it’s hard, especially if an error is repeated over and over again. But remember that an essential part of good communication is building good relationships, and correcting people’s grammar without asking often hurts relationships rather than helping them.

Instead of correcting others’ grammar, try modeling good grammar in your own spoken and written communication. If people see and hear that you know how to construct a sentence correctly, they might reach out to you with questions about their grammar, spelling, and punctuation. These are your opportunities for education, not the moments when people make mistakes.

Above all, remember that communication—correctly formatted or not—is all about understanding. Give a little grace when it comes to grammar mistakes, and you’ll find that your communication improves overall.

The Primary Differences Among Major International English Dialects

The British Empire hasn’t been in existence for almost three-quarters of a century. At the peak of its might, it covered close to a quarter of the world’s land area and ruled a fifth of its population. But the empire changed, transformed, and passed as all things pass. When the territories Britain had conquered gained freedom, there was one thing that remained as evidence of how grand the empire once was—the English language. It’s the second most common language in the world in terms of the number of native speakers; it’s the most widely spoken language of all when you include people who use it as a second language. It’s an international language, and as such, it has developed various dialects around the world.

American English

Out of all the international English dialects, American English has the most speakers. Around 250 million people use it as their main language in the United States. And if there are any common values that those 250 million people share, they’ll most likely be found in the way they use their language. For example, American English tends to be less formal than British English, so you’ll rarely hear “Might I . . .” at the beginning of a question, but you’ll hear “Can I . . .” regularly. Shortening words is very common (math, pro, admin). And American English tends to be action-oriented in word choice—you take a shower in American English, you don’t have one. It’s interesting that American English managed to retain some characteristics of seventeenth-century British English that are now lost in the original language. In words like flask and pass, Americans pronounce the “a” as a short vowel (æ), while Brits pronounce it closer to the sound in “ah.” Americans also still pronounce the “r” in words like start or far. But one of the most important features of American English is its eagerness to adopt words from other languages. Some words, such as “squash,” were borrowed from Native American languages. Others come from immigrants, who brought words like pretzel (German), bagel (Yiddish), waffle (Dutch), and zucchini (Italian). (It works with non-food words, too.)

Indian English

India is a country where English is one of two official languages, the other being Hindi. But only a small portion of the population speaks English as their first language—only slightly more than 225,000 in a country of 1.2 billion people. India has roughly 125 million English speakers in total, and their dialect is called Indian English. A very prominent characteristic of spoken Indian English is that some sounds that are common in British or American English are not distinguished from one another, or are pronounced differently altogether. For example, the sounds [v] and [w] are usually not distinguished from each other, and [θ] (the th- sound in think) is usually pronounced as [d]. These sounds are not present in Indian languages, so they pose a challenge for Indian speakers. Noticeably formal sentence structure is another feature of Indian English. It might be because so many people who speak English in India speak it as a second language and want to sound as correct as they can, or it might be because they have retained some stiffness of the Victorian era. Compound words are common in Indian English. Generally, their purpose is to further customize the language and make it more useful to speakers. For example, “cousin-sister”­ is used to denote a female cousin. It’s not a term used in other dialects of English, but it is found in other languages spoken in India.

Nigerian English

You don’t need a letter from a Nigerian prince to figure out that Nigerians speak English, and the English they speak is very distinct. Roughly half of Nigeria’s population, some 83 million people, speaks English as well as a native language. In fact, English is the official language of Nigeria. But Nigeria also has many widely spoken native languages, which exert a noticeable influence on Nigerian English. For example, articles are not a feature of the native languages of Nigeria, so Nigerian English often omits “a” and “the.” You “eat apple” or “take nap” in Nigerian English. Another quirk is that every class of word can be turned into a verb. So, for example, you “off the TV” in Nigerian English, instead of turning it off. An interesting characteristic of Nigerian English is that words are generally pronounced as they are written. Many languages around the world are spelled phonetically, but English isn’t one of them. In Nigerian English, though, you would pronounce the “t” in “listen” or “often.”

British English

Jay-Z becomes Jay Zed when he goes to the UK. Well, he personally doesn’t, but Brits might pronounce his name that way. A very striking characteristic of British English is its richness in dialects and accents. For a millennium and a half, the inhabitants of the British Isles developed distinctly local ways of speaking the same language, so now there are regions and even cities with their own dialects and accents. We already mentioned a few characteristics of British English pronunciation when we talked about American English. There are also plenty of subtle characteristics of British English that might be hard to pick up. Names of bands and teams are always treated as plurals in British English, although group nouns can be treated as either singular or plural. Brits use “got” as a past participle for the verb “get.” They spell some words differently than Americans do, like “colour” and “flavour” instead of “color” and “flavor.” They still use the suffix -t when creating the past participle of irregular verbs like smell or burn, and they wait in queues while Americans wait in lines.