Meeting Anne Lamott

My all-time favorite author, Anne Lamott, came to Baylor last week, along with one of my new favorite authors, Donald Miller, and I still cannot quite get over what an amazing experience it was.

The two came to speak on writing and faith, and had an inspiring and motivating conversation that was every bit as honest as their books. My group of writer-friends and I stood around after the lecture, lamenting its end but also starstruck and bubbling with anticipation for the other Anne and Donald events– a screening of Blue Like Jazz the Movie and a book-signing with Anne.

Dismay set in quickly as we realized that we had missed out on getting tickets to the screening, as there were only 150 allotted for the night.

Anne & Me

Still, my best friend (the person who introduced me to Anne’s books and who had driven in from Austin for the events) and I decided to head over to the Mayborn, where the movie was to be shown, just in case there were extra seats to be had. Just as Sommer was explaining out situation to the woman at the door, two men, each with an extra ticket, offered theirs to us. Further dismay was to come, however, when we found out that we weren’t actually in for a screening of the movie– we were only going to see about five clips. But the clips were great (can I just say: robots with air horns in a book store) and we got to hear even more from Donald, so it was still a pretty perfect night.

The next day, Sommer and I headed to Anne’s book-signing in the Armstrong Browning Library, but Anne was nowhere to be found and no one seemed to know what we were talking about. Sommer called her friend, a fellow Anne-fan, who told us the signing was actually happening clear across campus at Truett Seminary. So, we headed for Truett, where we were greeted with yet another surprise: Anne was going to be doing a book-reading after the signing! First though, we stood in line to get our numerous copies of Bird by Bird, Traveling Mercies, Imperfect Birds, and other novels signed, each of us posing for a picture beside Anne, who patiently acquiesced.

When it was my turn for a few moments with Anne, I could think of nothing to say at all, except to tell her that I was having one of the books signed for my mother’s birthday. She drew a birthday cake on the title page, and told me that her birthday is April 10– just nine days after my mom’s (whose birthday is just nine days after mine, and mine is just nine days after my dad’s–I think Anne would fit into our family quite well). After she signed each of the three books I brought, I started to move behind the table for my picture. But Anne was really hungry, so we waited a few minutes while someone brought her snacks from the refreshments table, and after a few bites, she took a photo with me, which I still cannot quite get over either.

Once we all got our books signed, we waited around about an hour for the reading to start. But we never got the reading. Instead, Anne asked the audience if we would want to circle up and have a chat on faith and writing. We couldn’t get into a circle fast enough. As she spoke, I looked around our group. There were people watching Anne with wide eyes, mouths hanging slightly open, others smiling, laughing, nodding, wiping the tears spurred by her honesty. That is the best part about her lectures and her writing, and even Anne herself: her honesty, her ability to prove to us that we are all in this together and we are all imperfect yet loved.

Anne is my favorite author because her words ring true for all of us, reassuring us at the deepest level, helping us to love ourselves and one another, while laughing every step of the way.

Rules for Web Writing

[This is an piece I wrote for my Writing and Editing for Online Media class after studying various articles on the difference between writing for the Web and writing for print.]

With new technology being introduced everyday, it’s easy to get lost in simply trying to learn how to use it, let alone use it well. But for those writing on the Web, investing a few minutes in learning how to write specifically for Web-surfers can make a huge difference.

Here are a few of the most important things to keep in mind:

• Drop the complex words and complex sentence structures. Your readers are in a hurry—they want information they can grasp in a matter of seconds.
• Proportion your articles well. Use a quick intro, hit important points without getting too flowery and don’t ramble on. One journalism rule echoed by high school journalism teachers near and far applies here—the mini skirt rule. Make your article long enough so that everything gets covered, but short enough to keep things interesting.
• Don’t let your web page become a black hole of text. Insert bulleted lists, photos and links where appropriate to keep your readers engaged.
• Update your news often. Readers are online 24/7, so make sure your site is updated often enough to keep them coming back frequently.
• Use links to point your readers to more information that you don’t have directly available on your site.
• Incorporate keywords into your article that can be picked up by search engines and lead users to your content.
• Don’t be too formal with the tone of your article. Write easily so that your work can be read easily.

So instead of directly uploading that last print article you wrote, make a few tweaks first. Writing well on the Web is key to captivating a technology-driven audience.

Becoming a Blogger

I’m not much of a blogger yet. It’s something I dabbled in long ago, but gave up as my generation shifted away from Xanga and toward sites like Facebook. Of course, I’m not even sure you could really call those old Xanga entries blogs…Either way, I think they’re best forgotten.

My current re-entry into the blogosphere isn’t exactly voluntary– I’m being forced back into it as part of my Writing and Editing for Online Media course. But I can’t say I’m completely opposed to the idea. As the world around me is becoming more technological and Web-based every second, it can’t hurt to learn a little more about another facet of that frontier– namely, WordPress.

This site will serve primarily as my online portfolio. It’s a little primitive right now, but I’ll be updating its content throughout the semester.

I’m also part of a group that is creating a WordPress website for the city of Whitney, Texas, as part of my WEOM coursework. That’s a bit more daunting than putting together a portfolio, but I’m looking forward to learning a lot, and hopefully I’ll be able to post that link here by May.

In the meantime, please keep checking back here– there’ll be more to view soon!

–Sara