I'm working quite a bit these days with my kindergartner on his sight words. Sight words (for those of you that don't know) are words that we encounter regularly when reading and apart from knowing how to sound them out, should be memorized. Some kindergarten sight words are: the, and, is, a, on, at, it, etc. When I first started my research on what it takes to get published, I came across a slew of words I didn't know. Words like slush pile, query letter, proposal, and platform. Some of them I could take a guess at and be relatively correct, others left me scratching my head without a clue in the world. As a new writer, sometimes I feel like I need flashcards with the correct definitions highlighted on the back in order to understand the writing lingo of some industry professionals.
It took some time and a lot of reading but I finally feel like I'm caught up. Words like "craft", "POV" and "WIP" don't throw me anymore. It seems funny to think about those days when I didn't understand half of the blogs and books I read but time and a desire to learn has taken care of everything.
What were some writing terms that you had to figure out when you first started? Are there still terms that you come across today that you're unsure of? How long ago did your writing journey begin?
I had to learn abbreviations like crazy. MC for main character. HEA for happily ever after in regards to the ending.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there are twitter terms like DH for dear husband and DD for dear daughter.
Oi. Madness. ;)
~ Wendy