All posts by Sarah Skerrett

lifestyle

826CHI: Chicago writing and tutoring center

So you set your own hours. Wondering what to do with that extra time you spend Googling yourself and watching cats flush the toilet on YouTube? Volunteer as a tutor at 826CHI, a nonprofit tutoring, writing, and publishing organization modeled after the successes of 826Valencia in San Francisco. The brainchild of author Dave Eggers, the flagship center on Valencia Street is now home to 826 National, an umbrella organization that adapts the 826 model to sister centers in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, Ann Arbor, and right here in Chicago on Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park.

A trademark of each center, aside from the heavy emphasis on one-on-one attention and fostering each child’s writing skills, is the “supply store”: Valencia has a pirate store that sells pegs legs and pirate perfumes while Brooklyn has a superhero supply store with capes and secret identity kits. Chicago’s The Boring Store is by no means a store for spies (wink wink).

 The wonderful aspect of 826 is their focus on publishing, and centers have long been committed to creating a tangible compilation of kids’ (ages 8-18) writing. 826CHI’s latest student publication, Right in Front of Us, is written by 47 Chicago high school students and includes an introduction by author Alex Kotlowitz. Buy it at The Boring Store (1331 N. Milwaukee Ave) or through Amazon. If you’re interested in volunteering or donating, please support our young (and future) writers!

gear

Paper & Pens

While I’ve tagged this entry under “gear”, technically, this is about as basic as it comes: a no-frills approach to paper and pens. We all yoink Bic pens from hotels or letterhead from work but that’s never my preference if I have a choice in the matter. 

 In response to the rapid, techno-ized world we inhabit, years of practice and a few odd typing classes here and there have allowed me to compose my thoughts on a computer whenever necessary. But, as you may infer, when writing, my natural inclination is toward paper and pen. Here’s what I like, paper-style:

Most writers are familiar with the Moleskine line of notebooks–who wouldn’t want to be affiliated with artistic giants like Van Gogh and Hemingway and the expat avant-garde who originated its popularity in the early 20th century–and I am a fan as well. A tattered Moleskine accompanied me on my first extended travels in Europe and I will forever associate my writings during that time with the notebook itself. It was a bit difficult to really flatten it down when you’re in a good spurt of writing (and therefore covering pages at length) and to remedy that, I have a large crush on legal pads. I discovered Levenger, which has more of a business tone to its site (rather than the arty vibe on Moleskine) but carries a wide range of pads in its Paper & Pads section. And if you want to get wild, go with yellow–it’s on sale!

Now: pens. Normally, I’ll write with anything but if I had to get picky (and for this post’s sake, I will), I’d go with Sanford, maker of the uni-ball pens. Specifically, I love the Deluxe Micro (so precise and writes likes a dream!) or, for fuller coverage, the Liquid Expresso, which is a felt-tip pen with medium thickness. Cheap pens are sometimes frustrating (plus that easily-bitten cap is so tempting) but hey, when they’re free, I can’t expect too much. These pens I’ve recommended aren’t wildly expensive but if how your writing looks is nearly as important to you as what your writing says, you may want to “invest” in something that won’t crap out on you when you need it most (i.e., a lightbulb moment).

reading, resources

General Guide to Correspondence

I’ve had Rosalie Maggio’s Great Letters for Every Occasion (1999) on my shelf for quite some time and find it a useful (and polite) way to handle various correspondence situations that come up during projects, from sticky business predicaments (covered in the “Sensitive Issues” section) to letters of introduction (found in the section of the same name). It’s never a bowl of ice cream when you have to (sometimes incessantly) follow-up on payment or you have a disagreement with your client, and while I certainly have drafted irate emails, Rosalie–whom I imagine to be a gentler, more Italian Miss Manners–always prevents me from hitting send. While some may have their own personal preference when it comes to Writing a Thank You Note (and no offense to Rosalie, but I am one of those people), this book is a handy guide to those elusive letters you may have no idea how to format, let alone write.

The two appendices (Appendix I covers mechanics and the concrete aspects of letter-writing, such as formats and postal regulations while Appendix II discusses content such as grammar and usage and superfluous words and phrases) in combination with the massive index is the easiest way to skim through the guide. The very basic sections do get a bit tiresome and reminiscent of fourth grade Language Arts. I’m always hesitant of books such as this because I always want a unique letter that doesn’t follow the format, a mini-work of literature, but sometimes, when I can’t remember how to start an effective query, it’s a relief to grab Great Letters for Every Situation and see some examples as a jump-off point.

 The entry on Query Letters is certainly not the best in the biz (Rosalie herself recommends How to Publish Attention-Grabbing Query and Cover Letters by John Wood and How to Write Irresistible Query Letters by Lisa Collier-Cool, both published by Writer’s Digest), mainly because the book is almost ten years old and there are many books out there strictly dedicated the art of the query letter. What makes this section worthwhile though are the quotes like this one:

“A query letter is like a fishing expedition; don’t put too much bait on your hook or you’ll lose your quarry. Be brief and be tantalizing!”–Jane von Mehren