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How often do you have the opportunity to write creatively?

My bread and butter work is factual and straightforward. That's not to say it is boring. But while proofreading and fact-based short writing exercise my brain, they generally don't stretch my intellect in an unaccustomed direction as creative writing would.

If this is the case in your world, too, I hope you will consider entering Word-wise's 2008 Short Writing Contest. This may be the perfect contest for those of us who dabble in writing but don't think of ourselves first and foremost as writers. With a long deadline and nearly unlimited subject matter, there's no pressure further hindering your hidden creativity.

However buried or forgotten, most of us do have a brilliant idea or two that can be developed into good reading. Introduce your inner artist to the virtual community! See complete contest details here.

Happy writing!

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Business Beat

Customer Service, from a Customer's Perspective

The feline attitude

Unfortunately, two providers I called for help recently displayed the feline attitude. The scripts customer service representatives are asked to follow too often betray a sense of self-interest. Reps are encouraged to view every call as an opportunity to make a new sale or upgrade an existing account. To a customer with a problem that needs solving, this can come across as insensitive or arrogant.

Address and assist the customer first and foremost. If, afterward, opportunity to upgrade a customer's account arises naturally, and if the customer is of a favorable state of mind, the representative can venture safely toward the new sale. But doing so at a moment when a customer's basic expectations have not been met will only further alienate and frustrate him.

I can't hear you!

Perhaps it seems an obvious problem to avoid, yet some companies are guilty of playing Telephone with customer service requests. One of my recent experiences was a message to tech support. The response I received was an excellent, detailed list of instructions explaining how to do something I didn't need and hadn't asked about. My original question was not addressed at all. As a customer, I was now annoyed on top of being in the dark about the problem.

To have effective customer relations, one must be willing to LISTEN.

On the dot

During another of my recent customer service calls, the rep promised to call me back me in no more than a week with an update on the problem's status. While I did receive an update call, it came three weeks late. Around the same time, I had a service question with another company. I left two messages, a week apart, with my assigned rep. I got no return call at all, forcing me to go over the rep's head to get the problem resolved.

It's not always possible to provide a complete solution instantly. The vast majority of customers understand this and are willing to wait a reasonable amount of time. But there are still valid lessons to be learned from the last two examples:

1. don't promise a shorter delivery time than you can reasonably guarantee, and
2. return customer calls promptly, or risk losing those customers to a more responsive competitor.

There is, of course, another side to to all these examples: customer care that really lives up to its name. We've all worked with companies whose service departments are professional, personable, effective, and punctual. These are the providers we choose over and over. We are loyal to them even when competitors woo us with promises of more features or lower prices. A business that shows superior customer service earns a golden reputation, a warm glow that promotes the business's continued growth and success.

Word-wise Challenge

In the Twentieth Century, I was, and continue to be, a poet who was popular with the masses. Two of my famous compositions focus on flexible trees and broken-down walls. More than just "who I am," my last name is also a word for something that often appears overnight this time of year.

The next Challenge will appear in the February 24 issue.

Language Corner

English Catches a Phish

Relief came moments later from a most unlikely source. I opened my e-mail and found this message claiming to be from PayPal:

It has came to our attention that your PayPal billing information are out of date. This require you to update your billing information as soon as possible.

This billing update is also a new PayPal security statement which goes according to the established norms on our terms of service (TOS) to reduce the instance of fraud on our website.

Please update your records . A failure to update your records may result on a suspension of your account.

To update your PayPal records click on the following link:[URL deleted]

This new security statement will helps us continue to offer PayPal as a secure and cost-effective payment service. We appreciate your cooperation and assistance.

Thank you, Phisherman, for the reassurance that language and good editing really do matter to legitimate businesses (like the real PayPal) that would never let such a message go public.

News Notes

A Romantic Example of Plagiarism

Perhaps Edwards ought to bill herself "editor" rather than "author."

More astonishing than the implication of impropriety is Edwards's response. According to an AP article by Hillel Italie,

Edwards...acknowledged that she sometimes "takes" her material "from reference books," but added that she didn't know she was supposed to credit her sources.

"When you write historical romances, you're not asked to do that," Edwards said.

Really? The rules are different as long as one is writing historical fiction/romance?

Does anyone fall for this reasoning? What writer alive--particularly one who has been published umpteen times and doubtless signed contract clauses warning against such lapses--doesn't know that borrowing without attribution is not permissible?

While they fall along a very broad spectrum, the conclusions I find myself drawing about a writer who plagiarizes are never positive. At best, the writer is woefully ignorant of the entire body of knowledge surrounding intellectual property. Even schoolchildren are taught how NOT to plagiarize; it is inexcusable for an informed adult who makes a living writing to have not the vaguest notion of the issue. At the other end of the spectrum is the conclusion that the writer in question is nothing more than a thief, having knowingly stolen another's material on the arrogant assumption that no one will ever find out.

Paul Tolme, a scientist and wildlife writer who found himself one of Edwards's unwitting contributors, is more gracious in his assessment. While no one would wish to be plagiarized, he admits he feels less anger than pity over the lack of literary invention that led Edwards to turn his nature writing into "bad dialogue. It stands out as clunky and awkward." (Tolme's words, by contrast, flow smoothly. He reveals a talent for wry, even absurdist humor in the article in which he addresses the Edwards case. It's well worth reading: Move Over, 'Meerkat Manor'.)

Ms. Edwards's transgression goes far beyond a few overlooked attributions; she crosses the line into outright plagiarism. The quoted passages reveal that she borrowed concepts. But they also show very little variation in vocabulary, organization, and syntax from the originals. Recasting the verbiage is no less necessary a step than including a list of references. Of course, doing it correctly takes a little work. If she felt proper citation would be prohibitively time-consuming to do while cranking books out at the rate she is accustomed (100 books in approximately 25 years)--well, that's what good writing assistants are for. It is doubtful anyone would have batted an eye over that kind of assistance. Instead, this recent exposure is likely to leave an indelible mark on her credibility.

Unless otherwise noted, all Word-wise articles are written by AnnaLisa Michalski. Admin Maven does not provide permissions for reprinting articles by guest writers. Please contact guest writers directly for permissions.