Verbs Control Mood

The verbs we use in speaking and writing provide the mood of our language. Mood in this sense is not a reference to emotions such as anger, love or loneliness.

Mood is sometimes confused with tense—the time of past, present, future. We use verbs for mood in spoken and written language differently from tense. Mood expresses the meaning and intent of our words. It’s a difficult concept for people who were born speaking a language other than English to understand. People reared with English as their natural language use mood without thinking about it.

Our language has four moods. They’re indicative, imperative, subjunctive and infinitive. Examples of each one will make them easier to understand.

Indicative Mood expresses a declarative statement, a denial or a question. Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina. Summer will begin next month. The earth is controlled by gravity. 

Imperative Mood expresses a command, prohibition and advice. Don't smoke inside this building. Be careful! Obey the speed laws.

Subjunctive Mood expresses doubt or something contrary to fact. It’s the least used and most misunderstood of the moods. If I should see him, I'll tell him. If I were you, I wouldn't disobey that rule. May you live a long life and prosper. In fiction writing the use of subjunctive mood in dialogue can seem stilted and unnatural. I think ignoring the subjunctive mood entirely would make you a better writer.

Infinitive Mood expresses an action or state of mind without references to any subject. This mood uses the infinitive form of verbs. That’s when “to” is placed in front of the verb. To err is human; to forgive is divine. This example shows that to err and to forgive are used as nouns. He is a man to be admired. This example shows to be admired  is used as an adjective. He came to see you. To see you is used as an adverb to tell why he came.

The Infinite Mood can be tricky and should be used sparingly. Otherwise, it can make you fiction writing obvious and tiring.

Most of us use mood correctly in our writing simply because we grew using it. The rule of thumb that it just sounds right is the best way of testing our use of the mood. 

Thank you for reading this blog. Check this space in about a week for a new posting. Read my web site at www.joevlatino.com. You can read an excerpt from my book “The Device.” It’s available through the web site and in e-book form from Amazon.com.  

Memorial Day Provides Remembrance and Fun

Memorial Day, one of eleven federal holidays, occurs on the last Monday of May. The time of the holiday, its reason for existence and even its name have changed since the first time it was celebrated on May 30, 1868.

First called Decoration Day, the holiday was created to honor soldiers who died during the Civil War. After World I, it was described to include all men and women who died in any U.S. war or military action.  The name was changed to Memorial Day after World War II.

The holiday has become the unofficial designation of the beginning of summer and the hot weather activities that are associated with vacations and travel. It once held the strict fashion rule that white could be worn from the end of May until Labor Day. That fashion edict is commonly ignored today.

Flying the American flag and participating in celebrations at military locations remains a serious part of the day that gives a holiday to all nonessential government employees. People visit cemeteries to put flowers and flags on the graves of veterans. Many civilian institutions voluntarily provide a day off to their employees on Memorial Day.

The tributes to the military population have become secondary to the general feeling of celebrating the day in ways that bring families together. Traveling to family gatherings and places of fun now dominate the way people enjoy the time off. The traveling became popular after Memorial Day was moved from the 30th of May to the last Monday of the month. This provided three days off from work.

In 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed by the U.S. Congress to use many federal holidays to create three-day weekends. The three-day holidays started in 1971. With three days off from work and school, the increased amount of automobile traffic becomes both a nuisance and a safety hazard to travelers.

The name of Memorial Day changed with its original meaning and designated date. Seeing the number of American flags that fly in front of houses during the holiday help emphasize the feelings of honor, courage and sacrifice citizens feel towards our veterans. These feelings are the real reason we celebrate the holiday.

Thanks for reading this blog. Check for another subject in this space during the first days of June. See my web site at www.joevlatino.com where you will find an excerpt from my book, "The Device." 

                   

                                     

Why Do We Write?

More people want to become professional writers than any other time. A writer’s conference in Chicago just a year ago attracted more than 10,000 attendees. The creative writing classes at colleges and universities went from about fifty courses in the 1980’s to more than 300 today inside the United States. More than 110 million blogs crowd the internet.  

The number of would-be authors is ballooning out of control because of the easy access and inexpensive methods available to self-publishing. Major publishing houses number less than a half dozen, and the number of regional book printers keeps expanding to accommodate the glut of new authors.

Many authors write to make money and to become famous. The odds are stacked against a new author reaching that fame. In fact, you have a better chance to be accepted as a student by an Ivy League school than to get a book published without having to pay for the process. Paying for publication is the reality that guarantees your book will be printed for sale. The next difficult step is getting the book sold.

Beyond the desire to make money and get rich, we write for various reasons. Here are a few of those reasons:

We write to expand our consciousness. Writing is an art form that expands aesthetic experiences, and that gives us excitement in making art of everyday moments.

We write to make names for ourselves. After we die our words could outlive us if we are good enough to impact our readers.

We write to discover purpose. Every story matters to the person living it. We write to bring purpose to the world.

Writers bring meaning to pain. Every story requires pain and suffering. If the protagonist doesn’t experience pain, she won’t change and develop. If your story contains only joy and happiness, the reader will put down the story with a reaction similar to “ho hum.” Pain is the important teacher.

These four reasons to write are not the only ones you should follow or even the most important ones to use. Keep writing the best fiction you can. Discouragement is not a consideration.

The Help, a novel written by Kathryn Stockett, was published February 2009. It quickly became a best seller and an acclaimed film. Stockett submitted her manuscript to 60 publishers before it was accepted by G.P. Putnam’s Sons. That’s an example of not giving up.

Keep writing. You will immediately get your reward when you finish your next story. Visit this blog next week for something new. Visit my web site at www.joevlatino.com. My book The Device is available there from Amazon.com.

Mother’s Day Turns 100 Years Old

Mother’s Day is scheduled for May 11. It’s the 100^th anniversary of the day set aside to give mothers special tributes and gifts for their devotions to their families. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation establishing the second Sunday in May as the official day of the national celebration. 

Anna Jarvis petitioned the U.S. government to get the special day officially recognized on behalf of her late mother Ann Jarvis. The mother founded Mother’s Day Work Clubs in the late 1800s to help improve sanitary and overall health conditions for working men and women. This was prior to the benefits of labor unions. She was highly respected by people everywhere for helping abused laborers.

Anna Jarvis began promoting the annual practice of showing gratitude to mothers as a tribute to the humanitarian work her mother did. The idea of a special celebration started in 1908 when she held the first memorial for her late mother. Anna incorporated the Mother’s Day International Association.  She held the trademark for the phrase Mother’s Day. Her work to promote Mothers’ Day made her wealthy. 

By 1920 Anna petitioned the U.S.  government to remove Mother’s Day as an official celebration. Jarvis became discouraged with what she called the commercialization of the celebration. The selling and mailing of manufactured cards was especially disturbing to Jarvis. Her reason for disliking cards was never clearly known.

With the help of her sister, Jarvis continued to fight for the elimination of Mother’s Day until her death in 1948.  Her efforts drained her fortune.  She and her sister both died in poverty.  She never married or became a mother herself. Anna lost her money, ironically, from her efforts to stop people from celebrating the annual tribute that she began and then hated.

Throughout the world, businesses bring in an estimated 3.6 billion dollars a year in sales for Mother’s Day. All of Anna Jarvis’ efforts to disclaim Mother’s Day didn’t work and cost her a fortune.   

Mother’s Day has long had the greatest amount of telephone traffic in the country. Estimates for the percentages of top items bought for mothers on their special day are cards, 81%; flowers, 67%; and going out to eat, 56%.

How will you recognize the mothers in your life this year?

Thank you for reading this blog. See my web site at www.joevlatino.com. You can buy copies of my book of short stories, The Device, on the web and through Amazon.com.  Check here next week for a new blog.