Giving literacy help

   I've written about getting help when you or someone you know can't read, but the flip side is to give help.
In a previous post I cite  http://www.proliteracy.org, which states that 63 million adults in the U.S. over 16 years of age can't understand a newspaper article written at the eighth grade level. It goes on to say that this accounts for 29 percent of the adult population. The story gets worse. "An additional 30 million — 14 percent of the country’s adult population — can only read at a fifth grade level or lower."
  
   However, this means 71 percent of the adult population is literate. That's a lot of people who can give help. Where to go to volunteer your services?

  1) Your local literacy council. No need to have a teaching certificate. The councils offer training sessions.
  2) Community colleges. I received an email asking for volunteers to tutor students who are studying for their
      GED or are having problems with the courses they are taking.
  3) Nonprofit agencies. Hope Harbor Home, the Brunswick County, N.C. agency that assists victims of
      domestic abuse, has women in the shelter who are struggling to make a new life for themselves. Most
      do not have a high school diploma.
   4) Churches. Many churches have immigrants who do not know English and would appreciate some
       assistance in learning it. Some offer GED help.
     
   Any of these places welcome volunteers.

Finding literacy help

Literacy, especially adult literacy, is a special interest of mine. I understand the importance of reading as most of us do. The problem, though, is how to find help. Most U.S. born adults who are illiterate are embarrassed at their inability to read and won't ask for help. However, they get through life by being enabled by those who love them.

People from other countries may not know where or how to find help.

It is imperative for people to be aware of others who need help. What can we do?

1) Encourage high school dropouts to get their GED and help them find a program suitable for them. Literacy councils abound. Do a google search to find out where a literacy council exists in your area. I have access to two literacy councils: Brunswick County Literacy Council in Supply, N.C. and Horry County Literacy Council in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Horry County council has six branches throughout the county. In addition, churches and their clergy offer assistance. Seaside United Methodist Church in Sunset Beach, N.C. displays a GED sign on its grounds. Community colleges offer programs.

2) Volunteer at schools to help students improve their reading skills. I see notices in newspapers for volunteers and I receive emails asking for volunteers. No teaching experience is necessary.

3) Visit Web sites and blogs that offer tips on literacy. One comprehensive site is http://www.literacyconnections.com/. It has a massive amount of information.

For Literacy

I realize the importance of reading and how it has helped me throughout my life, but according to facts at http://www.proliteracy.org/, 63 million adults in the U.S. over 16 years of age can't understand a newspaper article written at the eighth grade level. It states that this accounts for 29 percent of the adult population.

The story gets worse. "An additional 30 million — 14 percent of the country’s adult population — can only read at a fifth grade level or lower," it states.

I've loved reading ever since I was a child. I attribute it to my mother, who read to the four of us every day. The Joliet (Illinois) Herald was delivered daily, and The Spectator was delivered weekly. When the Chicago Tribune came to our area, my parents immediately subscribed to it. My mother received it until she died Jan. 8, 2011 at the age of 90.

How can "readers" help? First off, parents can read to their children. That's the start. If they aren't readers, there's hope. Siblings can reach to each other. Teachers can read to their students. Teens can form study circles and help each other. Those who have the inclination can volunteer at their local literacy councils and teach people to read.

I was a member of Literacy Volunteers of America before it merged with Laubach Literacy International and formed Proliteracy. I taught a woman from Thailand to read English. Her eyes lit up when she recognized a couple featured in the newspaper who happened to be her next door neighbors. She was able to read that they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. She was the success story. Others were defeated because it is difficult to learn to read as an adult. Reading, however, is the key to success on many levels.

I've taken the training at Brunswick County Literacy Council and have volunteered for that organization. I'm waiting to be assigned a student so I can help someone else experience that wonderful feeling of knowing what the names of streets are, what's on a menu and what teachers say in the notes they send home.

Designate time for writing

How do people keep up with their writing schedules? I've fallen behind. I can't believe I haven't written a blog in more than a month. It happens that we had a death in the family since my last blog in October. My brother-in-law fell from a scaffold and died instantly. My sister is devastated. After 43 years of marriage, she's by herself. Two of her three children live within an hour and a half, so she's spend time with them.
The mourning process takes time and understanding.

I volunteer several hours a week, but it's a choice I've made. I love writing and had five assignments due this week. I met my deadlines. How can I finish the other writing assignments I've given myself?
It's a matter of designating time for them.

1) Make a schedule each day and keep to it.
2) Give yourself enough time to finish what you want to write.
3) Allow for delays and emergencies, e.g., an interview that goes past the allotted time; a call from a neighbor
    who needs help; a need to sit and rest.

I look forward to seeing my family over the Holidays. I'll make my writing schedule in January!
 

"Linda Goodman's Sun Signs"

I had not heard of the book, "Linda Goodman's Sun Signs," until I attended a writers' conference in Raleigh, N.C. The speaker, Cherry Adair, praised it and encouraged the 70 people in the auditorium to consider using it as a guide to develop characters in novels. She emphasized that novelists should choose a birthday for their main characters and NEVER change it. I took her advice, chose birthdays and bought Goodman's book.

I read about my own sign first and disagree with much of what is written in the book. Then I read my husband's sign and knew he didn't fit the mold in the least. In a novel, though, we set real life aside and create our own worlds and people, so this book is a start to helping choose traits for our characters.

My heroine in my work-in-progress, "Red Diamonds,"s is a libra.  What a coincidence! Many of Tessa's characteristics fit her sign! I will not change what doesn't fit because no one fits a mold in its entirety, even fictional characters.

If nothing else, the book is a start to helping develop believable characters.

Self-publishing quandry

Should I or shouldn't I self-publish?
Nearly everyone I know wants to write a book, whether it be a novel, memoir, autobiography or family history. The publishing market today does not allow for every book to be published; thus, well-meaning individuals turn to self-publishing.

Writing requires an enormous number of skills, among which are:
* well-defined topic
* clarity of thought
* spelling
* sentence structure
* punctuation
* syntax; that is, the proper use of the English language
* accuracy of facts

Note:
* I have a copy of a self-published book that has no author's name in sight.
* I have a copy of a self-published book that has factual contradictions in it.
   The original event either took place in 1959 or 1961, It did not take place both times.
* I have a copy of two self-published books that make no sense. I cannot follow the topic.
   The sentence structure is horrible. The sentences are convoluted and/or fragments.
* I have a copy of a self-published book that is a diatribe about the government.
   The author is bitter about his lot in life.

These aren't books. They are personal journals. I understand people wanting to give family
members a remembrance, but they shouldn't impose their personal histories and inaccuracies
on the general population.

If you have a good story, write a good story. Get help. Join a writers' group. Join a professional
organization. These people will be as honest about your writing as their consciences allow.
Paying for professional editing services is a last resort. Often the cost does not warrant  the
suggestions.

Follow your dream of writing a book, but when you reveal it to the general public, make it
something they can be proud to have read so they can tell you with sincerity, "Job well done."

Motivation to Write

Can't believe it's been three weeks since I last wrote a blog. Time does go by fast. I have a list of stories I want to write, and some how they aren't getting written. I get assignments and can polish most of those off in a few hours after the interviews. I need motivation, just like I need motivation to lose weight. What provides the motivation?
1) Serious life change--Everyone knows someone who has had a serious life change. My brother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 and died in 2010. His death affected my life and my husband's in numerous ways, especially in putting our own mortality in perspective. I know there's a limited amount of time I have to write--so I'd better get the stories written.

2) Vision--I see the stories in print. I picture how I'm going to write them.
3) Hope--I'm investigating pubs that will accept them.

I don't want to look back and say I wasted time.
I'm on these projects today!