Etiquette Without Eye Contact

It used to be if one had a question regarding general etiquette, one would turn to a hardcover copy of Emily Post's wisdom. Boy, how things have changed.

Not only have the most simple forms of proper etiquette become somehow "unnecessary", somewhere along the way new forms began popping up because of technology. Interestingly, I find that the old ways, if never allowed to be dismissed, would have served our electronic communicative ways just fine from the beginning.

It's true that what we write on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs is out in the world forever. Adults and children alike are learning to be careful and not say anything "inappropriate". We also need to prevent the lack of eye contact from giving us a license for rudeness.

So, in case any of you have forgotten, or are too young to have learned, here are a couple of "oldies but goodies" when it comes to etiquette.

If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

Constructive criticism is very different from cruel criticism. Never be cruel.

Wait your turn.

Don't talk more than you listen.

Say 'please' and 'thank you'.

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing right, (take pride in your work).

'Please' leave a comment if you'd like, and 'thank you' for reading!

My first blog... I promised myself I wouldn't have a blog. I reminded myself of my promise. Yet, here I am.

I figured since nobody has to read this, I might as well let some of the voices out of my head and place them here. The "voices", as many can relate to, are characters I've begun writing about and others, (many others) that I've yet to bring forward to my frontal lobe. My education is in neurological psychology so I actually do know a little about "lobes", not that anyone should care. Back in college, my favorite professor, Dr. Richard Sax suggested I switch my major to creative writing. I unfortunately wasn't smart enough to listen to him.

Apparently one can know things about lobes without actually using them to their full potential.

With all the blogs out there, I have found some amazingly helpful people. If you're a new writer also, don't be afraid to join in. Most professional writers are like the nice kids on the playground. You know, the ones who yell over to the new kid: "Hey, you wanna come play with us?" And then they smile, and act like the've known the new kid for years.

That's all for now, and in the voice of some unknown kid on the playground:

"SMELL YA LATER!"

Here's a list of some great writers/editors.

http://cwim.blogspot.com/

http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/

http://scbwiconference.blogspot.com/

http://cuppajolie.blogspot.com/

http://suzanne-young.blogspot.com/