Best Language Moments of 2011, by Maslansky Luntz + Partners

As another year draws to a close, everyone's scrambling to put together their best "best of" list. Time has the 50 Best Websites, Publishers Weekly has the Best Books by category, Ragan has the 10 Best and Worst Communicators, Flavorpill has the Best Debut Novels, Huffington Post has the Best Commencement Speeches.

We could go on, of course, but we know you have New Year's Eve to plan. So instead we'll give you one more great best of, this one from GG friends maslansky luntz + partners, a terrific communications strategy firm. Say they:

"From entertainers Charlie Sheen and Hank Williams to President Obama and the always-entertaining GOP presidential field, here are our choices for the most memorable language moments of the year."

Around the Word

Stick-to-it-iveness: What lengths would you go to to keep writing? The L.A. Times has the story of Peter Winkler, author of the biography of Dennis Hopper that came out this fall. Winkler is so debilitated by rheumatoid arthritis that he had to type the entire manuscript one letter at a time, using a long red plastic chopstick. Now that's dedication to one's craft.


Make every month NaNoWriMo. Now that National Novel Writing Month has drawn to a close, GalleyCat gives us their final tip: Write every day. In addition, the post has some resources to track your progress and keep your spirits up. Did you participate in NaNoWriMo? Have any tips to add? Tell us in the comments.

Writer's life. Huffington Post has a lovely piece by memoirist Holly Robinson on the joy's of being a writer for hire. Says Robinson, "I love telling other people's stories. What other job would allow me to walk in another person's shoes so completely that I'd feel their blisters?"

Reader's life: Flavorwire has compiled a terrific list of quotes about reading by writers. Often these quotes reveal more about their authors than about readers in general, but it's still a wonderful collection. A few of our favorites:

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” — Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler)

“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Knowing you have something good to read before bed is among the most pleasurable of sensations.” — Vladimir Nabokov

“We read to know that we are not alone.” — C.S. Lewis

Around the Word

Cure for your shopping hangover. How was your Black Friday? We hope you didn't get trampled, looted, or pepper-sprayed. For those who stayed home—or those who wish they had—Huffington Post has a list of dystopian novels that seem rather apropos. As Madeline Crum says in the article, "What would Aldous Huxley or Ray Bradbury have to say about a society willing to fight for 40% off a dress or a complementary tote? Or did they already say it in their books?" 

The tweeting gene? The Guardian has started a new series where science writer Anna Perman deconstructs a complicated genetic theory for us lay-readers. The inaugural post is about the gene FOXP2, which is responsible for communication. It affects many different animals; a mutation on the gene in a human leaves the person with dysphoria, and "knock out this gene in birds and they have problems with – well – tweeting."

Famous rejects. Rejection letters are a fact of life for any writer, no matter how famous. Don't believe us? Check out Flavorpill's compilation of some of the harshest rejections in history, send to luminaries like Gertrude Stein, Vladimir Nabokov, Kurt Vonnegut, and more.

Delicious mashups. Did you hear about #LiteraryTurducken? Doubleday started a new Thanksgiving tradition with this tweet: "The #LiteraryTurducken combines not one, not two, but three classic works into one, in the spirit of the turkey+duck+chicken creole classic." We got pretty excited about the game here at GG; here's what we came up with:

• From GG's president @DanGerstein, continuing the bird theme: "The Maltese Falcon Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to Kill a Mockingbird."
• From our associate Oriana, "The Devil Wears Prada in the White City of Glass," and, via her Brooklyn blog @brooklynspaces: "A Tree Grows in the Last Exit to Motherless Brooklyn."
• From our writer friend @kerryzukus: "Rich Dad's Chicken Soup For Dummies."

Got any to add? Or maybe you want to save 'em for next Thanksgiving...