Welcome to The Mindful Word, we’re happy to have you aboard! All the resources you need to get started are here on this page. If you have any questions feel free to contact us. To view a list of the other members of the collective check out the About us page (all members’ email addresses follow the format: firstname@themindfulword.org).
Writing for The Mindful Word
Forty-five percent of The Mindful Word’s readers are from the United States, thirteen percent from India, seven percent from the UK, six percent from Canada and four percent from Australia with a small number coming from a variety of other countries. In total about 70 percent of readers are from the West. There’s about a two to one female to male ratio with most readers falling in the 18 to 34 range.
Write for your audience as much as possible, but keep it general enough (where it makes sense) to accommodate all readers. That’s the trick of writing for the web. Since about 70 percent of readers come from the West, write with a Western audience in mind (when necessary). So writing an article about the political situation in Cambodia probably wouldn’t interest too many readers, but writing an article about volunteering in Cambodia would.
The Mindful Word aims to be just that, words written mindfully. Its focus is engaged living (read more in our “About engaged living” page). What comes with writing mindfully is balance, fairness and equality. Unless writing a personal essay or opinion piece, aim to be objective. Language frames how we think, so issues like political correctness are important. Try to remain as inclusive as possible without killing the language. If interviewing, try to sample a diverse spectrum of people wherever possible.
Style
The principles of good writing align nicely with what it means to live a mindful, simple life. Clarity and conciseness are of utmost importance to good writing, which means paying attention to what is necessary and cutting anything superfluous—mindfulness and voluntary simplicity in action.
The Mindful Word uses Canadian English, considered by many to be the most recognizable variant of the English language worldwide since it’s a hybrid of British/World English and American English. Spellings are based on the Canadian Oxford English Dictionary. You can access the Canadian OED online at Oxford if you have a subscription, otherwise you can go to the free version of Oxford online and select “World English,” which is similar but lacking a few quirks of Canadian English. When in doubt refer to the Spelling guide in the Writing and editing resources section. Note that the main difference between World English and Canadian is that Canadian spellings take a –ze ending instead of –se.
For style conventions, such as how to write out numbers, place names, etc, The Mindful Word follows the Canada Press Style Guide.
Writing and editing resources
Web writing guide – This writing guide includes pointers on some basic web writing formats. DOWNLOAD»
British-Canadian-American spelling guide – This spelling guide provides an extensive list of words with the differences in spelling between the three countries. READ MORE»
Reading list
* Canada Press Style Guide
* Canadian Oxford English Dictionary
* On Writing Well: An informal guide to writing non-fiction, William Zinnser
* The Elements of Style, William Strunk and E.B White
* The Artful Edit, Susan Bell
The Careful Writer: A Modern Guide to English, Theodore Bernstein
Reading Like a Writer, Francine Prose
The Art and Craft of Feature Writing, William E. Blundell
Writing with Precision, Jefferson D. Bates
Writing Creative Nonfiction, Theodore A. Rees Cheney
The Art of Fact, ed. Kevin Kerrane & Ben Yagoda
The Best American Magazine Writing
The New Journalism, ed. Tom Wolfe & E.W. Johnson
Asking Questions: The Art of the Media Interview, Paul McLaughlin
Literary Journalism, ed: Norman Sims & Mark Kramer
