News Article
The New Jewish Writing Forum: COW! POW! WOW! and Even GOW!
This article was submitted to a major newspaper in order to publicize the new Jewish Writing Forum.
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Jewish Writing is one of the largest on-line writing groups in the world. Originally, it helped people network ideas, resources, tips, and outlets relating to Jewish or Hebrew writing. Those goals remain, but David Grossman, the group moderator, is now planning to unite the entire Jewish writing world in a dynamic, exciting and attractive one-stop location.
Grossman told the newspaper that the Jewish Writing group will undergo major modifications shortly after the forthcoming Passover holiday.
�We are very excited. Our recent developments will change the Jewish writing world. Even Gutenberg wasn�t able to make the scroll become pass� among Jews. This will be the first real revolution in Jewish writing in recent millennia,� declares Grossman. Fists flying, and with furrowed eyebrows, he explains animatedly, �We are about to implement a COW! POW! and WOW! � all of them obviously leading to the ultimate GOW!�
Grossman does seem to believe in his project. We pursued the issue a bit more. �Er, just what do you have in mind? What does all this have to do with a Jewish writing group?� �Everything,� he explains. �Don't have a COW. Let me explain.� �We are about to announce our COW � the Criteek of the Wique � now that our forum has reached a critiqual mass.� I hate when he does that. �Every week we�ll feature an online Jewish article by a different subscriber. The other subscribers will read it and comment on it. The author may opt to revise it during the course of the week, based on the criticism. �Non-writers would say that we writers, as victims of such abuse, should seek help from the appropriate authorities. They are right, of course � but it�s not going to happen. Writers prefer to give that self-flagellation a different name: peer review. The truth is that nothing can improve our writing more � so we�re not COWed by it.� The newspaper: �But we thought writers like to brag about themselves. This peer review will subject you to more victimization than a successful Jewish politician!� �Right. We do have to allow the writers their hour in the sun � we call it Hour Power � after their week taking the pique. That�s why Jewish Writing plans to start a therapy program called the Writer of the Week � our WOW. We�ll start some WOWs shortly after the first COW is back in its shed. �But let�s face it. Writers want to read about writing, not about other writers. There will be far more COW aficionados than WOWs.� The newspaper: �But there�s an even more important issue. Don't the writers really want to learn how to get their magnum opuses in the hands of the publishers? Why not stress the bottom line? And why not help them separate out their opuses from their opusi, opi, opusae, opae, and other oopses?�
�Fear not,� announced Grossman bravely. �Our POW � the Publisher of the Week � will review our relationships with publishers, and give us the tools we need to stand up against them � forcefully. If those publishers don't like it, they can join the group and defend themselves against our justified criticism.� Grossman doesn�t leave too much doubt which side he�s going to defend.
�Together, COW, WOW, and POW will offer a complete service. They will work together to help Jewish writers improve � and GrOW.�
The newspaper: �But isn�t writing a rather large field? Won�t it lead to other discussions, such as editing, translating, and electronic publishing? How can your Jewish Writing forum handle all of those issues?�
�You took the words right out of my mouth. Of course Jewish Writing can�t do all those things. However, the Jewish Writing forum doesn�t operate in a vacuum. It�s one of a large series of international e-mail forums that I moderate, with a very wide range of topics. Each of your issues, for example, is handled in its own Jewish group. We have a forum for Jewish editing, one for Hebrew and Yiddish translating, and another one for Jewish electronic publishing. As a matter of fact, we also have other groups that relate to ancillary issues such as Hebrew and Yiddish computerization. This is the place where Jewish writers meet!�
�Can you tell us more about those groups,� we asked. PULL QUOTE �Sure, but it will have to wait for next time. Those who want to find out more about the Jewish Writing group, as well as the other Jewish and Hebrew e-mail forums, are welcome to visit http://www.geocities.com/jewishgroups. They are welcome to contact me directly as well, at David Grossman.� The newspaper: This project certainly sounds very exciting. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
�Well, I moved to Israel nearly 27 years ago, and I started Jewish Computing, the first of these groups, back in 1997. The topics for the other groups resulted from subscriber discussions and requests. I had no idea that they would grow to the degree of popularity that we have experienced or that they would cover so many topics or locations. �Now I�m looking for funding for the groups, since they take up 60-70 hours per week of my free time. I'm also looking for volunteers to translate the group websites into the major languages spoken by Jews around the world. This project has been started, but much more needs to be done.� The newspaper: �I also heard that you are listed in the Who's Who in the World, International Who's Who of Professionals, and the Who's Who in Finance and Industry for your work in writing and editing�.� �I see you�ve done your homework!�
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�Those who want to find out more about the Jewish Writing group, as well as the entire series of Jewish and Hebrew e-mail forums, are welcome to visit http://www.geocities.com/jewishgroups. They are welcome to contact me directly as well, at David Grossman.�
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Your exercise for this article is as follows:
What special writing devices were used when writing this newspaper article? How is it different from other articles by the same author?
