FAQ: The Absolute Write Dictionary

[AW Admin]

Please use this thread for questions about Absolute Write terminology and suggestions for new additions to the Absolute Write Dictionary.

See Also: 1. FAQ: Cathy C's Glossary of Publishing Terms, Abbreviations, and Acronyms.
2. Wikipedia entry on Three Letter Acronyms (with lists of TLAs).

Atlanta Nights - A writing project by a group of writers (many from the Absolute Write boards) designed to expose PublishAmerica's troubling manuscript submission and editing process. Read about and purchase the "novel" here.

AW - Abbreviation for the Absolute Write forums and Website. (You're looking at it.)

Beta - A reference to a beta reader. You have a complete ms. You have edited and revised and polished it. Individual chapters may have been critiqued, and you are ready for a thorough read-through with comments from an experienced and trusted reader. See: AW's Beta Readers, Mentors, and Writing Buddies.

BIC - "Butt-In-Chair"; A method of writing involving sitting down at a desk to write and not moving until the words start to flow (or until you go crazy).

Blob - In the context of Absolute Write, a reference to invisible squares associated with Reputation Comments and Points.

BTW - Abbreviation for "By The Way."

ETA - Abbreviation for "Edited to Add"; an indication that a post has been edited or emended with additional information.

FYI - Abbreviation of "For Your Information."

HEA - Abbreviation for "Happily Ever After."

HFN - Happy For Now.

IANAL - Abbreviation for I Am Not A Lawyer.

IIRC - Abbreviation for "If I Remember (or Recall) Correctly."

IRL - Abbreviation for "In Real Life." An implication that someone has a life that does not take place on the Internet.

IRC - 1. Internet Relay Chat; a chat protocol providing commands used in AW Chat.
2. International Reply Coupon. See SASE.

Lexicographer - "a writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words" — Samuel Johnson.

LOL - "Laugh Out Loud." Related to ROFL or Rolling On The Floor Laughing. Both currently used so commonly on the Web that the original meaning has been trivialized to mean something more approaching "I am amused."

Mansplaining - "[W]hen a dude tells you, a woman, how to do something you already know how to do, or how you are wrong about something you are actually right about, or miscellaneous and inaccurate “facts” about something you know a hell of a lot more about than he does" (Karen Healey). See also: Justine Larbalestier on mansplaining.

MC - Abbreviation for "Main Character" in a writerly context; otherwise "Master of Ceremonies."

MG Abbreviation for "Middle Grade." Books for 8- to 13 -year-old readers, give or take a year on either side. See What makes Middle Grade?. See also: Absolute Writes Writing for Kids.

Mitticism Noun referring to the things American Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney says that make us spray coffee all over ourselves.

M/M or m/m Abbreviation for "Male/Male." A reference to male same-sex relationships, and also an erotic /romance niche, typically written by and for women.

Monospaced font - a font such as Courier, Pica or Prestige which resembles typewriter type and in which each letter is the same width. If a publisher's guidelines do not specify a font, play it safe and prepare your manuscript using a monospaced font like Courier at 12 points (10 characters per inch).

MS - Abbreviation for manuscript. Mss. is the plural form.

NANO or NANOWRMO - Abbreviation for National Novel Writing Month held every November. Participants attempt to write a 50,000 word novel between midnight on October 31 and midnight November 30. The intent is to rid yourself of the inner editor and just write. See the NANOWRMO Website and the Absolute Write NANOWRMO subforum.

NEPAT - Abbreviation for the "Never-Ending PublishAmerica Thread" located in Absolute Write's Publish America subforum Bewares, Recommendations & Background Check forum.

NSFW - Abbreviation for "Not Safe For Work." Used to indicate that a post, thread or link may contain material that is adult, cursing, or otherwise inappropriate for work or public consumption. Antonym: SFW or "Safe For Work."

OP - Abbreviation for Original Poster or Original Post; a reference to the person or post that begins a thread. In a specifically Absolute Write context, OP may refer to the Office Party forum.

ORPCC - Abbreviation for Obsessive Rep Point Checkers' Club; a reference to those who constantly check their Rep Comments and Points http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208323 and hang out in the OBRPC thread of Office Party.

OT - Abbreviation for "Off Topic." A response or observation has diverged from the original topic of discussion.

PA - Abbreviation for the printer "PublishAmerica." See PublishAmerica/Independence Books on Absolute Write.

PB - Abbreviation for "Picture Book." A book written for a younger child, with pictures and less text than achapter book. In some contexts, for instance in a discussion of novels or genre fiction, PB may mean "Paperback" or a softcover book.

PDF - Abbreviation for Adobe's "Portable Document Format." Alternate form: pdf. A file format that provides an electronic image of text or text and graphics that looks like a printed document on the screen. PDF files use .pdf in their file name. Adobe provides a free .pdf reader as do many other developers. See Adobe's page on .pdf.

POA - Abbreviation for "Pays On Acceptance." The publication issues payment when a ms. is accepted for publication. See POP.

POP - Abbreviation for "Pays On Publication." The publication issues payment when the work is published. See POA.

POV - Abbreviation for Point of View. See: Point of View offsite.

Proportional font - A font like Times New Roman, Georgia, Garamond or Book Antiqua in which the width of each character varies, i. e.: the letter i is narrower than the letter W, and the period character already has an extra space.

QFT - Abbreviation for "Quoted For Truth." Used to indicate that the quoting poster agrees with, and wishes to emphasize the quoted portion of a post.

QLH - Abbreviation for Absolute Write's Query Letter Hell forum.

Query - A one-page single-spaced letter (use Times New Roman, 12 point) summarizing your project to a publisher or agent. Sometimes referred to as a cover letter, with the understanding that it still summarizes your manuscript. See: FAQ: Andrew Jameson How To Write A Query Letter and Query Letter Hell SYW.

RYFW - Respect your fellow writer. See The Newbie Guide.

SAE - See SASE.

Sample chapters - generally the first three chapters (or as many as the publisher requests) of your manuscript. If a publisher, editor or agent requests sample chapters do not send the entire ms.

SASE - Abbreviation for Self Addressed Stamped Envelope. Alternate Form: SAE. In the dark ages before the Internet writers would include an envelope with their address and the correct amount of postage so that editors or agents could return their manuscript to them. In an international context, an International Reply Coupon (IRC) was sometimes requested.

SF - Abbreviation for the Science Fiction genre.[/QUOTE].

SFW - See NSFW.

SNI - Abbreviation for either "Shiny New Idea" or "Sneaky New Idea."

SOS - Abbreviation for "Stories of Strength" - Absolute Write's Hurricane Katrina Relief project; a cooperative that created an anthology in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation.

SYW - Abbreviation for "Share Your Work" forum where AW members may share and critique each others' works. SYW access requires 50 previous posts. The SYW forum is password protected. Read the Stickies before posting.

TAT - Abbreviations for "Turn Around Time." The amount of time it takes a publisher, editor, agent or beta reader to respond to a ms. or query and return it to the writer.

TBH - Abbreviation for "To Be Honest."

TIO - Abbreviation for "Take It Outside"; on Absolute Write usually a reference to the TIO subforum, where obnoxious posts are moved by moderators in hopes that they will earn the oblivion they so richly deserve.

TMI - Abbreviation for "Too Much Information." Usually used to indicate a poster has provided more intimate or personal details than readers want or need. Typically intended in a humorous fashion.

TNR - Abbreviation for the font Times New Roman. See: Times (New) Roman and its part in the Development of Scalable Font Technology (off site link).

Travis Tea - Pseudonym of the group of writers behind Atlanta Nights a parody written by a group of authors. If you know about the "Atlanta Nights" project, I'm sure you'll appreciate the humor behind the author name chosen — that is, if you say it fast enough. See: Atlanta Nights.

TY or TYVM - Abbreviation for "Thank You," or "Thank You Very Much."

YA - Abbreviation for "Young Adult." Books written for and/or marketed for an adolescent or young adult, roughly ages 10-19. See Absolute Write's Young Adult forum.

YMMV - Abbreviation for Your Mileage May Vary; that is, your experience or results may be different from mine.

YW - Abbreviation for "You're Welcome."

WIP - Abbreviation for "Work In Progress"; used by writers to refer to their current project. See WIR and WIS/WOS.

WIR - Abbreviation for "Work In Revision." See [WIP and WIS/WOS.

WIS/WOS - Abbreviation for "Work In/On Submission."

WPR - Weekend Progress Report; used in the Humor forum on Absolute Write.