Archive for January, 2008
Writing and presentations
One of the blogs that I regularly read is Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. I find myself looking forward to each of Reynolds’ new posts for a couple of reasons. First, Presentation Zen isn’t updated as frequently as other blog that I read. And Reynolds writes very passionately, and very well, about presentations and related [...]
Electronic writing: one reporter’s reminiscence
These days, we take word processors for granted. But it wasn’t too long ago that most writers banged out their work on a typewriter. My first encounter with a word processor was Speedscript, for the Commodore VIC-20 home computer. In journalism school, I got my first taste of Microsoft Word on a Mac. Then, in [...]
The early bird is a productive writer
Sometimes — OK, a lot of the time — it can be difficult to find quiet moments to write. When you do, it’s often too late or you’re too tired to write. So why not do your writing early in the morning? This post explains the whys and hows of writing first thing in the [...]
Using a wiki to write a book
This May, I’ll be heading to Vancouver, British Columbia to attend the DocTrain West 2008 conference (I’ll also be participating in a panel on blogging there).
An indispensable guide
I don’t own all that many books on writing. And since culling almost 500 books from my personal library last year, I have even fewer than I did before. But the books that are on my shelf are pretty darned good. And very useful.
One of the most indispensable writing books that I have is The [...]
Tips for writing without distractions
Over the last week or so, I’ve been having a difficult time writing. There has been a lot to do, both personally and professionally, in my life and the distractions have been few but they’ve taken their toll.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I like to shut off my laptop’s wireless interface, find a [...]
Writing conversationally
If there’s one thing I dislike, it’s writing that’s too stiff and too formal. I don’t have a lot of fun reading work like that, and I sure hope I don’t write like that.
Something that I try to do with my articles and blog postings is to write in the way in which I speak. [...]
Google Docs adds headers and footers
One of the things that I like about Google Docs is its simplicity. And the fact that Google gradually phases in enhancements. The latest of these is the ability to put headers and footers into a document.
What’s more, the headers and footers stay in documents when you export them to another format — like PDF [...]
Good technical writing is where you find it
You find good technical writing, and it’s close cousin procedural/how-to writing, in some interesting places. And on some interesting topics. One such place is WikiHow.com.
The content on the site varies — some of it’s good, a lot of it’s quite middling (or worse). One of the more interesting how-to pieces I’ve read there in quite [...]
Fighting the funnel effect
Lately, I’ve been having a bit of trouble writing. It’s not writer’s block so much as something that I call the funnel effect. I have a lot of ideas spinning around in my head. But when I try to get them down — even as outlines — it’s as if those ideas are being poured [...]