“I started at midnight last night. Do you know what I did the moment I woke up? Turned on my light and resumed reading. I am enjoying every word—and rolling on the floor laughing.”
In May, at the Write the Docs conference in Portland, I did something I had never done: I led an unconference session. That’s a small, casual, hey-anyone-want-to-talk-about-xyz? session that happens around one of many tables in a big room separate from the official conference talks. No stage. No microphone. No video camera. If you want to do an unconf on Tuesday… Continue reading
Don’t take life too seriously, this book seems to say. We might as well have the audacity to laugh. Continue reading
I’ve been thinking about language that dehumanizes. I call myself out here as a hypocrite. Continue reading
Try this easy macro to instantly find all your long sentences in a Microsoft Word document. You don’t have to know anything about macros or code. Continue reading
Use this easy macro to highlight passive verb forms (and other be-verbs) instantly in a Microsoft Word document. You don’t have to know anything about macros or code. Continue reading
Dip in to this list anywhere, and give your inner editor’s funny bone a tickle. Take “hurriedly scurried.” Or “moral high horse.” Or “live studio audience.” “Old codgers.” “Old coots.” “Old fossils.” “Old ruins.” “Commonly available general knowledge that anyone would know.” I don’t make this stuff up. Bonus: Smiling at redundant phrases sharpens your writing. Warning: These things are addictive. Continue reading
Even a slight change in wording can alter your text’s impact on a given audience—and not always in the way you’d predict. Continue reading
A car pulled up next to my Prius at a stoplight in downtown Portland. The driver opened her window and asked, “What does your bumper sticker mean?” Through my passenger window, I told her that it means to look for verbs like “is” and “were” and “are,” and then consider how you might reword to make the writing tighter and more impactful. “You made my day,” she said. Continue reading
My commitment to writing traces back to the moment I discovered “The Hemingway Reader.” It’s one of the books I’d grab if our house were on fire. The observations and excerpts in Charles Poore’s foreword have shaped my writing efforts in journalism, playwriting, fiction, poetry, technical writing, marketing writing—every kind of writing I’ve ever done. Continue reading
The trouble with companies is that they’re full of people, and people insist on having unique personalities and distinct voices. It’s no wonder that, when we take an honest look at our content, issues of consistency and tone of voice invariably creep into our conversations. Continue reading