Writer’s Block? Brainstorm and keep the bad ideas
Feb0
Do you have writer’s block, or do you THINK you have writer’s block? Here’s a suggestion: embrace your bad ideas and let them lead to good ones. This is playwright and screenwriter Megan Cohen’s method for overcoming writer’s block and getting her creativity back to where it should be.
She writes that when she feels as though the well is running dry on good ideas, it’s time to sit down and just start brainstorming. Brainstorming, as we are taught includes bad ideas as well as the gems in the rough that can be developed over time. But the key here is the keep the bad ideas.
Yes, write down the bad ideas as well as the good ones and see where they take you:
To keep things interesting, you need bad ideas, with their chaos and swearing, their disrespect and vulnerability. But how do you lure them? What’s the solution to good ideas?
Well… it’s more ideas. If you don’t have an idea you really like for, say, the premise of your TV spec script… then we have a lot to talk about over coffee, but also you should sit down and write 100 premises for your TV spec script. Yeah, 100. Like the famous number of Dalmatians minus one.
The “100 ideas” method is straight-up stolen from an anecdote where Judd Apatow tells someone to do it. He probably invented it, maybe? It legit works.
Of course one of the best ways to beat writer’s block is to simply keep writing.
Read Megan Cohen’s full post at Writer’s Block: The Solution to Good Ideas
Sexist 1940 Video Presents the Roles of Newspaper Staff
Dec0
Recently, Brain Pickings published a real gem of a newsreel (originally from Encyclopedia Britannica Films’ Your Life Work series) that provides a look into the history of what one might imagine as the typical newsroom in the 1940s. Explaining the need for speed and accuracy when gathering the news for the reading public, the narrator walks through the many facets of newspaper’s interworkings.
Cheerfully, the narrator explains the different roles of the reporters and desk editors that take part in moving the story toward the presses. And with the excitement that can only be found in a 1940 newsreel, the narrator adds, “…there’s a real thrill in seeing your own byline over a story when it’s in print, and there’s always the feeling that you’ll try to make the next story just a little better.”
Working through the needs of covering fires and politics, the narrator moves to the lighter side of the news industry…the society pages. This is where the movie takes an interesting twist. As he explains, these pages are, “for the most part reported by news women.” So if any woman in the 1940s were to watch this, all their hopes of entering the exciting profession as an investigative or crime reporter would have been dashed by this movie.
The narrator continues with, “Women find it difficult to compete with men in general reporting jobs, so girls who want to be successful in journalism should prepare for work in the special women’s departments.” Of course, these departments include “meal planning suggestions” and “beauty care.”
Oh, how the times have changed.
Moonwalking With Einstein: a useful book for writers
May0
By Ron Creel
I would not say that I have the best of memory skills. I’m limited to carrying a list of items in my head to pick up at the store that can be counted on only one hand. And if I stop thinking about the list, I’m lost. However, my visual memory is great. With this, I introduce, “Moonwalking With Einstein,” by Joshua Foer. This is by no means a How-to book on how to improve your memory in ten easy steps, but is an examination of “The Art and Science of Remembering Everything,” as it is appropriately subtitled.
The book chronicles Foer’s study and training for participation in the the U.S.A. Memory Championship. He had previously covered the event as a journalist and wanted to take the bold step of actually participating in the event. Through his training, he developed new strategies for stretching the memory to extreme limits and ended up winning the competition in 2006.
The “Memory Palace” involves a process of converting concepts into distinctive and memorable images that are then placed in actual locations are then more easily recalled. Yes, it’s complicated. Using this process, Foer explains, is how some people can memorize the order of a deck of cards in less than a minute, associate the names with 100 faces within minutes, and remember a long shopping list.
For details on the complexity of the memory palace method, read the book.
More InfoPorn: Our new favorite site
Oct0
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love InfoPorn. This is what we consider the presentation of what could be considered dull information in interesting and fascinating presentations. Trust me, these are not your typical MS Excel bar charts.
The site Information is Beautiful seems to have it all for the infoporn addicted. Their latest, Left vs Right, explores, graphically, the differences between the left and right political parties.
Concerning their approach to presenting the information, this is what they have to say:
This kind of visual approach to mapping concepts really excites me. I like the way it coaxes me to entertain two apparently contradictory value systems at the same time. Or, in other words, I like the way it f**ks with my head.
Their other posts include:
This site is worth checking out and following regularly. I know we will.
Your Writing Dept is a Sacramento-based writing firm that specializes in developing technical manuals and user guides. We’re the leaders in technical communications in Northern California. Email us for more information about our services at info@yourwritingdept.com.
Additional Posts from Your Writing Dept
- Resumes that separate you from the rest of the crowd
- 18 Web Sites and Blogs That Will Improve Your Writing Skills
- How to stop confusing Me and I. Me and Billy will explain it to you
- InfoPorn: Presenting raw data with visually stimulating graphs
- How many spaces after a period? One or two?
- Tips for hiring an outsourced technical writing team to document your product or process
A Student’s Guide for Getting a Technical Writing Job
Sep0
Tom Johnson has an excellent post out today, How to Get a Job in Technical Writing — A 7-Step Guide for Students. After soliciting responses from his Twitter followers on what advice they would give to student and from gathering his own information and advice, he has come up with seven must do suggestions for anyone looking at breaking into the technical writing field.
If you’re a college student looking to become a technical writer after you graduate, you face a formidable challenge: you can’t get a job without experience, and you can’t get experience without a job. Especially in a competitive job market, getting a job as a technical writer directly after you graduate — without a foundation of previous jobs, experience with a handful of tools, and an impressive portfolio — can be especially difficult. However, if you follow these seven steps, which are not easy, not something you can do overnight, you will find a job.
As always, Tom has some great suggestions. This is a must-read for anyone thinking about getting into the technical writing field, or who would like to advance their current tech writing position.
Your Writing Dept is a Sacramento-based writing firm that specializes in developing technical manuals and how to guides. We’re the leaders in technical communications in Northern California. Email us for more information about our services at info@yourwritingdept.com.
Additional Posts from Your Writing Dept
- Resumes that separate you from the rest of the crowd
- 18 Web Sites and Blogs That Will Improve Your Writing Skills
- How to stop confusing Me and I. Me and Billy will explain it to you
- InfoPorn: Presenting raw data with visually stimulating graphs
- How many spaces after a period? One or two?
- Tips for hiring an outsourced technical writing team to document your product or process
How to write a resume that separates you from the rest of the crowd
Sep4
By Ron Creel
A fellow writer forwarded us a resume that I think is an outstanding design that sets her apart not only as a writer, but as an innovator. I’ve seen a lot of resumes come across my desk (including my own) and most are dull and follow all the standard resume rules.
The resume, from Susan Varty, of Ontario, Canada got my immediate attention.
What she has done is use a blended approach between a resume format and a brochure to come up with an easy-to-read, one-page resume that lists all her skills under specific categories.
As Susan has worked on many different types of writing assignments and wanted to showcase her various projects, she designed the resume in a way so it could be quickly and easily scanned.
So here’s the lesson to be learned: break the traditional rules and get noticed.
FOLLOWUP NOTE: Susan has indicated that she has gotten a lot of positive response from us posting her resume and has even picked up some new clients. So here’s the deal, if you have a cool and innovative resume that you would like for us to post as an example of someone thinking outside the box, send it to the email address below and we will see what we can do to post it. Comments are also welcome.
WAIT, THERE’S MORE…
I just found Mark’s posting at 30 Plus Brilliant And Creative Résumés where he says the following:
Times have changed. What worked in the past still works but if you want to stand out from the crowd sometimes the only thing that is needed is a little creativity. We all have the creative juice in us but only some of us dare to squeeze it out.
Here you will find some truly amazing examples of people using their creative talents.
Some of our more popular posts:
How to stop confusing Me and I. Me and Billy will explain it to you.
Honestly, every time I hear “I” and “me” used incorrectly, I’m afraid my head is going to explode, or at least start spinning the way Linda Blair’s did in the movie, The Exorcist.
How many spaces after a period? One or two?
The question of how many spaces one should place after a period when typing is a question as hotly debated as whether a roll of toilet paper should unroll from the front or the back.
I’d Rather Cuddle Then Have Sex. Really? It’s all about the grammar.
We have recently been seeing people confuse the words then and than. The word then seems to be used when the writer should use than. Of course, several sites have made fun of this word misuse.
How to Write a 500 Word Essay That Will Get You Into College
It’s college application season. Or at least it is in our house. The current challenge seems to be how a student applying for college can work within the 500-word limit imposed by the Common Application and create an essay that covers a significant event or achievement in the student’s life and will, hopefully, set the student apart from tens of thousands of other applicants.
Outsourcing vs. offshoring, and how U.S.-based technical writers can stay competitive
We have recently heard people confuse the distinction between “outsourcing” and “offshoring.” To clarify, outsourcing is when a company hires another business, such as Your Writing Dept, Inc., to do a specific task for them either because they do not have that talent in their existing labor pool, or they need to temporarily add skilled members to their existing team, but cannot justify hiring them as permanent staff.
What Are the Characteristics of a Good Technical Writer?
In my previous post, I started to address the question, “How Do I Become a Technical Writer?” I concluded that most writers do not set out to go into this field, but more likely happen into it by chance or by a series of stepping stones that naturally led them down this path. I stated that through nature and nurture, people are formed to become a writer. So, what characteristics make up your average writer?
Where To Go To Become a Tech Writer or To Find One To Hire?
Finding a single place to learn about Technical Writing is not the easiest task. Because of this, it is even trickier to find a good source for locating potential candidates for the job. Many writers seem to be just born with this ability, while others have learned it through intensive study. Meanwhile, others have gone a path in life that through training, natural abilities and fate have gravitated to this field.
18 Web Sites and Blogs That Will Improve Your Writing Skills
Writers grow as writers if they have good resources. The following sites (in no particular order or ranking) are good writing resources that we keep going back to frequently:
1. I’d Rather Be Writing
An excellent and timely collection of articles written by Tom Johnson relating to the current trends in technical communication.
2. EServer TC Library Resources>Writing>Technical Writing>Blogs
The EServer TC Library is a free, open-access, human-edited directory of online resources for people who produce, manage, archive, and distribute technical information. The community we serve includes technical communicators (such as technical writers), editors and publishers, researchers, illustrators, animators/multimedia developers, instructional designers/educators, web designers, instructional designers, user experience designers, and others who concern themselves with how to improve human communications.
18 Web Sites and Blogs That Will Improve Your Writing Skills
Jul2
Writers grow as writers if they have good resources. The following sites (in no particular order or ranking) are good writing resources that we keep going back to frequently:
1. I’d Rather Be Writing
An excellent and timely collection of articles written by Tom Johnson relating to the current trends in technical communication.
2. EServer TC Library Resources>Writing>Technical Writing>Blogs
The EServer TC Library is a free, open-access, human-edited directory of online resources for people who produce, manage, archive, and distribute technical information. The community we serve includes technical communicators (such as technical writers), editors and publishers, researchers, illustrators, animators/multimedia developers, instructional designers/educators, web designers, instructional designers, user experience designers, and others who concern themselves with how to improve human communications.
3. Tech Writer Blog Directory
A Wiki-style listing of technical writing blogs.
4. All the top Technical Writing news
Guy Kawasaki’s nice listing of all the top Technical Writing news. Be sure to explore the other categories.
5. Copyblogger
Good discussion relating to writing copy and content for blogs by Brian Clark. Sure, it’s not about technical writing, but he has some very good information to strengthen your writing skills.
6. Men With Pens
As their tagline says, “Bad-ass renegades. And a rogue.”
7. Seth Godin
All about writing, blogging, social media and getting yourself out there.
8. Write To Done
Tips from blogger Leo Babauta on how to become a better writer while not really thinking about it. He uses the Zen approach.
9. Daily Blog Tips
As the name implies, daily tips for getting you blog noticed and improved.
10. The Word Blog
It’s all about the words that sell, that work, or that are just plain interesting.
11. CyberText Newsletter
Nice collection of articles about technical communications.
12. Grammar Girl
Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing. Covering the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers, Grammar Girl makes complex grammar questions simple with memory tricks to help you recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules. Whether English is your first language or second language, Grammar Girl’s punctuation, style, and business tips will make you a better and more successful writer. Mignon Fogarty is the creator and host of Grammar Girl. Grammar Girl is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast.
13. ffeathers — a technical writer’s blog
Nice collection of articles about technical communications.
14. Grammar Blog
A fun site that explores what happens when the language is used incorrectly.
15. Blue Pencil Editing
Hey, sometimes it’s just a matter of good editing.
16. The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar
A nice collection of things gone wrong while trying to write.
17. Passive Aggressive Notes
Collection of edgy reader-submitted notes to co-workers, neighbors, roommates and strangers that get the point across that something has gone terribly wrong in a relationship.
18. Bad Language
Writing about writing.
Your Writing Dept is a Sacramento-based writing firm that specializes in developing technical manuals and user guides. We’re the leaders in technical communications in Northern California. Email us for more information about our services at info@yourwritingdept.com.
Additional Posts from Your Writing Dept
- Outsourcing vs. offshoring, and how U.S.-based technical writers can stay competitive
- How to stop confusing Me and I. Me and Billy will explain it to you
- InfoPorn: Presenting raw data with visually stimulating graphs
- How many spaces after a period? One or two?
- Tips for hiring an outsourced technical writing team to document your product or process
How to stop confusing Me and I. Me and Billy will explain it to you
Jul0
Honestly, every time I hear “I” and “me” used incorrectly, I’m afraid my head is going to explode, or at least start spinning the way Linda Blair’s did in the movie, The Exorcist. 
The common mistake is that people frequently say something along the lines of, “Me and Billy went to the store.” WRONG, and believe me, making this mistake over and over makes you look pretty freakin’ stupid. I hear this mistake made every day by professionals who supposedly have an education.
So what’s wrong, you ask? Well, let me splain it to you in a way that might keep you from making this mistake again and again.
Warning: here’s the grammar lesson that so many people seemed to have missed
Rule No. 1:
When talking about you and others, list yourself AFTER everyone else. In other words, Billy, and anyone else you are listing, goes before “I” or “me.” Do you understand this? Simply stated, you go last. They taught us to let others go first in pre-school. Long before we ever started learning proper grammar.
Rules No. 2 through 4:
“I” is a nominative pronoun and is used as a subject of a sentence or clause, while “me” is an objective pronoun and used as an object. Yeah, I know this sounds complicated, so I’m going to give you some tips so you can forget the rules and simply break your sentence down so it sounds right. So the next time you tell a story about you and Billy going to the store, you can say it correctly.
Here’s my suggestion for understanding how it all works:
After you decide to start putting others before the “I” or “me,” you need to figure out if “I” or “me” is correct.
Tip: break the sentence apart to figure out which is correct.
Which sounds the most correct? I went to the store. Or? Me went to the store. If “I went to the store,” sounds more correct, you should say, “Billy and I went to the store.” Pretty simple, uh?
As the trouble with incorrectly using “me” in these sentences seems to originate when speakers are stringing together two or more objects in a sentence, breaking them into smaller pieces helps determine whether a nominative or objective pronoun should be used. “I” is not an objective case word, but people try to plug it in as an object because it just sounds smarter. So trying to make yourself sound smarter ain’t always going to make you right.
Now, take a look at these examples:
You might be tempted to say:
“Would you sell that to Billy and I?” WRONG
But then, when you omit the other object, you’ll have:
“Would you explain that to I?” WRONG
Now that just sounds silly. Try this:
“Would you explain that to John and me?” RIGHT
“Would you explain that to me?” RIGHT
Keep going with these examples:
Leave the decision to John and I. WRONG
Leave the decision to me. RIGHT
Leave the decision to John and me. RIGHT
Please join Bob and I for lunch. WRONG
Please join me for lunch. RIGHT
Please join Bob and me for lunch. RIGHT
So now do you understand which word to use? If you don’t, Billy and I are going to your house to explain it to you personally.
Your Writing Dept is a Sacramento-based writing firm that specializes in developing technical manuals and user guides. We’re the leaders in technical communications in Northern California. Email us for more information about our services at info@yourwritingdept.com.
Additional Posts from Your Writing Dept
- Laid off technical writer? We want to hear from you.
- InfoPorn: Presenting raw data with visually stimulating graphs
- How many spaces after a period? One or two?
- Will Bing become the new Google?
- Tips for hiring an outsourced technical writing team to document your product or process
- MS Office 2007 Hidden Treasure