I’ve provided this (a) as an example of how a manual should be set out and (b) in case you just happen to have a working Atari with this software on it!
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An example of popular academic writing
A long-held belief of mine is that no writing is wasted. I hear of people who have spent time writing something, decided it's rubbish, and then deleted it. But the process of evaluation that someone goes through to arrive at the conclusion that the thing they've just slaved over is rubbish is valuable in itself.
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On this day: 27th December 2019 -- Preverbs
Many people advocate free writing as a way of cutting through writer’s block. Well, it’s never worked for me, and it doesn’t seem logical anyway. If you can’t think of anything to write, how would allowing your mind to just generate stuff do any good?
Read MoreImaginative film-making
in Archives, Photography
The following article was written and published in May 1973. I thought you might find it interesting, as it looks at a few imaginative ways in which to make films — with a cine camera and actual film! Most of the techniques described can still be achieved with video.
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Image from John Hain on Pixabay
Is satire dead?
It seems to me that for satire to work it has to walk a fine line between being so close to reality that it’s not funny, and so far-fetched that it’s not credible.
Read MoreUsing art for inspiration
in News & views, Archives
I’ve come across lots of books, apps and websites with writing prompts. I don’t think any of them have mentioned looking at paintings. I find that to be quite inspirational, in the sense of inspiring me to write reviews (which I don’t always publish).
Read MoreOn this day: My non-writing writing day
in Archives, On this day
The value of having days when you don’t write, but when you do stuff in the service of writing.
Read MoreShort-form writing (book review)
When your word count is restricted, you have to make every word count.
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My Archive, by Terry Freedman
Articles on writing in the week beginning 1st November 2021
in Archives
In case you missed them, here are the articles I published on the Writers’ Know-How website last week.
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Swearing, by Terry Freedman
Why swearing in writing or speaking is (usually) very ill-judged (Updated)
Gratuitous swearing usually adds nothing to a piece of writing or a talk. It’s unpleasant to listen to, and probably has unfortunate consequences for the offender.
Read MorePseudo-intellectualism (corrected)
(Corrected) This article is around 50 years old. Unfortunately, it is still pretty relevant.
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Archives, by Terry Freedman
Why writers should build a back list
in Archives, News & views
If you don’t already have a collection of articles that you can (legally) republish or rework, then today is as good a time as any to start.
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On this day #5: The perfect blog post?
in Archives, On this day, Handy hints, How to
I am not sure whether all of this would work for every kind of blog and every kind of audience, but it has a few interesting suggestions.
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Archive, by Terry Freedman
On this day #4: Unmindfulness
in Archives, On this day
On 14 October 2019 I mused about the usefulness to writers of being unmindful, that is, possible benefits of the opposite of mindfulness.
Read MoreOn this day #2: Enjoyable writing
What makes a piece of writing enjoyable to read?
Read MoreOn this day #1: Paragraph styles
in Archives, Fast writing, Technology, Word
How can you save a lot of time and boring repetition when it comes to formatting in Word?
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Video surveillance: another example of tech-inspired jargon? Photo by Terry Freedman
Technology-inspired words
New words are always interesting, I think, and not just the ones that have been inspired by technology. But before I say any more about that, I feel the need to get something off my chest. Don’t worry, I won’t make this a long post: the last thing I want is people tweeting me to say TL;DR (too long; didn’t read).
Read MoreRich-featured software often leads to headaches
in Audio, Archives, Technology, The lighter side, Word
Solving one problem in a writing program like Word can lead to others.
Read MoreWhat An Insulting Site! (Update)
Listen, thou fobbing clapper-clawed clotpole! The internet is useful for more things than mere facts.
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Blog reading, by Terry Freedman
How to have blog posts come to you (instead of having to go to them)
in Handy hints, How to, Technology, Utility, Archives, Audio
You don’t always have to visit a blog to see the most recent article. Although it has fallen into disuse to some extent in recent years, there is a way of having the blog posts come to you. All you need are what is called an RSS feed, and an RSS feed reader.
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