Handy hints
According to my diary, I am due at the vets today for worming. I am told that this involves nothing more terrible than having a gigantic pill put down one’s throat. Nevertheless, I’m glad that the entry refers to our cats rather than myself.
One of the drawbacks of entering appointments into a smartphone is that it’s not easy to write copious explanatory notes – but the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages.
Stumped for some ideas on what to write about? One way to tackle that sort of block is to generate ideas randomly. The trouble with random idea generators, however, is that they are usually either outlandish (for example “mobile fish typewriter”), boring, or repetitive. That’s because they’re too random. Also, you have to dance to someone else’s tune: there’s no input from you whatsoever.
Pictures on websites look great, don’t they? But only if people can see them! Not everyone has broadband access; some people still have (very slow) modems. Others use a text-based browser, or a text reader that reads out the web page to them – or simply do not have the time to wait while pictures download and appear on their screen.
Here is a set of rules that I hope you will find useful. The way I see it, readers’ time is far too precious to waste. People are made to feel guilty, or have somehow been conditioned to feel guilty, if they don't read every possibly useful report. Or every relevant newspaper article. But as writers, or content producers, we have a responsibility too. Here are some rules which I am gradually starting to live by myself.
How do you keep your clippings?
If you keep them in paper format, they take up more and more room as your portfolio grows. If you keep them in boxes in the loft, as I do, you never get to see them anyway. I think if you’re going to store them in printed format you should go the whole hog and keep them nicely bound in some sort of presentation folder, and place them on shelves in your living space so that they can be admired by you and anyone who happens to browse your bookshelves!
Just because I love technology and spend a lot of time on the web, and writing for the web, doesn’t mean I’ve eschewed books. I still use books extensively (and intensively) for my writing. Not any books either, but ones written or contributed to by experts.
I think if you’re serious about writing you don’t want to be messing about with so-called “crowd-sourced” information, which may or may not be correct.
This afternoon I found myself in an emotionally challenging superfluous text situation. In other words, I became somewhat “wound up” by having to waste my time reading a long-winded sentence that was clearly designed to demonstrate the erudition of the writer rather than facilitate the understanding of the reader.
Can there be any excuse, in this day and age, for poorly-researched material? There are books, the internet and still, even in these straitened times, public libraries with reference sections.
Although I have had many books published by traditional publishers, I like self-publishing. I like it because it is great for niche topics. However, it is most decidedly not an unequivocally good thing, and there are pros and cons of each approach. This video summarises the issues.
Last year a teenager sent me an article with a covering email saying:
Sorry, I didn’t have time to proofread it properly. Sure you can sort it out!
What do you require in order to blog? Obviously, the list will be depend on what device you use, and its operating system, but here is the set of tools which I find invaluable.
The terms “technology” and “creative writing” may not often appear in the same sentence. But when it comes to digital photography, the world is your oyster.
A few days ago I switched the light on in the kitchen, there was a pop, and all the lights went out. Everything electrical was as dead a dodo. It could have been a major disaster, as I’d just finished doing several hours’ work. Fortunately, it was merely a minor inconvenience, thanks to the magic of AutoSave.
I think the title of this article probably gives the impression that I’m an alcoholic, but those who see me at conferences or meetings know that I always have a bottle of water with me.