There are many reasons people choose to not get directly to the point: tact, fear, the desire to make things sound better than they are, the desire to hide what is really being said. However, when you choose to communicate that way, start handing out the compasses, because your audience is just going to get… Continue Reading
One of the things I do for editing clients is question their word choices. My best example was when I convinced a client that she didn’t want to use the word “manifesto” on her website – even though she was using it correctly. I find that people’s brains tend to go to one of two… Continue Reading
I love my sappy Hallmark Christmas movies. I found it interesting that writers seemed to make up a disproportionate number of the heroines with the last crop. I know I watched three surrounding writers – but there were two that connected with me in more than just the, “I need a tissue, because love wins… Continue Reading
The answer is, of course: it depends. What is the purpose of your blog? Are you establishing your expertise? Are you in a field where the rules change (legal, financial)? Are you in a field where the players change (sports, politics)? Are you in a field where there’s always more to learn (tech, medical)? Are… Continue Reading
Well, I’ve drafted enough of How to be a Writer without Writing a Book to get feedback. So out to the beta readers it is. Now I’m facing a whole new world of writer-hood: getting published. Initially, my intention was to self-publish, and I still may. However, my writing coach has convinced me that the… Continue Reading
During the post-meeting networking portion of a recent BNI meeting, one of the other members asked me for some time to help her with her blog. Eden is the Marketing Manager of an advanced IT solutions company – but that’s not what she wanted help with. She wanted help with her personal blog. So we… Continue Reading
I tell people that I edit for readability – and that readability is not always grammatically correct. I tell people that because I am not fluent in the formal terms of grammar. I don’t want to try to defend my edits based on participles, infinitives, dangling modifiers, or gerunds. (No matter how many times I… Continue Reading
My original plan for this blog was an attempt at something useful that would convince entrepreneurs that they really do need vacations in their life. That went nowhere quickly. I’m not sure I could say anything that hasn’t been said in a way that could be any more compelling. So, for fun, I went to… Continue Reading
The short answer to why a business needs a blog is: to be found. The internet is a wonderful and horrible thing for business. Wonderful because the web is open 24/7 and a company’s web presence tells the world what they do – also 24/7. Horrible because every other business on the web is also… Continue Reading
After three years, I guess you can say I have a new tradition: Logistics Nazi for Mary Knipple, Organizer of the Independent Editors at the San Francisco Writers Conference. TANGENT: “Logistics Nazi” is a term I came up with over a decade ago to describe my uptight coordination of something like six people to meet… Continue Reading