Tora Writing

Category: Rants

  • How to Be a Writer without Writing a Book

    How to Be a Writer without Writing a Book

    I once wrote a blog about irony. Although I made several interesting and insightful observations, the general point is that I’m one of those people that can’t define the word, but do know when it hits me over the head with a brick. (I am, however, likely to miss the more subtle examples.) For a…

  • The Point of My Service Business

    The Point of My Service Business

    I recently heard someone say that if a business only provides a service, it doesn’t have any lasting impact. That one hit me hard. While not a secret, I don’t say this often: I’m terrified of ending up like Eleanor Rigby. I don’t expect to be in the history books (unless as a possible author…

  • Words That Don’t Work: Nonplus

    Words That Don’t Work: Nonplus

    I believe that a person with a basic understanding of the language ought to be able to understand content published for the general population – even if they encounter a word they haven’t seen before. Obviously, text books, scientific articles, philosophical debates, and the such are likely to contain words that will send the reader…

  • The Hazards of PowerPoint

    The Hazards of PowerPoint

    This blog originally started as a guest blog for my friend Elizabeth Bachman; lately, however, I’ve been wanting to refer to the content, so I thought I’d spin it for myself. While I’d rather write a presentation than give one, I sit through them with some regularity. And I’ve sat through some really BAD presentations.…

  • Properly Pronounce!

    Properly Pronounce!

    In a blog that I don’t think I’ll publish, I discussed the importance of proper pronunciation. That rant focused on how commonly people drop Rs from words such as “library” and “February.” And while I do find that tendency annoying, the blog itself was just a little too pissy – even for me. That said,…

  • Straight Talk, Not Buzzspeak

    Erika Napoletano is someone I stumbled upon a few years ago – don’t ask me how, I have no clue. I subscribe to her blog – I don’t read it often, but they all still live in my inbox. I love her work because she talks straight, thinks along the same lines I do, and…

  • Going Too Far with Gender Neutrality

    When being specific could be wrong, when referring to a person of unknown gender, it is better to be general than specific. And, job positions ought to be neutral. Male or female, someone is a server or a flight attendant. However, I believe people are taking gender neutrality too far. The idea for this blog…

  • What’s Your Value Proposition? – Guest Blog

    Value (noun): Estimated or assigned worth; valuation Proposition (noun): a thing, matter, or person considered as something to be dealt with or encountered I am frequently the gate keeper between my employer and outside sales people. As such, I hear many sales pitches about how fantastic this widget is versus another widget. One term that…

  • The Culture of Writing

    Especially for larger software companies, documentation is something management easily outsources. The problem with outsourcing writing is that the culture of the writer and the culture of the reader frequently don’t match. The truth of the matter is that most Americans only go to the documentation when they are stuck beyond all reason. At that…

  • 1 Space or 2, Lives in the Balance

    My sister recently posted an article from January 2011 on my Facebook page about how two spaces after a period is absolutely the wrong thing to do. My friends generally agreed. Because said social media wouldn’t let me find the post again, I went to everyone’s buddy, Google, and searched for it. One result was…