Be inclusive When writing for the Web, use simple terms and phrasing that everyone will understand. When in doubt, leave it out (or reword). Know your audience Be inclusive, yes, but know your audience. Just as people in different countries speak different languages, so do visitors to your Web site. Age, sex, educational level — all influence word choice. Purge jargon Jargon turns simple concepts into complicated ones. It’s unimaginative, even lazy and adds flab […]
NOTE: I wrote this piece years ago, when my daughter was a babe and I was syndicating “Sunshine,” my parenting column. Ah, the memories it revives — eeek!! I’m a mom who works at home. For those who think I’m being redundant — what mom doesn’t work at home? — let me be specific: I work for a living in my living room. It’s not exactly an executive suite. There are blocks and rattles where […]
I LOVE these “Sprout Leaf Book Marks”, which were a gift from my daughter. Put them inside the pages of a book and when you open to your page, voila, they pop up. You can also use them in a more traditional way, of course. If you do, remember to wedge them between the pages because they’re quite small. It’s pretty wonderful to hold a book upright and see this sweet little plant sticking up. […]
Writing is a business, like any other. You may not have a storefront or factory, but you produce a product, be it a book, a screenplay, or series of articles. It’s critical then to have a business plan to help you achieve success. 1. Identify your product. What do you intend to produce? A book, article, series of promotional pamphlets? A service by which you enrich, encourage, inform others through the written word? Be as […]
Do you have a heart? One of those trusty tickers folks carry around with them? That heart got you here today, you know. To this site and article. It also got you up this morning, helped you wash and dress and head out the door. And that was just for starters. The heart is an incredible piece of machinery, allowing you to do zillions of things. You couldn’t live without it. What a shame then […]
As writers, we have ties to the world beyond our projects. We work full or part-time, have families and other social responsibilities. We are part of a community, and with this comes a whole set of duties and responsibilities. It’s important that we meet them. By doing our fair share, we support others and they, in turn, support us. It’s a win-win situation for you, others and your writing.
Advice to procrastinators You don’t need long periods of time in which to write. In fact, long periods can be problematic, even detrimental to your work. For two reasons: 1) They are more difficult to schedule; and 2) It’s difficult to stay focused beyond a certain number of hours (and sometimes even minutes. Therefore, play with different-sized blocks. Start small and build up to get a sense of what your optimal-sized block might be.
Next time you think of setting personal deadlines, think again. They have their distinct advantages and disadvantages. First the Cons: Deadlines are a smokescreen, a way to trick yourself into believing you’re doing something to achieve a goal. Trouble is, you should have been doing that something all along. That you haven’t, signals an underlying block. If you don’t address it, you’ll be setting deadlines forever and making little progress. Deadlines are unnecessary. Not everything […]
— Include Your Children When Baking Cookies — Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Experts Say — Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers — Drunks Get Nine Months in Violin Case — Iraqi Head Seeks Arms — Is There A Ring Of Debris Around Uranus? — Prostitutes Appeal to Pope — Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over — British Left Waffles On Falkland Islands — Teacher Strikes Idle Kids — Clinton Wins Budget; […]
I just found this essay in one of my laptop folders. Although I wrote it a few years back, it still holds true. (FYI: Evil Child is my older daughter, Julia.) So, there we were in the kitchen, watching Hubby Joe open his Father’s Day gifts. Jenna, 17, gave him a month’s cable subscription to the Tennis Channel. Julia, 25, baked him cupcakes. I got him underwear. Julia looked at the underwear and said: “Is this... Read more.
