Writers' Know-How

Something of interest 12/30/2011 (p.m.)

2011-12-30T15:30:36Z

The New York Times - history of word processing in literature
Article about a forthcoming book, containing interesting snippets from the author's research.
tags: ifttt delicious Writing wkh ictined
A literary history of word processing
Article about a forthcoming book, containing interesting snippets from the author's research.
tags: Writing wkh ictined

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Books vs e-books

2011-12-26T22:30:34Z

I came across an interesting post by Jeff Thomas, in which he refers to an Infographic by Newsweek, which compares printed books with electronic or e-books. (An infographic, by the way, is a graphical or otherwise succinct way of presenting a lot of information quickly. Newsweek’s books vs e-books graphic is one of the few easily readable ones I’ve come across, but that’s neither here nor there.)

But not all books are created equalThe infographic does a good job of comparing the two formats from the reader’s point of view, and includes factors like weight and cost, and even carbon footprint.

Strangely, there’s no direct mention of the one thing that all book lovers seem to cite as a reason for not buying e-books, which is the feel of a “real” book. However, that is probably implied by the statistic that only 15% of e-book readers say they stop buying printed books altogether.

A few of words of caution about this data, interesting though it may be. First, it comes from the USA, and reading and buying habits of e-book reader owners may be different in the UK.

Second, the data cited was published a year ago. A lot can happen in a year.

Third, I wonder if the type of book makes a difference. For example, although there are advantages to looking up word meanings, say, in an e-book, such as being able to bookmark the page and even annotate it, there are distinct disadvantages to a writer.

In particular, you're unlikely to come across interesting words while you're looking for the word in question. I don't think I have ever managed to look up a word in a dictionary without being sidetracked by adjacent entries, thereby enriching my vocabulary (and, I hope, my writing) in a serendiptous manner.

I can see how that might be an unwelcome unintended consequence of using a printed reference book if you're in a hurry. Nevertheless, I think "Serendipity" should have been a criterion considered by Newsweek!

21st Century Writing

2011-12-23T00:24:00Z

For anyone who thinks that writing with a computer is not that different from doing so with pen and paper, maybe this short video will change your mind – and put a smile on your face!

Evaluation of Find That File

2011-12-15T09:47:21Z

I’ve been trying out a search engine I came across called Find That File. It produces some unusual results – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because it suggested links and documents I’d not heard of before.

Find that file lets you specify file typesIt’s biggest strength seems to be that you can easily specify the type of file to search for, such as only documents or only videos.

It’s early days, but I’ve seen enough to want to explore this search engine further, and perhaps add it permanently to my “toolkit”.

Managing four diaries

2011-12-14T10:50:16Z

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.

You can use your diary for getting ideas down quicklyOne 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.

As a writer, I find it quite useful to enter ideas into a notebook or something as they occur to me. The benefits of putting them into my phone’s calendar is that I will get a reminder of the “appointment” when the time comes, and that I won’t need to enter it into any other diary because my phone calendar will be automatically synchronised with my other diaries. And that’s what I wanted to talk about here.

I have four electronic calendars – well, three actually. Let me explain.

I use Outlook on my computer at home. I also have a calendar on my phone, as I have already said. I have also set up a Google calendar, which I can access from anywhere in the world where I have an internet connection, and I use that one when I’m out and about with my iPad too.

The big advantage of having a Google calendar is that you can allow other people to see it. Thus I have set mine up such that Elaine can see where I am or supposed to be even when I’m not available to be asked.

Here’s how the calendars are synchronised:

If I enter an appointment in my phone, it will be copied to Outlook when I used the synching software that came with the phone.
If I enter an appointment in Outlook, the same thing applies. In addition, the appointment will be copied to my online Google calendar because I have installed and set up Google calendar synchronisation software. To do this, search for Google calendar synch in Google, and follow the link, then set it up with two-way synchronisation. That means that…
If I enter an appointment in my Google calendar, either on the web or on my iPad, it will be copied to my Outlook calendar the next time I fire up my home computer.

It all sounds a bit arduous, but I can assure you it isn’t. Once you’ve installed and set up the synching programs for your phone and Google Calendar, it all seems to take care of itself. It means that wherever I am, I have a pretty good idea of where I should be instead!

And by entering article ideas as appointments rather than sending myself an email, say, I can easily check ideas from the recent past.

One thing I would recommend, however, is copying and pasting the ideas from your calendar to an ideas document as soon as possible, because after a while they will be hard to track down: the idea-as-appointment approach is very much a quick expedient for people on the move.

A week to remember

2011-12-13T11:37:07Z

People visit the Writers’ Know-how website because they have an interest in technology for writing rather than in my private life, which is why I never post anything deeply personal here. However, recent personal events have affected my working life, the most visible evidence of this being the lack of updates here for nearly two weeks. Less publicly, a number of emails have remained unanswered. Here is what has happened during this period.

My sister passed away after a relatively short, but painful, battle with a particular form of soft tissue sarcoma, which is a type of cancer. The type with which my sister was diagnosed is incurable, and she could be offered only palliative care. (If you would like to find out more about soft tissue sarcoma, look at the Sarcoma information website and the cancer research website.)

Shortly afterwards, my mother contracted an infection. This proved to be fatal, and she too passed away a few days later. I am now in the process of easing myself back into work, and hope to be able to resume updating this website on a regular basis between catching up with emails, and working.

Review of 30 Day Blogging Challenge, written by Nikki Pilkington

2011-11-30T08:00:20Z

If you're looking for a handy, no frills book of suggestions for blogging, this book should meet your requirements. Having been designed as an email course, 30 Day Blogging Challenge consists mainly of 30 very short articles on different aspects of blogging. Being able to buy the whole lot in the form of a book is excellent for those of us for whom deferred gratification is an alien concept.

Having looked at several "Improve your blog in 30 days" type articles and books, I wasn't holding my breath expecting anything too different, but I was pleasantly surprised. The main stand-out feature is that several of the suggestions made are unusual in the sense that I have not seen them mentioned elsewhere.

For example, on Day 6 we are told to write a blog post saying something nice, whether about a product, a client or whatever. A “nice” idea, although perhaps not one which comes easily to a person like me who, I am constantly told, has gradually turned into a grumpy old man (what's with the "old"?).
Other ideas include taking inspiration from a song (I've used a variation of the idea occasionally myself, and I think it works well), and a number of other suggestions which made me sit up and think "Oh, I hadn't thought of that!" I also learnt about the correct way of using anchor text (the text used for a link), and there is good, easy-to-implement advice on search engine optimisation.

There are some excellent links included too, such as 25+ places to which to submit your blog, in order to promote it, and a handy list of places where you can find free high-quality photos with which to illustrate your blog posts.

I like the fact that the advice is byte-sized. You can open the book at random and find and read a suggestion very quickly. Should you wish to delve deeper into a particular aspect, there is usually a link back to an article on Nikki’s blog. There are also a few longer articles towards the back of the book.

There are a couple of niggly things. Sometimes, especially when you’re somewhere without internet access, the byte-sized chapters with links to a more in-depth article can be a bit frustrating. Also, the section on tags is particularly weak. We’re told that we absolutely must put them in our blog posts, but to find out why you have to buy another book. Still, these are relatively minor concerns. On the whole, this book would represent a worthwhile investment in your blogging future.

The 30 Day Blogging Challenge ebook is available for £5.

Review of Problogger’s Guide To Blogging For Your Business

2011-11-29T08:00:23Z

Before looking at the book in detail, it’s worth pointing out what the book is, and is not. It is, as the title implies, concerned with blogging in order to promote your business. It is not about blogging as a business in itself. It’s an important distinction, not least because once we take money out of the equation then “business” can be used as shorthand for any type of enterprise, including a charity, a cause, or a school.

The book is written in a style which is friendly without being patronising, and without appearing to try too hard to be the jovial host of the party, as it were. The structure of the book is well-considered as well. Each chapter explains what you have to do or think about, and then leads on to a tutorial in which you have to to put your new-found knowledge into practice. It’s a good approach, although now and again it seems a little laboured and repetitive of the chapter itself.

I’ve read or browsed through quite a few books on this subject, and this one stands out in a few important respects. For example, it considers the issue of whether your blog should be separate from your website, or one and the same. Now, that may sound like a piece of trivia but it’s actually an important business decision. A website is a place to go for information that doesn’t change or need to change too often, such as what the business is about, or an online catalogue. A blog, on the other hand, really should be updated regularly, and preferably frequently, to keep people coming back. In other words, it is not immediately obvious how one should go about squaring this particular circle. I was both pleased and relieved to learn that, in keeping the ICT in Education website and blog as one entity, I made the right decision for my business! Have you made the right decision for yours?

Hayward also looks at how to use Google’s Keyword tool, and makes it sound easy and straightforward. Which it is, but some writers seem to delight in making it appear like rocket science (possibly because that’s how they earn their living? Oh such cynicism in one so young!).

There is a lot of good, practical advice scattered throughout the text. For example, you’re advised to look out for discounts on domain names. Now, that may sound obvious, but to the uninitiated even just the mention of the term “domain name” can cause the onset of a cold sweat. It’s very easy to pay over the odds for a domain name because you’re too frightened to look for bargains. Fortunately, there are a few suggestions for reputable web hosting companies, and inexpensive domain name sellers, so the reader is not left entirely on her own. Oh, and that’s another thing: there are several useful links sprinkled throughout the book.

If you are convinced of the need to blog but are not sure what to blog about, you don’t have to look too far to glean some ideas. Hayward has provided 52 topic suggestions, including “Draft a helpful post or tutorial specifically to help others in your industry”, “What are ten ways money donated to your non-profit is spent?” and “Describe any improvements or upgrades you have made to your business”. You can see immediately how these ideas could be adapted for a school blog, although not all of the suggestions will be useful. There is also a simple mind map to help you generate more ideas of your own.

I do have a couple of niggles, though. The biggest one is the devotion of two chapters to Wordpress. Now, for all I know, Wordpress may be the most popular blogging platform. It may even be the best, according to some criteria yet to be revealed to me. However, there are other platforms out there, and in my opinion it would have been far better for the author to have provided a list of links to books or online tutorials concerning blogging with the other widely-used platforms available.

Apart from anything else, that would have enabled him to do something about my other criticism, which is the absence of exemplars for some types of blog post. For example, I for one would find it hard, despite years of practice to write a blog post on the topic of “What makes your business different?” without making it sound like an advertisement. OK, I tell a lie: I could write an engaging article along those lines, but it’ not easy. Given that this book is aimed at people who are new to blogging for business, I should have thought some guidance on this would not come amiss.

Similarly with “Why do you love doing what you do?”. How do you overcome the sense of “why on earth would anyone be interested?”, and then how would you write about that in a way which didn’t sound hopelessly self-centred?

In fairness, Hayward does come up with some reasons that such posts may be worth penning:

“Potential customers want to know about you and your business; it’s a cornerstone of trust building.”

“People love to read about other people.”

“Many small business owners find it difficult to write about themselves, but your daily activities are truly unique and worthy of a blog post.”

Even if you accept those statements (I don’t necessarily), they don’t help you actually write the darn thing: knowing that others find it hard to write about themselves does little to help me write about myself.

Nevertheless, there is far more in the book to like than to dislike, and I have found myself coming back to it several times to look up the odd thing or to gain some inspiration and ideas. In fact, if you buy it and decide it isn’t for you, there is a 30 day money back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose by purchasing it. Definitely one for the virtual bookshelf.

Problogger’s Guide To Blogging For Your Business, written by Mark Hayward.

Something of interest 11/28/2011 (a.m.)

2011-11-28T08:31:15Z

5 Social Networking Mistakes To Avoid | Write NonFiction in November

tags: ifttt delicious networking wkh facebook publishing marketing blogging via:zite Writing

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Using Google for Article Ideas

2011-11-26T18:29:59Z

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.

Believe it or not, if you’re looking for a random idea generator in which you have a little bit of say in the results, you probably have it right there in your web browser. Google recently implemented an auto-complete function, by which as you start typing into the search box it will try to predict what your search term will be. That may or may not suit you as far as searching on the internet is concerned, but it can be pretty handy for a writer bereft of inspiration. Just start typing a phrase into the box, and see what happens.

Use Google's autocomplete to help you generate ideas

In the search shown here, for example, I entered “authors don’t”, and I can use the suggestions from Google to spark off some articles, such as:

How to earn money from writing books
10 self-promotion tactics for the shy freelance writer
Is an author the same as a writer?
6 reasons that writers need to read all the time

Try this out with a phrase of your own, and let me know how you get on.