I’m going to experiment with some new podcasts, but I want to try something different. The other day I was listening to Boagworld on the way to work, because I think Paul Boag is one of the most successful and longstanding podcasters. He starts out with some playful cohost banter, followed by a few news Continue Reading »
Tag Archives: writing
Incorporating Elements of Speech into Writing
As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m making my way through Peter Elbow’s Vernacular Eloquence: What Speech Can Bring to Writing. Elbow’s wants to infuse techniques from speech into writing to improve the quality of writing. I want to infuse elements of speech into video scripts so they sound more like natural speech. The Continue Reading »
Guest Post: Core Skills for Technical Writers Often Overlooked
The following is a guest post by Vinish Garg, Director of Operations in Technical Documentation at vhite systems. When I watched the Master Chef series (Australian version and then Indian version) last year, an important lesson for contestants was to not focus only on extraordinary or most creative dishes. The judges never really looked only for Continue Reading »
Writing as a Holy Calling
Perhaps because of my blog’s title, “I’d Rather Be Writing,” many people think this blog deals with creative writing. As a result, I frequently get asked if I want to review books about writing. Sometimes I say yes. Recently someone sent me A Year of Writing Dangerously: 365 Days of inspiration and Encouragement, by Barbara Continue Reading »
Is Collaborative Authoring Over-Hyped?
If there’s one business buzzword that you hear all over the place, “collaboration” must rank in the top 10. When it comes to technical writing, if we open our arms to collaboration, giving a warm embrace to “collaborative authoring” is only one more little step. It feels so tolerant and embracing to be collaborative. It Continue Reading »
A Life of Its Own: An Essay About an Article That Was Never Published
Last year I worked on a news article that showcased certain technologies at my work. The news article was an assignment, the kickoff of a series of articles. I worked especially hard on it, as it was the first one to introduce the series. I came up with a sensible structure, gathered interesting facts and information, Continue Reading »
A Reverse Approach to Help Authoring: Writing Documentation Post-Release
When I first started as a technical writer, a senior writer taught me how to write documentation. Her approach, which aligns with the traditional way of doing technical writing, generally followed these steps: Get involved as early as you can in the software development process. As soon as prototypes are available, or a functioning development Continue Reading »
A Lifetime of Reading Versus a Lifetime of Writing
This past week I traveled to Florida to help clear out my dad’s house. He recently fell and hit his head, and now he’s in a rehabilitation center while his memory recovers. It may take him months to return to his normal self. When he does, we want him to live closer to my sister Continue Reading »
Writing My Last Chapter
I was talking with my wife’s uncle last week about writing strategies for fiction, and whether it’s better to outline everything ahead of time, or figure it out as you go. The former is apparently called a “plotter” method and the latter a “pantser” method (called pantser because you fly by the seat of your Continue Reading »
Why Is Corporate Blogging So Hard?
I’m not sure entirely why, but corporate blogging can be quite difficult. On my professional blog, I can post several times a week in the spare moments of my days, sitting down for 30 minutes here or an hour there and have some substantial content to show for it. But at work, I can spin Continue Reading »