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Writing for the Web
In Salon.com, Laura Miller joins the growing discussion over where to put the links: The hyperlink war. Excerpt:Because I cover the antediluvian communication technology known as the book, I rarely get mixed up in the ongoing, pundit-driven conversation about the Nature of the Internet. Actually, "conversation" hardly seems the right...
A colleague sent me the link to an interesting post that disapproves (sort of) of links: Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Experiments in delinkification. Excerpt:Links are wonderful conveniences, as we all know (from clicking on them compulsively day in and day out). But they're also distractions. Sometimes, they're big distractions...
The revolution will be tweeted
Via The Globe and Mail, a fascinating report from Mark MacKinnon: Twitter’s role in Bangkok conflict unprecedented. Excerpt:Never before has a social media website played the kind of role in a conflict that Twitter has played in Thailand's nine-week-old anti-government uprising, keeping people informed even as it amplified the hate...
Creating effective content for corporate sites
This past weekend I attended LabourTech 2010 in Windsor, Ontario. It's a yearly meeting of people who create, maintain, and provide content for labour-union websites. It was a lot of fun, as it was when I attended the 2008 conference in Toronto. But it also reminded me of the problems...
Here is the Hampshire College Web Writing Style Guide. I've also put a link to it in the Webwriting Resources list. It seems sensible and concise, and I hope you find it useful....
Webwriting style: AP vs. Yahoo?
Via EcontentMag.com, a looming conflict between AP Style and the impending Yahoo Style Guide: New Rules for Web Writing? Excerpt:Organizations that want to use one guide may prefer AP due to its traditional nature and familiar style. Benjamin Roosien, an editorial professional with Michigan State University's WIDE program, said that...
Will Write For Food
Food writing doesn’t pay the bills. I hope this isn’t news to you. Sure, a few people are employed full time to write about food. Did you notice the key word? Few. To make ends meet, the rest of us self-employed types take other jobs: cooking classes, private cheffing and catering,...
Crazy for Produce, from Dad to Daughter
On Father’s Day yesterday, I thought about my dad, a food-obsessed poet and songwriter who loved produce more than anyone I’ve known. It sounds funny to say that he was obsessed with produce. But my dad lived for it. He grew vegetables in our Vancouver back yard, specializing in a Chinese...
Writing Contest: Similes Make Food Writing Fun
It’s been a while since I’ve held a food writing contest on this blog, so I thought I’d blast out another one, just for fun. This time, let’s have a simile writing contest. Similes are comparisons that starts with “like” or “as,” for comparing two unlike things. Why would you want...
An Artist and Her Process: No Words Necessary
Last week I walked around a San Francisco art gallery with an artist friend. An abstract painter, Kimetha had a solo show of small oils on wood. As I admired her images, I thought about how different we were as painter and writer. As a word person, I immediately reached for...
Are Blog Giveaways a Good Idea?
I’m still deciding on whether giveaways are right for my blog about food writing. On one hand, giveaways (mine are almost always books) drive traffic to my blog and bring page views to the site. Both those things are valuable. And I like to give a reader recognition and appreciation. It’s...
7 More Most Common Recipe Writing Errors
People get worked up about recipe writing on this blog, me included. It used to be that my posts on taking freebies got the most responses, but now my “Most Popular” list (on the right) is mostly about recipes. So excuse me for pandering to the crowd, but I spent all...
Confident Writing
The Case of the Disappearing Sidebars
I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for just the right way to organise my sidebars. Just the right combination of words and images. Just the right level of detail. Just the right blend of what falls on the left hand side, and what falls on the right....
All That Has Never Been Spoken
I believe in all that has never yet been spoken. I want to free what waits within me so that what no one has dared to wish for may for once spring clear without my contriving. If this is arrogant, God, forgive me, but this is what I need to...
Mmmmm, space to stretch, read, think, sleep, walk… and write. I’m away this week at the June Writing Retreat. Wish you were there? All I can do is wish you space, this week, to write PS And remind you about the group writing project: Can Writing Keep Us Well? No...
Okay, so it’s a cheat headline. Blogging hasn’t made me rich, not if you’re talking dollars, or good old fashioned pounds, shillings and pence. If you’re talking dollars, or good old fashioned pounds, shillings and pence I’d say blogging has probably cost me money, rather making me any. But still, I feel rich. I...
Can Writing Keep Us Well? Group Writing Project
It is a while… more than a while… since I last ran a group writing project, and I thought it might be interesting to run one over the early summer. Fishing around in my mind for topics that we haven’t already covered, I thought about one that is of particular interest...
The Only People for Me are the Mad Ones
The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding...
Get Paid to Write Online
The Get Paid To Write Mega Link Love Fest 2010
Would you believe it’s been nearly three years since my last writing link love fest? Nor could I, but the evidence is there. This is something I always plan to do more often, but I never seem to get around to it. The posts listed here are posts I’ve shared...
Pep Talks, Procrastination, and Gratitude
I gave myself a pep talk this morning. I need it and it seems to have worked. I went to bed last night feeling sorry for myself. I’m in renovation mode at home so things are a mess and we’re suddenly dealing with potentially expensive repairs. I’ve had two sick...
GhostBlogging – 5 Tips to Help You Be A Great Ghostblogger for Your Clients
Ghostblogging is a great way to get paid to write. As I’ve said before, blogging is how I got my own start in freelance writing and a good portion of my income today comes from blog writing, posting, and the marketing of client’s blogs. People and companies pay writers to...
Getting Started In Blogging – Now On Kindle!
Getting Started in Blogging is now available in a Kindle edition. I decided to try Amazon’s Digital Text Platform using the excellent advice in this post from George Angus. The steps are just as George outlines, making it an easy way to publish your book. There were a couple of things...
What Should Online Professionals Do When Someone Ticks Them Off?
For every action there is a reaction and your reactions will impact your professional life. One of the benefits of working from home is the lack of dealing with a huge amount of office politics. But, (sadly) this doesn’t mean you’ll never have to deal with people acting like idiots...
Self Promo for Freelance Writers – More Tips and Analysis Advice
We’ve talked in the past about marketing and how important it is to your freelance writing biz. By marketing on an ongoing basis, you might not have to suffer from work shortages and won’t have to pound the pavement constantly looking to schedule in your next gig. The work can...
Suite101: Writing & Publishing Articles
A Basic Guide to Keywords and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
When writing online articles and creating web pages, it can be difficult driving viewers towards them. SEO can help increase site traffic....
How to Write a Blog Without Breaking the Law
Know how to write a blog and know how to share ideas with the world - as long as blogging legal issues are kept in mind. Learn how to blog legally....
How to Zoom in and out of Setting in Fiction
Writers can change how they focus on details in their fiction in order to establish different moods and affect the story in different ways....
2010 Marketing Campaigns from the UK's Radio Advertising Bureau
The British radio industry's promotion of digital radio useage in the country includes the offering of a Radio Amnesty for old analogue sets...
Writing Grant Proposal Cover Letters Tips and Tricks
Grant proposal cover letters should be brief and follow a specified format, with the purpose of peaking the reader's interest to read the full proposal....
Tips for Promoting a Fiction eBook
Writers working for an eBook company need to find creative ways to advertise their fiction....
Published and Profitable Writers Tips Blog
What can you do in 6 days to bring your book closer to publication?
Published & Profitable June end-of-month book coaching call The theme of June's End-of-month coaching call, Published & Profitable members and friends will be discussing the progress they've made on their book during June, their writing plans for July, and--most important--what everyone can do to make significant progress on their book during...
45 Incredibly Useful Web Design Checklists & Questionnaires
Bonus marketing and promoting tip for authors You can learn a lot from Smashing Magazine's 45 Incredibly Useful Web Design Checklists and Questionnaires, even if you're designing websites for yourself, instead of for your clients. By following the links included in this post, you'll be taken to dozens of quality websites by...
Online marketing tip - increase e-course sign-ups with PDFs
Wednesday's promoting tip for authors To increase e-course sign-ups, offer your website visitors a free download of your course syllabus, like Alyson Stanfield is doing for her Cultivating Collectors e-course that begins today. Alyson is an excellent example of an author and coach that has identified her niche and leveraged her expertise...
Writing tips for readers in a hurry
Tuesday's writing tip for authors Writing books and proposals has a lot in common with writing captions to appear next to a magazine's online subscription form; in both cases, your message has to be easily read by readers in a hurry. Which is why I'm impressed by the writing tips shown by...
Tips for Managing Content & Multiple Writing Projects with Dashboards
Bonus Tuesday writing tip Authors, entrepreneurs, and marketing professionals struggling with information overload and multiple writing projects are invited to check-out my 4-part Managing Content with a Dashboard series on the Mindjet blog: appeared last week, Part 4, Writing with a Content Dashboard. Previous installments in the series include: Part 1: Why Do...
Discover your personal brand before you plan & write a book
Monday's planning tip for authors Your personal brand should be reflected by the book you plan to write; ideally, the title of your book will become the "shorthand" by which you're known. To do this right, of course, you have to discover your personal brand. Last week, I discovered a great post...
Word Strumpet
Monday evening, I got sick. It had started with cold symptoms earlier that day. After dinner, I started feeling achy all over and soon I was passed out on the couch, in the full throes of a fever. Not such......
Giving Up, Or Why I Should Once In Awhile
Friday I hit the wall. As is my usual wont, I woke early (6ish), grabbed my coffee, and went to work on my writing. Lately I've been thinking deep thoughts about my novel rewrite and writing them down, which leads......
Friday Mini-Critique: Jessica Baverstock
And for the next victim person who has volunteered to have her work critiqued, welcome Jessica Baverstock. You may remember Jessica from her wonderful guest post here a few weeks ago, or you may know her from reading her great......
How we spend our days, is, of course, how we spend our lives. Annie Dillard So, I'm working on the rewrite of my novel. And one of the things I am attempting to do is deepen the secondary characters. To......
I forgot to tell you guys--I have a guest post up at my friend Linda Busby Parker's blog. She's familiar to regular readers because she's guest posted here several times. Read a bit about her trip to Europe, too. Here's......
Becoming A Writer - Seriously
The Effortless Journal - For serious journal keepers with little time
A remarkable new software for the Mac has hit the market. It’s called Chronories. It promises to automatically keep your daily journal, recording the day’s weather, news headlines, your online activity — and even your mood, if you have the energy to click a button. The software even allows you...
Finally, PDF Converter for Mac
AnyBizSoft is releasing today, June 17, its new software PDF Converter for the Mac. It looks impressive to me, though I cannot myself evaluate it as I don’t have a Mac. However, I can vouch for one of the the PC versions of this software, which works just fine for...
Two Resources To Help You Promote Your Book And Career NOW
If you are preparing to promote a new book and your career, here are a couple of very timely resources that might really help you. SOCIAL NETWORKING Dana Lynn Smith, the Savvy Book Marketer, will be offering an important teleseminar on 22 June: Social Networking Success for Authors. Participants must register in...
FREE: PDF to Word Converter 3.0 - Just visit the developer's Facebook Page and "Like" it
Because writers often must work with PDF files, I’m passing along this announcement from software developer Ricky Wong: We have launched a large-scale giveaway promotion today, that is free giving away our Latest 3.0.0 version of PDF to Word Converter on AnyBizSoft’s Facebook page. Anyone who click Like button to become our fan can get a free license, which worths $29.95. So we invite you to evaluate our software and share the news to your readers. Product Page: http://www.anypdftools.com/pdf-to-word.html Promotion Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/AnyBizSoft Not a bad deal in my book. Related Posts...
Early Alert: Adobe and DNAML Are Preparing New Software For E-Book Publishing
Widely-known Adobe and lesser-known DNAML have recently announced that work is well underway for brand-new approaches to e-publishing. These efforts are worth watching as they promise to open up new routes to publication by writers. Just this week, Adobe announced that it is upgrading its industry-leading InDesign software to facilitate publication...
Image via CrunchBase Over the past few weeks, I’ve been looking into the many different routes a writer might take to creating a presence on the internet, with particular interest in the evolving tools to create websites and blogs. It is astonishing to me how this area has developed so very...
Remarkable Communication
The Spooky Secret to Designing Your Perfect Business
Recently on the Remarkable Marketing Blueprint* forum, some folks were saying nice things about the space I’d created. And I have to admit — I love it there. The members are generous and supportive, everyone is working their tails off and making progress like crazy. It’s exhilarating and warm and...
I recently got an email from someone whose comments aren’t going through on that other blog I write for. I let him know that the spam plugin Akismet was probably snagging them, and he responded to let me know that was a “piss poor” answer. Apparently I should dig through the...
How to Get Rich and Crazy on the Internet
Remember in the old cartoons, when Bugs Bunny fell off a 907-story building and then emerged shaking his head with a funny little rattle? That’s kind of what I feel like. So yes, I am still alive! I want to let you guys know a) all the insanity I’ve been...
How To Write For Regular Readers
Yes, it’s a guest post! My friend and all-around wise dude Charlie Gilkey graciously offered me this guest post as a way to rouse Remarkable Communication gently from its slumber. This is the second part of the How To Blog Like Shakespeare series from Charlie Gilkey. Check out How To Write...
I’ve been spending more time lately teaching folks who are new to marketing, and I’m finding it really fascinating. The same themes come up again and again. These are people who had an interesting idea for a product to sell or a service to market, but they run up against a...
How to Get Any Work Done (When Connecting Is Your Job)
If you’re doing any social media marketing at all, you know the drill. It’s all about showing up. Being your authentic self. Showing that you’re a trustworthy human being, making a connection, reaching out one-to-one. The cornerstone idea of this blog is that if you can create more remarkable relationships with...
Founders' Blog
Orbino Padova - A Luxury iPad Case
I can understand why some writers prefer the nostalgic look and a milieu that smells of leather and stogies. It’s distinguishing in this day and age. And while I won’t recommend you take up cigar smoking, I will suggest you take a look at the new Orbino Padova Case to...
Encourage your writer-friend to get out of the house and write amongst the living - let life be their inspiration. Their next great character could come from the bald guy with the red glasses who sits in the same spot everyday and makes those weird grinding noises with his teeth...
I’m not endorsing this product or concept for writers, but I can’t help but admire ingenuity and technology. You’ve heard of computers inside monitors and even inside automobile dashboards, however Asus has built a computer around a keyboard. The Asus Eee Keyboard is actually a netbook built inside a full...
Penzu - Keep a Journal in the Cloud
If you keep a paper journal you may want to consider the benefits of writing "in-the-cloud" with Penzu. At penzu.com you’ll find a secure place to litter your brain droppings. We’re all familiar with a day-to-day diary/journaling - It rained all day so I stayed indoors yada yada yada… But...
Typing Champion Crowned - 163 WPM!
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iVisor AG - Matte Screen for Glossy Macs
I’m not a fan of the latest trend toward glossy laptop displays. Computer manufactures have adopted the glossy screen because it enhances the look of pictures and videos which appeals to your average consumer. For writers and heavy text users…not so much! Like most writers who stare at a computer...
How Not To Write
"Outlining is an important part of writing, but no one ever buys anything off the NYT Bestselling Outlines list." ~ Me A question from writer Mike Cummings spawned the little quip above. After thinking about it for quite a bit, this afternoon I figured I ought to back it up...
No matter what you should be doing, an excuse will smooth over almost any problem. Even a bad excuse will generally get you out of trouble. Having no excuse at all is looked upon as just being lazy. If you use an excuse enough, you stop looking for reasons to...
The Needs of Clowns and Writers
I've never known a writer not to be needy in some way. It comes with the territory really. If you have so many ideas or dialogue or just old-fashioned words in your head that you feel compelled to put them down on paper and share them with the world, you...
An interesting title, seeing as I haven't posted here in a long while. It's a melancholy thing, but the reason is simple: I'm not practicing. Notice how I haven't blamed any one of a host of issues. I won't even bother to list them, because listing them invites them...
blub blub blub... The only thing I really have to whine about is being fat, and that's my own damn fault too. As we work through this craziness of writing, we all struggle with the same problems. It might happen at different times or in a different order. We...
The Morning Before You Didn't Write
The morning before you didn't write is a morning filled with promise. You are not writing just yet. You are sitting somewhere, in a cafe or maybe just lying in bed staring at the ceiling thinking that it will be just fine if you lay there for ten minutes more...
Wordful
The Real Secret of RSS Reading
Here’s the secret: if you change RSS to mean “Reading Simplified for Success” you can effectively use it to steer your success. A bit odd, I know, but consider the wisdom that says “you become the people you surround yourself with” or “if you want to be successful, surround yourself...
11 Unconventional Reasons to Motivate Your Writing
Does writing come natural to you or do you make clichéd excuses and watered-down reasons why you’re not doing it everyday? For this post, let’s throw your writing a curveball. Here are some not-so-typical reasons why it’s worth the daily discipline and persistence: Producing feels better than consuming. Writing is an...
Is Facebook Trying to Become a Content Network?
Are you also seeing this message on your Facebook account?: Apply to be a beta tester and get the first look at upcoming Facebook products. After clicking through, you’re presented with a page titled “Help us build the future of Facebook.” There’s some description about the “launch of a brand...
It doesn’t take much to see how shamefully little I’ve been posting here, and I want to address this because I feel many of us suffer from the same blog starvation-atrophy affliction. Here’s the problem: we still think we’re in college English class. Yes, that one: dialectic thesis statements, multiple drafts, red ink editing,...
Make Money Online by John Chow Book Review
John Chow is one of the very few people I have high respect for in the make money online niche. So it should come as no surprise that I’m here to offer you Wordful’s official review of his new book Make Money Online: Roadmap of a dot com mogul (affiliate...
Make Money Online by John Chow Book Review
John Chow is one of the very few people I have high respect for in the make money online niche. So it should come as no surprise that I’m here to offer you Wordful’s official review of his new book Make Money Online: Roadmap of a dot com mogul (affiliate...
Writing Forward
The sun brightens a clear, blue sky as the aroma from a nearby barbecue makes your mouth water. In the distance, you hear children splashing in the water and squealing with delight. You sip an ice-cold lemonade and contemplate life while digging your toes into the sandy beach. Of all the...
Writing Resources: The Elements of Style
Writing resources are easy to come by. But good writing resources, ones that will truly help you improve your writing, can be difficult to scout out among the many books on writing that are available. Originally published in 1959, The Elements of Style has been a fixture among writers who want...
Creative Nonfiction: Biography
Creative nonfiction writing is arguably the most difficult genre for writers. It may be the easiest to break into because there’s a high demand (memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies are big sellers), but in addition to being engaging, the work must be accurate and well-researched. Writing a biography is an enormous undertaking...
It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to April and National Poetry Month. Remember though, that poems should be celebrated all year long, so please keep reading and writing poetry. May is a month in which we have much to celebrate – summer is just around the corner. Here...
Pantoum Poetry Writing Exercises
Writing exercises are ideal for building wordcrafting muscles. Just like musicians practice and athletes train, so must writers stretch their voices and work out their vocabularies. Poetry writing exercises are some of the best tools for building writerly strengths. Poetry is a condensed form of writing that focuses heavily on word...
Today I want to share one of my favorite types of poems: the pantoum, which is a lesser-known poetic form that never achieved the popularity of a sonnet or haiku. I first discovered this form in a poetry workshop where the instructor had us compose a pantoum in a group. That...
What Kate Did Next
Is there anything more relaxing than being read to? Maybe audio tapes and radio plays take you back to your childhood - to times when you lost track of the hours, dozing on cushions in a corner of the library, rain beating on the dark window as the...
MesaimeerExpectations and first impressions sometimes don't marry up. I worked in the Middle East art market for five years, so had a fairly good idea of what to look forward to. But, my Middle East is the places I've explored and loved: the Alhambra, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, a friend's...
If you've ever wondered 'what does it feel like to have your debut novel announced at the London Book Fair ..?' it feels a lot like today's video clip.Words can't quite do it justice :)http://www.thebookseller.co.uk/news/116998-dbut-novel-to-corvus.html...
We made it ...the books and manuscripts made it ...... and WKDN survived! Thanks to everyone for your lovely messages. How are you all? Blogger popped up in Arabic the first time I tried to post, (I plan to learn Arabic but that was a tad challenging...
Not Drowning, Waving (Goodbye?)
Taken on the flight deck by the pilot - beyond the clouds everything is in perspective.How are you all? Thank you for all your lovely emails and comments - sorry I haven't been able to respond in person as usual. We're a few short days away from leaving home, and...
A few of you have asked for news of the Hound as we move to Qatar. As she has played such an integral part in WKDN I thought she deserved her own post. Improbably Afghans are banned in Qatar. (The other dogs banned are pit bulls, mastiffs...
English Study Materials
Dictionarist: Online Talking Dictionary
Dictionarist is an online multi-lingual dictionary that not only gives you definitions of English words and phrases but also translates them into 12 other languages. You can also use the dictionary to translate between various other languages besides English and learn how to pronounce the words by... [This is a content...
At Old Radio World, English learners will have the chance to listen to some of the most popular radio programs that were broadcast in America in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. According to webmaster Brandon L. Tran, the site currently has 1000's of these old time radio (OTR) shows, all...
ESL Monkeys is a great ESL resource site, offering an extensive collection of quality materials for ESL teaching and learning. Among the resources available, ESL teachers will appreciate the free photocopiable lesson plans prepared for different groups of learners, while students will benefit from... [This is a content preview only. Visit...
ESL Worksheets and Writing Handouts from the Writing Center at Indiana State University
The Writing Center at Indiana State University provides a great collection of ready-to-use ESL worksheets and writing handouts, all freely downloadable from its website. Covering important points of English grammar and writing, these resources are useful not only to ESL students but also to ESL... [This is a content preview only....
John Wong's Interactive Online Grammar Quizzes
This collection of interactive English grammar quizzes, written by John Wong for students of City University of Hong Kong, is useful for ESL learners who wish to test their knowledge of English grammar. Free to access and easy to use, those quizzes focus on areas of English grammar where non-native... [This...
LookWAYup: Online Dictionary/Thesaurus with Spelling Correction
LookWAYup is an online English dictionary that contains a built-in thesaurus and allows multilingual translation to and from five other languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Dutch). Free and easy to use, the dictionary incorporates a vocabulary builder and can be integrated into web... [This is a content preview only. Visit...