Richard Machin
efffective writing: techniques and technologyView all articles by Richard
Richard's latest writings
Last Minute Errors
The July issue of rewrite discusses electronic publishing and e-readers, and this brought to mind how the electronic word enables authors to stay in touch' with their work after it's initially published. The idea of successive editions of a work is a legacy of the printed book; now, writers have much more granular control over changes and enhancements to texts that can be readily re-published, lately to electronic readers (e-readers)... (posted by Richard 1 year 332 days ago.)
The July issue of rewrite discusses electronic publishing and e-readers, and this brought to mind how the electronic word enables authors to stay in touch' with their work after it's initially published. The idea of successive editions of a work is a legacy of the printed book; now, writers have much more granular control over changes and enhancements to texts that can be readily re-published, lately to electronic readers (e-readers)... (posted by Richard 1 year 332 days ago.)
Putting the ‘Corp’ in Corporate Communications
The latest Apple commercials are great examples of a company that places itself and its reputation at the center of its communications. They present themselves and their chief competitor, Microsoft, literally as people. The Apple person is likeable and the sort of person you might want to hang out with; friendly, confident, cool and relaxed. The Microsoft person is less impressive. He's nervous, defensive... (posted by Richard 2 years 130 days ago.)
The latest Apple commercials are great examples of a company that places itself and its reputation at the center of its communications. They present themselves and their chief competitor, Microsoft, literally as people. The Apple person is likeable and the sort of person you might want to hang out with; friendly, confident, cool and relaxed. The Microsoft person is less impressive. He's nervous, defensive... (posted by Richard 2 years 130 days ago.)
Estimating Short Projects
Estimating writing projects can be tough. It's not like you're being asked to build something concrete, easily described, and readily evaluated like oh, a house brick. You're creating an experience, often for multiple reviewers, that must somehow coincide with or better yet exceed your reviewers' expectations. Like any tough task, it helps to break it down before hitting send' on your estimate. An estimate is really a... (posted by Richard 2 years 142 days ago.)
Estimating writing projects can be tough. It's not like you're being asked to build something concrete, easily described, and readily evaluated like oh, a house brick. You're creating an experience, often for multiple reviewers, that must somehow coincide with or better yet exceed your reviewers' expectations. Like any tough task, it helps to break it down before hitting send' on your estimate. An estimate is really a... (posted by Richard 2 years 142 days ago.)
Writing: a Process of Creation or Exclusion?
What we call a poem is mostly what is not there on the page. The strength of any poem is the poems that it has managed to exclude. -- Harold Bloom, literary critic and theorist Create It's a familiar feeling, the one you get when you stare at a blank page trying to figure out the best way to start writing. All that potential offered by the lack of writing thats already there can be... (posted by Richard 2 years 146 days ago.)
What we call a poem is mostly what is not there on the page. The strength of any poem is the poems that it has managed to exclude. -- Harold Bloom, literary critic and theorist Create It's a familiar feeling, the one you get when you stare at a blank page trying to figure out the best way to start writing. All that potential offered by the lack of writing thats already there can be... (posted by Richard 2 years 146 days ago.)
Product Information: Inconvenient Truths
Anyone who's gone online to find the answer to a question like "Why does my new mouse not work?" will be familiar with forums full of people who prefer not to read instruction manuals. Particularly, perhaps, when those manuals come on a CD and require you to install additional software just to read them. People have more or less specific questions, and thanks to internet search they can usually find someone who... (posted by Richard 2 years 148 days ago.)
Anyone who's gone online to find the answer to a question like "Why does my new mouse not work?" will be familiar with forums full of people who prefer not to read instruction manuals. Particularly, perhaps, when those manuals come on a CD and require you to install additional software just to read them. People have more or less specific questions, and thanks to internet search they can usually find someone who... (posted by Richard 2 years 148 days ago.)
Single Sourcing and the Naming of Parts
The realization that information of all kinds is an asset isn't new but it's certainly gained popularity of late, perhaps because the tools to store, manage, and manipulate information are more readily available. It's easier than ever before to manage what we call content', that is to say information that we decide may be useful to us or to our consumers. So now we can store all our help documentation, designs... (posted by Richard 2 years 150 days ago.)
The realization that information of all kinds is an asset isn't new but it's certainly gained popularity of late, perhaps because the tools to store, manage, and manipulate information are more readily available. It's easier than ever before to manage what we call content', that is to say information that we decide may be useful to us or to our consumers. So now we can store all our help documentation, designs... (posted by Richard 2 years 150 days ago.)
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