Good writers writing well

One of life's pleasures is reading well written articles in newspapers and magazines. I really enjoy dipping into the local print media of wherever I am when I travel. 

Famous for its diet of parochial, sensational news served up by the likes of Fox and CNN, the USA is also home to some really wonderful publications. I LOVE the New York Times (and am happy to admit that I might be influenced by the fact that it comes from one of my favourite places in the world). Why do I love it? Mainly for its tone and use of language. 

I also love the diverse range of publications on the newsstand in this country. I tripped over Mother Jones while in Washington and was blown away by the quality of the writing and the ideas and issues tackled. Their claim on the cover of producing 'smart, fearless journalism' is confirmed as you flick through the formidable table of contents (March and April issue: articles about the why the US food system is rotten, Obama, the environment and the economy, adoption, inside forgotten psychiatric hospitals, and more)  and for the low low price of $5.95.

April 26, 2009 | Posted in Writing

Age shall not weary

I love Helen Thomas. She's an 88-year-old who is still working at the White House press pool as a reporter, who is not afraid to criticise the administration, the mainstream media and the journalists working for it, and says she has always planned to die in her boots. I found an interview by John Greenya in the free Washington Flyer that contained a few exquisite quotes:

"The more we know the better off we are. An informed people is very important to democracy - and we might be able to prevent some bloodshed."

"The day Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself."

"...So many presidents do not rise to the people's expectations, because to be president is top of the mark - ain't no other place to go..."

April 22, 2009 | Posted in Writing

Worth reading

There is a lot of discussion and speculation about contemporary society's apparent addiction to recording every aspect of it's waking hour, whether it be in 140-character grabs, via cameras on hats, in blogs or collages of images uploaded onto flickr.com etc.

In an article in USA Today on 15 April The popularity of Twitter has some relationships in a twist, the author suggested that we are forgetting how to interact personally, choosing instead to present ourselves via abbreviated virtual packages. She also described a few absurd situations, such as one man's experience in which his dinner date complained about the chicken via Twitter, not bothering to tell him personally, then proceeded to have a heated exchange with her ex-husband via SMS. A second date did not eventuate.

I spent this morning sitting in a conference about Museums and the Web in Indianapolis and watched with a Twitterfall with interest, as contributors tweeted (sometimes inanely) about attending the conference. I know, I know, the tweeting was not really intended for the people in the room, but it was a bit distracting and detracted from the really interesting stuff the plenary speaker had to share.

Not sure, unless you are a great thinker or famous or newsworthy person, how interesting all these tweets can be.

April 14, 2009 | Posted in Writing

Writing for the web

For years I have been hearing the catchcry 'content is king' but content continues to be an afterthought with many clients. A sign that content is starting to be considered is the appearance of professional development workshops and courses that help those new to the art to understand how writing for the web differs to other media. I am still waiting for a course to come along that will engage content experts who want to know more, but it's a start.

Here is a course that is coming up - this is not an endorsement, but I am all for the improvement of online content. Please consider:

Managing your online content
22-24 April, Sydney

March 10, 2009 | Posted in Webby stuff Posted in Writing

Talking about writing well

I was recently invited to go to Mildura to talk about effective writing - specifically about putting together a submission for the local business awards program. As I planned my presentation I realised how difficult it is to generalise about what is ‘good’ writing. And teach it - I have never attended a writing course that taught me much (especially those courses that claim to be able to set you up as a writer for the web in one quick session).
Of course, good writing appeals to its intended audience, tells them something, and perhaps converts, reminds, seduces, pleases, displeases, illuminates or causes some such altered state.

Anyway, I worried about explaining apostrophes (handy tip or overkill?), couldn’t resist condemning the contemporary (marketing/SMS-ing) trend towards over-use of punctuation and capped letters and included some points about style and process. The local business owners were an appreciative audience and if their note-taking was any indication I might have shared something useful.

Or perhaps they were busy writing a ‘to do’ list for the rest of the week!

April 27, 2008 | Posted in Writing