Category Archives: Writing

Markers and Useful Tools

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No, we will not be talking about the physical marker here that has been used to highlight a page or docment one is reading or has read. We are talking about markers punctuations, words, phrases and other useful things to make your post/article reader friendly. Please note this is not part of a style manual just some random notes and points picked up through the years.

Words/Phrases

The Bible begins with In the Beginning. Some Fairy Tale begin with Once Upon a Time and ends with And They Lived Happily Ever After. There are words and phrases in any language that can be used to: (i) Point out things; (ii) To compare; (iii) Begin and end; (iv) and a a number of other things

Punctuation

A period or a full stop tells the reader when a sentence stop. A punctuation can also tell the reader when a set of words pauses and then continues. It can also tell the reader when things get exciting or quiet.

Bullets/lists

When you enumerate or list things.Bullets if all items on the list are of equal importance. And numbered if there is a sort of ranking. Then again its a matter of style and what is important is that a list focuses the readers attention to a set of fact, information or knowledge.

It can also be used to signal that should be taken when one wants to achieve something. In this instance a numbered list is more effective because it means that it is a step-by-step process.

Quotes

Sometimes things are best said from the source. A quote is a powerful tool. It adds credibility to the story. A quote can build up your story: A quote from President Barak Obama carries more weight than a Chef at a five star restaurant, unless of course the topic is about restaurants.

Bold/Italics/Underline

The format of the word or phrases in an essay, article and even post can if one wants to bring out the word or phrase within the essay. Standing out has its advantages. A term that needs to be defined can be formated to stand out. It could be the name of an author, title of the book, name of a place, and many other things you would want to get notice.

Figures/Images/Vidoes/Audio

Content is king but presentation is Queen. An article or post has to have some value added feature that will help further explain or make interestomg. And sound, image and moving images can do that.

Originally posted on January 24, 2011 @ 10:31 am

Five Blogging Lessons from Julie Powell

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I just finished watching the movie Julie and Julia as recommended by Juned in a previous post here in XFEP. Indeed it was a very inspiring movie – for writers and bloggers. Julie Powell may not be the best blogger in the world, but she definitely excels in one important thing that all of us bloggers should learn to do (if you’re not yet doing it) – talk to our audience when we write blog posts.

Taking the other important things that we can all learn from Julie Powell, here are five blogging lessons that we can learn from Julie Powell from the movie Julie and Julia.

Be Passionate About What You Are Writing

Julie adores and loves Julia Child. She was her hero, icon, semi-god. And like Julia, Julie loves cooking. At some point in the movie, when Julie was talking about blogging she asked her husband what she should write about. Somewhere in their discussion – the niche came out – Julie will cook all the recipes in Julia Powell’s cookbook and blog about it. So she did. Continue reading →

Originally posted on November 9, 2010 @ 7:00 am

Provide a Takeaway

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In each and every article, the smartest thing you can do is provide a takeaway. In stories they are called morals, and in essays, they are the conclusions. Summing up your thoughts and ideas into an easy to digest sentence or two can really help readers take something with them to think about, use and remember.

This is especially important for longer and more detailed articles as the amount of information can make the article difficult to remember for any longer period of time.

Sometimes I use the final area of my posts as the takeaway, others I put into the start. Either way it has to be highlighted in such a way that it sticks in the mind of the reader, or you haven’t done your job.

The takeaway for this post is to always provide a takeaway. It will make you, and your posts more memorable.

Originally posted on May 24, 2010 @ 1:36 pm

What is Your Weapon of Choice?

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What is your most constant set of companions when you write? Would it all be things connected to the digital world? Or do you still have roots to the offline world.

Notebooks – Aside from the desktop computer at home. I keep two notebooks. The first one is a computer laptop. Actually, one of the first netbooks or ultralight computers that came out. The Asus Eee 701. Yes. It is still working and with a set of thumb drives and SD cards this is my mobile communication, mobile blogging device and my ‘typewriter’ when I am far away from home.

Having an ultralight it has its advantages. You can almost carry it anywhere.

Another set of notebook I still carry is a notebook. Quite handy when going from place to place or event to event. A pocket notebook is handy. Start up time is fast and it does not crash.

It is also good for brainstorming, mind webbing, doodling and playing tic-tac-toe.

Dongle, thumb drives and SD cards – The dongle is quite handy when connecting to the Internet where there is diffiultu getting wifi. Believe me there are such places. While thumb drives and SD cards are quite useful in storing data and running applications while at the same time not compromising the performance of the computer notebook.

A digital media player and a set of good headphones – Quite useful if you want to retreat into the coccoon of writing. Partially isolates you from the world and enables you to write under the musical environment of your choice. I prefer a different media player than the one in the notebook.

A camera – For capturing those moments in raw or jpeg or any other format. Most cameras come with video recording features. And this can also come in useful when capturing those precious moments and news worthy events.

A USB Microphone – This is good for podcasting on the road or when outside the house. A USB microphone can isolate sound and deliver quality podcast n terms of sound. But the content is still dependent on you.

A Dictionary – No matter how fast the Internet is. I still find it useful when writing and you need to check a specific detail. One of my favorite books.

A book – Of course something to reade during the free hours and when writer’s block descend.

Pens and pencils – These things are quite useful when scribbling things down and when doodling. I always carry a clutch pencil with me that its own sharpener.

Food and beverages – Most important for a scribbler and writer on the move.

Cash –

Of course as in all things a sense of humor – a self-effacing one is of great also.

What weapons of choice do you have?

Originally posted on October 22, 2010 @ 2:55 am

A Day Job is Not bad

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Do you live soley by blogging or writing material for the Internet? Or are you like mo who still has a day job? Or if not maybe you own a business?

Well if you are … well its not too bad. Whatever happens you still have a way to bring home the bacon so to speak. Often a day job is a blessing for writers. And if one is really luck the job will allow the writer to write the post or article in piece.

The creator of Dilbert Scott Adams was an engineer and worked for Bell Telephone. He actually worked there for years even when he began drawing Dilbert. And left only when he was sort of laid off.

I have known a number of full time bloggers who earn their income from blogging. But I have also known a lot of full time bloggers who earn their money from other things. Some are resellers of Internet Service Providers and Hosting services. Some are also reporters or writers for magazines.

Not all of us can be Stephen King. Who incidentally started out as a High School teacher. But we can write and still afford to live.

Originally posted on November 16, 2010 @ 11:23 am