Mashable.com’s Josh Catone clearly practices what he preaches when he writes the “5 Rules for Better Web Writing.”
Are you curious how our writer did on her writer’s block problem? Yesterday, I posted a blog entry on a writer (whom I’ll call “Jay”) facing writer’s block and impending deadlines.
Today, I checked in with Jay and learned the first draft went out to a first reviewer, at a whoppin’ 1,300 word count! Yeah, I’d say the block was broken.
jay's mindmap
“I was overwhelmed on what was important and where to start. During our session, I was able to spit out a lot of topics and then organize afterwards…By seeing the topics in front of me instead of floating around in my head…it made it easier to focus and prioritize the information.”
So, stay tuned for a follow-up post on Jay’s final production piece, as the deadline to production approaches.
A fellow writer just mentioned getting stuck in writer’s block. It happens to all of us. So, I spent 10 minutes helping the writer (whom I’ll call “Jay”) overcome writer’s block. How?
I had Jay list the obstacles on sticky notes. “What is keeping me from crossing that divide between here and the finished product?”
why Jay's stuck
Once Jay saw them written, he/she either (a) knew that it was real and had a plan to overcome it or (b) realized it wasn’t a real obstacle after all.
With that out of the way, I had Jay mindmap the written project. In ten minutes, we had an outline of four key points and the four solutions, an intro, and an ending.
Jay had been stuck on the headline. So we put “headline” as a mindmap topic and left it blank for now.
I’ll write a follow-up post on Jay’s progress in a few days. Stay tuned.
A new school year starts this month for many school districts. That prompts me to write a blog entry on “Top 10 Things that Teachers Want” in their classrooms. 
This is timely, considering the state of our education budgets, increased class sizes, and the growing challenge of students arriving ill-equipped by cash-strapped parents.
So teachers, if ten parents walked up to you and asked what they could contribute to your classroom, how would you answer that? What’s on your shopping list?
Your answers could range from the basics (paper, pencils, etc.) to the pie-in-the-sky (laptop, SmartBoard).
Please use the comments to reply.
geewhiz was taught to play nicely.
Do you facilitate training or brainstorming meetings? Read the ten groundrules for participants, and see how the simple geewhizkid brain translated them into three rules for preschoolers.
(simplified on vspblog.com)
I am not an athlete. I’m a nerd. In elementary school, I failed the President’s Physical Fitness Test. In high school, the most time I spent on a court or field was in the stands, playing with the pep band. In my job as a technical communicator at VSP, the heaviest lifting I do involves right-clicking …
Thus, blending a bit of my work with my personal story on health and wellness with my passion for writing, I encourage you to read my post on vspblog.com: “Get with the program.”
A redesigned VSP blog went live this past week with an intro by Liz B and a first blog entry by Vernon D. Liz is the group blog editor and Vernon is one of several guest bloggers from VSP.
All past blog entries from Rob Lynch are still there of course, but going forward, you can expect fresh, timely, relevant blog entries about eyecare and eye health, vision trends and news, the company and its people, and more.
The WordPress theme displays a three-column page design that is already packed with content. Continue reading
(updated 6/2009 with new link to Grammar Girl’s podcast)
Have you noticed how complicated the world can be? Tired of reading legalese? Confused by complex tools crammed with complicated directions to confound you and stake claim to your cranium?
It’s time to do your part. Learn to simplify what others read. Think Readability. Simplicity. Clarity.
Start with Grammar Girl’s post of Adam Friedman’s “Simplify Your Writing.” As author of “The Party of the First Part”, he knows the topic. (And, I just love Mignon Fogarty’s podcasts!)
A banner from the American Diabetes Association says “every 21 seconds, someone is diagnosed with diabetes.”
Across America, cyclists are riding in 40 regional Tour de Cure events.
The Tour de Cure is a series of fund-raising cycling events held in 40 states nationwide to benefit the American Diabetes Association.
Braving the early morning chill and the late morning downpour in Sacramento, 30 of my friends and coworkers Continue reading
Incredible finishes at the Tour de France often stimulate new bicycle sales.
Olympic medal performances often inspire youth movements into local recreational swimming, gymnastics, and sports programs.
So, let the Amgen Tour of California inspire you to Continue reading
While I went away to exert all my energy to “An Evening in December,” I discovered Facebook addiction.
Facebook helped some of our cast members form an online community where we posted photos, lists, and discussions. One of our cast members, a foreign exchange student, returned to her country, but remains connected to her host family and friends by Facebook. In addition, Facebook has helped me reconnect with former team members and long-lost friends from the past. During the Presidential Inauguration ceremonies, Facebook’s server activity was incredible as eye-witnesses recorded their thoughts during that moment of “where were you when…?”
Of course, there are countless diversions in Facebook: applications and cute things to send to friends to let them know how much you care, causes you can support, groups you can join. Like anything, if you’re not careful and manage your time, you can waste hours on Facebook.
But the killer networking features of Facebook allow you to participate in informative applications that continue to connect your community of friends. For example, I chose to participate in writing “25 Random Things About Me.” My friends then discover facts, trivia, and thoughts about me, and Facebook makes it easy to encourage others to write theirs.
If you’re my Facebook friend, you’ve already seen this. If you’re not on Facebook, here again are…
1. I do little things to annoy my kids, intentionally. Hey, it’s only fair!
2. I still wonder how my mom and dad raised a huge family before the days of a Costco/Price Club/Sam’s Club/big box store.
3. I played clarinet from 4th grade through high school.
4. Once. At band camp. When I was still a skinny, nerdy freshman, I won a drill-down against the 120-member JFK Cougar marching band.
5. I have seen every episode of the original Star Trek, and can recite the most esoteric lines: “brain and brain, what is brain?” but I can’t remember what my wife asked me to do an hour ago.
6. I can recite pi to 17 decimal places, but my wife won’t let me touch the checkbook. She’s right.
Continue reading
GeeWhiz goes on a one-week hiatus, to focus 100% on my other passion: Broadway musicals. As a cast member of An Evening in December, I’ll be singing, dancing, and “acting” in 7 performances of a Christmas musical that will play before an audience of 7,000. Continue reading
"geeWHIZ" 