If the "idea" for your book is deemed a money maker then anything goes when it comes to subject matter it seems. A book about a cow eating grass? Who then ate all the grass and walked away? Apparently so. You could write something boring, or irrelevant, or nothing at all - just a blank set of pages with a coffee stain on them will work fine, if ... Read full entry

Kurt Vonnegut: don't waste your readers precious time writing words that are of no value to them... It may be that you, too, are capable of making necklaces for Cleopatra, so to speak. But your eloquence should be the servant of the ideas in your head. Your rule might be this: If a sentence, no matter how excellent, does not illuminate your subject in some new and useful way, ... Read full entry

Content producers and students take note; less is more when writing 500 word essays. Mind you some of the "nothing word" examples make me cringe... I think my writing has been used as the examples of how NOT to write. :) Say the assignment is college football. Say that you've decided to be against it. Begin by putting down the arguments that come to your mind: it is too commercial, ... Read full entry

It is polite, or at least a thoughtful gesture, to ask the permission of those concerned before publishing the content of private conversations on your blog. I go to a lot of events and I have a lot of conversations and people tell me lots of things that would get them into trouble if I published it. Yet they trust me and trust that I won't burn them but ... Read full entry

A pen is not merely a writing implement, and a great pen should feel like an... extension of your hand. Finding a great pen is not a matter of browsing the pen aisle at Officeworks though, and choosing the first one you like the look of. If that's what you think, then it's time you learnt about Joy Vectors. The way the pen sits in my hand. I should feel I ... Read full entry

In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop Concerns have been raised about the health risks associated with... blogging, following the recent sudden deaths of two prominent bloggers in the US. The pressure to be constantly ahead of the game, while writing for an information hungry global audience that never sleeps, can take its toll according to Michael Arrington of TechCrunch. "I haven't died yet," said Michael Arrington, ... Read full entry

Avoid weasel words Wikipedia offers a few tips for avoiding that bane of the aspiring, and sometimes, established writer: weasel words. There are different variations on weasel wording, with the general principle of introducing some proposition without attributing it to any concrete source. "Most scientists believe that..." fails to provide any evidence that this is indeed the case, or to clarify just where between 50% and 100% "most" ... Read full entry

Writing Tip: Be Conversational. While aimed at bloggers, Meryl's tip can be applied more broadly. As I write this blog entry, I hear these words in my head and it sounds conversational. To verify you're writing conversationally, read your writing out loud and see how it flows. When I stumble or feel awkward during the reading, then it's a sign to make edits. Letters and emails should be written in a ... Read full entry

What sort of writer are you? That is, how do you go about preparing and composing your blog posts, and the other articles, you write? Do you plan, or schedule, your posts? Or do you prefer to work on the fly, inspired by something you just saw on say your RSS aggregator, or in a discussion forum? Do you, like ... Read full entry

Bloggers Beware! Your Privacy Might be at Risk: this is a must read for all bloggers. Did you know details of your home address may be online, in the public domain, for all to see, without your knowledge or approval? Even if you are using a business or PO Box address on your Whois records and the like? Finding Your Blogging DNA: by Glen Stansberry. What sort ... Read full entry