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Monthly Archives: April 2010
Side-by-Side Table (Technical Writing Exercise)
Monday, April 19, 2010
This Technical Writing Exercise calls for embedded tables: Learn how to build a table in your writing software of choice, and compare features of various tools.
Courtney’s Work-in-Progress Update
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Behold! The game is afoot, and The Second Draft loometh ahead, apparently precipitous but in reality more easily ascendable than its predecessor. In this, my most excellent beta reader = Mom = my climbing buddy, having scouted ahead and come back to me with a report of the obstacles and pitfalls I shall face. And so, knowing that forewarned is forearmed…
The Week in Words (April 17)
Saturday, April 17, 2010
The Week in Words is a weekly roundup of my active projects, review of the site’s activity, and links to interesting writing articles that caught my attention.
Market Research (Creative Writing Exercise)
Friday, April 16, 2010
This Creative Writing Exercise calls for market research: Choose the target audience for a work-in-progress and evaluate the document against its expectations.
The Ideal Reader
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Once you’ve got good feedback, you still have to figure out what to do with it. Luckily, those who have gone before have provided an answer. What you need, they teach us, is a tool to convert wrong words into right words, a working model that you can test your story against. It’s super useful, and it’s got a name: The Ideal Reader.
What I Learned about Writing this Week…from Heroes
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
In Heroes, Claire is changing as a result of growing up. That change is necessary and good. So why am I perturbed over her relationship with her roommate?
How to Choose Your Writing Software (Part 1)
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Tweet Last fall, as I’ve said before, I had the opportunity to teach Technical Writing to a bunch of Computer Science students. It was what we called a “hybrid online course” — a Tuesday/Thursday class, but we only met in the classroom on Tuesdays. Then on Thursdays they would visit the class’s website, get the […]
Blog Schedule (Technical Writing Exercise)
Monday, April 12, 2010
You’ve had most of a week now to get started on your blog posting schedule. If you’ve followed through on that, today’s writing exercise will take you five minutes. If you haven’t, today’s writing exercise is another kick in the pants to get you started.
Pitch and Tagline (Creative Writing Exercise)
Friday, April 9, 2010
Your writing exercise this week is to write the pitch and tagline for your story. That should be the most interesting, energy-packed version of your story description. Tell us, briefly, what your story is about. What makes your story special? What about it is going to grab our interest? You’ve got two to four paragraphs (fewer than 200 words), so keep it focused.
