David S. Interviews with Professionals Who Do Professional Writing

I have recently conducted a “virtual” interview with professional writer Christopher Moore. I asked him for some tips on how to become an accomplished professional writer and how difficult it is to become one. The following is a short script of our conversation.

Me: “How easy or difficult is it to become a published writer?”

Moore: “Becoming a "published" writer isn't that difficult. If one has a little talent and is willing to work, it's not that tough to get published in local magazines and papers. Now becoming a NATIONALLY published writer, that's a different story, and very often takes years of work and tons of luck as well. It's obviously easier to publish non-fiction than fiction, simply because there's so much more of it, but it's still not easy.”

Me: “What is the key ingredient to success in the publishing industry?”

Moore: “Honestly? Luck. I read authors every year who are better than I am and are not as successful. On the other hand, there are authors who are just horrible and they sell many, many more copies than I do. (I really only have my own experience as a measure.) The difference, as far as I can see, is luck.”

Me: “What advice would you give to an aspiring writer who is not currently a good writer or has nothing interesting to write about?”

Moore: “Well, not being very good can usually be fixed, but having nothing interesting to write about can't. If you can't think of anything to write about, it's best, probably, to learn another skill or aspire to a different career. (I'm talking about fiction here. If you want to write non-fiction, you can always work as a journalist. Then they tell you what to write.) So my advice would be, and is, if you're not very good, but you'd like to be, then take five years, learn your craft, do some writing, and if you're still not good, go do something else. You'll live a lot happier life that way. Writing is too hard to do if you aren't enjoying it and getting better.”

As you can see from this virtual interview, anyone can become a professional writer if they aspire to be one. As long as you have the will and motivation to write, your dream of becoming a published writer may just come true.

Sources: http://www.chrismoore.com/on_writing.html

Choosing a Website

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylp9nJpGak4

David B's Featured Presentation

Think of a time, when you were in a younger grade of education;
the clock is ticking, your mind is blank and you're soon due a presentation.
You feel you need a break, but you haven't even started;
You hope an idea will quake, but your internet's being retarted.
What you need my friend is a featured variable
for your problematic equation:
an objective,
some point goals,
and a lil' motivation.
Yo, get a poster board,
Some highlighters,
and a picture of two-
a picture of me and you.
If you roll with a posse
or think yo' Hahn Solo;
be as creative,
but as organized as
the Hometown Bloggers.
You must remember when you're presenting,
half the punned-phun is the joy in sharing.


Presented By:

David B

Featuring:

Hometown Bloggers

Aaron M's Tips to Meeting Minutes

Taking the minutes of a meeting is an incredible vital role. If you write good minutes then you will save a ton of headaches and be a lifesaver when it comes to going back in the records and having all the facts straight. A lot of the time, taking minutes is not a very popular position but it is a very necessary one. If no one can write what is going on or can look at the files to jog their memory, then many meetings can be headed for disaster which may lead to a company headed for trouble.

Some of the important things to know about when writing minutes is that you need to be as concise as possible. You don't need to record every single detail that occurs during the meeting. Just the important things, such as motions, resolutions, and votes. A good thing to do is to use the agenda as an outline to your minutes. And when you are wrapping things up and finishing your minutes. Make sure that they can be read and understood by everyone, those in the meeting and outside of the meeting. And before you send it out, it is good to spellcheck and proofread your document. When minutes are for a legal organization, then those minutes are now legal documents that the courts and IRS can look to for information. So you don't want to mess that up.

So basically the two things you need to remember is to write clearly and to write concisely. Doing just these two things will save you and others a lot of trouble and headache.

Sources: www.cartoonstock.com

Zac L's Tips on Writing Courteously

Being courteous when writing in the workplace is exceedingly important especially when your reputation is considered. In order to have your words come across the page correctly and as courteously as possible, you must insure that you maintain a positive attitude while also paying attention to the tone projected. For example, writing out of anger will only give your reader a sense of frustration and resentment. Therefore, remaining somewhat positive while writing will help you seem more courteous and your relationship with the reader will benefit as well.

Another benefit to being courteous in your writing is if your message is directed toward a prospective client. In order to network and establish close personal relationships with your buyer or purchaser, your must always remain considerate and polite throughout all communication. A “Please” and “Thank you” are always in order when trying to remain courteous. I believe that a positive attitude must always be portrayed (whether you really feel that way or not) in order to be successful. Although speaking your mind may seem like the way to go, take time to reconsider the advantages and disadvantages of your actions. It will help tremendously in the long run!

Danielle G.Collaborative writing using wikis

Before entering this class I had no idea what a Wikis was or what it was used for. So when I found I had to completely understand all about Wiki I got a little nervous. I began my research and found that Wikis can be used for many things. Basically, Wiki is a a form of a blog and is used to connect people all around the world, kinda like Facebook. The one thing that I found to be interesting is that Wikis need to be updated frequently and requires a lot of revision. Wikis are used to create collaborative websites, to power community websites and for personal note taking.The most popular Wiki is Wikipedia.
Wiki is a excellent idea when doing collaborative assignments because it allows each member an equal opportunity to add, edit and remove text. Collaborative writing allows for projects that are richer than those produced by a single group member.
Another great website I found that dealt with Wikis was TWiki. This web site is used as an open source enterprise. That means, that like Wikipedia, you can go an edit your own information as the more relevant the topic or discussions becomes. Also, WikiSpace was another great website that was used for major companies, non-profit business and schools.
Overall, Wikis are a great way for people to collaborate and share ideas. They can be used in a number of different ways and are a great tool for anyone looking to learn more about a topic or willing to share ideas of their own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq6VO0XHNAo

Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/

http://lonewolflibrarian.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/wiki1.jpg

David S. Writing Personal Business Goals

Setting goals can help prevent you from going day after day without accomplishing anything. Many times people get caught up with everyday life activities where time goes by, but nothing ever gets done. This never ending cycle will continue until you set goals. Goals can help you find a sense of direction and accomplishment.

Goals can and should be used in the business world. Setting goals for yourself to accomplish on the job can be very rewarding. For example, if your goal for the year is to meet your department budget, and you do indeed accomplish this goal, you may get promoted to a higher position (with that really comfortable leather chair and your own special parking space).

Setting goals are very easy to do.
Here is a simple checklist that will help you to set your goals:

1. Identify your goal by writing it down on a piece of paper (or drawing it if you are not artistically challenged like I am!)
2. Set a realistic time frame for accomplishing your goal (again be realistic, setting a goal to clean your desk should be a goal for the week not a year!)
3. List what you need to do to achieve the goal.
4. Identify who and/or what you will need to work with to reach your goal.
5. List the skills and knowledge that is required for you to reach your goal.
6. Write down the steps you will follow.

Goals can help you save time, be efficient, and accomplish more activities than without having any goals at all. So next time you have a task that you have to do, remember that goals can help aid you in accomplishing that task.

Aaron M's Writing with Visuals

Creating and using visuals in your writing is not only really fun to do, but also is a very effective way of getting your message across. There are a number of reasons that people use visuals to assist them in their writing. Visuals can highlight important sections in a report. They can also explain things in our writing. It could also provide further detail about a particular engine design or maybe it could be on a list of directions on how to put together a shelf. They can be anywhere at anytime. They are used all the time in our word. Visuals are also a great way to connect to your audience. When you are addressing a younger crowd, you will want to use more visuals to keep their attention as opposed to older and more mature audiences. These are just a few examples of why visuals are used in our day to day writing.

Designing a visual for your particular writing project can sometimes be a challenge. You have to know quite a number of things about your project before you can begin.
Who am I writing to?
What is the purpose of my project? To illustrate, sell, direct?
Can visuals help me explain a process or illustration in my writing project?
Do I need to make my visuals PowerPoint ready?
These are just a handful of questions that you can ask yourself about visuals and your writing projects. Visuals can be any number of things. It can be a simple icon, an image of something, or a very complex flowchart that lists the organizational structure in any given organization. So when preparing to create a project with visuals, make sure you start out by getting an understanding of the purpose behind your work and if visuals can help you achieve that.

When using visuals, you have to be careful who’s visuals you are using. A majority of people today, will just simply go on the internet and grab a great looking visual off of the world wide web and stick it right in their project. In order to do something like this, you need to ask the owner of the visual’s permission first, and then you have to properly cite it in your project. Copying a visual without citing the source can be the same as plagiarism on many schools and businesses.

So the next time you are writing a project and want to use visuals. Remember to ask yourself, what will be the purpose of my project, what visuals will help my purpose, and am I using the visuals correctly? These simple questions will help you in finding the best way to make your project look great.


Picture Source: http://askabiologist.asu.edu/research/ecosystems/images/ecosystem_types.jpg