On Writing, #392
A Month of Writing
February. No football, no baseball, my school’s basketball team is almost exactly average, my professional basketball team is led by a flat-earther with the heart of an amoeba, there’s not a must see movie on the horizon, the hockey season doesn’t really start until the Stanley Cup playoffs, and I’m heartily sick of running in … More A Month of Writing
First Person POV and Attorneys
Over the last few months I’ve come to the conclusion lawyers are not exactly trained to write in the first person. And because they’re not trained in it, they’re not exactly chomping at the bit to give it a try. Which I think is not only a problem but (very much) a missed opportunity. I’ve came to … More First Person POV and Attorneys
Yelp! About Ratings & Reviews
Bit of Important Social Media (sorta) News: Here’s what happened over about two or three hours Tuesday: I was on the phone with a Yelp sales consultant for just over an hour doing some research for a client. I hung up, scrolled through my email and, boom, there was an article about a law suit … More Yelp! About Ratings & Reviews
A Note from Kurt Vonnegut
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a long article with a client for a magazine. He asked me about a phrase I used early in the piece, and wondered if it wasn’t just a tad too specific? As in, aimed at one or three people at, perhaps, the exclusion of the other, oh, thousands … More A Note from Kurt Vonnegut
“People Like Stories”
“People like stories. It helps them make sense of things.” … More “People Like Stories”
Adventures in Client Writing #36
I was just asked how I “come up with stuff” for my clients. That’s a really hard question … because I just do. That answer is flip and foggy and dismissive but true. For the most part. It’s like when I was in college and would spend hours shagging fly balls in the outfield and … More Adventures in Client Writing #36
Is it Safe and Yoast Readability
I promise this has some relevance to the rest of the piece, though I won’t vouch for exactly how much. Way back in 1976, Dustin Hoffman prepared for his iconic “is it safe” scene in Marathon Man with Laurence Olivier by staying up for 72 hours. Apparently, Hoffman looked like hell on the set – … More Is it Safe and Yoast Readability