Write with TASTE blog

Dealing With Distractions While You Write

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:25:39 +0800

17 May 2012

Last week I asked for comments on how you deal with distractions, especially when you’re trying to focus on writing.

Pomodoro technique

Thanks to Scott, who shared his approach:

‘I'm learning to deal with interruptions by making them "visible". I write them down. Then I ask myself "urgency questions." Do I have to attend to …

Sketching for Fun and Profit – and Fast Writing

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:31:42 +0800

10 May 2012

Image by Dan4th

A few weeks ago I was sorting through stuff in the house – trying to get rid of junk. As often happens, I threw out very little. But I did find some lost ‘treasures’ that brought back happy memories.

Some of those treasures included several large drawing pads that contained many of the sketches my husband and I made during a drawing class we attended way back in the last century. …

Revisiting the ARRANGE Stage – part 2

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:01:12 +0800

3 May 2012

Sometimes you need to organize so much information in a document that it’s easy to get lost in all the detail.

What can you do to get started with arranging so much information?

There are various ways you can sort through information and get it organised. Today we'll revisit three organising tools: mind-maps, a pyramid of ideas and the UNO.

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Revisiting the ARRANGE Stage

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:29:19 +0800

26 April 2012

The past few weeks we’ve been taking a closer look at how to prepare a writing ROADmap – from the THINK stage of the TASTE process.

I’d like to continue by looking at the ARRANGE stage, where you plan how to organize a document.

To do this, we’ll revisit some of the other posts I’ve written on the subject and expand a bit more on them.

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Grammar Bite #20 – Use of ‘everyday’ and ‘every day’

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:48:52 +0800

19 April 2012

There is such a small difference between ‘everyday’ and ‘every day’—just a single space. But there’s a big difference in meaning between the two.

Mistakes with these two are common, so be careful to choose the correct version when you write.

Everyday (without a space)

The single word everyday is an adjective. It means commonplace or ordinary.

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Thinking Through a Writing ROADmap: The Details

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:53:54 +0800

12 April 2012

Image by konradfoerstner

In the final part of a writing ROADmap, you plan the details to include in a document.

The first rule of conciseness

Include all the necessary details but only those that are necessary.

In other words, the details must be relevant and sufficient to

· achieve the objective of the document

· help the reader act.…

Thinking Through a Writing ROADmap: The Objective and Reader Action

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:29:23 +0800

5 April 2012

Image by cliff1066

Review

Last week we considered how to prepare the first part of the writing ROADmap -- to write for a specific reader and situation.

Today we’ll look at the next two parts: the objective and reader action.

These two things do not take long to plan – but it’s absolutely essential that you think about them before you write anything. …

Thinking Through a Writing ROADmap: The Reader

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:07:22 +0800

29 March 2012

Image by skippyjon

Starting today and for the next two weeks, we’ll look in detail at how to plan a writing ROADmap. Today we’ll consider the first part: READERS. Next week we’ll look at the OBJECTIVE and reader ACTION. And the week after that we’ll consider the DETAILS.

Readers

Some of the worst writing mistakes you can make are using an improper tone and including unsuitable information. …

Filtering Emails for Importance & Urgency

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:09:20 +0800

22 March 2012

Image by Sam Beebe

I’d like to follow up on a post I wrote two weeks ago about writing faster. At that time we discussed the need to prepare a plan for everything you write to make your writing more efficient.

But of course, overloaded inboxes are a major contributor to this problem. Every day when you get to work and open your email inbox, you face what seems like an endless list of emails to deal with.

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Grammar Bite #19 – Use of ‘a lot’

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 21:13:46 +0800

15 March 2012

You’ll frequently see people using the word ‘alot’ (1 word) – which is the incorrect way to write ‘a lot’ (2 words). For example:

û Henry bought alot of chocolate.

û We’ve got alot of books.

‘A lot’ is an informal expression that means ‘a large amount’ or ‘many’. (I bet you’d never write ‘alargeamount’, would you?)

The computer knows better!

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Get Started and Get It Done

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:37:12 +0800

8 March 2012

Image by lululemon athletica

Every time I train a writing course, I’m reminded that many people have a hard time getting started on writing a document. Most also worry about not having enough time to do all the writing that’s required of them at work every day.

Getting started

A participant in the course I just finished training was chatting with me after class one evening. …

Confessions of a ‘Speed Writer’

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:16:56 +0800

1 March 2012

Image by Tracy Brandon

An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes

that can be made in a very narrow field.

–Neils Bohr

Just a few weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of committing 90% of your writing time to thinking. Then last week, I fell into a writing/thinking ‘speed trap’. (So much for being a writing expert!)

The story: Part 1

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Grammar Bite #18 – Use of ‘with regard to’

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:52:41 +0800

23 February 2012

Thanks to one of our readers who recently asked about the difference between these phrases:

With regards to…

With regard to…

The plural form—regards

Using the plural form in the phrase ‘with regards to’ is grammatically incorrect.

If you want to use the plural form with this meaning, say ‘As regards’. For example, I spoke with them as regards the sale of their house.

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Learning Goals in the Year of the Dragon – Improve Your Writing Style

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:32:03 +0800

16 February 2012

Image by Newtown grafitti

In last week’s post, we talked about improving grammar using a method called ‘My Favourite Mistakes’. Today I’d like to talk about a method to improve your writing style.

‘My Favourite Style’

Writing style involves what we consider at the TRIM stage: coherence, clarity, conciseness, cohesiveness and tone.

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Learning Goals in the Year of the Dragon – Improve Your Grammar

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:16:53 +0800

9 February 2012

Image by Proxy Indian

Two weeks ago, people around the world (especially in Asia) celebrated the Lunar New Year, bringing in the Year of the (Water) Dragon.

The dragon is the mightiest of the Chinese zodiac signs. People born in the year of the Dragon are characterized as being ambitious and willing to take risks. They are also willing to help others, but seldom ask for help.

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We are the 90% -- Part 2

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:22:06 +0800

2 February 2012

Thanks to the readers who responded to my question last week:

Do you have any tips to share with us on ways to make sure you spend enough thinking time when you write?

I’d like to share them with you today.

Reflection time

Vani wrote, ‘Writing a reflection is a way to keep an audit trail.’ By writing your thoughts and looking at them later, you can process it further and perhaps discard some of it.

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We are the 90%

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:58:45 +0800

26 January 2012

Image by NLNY

Political movements have been big news around the world for the past year, from ‘Arab Spring’ marches in the Middle East to the ‘Occupy’ movement in the US and Europe. People are protesting against corrupt governments and greedy corporations. They’re marching for those who hope for democracy and fair treatment and for those who have lost jobs and been cheated out of homes and pensions.

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The Importance of Earnest Thinking

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:23:33 +0800

19 January 2012

Image by Abode of Chaos

In a recent newsletter from Publication Coach, Daphne Grey-Grant, she wrote about a play she’d seen during a trip to Chicago.

The play, Red, is about the 20^th century American artist, Mark Rothko. In one line, the Rothko character states that only 10% of painting involves applying paint to canvas; the remaining 90% involves thinking about the work.

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A Tale about a Tail

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:30:18 +0800

12 January 2012

Image by Noel Reynolds

Actually, I won’t be telling you a tale here (about bird tails or anything else).

Instead, we’ll look at ‘homonyms’ – words that have the same sound and/or spelling, but have different meanings.

Homonyms are very easy to confuse – and it happens to everyone. (I found one while proofreading this post. Hope I caught them all before publishing!)

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Have Another Happy ‘Low-tech’ Holiday!

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:46:04 +0800

22 December 2011

Image by alkruse24

My 2009 Christmas/New Year holiday blog told of how my husband and I experienced a burst of creativity during a day when the power to our house was off and we couldn’t go online. And in last year’s holiday post, I talked about the brain development benefits of in-the-flesh communication with people.

I was again reminded of low-tech benefits while watching a recent TV news story that featured the Waldorf School – a group of more than 1,000 private schools worldwide whose teaching philosophy focuses on physical activity and learning through hands-on tasks. …