New Font Alert: Sartalics

editorial style guide

Attention social media wing nuts: Offend no more. Let your witty and derisive chatter flow like melted butter over the good humor of your readers. \Sartalics\ is about to enter the social media fray.   The temptation to hold back a sarcastic comment while using social media is often too great; many writers just let [...]

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Writing and Editing Resource Books

editing

Happiness = My library of writing and editing books. When I open one, it’s as if a hush is heard, the door of an ornate chamber opens,  and stunning essays of the why’s and therefores of our language whisk me off to an enchanted land.   If you’re beginning to build your library of resource [...]

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When Microsft Word Behaves Badly–What to Do

editing

Over the years Microsoft Word has become more stable for power users–folks who use a lot of MS Word’s functionality for automating tasks. And I hear that MS Word 2010 is more stable than 2007. On occasion, though, Word still crashes.   Has MS Word ever made you cry? It has for me. The more [...]

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How to Create Microsoft Word Styles–Learn from MVPs

editing

Creating paragraph, character, list, outline, and header and footer styles help you create visually pleasing documents, whether you publish them digitally or in hard copy. Go directly to the pros for learning best practices in creating Microsoft Word styles.   For years I’ve used Microsoft Word styles to format documents for both myself and clients. [...]

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How To Matter–Creating in a Digital Life

blogging

"How To" blog posts–might they be the most popular genre on the internet? I’ve seen and read many. So have you. But when I saw the link How To Matter I paused and thought, Now that’s a "how to" first. You’ve read often that content is king. Rewind that phrase and re-record. Creativity is king…or [...]

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Voice–What It Is and How to Find and Develop It

voice

When you hear a writer’s voice, it either beckons or disturbs you. In no way does it bore you. What keeps you reading? What bores you out of your mind? A writer’s voice is the summation of strongly held beliefs, curiosity, honesty, irreverence, inner dweeb, and approach to life. You come to love a writer’s [...]

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Writing & Editing Projects–Budget Time for These Tasks

audience analysis

Just getting started as an independent contractor? Wondering how to prepare that first proposal for a writing or editing project? Here are some project tasks you’ll want to budget time for.   Client Meetings How many client meetings or phone calls will you need to kick off the project? Likely you’ll have a major meeting [...]

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Editorial Style Guides (or Style Sheets)–What Are They?

editing

Do you write nine-thirty in the morning; or 9:30 A.M., AM, a.m. or am? Web site, Website, or website? How you write, literally, is a matter of style–a style either you or your client picks. Styling your words consistently—say, expressing “Web site” the same every single time you write it—is a writing tool to help [...]

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Editorial Style Guides–Types of Guides and How to Create One

editing

Writers use style guides (also called style sheets) to effectively and clearly communicate with their audiences; editors use style guides to make sure they’ve done that!   There are essentially three kinds of editorial style guides, the guidelines on how text, tables, images, video, and layout should consistently appear in your publications. In this post [...]

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10 Factors to Consider When Sizing (or Estimating) Your Writing Projects

contracts: estimating and quoting

One of the most difficult things to do, especially when you are getting started as a technical writer, is to size, or estimate, a writing job. And that is exactly what management and clients want you to do right up front: tell them how long it will take you to create the documentation from start [...]

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