Reading the Table is a club for readers who share an interest in books connected to food. And really, all of life is connected to food and reading in some way. Our goal is to celebrate the connection. We could call it a book club. But it might be more accurate to call RTT a reading club for readers who have a food habit. Or for foodies who have a reading habit. Unlike a traditional book club, where members read a book chosen by the group, Reading the Table will be more like a pot luck … [Read more...] about Reading the Table @ Edmonton Downtown Farmers Market
The 30-Second Editor Ponders Paragraphs
The Power of Paragraphs: Thinking From time to time, the 30-Second Editor ponders paragraphs. Paragraphs are great for some things: forcing writers to clarify logical connections between ideashelping readers understand the thinking behind complex informationsummarizing background or context for recommendationsinviting readers to think about a topic in new ways Did you notice what I did there? I wrote a list about the power of paragraphs. This is one of life’s small ironies. We … [Read more...] about The 30-Second Editor Ponders Paragraphs
30-Second Edit: The Paragraph Squint
Paragraphs give long reports the grey look that forces readers to squint. Too much squinting is hard on readers who have stacks of stuff to read, meetings to attend and big decisions to sort out. Here’s one last squint to make life easier for everyone: writers, readers, and especially lookers. (If you missed the other two, look them up in The Durksenary.) Lookers are readers who don’t read. Lookers are also notoriously fond of PLT sandwiches. The PLT Sandwich The Paragraph List … [Read more...] about 30-Second Edit: The Paragraph Squint
30-Second Edit: The Table Squint
Building Tables This is a perfect week for geeking out about tables. Not the flat surfaces we use for everything from sharing a meal to catching the stuff that accumulates in a front entry. Tables that make you think. The kind of table that helps writers find flaws and fill gaps in their thinking. And that helps readers visualize complex relationships among important details. Tables: Tools for Thinking This year is the 150thanniversary of a table … [Read more...] about 30-Second Edit: The Table Squint
30-Second Edit: The Squint
Readers and Lookers There are two kinds of readers. Those who read the words and those who prefer white space and pictures. Some readers “read” by looking, not by reading. The most important thing to know about lookers is that they are also your boss. Your colleagues. Your clients. If you want to know what they're looking at, resist the urge to re-read every word of your final draft. Instead, try a 30-second squint. The Squint: Take off your glasses, sit back from the page or … [Read more...] about 30-Second Edit: The Squint
30-Second Edit: Look it up
Language is a virus. Most writers pick up one or two pesky word bugs at the start of our careers. Engineers, for example, write approximately in front of any number they haven’t measured to at least three decimal points. Bureaucrats of all sorts learn to disseminate information and make decisions in accordance with strategic plans that have passed a stringent risk-based analysis process. If that sentence makes sense to you, the virus has already taken hold. It’s time for a 30-second … [Read more...] about 30-Second Edit: Look it up
30-Second Edit: The Two-Line Limit
There’s a limit to how much readers can take. Here’s a quick self-editing technique that all readers will appreciate. A two-line limit. About 25 words per sentence. Yes, you read that correctly, dear reader who is also a writer. About 25 words. Fewer if you can manage it. When readers reach the third line of text and still don’t see a period coming up, they start to think perhaps there’s something else they should be doing. When sentences lose their focus, readers do … [Read more...] about 30-Second Edit: The Two-Line Limit
30-Second Edits: Refocus for readers
Self-editing: flag and fix It takes a lifetime to become a writer. If you break the task into smaller steps, it’s much easier. That’s where 30 seconds of self-editing come in. Try this self-editing technique for a week. Set your timer to 30 seconds.Check the first two or three words in every sentence. Don't read, just look. Do this as a series of quick glances across and down the page.Find and fix sentences that have a weak start. Set the timer: 30 seconds Flagging and … [Read more...] about 30-Second Edits: Refocus for readers
The 30-Second Editor @ Work
30 seconds of self-editing Do you have a minute to look this over? If you're the editor at work, you've heard this question before. It's complete nonsense! But that doesn't stop writers from asking—and editors from accepting the impossible assignment. This is the moment to teach those writers how to fish! Ask them to do a little self-editing: run the spell checker first and then do a few 30-second edits. These are quick scans that help writers self-edit. Editors can also apply these … [Read more...] about The 30-Second Editor @ Work
Twitter: The Anti-Confessional
Accusation without barriers? At times, Twitter serves as the exact opposite of “information without barriers.” Beyond keeping us informed, Twitter allows users to set up barriers of the worst kind. A sort of anti-confessional prison cell. In its helpful form, Twitter is an exercise in chirping out the fresh and the obvious. Good news! The sun is up! When the news is extraordinary, we chirp a little louder. Look out! The hawk is hunting! Then, with alarming speed and purpose, the … [Read more...] about Twitter: The Anti-Confessional
Getting Started: First page
The blank page: graphic designer vs writer If you know you’re writing about coffee, you’ll never have to worry about staring at the blank page. You already know what it’ll be about and then all you have to do is get started. Hah! That’s the advice I received from my graphic designer two decades ago. It’s always easier to see a way past the blank page when it’s someone else’s problem. Design, I replied, is less blank than writing. Someone else has already supplied the content—words, … [Read more...] about Getting Started: First page