Writing, marketing and technology
Apparently William F. Buckley forced himself to write 250 words in 15 minutes; writing faster and faster like a sprinter nearing the tape. This anecdote is the start of a great article from Slate magazine about writers’ productivity. There’s an old story about James Joyce. One night he was in a pub with a friend. [...]
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Research has identified two types of people, those whose left-brain is dominant and those were the right-brain dominates. The dominant left-brain is ‘content’ oriented, while someone with right-brain dominance will be ‘process’ oriented. Left brain dominance: Logical Sequential Rational Analytical Objective Looks at parts Right brain dominance: Random Intuitive Holistic Synthesising Subjective Looks at wholes [...]
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Like most writers and entrepreneurs, I have a bulging to-do list. It’s like a bottomless cup of coffee; it stimulates, comforts and raises blood pressure all at once. My to-do list runs my life. I manage it on Outlook and via my iPhone with TaskTask. It is the epitome of the “do something” approach to [...]
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Online applications give me a competitive edge. I want to be a ‘big little company’ with the same (or better) IT capabilities as the biggest of my clients. I try to make the maximum use of online applications because they let me deploy new capabilities quickly without adding to my IT or admin burdens. This [...]
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NASA is undergoing some big changes and some some soul-searching right now. But it is an organisation that has achieved some of humanity’s most sublime and challenging goals. Therefore, any lessons we can learn at their expense are well worth reading. This is why I like this guide: 100 Rules for NASA Project Managers. Much [...]
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Interruptions kill productivity. But background noise can slow you down in less obvious ways: Fatigue. Noise makes you tired. Just as shouting over loud music in a bar strains your voice, your brain has to work harder to filter out unwanted information. Poor concentration. It’s more likely that your brain will latch onto some background [...]
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Procrastination is a big problem for writers. The Economist takes a view, based on research and economic theory: New-year irresolution. What seems to work is pre-commitment. Homer tells the story of Ulysses. He wanted to hear the sirens’ song but wanted to avoid being lured to his death by it, so he tied himself to [...]
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Novelist and geek-hero Charlie Stross writes about the drawbacks of using what-you-see-is-what-you-get word processors to write novels: Changing file formats Proprietary file formats WYSIWYG “conflates document content with presentation” Heavily marked-up text isn’t suitable for use online Word mixes inline and style-sheet formatting His solution is (sometimes) to use hardcore programmer’s editing tools: Given my [...]
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A few weeks ago I visited Oban, Scotland. On a tour of the whisky distillery there, the tour guide asked (rhetorically) ‘What’s the best way to drink whisky?’ and answered immediately ‘Any way you like it.’ It’s the same for writing. The best time for writing is whenever you are able to write productively. That [...]
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Matthew Stibbe is CEO of Articulate Marketing and Turbine, the easy, online way to deal with office paperwork. He edits Golf Hotel Whiskey and writes the Forbes Aviator column.
Check out my new, free eBook, 30 Days to Better Business Writing, 71 pages of expert tips and advice to make you a better writer. Available on Kindle, paper and free online.