People keep trying to tell me that I actually have technical writing experience.
In my past (and present), I have developed curriculum units to be presented by others, teaching and resource guides, procedural documentation, and training materials. I love creating these types of materials. The research and writing that go into developing them are a great use of my talents and my creativity, and I take any opportunity I can get to work on these types of projects! To my credit, a number of the projects I develop are then spread throughout the company or organization I’m part of at the time. (If you are in need of a freelance writer who specializes in the above projects, please feel free to contact me at rebecca[at]rebeccathomasdesigns[dot]com.)
In fact, I’m currently working on an extensive book of everything I know about my current job that will likely be used to train the next few people who follow me.
I’m a total fan of John Hewitt’s website, and last week he generously shared links to his guide to technical wriiting. I’m trying to read it in my spare time, but I’m hoping it will help answer this question about whether or not I actually have several years of experience in technical writing.
John Hewitt’s Guide to Technical Writing
Posted by Rebecca as Resources at 8:17 AM EDT
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I spend part of my free time writing fan fictions and editing them for others. My efforts concentrate on a single fandom, but my reading has now branched out to three or four different fandoms. I’m slowly deciding that this branching out was probably a mistake. It’s only reinforced something that ahsn’t set well with me within my original fandom.
In my fandom, it’s very difficult to find stories that involve only the characters and settings from the manga/anime. Even harder is to find a story where the characters behave in character. Many of those who write in this fandom are younger, and tend to place themself within the fandom. That’s fine. They’re young; they’re learning to write and it’s often easier to work with pre-made characters and settings. I get that.
What I don’t get is when they have an established character doing something completely out of character, and then scream at the top of their lungs about how they’re right. Again, they’re young, they should learn to defend their decisions. They take characters and give the subculture that the fandom does not have. They give these characters issues that the writer faces in their own life that the characters don’t have to face.
When you completely change the nature of the fandom and its characters, are you truly still writing fan fiction? Haven’t you actually crossed the line and developed your own fiction? Wouldn’t it make more sense to present these stories independently from the fandom work. to actually give them their own names and recognize them as your own creations?
It’s one thing to create “what-if”s. Those are fun to create because you can explore different combinations, but you should still keep everything in tune with the fandom. It’s something entirely different to put character names on characters who aren’t anything like those characters (unless the what-if you’re exploring involves something changing or not changing the character’s personality).
Looking at two of the other fandoms that i enjoy reading, I never see this kind of behavior. Stories are kept true to the characters, to the setting. Original characters don’t pop out of the woodwork to draw characters off-character. I just wish that would happen with the one I write for.
Posted by Ceara as Uncategorized at 8:04 AM EDT
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When I was in college, I started planning out a piece about a girl from a simpler time ahead of ours unearthing our lives ten years ago and trying to make sense of what kind of people we were. I’m always weird like that. I often feel that we should be mindful of our actions because written history may be the only thing that shows who we as a race were to the future (if we’re lucky).
I hadn’t really stopped to think about the ramifications of anthropology in fantasy and science fiction until I read this rather interesting, brief article on authors who have expertly woven anthropological topics into their wonderful stories! It’s true. When you engage in the art of worldbuilding, you really have to consider so many aspects of that world. It’s not going to be the backdrop for one small story. It’s going to be a thriving society where people live out normal lives.
The science fiction and fantasy genres allow us to look in on a world different from our own, but they pull us in by encountering the same issues we face, by applying their values to challenging situations, by being not entirely dissimilar from us. It’s something like opening a history book and reading about people who lived a hundred years, except these people don’t exist within our own reality.
It’s certainly food for thought!
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized at 7:38 AM EDT
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I’m feeling a bit confused by the trends I’m seeing in business writing. On the one hand, writers are encouraged to incorporate the narrative into their work to make it more user-friendly. People relate to narrative, and incorporating it will help people see what you are trying to communicate.
However, writers are also told that there is no time for people to indulge in reading important documents, so the high points should be bulleted and as concise as possible. Busy people just want to know what they need to know, and tone be hanged! While it is possible to be concise and informative in a narrative tone, the two do seem to be in conflict.
Is there a solution, an elegant way to keep the brief highlights while still weaving in the narrative? I don’t know, but I’m certainly going to be on the lookout for it, and striving for it in my own writing.
Posted by Ceara as Uncategorized at 7:52 AM EDT
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I’ve been writing most of my life, editing for longer than I care to admit, and teaching writing for the past several months. I’ve seen some pretty funny errors that are slowly driving me to want to create my own book on grammar. My students are really hoping I do so they can own a book with my charming grammar mascot.
Most of the ones in this list of common grammar errors are on my list of pet peeves! I’m going to have to go look into that “impact”/”affect” thing, though.
Posted by Rebecca as Resources at 7:46 AM EDT
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I spend anywhere from two to six hours out of my week reviewing and editing for fellow fan fiction writers. One of the most difficult issues that I’m trying to work on with them is dialogue.
I have no earthly idea where I learned dialogue, but I remember my ninth grade English teacher being fanatical about not using the same word repeatedly. Apparently, this is still advice being given out in English classes, because those I edit for are trying to figure out how to navigate it.
I don’t always do the best job at escaping the trap of coming up with synonyms for said, but I do try to weave my dialogue into the scene instead of announcing that a character is talking. If you have quotation marks around it, it’s somewhat insulting to the reader to then tell them that the person said it.
For a while, I was starting to wonder if I was just out of my mind, that perhaps not having dialogue tags permeate my writing was just too confusing (A reviewer of my own work actually cited me for this at one point. In his defense, in that particular scene, he was completely correct.) Now I’m realizing it’s a mark that I might actually be passable at this craft.
Randy Ingermanson has been running a great series in his newletter about dialogue and how to approach it. I could do without him hammering on one of my favorite writers, but his advice, especially this past week, is just wonderful! It’s helping me as I try to guide my own fans through their own work.
Posted by Ceara as Resources at 8:28 AM EDT
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“Is it ‘no wonder’ or ‘know wonder’?”
“Think about it this way…are you trying to say wonder doesn’t exist, or that you understand wonder….then you’ll know if it’s ‘no’ or ‘know’.”
“Oh! It’s ‘no wonder’!”
“Yep.”
“Yay! I got it right.”
I actually had this conversation recently with someone I edit for. I have it frequently with students and clients alike. We have this problem in society with both spelling and word use that wouldn’t be such an issue if people just stopped for a moment and thought.
Good writing often ocmes down to thinking about what you’re trying to say, and then picking the right word for it. The problem comes when people just write without thinking, and then edit without thinking. Sometimes, it even comes from the fact that people aren’t often taught proper meanings for various spellings. They think the spell-checker on their computer will fix everything and make it wonderful.
News flash: a computer is a tool. It lacks the capability to actually make sure that words are being used correctly. It can check spellingagainst a pre-approved list of words. It can check grammar against a specified set of rules. That’s it. That’s all it can do. It can’t tell you that you’ve used “to” instead “too”, or that you meant to use one word over another. It just can’t. It doesn’t have the ability to process anything more than its programming.
When you’re writing, you have to think about what you are trying to say. If you find yourself confused about what word to use, think about the definition. If you aren’t sure about the definition, look it up! It’s better to go the extra mile in checking your work than to look incompetent.
If you have words that routinely trip you up, create a mini-dictionary for yourself of those words. Then, when you find yourself wondering, pull it out and look for it. It will help you straighten the word out in your mind.
(Similarly, correct pronunciation of a word will aid you greatly in your spelling efforts! Give it a try. Write it down, broken into its pronounceable sounds if you have to. Spelling shouldn’t be scary!)
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized at 7:47 AM EDT
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As the status blog shows, I’m getting really bad about getting any daily writing or editing accomplished! It’s a simple fact, though, that in order to grow in anything worth pursuing, you must practice routinely. You can’t improve otherwise!
Here are some great ideas to get yourself writing, especially if you’re looking to get published!
Found via Lifehacker
Posted by Ceara as Uncategorized at 7:47 AM EDT
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I’ll never understand why or how, but Dead Bunny Grammar has made its way around the center by word of mouth. The kids love it. They get it. They actually teach part of it to each other!
I’m a huge fan of peer teaching, so this really warms my heart.
I’m not entirely sure yet, but I’m thinking of creating an actual Dead Bunny Grammar program so others can take advantage. Don’t let the name scare you off. The bunny is supposed to be alive, but one of the students killed it.
Posted by Rebecca as Resources at 7:49 AM EDT
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