Reading a paper book—a poem
our eye skips down the centre
of a paper page
like a pebble over ocean.
You can see what lies ahead
you have perspective
and memory and speed
Podcasts
Structure of personal blogs 3. Sequence of ideas
When you’re fiddling with a blog post, you often want to make several major points. In what order will you introduce them? Did you know that there are more than thirteen classic ways of sequencing ideas in formal writing? If you match your article to one of those models, even loosely, it’s a win for […]
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Structure of personal blogs 2: density of information
In structure we’re not looking at a blog’s meaning or message or content except as a kind of stuff. This “stuff” can be measured: how much information?
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What to do after a big faux pas
What do you do when you make a big fat typo in an email? Blush and own it? This cannot be right — usually, least said soonest mended, surely? Well, yesterday I put my foot in it good and proper. In 2008 I helped to establish a group called Plain English Power, and we worked hard for our goals. Eight years on, we […]
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