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Stumbling Through Pages
Rummaging through some drawers today, I stumbled across a worn-out notebook that was kept as journal where I infrequently wrote entries back in 2005.
Blogging was no where in sight so significant events where often recorded with pen and paper and I had this sentimental moment reading through some passages I wrote during the time when my grandmother passed away -
It struck me then, something I had never thought of before. The purpose of life is not just to reproduce, to love your neighbor or to live a pure life so that you can enter heaven. Or perhaps it is and I’m just exaggerating.
I think the true purpose of life and yes even death is to impact others. My grandmother will never do the things that everyone takes for granted but she, with one simple sentence, picked up all of the shattered pieces of my beliefs and fitted them back together seamlessly.
Because of her, I can look and see her as a living person, not as the walking, talking dead. I can share her joy in want she did and what she experienced until the end instead of crying about all of the things she’ll never do. You can’t defeat death but you can live life and I this point, that’s the only option.
I’ll continue writing as much as I’ll do photography. Regardless of which one you practice, who needs a time-machine when you have any of these two crafts to resort to for reliving moments.
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If you’re looking to make your writing sticky, memorable, and effectual, center it on what you want the reader to know and do when they finish that they didn’t when they started.
– David Pierce on How to Make Your Writing Matter to Your Readers -
One of my commitments for 2010 is to regain once again the habit of keeping a weekly planner. There’s just too many dates, errands and work related stuff to remember and honestly the process of inputing it all on the iPhone is an inconvenience since I don’t carry it with me during work hours. Desktop apps don’t work either since I’m not in front of a computer all day and plus, I still prefer the feel of jotting down on paper.
What generally prevents me from using a planner is thinking that I need to first find the perfect one but sometimes the best mentality to accomplish something is to stop searching for that perfect tool and choose what will get the job done because the search takes away the focus of doing what you’re suppose to and in my case that’s taking notes.
I went with At A Glance’s Planning & Note Taking Hybrid and have been consistent with the pen and paper thus far.
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The Outlining vs. Organic Writing Debate →
Writing can sometimes be a nebulous process. In school we’re taught that to establish an early sense of purpose in what we write, there’s the need to take that information to mold, to stretch and to dig deep into its potential by creating an outline of what we hope to get across. Some still practice it, some don’t. Larry Brooks distinguishes the two by name. The Organic writers and the Outliners. You choose the approach that works for you without sacrificing quality.
To write a successful story, you can’t wing it and expect to get to the promised land. That doesn’t mean you need an outline, it means you need a foundational core competency in story architecture. No matter how you write.
Once you have it, you can wing it all you want. Your stories will come out in the right sequence with proper pacing. Or, you can get there by constructing outlines that yield stories in which everything is in the right place at the right time.
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Long vs. Short Articles as Content Strategy →
Compelling article that discusses how much information is enough? How much is too much? And, most importantly, how much information is optimal? Should your website have concise or in-depth content? Here’s the breakdown:
- If you want many readers, focus on short and scannable content. This is a good strategy for advertising-driven sites or sites that sell impulse buys.
- If you want people who really need a solution, focus on comprehensive coverage. This is a good strategy if you sell highly targeted solutions to complicated problems.
I’m a fan of both “in a nutshell” and “extended” display of content on blogs. As long as the content is appealing enough to me, I make time for dedicated reading of it regardless of the length.
