On writing, books, tech, and faith
Ted Gioia of The Honest Broker on writing advice he once received: "How do we tap into those hidden creative currents we feel inside, but struggle to express? The response of the writer-whose-name-I’ve-forgotten was something like this: You buy a blank journal, and keep it in a safe place. You don’t want ANYBODY to see … Continue reading Ted Gioia’s Advice about Honest Writing
Imagine moving to a new city and visiting a local church. What would you expect to find? Dr. Brad East writes about a curious answer he received after asking his class this question. Lights, said one student, by which he meant a staged performance: dimmers, reflectors, big screens, large production values. East goes on to … Continue reading What Should You Expect at Church? (Hint: It’s Not Flashy Technology)
Cal Newport has a thing for writers. That's partly because he is one, and partly because writers are fitting examples of professionals who need solitude and focus, two subjects in which Newport is something of a world-class expert. Most forms of writing, such as creative and academic writing, are lonesome jobs best served by shutting … Continue reading The Tragic Stories of Two Impossibly Successful Writers
Back in May 2019, I published an article in the Society for Technical Communication's 'Intercom' magazine: "Content Strategy in Action: How Documentation Can Enable Sales." I'm finally getting around to posting a copy here on my blog. I intended to do this years ago, but lost track of the exclusive rights period. It only occurred … Continue reading Content Strategy in Action: How Documentation Can Enable Sales
The question comes up over and over again: How many technical writers should there be in your organization relative to the number of developers? It seems so simple, so reasonable to ask. Why can't we provide a single, objective number to answer it? Because the answers vary as widely as organizations do. In this 2019 … Continue reading There’s No Such Thing as an Optimal Technical Writer to Developer Ratio
Neil Gaiman, as quoted by Cal Newport: “But it’s interesting because people are leaving (social media). You know, Twitter is over, yeah Twitter is done, Twitter’s… you stick a fork in, it’s definitely overdone. The new Twitters, like Threads and Blue sky… nothing is going to do what that thing once did. Facebook works but … Continue reading Neil Gaiman: The Era of Blogging May Return
George Packer in 'The Atlantic': "When artists turn to activism or introduce politics into a work of art, it’s usually taken as something virtuous, an act of conscience on behalf of justice. But artistic and political values are not the same; in some ways they’re opposed, and mixing them can corrupt both. Politics is almost … Continue reading The Unsavory Melange of Activist Art
A few weeks ago at my local library, I noticed the The Last Duel by Eric Jager on display as a staff favorite near the entrance. Since I love medieval history and this book is now a major motion picture, my curiosity was doubly piqued. When I read the opening pages, however, I was struck … Continue reading The “Disproportionate Survival of the Bad Side” of Medieval History
Kevin Williamson of 'The Dispatch' recently gave his take on the popular religious TV show The Chosen. Noting how the producers took liberty to focus on the ordinary human concerns of the characters rather than on moral lessons that "slide into mythology", he writes: There isn’t any way to make a series about the life … Continue reading What ‘The Chosen’ Gets Right: Dramatizing a Perfect Storm
Isabel Fattel of The Atlantic reports on why so many people in America have left the church. While the more dramatic factors of abuse and political idolatry are briefly mentioned (and must be taken seriously!), there is a much larger and more boring reason---a reason that suggests more about Americans than the nature of church … Continue reading The Banal Reason Why People Leave Church: Career
Richard Rabil, Jr. 