Your typical preventive health advice---get more sleep, move around, eat your broccoli, and so on---is so dull and obvious that no one pays attention to it. But it's precisely the advice we need.
Words Are the Supreme Objects
Martin Silenus in 'Hyperion' waxes poetic on the unique power of words, and quotes Russell Bertrand along the way: “Language serves not only to express thought but to make possible thoughts which could not exist without it.”
My Article from STC Intercom: Designing Wiki Templates for Today’s Web
Last November I published an article in Intercom, a magazine produced by the Society for Technical Communication. It was paywalled at the time, but the exclusive rights period has since expired so I have copied it here. Synopsis: A regular part of the technical writer's job is to design document templates that help others jumpstart the writing process. How do our template design strategies change as more documentation moves from the print medium to web browsers and mobile devices?
On ‘Ready Player One’ and Questions about Tech
The movie was plagued by cliches, and yet it raises important questions about the role of technology in our lives.
When Style Is the Substance (and Why It Matters)
In an economy where substance is abundant but attention is scarce, style can become more important than the substance it conveys. The implications for writers are profound. Featuring examples from fantasy, sci-fi, Calvin and Hobbes, Deadpool, and Borderlands!
Medieval Peasants Worked Less Than You: Fake News?
A few days ago, a headline popped up on my phone stating that the average American works more hours per year than medieval peasants did. Is that really true?
I Wrote a Dull Story: Lessons in Writing Failure
A few months ago when the annual Writer's Digest short story contest came around, I decided to take a break from novel writing, revive an old short story, and submit it for the competition. It didn't place, and looking back, I can see why. The story was dull.
