SilverPen Publishing

Write For Yourself

Matthew — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:30:18 +0000

As part of my current project, I’ve been asking people a lot of questions. My thought processes don’t work the same way as other people’s, so it’s helpful for me to ask people about their experiences, motivations, and goals. Knowing your audience is pretty important, and this is the most direct method I have.

There is a problem with asking questions though: you sometimes get answers you don’t want. On the magical carpet ride that is the Internet, there will be people who want to tear you down and tear you apart. I don’t know why. It doesn’t matter.

Screw them. The people who hate your ideas, want to knock you down and kick your breath out, and who are your most vociferous critics are probably also in the minority. Whether in politics or criticism, the loudest always seem to be from the smallest camp. Forget about them–they’re not worth it.

The majority, to be honest, are probably apathetic. They’re not interested and just don’t care. You might be able to swing some of them to your cause, and that’s not a bad goal, but they’re not with you yet.

And then there is the contingent of people who are with you. They get you. They’re intrigued, and maybe even interested. These are the ones who will support you, and whose thought processes do work like yours. Write for them, because writing for them is just like writing for yourself.

And if you make yourself happy, they’ll be happy too.

Ever tried recording your thoughts?

Matthew — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:39:45 +0000

My friend Brian loves his digital audio recorder. He has a terrible memory so he carries it with him everywhere and grabs it when something comes to mind. Throughout the day he’ll record snippets and ideas, and then sit down in the afternoon or evening to transcribe the thoughts into his journal.

I’ve done a few of these, but while I can handle the first step of recording my thoughts pretty easily, I have a lot of trouble with the second. I’ve put some audio notes into Evernote, but I never go back and listen to them. And last night I spent over thirty minutes recording some story ideas I had, but I worry I won’t actually do anything with those notes.

The act of saying the ideas out loud helps me to remember, and I don’t have too much trouble in that department to begin with. But I’m curious about your experiences: have you tried audio recording for ideas, and do you have any tips to share?

Don’t Undersell Yourself

Matthew — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:30:46 +0000

Could I get your thoughts on something? I read a really good article yesterday about why freelancers should charge more for their services. I know that I have a tendency to value my services the same as my current salary at the University, but there were a lot of things I wasn’t taking into account.

Many freelancers will be in the attitude of thinking this (for example):

I want to make £30,000 a year. Therefore if I work 5 days a week and 8 hours a day, my hourly rate is around about £16 an hour.

WRONG!

You will see how it ought to be at least twice this amount; otherwise you will not net £30,000.

Check out the article and leave me a comment with your thoughts. I’m reevaluating a few things and am really interested in your feedback.

Don’t Pull Your Punches

Is it worth maintaining multiple Twitter accounts?

Matthew — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:30:08 +0000

Do you have more than one Twitter account? Why?

Usually when people maintain more than one Twitter account, it is for reasons of branding. Let’s say someone owns a hotel and a hardware supply company. They’ve taken hardware supply to the Internet and ship all over the world, and that means they need an online presence and identity. They need the same for their hotel, but they don’t want these two identities to mix. The easiest solution is to create two Twitter accounts.

But for those of us who are writing online, and particularly when we’re starting out, is it necessary? I have my personal Twitter account, which displays on the right side of SilverPen, and then I have the echo linux account which shows up at the top right of that site. These two sites have different focuses and audiences, but I’m wondering if it’s worthwhile for me to have two accounts.

What do you think? Are multiple accounts for freelancers and bloggers worth starting early? Or should we pool our resources and use these tools to get the word out to as many people as possible?

It makes sense to create separate online identities for different brands, but what if the brand is ourselves and what we do?

Can you deliver?

Matthew — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:30:26 +0000

An interesting discussion has taken place over at scraplab about “delivering.” Whether it’s a program or a book, we deliver when we put something out for public consumption. We’ve taken our baby and sent it out into the big, scary world, and now it has to stand on its own. Or, as might very well be the case, fall on its own.

The second entry is a response on another person’s blog to the first one in the list. In this exchange, they talk about deliverables, and then about journalism/news. What about blogging?

Blogging seems insignificant next to a newspaper, though there are certainly blogs with larger readerships than many newspapers. Either way, both have to keep feeding the press, coming up with new words and putting them together for hungry readers. We still deliver, but I like how number 2 up there puts it:

It’s not that the media critics have never shipped, it’s that they do so much shipping they’ve stopped caring about product like anyone else would.

I still get a bit of nervousness when I publish something I’ve written, even though I publish something most every day. There’s a vulnerability inherent in putting words into the database, formatting that for public consumption, and sending it out into the world. Will anyone notice? Will anyone care? How many will hate or like this thing in which I have invested myself?

Some people point at the current state of writing as “the death of literature.” When everyone writes, can anyone be called a Writer? And if everyone is a Writer, is there anything special in it? If everyone is published, is it worth “being published?”

The shift is this: if anything, there is greater emphasis on writing for the self than for others, because in the great noise that is the Internet, it is becoming increasingly rare for others to notice that we deliver.

If no one notices, does it still matter? I dare say it does.

It’s OK to take a day (or two)

Matthew — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:43:35 +0000

It’s hard to take a break when you’ve got a gig on the side. Balancing a full-time job and writing, reviewing, and the tech stuff I can never find enough time for is pretty tough, and it leaves me feeling like I’m working all the time. The constant pressure to deliver is stressful.

Taking time off feels like I’m cheating people out of something. Like that’s one more day later that the book will be done, or one less worthwhile article for people to read. Every day that passes takes with it news that I haven’t read, or on which I haven’t commented; thoughts I haven’t shared; stories I haven’t told.

And somehow it’s worse that the time has been forced. I didn’t really do any work this weekend, but that R&R wasn’t scheduled or planned. I meant to be productive, but the motivation wasn’t there, and I lacked the energy to force myself. I rested, and felt guilty.

And then I saw this Twitter message. It wasn’t a flash of insight, or anything I hadn’t thought before, but it was reaffirming. Writing and doing all this extra stuff I’ve been doing has been fun, and it has provided me an outlet and some balance to my life. Yeah, I constantly wish I could do and accomplish more, but it’s not like I’m ruining people’s day by not getting something done. What happens if I’m a day late? Less free stuff on the ‘Net?

I’m not going to let this turn into an excuse for laziness, but hopefully I’ll sleep a bit easier tonight. I needed some unplanned R&R, and I had it whether I liked it or not. Time to relax–work can wait until tomorrow.

Twitter message by the illustrious KC Green.

Mapping the way forward

Matthew — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:30:50 +0000

You know your goal. It’s pretty straightforward: this is what you have to do. There’s really no question about it.

But how do you get there? That’s where things become tricky.

If you need to train a work force, learn or teach a new process, or implement a new system, building documentation either in advance of the implementation or at the same time will make your life and the lives of your employees significantly easier. Many teams put off writing documentation until after the project is done (“We wanted to wait until we had everything settled,” or “We didn’t have time!”), and then never go back so the process becomes lost, new employees take longer to train, and work processes are based on an ambiguous oral tradition.

SilverPen Publishing’s documentation consultation service can help you create a plan. We will assist in identifying the documentation you need to create; answer questions about software, formatting, and processes; and help you understand what steps need to be taken to get the work done. We can also answer questions about wikis, Sharepoint sites, and other means of storing or sharing documentation.

To learn more about our documentation consultation services, just send us a quick message. We’re here to help.

Noir Review

Matthew — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:30:47 +0000

Can you remember the last review you read? What do you remember of it?

When we go looking for reviews, there’s a very specific piece of information we as consumers are looking for: we want to know if the writer liked the thing in question, and why. We get in, get what we need, and leave with an impression of either positivity or negativity. Beyond that, reviews are forgettable–they’re information for the moment.

If a review is written such that you don’t forget it, though, and instead recall it for days or weeks, that’s not only going to improve your view of the product, it’s also a huge boon to the reviewer. In my attempt to decide whether to buy an iPhone 4, I found just such a review. It’s innocuous and starts off simply, but I drank it in. This review has been on my mind for days.

What sets it apart is the style of writing. The author didn’t just tell me what he thinks. He invited me into his life and shared personal moments and interactions that reflect his thoughts on the iPhone. He showed, rather than told, and it created a lasting impression.

I wonder what other styles we could experiment with, toying with form and function to communicate in startling, inventive, and memorable ways. I’m not generally a big fan of noir, but a review written in this style is as fantastic as the crafty stories that often accompany Woot sales. They catch my attention, surprising me with their originality and creativity.

Is it too thin? Is it too delicate? I’m afraid of holding it. I never used to be.

I go to play with my bunny. When I pick him up, he squirms as if I’ll never let go for all eternity. I try to lower myself to the ground as much as possible before he scratches my arms and jumps out of my hands. He can adjust his body to land on his feet, absorbing most amount of impact in the least damaging areas.

This iPhone cannot. The iPhone 4 is not as drop resistant as a rabbit.

Taking a Step Back

Matthew — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:30:45 +0000

The act of writing is a very intimate process. Whether it’s an email or a novel, we’re putting a bit of ourselves into the work, and this creates a problem. We become so close to the piece that it’s hard for us to critique it.

The words are so familiar that our eyes skim over them. The tone is ours, and sounds right to us, but how do we know? A good trick is to finish a piece, or at least part of it, and then walk away for a few days. When you come back, it’ll be a bit more fresh and you can look at it with a new perspective. This sometimes takes more than days, though, and not everyone has weeks or months before a piece of writing must be done.

SilverPen Publishing’s general editing service might be just what you need. This service combines both our workshopping abilities and our copy editing skills to produce a finished, polished piece of writing. When we think of things that need changed, improved, or added, we will add them as necessary. General editing isn’t just fixing typos, it also includes re-arranging, re-writing, and re-working as necessary.

The work is still yours, and we will work very hard to maintain your voice and tone–the writing will still be your writing. When you don’t have time to take days or weeks to reset and look at the work anew, SilverPen can do that work for you. Contact us to learn more about general editing and how we can help.

What are your writing exercises?

Matthew — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:30:43 +0000

I haven’t done writing exercises much since I finished taking creative writing courses in college, but I always found them helpful and intriguing. Now I have agreed to join Sarah Salway as a guinea pig and complete 12 weeks of exercises as part of some work she is doing.

To get back into the habit of working on them, I was curious: what writing exercises do you do, either to get the ink flowing or to take your mind and fingers in new directions?