ComHacker.org

by Patricia Mayo

I was chatting with my buddy Rob Williams of 170spoons when he said “gotta run, time to catch up on some dinner and RSS.” I mentioned I haven’t bothered with RSS for months. His response was, quite understandably - “WHAT?!”

Photo mashup of images by Daniel Bonoore and Beau de Noir

You’re probably going to call me nuts, but RSS, to me, is quite inefficient. There are far better tools which serve the same perceived purpose. I know, I know - I’ve just thrown you through a complete loop, but allow me to explain…

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Trisha, @mayobrains on Twitter

“The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say,
but what we are unable to say.”
Anais Nin

“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’
your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”
Mark Twain

“Writers, like teeth,
are divided into incisors and grinders.”
Walter Bagehot

“I have made this longer because
I have not had the time to make it shorter.”
Blaise Pascal

Layering even boring statements in catch phrases from pop culture grabs a lot more attention than even a great point could have otherwise. The key is giving people something they can click with and relate to in your writing.

by Patricia Mayo

Did you notice something strange in the last few entries? There’s columns and microposts and strange pictures - oh my!

Photo by Bart

Over the last couple days I have broken my blog more times than I can count - all in the name of improving my writing style. Of course, it helps that it all looks neat and fancy too.

Really I’m just trying to forcibly train myself. Some people write long paragraphs - I write long sentences. Sure it may not seem like a bad habit. However, I believe if you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward.

“At the first gate the gatekeeper asks, Is it true? At the second gate, he asks, Is it necessary? And at the third gate, Is it kind?”

Make sure every word passes all three gates before you speak them.

Headlines are the most important part of your post. Write it last. At worst, write something temporary to help you stay on topic, and then go back and really fix it up before you hit publish.