Writing

Writing — No Comments
17
Feb 10

Dictionary Definitions Don’t Count as an Intro

Imagine the introduction of your writing as a funnel for readers to get into your subject. Start general and get more specific once they’re interested.

If you’re writing about web application usability to people who might not understand what that means, the dictionary definition isn’t going to help them. It may be right, but it isn’t useful.

Instead explain it in your own words to ease your reader into the topic. Eliminate jargon like “accessibility” and “user personas” to get down to the basics. All the sexy buzz words come later.

Copying and pasting a definition is the lazy way out. Think about how you would explain it to someone who has no idea what you’re talking about and use that as your introduction.

Writing — 1 Comment
13
Jan 10

Little Things

I often wonder how I can make the world a better place. Solve world hunger, educate underprivileged kids to give them a fighting chance, achieve world peace. While these are lofty goals, I’ve given in to the fact that I alone will never fully solve those problems. That doesn’t mean you and I can’t still make the world a better place by doing the little things.

Try these:

  1. Hold the door for someone, even if they are 15 seconds from getting to the door. The awkward eye contact and shy smiles will put you both in a good mood.
  2. Let someone go ahead of you in traffic. People merging onto a crowded highway tend to think they have the right of way. They don’t, but why not be nice and let them go. Traffic is stressful enough.
  3. Thank people. Always, thank people. I find it rude if you hold the door or elevator for someone and they do not thank me. The phrase is two words, but it weighs more than the 8 letters that make it up.
  4. Buy your romantic partner flowers on the way home from work. Or chocolate. Or a DVD. Or a book they’ve been eyeing.
  5. Compliment someone. Guys: You’d be surprised how far a small compliment goes to improve the mood of the women around you. Try “I like how you did your hair today” or “Your eyes look very blue today.”
  6. Start a conversation while waiting in line (queue as they say in Europe).
  7. Pick up a piece of trash rolling along the sidewalk.
  8. Let the mother behind you with three fidgety kids go ahead of you in the grocery line. You can wait another 5 minutes and her being 5 minutes closer to wrangling her kids into the car would mean the world.
  9. Randomly buy your friends something little. My friend bought me a CD a couple years ago and gave it to me straight from the Amazon package while we were checking our mail together. The CD was awesome and the gesture makes me crack a smile to this day.

Imagine the power to improve the world if everyone did one of these each day.

What would you add to this list?

Update: Unit Interactive released a site where people post something that made their day. I’m surprised how many of those things are little things that would take less than five minutes to do. Five minutes for 24 hours of happiness. Sounds like good ROI to me.

Writing — 1 Comment
18
Nov 09

Give Me Some Space

From now on, you’re not allowed to put two spaces after a sentence. Only use one. I know two is what you were taught, but it puts too much space in between thoughts.

One space helps your writing flow better because the reader doesn’t get distracted by the unnecessary white space.

Writing — No Comments
5
Nov 09

Avoid Generalizations

i-heart-generalizations

Generalizations (as in “Most user don’t know what a double click is.”) are worse than not writing anything at all. They mean nothing and waste the reader’s time. On the internet, having a reader spend time on your site is a privilege. Write wisely.

Common Offenders

  • Research shows that – “Research shows that IE6 is one of the most popular browsers ever.” – If research does actually support your argument, cite it. Otherwise, don’t make it up.
  • Most – “Most users don’t scroll below the fold.” – ‘Most’ is unspecific. It could mean 51% or 99.99%. Use a more specific number instead, even if it’s an informal survey of your friends or your past experiences (I find that 55% of my readers don’t scroll below the fold.)
  • More – “More often than not a user doesn’t even go to a second page.” – If it’s true, prove it. Cite the source or your experience. Make it a more specific statement.
  • A lot – “A lot of wars have happened in the past.” – The phrase ‘a lot’ is relative. Does it mean 5? 150? 700 billion?
  • Some say – The only one who can pull this off is Jeremy Clarkson when he introduces the Stig. (Some say that he’s seen the Lion King 1,780 times)
  • They say – “They say that the swine flu will be bad this year.” – Who said that? The experts did. What experts? Errrr…

It’s okay to use these words and phrases, but don’t base your writing on them. Don’t overuse generalizations. Used occasionally, they can reinforce your point. If they are your point, you might not have much substance behind your writing to begin with. Work on the substance instead of your generalizations and your writing will be more useful and comprehensive.