Novelist Cormac McCarthy has spent twenty years editing what feels like the opposite of a novel: scientific papers by faculty members and postdocs at the Santa Fe Institute. Some of the scientists he worked with have paraphrased and compiled McCarthy’s best writing advice. It applies to all kinds of writing, from…Read more… Continue Reading at […]
Be careful when you ask for writing advice. Some people want to do it the right way—determine what you want to say and to whom, and help you do so. But some only want to bring you in line with their idea of “correct” writing. They’re pedants, who think there’s only one right way to […]
There are many Sarah Pinskers from many alternate universes. They’ve gathered for SarahCon, a convention held by scientist Sarah Pinsker. And one of the Sarahs has murdered another. That’s the premise of “And Then There Were (N-One),” the first story I read by the real Sarah Pinsker, author of science fiction,…Read more… Continue Reading at […]
This is not normal: A government employee wrote a good memo. Harvard College Writing Center director Jane Rosenzweig praises the nine-page whistleblower complaint against the Trump administration in a New York Times op-ed, listing four techniques that make the complaint clear and effective.Read more… Continue Reading at https://lifehacker.com
There’s a thing kids do when they write letters or essays. They write “Oh, and…” as if the reader were receiving their words in real time. They don’t know how to hide their stream of consciousness from their writing. If you’re writing in a burst of inspiration, you might do it too. Writing your thoughts […]
Every week, we share the shortcuts, workspaces, and productivity tips of our favorite experts. This week, we’re going behind the scenes at Lifehacker. I’m Nick Douglas, and this is how I work.Read more… Continue Reading at https://lifehacker.com
Every week, we share the shortcuts, workspaces, and productivity tips of our favorite experts. This week, we’re going behind the scenes at Lifehacker. I’m Josh Ocampo, and this is how I work.Read more… Continue Reading at https://lifehacker.com
Some of the most influential people in history kept detailed journals of their lives, including Charles Darwin, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison and Frida Kahlo. Those journals served two purposes: a permanent record for posterity and, presumably, a cathartic release for the people writing them.Read more… Continue Reading at https://lifehacker.com
Google has officially rolled out the most useful addition to Docs we’ve seen in years: a word count. Or, to be more specific, a feature that allows you to get the live word count for whatever document you’re working on. It’s a lot more convenient than having to click through menus to see a static […]
Rewarding yourself can backfire. If you tell yourself “I’ll only listen to my favorite podcast while I’m at the gym,” it takes just one moment of weakness to realize you can cheat and listen to it any time you want. Instead, try this: Reward yourself with something that has no enjoyment value whatsoever. Like a…Read […]
Rewarding yourself can backfire. If you tell yourself “I’ll only listen to my favorite podcast while I’m at the gym,” it takes just one moment of weakness to realize you can cheat and listen to it any time you want. Instead, try this: Reward yourself with something that has no enjoyment value whatsoever. Like a…Read […]
“In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was God, and the Word was God.” This is a great opening if you’re writing a biography of the Messiah. Not so great for a college admissions essay, or a Medium post about the joys of having three children, or an opinion column in the company […]
“In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was God, and the Word was God.” This is a great opening if you’re writing a biography of the Messiah. Not so great for a college admissions essay, or a Medium post about the joys of having three children, or an opinion column in the company […]
“In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was God, and the Word was God.” This is a great opening if you’re writing a biography of the Messiah. Not so great for a college admissions essay, or a Medium post about the joys of having three children, or an opinion column in the company […]
io9 was founded as a website dedicated to both science journalism and science-fiction and cultural criticism. And although that mission has evolved over the years, that intersection between science and science fiction is something that still drives co-founders Charlie Jane Anders and Annalee Newitz’ work as authors.…Read more… Continue Reading at https://kotaku.com
Who here knows when to use “who” and when to use “whom”? For whom am I writing this post? For those of us who like a good whom now and then and know it isn’t just a fancier version of who, that’s whom.Read more… Continue Reading at https://lifehacker.com
Before there was LOL and TLDR and STFU, we had other abbreviations that helped us to quickly and easily convey ideas. These still have a useful place in our writing, because they still help us quickly and easily convey ideas. They are i.e. and e.g., and they are not the same thing.Read more… Continue Reading […]
Journaling can be a great practice for getting ready to start the day, for thinking through your goals and dreams, and to harness your creativity. But if you’re doing all this writing, when do you read your journal? Do you even have to? Read more… Continue Reading at https://lifehacker.com
Journaling can be a great practice for getting ready to start the day, for thinking through your goals and dreams, and to harness your creativity. But if you’re doing all this writing, when do you read your journal? Do you even have to? Read more… Continue Reading at https://lifehacker.com
For the 40th anniversary of the first Alien film, 20th Century Fox commissioned six new short films set in the Alien universe. The most popular was Alien: Specimen, directed and produced by Kelsey Taylor. Taylor has also worked on projects for CollegeHumor, 1 Minute Horror, and several of her own short films. We…Read more… Continue […]
