The internet isn’t exactly known for providing a consistently high quality of writing. And I don’t think most people have particularly high literary expectations of video game reviews. So I was surprised to see a badly-written video game review elicit strong responses from readers, and prompt a discussion on the craft of writing that references…
I took along a whole lot of books during winter break, and started with The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear by Ralph Keyes. I ended up reading it cover-to-cover during my flight, as I was completely engrossed. This isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned overcoming fear in order to write. I found the…
photo © 2008 hojusaram | more info (via: Wylio) I was reading the closing chapters of Zinsser’s “On Writing Well”. Zinsser has an uncanny knack of pointing out things that I hadn’t thought of before, but that seem obvious once he says them. His chapter on “Enjoyment, Fear and Confidence” is full of good advice….
I am a world-changer, at heart. I have led a privileged life, not without its challenges; but it still provides a stable place from which I feel an obligation to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. Sometimes, you never know what impact you’re going to have on the world, as we learned this week…
A new website called The Open Notebook just launched focusing on the craft of science journalism, and I think it’s well worth checking out. The website features interviews with science writers about recent stories they’ve published. It seems like a great way to get insights about how they tackled the story, including the nitty-gritty details:…
I’m naturally a bit shy. This can make social media a bit overwhelming: Am I really willing to share my thoughts and opinions with the entire Web? You might argue that if I’m not interested in sharing my thoughts, I really shouldn’t become a journalist. And that’s true to some extent. But everything I write…
My science career was in social psychology. It’s a field full of individuals, but a common motivation I found I shared with many of my colleagues is a serious understanding and critique of stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination. These topics are the core of the field, and one of our best tales of success in applying…
Whenever I have to write about science in detail, or explain a concept, I find that I default to ‘science-robot’ mode. I write in very dry, technical terms, just getting all the facts in there. And I end up with something that, while technically correct and factually accurate, no one could possibly read without his…
The perfect story to drive traffic to a website would be about “robot laser sharks in space,” according to Alexis Madrigal, senior editor and technology writer for TheAtlantic.com. We listened to Alexis talk via Skype, for our social media class. Most of the talk was about how we could use Twitter, but I was struck…
