#writingwell — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #writingwell, aggregated by home.social.
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Moreso or More So? Anymore or Any More?
Helpful insights and tips related to these and other tricky terms Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/moreso-or-more-so-anymore-or-any-more-ed1bf2ddca0 -
Moreso or More So? Anymore or Any More?
Helpful insights and tips related to these and other tricky terms Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/moreso-or-more-so-anymore-or-any-more-ed1bf2ddca0 -
More Tips Related to Compound Nouns and the Verbs That Refer to Them
Including whether to use singular or plural verbs with amounts, measurements, and quantities Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/more-tips-related-to-compound-nouns-and-the-verbs-that-refer-to-them-48c55d2f43d -
More Tips Related to Compound Nouns and the Verbs That Refer to Them
Including whether to use singular or plural verbs with amounts, measurements, and quantities Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/more-tips-related-to-compound-nouns-and-the-verbs-that-refer-to-them-48c55d2f43d -
What Punctuation to Use With Bullet Points
And other tips related to writing, or editing, bulleted lists Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/what-punctuation-to-use-with-bullet-points-20c6ed62437 -
What Punctuation to Use With Bullet Points
And other tips related to writing, or editing, bulleted lists Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/what-punctuation-to-use-with-bullet-points-20c6ed62437 -
Tricks and Tips Regarding ‘Sneak,’ ‘Dive,’ and ‘Hang’ in Past and Perfect Past tenses
Plus other verbs that don't follow typical patterns Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/tricks-and-tips-regarding-sneak-dive-and-hang-in-past-and-perfect-past-tenses-062b182c9b4 -
Tricks and Tips Regarding ‘Sneak,’ ‘Dive,’ and ‘Hang’ in Past and Perfect Past tenses
Plus other verbs that don't follow typical patterns Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/tricks-and-tips-regarding-sneak-dive-and-hang-in-past-and-perfect-past-tenses-062b182c9b4 -
Tricks and Tips Regarding “Swang” vs. “Swung”
And other irregular verbs that don't follow the typical ‘i to a to u' pattern Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/tricks-and-tips-regarding-swang-vs-swung-c926bb8a376 -
Tricks and Tips Regarding “Swang” vs. “Swung”
And other irregular verbs that don't follow the typical ‘i to a to u' pattern Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/tricks-and-tips-regarding-swang-vs-swung-c926bb8a376 -
Tips Regarding Irregular Verbs That Follow Patterns in Certain Past Tenses
Including when to use “sprang” versus “sprung” Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/tips-regarding-irregular-verbs-that-follow-patterns-in-certain-past-tenses-b5a1159e5b1 -
Tips Regarding Irregular Verbs That Follow Patterns in Certain Past Tenses
Including when to use “sprang” versus “sprung” Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/tips-regarding-irregular-verbs-that-follow-patterns-in-certain-past-tenses-b5a1159e5b1 -
Rarely Used English Words From the Past to Use Now
Including some fun “reduplicated compounds” and two terms perfect for spooky season Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/rarely-used-english-words-from-the-past-to-use-now-61de92aa7e8 -
Rarely Used English Words From the Past to Use Now
Including some fun “reduplicated compounds” and two terms perfect for spooky season Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/rarely-used-english-words-from-the-past-to-use-now-61de92aa7e8 -
The Many Moods of Modal Auxiliary Verbs
And whether “also” should precede or follow modals in most cases Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/the-many-moods-of-modal-auxiliary-verbs-2e8bfe8d7b5#writing #writingwell #education #editing #grammar
@indieauthors -
The Many Moods of Modal Auxiliary Verbs
And whether “also” should precede or follow modals in most cases Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/the-many-moods-of-modal-auxiliary-verbs-2e8bfe8d7b5#writing #writingwell #education #editing #grammar
@indieauthors -
How to Use ‘Appraise’ vs.
As well as other commonly confused words, including doublets (AKA “etymological twins”) Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/how-to-use-appraise-vs-e7d916afd0d#etymology #education #editing #writingwell #writing
@indieauthors -
How to Use ‘Appraise’ vs.
As well as other commonly confused words, including doublets (AKA “etymological twins”) Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/how-to-use-appraise-vs-e7d916afd0d#etymology #education #editing #writingwell #writing
@indieauthors -
The Nuts and Bolts of Nongradable Adjectives
And why it's best to leave the indisputably absolute alone Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/the-nuts-and-bolts-of-nongradable-adjectives-0d4853155ba#writing #editing #education #grammar #writingwell
@indieauthors -
The Nuts and Bolts of Nongradable Adjectives
And why it's best to leave the indisputably absolute alone Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/the-nuts-and-bolts-of-nongradable-adjectives-0d4853155ba#writing #editing #education #grammar #writingwell
@indieauthors -
Divine Documentation
Dad was about my age when he said that reading the manual was better than hypothesis driven button pressing. For teenage me, that took too long. Sure, I may have crashed a computer or two but following my gut got me there. Of course my gut isn’t that smart. In the decades preceding, devices had converged on a common pattern language of buttons. Once learned, the standard grammar of action would reliably deliver me to my destination.
Image of a nebula taken by the Hubble Telescope.In programming I was similarly aided by the shared patterns across MATLAB, Python, R, Java, Julia, and even HTML. In the end however, dad was right. Reading documentation is the way. Besides showing correct usage, manuals create a new understanding of my problems. I am able to play with tech thanks to the people that took the effort and the care to create good documentation. This is not limited to code and AI. During the startup years, great handbooks clarified accounting, fundraising, and regulations, areas foreign to me.
I love good documentation and I write documentation. Writing good documentation is hard. It is an exercise in deep empathy with my user. Reaching into the future to give them all they need is part of creating good technology. Often the future user is me and I like it when past me is nice to now me. If an expert Socratic interlocutor is like weight training, documentation is a kindly spirit ancestor parting the mist.
Maybe it’s something about being this age but now I try to impart good documentation practices to my teams. I also do not discourage pressing buttons to see what happens. Inefficient, but discovery is a fun way to spike interest.
Meanwhile, I’m reading a more basic kind of documentation. Writing English. Having resolved to write more, I’m discovering that words are buttons. Poking them gets me to where I want, but not always. Despite writerly ambitions, the basics are lacking. This became apparent recently when I picked up the book Artful Sentences by Virginia Tufte*. It’s two hundred and seventy pages of wonderful sentences dissected to show their mechanics. I was lost by page 5. The book is, temporarily, in my anti-library.
So, I’m going to the basics, Strunk and White, and William Zinsser. I’m hoping that Writing to Learn (finished) and On Writing Well (in progress) provide sufficient context about reasons to write to make the most of S&W, for the how, then somewhere down the road, savor Tufte.
* Those dastardly Tuftes are always making me learn some kind of grammar.
#AI #Business #ContinuousLearning #DevLife #Documentation #EmpathyInDesign #KnowledgeSharing #Leadership #LearningInPublic #ManualsMatter #OpenSource #philosophy #Programming #ReadTheDocs #science #SoftwareDevelopment #Startups #StrunkAndWhite #TechWriting #VirginiaTufte #WilliamZinsser #WritingWell
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Divine Documentation
Dad was about my age when he said that reading the manual was better than hypothesis driven button pressing. For teenage me, that took too long. Sure, I may have crashed a computer or two but following my gut got me there. Of course my gut isn’t that smart. In the decades preceding, devices had converged on a common pattern language of buttons. Once learned, the standard grammar of action would reliably deliver me to my destination.
Image of a nebula taken by the Hubble Telescope.In programming I was similarly aided by the shared patterns across MATLAB, Python, R, Java, Julia, and even HTML. In the end however, dad was right. Reading documentation is the way. Besides showing correct usage, manuals create a new understanding of my problems. I am able to play with tech thanks to the people that took the effort and the care to create good documentation. This is not limited to code and AI. During the startup years, great handbooks clarified accounting, fundraising, and regulations, areas foreign to me.
I love good documentation and I write documentation. Writing good documentation is hard. It is an exercise in deep empathy with my user. Reaching into the future to give them all they need is part of creating good technology. Often the future user is me and I like it when past me is nice to now me. If an expert Socratic interlocutor is like weight training, documentation is a kindly spirit ancestor parting the mist.
Maybe it’s something about being this age but now I try to impart good documentation practices to my teams. I also do not discourage pressing buttons to see what happens. Inefficient, but discovery is a fun way to spike interest.
Meanwhile, I’m reading a more basic kind of documentation. Writing English. Having resolved to write more, I’m discovering that words are buttons. Poking them gets me to where I want, but not always. Despite writerly ambitions, the basics are lacking. This became apparent recently when I picked up the book Artful Sentences by Virginia Tufte*. It’s two hundred and seventy pages of wonderful sentences dissected to show their mechanics. I was lost by page 5. The book is, temporarily, in my anti-library.
So, I’m going to the basics, Strunk and White, and William Zinsser. I’m hoping that Writing to Learn (finished) and On Writing Well (in progress) provide sufficient context about reasons to write to make the most of S&W, for the how, then somewhere down the road, savor Tufte.
* Those dastardly Tuftes are always making me learn some kind of grammar.
#AI #Business #ContinuousLearning #DevLife #Documentation #EmpathyInDesign #KnowledgeSharing #Leadership #LearningInPublic #ManualsMatter #OpenSource #philosophy #Programming #ReadTheDocs #science #SoftwareDevelopment #Startups #StrunkAndWhite #TechWriting #VirginiaTufte #WilliamZinsser #WritingWell
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Compound Adjectives That Always Take a Hyphen
Even when they don't precede nouns Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/compound-adjectives-that-always-take-a-hyphen-81fbb54727b#grammar #writing #writingwell #editing #education
@indieauthors -
Compound Adjectives That Always Take a Hyphen
Even when they don't precede nouns Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/compound-adjectives-that-always-take-a-hyphen-81fbb54727b#grammar #writing #writingwell #editing #education
@indieauthors -
Rules Related to the Oxford Comma Revisited
Including why not using the Oxford comma in a list may require a punctuation switch Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/rules-related-to-the-oxford-comma-revisited-c5408c8a3d4#icecream #writing #punctuation #grammar #writingwell
@indieauthors -
Rules Related to the Oxford Comma Revisited
Including why not using the Oxford comma in a list may require a punctuation switch Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/rules-related-to-the-oxford-comma-revisited-c5408c8a3d4#icecream #writing #punctuation #grammar #writingwell
@indieauthors -
How to Use Creative Collective Nouns to Add Color to Your Writing
Plus the medieval source of many well-known — and less well-known — collective nouns related to wildlife Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/how-to-use-creative-collective-nouns-to-add-color-to-your-writing-92390fd223f#writingwell #medieval #writing #wildlife #education
@indieauthors -
How to Use Creative Collective Nouns to Add Color to Your Writing
Plus the medieval source of many well-known — and less well-known — collective nouns related to wildlife Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/how-to-use-creative-collective-nouns-to-add-color-to-your-writing-92390fd223f#writingwell #medieval #writing #wildlife #education
@indieauthors -
How to Correctly Use Commas with the Subordinating Conjunction “While” in Your Writing
And why the rules differ depending on meaning and placement in a sentence Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/how-to-correctly-use-commas-with-the-subordinating-conjunction-while-in-your-writing-cfe1d78802f#editing #education #writing #punctuation #writingwell
@indieauthors -
How to Correctly Use Commas with the Subordinating Conjunction “While” in Your Writing
And why the rules differ depending on meaning and placement in a sentence Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/how-to-correctly-use-commas-with-the-subordinating-conjunction-while-in-your-writing-cfe1d78802f#editing #education #writing #punctuation #writingwell
@indieauthors -
How to Correctly Use Common Descriptive Latin Terms in Your Writing
And whether to italicize or hyphenate “ad hoc,” “bona fide,” “de facto,” or “per diem” Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/how-to-correctly-use-common-descriptive-latin-terms-in-your-writing-6bb6ad70a52#writing #writingwell #education #editing #latin
@indieauthors -
How to Correctly Use Common Descriptive Latin Terms in Your Writing
And whether to italicize or hyphenate “ad hoc,” “bona fide,” “de facto,” or “per diem” Continue reading on The Writing Cooperative »
https://writingcooperative.com/how-to-correctly-use-common-descriptive-latin-terms-in-your-writing-6bb6ad70a52#writing #writingwell #education #editing #latin
@indieauthors