Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes the best thing to do as a writer is to skip the difficult parts and only do the easy things. Writers, why kill yourself? Write the easy stuff first. You may learn how to write the difficult stuff in the process. And then best of all, you may decide that the […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Contrary to popular belief, length and effort in writing are inversely—not directly—proportional. In writing, length and effort are inversely proportional. Writing short, brief, to-the-point pieces require more effort than writing long, wandering pieces.Of course we know this, but often forget it. I once worked on a career description at work. I worked […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Tips from Marion Roach Smith. I recently finished reading The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Here are a few tips from the book. This is an x and the illustration is y. Much of the book uses this formula. For example, this is a piece of humor, […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Late in life, I discover the best pencil and sharpener in the world. This isn’t high tech stuff. It is embarrassing how low tech it is and still be incredibly useful. Best pencil in the world? Palomino Blackwing 602. Best pencil sharpener in the world? The Blackwing Long Point Sharpener. What causes […]

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by Dwayne Phillips It may come as a surprise to many, but laws against libel and slander still exist. I write this five days before the 2015 Super Bowl. The big topic of conversation in the football world is about under-inflated footballs (yes, western civilization has come to this). What surprises me (at least a […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Yet another reason for brevity: the more the words, the more the mistakes. There must be some statistic somewhere that shows the number of mistakes per 1,000 words that writers make (is it a mistake to end a sentence with the word “make?” Did I put my punctuation marks in the right […]

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by Dwayne Phillips When you write something (anything), also write your name and the date. This is pretty simple, but usually neglected. Always write your name and the date next to anything you write. If you are writing in a notebook with your name on the cover, it may be sufficient to write just the […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Communicating can be reduced to one simple question. Answering that question is the pursuit that inspires me. I have an idea in my head; I have a feeling in my heart. Here is the crux of communication: How can I affect the other person? I love to try to answer that question. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Writing, like most endeavors and systems, has a hierarchy. There is a trade-off between resources spent and quality. I have a writing hierarchy. It has something to do with a trade-off of time and quality. My hierarchy is basically: jot on a napkin note in my journal my daybook blog posts paid […]

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by Dwayne Phillips One method of writing that has worked for me is to sketch a picture or diagram and then describe it. I have used this method of writing for years. I needed the assistance of others to understand that this is what I was doing. Here is the method: sketch a picture or […]

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