Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips Not sure what you want to say? Start writing about the topic, and you will probably learn what it is you want to say. William Zinsser once wrote a book with the same title as this blog post. That book is better than this blog post, and the two have slightly different […]

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by Dwayne Phillips In an attempt to go back to reality, adults are returning to coloring books. Everyone has a smartphone, a tablet, a computer, or all of these. You move the mouse, the cursor moves, and lines and colors and all that appear on the screen. Press control-P and the printer produces the paper […]

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by Dwayne Phillips On the first page of each journal book, I first write a few things to keep me in the desired frame of mind. Journal Writing A tool for self awareness events people things feelings insights questions experiences with ideas dreams and fantasies The Examen Spiritual Exercises Thank God for all gifts Ask […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I learn what a technical writer does (now that I are one). I have been working in a job titled “technical writer” for about a month now. I wasn’t sure what that job title meant or what a technical writer actually does. After an entire month or so, I have concluded that […]

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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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