Dec
19
Writing procedures can be much more difficult than you’d think. We see procedures everywhere, so it’s natural to think that we should be able to write one without too much trouble. For that reason, I wanted to take you through some terrible real-life procedures. This is at least partly so we can all have a …
Aug
24
The writing industry has a schism. It’s not always obvious. We like to play it down. Some deny its very existence. But one day, you’ll be happily writing away in your new job, safe in the knowledge that you have a good grasp of spelling, comma placement, the use of industry terms and jargon, and can …
Aug
10
A conversation on the Australian Tech Writers mailing list prompted me to dig up these old blog posts from 2008 and repost them here. It was a short impromptu series of the changing face of language, and how we as wordsmiths deal with it: Merriam-Webster – Bringing The Mondegreen To Linguistic Fanboys Everywhere July 2008 …
Jun
13
At Red Hat, we have a content services department that is about sixty people strong. Even though the department is pretty big these days, back when I started with the company, we were still trying to work out the best way to run a successful enterprise-level documentation team. What that means is that I have …
Feb
15
Louisa Albury was born in 1848 in Mudgee, the second of twelve children. Although she was offered a position as ‘pupil teacher’ at school, she was encouraged by her parents to leave school in order to look after her younger siblings. It was a fairly common thing to happen to eldest girls at the time, …
Nov
30
Receiving a MODY3 diagnosis can be a threatening, frightening time. However, by understanding the disease, and knowing what to do about it, you can live a long and healthy life. This booklet will explain what MODY3 is, and will outline some of the changes you will need to make. Diabetes mellitus refers to a group of diseases …
Dec
15
In her introduction to the 1994 edition of “Damned Whores and God’s Police”, the wonderful Anne Summers wrote “I believe that to address these questions [of women's struggle for equality] adequately, a new book is needed and I hope that someone, somewhere, right now is hatching another ‘big book’, a sweeping feminist perspective on contemporary …
Dec
14
Every writer has been asked this. Even unpublished, unknown, and unrecognised writers like me. In Stephen King’s brilliant book “On Writing” (which, you might have noticed, was the inspiration for this blog’s title) he gives a simple and succinct answer: Anything you damn well want. Honestly, I don’t know where I get my ideas. Sometimes …
Dec
01
13 November 2010 As of today, this blog is closed. It’s been a long, hard year and we’ve decided that we can’t go on anymore. The risks are too great. The existing posts will remain here for the foreseeable future, but the shop will be closed. Any and all further requests for purchase will be …
