Asking questions is more important than finding answers — why?
This week, as I was riding my bike to work and listening to Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World (a classic fantasy/adventure book), one of the characters — was it Bayle Domon, the pirate? for the life of me, I can’t remember, nor can I find it, but he says (Read more...)
Guest Post: Is Technical Writing Creative?
The following is a guest post by Lopa Mishra, a technical writer in Mumbai, India. At a college reunion party recently, someone asked me what job I’m pursuing. On replying that I’m a writer, a friend jumped in to clarify that I’m a “technical” writer. My friend considers that technical writing has nothing to do (Read more...)
A Lifetime of Reading Versus a Lifetime of Writing
This past week I traveled to Florida to help clear out my dad’s house. He recently fell and hit his head, and now he’s in a rehabilitation center while his memory recovers. It may take him months to return to his normal self. When he does, we want him to live closer to my sister (Read more...)
What I’ve Learned From Lunchtime Creative Writing Workshops
About a month ago, one of my colleagues approached me and asked if I would be interested in having an informal creative writing workshop every now and then. Huh, I thought, maybe. I floated the idea by the other four writers in our technical writing group, and it turns out everyone was interested in participating (Read more...)
My Problem with Fiction, and How I Tried to Resolve It
I’ve been somewhat bothered by the fact that I don’t read much fiction. For someone who has a degree in creative writing, this is a bit troubling. My degree is in nonfiction creative writing, but still, you would think that I read a novel a week or more. Not really. Not too long after my (Read more...)
Presentations Versus Conversations
Recently I listened to Moira Gunn interview Steve Rosenbaum about content curation in her podcast, Tech Nation. I heard Steve present on a similar topic at Confab. Interestingly, I found the podcast, which was a conversation between Moira and Steve, more interesting, fluid, and natural than Steve’s Confab presentation. Steve’s presentation at Confab was great. (Read more...)