Microlog
61 Microlog entries tagged with ‘writing’
5.4: Pitchfork, 1995-present
A comprehensive critical history of the music review site. Give yourself a good half hour or so to digest the whole thing, it’s worth it. Sound & Screen ·
Every writing system, ever, pretty much
And this is why the web is awesome. Arts & Culture ·
Screenplay Basics
Filing this for future reference. Sound & Screen ·
What Editors Think of Writers
The biggest surprise for any new writer/journalist/whatever is when an editor corrects their work. It’s not about ‘taking away their voice’; it’s always about bringing out the best in the writer, and polishing it up nice for the reader. In my own experience, the most precious about their writing were the worst writers. Media & Journalism ·
Rhodia Writing Pads
I’ve just started using a No 16 (yellow grid) with a cover and pen loop and I love it already. It’s so much lighter (and cheaper) than the Moleskine I was using, and the paper quality is more suited to my tastes, too (I use a Pilot G-2, which used to bleed and smear on the Moleskine but writes with a finer, drier line on the Rhodia). Plus when I’m finished, I just swap in a new pad — no more worries about filling my pages with nonsense. Interesting ·
Iain M Banks: Science fiction is no place for dabblers
Personally I don’t mind dabbling in sci-fi elements; it’s when some authors are at pains to distance themselves from the genre that really gets my goat. See also: The stars of modern SF pick the best science fiction. Arts & Culture ·
Nearly 100 Fantastic Pieces of Journalism
More longform reading to file for later. Media & Journalism ·
‘One of the things I did at writing school this year was write a fake blog’
Just read it. Arts & Culture ·
Longform compiles the 2011 National Magazine Awards finalists
That’s a lot of reading. Media & Journalism ·
Gateways to Geekery: Kurt Vonnegut
Confession time: I’ve never read any Vonnegut. But he really seems like my kind of writer. Arts & Culture ·
The lost art of editing
I think – in fact I know – most people don’t realise how much input editors have into the work of writers. Arts & Culture ·
What are your best magazine articles of all time?
There’s something off about that headline, but there’s a good selection of long-form writing here. Arts & Culture ·
This Gaming Life free to read online
Jim Rossignol’s book on gaming culture available in full online. Shame it’s not downloadable as an e-book. Sports & Games ·
Some links on copyediting
“It’s a hard job, but someone’s gotta do it. Arts & Culture ·
Mind your language: in praise of subeditors
The editor of the Guardian style guide writes in praise of subeditors: “Given the indispensable contribution that they make, it seems perverse that the role of subs has been questioned, albeit mainly from those more interested in the cost of everything than the value of anything.” Media & Journalism ·
A manifesto for the simple scribe - my 25 commandments for journalists
Some of these can be taken with a pinch of salt — shallow, facile, glib and slick aren’t insults now? — but the first point is the most important: if you’re not writing for a reader, you’re not being a journalist. Media & Journalism ·
My First Blog
“Recently, going through my extensive personal archives I came across my first blog, which seems to have been written when I was in kindergarten. This would have been 1991, which makes me a true early adopter of the medium.” This is brilliant stuff; just read it. Interesting ·
An answer to the age-old question: why is doctors’ handwriting so bad?
The solution seems so simple. Yet as with all simple things, it’ll take fucking forever to fix it. Interesting ·
Charles Bukowski and the Computer
Reading this makes me sad at how little the literary world has embraced the digital age. They can’t all be reactionary luddites, surely [c/o MetaFilter]. Arts & Culture ·
How to use a semicolon
I may have blogged this before, but it’s worth posting again. Indeed, the ‘divine semi-colon’ is nothing to be feared. Arts & Culture ·
Kottke on the origins of Green Eggs and Ham
I had no idea. Arts & Culture ·
Boing Boing post sparks grammar dispute
See if you can spot the error that Andy and Brad have made. Arts & Culture ·
MetaFilter Writers Group
Jack started a group for aspiring writers/MeFites to exercise their narrative muscles. Arts & Culture ·
Grocer’s Apostrophe on Flickr
Id est, grammatical mistakes in public signage. Some are less annoying than others, such as the ones that subscribe to the ‘if in doubt, leave it out’ philosophy; I mean, you can always add in your own apostrophe if you’re desperate enough [c/o del.icio.us/torrez]. Arts & Culture ·
Dictionary of Americanisms, by John Russell Bartlett
Filing this for future reference [c/o MetaFilter]. Arts & Culture ·
Dictionary.com/fantod
I heard this on Countdown recently. Delightful, isn’t it? Arts & Culture ·
dictionary.com/prestidigitation
Def: ‘Sleight of hand.’ You learn something new every day. Arts & Culture ·
Structure of George Polti’s 36 Dramatic Situations
It’s like Lego for writers. Or something. Arts & Culture ·
Orwell’s Six Rules
I’m going to print these out and stick them up somewhere. Arts & Culture ·
100 Most Often Misspelled Words
Filing this for future reference. Arts & Culture ·
Poets, dadaists, and word nerds: Rejoice
Some useful hints, tips and exercises here. Arts & Culture ·
Plagiarism Test
I scored 90% first attempt. I wish they’d tell me what I got wrong, though. Arts & Culture ·
John Gruber’s Notes on Notes
I like sidenotes, I do. Wish there was an easier way to implement them, though. Arts & Culture ·
Guide to Grammar and Writing [c/o del.icio.us/merlinmann]
A handy reference for those without a style manual. Arts & Culture ·
Writerisms and Other Sins
I’m guilty of many of these. Arts & Culture ·
The Writing Process
Eight simple steps to help a story come to life. Good stuff. Arts & Culture ·
Computers Grade Students’ Writing
This story is quite misleading, but it does point to a scary future where original writing may be replaced by prepared templates; where fulfilling the necesssary technical criteria is more important than the art of communication itself. Arts & Culture ·
A Commentary on Comments [c/o Asterisk]
I’ve been keeping track of my own contributions to other sites for several weeks now. I don’t know when I’ll get around to posting them on this site, though. Arts & Culture ·
Moleskine Hacks
Arts & Culture ·
Poynter Online: Fifty Writing Tools
This is going here for safe keeping. Arts & Culture ·
Luciferous Logolepsy: A collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. [c/o The Morning News]
Arts & Culture ·
Sanford Berman - The Passionate Cataloguer
(Feb 24) For some reason, when I first posted this link I wrote ‘cartographer’, not ‘cataloguer’. I must have been thinking a lot about maps that day. Arts & Culture ·
This is exactly why I haven’t participated in NaNoWriMo, yet
Arts & Culture ·
Creativity Techniques
Arts & Culture ·
Critique Magazine: On Writing
Arts & Culture ·
Lion Kimbro on wiki, notebooks, and the public web
Arts & Culture ·
The Guardian Style Guide, in PDF format
Arts & Culture ·
Wired News: It’s Just the ‘internet’ Now
Arts & Culture ·
The Oxford English Dictionary, in limerick form [c/o Metafilter]
Arts & Culture ·
The point of writing
Arts & Culture ·
Words: Woe and Wonder
Arts & Culture ·
Quiz: Get your words mixed up? [c/o plasticbag.org]
Arts & Culture ·
Double-Tongued Word Wrestler
Arts & Culture ·
The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr.
Arts & Culture ·
The Passivator: A passive verb and adverb flagger
Arts & Culture ·
George Polti’s 36 Dramatic Situations
Arts & Culture ·
Summarise a Novel in 25 Words [c/o del.icio.us/msippey]
Arts & Culture ·
Random advice for composition
Arts & Culture ·
Ten Mistakes Writers Don’t See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do) [c/o plasticbag.org]
Arts & Culture ·
The Key to a Successful Freelance Career: A Diary [c/o Magnetbox]
Arts & Culture ·
Burroughs-inspired online cut-up machine [c/o Flying Fists]
Arts & Culture ·
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This is the personal website of MacDara Conroy, a production journalist and mediavore in Dublin, Ireland. Read more »
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This page lists all Microlog entries by MacDara Conroy tagged with ‘writing’. You will find many more entries sorted by month and by category in the Archives.
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