Category Archives: non-fiction writing
A Computer Wrote This Op-Ed. Sort of.
The Guardian (external link) asked Liam Porr, a computer science undergraduate student at Berkeley, to have a computer with the latest technology write an essay. The op-ed dragged on endlessly and I wondered if repetition was programmed into its instructions. … Continue reading
Assessment Tests
Rockhounding site here: https://southwestrockhounding.com Assessment Tests From my writing website: https://thomasfarleywriting.com Assessment tests are often required but results depend on the writing style and preferences of the test writer. Or the guide they use. CMOS? AP? MLA? Importantly, will the tester … Continue reading
Soulless Creatures
Opinion, hell ‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.’ ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many … Continue reading
Bad Revising
My last post was on how I revised the work of a writer on our team. (internal link). The next example is of bad revising, in which some unknown scriptwriter revises the book of one of the greatest minds of … Continue reading
More on Revising
Editing and proofreading fiddles with copy, revising recasts. One of our writers submitted a page with this paragraph. He is a fine writer but under deadline for this piece. I have more time as I am generally not doing original … Continue reading
Posted in editing writing, non-fiction writing, organizing writing, Thoughts on writing, Uncategorized, Writing by others, Writing tips
Tagged client concerns, copy, copyediting, corporate interests, editing, positive. business writing, positivism, recasting, revising, revising copy, writing
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Thinking of Def Con
Def Con 28 will be held this year in a virtual “safe mode”, the physical event in Las Vegas cancelled. I went to Def Con II and III. That was a long time ago. In 1994 I was at the … Continue reading
Get It!
I always liked this story. Here, I have revised my previous writing. Yes, I used to write about telecom. Enough that the History Channel interviewed me once about Bell, my only television appearance. As Wesson and Grosvenor tell it, in … Continue reading
Good Writing is Unnatural
First draft writing resembles contemporaneous speaking. Record yourself for five minutes delivering an impromptu speech on a subject and then transcribe it. Then think about how far it is from tight, vigorous, organized writing. It’s a long way. We think … Continue reading
Why I Didn’t Write For More Than Twenty Years
Because my high school life was so wretched (internal link), I hesitated to join anything extra-circular, anything that deviated from the main goal of getting out of that prison. It was such a killing environment that I never went to … Continue reading