build your digital writing toolbox

Scott Kubie - Web 2013 at Penn State

Build Your Digital Writing Toolbox #writingtoolbox

Hello! I’m a note added just for YOU, the web reader. I add in context that was provided verbally during the original presentation.

There’s more to writing than writing.

Build Your Digital Writing Toolbox

“If you can talk, you can sing.

- Dan Hays, the best choir teacher a kid could ever have

@scottrocketship | #writingtoolbox

“If you can think, you can write.

- Me, the guy on the stage


“@scottrocketship | #writingtoolbox

People who think well, write well.Woolly minded people write woolly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches.

- David Ogilvy

add a bit in here (maybe a thought bubble type thing) that gets at the common objections to writing. not creative. i’m not a writer. not giving themselves time to think.

Photo by Flickr user Lee Bennett http://flic.kr/p/92x4fk

When the check engine light comes on, something’s wrong with the car, not you. Same goes for your writing.

http://flic.kr/p/92x4fk


applying tools and processes to accomplish your work


BASICALLY...

WORKFLOW

The problem might lie with your workflow.

applying tools and processes to accomplish your work


BASICALLY...

WORKFLOW(strategic)

The problem might lie with your workflow.

1

3

2

4

Workflows vary.

1

3

2

1

4

3

5

2

7

6 8

!Major Mistake:

Lack of awareness


WORKFLOW

a pre-determined and rigid sequence of tasks


BASICALLY...

PROCESS

a pre-determined and rigid sequence of tasks


BASICALLY...

PROCESS(tactical)

1 432

1 432

1 432

1 432

Processes don’t vary.

!Major Mistake:

Undocumented


PROCESS

Habits aren’t processes. You have to write it down.


BASICALLY...

TOOL

a thing you use to make your work easier


TOOL

Technique

App

Service

“Hack”Process

! TOOLMajor Mistake:

Not pluggingthem in


Translation: you have to really learn your software tools. Get into the preferences and power it up!

Let’s Build our Toolbox!


Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

Fuzzy

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

One-way trip

Fuzzy

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

Draw

this!

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

How do you represent your thinking?

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing


What tools and techniques do you use while writing?

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

How do you improve your writing and correct errors?



Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

How do you improve your writing and correct errors?



How do you go from a finished draft to a

finished assignment?

Thinking


1

having ideas and making plans


BASICALLY...

THINKING


THINKING

Generating

Capturing

Discovering

Describing

+@scottrocketship | #writingtoolbox

THINKING

Value:

Quantity

!Major Mistake:

Starting with a Blank Page


THINKING

Learn from Sherlock...

“Data! Data! Data! I can’t make bricks without clay.

- Sherlock Freaking Holmes


as written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


Tools for Thinking

I’m not writing it down to remember it later. I’m writing it down to remember it now.

- Field Notes Motto


Ubiquitous Capture


Hipster PDA

http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pdahttp://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda

from the brain of Merlin Mann: http://bit.ly/11vM2qQ

http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda

http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda

http://bit.ly/11vM2qQ

http://bit.ly/11vM2qQ


Drafts (iOS)


Evernote

Work Journal


Work Journal


Attended status meeting

Work Journal



Published draft to files3 directory: [url]

Work Journal



Published draft to files3 directory: [url]

Chat w/ John in hallway re: project status

Day One (OS X / iOS)


Spark File


Aug 3 2011

Aug 5 2011

Dec 9 2011

Jan 4 2012

Card Jam

@scottrocketship | #writingtoolbox@scottrocketship | #writingtoolbox

Ubiquitous Capture


Image via http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielcornejo/

Think of your brain like a bingo

spinner. Each ball is an idea. You

have to pull them out one at a

time until you get your Bingo.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielcornejo/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielcornejo/

Rhetorical Map


Sketching


Freewriting


Mindmapping


Mindmapping


Analog Digital

• Whiteboards!• Sketchpads• Corkboards

• Mindnode• Mindmeister• Freemind


?What about brainstorming?

@scottrocketship | #writingtoolboxWriting by committee is worse than design by committee.

Writing is an individual activity. You can generate ideas in a group, sure, but one person still has to write it.

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

DiagramsWork Journal

Day One

MindmapsHipster PDA CAPTURE!!!

2Composing


transcribing your thoughts in prose


BASICALLY...

COMPOSING

!@scottrocketship | #writingtoolbox

COMPOSINGMajor Mistake:

Not Knowing Your Tools

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228400.400-google-usability-chief-ideas-have-to-be-discoverable.html

%9 out of 10 internet search users don’t know to use CTRL+F to search text within a page.


According to a 2011 Google Study

Dear God.






COMPOSINGValue:

Speed and flexibility


Tools for Composing

KEY COMMANDS


⌘+← or ⌘+➝ - Move one word (CTRL + arrow in Windows)⌥+← or ⌥+➝ - Beginning or end of line⌘+A - Select all text⌘+C - Copy selected text⌘+V - Paste selected text

THE DOTTED LINE


TK (to come)

Reports are coming in of a massive zoo-break. Over TK elephants and TK monkeys have escaped their enclosures.

Zookeeper Roscoe TK-last-name-TK described the scene as “completely bananas”.

@scottrocketship | #writingtoolboxFill in the facts later. Don’t lose momentum!

Clipboard Managers


Text Expansion


Type a short thing and get a long thing!

Wolfram|Alpha


-- Scott KubieContent strategy, UX design.My email address is [email protected] 515-XXX-XXXX to reach me anytime.


http://kubie.co/

http://kubie.co/

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Text Expansion


OS X

TextExpander

Windows

BreevyPhraseExpress

Syncing

Dropbox

Plain Text


Photo by Flickr user Amanda Woodward http://flic.kr/p/9Dhs7

Plain text is like a typewriter. Just you and the keyboard.

http://flic.kr/p/9Dhs7

http://flic.kr/p/9Dhs7

Markdown


This... Gives you this...

And so on...

Markdown


This...

# Main Headline

Gives you this...

<h1>Main Headline</h1>

And so on...

Markdown


This...

# Main Headline

Gives you this...


## Subhead <h2>Subhead</h2>

And so on...

Markdown


This...

# Main Headline

Gives you this...



**Strong text** <strong>Strong text</strong>

And so on...

Markdown


This...

# Main Headline

Gives you this...



**Strong text** <strong>Strong text</strong>

<http://kubie.co> <a href=“http://kubie.com”>http://kubie.com</a>

And so on...

http://kubie.co

http://kubie.co

http://kubie.com

http://kubie.com

http://kubie.com

http://kubie.com

http://kubie.com

http://kubie.com

iA WriterTextMate

Squarespace

TextEdit

Wordpress

Drupal

Byword

Nocs Nebulous

Notes

Notepad

Markdown can be used all over the place, often natively.

PDF

Plain

Text

Print

Rich

Text

Markdown

Email

HTML

It easily converts into popular formats with many tools.

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

FuzzyDiagrams

Work JournalDay One

MindmapsHipster PDA

TKDotted Line

PLAIN TEXT!!

ClipMenuTextExpanderCAPTURE!!!

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

One-way trip

FuzzyDiagrams

Work JournalDay One

MindmapsHipster PDA

TKDotted Line

PLAIN TEXT!!


3Editing


revising your composition for quality and correctness


BASICALLY...

EDITING


EDITINGMajor Mistake:

Reading without seeing


EDITING

Value:

Obliqueness


Tools for Editing

THE 10% SOLUTION


THE 10% SOLUTION

1. Finish a draft.


THE 10% SOLUTION

1. Finish a draft.2. Reduce by 10%.


THE 10% SOLUTION

1. Finish a draft.2. Reduce by 10%.3. Repeat until failure.


ACB’s


As described in “The 10% Solution” by Ken Rand

ACB’s


ACCURACY (get it right)


ACB’s


ACCURACYCLARITY

(get it right)

(get it clear)


ACB’s


ACCURACYCLARITY

BREVITY

(get it right)

(get it clear)

(get to the point)


Use words and word-parts as a lens with which to evaluate your draft...



Editing List



Editing List

Words Word Parts

ofthatButAndverybecausethen

-ing-ly

READING OUT LOUD


Reading Aloud

Did you read it out loud?Did you?Diiiid you?Did you really? DID YOU?I thought not. Go read it out loud.

INVERSION


ABC

ABC

Flip it around, upside-down. With first drafts, important stuff often lands at the end of sentences, paragraphs, and sections.

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

One-way trip

FuzzyDiagrams

Work JournalDay One

MindmapsHipster PDA

TKDotted Line

PLAIN TEXT!!


Read it Out Loud

10% Solution

Editing ChecklistACB

Inversion

4Finishing


“I’m on to the next one, on to the next...”


BASICALLY...

FINISHING


FINISHINGMajor Mistake:

The Final Final Draft

Patience, young Jedi. Don’t try

to be done until you’re done.

Or else you’ll end up with

Draft3FinalFinal-ReallyFinal-

Copy-Version4-Final.txt


FINISHING

Value:

ProcedureRitualize it. Make checklists. Going from final draft to finished assignment should be as quick and mechanical as possible.


Tools for Finishing

“Can you look at this quick?”


Hallway Testing


SearchLink (OS X)

Automatically generate Markdown links from multiple sources.

brettterpstra.com

http://brettterpstra.com/

http://brettterpstra.com/


MD Service Tools (OS X)1

2

3

Headphones


Protecting your time is key to finishing any writing assignment.

HALP! How do you protect your time, set boundaries, and do some of that writing they hired you to do?


Yours?

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

One-way trip

FuzzyDiagrams

Work JournalDay One

MindmapsHipster PDA

TKDotted Line

PLAIN TEXT!!


Read it Out Loud

10% Solution

Editing ChecklistACB

Inversion

Markdown Service Tools

MarkedHeadphones

Final thoughts...


Brainstorming is Broken // @scottrocketship

“Creativity is not a talent.It’s a way of operating.

- John Cleese

add a bit in here (maybe a thought bubble type thing) that gets at the common objections to writing. not creative. i’m not a writer. not giving themselves time to think.

Photo by Flickr user Lee Bennett http://flic.kr/p/92x4fk

Be aware of your workflow.



Throw away bad tools.

Plan your experiments.

In case of emergency, use index cards.

:)@scottrocketship | #writingtoolbox

That’s all.Thank you.

?@scottrocketship | #writingtoolbox

Questions?

http://kubie.co

Tools icon by Shane Miller, from The Noun Project

Notepad icon by Ema Dimitrova, from The Noun Project

Search Icon: Gianni Clifford, from The Noun Project

build your digital writing toolbox

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