Hello. I’m a freelance web copywriter and editor. I create concise, accessible copy in plain English. Nice to meet you.
New Media Age (NMA) has a free webinar coming up that might be of interest to anyone working with content. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve just started working with a new UK-based client, EnergyQuote JHA. This Europe-wide energy consultancy has more than 35 years of experience in the oil, power, gas and carbon markets. Read the rest of this entry »
The first page I look for on most companies’ websites is their ‘About’ page. It’s also the first page I look for on any individual’s website. Why? The reasons are the same: I want to find out who’s behind the website, get to know them and feel like we’ve met. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve had a lovely LinkedIn reference from Emily Gibbs, Communications Executive at The Financial Times, after working with her on an FT.com project in 2010. Read the rest of this entry »
Lots of things fascinate me about the way we communicate with the written word. I’ve recently stumbled across a few alphabet-related facts that might interest you too.
Browsing in a local bookshop, I was delighted to find the Diccionario del origen de las palabras (‘Dictionary of the origin of words’)*. I’ve been looking for an English equivalent for some time, but without success.
Anyway, under abecedario, I found out that our Latin ‘alphabet’ takes its name from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: alpha and beta. In contrast, abecedario refers to abcd (a, be, ce, de), the first four letters of the Latin system.
So, abecedario is the actual name for the collection of Latin letters that we use. Here in Spain, it is often used interchangeably with alfabeto when referring to the alphabet. (I can’t find a different English translation of abecedario – is there one? Or did it get lost on the way to the UK?)
I then spotted a post on the origins of abc on the superb I Love Typography blog. This excellent article starts at the very beginning of the use of the written word (well, systems), taking us on a journey through their evolution and arriving at the alphabet as we know it today.
Both well worth a read, if you can (the book’s only available in Spanish).
* Diccionario del origen de las palabras; Buitrago A, Agustín Torijano J; 978-84-670-2521-7; Editorial Espasa Calpe; Ed. 2008
In the second of this (very) occasional series about things I use to help me work, I want to talk about Delicious. It’s been around for a while, and indeed I’ve been using it since I started up as a freelancer. Its staying power can only be a good thing!
It’s ideal for keeping track of all those handy articles I find and read (or intend to read…), as well as sharing them via my websites. However, it was only at the weekend when I had a bit of a fiddle around with it that I discovered some handy features.
Previously, I had a Delicious account for each of my blogs (which proliferate faster than I can keep up), with a different log-in for each. In addition, since Yahoo bought Delicious, many of these now have Yahoo log-ins instead.
Fed up with all these different usernames and passwords (plus I don’t use Yahoo for anything else), I decided to bring all my bookmarks (both public and private) under my original account. Delicious offers an easy-peasy import and export tool for doing just that.
However, I don’t want all my bookmarks to show on each website; they’re very different topics. So, I created a tag specific to each one, which I apply as relevant to the saved article. Delicious’ link roll tool then allows me to specific that tag when creating the each feed.
In addition, there’s an option to bundle articles and pages with specific tags (like Gmail’s labelling system), to help you quickly see articles once in your account (rather than searching by a specific tag).
Of course, some pages are not for the general public, and there’s a simple ‘private’ option (which also appears as a tag) to make sure these are kept hidden. I’m sure there are other tools still to discover too.
And, hey presto, one account with a single username and password, but tailored for each blog. Now I just need to remember to use the correct tag (the one possible source of error!). Follow me on Delicious.
There’s an interesting audio slideshow about the ‘disappearing act’ of letterpress on The Guardian’s website. The article introduces us to the craft and how a master of the trade puts it all together to produce beautifully printed items.
Letterpress in action: Photo by Graeme Robertson for The Guardian
After I left university I spent a short spell working for a printer in Oxfordshire. He’d spend hours in the hot, stuffy basement with this mechanical wonder, enveloped in ink fumes.
He used to put off the task for days, with an understandable dislike of the humid air and emerging light headed at the end. Still, I wish I’d insisted on learning more about the process (although I don’t recall it being letterpress).
There are lots of little things that help me do my work or keep up to speed with the online world on a day-to-day basis. I thought it would be handy to share these as I think about them or as a new one comes to light.
They’re not all technically ‘tools’, but if they help us to do our jobs better, then that label’s good enough for me. Take ‘Netted’, a free daily email newsletter from the producers of the Webbys online awards.
Every day they dig up an interesting website and send it straight to your inbox. It’s a great way to find out about quirky apps and even discover something useful. Find out more and sign up.
If you’re interested in content and you’re not a member already, I’d recommend joining the Content Strategy Google group. Many well-known (in content terms, at least!) names pop up regularly on there, contributing to a range of interesting discussions.
One such person is Ginny Redish, who recently responded to a query on online media centres or press offices with some best practice guidelines for press officers ‘who come from print’. I thought this was worth sharing.
1. Make the headline a statement that gives the key message. Think ‘bite, snack, meal’ — a concept from Marilynne Rudick and Leslie O’Flahavan. The headline is the bite.
2. Make the first few sentences the snack — just a bit of elaboration of the key message.
3. Break up the piece with informative headings. Think of headings as key message bites to the next bit of information.
4. Keep paragraphs very short. What looks fine in print is often too long for online. A one sentence paragraph is fine.
5. Add links — to whatever else on the site are good follow-up places. You want to keep people on the site.
6. Name a contact person — and include that person’s title. Many people will get to the press release who do not know the way press releases work. They may think the person who is named is the researcher and not realise it is a press office person.
7. Date the press release — and remember that whatever you put online lives forever on the site (unless your content strategy includes a plan for taking these down).
Ginny’s the author of Letting go of the words — Writing web content that works (now added to my Amazon wish list!), which contains a section with more guidance on this topic. Do you have any other tips for online media centres?
Happy New Year everyone! Another year done and dusted, another Christmas been and gone. I can hardly believe I’ll have been freelancing for two years in April.
So, what do you hope this year holds for you?
I’m planning to focus my efforts more on issues that matter to me – they all pretty much fall under the topic of ‘environment’. I’m on the hunt for new clients in that broad sector, building on my current experience in engineering and construction. Anything, from sustainable housing to renewable energy. If that’s you, get in touch.
And to bolster my knowledge in that area, I’m excited to be starting an MSc Architecture in Advanced Environmental and Energy Studies in March (to complement my BEng in Mechanical Engineering). It’s a distance course from the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) (Europe’s leader) and the University of East London (UEL).
The on-site course would be even better, but that would be a bit tricky seeing as I live in Mallorca. On the plus side, Spain is an exciting area for renewable energies, so I’ll get the best of both worlds. I’m also taking the part-time option, which means I can continue to work at the same time.
What else?
I’m going to keep improving my Spanish and work on my German. I’m also going to get more involved with my local Friends of the Earth group (for which I currently volunteer) and finally buy the camera I’ve been thinking of throughout 2009.
Oh, and so many other things but the above are all I’m going to commit to on (virtual) paper for now. What about you?
