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past issues
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Scan past issues on such topics as design tips for writers and speechwriting.
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pass it on!
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If you find the content in this newsletter useful,
- send it to a colleague (see below this column)
- share it through twitter, digg, etc. (see way below)
- republish in
your blog, newsletter, or other media (credit to the source)
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ease in writing?
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"Ease in writing" comes from a poem by Alexander Pope, the British poet:
True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance.
Note he (and I) didn't say "easy writing." But just as dance lessons can help get you around the floor more gracefully, the goal for this newsletter is to share a tip or two to improve your writing.
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Full Circle Turns 15!
 In June 1996, I started my writing and editing business, Full Circle Communications.
As my first assignment, I "repurposed" (before that word became part of the business vocabulary) a report on educational decentralization in Ethiopia for USAID's SARA Project. Earlier this year, I began to count the number of projects I have worked on since then, from writing 10-word ad copy to editing 850-page books, but gave up after I reached 300.
 | My first logo, designed by Irene Stefanski, when a mouse seemed almost cutting edge.
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Even if I couldn't count them all, I could look at every single one and remember distinctly what was involved, who I worked with, and what I had to learn in order to do a good job. That's the great thing about our business.
I have worked directly for some of you who are reading this newsletter. For others, I may have asked or given advice; others still, we have not met yet. But to all who are part of the community that values clear writing, thanks for your support!
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That Was Then
Fifteen years makes a huge difference. When I began Full Circle, we--
- Used WordPerfect as much as Word;
- Held our breaths when we had to send attachments. One of my first orders of business was to set up an account with a courier to send disks and hard copies to clients;
- Waited, waited, waited for our dial-up modems to connect;
- Charged our mobile phones almost as long as they ran and paid hefty per-minute charges. Plus, we only used them for calls;
- "Desktop-published" with PageMaker 5.0 and Illustrator 5.0;
- Relied on desktop, rather than laptop, computers, with large cube-sized monitors;
- Had simple hand-coded websites. And what about all those flying graphics and little yellow signs with "under construction" men digging?
- Produced videos that had to be edited in some mysterious facility;
- Used film in cameras.
More than technology changed. Fifteen years is several stock market booms and busts ago, pre-9/11, pre-Iraq and Afghanistan, pre-widespread use of AZT....in other words, events both good and bad have taken place since then. In many ways, 1996 seems a quaint and naive time, doesn't it?
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This Is Now....
In fifteen years, we will look back at what seems so cutting edge now and snicker--
- iPhones, iPads, iPods, etc.
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Credit and debit cards
- Google
- Streaming media
- Webinars and web conferences
Fifteen years from now, I hope we will be healthy and at peace, with our talents spent inventing things beyond new reality shows and iPhone apps.
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What Do You Have Going?
Do you have a book, website, or blog to share with other readers?
Do you have a question related to writing or editing I can cover in this newsletter, or suggestions about how I can make future issues more useful to you or your colleagues?
If so, please let me know.
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