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- Yesterday
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Technical Writing Tuesdays: You know you’re a tech writer… (part 1)
I’m pretty busy with my new job this week, so this is just a quick post - but hopefully a fun one. I wanted to write a You know you’re a technical writer… list, but I’m low on innovation and humour at the moment. So, I’m
- August 16th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Kick-ass blogging
While I’ve been swanking it up in a Belfast hotel and not reading other blogs, it seems that I’ve been deemed a Kick Ass Blogger by both Jonathan at CopyWrite and by WordWebbing.com. So, thank you both very much, and I’d return th
- August 14th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
I wrote this poem: Alice
I wrote this back in April for National Poetry Writing Month, though *shock horror* I’ve actually revised it a little bit since then. Brownie points for identifying the source of the title (it’s not that hard). Alice I’ve fallen thr
- August 13th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
High visibility typo
Spotted today in the very centre of Belfast, on an empty shop right opposite City Hall, an advert for the premises, declaring how perfect they were, including in big letters prominence visilbility vitality potential I did take a photo with my mobile,
- August 11th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Work in Progress (11/08/08)
This entry is part 20 of 20 in the series Work in ProgressI managed a pathetic 485 words last week. Absolutely useless. I’m hoping to do a bit better this weekend, being in a hotel room for four nights running with not much else to do except re
- August 10th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Review: Living with the Truth by Jim Murdoch
7 out of 10 It’s taken me quite a while to get round to this review, I know. The main reason is that I didn’t want to read Living with the Truth twice in quick succession; I wanted to give myself some time to absorb my first reading. Addi
- August 6th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Word of the Day (06/08/08)
The word of the day, thanks to Merriam-Webster: feuilleton \fuh-yuh-TOHNG (the “ng” is not pronounced, but the preceding vowel is nasalized)\ noun 1 : a part of a European newspaper or magazine devoted to material designed to entertain the gen
- August 5th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Technical Writing Tuesdays: The importance of consistency
This entry is part 11 of 11 in the series Technical Writing TuesdaysI’ve mentioned before (particularly in How to Write a How To) that when writing technical documentation, it’s important to keep a number of things about it as consistent
- August 4th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Sorry for the inconvenience
Regular readers will have noticed that the site was down from Friday August 1st until this morning. I’m not sure what exactly happened, but of course, it had to happen the weekend I was away from home and couldn’t do anything about it (ev
- August 1st, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Read: July 2008
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman - finished Tuesday 1st. Own copy. I’d seen it mentioned else-blog, and decided to read it again. It’s a great book (and my copy’s signed). Myth-ing Persons, Robert Asprin - finished Wednesday 2nd. BookMooche
- July 31st, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Stuff I like on the internet #4
I know it’s not that long since my last one of these posts, but I’ve seen a lot of interesting stuff lately that I wanted to share. “First Readers” - Storytellersunplugged - the importance of having someone read over your wor
- July 29th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Guest Post: What Kind of Writer Are You? by Jonathan Crossfield
My latest guest post comes from Jonathan Crossfield, who as well as running his own blog, CopyWrite, also contributes to NetRegistry News, Nett Magazine, PlanetDomain News and the PlanetDomain Blog. You can even follow him on Twitter at http://www.tw
- July 28th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Work in Progress (28/07/08)
So, I’m into my second week of the 10K challenge. Cue hysterical laughter. I managed all of 2,377 words last week, but I keep reminding myself that that’s 2,377 more than I wrote the week before. If I can even manage to double that this w
- July 25th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Aaargh, the horror…
… of seeing the following in an upstairs window this morning as I drove past, presumably indicating that a hairdresser operates out of the premises: DEZINER KUT’Z I think my eyes watered. (Why is it always hairdressers who do this, too?)
- July 23rd, 2008
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sharpwords has added
shanghaitechwriter to her friends list. - July 20th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Quote of the Day (20/07/08)
“People ask for criticism, but they only want praise.” W. Somerset Maugham [Quote supplied by the Quotations Page] This quote reminded me of my guest post from Roberto Villegas - Taking Bad Reviews Like a Pro. Let’s face it, few peo
- July 17th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Work in Progress (17/07/08)
This entry is part 19 of 19 in the series Work in ProgressIt’s been a while since I last posted an update on what I’m writing - or not writing, as the case usually is. Well, the good news for me is that I am writing. Or at least, I’
- July 16th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
What’s my writing style?
And what’s yours? Miss Write posted her answers to this (she’d originally got the questions from Writing Wrongs), and I thought I’d have a go at answering too - these answers apply to my fiction writing, by the way! My technical wri
- July 15th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: WriMo Ireland
Gearing up for November
Yes, already. Cavantucky and I just can’t help ourselves - there might be 3 and a half months to go till the start of NaNoWriMo 2008, but she and I have already been swapping ideas about what we’re writing this year. And since we both hav
- July 14th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
WOOF! (11/07/08)
I took part in the Writers Offering Our Finest contest at PlotDog Press again… and I think more people should do so! Woof Contest- Top Picks Short Story JHS, Esq. - “Independence Day Reflection” About Writing Catherine @ Sharp Words - &
- July 12th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
100 books to read
As far as I can tell, this list is similar to one that came originally from the BBC’s Big Read project. I spotted it recently on Next Read, and realised I hadn’t ever posted it on this blog although I’ve completed similar lists el
- July 11th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Stuff I like on the Internet #3
Because I haven’t done it for a while (and yep, I need a filler post), here are some things I’ve spotted round and about and wanted to share with you: Joanna at Confident Writing is running another group writing project (with prizes!) on
- July 8th, 2008
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sharpwords has updated her twitter:
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Technical Writing Tuesdays: Common software
This entry is part 10 of 10 in the series Technical Writing TuesdaysI’ve mentioned before that to do their job, a technical writer these days needs to know their way around quite a few software tools. Here’s a round-up of some of the more
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sharpwords has updated her twitter:
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Technical Writing Tuesdays: A missing post
I wrote a long post today, all about different software tools used for authoring and publishing. I thought I published the post correctly. But when I checked, I couldn’t see it - not listed as published or draft, not even when I went through th
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sharpwords has updated her twitter:
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sharpwords has updated her twitter:
- July 7th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Word of the Day (07/07/08)
The word of the day, thanks to Merriam-Webster: euphuism YOO-fyuh-wiz-um noun 1 : an elegant Elizabethan literary style marked by excessive use of balance, antithesis, and alliteration and by frequent use of similes drawn from mythology and na
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sharpwords has updated her twitter:
Went back to the office today - my eyes are very tired now.
- July 6th, 2008
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sharpwords has updated her twitter:
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Thoughts about reviewing books
Although I started this blog back in 2006, I didn’t write any book reviews until January 2008. I’d been logging my reading material for the previous two years, and I came to the conclusion that it might be more interesting (and bring more
- July 4th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Exquisite corpse (July 4th 2008)
Even though I have no idea why it’s called that or where the idea comes from, I decided to take part in Exquisite Corpse at Before I Am Famous. Basically, people contribute words as specified (e.g. adjective noun noun verb for this one) and the
- July 2nd, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Bad advertising copy
While visiting my parents back in Wales last week (pre-eye infection, thankfully), I flicked through the local free paper. It has about 4 pages of news, 1 page of sport, and about 15 pages of estate agents’ ads - with the housing market in a d
- July 1st, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Read: June 2008
Poseidon’s Gold, Lindsey Davis - finished Tuesday 3rd. Own copy. Last Act in Palmyra, Lindsey Davis - finished Sunday 8th. Own copy. More comfort reading - once I start a run of Falco novels, I usually end up reading at least 3 or 4, sometimes
- June 29th, 2008
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sharpwords has updated her twitter:
- June 23rd, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Blogging updates
1) As my new Notices widget currently says, I’m away from today until Saturday 28th. I will hopefully have a couple of posts scheduled, but I might not get a chance to reply to comments, and I definitely won’t get any Entrecards dropped.
- June 22nd, 2008
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sharpwords has updated her twitter:
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sharpwords has updated her twitter:
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Sunday Scribblings: Happy Endings
Happy Endings A fairytale romance: girl meets boy (or frog, or beast). They kiss. Magic happens. Vows are made, bells ring, and they live happily ever after. But ever after doesn’t last for long. Reality creeps in, with interfering mother-in-la
- June 20th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Review: The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway
9 out of 10 Take two parts China Miéville to one part early Ben Elton, and blend with a large spoonful of Douglas Adams analogies. Sprinkle with ninjas, pirates and mime-artists, and serve to readers of speculative fiction who have a warped sense of
- June 18th, 2008
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sharpwords has updated her twitter:
- June 17th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Technical Writing Tuesdays: How to write a How To
This entry is part 9 of 9 in the series Technical Writing TuesdaysTechnical documents can be loosely divided into two types: the informational and the procedural. Each has its place, but I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that a ni
- June 16th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Time for a revamp #2
Wow, I never expected so many comments on my previous revamp post! There were enough suggestions made that I decided to address them in a fresh post rather than just a comment… hence this. So, in no particular order: Categories - I like them a
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
WOOF!
PlotDog Press runs the WOOF contest - Writers Offering Our Finest - and this week I took entered one of my blog posts. As part of the contest, I have to post about it, and I really hope I’m doing it right… Here are the entries for this we
- June 15th, 2008
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sharpwords has updated her twitter:
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sharpwords has updated her twitter:
- June 14th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
Time for a revamp
I want to give Sharp Words a good overhaul by the end of June, in time for its second-and-a-birthday. Hopefully I’ll be putting together a custom theme (maybe even a custom logo) - although Cordobo has served me well since I moved from Blogger
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sharpwords has updated her twitter:
- June 12th, 2008
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sharpwords has posted a new entry on: Sharp Words
The satisfaction of completion
Finishing a piece of work, particularly when it’s been lengthy or difficult or both, always gives me a strong sense of satisfaction. It’s not necessarily pride in work well done, nor is it relief that it’s over; sometimes it’
