I have to admit that It has been quite a while since I have been in school (25 years) and I am enamored by the plethora of websites (commonly referred to as writing tools) that are available to help a writer out these days.

As a very novice writer, I have had the “opportunity” to use a pretty wide variety of the websites and I’ll tell you about my two favorites.

Coming in at the top of my list is www.bibme.com. I love this website because I can never remember how to properly cite in MLA format.  With just a few clicks of the mouse, the website provides me with the proper citation every time.

My next favorite is a website owl.purdue.edu. This cite has much more to do with the actual learning process than just a “shortcut website”. On this website, you can learn as much or as little as you want about writing. They seem to have it all covered. Lessons on grammar, spelling, formatting, and punctuation are all right here at my fingertips.

As a new (old) student, I am very thankful for websites (writing tools) like these. What writing tools do you use and what do you use them for?

Job Postings?

Thankfully, I have worked for the same organization for the last twenty years and have been able to advance inside the organization and not had to hunt for a new job. However, I was given an assignment to explore at least one and review it.

After typing in the search on the google website, I was amazed to see how many websites there are out there.  I ended up selecting the website monster.com and was instantly impressed when the site loaded.

The first thing I noticed was the large search bar in the middle of the screen. I like the fact that I didn’t have to hunt for what I wanted.  After typing in Fire Chief as the job title, about fifty positions pulled up. Once again, I was impressed by the ease of use on this page also.  All of the listings were organized on the left side of the page and a short description was well presented in the middle of the page. With just a single click on any one of the listings brought up all of the pertinent information about the job posting, including a button to allow me to apply online. Long gone are the days of having to search for jobs in the classified sections of the morning newspaper. After playing around in the site for a minute or two, I noticed a “button” that would allow me to set up alerts when a job posting that met my criteria was posted.

All in all, I was very impressed with this job site.  Have you ever used a site like this and have you been successful in finding a job?

"Constructive" Criticism?

I define constructive criticism in the workplace as criticism designed to legitimately help someone.  The key word here is “help”.

I love receiving constructive criticism in the workplace, but I’m pretty slow to give constructive criticism in the workplace. When I say I love it, I mean I love it from some people.  I tend to be really reluctant to take criticism if I know it is not meant to help, but to ridicule. I also tend to take criticism better from those I respect than those I don’t respect. I have very little tolerance for criticism if I think it is mean spirited or from someone who is completely inept.

When it comes to dishing out constructive criticism in the workplace, I’m not as comfortable.  I tend to only give constructive criticism if I’m asked to do so.  Furthermore, I will typically only give constructive criticism to those with whom I have some sort of relationship. It just doesn’t seem right to go around criticizing everything everyone does. At that point, you are just a “know it all” who likes to tell people they are doing something wrong.

I believe constructive criticism in the workplace can be a very valuable thing when done correctly and with the right intentions. What do you think?

Bad Habits?

I have a bad habit. It’s not drinking, drugs, or gambling. My bad habit is too many commas.

“Hello, my name is Alex, and I’m an over comma-er”. It’ true, I love commas.

 I tend to write like I talk and being a native Texan, I tend to take very short pauses quite often when I talk. While this is not necessarily a bad thing when communicating verbally, it isn’t all that great when writing. It could be that I’m not that comfortable with other forms of punctuation like colons and semi colons, or it could just be that I don’t really know when I it is unnecessary to insert a comma.

I know that I use too many commas, and I make a very conscious effort to only use them when I have to. I think the only real way to break this bad habit is to first acknowledge that I have a problem and take steps to minimize it. One the bright side, you will probably never find me chattering at 100 miles per hours or creating run on sentences when I write.

Do you have any bad writing habits? If so, what have you done to change them?

Does Appearance Really Matter?

Does appearance really matter? I’m not asking about how the appearance of a person, but the appearance of a written page. What I’m talking about is page design.

Page design refers to the design and layout of a page. Whether it is a web page, a memo, a flyer, or some other document, page design is a critical aspect. Imagine that you receive an email or letter.  If you are like most people, you will gain some kind of overall impression within the first couple seconds.  That impression could quite possible make you want to enthusiastically delve deeper to see what the context is.  On the other hand, the impression could make you want to immediately hit the delete button. Page design is something we see every day, but many of us seldom take the time to appreciate a good page design.  Does it draw you in, or does it make you want to look away?

I had really never given much conscious thought to page design before last week. However, learning about page design has really opened my eyes to how powerful it can be. Not only the color palette, but how the words are formatted to look neat and well organized. Does it matter to you?

How Do You Feel About Writing?

I’m just going to come out and admit it. I like writing! I have found that it is often times easier for me to write down my thoughts than it is to say them.  There is a reason.  When I write, I tend to concentrate and focus on the message I am trying to convey without all of the distractions that come with having a communicating face to face.  When we are communicating face to face, we should be engaged in receiving the message that is being delivered by the other person instead of formulating our responses. However, this is a difficult thing to do for most of us.  We either end up focusing too much on what other person is trying to convey, or too much on what we want to say.  Writing allows me time to organize my thoughts before anyone else knows what they are.

While Technical Writing may not be as glamorous as writing a novel, the concept is still the same. It allows you to effectively convey your message. The Technical Writing class hasn’t really change my view of writing as a whole, as I see Technical Writing as another form of writing. While I don’t think that Technical Writing is the “end-all, be-all”, it has certainly taught me how to effectively communicate in situations and formats that I don’t normally use.