Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight
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Social marketing, PR insight & thought leadership - from The PR Coach
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Your outlines are useless. You need a fat outline. - without bullshit

Your outlines are useless. You need a fat outline. - without bullshit | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it
From withoutbullshit.com - November 24, 2015 9:13 PM
When you’re planning to write, but before you’re actually writing, you create an outline. Unfortunately, most outlines are worthless. You need a better outline: a fat outline.

Outlines are helpful for mapping out the structure of a long piece of writing — anything more than 1,000 words (a couple of pages). An outline ought to help the people you’re working with — your boss, your clients, your editor — to understand what you’re going to write. It should also force you, the writer, to think clearly about content.

The problem is, traditional outlines don’t do this very well.
Jeff Domansky's insight:

Josh Bernoff says fat is good – that is when you're writing an outline and intending to share it with editors, your boss or others.

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Go-to research databases journalists can use to improve their reporting | Poynter.

From www.poynter.org - December 2, 2012 3:13 PM

...It’s also important to acknowledge that conventional Web searches — just Googling it — won’t necessarily turn up the best research materials; search algorithms don’t always prominently highlight studies and reports that are seldom linked to or visited. There’s also the problem of increasing “personalization” of search results.

 

For specialist reporters, many of the key subject-area databases may be well-known. But for more general assignment reporters, here is a short, representative list of open databases and scholarly search engines that are well worth bookmarking — and entering your key words into as part of the newsgathering process:...

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“You will always have work, and it will be the best kind of work” — Richard Rhodes on writing (Mayborn 2012, vol. 2)

“You will always have work, and it will be the best kind of work” — Richard Rhodes on writing (Mayborn 2012, vol. 2) | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it
From www.niemanstoryboard.org - August 4, 2012 1:49 AM
Richard Rhodes, the Pulitzer-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, and of 23 other books, delivered one of the keynotes at this year’s Mayborn Conference for Literary Journalism. 

 

Here are five top takeaways from that address, followed by an edited transcript of his talk and a snippet from the Q-and-A session that followed....

 

[Inspiring read for writers, bloggers, PR and content marketing pros - JD]

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Words for Wibblefish in the Urban Dictionary | The PR Coach

Words for Wibblefish in the Urban Dictionary | The PR Coach | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it
From www.theprcoach.com - July 4, 2012 9:38 PM
This July 4th post is a bit of fun for PR pros, craft bloggers, storytellers and any other writer who is a passionate word lover.

 

A great way to enjoy a little downtime on this Independence Day or any other holiday. Two cautions. You may become infatuated and even addicted to this smack resource. And it’s not always office cromulant.

 

I’m talking of course about the Urban Dictionary. With more than 45,000 words, it’s an indispensable tool and a wonderfully quirky source of inspiration though sometimes profane, arcane and inane. Perfect for whiling away a coffee break and impressing friends with your new, urban vocab....

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Twenty Signs You Might Be a Word Nerd | InkHouse

Twenty Signs You Might Be a Word Nerd | InkHouse | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it
From www.inkhouse.net - April 29, 2012 10:44 PM
The following characteristics are twenty signs you might be a word nerd. Fellow word nerds unite!

 

...I thought there must be some common threads for us word nerds—individuals who are extremely passionate about grammar and writing. As InkHouse’s resident grammarian, I enjoy perfectly punctuated prose not only because my sixth-grade English teacher stopped awarding me extra-credit points after finding too many “edits for credit,” but because written communication is the heart of PR.

 

Here’s my map of the DNA of a word nerd. If you answer yes to at least three of these characteristics, welcome to the Word Nerd Club....

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5 Words That Need to Die in PR

5 Words That Need to Die in PR | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it
From paulsutton.co - June 26, 2015 7:34 PM
Who fancies a game of Buzzword Bingo? Here are five words to get you started that I’ve noticed being used with increasing regularity inside communications agencies and at industry conferences…
Jeff Domansky's insight:

No shortage of corporate buzzwords these days.

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Are You a Grammar Guru or Narrative Ninja? | The PR Coach

Are You a Grammar Guru or Narrative Ninja? | The PR Coach | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it
From www.theprcoach.com - October 9, 2012 11:34 PM
Think you know all about grammar & punctuation? Your grammar called and she thought it was time for a serious punctuation lesson.

 

The PR Coach takes you on a journey to the twilight zone of punctuation for every PR writer, blogger and wordsmith. Think you know everything about grammar and punctuation? Not so fast Pilgrim.

 

A little test to whet your appetite:

-  What is this character called: ‽

-  What does the tilde  ~  indicate?

-  How is the index/fist  ☞  used?

-  What's the name of this character  § ?

 

Read on for 23 strange characters every writer should know but may never use ;-) ...

 

~ Jeff

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Colson Whitehead’s Rules for Writing

Colson Whitehead’s Rules for Writing | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it
From www.nytimes.com - July 29, 2012 2:30 PM
Simple rules for becoming a better writer, from the author of “Zone One.”...

 

Colson Whitehead says the art of writing can be reduced to a few simple rules. He shares 11 rules to help you be a better writer....

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Tangled Passages | The New York Times

Tangled Passages | The New York Times | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it
From afterdeadline.blogs.nytimes.com - June 27, 2012 2:09 PM
This week, a guest essay from my colleague Patrick LaForge on a perennial problem - leads (and other sentences) that tax readers' patience:...

 

No one sets out to write an opening sentence so long that it frustrates and irritates readers. But that’s what we sometimes do.

 

Writers are not always the culprits. Too often, editors are the ones overstuffing leads with background, context and tangential explanations. It’s a collective effort. We need to do better.

•••

Two recent examples weighed in at 55 words each and actually prompted reader complaints...

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What Business Bloggers Can Learn from Journalists - Content Mastery Guide

What Business Bloggers Can Learn from Journalists - Content Mastery Guide | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it
From www.contentmasteryguide.com - January 29, 2012 11:39 PM
When you're building online visibility you really can't afford to be absent for too long. Just like a newspaper or magazine, business bloggers should try to stick with a schedule your readers can rely on.

 

According to Technorati.com's State of the Blogosphere 2011 report, almost 1/3 of bloggers have worked for the traditional media. That statistic got me thinking about how business bloggers could benefit from a journalism mindset....

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