the write stuff - improve your image with better writing

The Write Stuff – Improve your image with better writing.

Michael MeridethSr. Director of IT, VictorOps@vo_mike

A Bit About Mike

Awesome career choices in the late

90’s:

– Newspaper Journalist

– Photographer

• 2012 US median pay: $28,490

– IT Guy

• It’s the .com boom!

-12.0

-10.0

-8.0

-6.0

-4.0

-2.0

0.0

Newspaper Growth 2003-2010

Good Writing Matters

“Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it

simple.” 

--Woody Guthrie

“Clear writing is the result of clear thinking.”--John Gruber ( daringfireball.net )

A Simple Approach To Writing

Four Tips:

–Tip #1: Write like a journalist

The Inverted Pyramid

*Reasons

The most important details:Who, what, when, why, and where.

Additional details that add meaningand context.

Deep background informationfor the very interested.

Body

Back-ground

Lead (Lede*)

Inverted Pyramid, Inc.

Body

BG

Lead Executives

Management

Engineering Marketing Operations

tl;dr= lead!

Jargon

Tell the Story, Don’t Be the Story

The other day, I was talking to Jimmy and he mentioned reports that the new version of the application was slow. That didn’t sound right to me, so I asked Anne in support and he said that those customers just had a firewall problem.

What’s the Story Here?

Three customers have reported performance problems with version 2.0. According to Support, those customers had firewall configuration issues, and saw better performance after fixing their configuration.

Fewer Words, More Information

Tip Number 1: Write Like a Journalist

• Inverted Pyramid: Lead, Body,

Background

• Avoid jargon

• Take yourself out of the story

A Simple Approach To Writing

Four Tips:

–Tip #1: Write like a journalist–Tip #2: Learn your grammar

Learn your grammar

Good Quick References:

• Grammar Girl (quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl)

• Grammarbook.com

• Thepunctuationguide.com

• Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss

• The Elements of Style by Strunk & White

Avoid Obvious Mistakes

there / they’re / their

its / it’s

lose / loose

effect / affect

then / than

you’re / your

Punctuation

• Punctuation only exists in written language

• It helps the written word “sound” right

• Focus on the basics (comma, apostrophe)

• Free your mind, man

The Oxford Comma

Yes, of course! The Oxford Comma! Always!• I took a selfie with my parents, the President and Betty Ford.

- vs -

• I took a selfie with my parents, the President, and Betty Ford.

Okay, but:• Dedicated to my beloved Mother, Betty Ford, and God

- vs -

• Dedicated to my beloved Mother, Betty Ford and God

Grammar and Punctuation

• Use reference materials

• Use punctuation to clarify

• Don’t get fancy

• Make exceptions when it makes sense

A Simple Approach To Writing

Four Tips:

–Tip #1: Write like a journalist–Tip #2: Learn your grammar–Tip #3: Edit, edit, edit!

Edit

• Be the first to read what you have

written

• Take a breath!

• Spell check can deceive you

• It won’t catch your vs. you’re

( don’t run this at home! )

#!/bin/bash# Clean out /tmp/foo

dir=“/tmp/foo”

if [ -d ${dir} ]; then cd ${dur} && rm –rf *fi

Read Aloud

• Read challenging passages aloud

• Try not to scare people

• Revise until it sounds clear when spoken

Less is More

“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs,

is making a chore for the reader who reads.”

--Dr. Seuss (quoted on goodreads.com)

A Simple Approach To Writing

Four Tips:

–Tip #1: Write like a journalist–Tip #2: Learn your grammar–Tip #3: Edit, edit, edit!–Tip #4: Apply to everything

you write

Don’t Save Your A-Game

The Writing That Most People See:• Email• Documentation• Short Messages• IM• Tweets• SMS

Email: Easy On That Trigger

• Email is not synchronous

• Email is permanent

• An email thread is not a “first post” contest

• Favor “thoughtful” over “fast”

A Simple Approach To Writing

Four Tips:

–Tip #1: Write like a journalist–Tip #2: Learn your grammar–Tip #3: Edit, edit, edit!–Tip #4: Apply to everything

you write

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”

--Jack Kerouac

Resources

victorops.com/writing-resources

-or-

@vo_mike

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mike@victorops.com