If you’re one of those people that thinks laterally, loves mindmaps, stores tons of notes all over the place and would like to get organized, you might consider Tinderbox by the folks at Eastgate if you haven’t done so already. I’ve been using the application —which is currently only available for Mac but Window’s version [...]

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Sometimes you need to take two minutes to get mentally set before starting a writing task. Here are a few useful questions to ask yourself to help you keep on topic, and get the tone just right. Who is your audience? Who are your readers? Why will they be reading what you write? What will [...]

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Your CV is often the first sight an employer gets of you. Here are ten tips to improve the impression recruiters get of you: Whatever the layout, a CV should look well designed. Print it with a laser-printed on fresh, good quality paper. Keep your CV to 2 sides in length, with each side on [...]

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Readers on the internet tend to have a short attention span. How many times have we ourselves just skimmed through a webpage, only to move on to the next one in a blink of an eye? Writers take note, CopyBlogger has a 5 great points to help you craft that all important first paragraph. Ask [...]

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If you have to put together an effective and communicative Keynote or PowerPoint presentation for the first time, don’t panic. Follow these simple steps and you’ll wow them in the back rows. Remember: content is king Research your topic thoroughly. Make sure any images you use to illustrate your presentation are appropriate to the point(s) [...]

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I was recently talking to some senior high school students about how you e-mail people in the business community, prospective employers, college professors, etc. The majority of them had no idea how to approach the matter, and those that turned in example e-mails misjudged the tone you should take when writing a formal e-mail. Things [...]

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If you’re keen on simplistic minimalist weblog design, you might want to check out Plaintxt.org, a website dedicated to, well yes, minimalist WordPress themes. Although Scott’s designs might not be as fancy or colourful as some of the myriad themes out on le internet, they’re extremely light and fast-loading. What’s more, they’re also pretty easy [...]

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Although I attend many meetings a week and write stacks of notes I’d be exaggerating if I said I got a lot out of them. The notes, that is, not the meetings! I am, however, not the only one it seems. Talking to a bunch of teachers at a planning meeting the other I noticed [...]

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There is no secret in the fact that bloggers, have ideas. It is also no secret, especially for those of us who blog, that these ideas typically come to mind at the worst possible times. Personally, I know there are times when I would get a fabulous idea for an article and have no where [...]

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To improve the way you communicate, take two minutes to write more effective e-mail subject lines. The Problem Too many people fall into the trap of writing vague e-mail subject titles like “Hello”, “Hi” or even forget to bother with a title at all. The trouble is that junk mail tends to look pretty much [...]

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It’s a known fact that all good writers spend a lot of time reading. Through reading the words of others, writers learn what works and what doesn’t, and what new things they can apply to their own work. While it helps to read a wide range of books, there are some “writer’s manuals” that can [...]

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The craft of effective writing is often overlooked in everyday life. Most people think that becoming a competent writer requires taking up creative writing or English classes in college. However, this is far from the truth. The first thing you’ll need to become a writer is initiative. You should feel the need to become a [...]

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Some days when you need to write, the words flow from you like a waterfall, and other days, the words don’t flow at all. When you just don’t feel like writing, or don’t feel that anything you write will be any good, you need to slowly warm up to what you want to accomplish. Branching [...]

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All fictional characters run the risk of being stereotypical. While stereotypes do exist in the real world, you should make room for individuality when writing them into your story. It’s important to get to know your characters completely and intimately, if you want them to be believable. Here are a few simple writing exercises that [...]

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