I’m not a big proponent of marriage (before you pass judgment on this seemingly-hypocrite statement, read on), so when I read Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off by Sandra Tsing Loh, I found myself nodding, chuckling and pondering. Growing up, I had these elaborate big fat Indian wedding fantasies (at one point in seventh…
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As I was reading The Way We Live Now – The Overextended Family, my thoughts kept wandering back to 2001. The year when my husband and I “met.” What started as a random e-mail conversation connecting us through the intertubes halfway across the world, turned into a “virtual” courtship that resulted in an online…
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I was going through some of my old files yesterday and found a report I’d written right after visiting a high school in Iowa. It was an eye-opening experience, to say the least. And I’m sorry to state that these experiences aren’t just representative of Iowan highschoolers, they pretty much reflect the narrow worldview…
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For those of you re-purposing, or producing, news content as well as magazine-style features for the Web, here are a few handy pointers: Make it concise – you don’t want your readers scrolling through reams and reams of text. Good writing doesn’t necessarily have to be lengthy. Break it up – subheads help the…
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Perhaps, you’ve never thought of your name as a brand before and yourself as a company — but indulge me for a minute here. When you go for an interview, what are you really doing? Selling yourself. In a stipulated amount of time you present a brief synopsis of your achievements, you gloat over…
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I was there once. Here’s what I learned through my experiences that I can pass on to you: Know why you are interested in the job — is it the money, the work, the people, the company name or something else? In all likelihood it’ll be a combination of factors. Remember to factor in…
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Love writing: If you don’t absolutely love writing, don’t take a job in which you’ll spend more than 75 percent of the time working with, and around, words. As with everything else, writing becomes second nature with practice but if you don’t enjoy it to begin with, there’s no reason for you to get…
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Everyone knew the iPhone was going to be big even before it was launched. But when people started developing apps to simplify even the simplest of things, the rage caught on. The story behind the iPhone-app-created cover image of The New Yorker’s June 1 edition only goes to show how far we have come…
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My friend and colleague Professor Andy Wood provides some insights into the usage of “Use vs. Utilize” today — interesting read. I agree with him in that utilize is often used in place of use to bolster credibility. simple strategy: bigger word, stronger impact The Grammar Girl’s take on the usage can be summed…
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Often, my interviewees find themselves wondering what goes behind writing an article for a magazine…so, how do you collect story ideas? What happens next? Do you ever get the writer’s block? Is good writing just a compilation of facts and quotes? I figured I’d put together a list that explains the process a bit…
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