Seth's Blog: Writing naked

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Writing naked (nakeder than Orwell)

Here are Orwell's rules, edited:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. You don't need cliches.

2. Never use a long word where a short one will do. Avoid long words.

3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. Write in the now.

5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. When in doubt, say it clearly.

6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. Better to be interesting than to follow these rules.

The reason business writing is horrible is that people are afraid.

Afraid to say what they mean, because they might be criticized for it.

Afraid to be misunderstood, to be accused of saying what they didn't mean, because they might be criticized for it.

Orwell was on the right track. Just say it. Say it clearly. Say it now. Say it without fear of being criticized and say it without being boring.

If the goal is no feedback, then say nothing. Don't write the memo.

If the goal is to communicate, then say what you mean.

My best tip is this: buy a cheap digital recorder. Say what you want to say, as if the person you seek to persuade is standing there, listening. Then type that up. Simplify. Send.

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Posted by Seth Godin on June 27, 2011 | Permalink

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From cookie cutter to finger paint

Seth Godin offered some interesting insight on the changing nature of the economy and the nature of business in general. Cookie cutter is out and finger paint is in, but not without the ever present risk of getting a little messy!

"The old economy offered a guarantee--time plus education plus obedience = stability. The new one, not so much. The new one offers a chance for you to take a chance and make an impact."

"The nature of the last era was that repetition and management of results increased profits. The nature of this one is the opposite: if someone can tell you precisely what to do, it's too late. Art and novelty and innovation cannot be reliably and successfully industrialized."

I see this every day working in the social media space. Messaging becomes less controlled and more conversational and business leads come from building relationships and providing valuable content, not producing more and being the best bargain.

"Sexy" Data online - The Knowledge | Think Quarterly

From Google's new online magazine Think Quarterly: 10 best places to see 'sexy' data visualizations online.

Information is Beautiful

Data journalist and design whiz David McCandless’ Information is Beautiful blog is a treasure-trove of cool visualisations and mash-ups. His work has also been published in a bestselling book of the same name.

Flowing Data

If someone, somewhere, is producing a great data visualisation or analysis, Nathan Yau’s blog will find it. Yau has an unerring ability to unearth the best data visualisations on the web. He also produces graphics, and is a regular poster to the Guardian Datastore Flickr group.

Patrick Cain’s Map Blog

Canadian Patrick Cain is a ‘journalist who makes maps for the web’. Based in Toronto, Cain takes the city’s data and maps it – producing guides to everything from crime figures to World War I deaths and single parent families. A fan of open data, Cain has a record of demanding data from the city’s authorities using Freedom of Information laws.

Timetric

If you’re looking for time series economic data – and a nifty way of creating a sophisticated, embeddable graphic – this is the place to come. Timetric updates thousands of datasets every day and provides an easy-to-use interface that makes it very simple to create your own.

OWNI

Although a lot of the best data work is done in English, Paris-based OWNI is a collective of geeks and data freaks producing visualisations and apps that manage to be imaginative and innovative. The collective’s work on Wikileaks – which allowed people to interrogate the data – won a 2010 Online Journalism Award for General Excellence.

Guardian Datablog

The Guardian and its Datablog publishes raw data behind the news every day, and encourages readers to visualise and work with it. The site publishes its data using Google spreadsheets and Google Fusion Tables, and allows readers to search thousands of government datasets around the world.

Infochimps

The big brains at Infochimps have come up with an innovative way to find, share and sell formatted data. Both users and the site’s own contributors collate and scrape datasets so that they’re easily accessible. With big plans for expansion and lots of intelligent developers onboard, it’s definitely one to watch.

DataMarket

This brand new site combines an innovative data search function with bright and imaginative visualisations. It also allows you to create your own, download them and put them in your PowerPoint presentation or company report.

LinkedIn

It might be better known for its impact on the world of social media, but LinkedIn also has a hugely innovative approach to data. LinkedIn has made collating and using data a priority, with lead data scientists completely integrated into the commercial operation.

London Datastore

Governments around the globe are opening up their data, from data.gov in the US, via Australia, the UK, New Zealand and France. One of the best and most useful is the London Datastore. Created by the Greater London Authority, it publishes thousands of datasets with the emphasis on useful, live data, such as transport and economic numbers. Developers are using those figures to create interesting apps, such as Matthew Somerville’s live train map for the London Underground.

More from this writer
via thinkquarterly.co.uk