Developing an Article from the Ground Up

Whether it's at the request of your company's powers-that-be or out of your own personal desire to spread your wings, you may be thinking about writing an article. It'll be easy enough. You're a writer, after all. You already know how to research topics, develop information, and create a coherent document. You've written tomes on the most arcane topics known to humankind. Surely one little 1000-word feature story is no big deal, right? That all depends. Article writing--for a specialized audience or for the general public--requires knowledge of a new process that many technical writers may not be familiar with. Fortunately, though, any professional writer can learn to transfer his or her existing skills to this new format, and you just might find the different method provides a mini vacation from your day-to-day work projects.

Chroust Ehmann, Lain. TECHWR-L (2001). Articles>Writing>Planning

Resources for Writing Business Plans

A business plan is a document used to start a new business or get funding for a business that is changing in some significant way. Business plans are important documents for business partners who need to agree upon and document their plans, government officials who may need to approve aspects of the plan, and of course potential investors such as banks or private individuals who may decide to fund the business or its expansion.

McMurrey, David A. Illuminati Online (2001). Articles>Business Communication>Planning>Writing

Organization Through Simplification (Sort of)

To keep organized, you don't need a complex system. In fact, as this blog post suggests, managing time and tasks is best done using a simple system.

Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Articles>Writing>Time Management>Planning

The Power of an Hour

Sixty minutes isn't a lot of time. But if you use those 60 minutes wisely, you can get a lot of writing done.

Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Articles>Writing>Planning

Lying in a Hammock, or, Having a Single Goal without a Purpose

When you live in the moment, completing the activity itself is the success. And because writing is so multifaceted in effect — the effect both on me and others — having an open purpose doesn’t limit the results. I’m not narrow-mindedly searching for a specific achievement to happen. Instead, I’m open to unconsidered possibilities, if any of those possibilities decide to unravel.

Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2009). Articles>Project Management>Planning>Writing