Writergrrls Book Reviews

by Geri Frick, Eve Lopez, Melanie Payton, and Cecilie Roaldset

Hot Text: Web Writing That Works, by Jonathan and Lisa Price

Reviewed by Geri Frick

This book will help you improve any type of written communication, and it's a fun read to boot. The authors know what they're talking about and have the experience to back up their words. Both have spent many years writing for Web audiences. In addition to Web writing, their combined relevant experience includes journalism, technical communication, art, TV and radio, and teaching.

Hot Text takes the notion of audience analysis and targeting one's audience, and peels it down to its core. If you have ever found yourself frustrated during Web development meetings with your boss, customer, or client when someone says, "We think our audience are beginners, but we also need to include information for experts too," then this book is for you. It walks you through defining the audience of one, because "you can't hold a conversation with a faceless cloud of people." The book provides several pages of suggestions and techniques on how to find out who the site is for, and then how to locate those people to find out what they need.

The authors say that, "unfortunately, many organizations have no idea who consumes their text." This is often true where I work. But I contend that as the person who is the communication expert on the team (I anointed myself with that title a few years ago), it is up to me to do the leg work of finding and targeting the audience members, and report back to everyone else as to who they are and what they say they need (of a particular Web solution, e.g., employee benefits site). I've found that most people won't argue with a quote taken from an audience analysis questionnaire of a real potential user of the site. This book has helped me get that information faster.

My writing manager recommends this book to our Web developers and content writers. It can be found at www.webwritingthatworks.com.

Content Management for Dynamic Web Delivery by JoAnn T. Hackos

Reviewed by Geri Frick

This book, found at www.comtech-serv.com, provides background and process for implementing content management in an organization. You don't have to spend a lot of time researching the topic on the Web, because all the necessary information you need, from introduction to the subject, to a blueprint to implement your solution is provided here.

Hackos is well known in the Tech Com world for her previous books on document management, documentation standards, and analysis for interface design. Her seminars on content management are well regarded by my management (meaning they will fork over the bucks for an employee to go to one-I unfortunately am a contractor so I forked over my own bucks to go.)

We've been doing a lot with content management where I work. We (different departments and business units) still aren't in agreement with which tool to use, so there are various and sundry solutions in development and use. However, Hackos provides plenty of advice, information, and guidance that is non-application specific, so you can learn the fundamentals and apply the lessons to whatever software your company or group decides to buy. This book has helped me sound like I know what I'm talking about when it comes to content management. That is, when I remember to take my Ginko!

Geri Frick has been a technical writer/communicator for over 17 years. She has written technical manuals, training materials, and now develops for the Web and e-learning. She has also taught beginning technical writing classes at the community college level.

Winning Cover Letters by Robin Ryan

Reviewed by Eve Lopez

When you visit the career-building section of bookstores, you're assaulted by a wide variety of résumé and cover letter books. Some of them have big exclamation points and catchy-phrase titles-Mastering the Interview, 30 Days to the Perfect Job!, Résumés that Work!-and each promises that the "secrets" held between the covers of the book will catapult you into the career of your dreams.

I don't know how well most of these books work, because I haven't bought most of them. My interviewing/cover-letter writing/résumé skills come from networking with people in my field, and the occasional Internet article. I did, however, once succumb to purchasing a book called Winning Cover Letters: How to Demonstrate You're the Right Candidate for the Job.

I was drawn to Winning Cover Letters because it features functional résumés and testimonies of job seekers who found great jobs by following the formula of the book. I followed the steps of creating a résumé and matching cover letter, and not once did I get an interview as a result.

No, of course the book isn't totally to be blame. I can point to lots of other reasons—a flailing economy, for starters—and who knows? Maybe I really wasn't the "best" candidate for the positions I applied for. But what I do know is that as soon as I ditched the formula the book advocates, I opened myself up to lots of different opportunities to become more creative in my cover-letter writing. I found a couple of new jobs, too.

There just isn't one set way to write a cover letter that's going to please everyone.

Eve Lopez lives, writes, and works in Seattle. She is always updating her résumé and working on her cover-letter writing skills.

Finding Your Writer's Voice: A Guide to Creative Fiction by Thaisa Frank and Dorothy Wall

Reviewed by Melanie Payton

In Finding Your Writer's Voice: A Guide to Creative Fiction, Thaisa Frank and Dorothy Wall invite writers of all levels to complete exercises that lead to the discovery of creative voice. To help unearth your voice, the authors encourage attending to yourself, your environment, and ordinary events and objects. Suggestions like writing in the dark, drawing pictures before writing, and "freewriting" (writing without stopping or editing) are offered as ways to begin your quest.

One exercise the authors encourage is using limitations to increase creativity. Confining your story in terms of length, time, or number of elements included can generate new ideas. They also offer guidance regarding practical issues like altering points of view, working with dialogue, enhancing plot development, and using story details to enhance unity.

The "Revision" section of the book is especially beneficial. Frank and Wall describe story revision as a creative rather than mechanical process. When reading a piece for the first time, listen for language and elements that excite you. Pay attention to unity of a story. Read your work aloud and make notes about the flow of the piece. Notice the stiffness or melodic qualities of your sentences. After you do these things, then editing can begin.

Creative voice changes with the writer and becomes more confident with practice. To keep your voice fresh, the authors suggest taking risks in your work. To stop your writing from becoming suppressed, write the truth - even if you destroy it later. Also, construct a life to nurture your voice and help it thrive. Make writing a priority and be demanding about the time that you set aside for it. Only you can decide how to write your stories and map out your life as a writer.

Melanie Payton writes fiction, essays, and reviews. She lives in Seattle and reads constantly.

Editors on Editing: What Writers Need to Know About What Editors Do edited by Gerald Gross

Reviewed by Cecilie Roaldset

I recently edited my first book for a small publisher, and although I was certain I knew all the rules of engagement about editing, I wanted to refresh my thinking and how I view the job as a freelance editor. Editors on Editing contains snippets of important information on various resources and gives editors guidance on what to do depending on what they edit. The book covers topics from "agenting" books to editing textbooks, and includes small, concise chapters on each subject.

The article on American editors and the chapter that describes what editors do fascinated me. Many authors get agents through editors, but editing has become a money-profit industry that thrives mainly on its own, and doesn't rely so much on the publishing houses that editors represent. As someone who has always edited to some capacity, I like resources that explain the background of what I do, rather than dictate exactly how I should do it.

Editing is mainly about how one expresses one's self as an editor yet does not distort or alter the writer's voice. Clear and concise editing deals with this, and is discussed in the book. Editing is in the details, and the book explains how the editor can keep the voice of the author, but still perform as an editor by respecting the works they are editing. I would recommend this book not so much as a guide, but as a tool to improve how one reads others' work.

Cecilie Roaldset is currently freelance editing and searching for work. She uses this book as a professional resource tool.