by Sue Horner | Aug 2, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
My computer is now back from the shop/hospital/morgue, and you’d be right to say I should have seen this coming. My (formerly) trusty MacBook Pro was ancient, in tech terms – 2010, to be exact. The year sticks in my mind because it was part of my “back to school”...
by Sue Horner | Jul 26, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
You’ll find some of the best storytellers in the music world. Songwriters use lyrics to create a mood or trigger emotion. They are adept at alliteration, and use rhyme and rhythm to help listeners feel the tale behind the tune. Expressive language gets the point...
by Sue Horner | Jul 20, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Writing experts agree that you should write first, edit later. Ann Handley calls this embracing “the Ugly First Draft.” For Anne Lamott, it’s “the shitty first draft;” for Daphne Gray-Grant, “the crappy first draft.” But at some point you need to wrestle that first...
by Sue Horner | Jul 5, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Somewhere along my 11 years of blogging, I started sharing the most-read blog posts part way through the year and at year-end. So now that we’ve already hit mid-year (how is that possible?), here are a half-dozen of them so far in 2018. I’m often inspired to blog...
by Sue Horner | Jun 28, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Content may be king, but relationships are royalty, according to Dan Tisch, APR, of Argyle Public Relationships. In a talk at IABC/Toronto’s annual general meeting, Dan noted that public relations and communications people should let others focus on churning out...
by Sue Horner | Jun 21, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Are you a Fitbit fan? I am. I’ve been wearing the step tracker since December 2014, and it encourages me to look for reasons to take a few extra steps, like parking further away from a store or the train station, or taking the long way home after a short walk with...
by Sue Horner | Jun 13, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
You may have left a job, or you’re looking for a new job with a different focus. Maybe you retired but are still open for something new, even if you aren’t actively looking. It’s time to update your LinkedIn profile. I’ve been helping a friend do just that, and...
by Sue Horner | Jun 7, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Our neighbourhood is atwitter (sorry) with robins this spring. One scurried along the sidewalk ahead of me the other day, tiny legs flashing, just edging out of my way. “Why would you walk when you can fly?” I wondered. It suddenly hit me that we could ask ourselves...
by Sue Horner | May 31, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Stumbling over a few misused words recently brought to mind the 1987 movie, The Princess Bride. Vezzini (Wallace Shawn), the “mastermind” hired to kidnap the princess, constantly describes unfolding events as “inconceivable.” Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) says, “You...
by Sue Horner | May 24, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
So, you’ve crafted an interesting opening to your story, article, blog post or other writing. You’ve taken readers through the details and why the piece is important. Don’t let your writing screech to a halt as if you’ve hit a dead end sign. “From our earliest years,...
