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 | 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 | Apr 27, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Can you picture almost 80 million litres? Probably not. It’s a huge number, too big to understand without context. A client wants employees to understand the importance of managing energy like diesel fuel. To make the 80 million litres the company used in 2017 more...
by Sue Horner | Dec 14, 2017 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
You can usually spot jargon at less than 10 paces, but it’s fun to have the option of The De-Jargonizer. Plug in a piece of writing, and this handy tool will highlight the jargony words you might want to replace. A report about Toys ’R’ Us executives giving themselves...
by Sue Horner | Nov 23, 2017 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Noise is a big issue around airports. A jet taking off can produce an average of 100 to 120 decibels. That’s as noisy as it is in the front row of a rock concert. If, like airports, your business makes noise that’s affecting your neighbours, you want to show that...
by Sue Horner | Jun 27, 2017 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Last week, I got a letter from the publisher of Reader’s Digest, indicating I “could” be a winner. Ooh, I have a chance to earn a chance to win ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS! The letter is a classic direct mail sales letter, complete with the required P.S., supposedly...
by Sue Horner | Jul 21, 2016 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
In a showdown between fast cars and slow-moving turtles, the losers are easy to spot, flattened on increasingly busy roads. The study of this often deadly interaction of road networks and nature is called road ecology. Some background reading I’m doing for a project...
by Sue Horner | May 19, 2016 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Time to get cranky, again, about jargon and annoying words. Who’s with me? First up are overused words that are quickly becoming jargon: Hacks. I get it, it’s a handy short word, which is useful in headlines. In most cases, it’s thin disguise for...
by Sue Horner | Jan 25, 2016 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Inc.com’s contributing editor, Geoffrey James, doesn’t sugarcoat it. In a piece called How Corporate-Speak Rots Your Brain and How To Stop It, he says jargon “makes you and everyone around you progressively less intelligent.” What’s more, rather than making you sound...
by Sue Horner | Jun 24, 2015 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Non-profit organizations use annual reports to let donors know where their money goes, and ask for more support. Yet a 2013 study* shows only 26 per cent of the Canadians surveyed think charities do a good job of explaining how donations are used. So, how does a...
