David Porter » Entries tagged with "Writing"
CMT (Charcot Marie Tooth) Awareness
CMT – (Charcot Marie Tooth disease) is not widely known about. So how is it seen? Sometimes children appear a little clumsy, perhaps not good at sports. Their feet start to look a bit different. Perhaps their ability to handle things deteriorates. Muscles waste and balance becomes unstable. Gradually their toes may curl, arches rise and shoes don’t fit. There may be neuropathic pain. Gradually feet or hands become more clearly deformed. This is Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), a progressive degeneration of the nerves caused by genetic abnormalities. There is no cure at present. It affects 1 in every 2500 people on earth, each one in a different way. It is not life-threatening as such, but it can be life-restricting. Named after the three doctors who diagnosed it first, CMT is now becoming better known. Research into the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Ideas and Thoughts
The Space-Time Continuum: How Fact Meets Fiction to Make Faction
To write creatively, factual knowledge is added to make ideas work. To make pure fact accessible, some fiction is called upon. Faction is the mixture. A writer exploring an imaginary space ship needs to have facts to hand to make the fiction believable and interesting. When a drama or docudrama is made, people may know what a certain person did at a given time, like a crime, say, but not what was said before or afterwards. The artist adds the invented words to make the known facts believable and interesting to an audience. Faction is not confined to science-fiction, it’s widespread in literature, drama and film. To take one illustration: people know the bare bones of what occurred when a young French girl received a vision to lead her soldiers against the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
Plain Language is the Holy Grail of Communication
If people would say what they mean, instead of speaking/writing/hiding in cliches, jargon and obfuscation, might understanding be greater? The Free Dictionary gives meanings of the little-used but useful word, obfuscation. To obfuscate is to make so confused as to be difficult to understand, to dim, to darken, make indistinct or obscure, often used of the truth. Expanded definitions include bafflement, befuddlement, bemusement, disarray, mystification and confusion. All the nuances can be wrapped up in how some people and organisations communicate written/oral information/instruction, and how many people respond. Plain English, Plain Language The Plain English Campaign is a commercial editing and training firm based in the United Kingdom, ‘fighting for plain English in public communication’. They oppose ‘gobbledygook, jargon and legalese’. Once, the language they oppose was found mainly in legal documents; nowadays … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
Blog Writing Is A Different Art
I am a guest blogger on some of the blogs for MailBigFile, by way of feature articles about the world of cloud futures, technology, cyberspace and the world we live in through all that technology. On their first anniversary, May 2012, they wrote: ‘A big thanks must go to David Porter, who has worked tirelessly on the blog these many months. His contributions to the blog have been nothing short of brilliant, with his posts being insightful, original and well-written. If you’re not already subscribed to the blog for Porter’s posts, he writes three pieces a week, then you really ought to be. They are typically posted on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.’ Sometimes the work for others caries links to the research I do, as in the one about virtual holidays, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blogs: For Others
Writing Online, Writing On Paper
As well as publishing articles online, I have published work in magazines and papers, have written a complete English correspondence course for Bankers, plays, sketches and drama teaching materials. I can express what you need to say, and help business staff to do likewise. Writing Online My articles at Suite 101 began in April 2010, and as the articles reach a year old, I am republishing them on this site, in the Articles at Suite 101 category. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Writing
Performing Arts
You may not think that the performing arts have a lot to do with business, writing or training. However, the applicable skills are legion. The enjoyment and satisfaction that comes from performing, from writing for performance, for directing others, for producing a complex show, are all skills that can help you. As my articles at Suite 101, my career in teaching the arts in schools, working in children’s theatre, arts reviews in papers, writing and producing drama, directing musicals and plays all show – I love the performing arts! My first article for the Norfolk edition of Places & Faces Magazine (May 2011) was an interview with co-founder and artistic director of Eastern Angles Theatre, Ivan Cutting. I made some suggestions to Thalia Theatre group in Norwich to see if there are ways … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Performing Arts
The Box
You can communicate effectively…! David Porter Communications with the Human Touch The Box where experience counts Human Communication is the Name of my Game A service to business and individuals in need of confidence building, trouble shooting, problem solving, public speaking, report/letter writing, quality written web content, editing, event enabling, voice-overs, third way and lateral thinking. I work with others rich in life’s experiences: We think outside the box. But we don’t neglect what’s already inside the box, too Whatever your problem, we can help We can do it for you, or work with you We can talk to people for or with you We facilitate We teach you or your staff the know-how from writing English to speaking it We organise, arrange, plan, question We come up with blue sky thinking We brain storm for or with you. What’s in the Box? I lead a team of older, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured