Tools and Insights – Page 2

Word of the Year

admin2022-12-06T13:59:44-05:00

Word of the Year by Stephanie Whetstone I was having dinner with friends recently—a writer and an artist—when they each revealed they had chosen a word in January that would be their "word of the year."Leah’s was “love” in all its many forms; Laurie’s was “reflection,” so she would remember to stop and think, instead of constantly moving in different directions without rest. Rather than try to make specific resolutions for improvement, they each chose a word that would become the theme of their year, something they came back to, a mantra of sorts. A reminder of who they wanted to [...]

Word of the Yearadmin2022-12-06T13:59:44-05:00

Writing at Its Best: The Magic of Dialogue by Andrea La Bella

admin2022-06-01T11:12:59-04:00

Writing at Its Best: The Magic of Dialogue by Andrea La Bella In this, the latest post in our series of reflections on the nature of “good writing,” Andrea La Bella reflects on the magic of dialogue in film. Andrea is the Assistant to the Director at the Center for Statistics and Machine Learning. I grew up in a movie loving household. My father and mother would pile into the car with the five of us kids and head for the drive-in theater: one low admission price per car. My brothers loved the action scenes. But I loved the dialogue. When [...]

Writing at Its Best: The Magic of Dialogue by Andrea La Bellaadmin2022-06-01T11:12:59-04:00

Writing at Its Best: Short and Sometimes Sweet by Courtney Coffman

admin2022-05-10T16:15:41-04:00

Short and Sometimes Sweet by Courtney Coffman In this, the latest post in our series of reflections on the nature of "good writing," Courtney Coffman captures the poetry and fun that can be found in distilling a movie to its essence. Courtney is the Manager of Lectures and Publications at the School of Architecture. A few years ago, I began taking screen-shots of various Netflix program descriptions. My collecting began while re-watching spontaneous episodes of The Office. I first noticed the series description as a witty summary: “The boss is an idiot, the workers are clueless, elaborate pranks and feuds abound. [...]

Writing at Its Best: Short and Sometimes Sweet by Courtney Coffmanadmin2022-05-10T16:15:41-04:00

The Art of Revision

admin2022-10-12T11:02:39-04:00

The Art of Revision by Stephanie Whetstone Congratulations, fellow writer, you've finished a draft! So, you're done, right? Wrong. No published book, dissertation, thesis, or essay you have ever read was written in one draft. Even if you don't plan to publish, anything you plan to share with an audience deserves (at least) a second look. In fact, many writers say that the real work of writing comes through revision. So, the first draft is just the beginning. That is both the bad news and the good news. Revision does take time--reading and re-reading, taking a break in between revisions to [...]

The Art of Revisionadmin2022-10-12T11:02:39-04:00

Speaking While Masked

admin2022-01-27T13:33:30-05:00

Speaking While Masked As the pandemic enters its third year, the role of masks in reducing the risk of infection has been well documented. In the words of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Correct and consistent mask use is a critical step everyone can take to prevent getting and spreading COVID-19." Unfortunately, the protective barriers that masks create can hamper communication unless we compensate for them. I suspect that anyone who has worn a mask has struggled, at times, to be understood. More than once, I have had to repeat myself while placing an order at Starbucks, as in a [...]

Speaking While Maskedadmin2022-01-27T13:33:30-05:00

How to Write a Letter of Recommendation

admin2021-11-16T16:27:55-05:00

How to Write a Letter of Recommendation It's that time of year. No, not just for New Year's resolutions! It's application season. And many applications--for graduate schools, summer internships, and fellowships--require letters of recommendation, sometimes referred to as LORs. It is an honor to be asked to write an LOR, but you need to establish some ground rules and create a basic recommendation letter template to use as a starting point; otherwise, the deadlines could pile up, and there are futures on the line! No pressure. First, you should only consent to write a LOR for someone you know and whose [...]

How to Write a Letter of Recommendationadmin2021-11-16T16:27:55-05:00

The Magic of Showing Up

admin2021-12-01T16:21:31-05:00

The Magic of Showing Up In our Writing Space Group (a group of Princeton employees who like to write and meet once a month to do so), we often talk about finding the time and motivation to pursue our own creative projects. Some of us write every day for work, some don't, but we all struggle to find a consistent, viable schedule for our own creative writing projects. We have discussed many strategies, and the key to consistency, it seems, may come from something as simple as sitting down at your desk or kitchen table. A personal trainer once told me [...]

The Magic of Showing Upadmin2021-12-01T16:21:31-05:00

The Bad News Sandwich: How to Give (and Receive) Feedback

admin2021-10-21T12:53:24-04:00

The Bad News Sandwich: How to Give (and Receive) Feedback At Princeton Writes, we host writing and public speaking classes and workshops, and toward the end of each session, we ask participants to share their writing or to give short speeches in front of the group. This requires vulnerability on the part of the writers and speakers and compassion on the part of the audience. Afterwards, we ask for feedback from the audience. This request is often met with silence. Audience members look away, readers and speakers shift awkwardly, until finally, someone starts. To make it easier, we give the audience [...]

The Bad News Sandwich: How to Give (and Receive) Feedbackadmin2021-10-21T12:53:24-04:00

Writing Less, Not More

John Weeren2021-09-30T13:37:39-04:00

Writing Less, Not More A question that faces all wordsmiths is how much to write about a subject. In the absence of a fixed word count, or at least a template, and without the spatial constraints imposed by paper-based communications, we are left to draw our own boundaries. And more often than not, they are too generous. Yes, we sometime write less than circumstances warrant, but most writers generate too many words for the comfort of their readers, not too few. There are several reasons why writing with restraint is more challenging than writing with abandon, reasons that must be [...]

Writing Less, Not MoreJohn Weeren2021-09-30T13:37:39-04:00

Everyone is Welcome!

admin2021-04-06T13:30:01-04:00

Everyone is Welcome! Though we may dread yet another meeting in front of our computer screens these days, our move to connecting with each other via Zoom and other video conferencing platforms has had at least one silver lining: accessibility. Princeton University is committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment that is welcoming, accessible, engaging, and exciting to all participants and viewers. Keep this guidance and these best practices in mind as you create presentations to make your events and videos accessible to people with permanent or temporary disabilities. Many of these practices will benefit all viewers! Captioning Princeton University’s [...]

Everyone is Welcome!admin2021-04-06T13:30:01-04:00

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