Number One With a Bullet

Contrary to my expectations, I feel like I have benefited greatly from English 402. I have always enjoyed writing and thought that I would not really learn anything, but I was wrong. Though technical writing may not be the most enjoyable, it is an inevitable necessity, and I now feel much more prepared to communicate in a professional environment. Two of the most important tools I took from our weekly memo writing: titles and bullets.

Titles
Titles are an easy way to quickly convey the organization of your document to your audience. Simply by scanning through the headings, the reader can have a pretty comprehensive idea of what you are writing about. Who could have thought that simply using bold and/or enlarged text would be such a powerful tool?

Bullets
Bullets have multiple advantages in a technical document. When used appropriately they

• convey multiple ideas in a condensed format
  
• are easily identifiable on a cursory reading of the document
  
• organize ideas into a professional and comprehensible format
  

These techniques revolve around the idea that people are too busy in today's business environments to spend time to reading superfluous information. Do not use 5 words when 3 will do, and do not waste time writing long paragraphs when you could use a list or a table. You want to give your message efficiently and professionally, so avoid thinking that you are writing literature.

Publishing

I appreciate the interesting insight Tom Sumner offered into the details behind book publishing. I learned just how involved publishers are in a project from the very beginning discovery of a manuscript, to the editing and formatting, all the way to production and promotion of the final product.

What I found most interesting was the discussion of the rise of alternative publishing sources. Commercial services offering manuscript formatting and printing are far more readily available for aspiring author-publishers, which could potentially limit the need for publishing companies.

Additionally, the advent of the internet and personal computer offer a much more dynamic alternative source of media consumption. Not only can book manuscripts now be easily compiled and distributed in digital format, but the product of written media has completely morphed to fill new market niches. Writing comes to us for free these days directly from the source: blogs, twitter, social networks and other readily available web sources and digital formats.

So do we even need publishers? The answer, for now at least, seems to be yes if we want to put together a professional product that will get lots of readers. But I feel that this might not always be the case. The development of new portable digital book readers like the Kindle, Nook, iPad and dozens of others, shows that there is an increasing shift in trend towards a more versatile delivery method. Nowhere does it say that written words have to be paper words, and I feel this trend for easier access and dynamic versatility will supersede our love of physical media.

Advertising

The Persuaders segment on Frontline was a very interesting examination of just how much machination goes in to selling us a product or service. There is a constant battle going on to get consumers' dollars, and the casualty is our consciousness. In order to shill their products, no arena seems off-limits to advertisers, including subliminal mind control tactics.

Now when people hear 'mind control' they usually think of science fiction or perhaps very powerful hypnotic suggestion (such as the Manchurian Candidate). However, sorry to say, these sorts of fantastical things are not necessary to control our weak minds. This again plays to a major theme I talk about throughout my blog: human brains are susceptible to unconscious influences. These are usually emotional in nature, and they often go unnoticed until some news magazine does a documentary on them.

This very much reminded me of a segment by British illusionist Derren Brown, Subliminal Advertising where he turns the tables on a couple of advertising professionals. I recommend you watch it, its very interesting and somewhat spooky, and shows just how powerful subliminal suggestion can be.

In all I was not entirely surprised by what was revealed of the advertising industry. Their tactics may have changed in delivery and in physical media, but the primary goal of companies selling their products has not changed. They want to do whatever they can to get the consumer to identify with a product. Not just to want or need it, but to feel a bond which co-opts their branding as a small part of your identity. They can do this through the front door with logos, or through the back door through surreptitious subliminal advertising, the effect is the same.