My Technical and Grant Writing Blog

I am posting on Examiner.com as the Tampa Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Examiner. So far the focus is on book reviews, with some other articles talking about my local book stores, chain and used.

Feel free to stop in and subscribe, being one of the first to read the reviews as they get posted to the site.

The url in question is Tampa Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books Examiner

I am once again participating in the National Novel Writing Month hosted at http://www.nanowrimo.org/. This is where you spend the month of November trying to write a 50,000 word novel between November 1 and November 31.
This comes out to be about 1,667 words a day if you write every day, and about 2,500 words if you do not write on the weekends.

Also on the writing front I am the Tampa SF and F books Examiner. My page is located at http://www.examiner.com/x-26054-Tampa-SciFiFantasy-Books-Examiner and I can always use a few more views. Focused on Book Reviews with occasional comments and observations about bookstores in my local area.

Recently I posted to a position via Careerbuilder. There is now a feature now when someone submits to a position, they can get a free review of the resume that was submitted to that opening.

So now the results from my own resume are in. I believe the points brought up are valid and can aid anyone, so I am sharing with the entire web.

Without copying their email, here are the 4 suggestions in general, these are the paraphrased versions that follow.

1. Do not use Objectives
2. Consistent format in the resume
3. Do not use I, Me, We (1st, 2nd, 3rd person references)
4. No dates over 10 years old

The advice stated to not place an objective statement. To instead use the top portion to emphasize skills and to sell yourself.

The format should have all dates, titles, job layouts, etc in a consistent format (Mine needs some work here I realize)

Remove personal references, keep it as business and professional as possible

Avoid dates over 10 years old. Items like when college or high school graduation was. This can help to avoid unintentional age dating and bias.

Without organization there is only Chaos
Words that can haunt all of us Technical Writers. The older I get the more I like a good table of contents in any document I create.
Fiction, non-fiction, simple little thrown together ones just for myself. Put down the title of the document, then insert the table of contents and start with the organizing.

This mentality can apply to the files and organizing them as well. Start off with the file folder structure, lay it out with the overall document title, then you can make sub-folders that match up to the equivalents of the H1 headings, keeping the data to be input into the document in a similar order.

For a good year now I have been contemplating how best to help the most number of people. From starting my own non-profit devoted to helping Veterans and People Transitioning Work, to Urban Infill ideas dealing with taking empty office spaces (Such as the old Circuit City building here in town and turning it into affordable housing) I have considered and dabbled in getting started on those and others.

So then a few weeks ago I asked some people I know what they consider to be the single thing (however impossible) I could focus on that would do the most good for the most people. I got some good ideas, some support, mostly focused on work in your skills or interests.

Then last weekend sitting in Books a Million with my wife I found the book with the answer. Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization

It reminded me of my long time layman interest in Peak Oil and what it will mean for our world.
So this is the answer, increase awareness of Peak Oil and work to find a solution, and to encourage the finding of this solution. Now to get serious funding.

Later Days and Stranger Ways