Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Tue, Nov 24 2009
Personalizing lists and research notes
I was helping a colleague work a list earlier today and I realized how subjective lists can be. We often think we're putting simple items or tasks in a vertical format, but if you asked two or more people to make a list you'd probably get a real mix of techniques. I never learned formal shorthand technique, but I've found that many of us have our own verions of shorthand that help us make a list more efficient and meaningful. I use a boxed-in "C" to indicate that I have a coupon for a particular item at the grocery store. When I make brief notes on a very small piece of paper, I often leave the vowels out if they represent a short vowel sound. For instance, "relevant" would be written as "rlvnt". Some vowels get left out altogether if the context is a familiar one. For instance, when I'm doing research on a festival and I need to make a quick note about a horseshoe tournament, the word "tournament" becomes "trnmnt" or even "trnmt". If there's a multiple-word phrase that comes up a lot, such as "pancake breakfast", I may shorten it further to something like "pcb". This sort of shorthand is helpful only when used in the context of your own current project or in lists that you work on with some frequency. If you set aside such a list for too long you might forget what your abbreviation even meant.
posted at: 16:47 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
I was helping a colleague work a list earlier today and I realized how subjective lists can be. We often think we're putting simple items or tasks in a vertical format, but if you asked two or more people to make a list you'd probably get a real mix of techniques. I never learned formal shorthand technique, but I've found that many of us have our own verions of shorthand that help us make a list more efficient and meaningful. I use a boxed-in "C" to indicate that I have a coupon for a particular item at the grocery store. When I make brief notes on a very small piece of paper, I often leave the vowels out if they represent a short vowel sound. For instance, "relevant" would be written as "rlvnt". Some vowels get left out altogether if the context is a familiar one. For instance, when I'm doing research on a festival and I need to make a quick note about a horseshoe tournament, the word "tournament" becomes "trnmnt" or even "trnmt". If there's a multiple-word phrase that comes up a lot, such as "pancake breakfast", I may shorten it further to something like "pcb". This sort of shorthand is helpful only when used in the context of your own current project or in lists that you work on with some frequency. If you set aside such a list for too long you might forget what your abbreviation even meant.
posted at: 16:47 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
