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Tami Neilson Gig Review

27/9/2015

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Tami Neilson at The Tuning Fork. Photo by Tim Armstrong.
Tami Neilson at The Tuning Fork. Photo by Tim Armstrong.
Last night Tami Neilson performed the songs off her new album at The Tuning Fork.
 
Read the full review on The 13th Floor.
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Eb and Sparrow gig review

21/9/2015

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Eb and Sparrow at The Wine Cellar.
Eb and Sparrow at The Wine Cellar.
Eb and Sparrow at The Wine Cellar last night was a marvelous treat. The Wellington-based band, who are "country with indie aspirations" performed not one but TWO magical sets, ably supported by the lovely folk music of Nadia Reid. 

Read my review on The 13th Floor. 
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10 ways to improve your business writing

15/9/2015

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10 ways to improve your business writing
10 ways to improve your business writing
I'm a writer and my colleague Matt is an editor. We put together these 10 writing tips to help you quickly and easily improve your business writing style.

1. Start before you start
If you don’t know what you’re trying to say, your reader won’t either. Before you get started, ask yourself:

  • What’s the purpose of this communication?
  • Who’s my audience?
  • What’s the call to action – what do I want people to do or learn as a result of reading this message?

If you’re writing a particularly complicated piece, it can help to identify the five w’s – who, what, when, why and … (w)how – before you get stuck in.

2. Make it easy for your reader to care
Make it easy for your reader to understand what’s in it for them.
You could say:
"We are implementing a new standardised three-bin system for household organic waste."

But who cares? Why not say:
"Our new compost collection will make recycling easier."

Ah, now I get it!

3. Pucker up
KISS: Keep it simple, stupid!
It’s harder to write clear, concise copy than it is to write paragraphs of waffle, but your readers will thank you for it.

4. Invest in pyramid schemes
The ‘inverted pyramid’ structure is a good format to apply to any business writing. Put the most important information at the top and the least important information at the bottom. In between you can include quotes, facts and figures and background information.

5. Know how to write for the net
Readers scan online text in an ‘F’ shape as they search for interesting information. Use headings and subheadings to help direct your reader’s attention. Be meaningful and specific – people want to know what they’re going to be reading.

6. Use active voice
Need to get your word count down? Want to do a better job of engaging your reader? Try using active voice.

Passive voice: "Six coffees were drunk by you."
Active voice: "You drank six coffees."

Passive voice: "The plan was reviewed and the changes were approved."
Active voice: "We reviewed the plan and approved the changes."

7. Zhush, zhush, zhush
Not all communication is inherently interesting, but you can liven things up with some zhushing. Give your piece a show-stopping headline, try a bit of humour, include a great photo or source a quote from an expert.

8. Be a headline act
The headline is the most read part of any article. It should get your reader’s attention and make them click the link and/or read the article, and – best of all – share it with other people.

When you’re writing emails, treat your subject-line as your headline. Let your reader know that your communication is interesting and important.

Writers and editors at Upworthy and Buzzfeed are required to submit at least 25 headlines with every story – that’s how important a great headline is.

9. Avoid capital punishment
In modern writing the trend is to use fewer capitals – but people tend to use them a bit randomly, so try to be consistent. Use capitals when you’re writing specific proper nouns (words that name specific people, places or things), titles of people and documents in full.

When Prime Minister Jane Smith attends a meeting with Chief Executive Susan Brown, the capitals show you’re referring to them by their full titles. But if you’re writing about the prime minister meeting chief executives from across the city, you don’t need capitals.

10. Don’t be a comma comma comma comma comma chameleon
Here’s a quick tip for using commas with titles. In this case, commas = brackets. For example, instead of writing:
"The representative, Basil Scott attended the meeting."

You’d write:
"The representative, Basil Scott, attended the meeting."

To test that you’ve done it correctly, cut everything between the commas out, and check if the sentence still makes sense:
"The representative attended the meeting."

Now that you’ve followed our 10 easy tips, it’s time to get your work signed off – and get it out there!

I want more!
Here are some of our favourite websites for writers and editors:

Grammarist
Grammarly 
The OWL 
The Writer’s Diet
The Paramedic Method (for concise writing)
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Lady Sings The Blues at the Town Hall

3/9/2015

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Lady Sings The Blues
Lady Sings The Blues
Auckland Town Hall
Wednesday 2 September 2015

The show-stopping number of the evening came from Ladi6, who performed an outstanding version of Strange Fruit that left us feeling as though we’d just witnessed the scene at the poplar trees ourselves. The power of the words and the emotion of her voice added up to a truly transcendent moment. 

Visit Theatreview to read the full review. 
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    Kathryn van Beek

    Author

    A graduate of UNITEC’s School of Performing and Screen Arts (BA) and Victoria University’s Institute of Modern Letters (MA), Kathryn is a published playwright who has won several Playmarket and Fringe Festival awards.

    An accomplished short story writer, Kathryn is the author of short story collection
    Pet, and the winner of the Mindfood Short Story Competition and the Headland Short Story Prize.

    Kathryn has written several zines, a podcast, a web series, and a number of articles for outlets such as The Spinoff. She has also written and illustrated two children's books about her rescue cat, Bruce. 


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    Follow Kathryn on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

    I am also hoping to put the power of the pen to good use by advocating for better miscarriage information and support. Click here for details.

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