getting your facts right

A decade ago I spent several years diligently employed as an editor.

Fact-checking is the bread and butter of the editor's day, something our lovely friend at Microsoft's spell-check function can't do for you I'm afraid: verify what is true and what is not. Some people think editing is correcting spelling.

There are so many things it can't fix, but hey that's another story...But these days facts are usually verified by editors on the electronic interweb.

...Enter Wikipedia.

As we know -- some people write malicious gossip on Wikipedia (this writer included, sorry Uncle Doogs) for a bit of a laugh, more often for ideological reasons.

The problem with Wikipedia is there is no official 'author' to filter the subjectivity of what you're reading.

Facts are facts, but how you use them, how you present them -- what's included, what's left out -- is all part of the (sometimes subconscious) self-editing process of telling the story.

But this we all know, what is worrying is when no one is really fact-checking properly anymore.

Something is published in a reputable publication and suddenly it's everywhere -- at speed -- on the misinformation superhighway.

Efficiencies? Yes. Inaccuracies? Maybe.

Does it matter? Time will tell. Hello Dark Ages.

writing for no one

There are several hurdles to overcome when you first start having a bash at writing.

First, the terrifyingly blank page. To this I say: scribble! Anything. Just random thoughts. It's like stretching before a run, partly to get your body in form, partly to psyche yourself up.

Second, the editor inside who can't help but glance back at what is written and start editing -- censoring what is not yet complete. To this I say: stop! Imagine Rodin part-way through sculpting the Kiss, chucking it in: 'This! This is just not good enough!'

And third, the nagging dread that you're writing this play, children's story, textbook, novel, short story, instruction manual, autobiography, family history for NO ONE. Not a soul but you will ever read it. It'll remain buried, a love letter to the world, unread and unappreciated. To this (anxiety) there's not much one can say...

But two blokes in the UK have launched a website where new writers can find an audience for their unfinished works. Will there be enough readers and writers out there willing to jump in and provide quality constructive feedback on works in progress?

Maybe they need to create some kind of contractual arrangement first, the online writers' equivalent of 'I'll show you mine if you show me yours'...?

un-Googling your mind

I am obsessed with Alzheimers. I dont know if this is because I am, or the media is.

In any case I'm constantly reading articles about how the brain is plastic, changeable; that there is hope that mine will work properly again with the right exercises.

Then I came across this article in the Atlantic on 'Googlethink''and it reminds me of the hundreds of shortcuts I take in a day and each of these is doing more harm than good.

Lock a cat inside a flat for a year and it wont be able to walk along a fence top properly. It loses important skills.

That's kinda what it's like to use a calculator or spellcheck. Brain work is as important as fence prowling for cats. So I've started doing arithmetic again, at the supermarket – and to my surprise, I get a kick out of it!

There's a theory that the solution to too much noise is not to run away from the city but to just get some more moments of silence in your life. Like counterbalancing a junk food blow out with a healthy meal of steamed vegetables.

Meditation is like cleansing the mind of the busyness of thinking too much.

Busting out a paper and pen and doing some maths is the perfect antidote to the deskilling powers of Excel's 'autosum' button.

One just needs to exercise some self control. Google must not become the source of all your information.

And, wacky search terms often yield interesting results.... but i love a bit of serendipitous dipping into random books at the library or bookshop too. Try it one day. Today.

Presenting complex information

Powerpoint's 'convert text into SmartArt' functionality, Excel's charts, graphs and pivot tables all encourage you to oversimplify the world, work, ideas, concepts, processes and experiences in a way that patronises and bores your audience.

Doogie Horner shows how infographics can be complex and intelligent – as well as funny – in his book Everything Explained Through Flowcharts which is published in October 2010.

After reading a few of his charts you can see that if you allow people to connect the dots themselves, they'll be much happier with your presentation.