A System for Editing Documents

Here's a really good writing-tip series by Rachel McAlpine on Contented.com that talks about using a system when editing documents:

• Writing tip: When editing, use a system
• Writing tip: Stage 1 of your editing system—big picture
• Writing tip: Stage 2 of your editing system—headlines, paragraphs
• Writing tip: Stage 3 of your editing system—copyedit
• Writing tip: Stage 4 of your editing system—technology check
• Writing tip: Stage 5 of your editing system—proofread

It’s simple, straightforward, and incredibly useful.

Enjoy :)

Danger of a Single Story: TED Talks, Africa & Stories from Pakistan

My favourite TED talk used to be ‘Benjamin Zander on Music and Passion’ (a.k.a. classical music with shining eyes).

It is now Chimamanda Adichie taking about ‘The Danger of a Single Story’:

You can find out more about Adichie on her Wikipedia page.

How Not To Write About Africa

Speaking of the “single story of Africa”, you must also watch Binyavanga Wainaina’s ‘How Not to Write About Africa’:

If you have the time, do watch Wainaina’s follow-up video (which is rather long, unfortunately) in which he explains why he wrote ‘How Not to Write About Africa’: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

You can find out more about Wainaina on his Wikipedia page.

A Message for Peace From Pakistan

Continuing with the single-story theme, check out Asher Hasan’s short TED talk called ‘A Message of Peace from Pakistan’:

You can find out more about Asher Hasan on his LinkedIn profile. Also check out his non-profit, Naya Jeevan.

More Pakistani Stories

This is why blogs such as these – which are written about Pakistan or by Pakistanis – are so important because they tell you much more about this country and its people than what you would normally hear, see, or read via global media outlets:

• PakPositive
• Pakistaniat (a.k.a. All Things Pakistan)
• Metblogs: Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore
• Well Pitched

For many more Pakistan-related blogs, take a look at these lists:

• Pakistani Bloggers on PakPositive (or just go to the full list of bloggers)
• Bloggers.pk
• NetworkedBlogs – Pakistan (which is, technically, the 50 most popular blogs among Pakistanis based on data collected from the NetworkedBlogs Facebook application)
• Mosharraf Zaidi (great blog and a good list of other blogs on his list of links)