EMS MAGAZINE.com

EMS MAGAZINE.com: "The Write Stuff: Telling EMS Stories
By Brent Braunworth
A review of Brent Braunworth's book, Blood, Guts and Tears: True Stories of Courage, appeared in the June 2001 issue of EMS Magazine. In the following article, Brent shares some tips on how to get published.
One of my reasons for becoming a firefighter/paramedic, aside from saving lives and property, and helping people, was because of the great stories that could be told. Let's face it, every one of us in our business has been at a party or some social gathering and had some regular Joe ask, 'Hey, were you on that call?' or, perhaps, 'Have you ever been on a call like that?' And when we answer, what happens? All eyes are on us, and all ears are turned in our direction. Total silence, just like E.F. Hutton.
I look at writing as simply putting a 'good story' down on paper. Now, if you already have a 'good story,' so much so that when you tell the story people listen and seem interested, then I figure that's 95% of the battle of writing. Ask any newspaper reporter, and he or she will tell you that getting the story is the hard part, not writing it.
So, if you have a good story, what's next? Transferring it to paper. This article is about how I started.
There's no doubt I had a need to write (I wrote my first, still unpublished novel at age 14), but that doesn't mean that everyone has to sit in a dark, locked room, typing away and poring over manuscripts all night, night after night, to be a writer. Maybe you're interested in trying a short type of story and don't know how to get started. What I did was get some adventure-style books and stories similar to what I thought I might like to write. Back then, I read a lot of Joseph Wambaugh, figuring the police genre was similar to a firefighter's. Af"

Hints to Turbocharge Your Manuscript

EMS MAGAZINE.com: "Hints to Turbocharge Your Manuscript
By Charles E. Stewart, MD, FACEP
1. Print it out and read it. (You can't get the flavor staring at the monitor.)
2. Read it out loud. This is a simple polishing tool for your manuscript.
3. Simplify…Simplify…Simplify.
4. Fine-tune your organization. Does the same subject show up in two or
three different places?
5. Add periods—make your sentences about 17–20 words long.
6. Cut the flab—anything that doesn't add to the ideas will take away from
your manuscript.
7. Advance the story. Every word should move you forward.
8. Be specific. You must use the right word for each concept—be ruthless!
9. Strengthen your verbs. Concrete nouns and verbs add action to your
writing.
10. Define your terms. Do you take for granted terms that your reader needs
to know?
11. Look for loose ends. Put yourself in the reader's shoes—poor planning
and organization will leave your reader hanging.
12. Convert negatives to positives.
13. Streamline sentences.
14. Eliminate expletives.
15. Scrutinize your paragraphs. Does each paragraph deal with one point or
idea?
16. Check your pronouns—does each noun agree with each pronoun?
17. Work your nouns and verbs—use the right noun so that you won't need
an adverb.
18. Check for parallel construction. Headings should be similar in
construction. Elements in a series should be alike.
19. Ferret out repetition. The same words should not be used too often or
too close together.
20. Go active. Passive voice will leave the reader bored.
21. Eliminate the prepositional phrase—use a separate sentence.
22. Delete clichés.
23. Get a second opinion. Have someone else"

"Chuck's Writing Checklist for Nonfiction

EMS MAGAZINE.com: "Chuck's Writing Checklist for Nonfiction
By Charles E. Stewart, MD, FACEP
Planning?
Why did I consider this topic?
Did I analyze my audience?
Did I analyze the targeted journal/magazine's usual publications (if appropriate)?
What is the deadline? (How much other work do I have to do?)
Is there a special consideration, format, length or word count?
Should I use a particular style manual for this manuscript?
Did I select a logical method of organization such as chronology, importance or spatial order?
Did I shape the writing by finding the best way to organize the material?
Did I group similar ideas?
Did I reject nonessential ideas?
Did I select the proper tone?
Did I order ideas in a logical way?
Did I outline key points?
Do I have an introduction, body and summary?
Did I draft by writing my ideas in sentences and paragraphs?
Did I revise my draft and rethink my ideas?
Did I remove anything that is illogical?
Did I cut unnecessary words, sentences and paragraphs?
Did I rewrite confusing passages?
Did I edit and proof my writing? (Really—you need to print it out and read it!)
Did I spell-check and physically reread for errors in spelling?
Did I check for grammatical errors?
Did I check for punctuation errors?
Did I check for capitalization errors?
Did I properly credit other peoples' thoughts and writing?
Did I have somebody else proofread my work?
Charles E. Stewart, MD, FACEP, is EMS Magazine's medical editorial consultant."

Time to sell stock in your long distance carrier!

This will put long distance carriers out of business. It won't help the local carriers either.

Boston.com / Business / Technology / Software turns phone into walkie-talkie: "Software turns phone into walkie-talkie
By Jason Straziuso, Associated Press Writer, 9/18/2003"

How To Be A Successful Expert Witness

Landings: Hangar-Talk: The Phil Kolczynski Law Forum:

See the link for a great how-to article

Busy Month

It has been a busy month, strategic planning and the start of school. The first fills the workday and the second fills the off-hours.

My son, a new high school freshman, has an early bird class that starts at 7:00 AM, so he has to be there well before that time. Therefore, I am getting to work early myself. Since our daughter is in 5th grade, I can expect eight years of this.