On Words and Business

Lev Grossman’s column in this week’s Time magazine is all about commenting on blogs and giving people a voice. It applies less to business blogs than personal ones, but it’s still a great read. Especially for those of us who grew up in a world where there were no blogs, and for whom this commenting thing is a late-learned art.

“Maybe commenters are just on one side of a cultural disconnect between two incompatible ideas of what the social conventions of the Internet should be. One is based on the standards of real-world, offline politeness. The other is a kind of communal game in which whoever is cleverest and pushes the most buttons wins.”

In honor of the anniversary of our country’s founding…

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Read the entire transcript of the Declaration of Independence, and the “…Facts submitted to a candid world.” It’s thought-provoking, especially in this age, to read the “…history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. “

A fascinating list of 10 things the author wishes were taught in freelance school.

These are great lessons for anyone working for themselves, in whatever capacity. Here are my faves:

1. Not all your time will be spent writing, or doing whatever it is you tell people you do.

2. You may consider yourself “just” a writer (or designer or consultant), but really you are a marketing specialist.

5. Train others to treat you right.

8. Continue to challenge yourself.

Advice for writers from George Carlin’s last interview:

On Finding a Unique Angle

“One of the voguish terms, which is so repellant to me, “thinking outside the box.” To settle for that kind of language is embarrassing. But that’s a very useful picture. I try to come in through the side door, the side window, to come in from a direction they’re not expecting, to see something in a different way.”

Thanks to Copyblogger for posting this and linking to the full interview.