My Approach to Writing for SQLServerCentral
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Very inspiring article, having recently read Brad McGeehee's "How to Become an Exceptional DBA" (looking forward to the second edition) this article came up at exactly the right time for me.
There are numerous blog's available on how to write a blog entry, but I found this to be a very well thought out and polished article.
The one critique I would have is this:
The article mentions quite heavily the editing process, so it would have been nice to have some kind of appendix where the reader could see where edits had been made, the extra 60 - 70% that never made the grade as well as the reason(s) why.
Rich
Hope this helps,
Rich[p]
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Grant Fritchey (6/19/2009)
Excellent article. Thanks for putting it up. I just wish you had posted it a few years ago. I'm going to print it out now & keep it handy as a reference while I'm working.Excellent conversation too. Good feedback Phil. Jeff, the one thing I've learned in the last ten years, but keep forgetting, is to test, test, test, everything. Everything I hear, everything I read, everything I write. You've got it 100% correct. Testing is knowing. Anything else is just assumptions. Thanks guys.
Heh... thanks for the feedback there, Grant. Every time I forget to test, someone installs handrails and force feeds me my own pork chops. It's a lesson hard learned for me that I try to never skip. As Sergiy taught me a very long time ago, "A Developer must not guess, a Developer must KNOW."
--Jeff Moden
RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally) -
"practise" is the English spelling, where David is located. Practice, is the US spelling.
Personally, the more I teach my kids, the more I think English is a huge mess.
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Steve Jones - Editor (6/19/2009)
"practise" is the English spelling, where David is located. Practice, is the US spelling.Personally, the more I teach my kids, the more I think English is a huge mess.
Practice is a noun.
Practise is the spelling of the associated verb. Compare with 'advice' and 'advise'.
That's UK English, by the way. No idea about US English.
The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Martin ReesYou can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead.
Stan Laurel -
Great article. I really admire those that can write and appreciate their willingness to share with us. I've found that personally I'm a much better reader than writer though someday I'd like to be able to write well enough to contribute my experiences with others. My only question is where people find the hours of extra time it takes to write for a site like this? I don't even have time to completely read everything.
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Use Full Links:
KB Article from Microsoft on how to ask a question on a Forum -
Good article David. I know that I probably don't put enough time into the writing process, even though I usually spend many hours over a couple of weeks writing them. I really like the section on handling criticism, you need to expect some and be ecstatic if you don't get any.
For those who have mentioned not being good writers, my advice is to just start writing. Have a professional blog that you practice with, and some advice Steve gave me, if the post is more that a couple of pages or very technical, then it is probably worth submitting as an article. I hated writing in school, but now I find it fun and rewarding.
For those who have mentioned not having the time, just spend a few minutes a day on an idea and outline and as David suggests write things down when you think of them. Eventually all those notes will flash out into an article.
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
Check out these links on how to get faster and more accurate answers:
Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help
Need an Answer? Actually, No ... You Need a Question -
Phil Parkin (6/19/2009)
Steve Jones - Editor (6/19/2009)
"practise" is the English spelling, where David is located. Practice, is the US spelling.Personally, the more I teach my kids, the more I think English is a huge mess.
Practice is a noun.
Practise is the spelling of the associated verb. Compare with 'advice' and 'advise'.
That's UK English, by the way. No idea about US English.
Heh... people who speak US English have no idea either. 😛
--Jeff Moden
RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally) -
The one critique I would have is this:
The article mentions quite heavily the editing process, so it would have been nice to have some kind of appendix where the reader could see where edits had been made, the extra 60 - 70% that never made the grade as well as the reason(s) why.
Rich
A directors cut:hehe:
I'm not sure if you can have a "bloopers" section in a written article, it would be an interesting challenge!
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A directors cut
I'm not sure if you can have a "bloopers" section in a written article, it would be an interesting challenge!
Maybe not in the article itself, but having a discussion forum provides the perfect platform to provide examples of things that weren't included as well as an explanation why.
Come on, spill the beans!
Love the autosig btw.
Rich
Hope this helps,
Rich[p]
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Corollary to Thomas Edison's quote, "90% of average people think they are a genius because they had an inspiration." Thanks for taking the time to do the work for this article, very useful.
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Great article.
Thanks for writing this article. I was in need of one such article.
~ IM.
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