writing

A note on Verblio

This entry was posted in Writing and tagged Verblio writing on by

In my last post, I noted that I’ve stopped writing for Verblio but didn’t want to discuss it further. In the light of a recent email from Madison Basch, though, I need to say a little. I had confirmed that I would not write any more for Verblio, because it had accepted a customer request which I regarded as deeply wrong, and because Basch had compounded the act with an evasive and incoherent attempt at justification. There are some lines I regard as unacceptable to cross, and Verblio crossed one of them. Giving full details would violate my confidentiality agreement. Update: After long consideration, I’ve decided I can and should add one important point: the issue was an overtly racially discriminatory request by a client which Verblio refused to remove.

Basch wrote to me after this that “Verblio is no longer in your opinion or your services as a writer.” It’s a game of “You can’t quit, you’re fired.” While it’s childish and basically harmless, Basch might present that spin to others, so I want it on record that I have not submitted any articles to Verblio for weeks and had clearly stated that I do not intend to resume.

Verblio was once a great company to write for.

Avoiding statistical fallacies in writing 2

This entry was posted in Techniques Writing and tagged statistics writing on by

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post. I’ve moved, and my cat Carl died.

I’ve noticed a lot of bad treatment of statistics on the Web, especially in connection with the COVID epidemic and vaccines. Sometimes writers make big errors even when trying to correct other people’s mistakes. It’s a huge and difficult subject, so I’ll approach it by linking to some good articles and commenting briefly on each one. It takes time to digest all the information, so you might want to bookmark some of the pieces you find interesting and come back to them later.
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The present subjunctive

This entry was posted in Techniques Writing and tagged grammar writing on by

It’s important that you use the present subjunctive properly.

The previous sentence is an example. It’s not an obvious one, since it’s hard to use it wrong in that case. The word “use” is in the present subjunctive, but it’s the same as the present indicative in this case. let’s get a little fancier:

It’s important that a writer use the present subjunctive properly.
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Negotiating a world of suppressed information 1

This entry was posted in Censorship Commentary Writing and tagged coronavirus writing on by

When information on a topic is broadly suppressed, what are we writers supposed to do? There are two easy answers, both error-prone. One is to reject all claims that there’s suppression and call them a “conspiracy theory.” The other is to assume that whatever is being suppressed is true.

Let’s look at the hypothesis that COVID-19 originated in a lab in Wuhan and somehow escaped into the population. I don’t know if that’s true, but the circumstances make it a possibility worth investigating. There have been many attempts to discourage an examination of the question. A Vanity Fair article by Katherine Eban summarizes the battle.
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Writing about music

This entry was posted in Techniques Writing and tagged music writing on by

“Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” It’s not clear who first said this, but it reflects the difficulty of discussing music in words. It doesn’t mean either one is impossible — I can imagine a good ballet on the creation of a monumental building — but both are challenges.

The problem comes when addressing a general audience. If you’re writing for musicians or music students, there’s a whole technical language for the job. But how do you say meaningful things about a musical piece without talking about voice leading, diminished chords, tonality, and other esoteric concepts?

I like to make music and write about it, though I haven’t often been paid for either. I enjoy good writing about music and have a lot of books on the subject. Based on that, here are some of my thoughts on how to write about it, with examples that I didn’t write.
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