Participants at the end of the IREX Introduction to Data and Mapping Workshop in Baku. Photo: IREX

There’s no reason why getting started with data journalism shouldn’t be fun and rewarding.

After all, it’s still journalism … still about being nosy, asking questions, organising information, telling stories and making a difference.

There’s nothing new about journalists handling data, either. I remember wrangling with my first council budget as a young reporter and, later, sweating over the formatting of school league tables in Quark. It’s all data.

The difference now is the huge volume available (and the opportunity, in a few fortunate countries, to make FOI requests), plus a host of quick, intuitive, free tools to search for, clean and visualise data in ways we couldn’t have dreamed of just a few years ago.

In addition to Google’s tried and trusted gizmos, I’m a fan of simple tools like Timeline JS,  Datawrapper, Infogr.am, ThingLink and Tagxedo.

Still, for some the first foray into spreadsheets and formulas can be a touch scary. I like to get people using spreadsheets hardly before they realise it, by working on shared Google Spreadsheets, and creating Google Forms to frame a story and gather information through Facebook and Twitter (the results feed automatically into a Google Spreadsheet, from where we’ll later map the results using Fusion Tables).

So a noticeable feature of my Introduction to Data and Mapping workshop in Baku was the speed at which participants – journalists, freelancers and communications professionals working with Azerbaijani NGOs – got stuck into spreadsheets and basic calculations.

Over lunch, I mentioned it to one of the group. She suggested it was probably a legacy of the Soviet approach to education, in which maths was taken very seriously at all levels. Makes sense, I guess, when you think of all those amazing chess players.

Another young journalist told me her class had all learned Excel at school. Impressive, or what?

A common impression among Eastern European journalists (actually, among journalists in many countries) is that their professional skills lag behind those of peers in the West. I don’t altogether agree with that, but those I worked with can certainly hold their heads high when it comes to data.

• I was in Baku to lead Introduction to Data and Mapping and Online Journalism workshops for IREX Azerbaijan.

Georgian journalists during the Online Journalism Skills workshop

At the start of my online journalism workshops, I like to get people working with storytelling tools as soon as possible.

But recently I’ve spent a little time up front on something that doesn’t sound quite such fun: Personal organisation. That’s what happened in Tbilisi a couple of weeks ago. But looking through the feedback forms from journalists, it seems a topic many of them found useful. So I thought I’d share a few of the tips.

The aim is to help minimise distraction and clutter, and find what you need fast. All simple stuff …

1. Clear your desktop

I have spent hours looking over journalists’ shoulders in workshops or newsrooms while they hunted for a file among the forest on their computer desktop. It reminds me of the decades I spent with journalists whose desks looked like an explosion in a paper factory. Some called it organisation. I didn’t.

In real life, try spending a couple of minutes clearing your desk (as far as possible) at the end of the day. That way, you’ll come into work with a clean start – not bogged down with yesterday’s loose ends. Treat your computer desktop the same way.

There’s another good reason for doing this. Stories are no longer limited to a single element – they may involve images, text, video and audio clips,  spreadsheets and more. Think of your desktop as a project workspace. When you’ve finished your story, the files can be put in a folder and archived.

And while we’re on the subject, it’s lovely, I’m sure, to have a picture of your family or pet dog gazing at you all day. But that wallpaper can be distracting, promote eye strain and make text illegible. Try a blank, neutral-coloured screen – save your eyes and buy yourself time to see your family in person.

2. Use Chrome

Until a year or so ago, I encouraged journalists to use Firefox. I’ve been a loyal fan. But Google and its developer community have given Chrome a clear edge for journalists, in my view …

3. Download to desktop

You might be surprised how many people lose files after they’ve downloaded them. Even if they know how to navigate to their Downloads folder, it’s often an Aladdin’s cave of treasures spanning decades.

So keep it simple. Set your browser to download files to the desktop. The file(s) are quicker to find and you can archive or delete them as part of your new clear-desk policy. Go to Menu (that’s the three-bar button top right) > Settings and click the ‘Show advanced settings’ link at the bottom. You’ll see an option to change the download location.

Working with Eka, one of the Georgian journalists taking part in the Online Workshop

4. Don’t minimise – use tabs

It’s not uncommon to find PC users with half a dozen minimised Chrome windows, each with a few tabs open. Looking for a page you recently opened? Call Sherlock Holmes. Please, please don’t keep minimising – use tabs instead. (Minimise when you want to switch between open programmes). And try to use the Ctrl+t shortcut (Cmd+t on Mac) to open a new tab and Ctrl+w to close tabs.

Chrome’s handling of multiple tabs isn’t as elegant as Firefox out of the box, so clean up your tabs regularly, closing down those you don’t need.

5. Tell Chrome to display a blank page at start-up

You don’t need Chrome’s help to find frequently-visited sites. Go to Menu > Settings, under the On Start-Up heading, choose Open a Specific Page or Set of Pages, and click the blue ‘Set Pages’ link. Type the words about:blank in the box.

6. Open new tabs as a blank page

While we’re at it, let’s have nice clear pages every time we open a new tab. You’ll need an extension for this. Go to the Empty New Tab  page in the Chrome Web Store and click the blue Add to Chrome button. Hey presto. Blank pages from now on.

7. Use extensions

These are the line of colourful buttons to the right of the Chrome omnibar that puts your browser on steroids.

I’m constantly tweaking my extensions as new ones arrive, and to keep the number down. Here’s a post with 22 Chrome extensions for journalists ❯

Some extensions (like the Empty New Tab) do not have a visible button. But you can see all that do by clicking just to the right of the omnibar and dragging. Place your most-used extensions to the left, then drag again to hide those you don’t need regularly. (You can still get at the extensions easily via the dropdown menu).

Click and drag to see all your extension buttons in Chrome

8. Use the Bookmarks Bar

The area below the omnibox is the Bookmarks Bar. (Show by clicking Menu > Bookmarks > Show Bookmarks Bar). Chrome opens with a few default bookmarks on the bar. If you don’t need them, get rid of them by right-clicking and selecting Delete.

My suggestion is you use bookmarks for online tools you use regularly and the Bookmarks Bar as your toolbox. (For websites I simply want to read later I’ll use Pocket).

Organise your bookmark tools into folders and subfolders (Menu > Bookmarks > Bookmarks Manager). So, for example, if I need some Creative Commons music I can use for a video project, I’d go to my Bookmarks Menu, Search > Audio Search and choose one of the links. I have other folders for listening, searching, creating content and tech stuff. My Info folder contains handy links to things like a percentage calculator, world clock and currency converter. Do whatever works for you – just make sure you can find things quickly.

I create a toolbox tailored to the needs of online workshop participants and they import the folders, including links to extensions, via the Bookmarks Manager pane. That way everyone has the tools we need for the training and after.

At the end of the day, organisation is what works for YOU. But lack of organisation works against the whole team. Journalists have more plates to spin than ever before, so the more you can make the technology work for you, the more time you can spend on what really matters.

• I was in Tbilisi as a trainer with the Thomson Foundation, leading a one-week workshop in Online Journalism Skills for journalists across Georgian print and broadcast media. The workshop was part of a British Council Georgia project, supported by BP.

Here’s a list of Google Chrome extensions I reach for regularly and hope you will find useful. I’m always tweaking the list to account for new extensions and to keep the number down. If you have other suggestions, fire away …

Extensions for organisation

1 Orbvious Interest ❯

For saving pages to read later – even download and read offline – the Pocket extension for Firefox is just brilliant. The Chrome version is next to hopeless. I really hope the Chrome extension catches up soon, but until then Orbvious Interest is my recommended third-party extension for Pocket

2 Evernote ❯

Still the best heavyweight research and clipping tool for web and mobile. Evernote’s web clipper works a treat in Chrome to capture pages, stories, URLs and more.

3 LastPass ❯

LastPass is the indispensible, free online password manager and form filler that remembers login information so you don’t have to. So good I’m happy to pay extra for the premium version (which works on iPhone).

4 Google Shortcuts ❯

Access all your favourite Google services in a single dropdown menu.

5 Empty New Tab ❯

Simply opens new tabs in Chrome as an empty page to avoid distraction.

Extensions for listening

6 Notifier for Twitter ❯

Pop-alerts if someone sends me a message or mentions any of my accounts on Twitter. Also shows my home feed and sent tweets, and allows me to post or retweet. Very neat.

7 Facebook Notifications ❯

Invaluable little tool that alerts me instantly if someone sends me a message, and gives me quick access to my home feed.

8 Google Translate ❯

Although you can access Google’s Translate tool via Google Shortcuts, the Google extension for Chrome will ask if you’d like a translation of any page you land in another language. Simple. Brilliant. Essential.

9 RSS Subscription ❯

Firefox comes with a built-in RSS button. Chrome needs an extension to do the same job. The RSS Subscription extension, by Google, activates an orange RSS icon in the address bar when it finds a feed. As with Firefox, clicking the button lets you subscribe. (Tip: You can also use the Reader Subscribe button from your Google Shortcuts dropdown)

10 Page2RSS ❯

If you’d like to see updates from a site that doesn’t offer RSS, this extension will create a feed for you. When you visit a site without a feed, you’ll see an RSS icon in the omnibar. Click – and the feed is created. It doesn’t have as much depth as some other feed tools, but it’s quick and easy.

Exensions for searching

11 Search by Image ❯

Google’s own extension that allows a quick way to trigger an image search by right-clicking on any image you come across online. It’s an easy way to find when and where an image has been used, if there are similar images and if there are larger sizes.

12 Exif Viewer ❯

View metadata attached to images. Doesn’t always find much, but it’s a valuable tool to help verify the origin of images.

Extensions for creating and sharing

13 Pixlr Grabbr ❯

Pixlr is by far the best online image editor going, in my view. If you have used Photoshop, you’ll feel immediately at home with Pixlr, even down to the keyboard shortcut for Levels. You can open images in Pixlr by right clicking on a web image, or capture parts of a screen for downloading or editing.

14 Table capture ❯

If you’ve ever tried to copy and paste a table of data from a browser into a spreadsheet, you’ll know the results can be less than pretty. Table Capture for Chrome flags up pages it finds containing data with a red icon in the address bar, giving an option to save data directly into a Google Spreadsheet. (Tip: use the Ctrl + v command to paste the data).

15 Hootsuite Hootlet ❯

For journalists there are two very good Twitter management options: Hootsuite or Tweetdeck. Both operate on similar principles and both have many strengths. But for me, Hootsuite’s killer punch is its mighty Hootlet. If Tweetdeck had a Hootlet, I’d use it all the time. But there is nothing to touch the reliability and power of the Hootsuite Hootlet for sharing content across Twitter and Facebook (and other social platforms). The scheduling and auto-scheduling functions are outstanding. (Note: Buffer is brilliant, but the restriction on number of shares in the free version counts against it).

16 Shareaholic ❯

I used to use Shareaholic a lot, but for some curious reason find it less reliable in Chrome than Firefox, especially when working in different countries. Shame, because it’s sharing options are comprehensive.

17 Storify ❯

Storify needs little introduction. Here’s your button for saving links to Storify with a single click. Simple as Storify to use. Great extension.

18 Yet another Lorem Ipsum generator ❯

Handy if you are developing a site or need some Lorem Ipsum text to check typography. In Chrome, YALIG (Yet Another Lorem Ipsum Generator) will generate not just text, but titles, dummy email and web addresses and dates.

Easily generate dummy text, including dates and URLs

19 MeasureIt ❯

How can something so simple be so useful? A handy little ruler for measuring pixels on a web page. Need to know how big to make that image for your blog? Use MeasureIt.

20 Colorzilla ❯

A Firefox classic now available for Chrome. Identify colours on web pages using the eyedropper tool, automatically analyse all colours in the DOM, and generate your own colour palettes. Invaluable tool for web design or identifying colour online.

21 Firebug Lite ❯

Another Firefox legend now ported to Chrome. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page. Great for tinkering with a site’s CSS without fear of making a horrible mistake.

22 SEO Site Tools ❯

One of many, and definitely one of the best, site SEO tools available as an extension.

You might also find the accompanying post on personal organisation of interest.

A newspaper is born. Journalists from Fayoum develop launch plans

For millions around the world, news from Egypt conjures up images of Tahrir Square, President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.

But what about the citizens in rural Egypt, where there was previously no reliable access to independent media? What’s their story? The Welab Elbalad project aims to let communities speak for themselves … by launching a series of local newspapers.

I’ve been involved with the project since 2011, when I helped train the newly-appointed editors and staff preparing to launch four independent newspapers around Egypt. It’s a project I’m inspired by and proud to support.

I was in Egypt again recently to prepare for the next set of launches … and to hear that three of the four original newspapers were selling out every issue was just amazing.

Make no mistake, getting the titles off the ground was a major challenge for Fatemah Farag and her small team. The bureaucracy around print and distribution deals would see most UK publishers throwing in the towel, for a start. In addition, the political situation in Egypt has been anything but settled over the past year. Being a journalist in Egypt is not without risks.

Nevertheless, the passion of those involved on the ground has to be seen to be believed. Some are already local journalists, others – such as activists dedicated to stronger community voices – have little or no journalistic experience. But all are absolutely focused on the needs of their local communities and feel accountable to local people every step of the way. This is journalism that doesn’t just sit at the heart of the local community … it IS the local community.

The team from Hurghada discuss content ideas for their newspaper

After sessions with the new teams, I spent time with my editor friends from the current titles to work on workflow, diary management, photography and campaigning journalism. They’ve worked hard, and are as enthusiastic and committed as ever.

This project has gained a lot of friends in Egypt. A masterstroke, in my opinion, was to involve the established media from the outset. Senior editors and journalists working on national titles such as 
Al Ahram are involved as trainers and mentors.

What really impresses me is the commitment to sustainability. A decision was made not to allow advertising in the newspapers for the first phase … an excellent decision. But having gained authority and solid – albeit small – circulations, advertising revenue is now starting to come in. At the same time the project has evolved into a media enterprise, able to pursue commercial partnerships in order to reduce the project’s reliance on external funding and maintain investment at the hyperlocal level.

However, the real heros are the local journalists and the communities they serve. The small teams are already lifting stones in their local communities that have never been lifted before. They are earning trust of local people, and showing what can be achieved with responsible, independent local media.

Staying safe: Journalists need to prepare to minimise the risks when working in danger zones.
Photo credit: Kate Raynes-Goldie

It’s simple common sense that journalists travelling to, or working in, danger zones should be aware of the risks and take steps to maximise their own safety.

But  journalists anywhere can find themselves in the middle of a riot, or be called on to cover violent or traumatic events. And the chances are, they won’t be prepared, either professionally or emotionally.

Many major news organisations insist that journalists receive a full safety briefing before being released to work in high-risk locations. But what about smaller news operations? What about the increasing number of freelance reporters and photographers chasing danger to earn a living?

And it’s not just journalists who benefit from personal safety training – an area that receives far too little focus in mainstream journalism training, in my view. There are lessons to be learned for any professional who travels widely.

Here are four PDF downloads that provide an excellent introduction to the business of staying safe, and offer plenty of links to further specialist training …

Reporters Without Borders Handbook for Journalists

RWB joined forces with UNESCO to compile this handbook for journalists travelling to dangerous locations. The introduction asks: “What are the basic rules in a war zone? What are the first things to do when somebody is wounded? What protection does a journalist have in a war zone? The handbook has the answers.”

The handbook was first released in 2007, but updated in 2010 to include recommendations on the role of the media in humanitarian and public health emergencies, and offer advice, in co-operation with the Dart Centre, for coping with post-traumatic stress. The Dart Centre’s industry-leading advocacy and advice in handling traumatic stress also features in other guides.

At over 100 pages, this handbook is packed with sound advice. There’s even an illustrated section on mines a war-zone reporter might encounter. In general, though, the handbook is presented as a series of checklists and tips on everything from identifying and avoiding sniper positions, to health advice and information on international safety frameworks.

Download the Reporters Without Borders Handbook for Journalists

CPJ Journalist Security Guide

Written this year, the Committee to Protect Journalists  has recognised the rising number of citizen and freelance journalists who are placing themselves on the front line, reporting everything from “overseas tsunamis to local highway accidents, ocean oil spills to political
demonstrations, armed conflicts to organized crime.”

The guide aims to provide a practical guide for novice reporters while serving as a refresher for seasoned journalists. It also tackles the issue of data security, introduces the subject of traumatic stress and provides useful equipment checklists. The dozen or so pages of further links and resources are  outstanding.

Download the CPJ Journalist Security Guide

ICFJ Disaster and Crisis Coverage Guide

This guide doesn’t set out to be a conflict journalist’s companion, but excels in other areas – especially developing a newsroom disaster plan and dealing with traumatic stress.

Written by Deborah Potter of NewsLab and Sherry Ricchiardi on behalf of the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, the guide takes as its start point: “There is no doubt that every newsroom will have to cover a crisis of some description.”

The guide is divided into two distinct parts: “Section 1 provides guidelines for delivering news in a professional manner and maintaining personal safety. Crises often render severe mental and emotional stresses on victims and survivors, the individuals who are often vital sources. Thus, Section 2 addresses trauma and offers suggestions for helping journalists work with grieving victims and survivors in an ethical, sensitive, and effective manner. This section defines traumatic stress and offers tips to media professionals for their own self-care.”

Given the involvement of the Dart Centre, you would expect the chapters on dealing with traumatic stress to be authoritative. And that’s exactly what they are, with clear explanations, advice and case studies.

Download the ICFJ Disaster and Crisis Coverage Guide

IFJ Survival Guide for Journalists

This guide is almost ten years old now, but the key takeaways remain absolutely relevant to today’s journalist.

What makes it stand out is that much of the information comes from professional safety trainers such as AKE Ltd, who provide intensive training for several najor media organisations, and seasoned journalists who recall what put them at risk and what kept them safe on assignment.

There’s an excellent chapter on ‘Abduction, hostage taking and targeting journalists’ and valuable step-by-step illustrated guide to applying emergency medical aid in the field.

Written by Peter McIntyre, this is 140 pages of invaluable information.

Download the IFJ Survival Guide for Journalists

The cinema-style seating of Baku State University’s symposium theatre was moved askide to create a collaborative newsroom environment

As an editor, I’ve interviewed and hired hundreds of aspiring young journalists. And I can say honestly that if the group of students who turned up on our first morning of training at Baku State University had come looking for a job, I would happily have hired most of them.

Luckily, I didn’t have to make a choice, so had the pleasure of working with all of them over a week of Online Journalism Skills training.

Around 70 students from Baku State University applied to join the New Generation of Journalists programme, led by the British Council Azerbaijan, and supported by Access Bank. After a detailed interview process, 20 students were selected and undertook English language training by the British Council.

My workshop was the first in a special series of journalism courses being delivered by Thomson Foundation trainers. And it was a privilege to be the first international trainer to teach at the university’s media faculty.

During the course, students learned some of the essential skills for developing new sources, creating multimedia content, and engaging with communities in a connected world. Whenever possible, I get participants working in collaborative teams … not something that looked easy to achieve at first in the university’s 300-seat symposium theatre. But with the help of some willing hands and muscle at the university, we shifted the cinema-style seating and created pods for five teams of four.

The students learned how to create and manage blogs, write for the web, capture and edit photographs, and create audio slideshows. They also learned how to use social media more effectively and how to liveblog events as a team. Their liveblogging skills were put to the test during a presentation by Access Bank Senior Training Specialist Zamig Madatov, who outlined the work of the Access Bank within the context of Azerbaijan’s oil-rich economy.

Their questions to Zamig after his banking presentation were what I would expect from far more experienced professional journalists. I was also impressed by how many were already working regularly in broadcast or print newsrooms in Azerbaijan.

If these youngsters are anything to go by, the New Generation of Azerbaijan journalism is in good hands.

Over at SnapBlog, they’ve put together a very useful four-part guide to taking photographs in low light, including this helpful infographic.

The other posts in the series are

• Low Light Photography Tips
• Low Light Cameras and Equipment
• Fixing Underexposed Photos
  

Snapsort’s Low Light Photography Infographic

Birchenough Bridge, Zimbabwe. There is concern over the fate of the River Save, which runs beneath

It’s a just over a year since I first became involved with a Zimbabwean group of journalists determined to raise the threat to their country’s environment from climate change and industrial activity.

Their passion grew during a course with fellow Thomson Foundation trainer Mary Price, who has run  numerous successful environmental journalism workshops in Africa and elsewhere. And it was my pleasure to support the birth of the Zimbabwe Environmental Journalists Association (ZEJA) with a helping hand online.

I finally got to meet the journalists in person a couple of weeks ago during a week-long multimedia workshop in Harare. The participants included writers and photojournalists working for some of Zimbabwe’s key media houses, while others were freelance or studying mass media at Harare Polytechnic. There are a lot of freelances in Zimbabwe, and they struggle – like many other places in Africa – to make ends meet. It isn’t all that surprising – jobs are few and far between in the Zimbabwe media, travel is limited and there isn’t exactly a thriving market outside Zimbabwe for stories that don’t focus on the regime.

It’s a shame, because there are plenty of strong human, environmental, tourism and business stories to be told. Still, I wasn’t there as a journalist, but as a trainer. And it was great to work with such a motivated group of journalists on storytelling using tools from the digital backpack.

After a week of hands-on learning, I spent the weekend in a bus with a group of ZEJA journalists, visiting Nyanga, in the country’s dramatic and forested Eastern Highlands, and Birchenough Bridge near Mutare. The River Save, which runs beneath the bridge, has become a cause of major concern to environmentalists. The river level has fallen dramatically over recent years and mining activity in the region is said to be damaging the river ecology.

The workshop was supported by Zimbabwe Friends of the Environment and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. Other companies and government departments chipped in to help with accommodation costs and training facilities. My travel to Zimbabwe was supported by the Thomson Foundation.

It was good to hear ZEJA Secretary-General Gilbert Munetsi say: “This workshop really opened the eyes of participants to the potential for online journalism in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe’s media needs to develop to take advantage of the new tools available, and this training was an important first step for the journalists involved and their organisations.”

• The Zimbabwe Environmental Journalists Association aims to unite journalists writing about environmental and development issues, giving them a chance to share experiences, problems and solutions. ZEJA works with media organisations, environmental and climate stakeholders to promote positive and adaptive practices for the benefit of the environment and planet.

Acting Up. Human Rights Watch spotlights Russian civil activists in this award-winning multimedia feature. Click image to view

When an NGO picks up a Peabody Award for outstanding broadcast journalism, shining against competitors like the BBC and CNN, I sit up and take notice.

I hope you will too. The two award-winning features by Human Rights Watch are multimedia storytelling at its most personal and powerful. The first, Acting Up, profiles a series of Russian civil society activists. The second, Gold’s Costly Dividend, reports on human rights abuses against people living near the Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea. It’s great journalism.

I’m all for trying new ways to tell stories. But multimedia can sometimes become an exercise in technical showmanship, using every trick in the book … because you can. For me, multimedia storytelling is about using the best tool to do the best job. Often – just like in jazz – it’s what you leave out that really makes the difference.

For me, the intelligent, simple, approach to video, photography and words by Human Rights Watch make the features all the more compelling. And certainly worthy of the accolade. Congratulations.

To view Gold’s Costly Dividend, click the image below …

One response was to American schoolgirl Joan Lancaster in 1956. And his tips on writing are just as relevant to budding journalists today as they were 55 years ago …

Dear Joan,

Thanks for your letter of the 3rd. You describe your Wonderful Night v. well. That is, you describe the place and the people and the night and the feeling of it all, very well — but not the thing itself — the setting but not the jewel. And no wonder! Wordsworth often does just the same. His Prelude (you’re bound to read it about 10 years hence. Don’t try it now, or you’ll only spoil it for later reading) is full of moments in which everything except the thing itself is described. If you become a writer you’ll be trying to describe the thing all your life: and lucky if, out of dozens of books, one or two sentences, just for a moment, come near to getting it across.

About amn’t I, aren’t I and am I not, of course there are no right or wrong answers about language in the sense in which there are right and wrong answers in Arithmetic. “Good English” is whatever educated people talk; so that what is good in one place or time would not be so in another. Amn’t I was good 50 years ago in the North of Ireland where I was brought up, but bad in Southern England. Aren’t I would have been hideously bad in Ireland but very good in England. And of course I just don’t know which (if either) is good in modern Florida. Don’t take any notice of teachers and textbooks in such matters. Nor of logic. It is good to say “more than one passenger was hurt,” although more than one equals at least two and therefore logically the verb ought to be plural were not singular was!

What really matters is:–

1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else.

2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them.

3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.”

4. In writing. Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, “Please will you do my job for me.”

5. Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

Thanks for the photos. You and Aslan both look v. well. I hope you’ll like your new home.

With love
yours
C.S. Lewis

Source: Letters to Children, by C.S Lewis [Amazon link]