I recently came across a book that seems ideal for teaching practical, persuasive writing to adults. It is called Writing in a Changing World. Authors Hans Guth and Gabriele Rico have aimed the book at a modern adult student who is writing for professional or other business tasks. English may be their second language, or the student may need help with research and fact gathering as well as style and organization. The student is presumed to need — and is offered — help in everything from writing a resume to planning a web site. The book is strong on basics, well-organized and full of contemporary writing examples. I picked it up at a yard sale recently and was both surprised and flattered to find a five year old story of mine used as an example of “informed writing.” With that disclosure let me say that Writing in a Changing World would seem like an excellent text for any adult teaching setting.

On the subject of books, Jeff ( BuzzMachine) Jarvis recently wrote a brief homage to Blogs, Podcasts, and Wikis, a very modern teaching guide written by Will Richardson that brings literacy into new dimensions.

And briefly in closing today (I am the road, using unfamilar log-on tools) let me thank Tim Bishop, a friend who is helping me in my quest for blog-improvement, for pointing me to an excellent basic blogging tutorial by the expert Jakob Nielsen and another piece focused on business blogging. I certainly have more than my share of things to learn but meanwhile let me bookmark these resources to share.

Tom Abate
MiniMediaGuy
‘Cause if you ain’t Mass Media, you’re Mini Media