So, if you are using WordPress 3.2 – here is how you can get into the new full screen editor.

1. Log into the Dashboard
2. Either go to Posts > Add New or Posts > All Posts > the post you wish to edit
3. In the default editor, look for the toolbar button that has arrows pointing in four directions and click it

That is all you need to do.  This distraction free writing mode comes in handy for those of us who like to clear away all the clutter and mess around us before we start writing.  This feature clears away the sidebars, menus, and options; leaving you only with an interface to write in.

If you have not upgraded yet – why wait? You can pick up WordPress 3.2 from the WordPress.org website.

Once you load up the website, you are provided with two buttons and a lot of white space.  Just click anywhere on the webpage and start writing.  When you are done, you can either save your thoughts to the pen.io website or save it as a .pdf file.

Go give it a shot at pen.io/zen/ and let me know if you like this very simple way to jot your thoughts down.

The Linkbait Generator is here to help you come up with a topic that will sure to grab eyeballs.

For those of you outside of the blogging circle, let me explain what linkbait is. Linkbait is something posted or written about that people will notice and link back to.  By linking to your site, other sites are saying they value the content of your site and that they think other people will be interested in it, too.

Now the Linkbait Generator might be a little tongue in cheek, but I am going to use it for a while – and see if the headlines really inspire me to come up with the greatest blog post ideas ever created.  Go bookmark it for your own use at: linkbaitgenerator.com.

Are you looking for a way to spark your creative fuse?

“Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”

- E.L. Doctorow

I love to write, and have done so semi-professionally for the past seven years or so.  Sometimes though, a good topic to write about it hard to find, or you might be out of creative muses to inspire you.  That is where the web site Write for Ten comes into play.

This web site serves as a writing sketchbook. Writers from all skill levels and of all types can come any enjoy this resource.  It is handy for a number of reasons.  It can help inspire you with an idea.  It can keep you in writing shape, if you have a hard time finding the time in the day to do so.

Via the Write for Ten web site, here are several ways you can participate:

• Take ten minutes now and write! Grab a notebook, open a text editor, sign up for an account, or post a blog.
• Write a ten-minute post using the Write for Ten site. Your posts are published at http://writeforten.com/users/username.
• Grab a timer and write a blog post for ten minutes. Add our badges to the bottom of your posts.
• Make a habit of writing everyday. Use this site or your favorite blogging platform (e.g., WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Posterous )
• Tweet your posts with the hash tag #writeforten or #wf10.

This free writing exercise is an excellent way to get over writer’s block.

Want to join in on the fun? Point your browser towards writeforten.com.

Everybody can use a little help when it comes to writing.  After the Deadline is a plugin for WordPress, that is like your own little sixth grade grammar book, living inside your content management system.   They use artificial intelligence and natural language processing technology to find errors in your writing and to offer smart suggestions to correct them.

So, what all does After the Deadline do?

• Checks for Spelling Mistakes
• Detects Misused Words and Common English Errors
• Checks the Style of Writing
• Checks for Common Grammar Errors

To install and use this plugin, you must first register for an API key, and then you can download the plugin.  Once installed, After the Deadline adds a button that lets you check spelling, style, and grammar in supported applications.

Another feature of the plugin I really enjoy is that it explains the errors to you, so you know what you did wrong.  By explaining the problem, you learn how not to do it again – and in turn, that makes you a better writer.

Is There a Demo? If you want to try the service, before you add it to your own WordPress installation, visit PolishMyWriting.com. All you need to do there is paste or compose your message there, then click the button labeled Check Writing.

After the Deadline has earned a spot on my list of WordPress plugins I can not live without.  Play with the demo, give it a shot in your own WordPress installation.  It will save time on editing, and help you become a better writer.

Thanks to the powers of the Wayback Machine, here is the earliest layout I can find for Mitchelaneous (then hosted as a part of the lockergnome.net blogs). Actually, you could probably say that Chris Pirillo (and the old Lockergnome team of writers) played a big part in this web site’s existence.

I like to say I was a part of the last great team of writers at Lockergnome.com, before they turned it into a big social network/everybody can sign up type of mess.  At the time, I was trying to build up my own resume, so writing more seemed to be a natural progression.  So I set up a blog, start to pontificate, and the rest is digital history.

So in closing, I just wanted to take a minute to thank each and every one of you for stopping in day to day, and making this little pet project of mine a fun one to be apart of.  I appreciate your support, no matter if you just came in once or you come in every single day.

Want to make sure you don’t miss a post in the next five years?  Be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed, in your feed reader of choice.

Here are all the issues of Ping! Zine that I have made an appearance in this year:

+ Download Issue 26 of Ping! Zine (.pdf)

+ Download Issue 27 of Ping! Zine (.pdf)

+ Download Issue 28 of Ping! Zine (.pdf)

+ Download Issue 30 of Ping! Zine (.pdf)

Hopefully they’ll have me back next year too.  If you have never heard of Ping! Zine before, it is a web hosting magazine for web hosting professionals and fans.  One of the two biggest out there in the hosting industry to date.

We all love how Netflix recommends movies and how Amazon gives us great recommendations for books we would enjoy reading right? Here at outbrain we are doing the same for blog and news content on the web. Information overload is real and growing as the amount of content on the web grows exponentially. We are committed to helping readers of blogs and news sites find the best content that is most relevant to them on a personal basis.

Once you get a few people ranking your work, then they can also be delivered other popular articles that others have enjoyed.  To see that in action, check out Yaron’s blog.  Thus far, I haven’t seen many people come in and rank older works on here just yet but I’ll test it out a ‘bit longer just to make sure.  It is an interesting idea but it is difficult to make any reader feel or think they could or should do something extra.  It is a neat idea and I wish Outbrain the best of luck.

With a clean desktop I have more room to work. Now for designers you could see this coming in handy because they would have plenty of place to work on multiple images, files and folders and have them all saved to the desktop.

With my podcast – I do much of the same. I keep all the different segments I have recorded save temporarily to to desktop so that way I have them handy when I need them. That way when I finish my job or project I can just hit Ctrl + A then move them over to a new folder if I need to keep them or hit delete if I want to toss them away.

How about you? How naked is your desktop or have you tried it with a naked desktop? For me it is one of my easy productivity techniques that keep me sane.

Writing is one of those skills that everybody can do, but not many can master. If you broke it up into a chart you would have those who can’t being a very small percentage of the pie, those who have mastered it being another slightly larger pie piece and then those who are “somewhere in the middle” taking the rest of the cake pie. 

Writing Tips to Help You Lead the Reader

If you master one skill though I can promise you that your own personal writing will improve. You must learn to lead, now what does that mean?

• Break things into chunks, with each chunk or paragraph being a new topic or idea. I always cringe when I see somebody asking my opinion on something that have written and it is a three page article that is all in one single paragraph.

• Don’t be afraid to add sub-headlines to your work. It works great to help those who just scan their articles first for information to find exactly what they are looking for.

• One thing I remember from my middle school and high school journalism classes was to write with message or idea, then follow it up with a quote. Then you give more of the story – followed by a quote. This is another way to fill up an uninteresting drabfest and make it more captivating. No mater what you think, we all want to hear what others have to say about something and that gives the reader instant gratification.

• Don’t let yourself be intimidated by other’s work. Let us say you read a great article by a great writer and your first thought is, “I could never do that”. Take this as a learning experience instead, read it again and keep this message in the back of your head, “How could I do something like this?”

So next time you start writing your opinion, want to share a suggestion or have the urge to rant about your passion don’t be afraid to spruce up your work with a few of these suggestions.