Evidence for the wide-spread popularity of "first waffles": I find that when reading technical writing, I almost always skip the first few paragraphs. If I can't figure out what the 3rd paragraph is referring to, then I go back and take another look.

This is why I write my first paragraph, and the final one, last when I write an article.

Edited by author 11-13-2002 12:36 PM
I agree with Howard. Most of the time, I write the middle first. Like an Oreo cookie. Always try to barrel down the most important info, I guess.

Great article. Thought some of it was a bit heavy-handed, but it was targeted to newbies I guess. God knows I can use a bit of the "bird by bird" motivation lately.

StreetTech is a great site, Gar's stuff is always witty and honest. I've lurked for years..

I *love* this item! Great tips to live and write by from start to finish. Particularly the stuff about avoiding cliches and unneccesarily complex sentences. Because at the end of the day, what it really boils down to is thinking out-of-the-box about how to create a best-of-breed solution that leverages your disintermediated content assets in front of more recontextualized eyeballs and incentivized end-users.