STAY INFORMED BY FOLLOWING CSI BLOGGERS

A few years ago the predominant way for CSI members and others in the AEC industry to express themselves in writing professionally, and reach a national audience, was to write articles for industry magazines and newsletters. It wasn’t easy to get published in magazines.  Your message had to fit into the magazine’s overall editorial focus. And it took months for an article to progress from the draft stage all the way to its appearance in a hard-copy magazine.

All that’s changed now. The Internet has eliminated the magazine monopoly on expression by making it easy to get one’s message directly out to the industry by establishing and writing a blog. Lots of interesting, experienced, well-informed AEC industry specialists have jumped into blogging.

Here are just a few CSI member blogs. Some write about CSI governance and the CSI experience; others write about their areas of consulting or construction expertise.

Some write frequently; others only occasionally. 

Some appeal mainly to CSI members; others have achieved a much wider audience.

All accommodate, and usually publish and respond to, reader comments, enabling great dialog. If you haven’t already discovered their blogs, I urge you to check them out.  

• Charles Hendricks, CSI, CDT (@thegainesgroup): http://harrisonburgarchitect.wordpress.com/
• Liz O'Sullivan, CSI, CCS, CCCA(@LizOSullivanAIA): http://lizosullivanaia.wordpress.com/
• David Stutzman, CSI, CCS & Randal Reifsnider, CSI, CDT (@dstutzman @conspectusinc @rreifsnider): http://www.conspectusinc.com/blog/
• Michael Chusid, FCSI, CCS (@MichaelChusid ) : http://www.buildingproductmarketing.com/
• Eric Lussier, CSI, CDT (@EricDLussier): http://ericdlussier.wordpress.com
• Neal Turner, CSI, CCPR (@draperinc):  http://blog.draperinc.com/about-the-authors/neal-turner/
• Ron Geren, CSI, CCS, CCCA (@specsandcodes): http://specsandcodes.typepad.com
• Robert Dye, FCSI, CCS, CCCA (@robert_dye): http://www.robertdye.us
• Mitch Miller, CSI, CCS (@m2architek): http://m2architek.wordpress.com
• Sheldon Wolfe, FCSI, CCS, CCCA (@swolfearch): http://swconstructivethoughts.blogspot.com
• John Guill, CSI, CCS, CCCA (@specmonkeynorth): http://specmonkeynorth.posterous.com
• Lori Greene, CSI, CCPR (@LoriGreeneAHC): www.idighardware.com
• Tara Imani, CSI (@Parthenon1): http://www.indigoarchitect.com/
• Marvin Kemp, CSI, CDT (@BaltoCSI): http://felttips.blogspot.com

Come to think of it, why not share your expertise with the AEC industry by starting a blog?

Tap into your inner writer and join the club. Your fellow bloggers will engage with you, and help you promote your message by spreading links to your blog around the Internet like the proverbial Johnny Appleseed.

BLOGGERS SHOULD READ ZINSSER'S "ON WRITING WELL"

Scanning my bookshelf a few days ago, I came across "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser.  I bought the book several years ago. I read and enjoyed it at the time.


I'm reading it again, and I strongly recommend it to bloggers.


Here's why. Internet addict that I am, I follow many interesting blogs, mainly on construction, architecture, and spec writing.  Many are well written and interesting.  Others are interesting but not so well written.  I have to work harder to understand the writer's point. Sometimes I lose patience before finishing a poorly written item, and navigate to something else on the Internet. 


We bloggers want to persuade or to inform, or we wouldn't be going to the effort of blogging.  This book will help us to write good blog posts.  I had several essay/posts in progress when I started reading  "On Writing Well", and the lessons I learned in the book have triggered a serious rewrite of all of them. Who knows when I'll finish them, but I know that they will be clearer and more persuasive as a result.


"On Writing Well" isn't some dry collection of rules about writing.  It's an interesting and amusing book about the craft of writing.  How to be clear, how to keep the reader's interest by putting yourself in her shoes. How to build ideas the way a good lawyer builds his case. 


It takes a master wordsmith to write an interesting book about writing and Mr. Zinsser has done it.


Put "On Writing Well" in your library.  Here's one place to get it.