Pinteresting

I have a mildly obsessive interest in Pinterest. And I'm not getting paid to mention it, by the way.

It is a website that allows you to assemble a web-based inspiration board for whatever topic you'd like. This is a lifesaver for things like decor ideas, recipes, fashion, projects, and anything you can think of that can be represented through an image. My mother and I are even working on our Christmas lists through the site!

 Here's the deal:

When I log in, I see things that have been recently pinned by people I follow. It's similar to the feed on Facebook. You have the option to like, comment, or repin your friends image to your own inspiration board.

When you click on someone's "pin," you see a larger version of the image and can see where the image came from. If you click the larger image, it will actually take you back to the original site where it was pinned! This feature makes it an excellent way to clear out the growing mound of bookmarks in your toolbar!

Each pin is part of a "board," like an inspiration board. What a great way to replace all those collages I made for my personal lookbook! As you can see I have boards for fashion, my dream home, entertaining, recipes, DIY projects and random things that are too cute to forget about.

But the best part of Pinterest is the "Pin It" button. You add this button to your bookmarks bar in your browser -- but it doesn't take you to another page. When you browse the internet and find something you want to mark, hit the "Pin It" button and all of the images will be extracted from that page. Choose the image that best represents what you are trying to save and a pin will automatically be created without you ever leaving that page. You can label the pin, make notes and even share with your social networks without interrupting your Internet surfing session.

At this point, the network is dominated largely by women: mommies, brides to be, graphic designers, photographers. Maybe the million images of DIY baby booties and glittery pumps is a little intimidating for men, children and the professional world...but I really think there is potential with this form of social networking.

To me it seems like an eye-catching adaptation of Twitter. Microblogging with images! And because you can choose which of a user's boards you subscribe to, there is the same thematic organization as with most blogs.

I'm not really sure yet how else this program would be applied -- I imagine work presentations, interior design boards, wishlists -- I'm sure there are other brilliant ways to apply Pinterest. I think the job of the company (and they have their work cut out for them) is to rebrand this and expand their audience.

But personally, I'm really looking forward to the future of this site!

DIY Editing: Learn your own weaknesses

In my experience, one of the harder tasks in writing is editing yourself.

For the majority of the writing process, we entrench ourselves in the topic -- either gathering enough information to assert ourselves as an expert or searching for the perfect creative inspiration. After all of the perspiration and punctuation, we have to step back and make sure everything is just as it should be.

Considering the adage that "you are your own worst critic," you'd think it would be easier to notice where you could do better. But most often, the things that need help aren't even necessarily wrong. In both the grammatical and developmental senses, many writers fall back on habit: a turn of phrase, organization...I have a well-developed fondness of commas, personally.  How are you supposed to look at your work and decide what changes will take it to the next level?

Well, no one can expect you to do it all alone in the beginning.

Certainly, your ability to self-edit will become invaluable. You will still need to comb your work carefully. But begin by making note of the mistakes you notice most often. Keep a list of them. Once you have done what you can, enlist a peer.

There is a reason that writers are so quick to form communities and working relationships: We need each other. Find a writer -- multiple writers even -- with different backgrounds, styles and perspectives. Find people whose talent you respect. Have them edit your work one more time and show you the changes they made. I am a believer in the tracking changes available on Microsoft Word or the commenting and cataloged document history on Google Docs.

You will probably find a different slew of suggestions, not all of which you have to take. After all, your unique voice as a writer is your product. But you will likely discover new things to work on. Keep that list handy and refer to it when you finish your next piece. Over time, you wont need that list so much anymore; many of these issues tend to resolve themselves once you become aware of them.

Working on your self-editing skill is a tool that pays off quickly with better quality writing. While honing your craft is a life-long process, having someplace to begin is something that most of us can be very grateful for.