How does it end?

Everyone likes a good ending. I’m sure at some time you have seen a movie or read a book that had such an impacting ending that you thought about it for weeks. Sometimes an ending can be infuriating because it didn’t provide closure. Or, an ending can be shocking because it revealed an unexpected result. I have always taken the approach that the ending is the most important part. With so much information being thrown at us on a daily basis, we really retain very little of it. Why not capitalize on the fact that the ending is the thing that is most recent in a reader’s mind? A great ending can even make up for faults that proceeded. This is also true about giving a talk. I’m a firm believer that all presentations should have a clear conclusion with the take-home message wrapped up in a tight little package. So, take the extra time to write an ending to remember and everyone will live happily ever after.

Wait a Sec

Have you ever heard of strategic procrastination? Probably not, because I just made it up. Sometimes it’s good to put off to tomorrow what you have time to do today. You may have scheduled a whole day to start and finish a piece of writing, whether it is a business letter, a discussion section of a scientific paper or a protocol. But it is never a good idea to plan on finishing an important writing piece in one day. Instead, I practice strategic procrastination. I write as much as I can, and if the writing is going well, I will attempt to do some editing and re-writing. But then there is a time to stop, set it aside, and come back to it on another day. At that later date, sometimes I come across a sentence or phrase that I swear couldn’t have been written by me. Those darn writing gremlins struck yet again! And sometimes I identify a tone or underlying meaning that I didn’t intend, which can be down right embarrassing. So, go ahead and procrastinate! As long as you say you are being “strategic” you’re in the clear.