How current is this information about how to write online? Except for fixing broken links (still in progress) and reworking this page to add conference presentation materials, I have not updated the content on this Web site since 2002. My mother died that year, and I got preoccupied with other activities.

That said, I think the information on this site is still relevant and useful to anyone learning how to write for the Web.

My new passion is breathwork. A powerful healing method, breathwork combines the use of evocative music, meditative breathing, symbolic artwork, and group processing to access a person's innate healing potential.

In October 2006, I became a certified Integrative Breathwork practitioner. Also check out Holotropic Breathwork.

My graduate work at Northern Arizona University (NAU):

As a graduate student, I researched and wrote about effective online writing and editing strategies. I initially created this Webfolio to publish my research.

Writing Effectively Online: How to Compose Hypertext: Discusses how to write quality hypertext. Provides theory as well as practical tips. This article was also published in Computers and Composition Online, an international journal for teachers of writing. However, it's no longer available online.

Editing Online Documents: Strategies and Tips: Provides an overview of what online editors do, how they do it, and why it matters. Published in Contentious, a Web-zine for online writers and editors. (The files were lost in a server crash at the Contentious site. I'm trying to track them down elsewhere.)

Link Density: Reviews three articles concerning the issue of link density (how many links to create) in hypertext documents. Also provides guidelines for creating effective links.

Web Design Guidelines: Offers tips for designing a reader-friendly site.

Reaction Paper: Concerns two forms of electronic communications, email and hypertext.

My work as a technical editor at Sun Microsystems:

I wrote two chapters on online writing style for the Sun Editorial Style Guide. I gave the following presentations at professional conferences:

• Strategies for Condensing Online Text (PDF of conference paper): Offers strategies for condensing text that result in fewer words overall. Also suggests strategies for making online text seem shorter, even if the word count remains unchanged. Lastly, discusses the risks of condensing text too much.

  Presented at 2001 annual conference of the Society for Technical Communication (STC). Related handouts in PDF:

  • Cover page for slides
  • Slides
  • Examples of optimizing text for online use

• Editing Online Documents: Strategies and Tips (PDF of conference paper): Explains the basics of editing online documents: the issues, skills, strategies, and processes. Practical tips address nonsequential content, structure and navigation, links, and online writing style.

Presented at the STC 2002 annual conference. Related handouts in PDF:

• Cover page for slides
• Slides
• Examples of optimizing text for online use

• Editing Online Help Text: Strategies and Tips (PDF of 70 slides): Explains the basics of editing online help text. Practical tips address editing structure and navigation, links, and online writing style. The online writing guidelines in the Sun Editorial Style Guide form the basis of this presentation. Also available in HTML.

Presented at the WinWriters 2003 conference.