The article says that in order to write efficiently, the writer must realize that it’s a two step process. The first step is the creative thinking process. This is when we utilize the right side of our brain because it sees the big picture first, not the details. It processes from whole to parts, holistically. The right-brain starts with the answer. This is when the ideas should be flowing, and the mind is firing. Write down anything that come to your head. Don’t worry about spelling, don’t edit your grammer. Just write down everything that comes to mind. Be creative. Express some of your ideas as if nobody is going to ream them. Be daring and break out of YOUR box. Write until you run out of ideas. If your writing assignment is 400 words, write 800. The idea is to learn how to disengage this creative process from the next step.

Step ll is called the critical thinking process. Now that you have everything that you need you can kick into a different thought process and use the left side of your brain. This side of the brain is analytical, organized, and processes information in a linear manner. It takes pieces, lines them up, and arranges them in a logical order; then it draws conclusions. Use this fact to your writing advantage. This is the step where you edit, rewrite and polish your writing for the world to see.

This writing tip has absolutely helped me be more prolific as a writer and I hope it helps you too.

iGoogle

Ok this isn’t OSX, but it IS browser based and it works in Safari. In the last few months I’ve used iGoogle more and more to help me; manage my RSS subscriptions with Google Reader, keep quick notes with Google Notebook, learn more about my websites with Google Webmaster Tools, check my traffic with Google Analytics, and manage my AdSense accounts. I like working this way because I use several different computers to blog, plus my iPhone, and it is impossible to try and keep everything synced up. With iGoogle I can simply login to my account from any computer and have all of the above mentioned tools at my fingertips.

Blogging

I like the WordPress admin panel, although sometimes it feels a bit cumbersome. Also, because I post to multiple blogs, I needed a program that allowed me to switch between accounts quickly. When you don’t need to access the WordPress admin panel to add plugins, change options, add users, moderate comments, etc., try using Ecto. I guarantee you won’t be able to live without it.

ImageWell

ImageWell is the quickest and easiest way to resize and upload images. I like to add images to my articles and I use ImageWell on a daily basis to help save me time and headaches. Simply drag and drop images from your browser or hard drive to ImageWell’s image area. From here you can can resize, change the quality, rename and upload your file. Double-clicking the image will open ImageWell’s streamlined image editor where you can crop, rotate, control brightness, etc. Set the program’s FTP preferences so you can upload an image straight to your blog’s image folder with one click. ImageWell is one of my all time favorite OSX blogging tools because it saves me from opening Photoshop and an ftp client for every little photo edit and upload.

Cyberduck

When I first started as a web designer I used notepad and Photoshop to create my websites. I soon moved on to Dreamweaver version 1. I liked the coding/wysiwyg dual view pages and the built in FTP functionality of Dreamweaver. For the last 10 years I got in the habit of always using Dreamweaver to access all of my FTP accounts. Sometime last year I decided to streamline my work flow and find the simplest OSX FTP software I could find.

Cyberduck is the best FTP program I have ever used. It’s lightening fast, stable, reliable, and FREE. It also has support for many Mac OS X system technologies such as Spotlight, Bonjour, the Keychain and AppleScript.

Any - “I do not have to reply to any email that you send.” Does this mean every or a single? Use “every” or “a single.”

Not - “I do not intend to help you, because you are my enemy.” ought to mean, “I intend not to help you, and my reason for not helping you is, because you are my enemy.” But it is often wrongly used to mean, “I intend to help you, not because you are my enemy (but because you are poor, blind, etc.).” In the latter case, not ought to be separated from intend. By distinctly marking the limits to which the influence of not extends, the ambiguity may be removed.

Only is often used ambiguously for alone. “The rest help me to avenge myself; you only advise me to wait.” This ought to mean, “you only advise, instead of helping;” but in similar sentences “only you” is often used for “you alone.”

Or - When or is preceded by a negative, as “I do not want butter or honey,” “or” ought not, strictly speaking, to be used like “and,” nor like “nor.” The strict use of “not… or” would be as follows:

“You say you don’t want both butter and honey - you want butter or honey; I, on the contrary, do not want butter or honey - I want them both.”

Practically, however, this meaning is so rare, that “I don’t want butter or honey” is regularly used for “I want neither butter nor honey.” But where there is the slightest danger of ambiguity, it is desirable to use nor.

The same ambiguity attends “not… and.” “I do not see Thomas and John” is commonly used for “I see neither Thomas nor John;” but it might mean, “I do not see them both - I see only one of them.”

That - The different uses of “that” produce much ambiguity, e.g. “I am so much surprised by this statement, that I am desirous of resigning, that I hardly know what reply to make.” Here it is impossible to tell, till one has read past “resigning,” whether the first “that” depends upon “so” or “statement.”