The provocative guest post on Second Life's future from Robert "Dizzy Banjo" Thomas has generated a very interesting reader discussion. I'm avidly looking for other guest posts, so if you have a strong opinion about virtual worlds and goods, SL, OpenSim, social networks, gaming, and pretty much anything we usually discuss on New World Notes, here's some submission guidelines:
First, send me the nut graf of the post you want to write. What's a nutgraf? Short for "nutshell paragraph", the nut graf is editorial slang term used by editors at newspapers and magazines, as well as copy editors. The term nut graf refers to the sentence (or sentences) that summarize the essence of a story. In journalism, a nut graf puts the story in context and tells readers why the story matters. Many editors would say the nut graf is the most important section of a story, since it tells the readers why they should be reading the story.
A nut graf can be one to several sentences, and especially for beginning writers, it's the heart of any good article or essay. I'll even go so far to say this: If you can't express the point you're trying to make in a nut graf, you don't actually understand the point you want to make. (Or how to communicate it, which is effectively the same thing.)
Example of a nut graf? Here's one from this personal anecdote post:
[A]t first, her male avatar was mainly meant to be her mannequin, for learning how to make men's fashion. But after putting on the skin of a man for awhile, she wound up learning a lot more about herself, and the dynamics between the sexes.
That's why it's so important.
So when you got a basic idea for a guest post, send me your nut graf -- email wjamesau at well dot com. If the nut graf works, we'll take it from there; I'll tell you the word count I'm looking for, the other elements I need for the whole post. If it needs more work before it's a nut graf to do us both proud, I'll offer advice as I can. Yes I will pay, though alas I can't pay much, and yes you can promote your metaverse business/brand/project in a bio line at the bottom of the post. Mahalo!
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