Arnold Papadopoulos reports:

"A braided segmented essay weaves together different styles of writing on a common theme and separates them by pauses of blank space...The purpose is to approach the essay indirectly so that the reader is revealed information in a surprising way with wider[-]reaching effects...[Choose] a subject. An essay expresses the informed opinion of the author. It isn't journalism or a scientific report. Choose something that you know about because it excites...you. It will be easier to write about if you already have a love for the subject...[Choose] at least three different styles of writing...Write on the subject in different styles of writing. This will take time because you aren't writing one direct essay but approaching a subject with different styles...Gather all the different writings you have done on the subject, and look for a common linking theme between them. Are there any recurring similarities? Are there any glaring opposites? Does one piece of writing seem to echo or answer a question raised in another? Ask yourself these questions as you reread the pieces, and mark the links where you see them...Cut and paste your gathered writings into a logical sequence separated by paragraph breaks. Choose the best written parts and 'braid' them together by putting down one paragraph of one style followed by a different style. Between them, leave space to give the reader a chance to pause and think about them before moving to the next. Try to end with a powerful paragraph that will stay with the reader."

J. Hirby reports:

"Writing a character witness statement for a defendant may help them receive a reduced sentence. Without a statement, all the judge knows about the defendant is the crime committed and how the defendant acts in court. Attorneys or the defendants themselves may ask you to write a witness statement. Since the letter is going to be reviewed by a judge, the format and tone of the statement must be professional. Make sure you have the judge’s name and title correct. Be honest in your statement. Being dishonest damages your reputation and does not help the defendant. Introduce yourself by name and profession. Tell the judge who you are writing the letter for. Let the judge know that you are aware of the charges against the defendant...Next, discuss how you met the defendant and how long you have known him or her...Provide specific examples of good deeds the defendant has done. If the defendant has done volunteer work in the community, provide names of the organizations and the types of activities he or she participated in. If the defendant is a good provider for the family or is devoted to his or her family, bring that up and provide examples. Again, be truthful...Conclude by saying how the defendant’s incarceration will negatively affect their present, their future, their job, and their life. Be specific. Explain how the defendant’s incarceration will affect his or her family and employer. Explain how the defendant has learned from their mistake, what steps they have taken to change, and that you believe they will not make the same mistake again. Include a telephone number in your conclusion so that the judge may reach you with any questions. Doing so shows that you are serious about helping the defendant and that you mean what you say."

Sarah Vrba reports:

"The journey to becoming a black belt requires tireless perseverance, physical training and mental strength. These characteristics come about after years of dedication to martial arts...This essay should be genuine, open and reflective about what has brought you to the present achievement. This essay will also be the ideal time to thank your [m]aster and the work you have done together. Brainstorm about your martial arts journey. What mental and physical challenges did you face, how did you come to find your master...and what have you learned from your master? These questions will be the central items in the essay and should be composed of the most pivotal or meaningful points in your journey. Read sample black belt candidate essays from other students. Get a feel for how others have constructed their essays. Write an introductory paragraph...You want to make a strong, consolidated statement about your passion and excitement about being a black belt candidate. You may start by comparing the changes in yourself from when [you] started martial arts to the present day. Write the body of the essay keeping in mind that you need to address how you have accomplished physical and mental goals central to becoming a black belt candidate. Students often bring up challenges they surmounted, times when they felt overwhelmed or inspired to move forward. Students often discuss their [m]aster's teaching techniques and how they helped the student succeed. Create a conclusion. This section can be devoted to thanking those who have supported you, discussing your future goals in martial arts...or with a comment on the biggest lesson you have learned in your journey. The conclusion should also be very succinct and clear to make a strong impression on the reader...Keep sentences neat and concise. Edit the essay a few times to avoid typographical errors and mistakes. Have a friend read the essay and give you feedback."

Nicole Vulcan reports:

"Some workplaces have an open-door policy that allows employees to sound off about their concerns whenever the boss is available. In some businesses, however, the only way to get your voice heard is to craft a letter or email. If you work in the second type of place, take some time to ensure your letter is well-written, [is] grammatically correct and strikes a professional and educated tone...Before you sit down to craft that letter, ask yourself whether it's going to be worth the trouble...Think about whether your boss is going to be able to do anything about the problem you're facing...Now that you've determined there is something your boss can do about your concerns, define that 'something' as clearly as possible. This is going to be the crux of your letter. Without a request for action, your letter is going to seem like whining. The solution may be obvious to you, but your boss doesn't live in your shoes and won't necessarily come up with the same solutions as you do. Before you write that letter, practice writing a simple request you'd like to see, or one that is clearly defined...If you have multiple requests, prioritize them in a short bullet-point list, with the most important request first...Now it's time to start crafting the letter. Address it cordially and then introduce yourself, if need be. In a larger company your boss may need reminding of your position or department. Then make a direct statement about the problem...Following that, state the facts as you have observed them. State these facts without blaming or getting emotional. They'll carry more weight that way...In the second paragraph, state clearly how this problem is affecting productivity, office morale, the company's bottom line or any other factor about which the boss may be concerned...Your boss may not be the guy who's automatically worried with your personal comfort – even if he should [be] – but when you provide him with clear figures that show how the problem is affecting your workplace productivity, he may pay attention...Use the final paragraph to state the solutions to the problem that you came up with before you started crafting the letter. If your solution involves more effort on your part, it doesn't hurt to grease the wheels a little bit and let him know what your personal investment might be. If there are any other follow-up matters to discuss, let your boss know when you could be available. At the end of the letter, thank your boss for the opportunity to work with the company, and sign it. Leave your phone number and email address at the bottom of the letter, if you're not sure whether your boss has it."

Emily Hunsaker reports:

"Memorial contributions in lieu of flowers are a common way of honoring an employee after their death. In addition to demonstrating sympathy toward the employee’s family, a memorial contribution also allows your business to contribute to a worthy cause. A donation to a charity is often accompanied by a memorial contribution letter to ensure that the deceased is properly honored for the contribution...A memorial contribution letter is a type of formal business letter, which means it should contain the address of the charity to which the donation will be made, a salutation, body text, and a formal signature block. The salutation may be written 'To whom it may concern' if the charity did not specify a person to whom to direct the donation. In addition to including the charity’s address in the header of the letter, the address of a family member of the deceased should also be included, as most charities will notify the family of the gift upon receipt. Additionally, it is important to include your address in the letter’s closing so a tax receipt may be sent to you from the charitable organization...Start the letter with the name of the employee in whose memory the donation is being given, along with the monetary amount of the donation and the name of the charity that will be receiving the gift. Also include the information specified in the deceased's obituary or funeral program, such as a particular fund or scholarship the money should be directed toward. Add more personalization to the letter by showing a connection between the charity and your former employee...If no charity is specified by the family, instead discuss the reason the charity was chosen by your business and how the deceased is connected to that decision...In addition to writing a memorial contribution letter to the charity that will receive the gift, it is also common to send a sympathy card to the deceased’s surviving family. Include a personalized message to the family, along with a note stating that you contributed to a charity in memory of their family member."

John Ruiz reports:

"Some viruses and malware can infect the boot sector of your flash drive. This can occur right when you plug the flash drive into an infected system. Plugging the infected flash drive [into] an office computer may cause various problems to the entire office network. An infected boot sector not only serves as a hiding spot for the virus but it can also prevent your flash drive from booting properly if you made your own bootable USB drive or Windows 7 installer in the past. Use an application to write a clean boot sector to your flash drive so the booting capabilities function normally again...Download BOOTICE from the Pendriveapps website...Open the BOOTICE file after it finishes and launch the BOOTICE application inside...Click the 'Process MBR' button to see the available options for writing boot sectors to your USB drive. Choose the 'Windows NT 6.x MBR' option if your USB flash drive contains a Windows 7 installer. Choose the 'GRUB4DOS' option if your drive has other bootable content...Click the 'Install / Config' button and confirm you wish to write a boot sector to your drive. Restart your computer [with] your flash drive still plugged in and see if you can finally boot. Repeat the previous steps and try another option if you still cannot boot...Install and run RMPrepUSB after downloading. Choose the flash drive that needs a new boot sector from the top list box...Choose a bootloader option from the '3 Bootloader Options' box. This will determine the type of boot sector written to your flash drive...Select the 'FAT32' option from the '4 Filesystem and Overrides' group if your flash drive has a capacity of more than 2,000 MB. Otherwise, choose the 'FAT16' option...Click the '6 Prepare Drive' button to format your flash drive and write the boot sector afterward...Insert any Windows 7 installation DVD into your system's optical drive. Plug in the flash drive that will get the boot sector. Click the 'Start' button and then click 'Computer.' Take note of the drive letter that points to your flash drive. Double-click the drive that contains your Windows 7 installation disc...Hold the 'Shift' key on your keyboard and right-click the 'Boot' folder. Click 'Open command window here' to bring up the Command Prompt...Type 'bootsect /nt60 #:' (without quotes) where '#' represents the drive letter of your flash drive. This will write the necessary boot sector so you can install Windows 7 from the flash drive...In BOOTICE, click the 'Backup MBR' button if you want a copy of your boot sector before writing a new one. You can use the 'Restore MBR' button whenever you wish to restore the backup...Back up any existing files on your flash drive if you will use the RMPrepUSB solution because that program erases all files on the drive before writing the boot sector."

Laurence Peacock reports:

"The claim argument essay is...any piece of sustained writing that makes a claim and then sets out to persuade the reader to agree with that claim by presenting evidence and formulating a convincing argument. Choose your topic. A good essay will have a clear and narrow focus, so don't try [to] take on too much at once. Find out all the information you can on your topic. It sounds obvious, but if you start writing before you really have something to write about, you will soon hit a brick wall. Try to find the most up-to-date information available, as this will increase your chances of saying something original and engaging. Write your thesis in one or two sentences. The thesis is your main argument, presented in a way that tells the reader your view of the topic you're discussing. Your argument has to be provable--or at least persuasive--given the information that your research has provided...Plan your essay. An effective claim argument plan should show, in separate but logically connected paragraphs, how the argument progresses from start to finish. Use subheadings to help clarify the different sections, if desired. Construct the first paragraph. Introduce your topic so the reader knows exactly what he is reading about and what claim you are going to make. Insert the thesis sentence(s) you developed earlier into this first paragraph. Writing short and simple sentences is the best way to begin to get your points across. Write your way through the essay, taking it one paragraph at a time. Use words such as 'therefore', 'consequently' and 'however' to tell the reader how the different sections of your argument build on each other. As Bryan Greetham notes, 'To create a taut, cohesive piece of work, each paragraph has to have a clear connection with the one that preceded it.' Conclude your essay by giving a retrospective overview. Don't be afraid to tell the reader what she has just read. Phrases like 'as we have seen' and 'as I have shown' are useful here, and if you conclude with slightly different words and phrases than you used in introduction, your argument will be clear without being repetitive. Proofread your essay for grammatical accuracy and the quality of your argument. Read it through slowly, and in each section, ask yourself this question: 'Does this develop my argument in a persuasive way?' If you can get from start to finish, answering '[Y]es' for each paragraph, then your claim argument essay is done...Making common mistakes can distract the reader from the all[-]important content of your essay...Ensure you know which style guide requirements your essay should meet. Numerous downloadable style guides will tell you how to format and present your essay and will provide examples of citations and bibliographical references...When researching, be sure to make a note of where you find information. This will save you time later if you have to look it up again...Asking a friend or colleague to read through your essay is an excellent way to check its style and content. After staring at the same words for so long, you often need a fresh pair of eyes to see the mistakes you may have overlooked through familiarity...Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another writer's ideas or words. It is taken very seriously by universities and employers and may result in disciplinary measures. Avoid plagiarism by placing direct quotes in quotation marks and including a citation for both quotes and paraphrased, specific information you obtained from another author."

Nick Marquet reports:

"Learning how to write a catchy headline can be the difference between a well-distributed piece of writing, or a dud. So, let’s take a look at the steps required to write a headline that will attract the readers you’re looking for...Keep your audience in mind when drafting a headline...Include a 'focus keyword' to help your writing to get discovered in search engines. Build the headline around the most important keyword in your written text and ensure that it is fewer than 70 characters. Additional words are considered too long for Google to index...A headline that leaves the reader wanting more has done its job. Take this one for example: 'These Pieces Of Advice Found On Instagram Could Change Your Life.' Does it make you want more? Does it intrigue you? Your readers will probably look for more information in the rest of your article...After reading a headline, readers may wonder, 'Why should I read on?' Many decide to do so because they believe from the title of the post that you, the author, can solve their problem. Consider the headline of this post...People love numbers, especially in headlines. Numbers are something we know and feel comfortable with; they give us a sense of familiarity and advise our brains on how long an article may take to read. With numbers we can justify the exchange of information for our time – especially with numbers that describe how many points will be covered...Don’t be afraid to look for inspiration wherever you can. If you write for a publication, review older copies and look for examples that you know would work with your audience and tweak them...There is a tool called Portent’s Content Idea Generator, and it is a piece of brilliance. Plug in your topic or focus keyword into the little text box, hit a button, and bam – out pops a catchy headline in less time than one minute and seven seconds. At the very least, it could trigger ideas. Overall, a catchy headline should speak directly to the part of the brain that subconsciously cares. However, a catchy headline is nothing without quality, thoughtful, engaging content that is shared and admired. Remember: [T]hat’s the reason we wanted the catchy headline in the first place. And until we start reading from the bottom up, catchy headlines are here to stay."

Carl Carabelli reports:

"The first step to writing an effective product announcement is to identify your target audience...The audience will dictate the tone, content and language of the announcement. Tailoring the release to a specific audience will ensure not only that the word gets out, but [also] that it gets to the right people...Start your announcement by letting the reader know that you have a new product. Don’t try to be fancy and attempt to hook them into buying something before they even know you’re making a sales pitch, because it probably won’t work...Let the audience know what you have to offer. You’ll hook them later in the announcement...Give a to-the-point description of the product’s main features. Don’t [overexplain] every aspect, [but] just demonstrate the benefit it provides...or why it would interest your target customer...End the product announcement in a way that spurs the consumer to action. It can be as subtle [as] 'Be the first to hear this exciting new CD!' Or it can highlight a promotion or special offer such as 'The first 500 customers will receive a brand new state-of-the[-]art brush and roller set.' You’ve identified your audience and you’ve shown them why the product appeals to them. If done right, the call to action will inspire them to go out and buy your product, making for a successful new product announcement. Of course, be sure to include where, when and how they can get the product, or your announcement could end up just being a waste of time and paper."

Advice Mobile reports:

"Before beginning any press release, do preliminary keyword research to discover which keywords to incorporate into the release. This SEO best practice increases the likelihood of your release appearing in organic search results and publisher inclination for covering releases that drive traffic to their own sites. Next, decide when to distribute your press release. To generate buzz on launch day, you may choose to issue press releases that are 'Under Embargo Until' or 'Hold For Release Until' a specific date. These releases are sent prior to launch to allow publishers to create time-sensitive content for a specific launch date. However, be aware that while this 'gentlemen’s agreement' should keep the releases at bay until preferred, some publishers will disregard the embargo. Be sure to also mention it in your email. You may also issue press releases 'For Immediate Release' on launch day. These will likely not be released same-day, but give you more control over preventing premature releases. At the top of your press release, include your app name and icon. Next, include your desired release date, as mentioned above, before your headline. Your headline should be factual and descriptive of the full release, but if possible, focus on a newsworthy feature of your mobile app. The optional subhead, or summary line, allows you to elaborate on your headline before beginning the full release. A subhead can be helpful in expanding a headline that may otherwise be too long. Before the body of your press release, include 'City, State/Country – Month Day, Year.' An effective press release is short and concise, always remains factual and focuses on the unique and newsworthy aspects of the mobile app. Resist using buzzwords or marketing adjectives, like 'great' or 'excellent.' The goal of your press release is to generate awareness among your target audience, so outline who this group is in the introduction paragraph. Include 2-3 summary sentences about the overall goal of your mobile app as well. In the press release body, also focus on what your app actually does and why your target audience should be interested. When outlining features of your mobile app, instead of simply listing every feature, focus on the distinctive features that make your app stand out among competitors. These points can be bullet formatted or written in paragraphs. Also include pricing and availability information for your mobile app in the body of the release. Remember to link to your app in the App Store throughout the body of your release. Also remember to include your app’s release date towards the beginning of the release. At the end of the body of the press release, include a strong information paragraph, or boilerplate, about your company, including your website URL and press kit URL, if available. Also include the contact information for the media’s point of contact. If your press release is longer than a single page, insert '-MORE-['] at the bottom of each page and signal the end of the full release with '###' centered on the page. Keep paragraphs short, consisting of only a few sentences at a time, and pay attention to how 'scan-worthy' your release will be to inundated publishers. Finally, insert the text-only press release in the body of your personalized email to the journalist, blogger or influencer, and save the PDF file for your press kit."