Around the Word

Today on the BloGG, we're taking a look at bad speaking, easy writing, and the plight of the celebrity ghost:

What makes the worst speech ever? On Ragan.com, Fletcher Dean, director of executive speechwriting for Dow Chemical Co. outlines the anatomy of a flop, from (dull) start to (lackluster) finish. Take a look at his assessment and let us know: what do you think guarantees a disappointing discourse?

Gotham friend Josh Greenman pointed us to a new site designed to make sharing your drafts a little bit easier. With Pen.io, you simply name your document, create a password for accessing it, and enter your text--text that can then be viewed and edited by anyone who knows the password. Because you can't track changes on the site, it seems better suited for casual sharing than it is for heavy editing. For your basic "hey-take-a-look-at-this," though, it's hard to beat Pen.io's ultra-elegant aesthetic and user-friendly interface.

While Wikileaks may be anonymous, Julian Assange’s ghost is nameless no more: Andrew O’Hagan will be penning the Wikileaks founder’s memoir. In light of the news, The Guardian’s Robert McCrum muses on the pitfalls of celebrity ghosting, noting that “battles over the money pale into insignificance next to the titanic clash of egos involved in taking on another's voice and character.” A cynical—and amusing—view, to be sure, but is it an accurate one?