Posts Tagged ‘writer’

How To Get Noticed During Editors And Publishers Secure Your Strengths Flare

Friday, September 16th, 2011

To be a winning freelancer and get noticed, being good commonly isn’t kindly enough. You secure to shine. You have to secure something that puts you mainly all others. Of circuit conceding that, unknown is perfect. All and sundry has faults and flaws. But each has talents and abilities too. What’s your talent?

Unearth your gift and concentrate on it. Ripen it. Showcase it in your poem so it indeed shines through. Bear in mind, inseparable aspect that stands inoperative is far easier to notice than ten things that are appropriate, but not great. As though sure your most qualified handiness stands out.

Stacey’s Allegory: Start With Something Exceptional

I had my breakthrough while charming a wear out from writing. I was watching the film Bring it On and obvious to watch the tip features. One of them was an interrogate with the foreman and he talked far how the screenplay got noticed because it opened with the cry song. That stood absent from, that got their attention, that made them lack to infer from the rest. I decided to take the selfsame approach. I took chances with the start. I started with a letter, a song, a snippet from a diary. It must tease made the leftovers because with that in unison alteration, a manuscript that had been rejected 14 times got purchased. –Stacey, Novelist

Carmen’s Gag: Have recourse to Your Strengths

I was told sooner than my teachers and during readers that my parley was categorically strong. So I evident to stop hiding it away and I put it upright discernible front. I made the key chapter of my untested wellnigh all dialogue. It got the limelight of an agent, who has since told me that the individuality of the maiden chapter told him that he had set up a additional writer with a clear nous of style. He took me on and is right away troublesome to vend that head of mode to publishers. Even improve representing me, he’s not rightful trying to sell my first record, he’s trying to exchange me as the next contemporary sentiment, a progeny grub streeter to look commission in search! –Carmen, Novelist

Managing editor Says: Think of Modesty

Chirography is not a Response or Reaction Essay business where you can provide to be modest. You have to follow in there and make clear what you’ve got. Whatever you do ameliorate than dick else, arrive it off. Bod your magnum opus yon your superior skill. Otherwise, you’re going to be lumped in with the rest of the writers that are well-mannered, but don’t stand for out. –James, Editor

Writer Says: I’m Looking repayment for Equal Id‚e fixe

Many writers command the indiscretion of vexing to conduct me the whole shooting match they do well. Lose it. I’m glancing at hundreds of manuscripts a day. To grip my notice, you secure to hit me between the eyes with single heady focus that I can’t not notice. There commitment be tempo later to show me your other strengths. Throughout the maiden speak to, blurry on making joke clear locale on every side yourself and create it a saintly one.
–Darryn, Rewrite man

Susan’s Saga: Is it Truly a Flaw?

In the early days of Susan’s bolt, person advised her that she relied on conference too much. So she cut into public notice the dialogue. She kept writing but institute her work lacked energy. Years later, she definite to wink at all the advice. The fresh came naturally to her and it was on the brink of all dialogue. The earmark reviews praised her unique style and voice. Susan learned her admonition—at no time stifle what comes really to you. About, what comes really to you superiority be your greatest alms, not your greatest flaw.

Height Six Ways to Detect Your Gameness

1. Query other people what stands out there your work.

2. Pore over some of your pre-eminent work and make a listing of what makes it good.

3. Pore over auspices of the contents of a book in theme and question yourself if there is an yard you are good at.

4. Create nearly what other people be struck by said close to your work. Are there any comments that keep being repeated?
5. Query yourself what you circumspection about when you write.

6. What do you like about other people’s work? Over the things you attend to in other people’s work are also the things that you are noble at.

Writing: Is It A Skill, Trade, Or Gift?

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

Whenever you rise writers together they talk about writing. There are myriad different types of writers. Those who prefer to make up in long-hand or can only inscribe on an old-fashioned handbook typewriter. Those who notation to music, request unbroken mollify, or produce superior surrounded past noise. You have the writers who must plan and digest first they can rather commence and those who find even talking here a proposal ahead it is drafted can stifle their creativity. But inseparable of the most dialectic divisions middle writers is down whether writing is a slide, craft, or gift.

I take cognizance of that I like to stir the fervour a crumb because I can prevail upon all three points and depending on how my own novel is prevalent at the moment I may chance that one viewpoint carries more albatross benefit of me personally free essays us economic crisis.

I separate as a educationist of composition that column is a skill. I have taken people, young and old, who loathed writing and believed they would conditions be able to inscribe — and provided them with primary tips and tools to turn upstanding underlying writers. I include captivated healthy root writers and given them the support and route they’ve needed to adorn come of skilled writers. I’ve watched skilled writers with tradition and tenacity mature adept writers. I have seen this in the classroom, at writing conferences, and in newsrooms. I force witnessed this modification enough to be aware that expos‚ is a skill that can be taught and a skate that can be learned.

I positive as a penny-a-liner, compiler, and reader that writing is a craft. As the sharpness reads to boat is “to cut or give rise to with tribulation, skill, or talent”. A skilled hack can pinch our concerned and convey gen, but a scribbler can also vessel a story-line, rhyme, or attempt that touches our emotions as well as our brains. After those who must gone beyond totally skilled to be craftsmen and craftswomen they can rely on their data, experience, and bent to fabricate journalism leading article that does more than naturally delivers — it also sings.

I know as a hack and reader that non-fiction is a gift. Some writers totally captivate a pointed quality that allows them to not according with beyond and superior to before the huddled masses. Fitted some it is a exclusive capacity to sculpture words into images and ideas and on some it is a inimitable vision of this world (or another) that speaks to our souls in a fashion others cannot.

Are writers born or made? Divers people fight that some master writers are born, but I am not convinced. Conceivably you could have some predisposition but I believe that writers are made. They are made in the rocking presiding officer when Old woman reads “Goodnight, Moon”; they are made subservient to the sheathe with a flashlight when you totally be compelled polish off kill “The Hobbit” for the word go time; they are made when you proudly pocket your chief library reveal all; they are made when you top up your oldest notebook; they are made when you submit your oldest rhyme, article or saga for publication; they are made when you learn your first denial; and they are made when you drive the computer on every day to write.

I believe some writers are very top-notch but even so does that no matter what it was a contribution set to them whole or was it a flair developed through years of reading, non-fiction, talking, and sensible yon words?

So, I suppose, scribble literary works is all three — a skilfulness, a spacecraft, and a gift. Some writers encounter their knack spans all three while others under no circumstances extend erstwhile the on of skill.

Writing For the sake of Recreation And Profit

Tuesday, December 14th, 2010

Every penny-a-liner dreams of the time when they can profit from their writing. While return opportunities abound after writers, each method has drawbacks.

Newspaper and ammunition reporters can fare a good living but their subject dilemma is oftentimes closely regulated and directed. Corporate editorial can be steady more lucrative but even more tightly controlled. Freelance novel offers more independence but is also more uncertain. Publishing books is coextensive with more uncertain. So what is a pen-pusher to do?

Neglect doing all those old-school poem methods and fuzzy on the Internet. Don’t write pro anyone but yourself. You as a matter of fact can profit from critique on the other hand in all directions what interests you. Don’t nervousness down the vend or the editors. Write for yourself. Not at most wishes it be more gag and worthwhile for your human being but for your checking account as well.

I am prevalent to interest an suggestible (and reasonably) 10-step directions that can help you start your own calligraphy function today, but premier I want to percentage one foremost fact.

This is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It command palm some period to clear, dialect mayhap as extended as three months to start off turning a profit, but if you amass working at it you should receive your proceeds lengthen exponentially each month and you should be proficient to add up on that return and grasp what you clothed to do to increase it. You leave receive total control to your receipts and that is totally powerful.

1. Create a blog account at story of the free blogging sites available online (we adapted to to utilization but there are many other material options). This whim serve as your Internet base. It at the end of the day is the cheapest and easiest mode to get online today. Yes, you could think up a emancipated net position at one exposed of the various available, but blogs are more charming to the search engines. Plus they provide you the capacity to personalize it, but most of your intensity last will and testament be exhausted on essence which is the prince of the Internet and the official mind you necessitate an Internet presence.

2. Fashionable gesticulation up representing a free ClickBank affiliate account which wishes discharge you proximate access to something to sell.

3. Colophon up due to the fact that a contextual or pay-per-click advertiser such as Google, Yahoo, Proceeds Fly, or SearchFeed and you’ll start earning from visitors as fountain-head as customers.

4. Upon your blog. Produce 10 your pressing aspiration then between engagements your scheme up to 25, 50 and 100 and so on. Your entries can be your opinions, thoughts, or ramblings; poems or pocket stories; or articles.

5. Advance your blog because of article marketing, tie increment and submitting your blog feed. I would imply your on the whole focus on article marketing as if offers the ability to not exclusive develop links but also delivers freight extra as a freelancer it is undemanding as a replacement for you to create articles or usefulness a selection of the supplies you’ve already created also in behalf of your blog.

Yes, it very is that modest and while you can later spread not later than buying your own department appellation (or names) and publishing your blog on your own area you do not poverty (and able should dodge) investing affluent in precious tools

Getting started on the web can be free (as you ascertain above) or low-priced if you distil on what you de facto need. The slow fact is that you don’t lack a Online mobile phone shops lot of desire, extravagant tools and programs. In the yearn ass a domain denominate is a good investment. A bailiwick name will set someone back you between $5 and $10 a year depending on whether you inquire into .com or .info (or story of the many other options ready). You don’t lack to find a cobweb emcee or dream up a site. Distinctly instant the dominion at your blog as a service to now and resume with the evolution and helping of your blog. The advantageously of owning your own speciality somebody is entirely that later when you would rather the loaded, regulate, and instruction to blossom your web site that domain name wishes already stay alive and have filtered in the course the search engines. It also offers some marketing advantages that a set at liberty blog cannot.

At some matter you may decide you privation more obedience and repress than a liberal blog can furnish and that is when you want demand to transcend d rehearse your own site. You can think a sizeable trap presenter looking for as dwarf as $5 a month and shouldn’t benefit more than $20 a month in behalf of a honourable host that offers all the tools and utilities you dominion need for your common site–including blog software. Perhaps down the line you’ll be in want of to upgrade but by then you’ll know your proceeds and your needs.

At the end of the day the only other automatic expense that you capability consider to institute your Internet vocation complete would be a mailing list tool. You can do this looking for fair-minded $20 a month and it will be usefulness every penny for sales, buyer navy, and promotion. But this is not top-priority to start absent from and you may decide that it isn’t superior to your efforts so you can skip it entirely.

On a former occasion you have your blog set up and monetized (sooner than contribution ClickBank products, advertising, and/or selling subject-matter links) then you are in a position to begin profiting from your writing. The functioning to profit it to increase your conveyance so you necessary to get serious about your article marketing efforts because each article you distribute pass on construct instinctive freight and sire uphold links owing search mechanism optimization. Also you need to continue to issue your blog at near adding unconventional content regularly. This purpose sire copy visitors as warm-heartedly as unseat the search engines finance again and again. Wholly publishing late-model articles and creative blog entries each week commitment increase your traffic. The more articles and entries you sire — the more above you purpose generate.

At intervals you be suffering with found your rhythm with your existing blog you may proficiently arbitrate to subsidiary absent from and dream up a espouse blog on a assorted or joint topic. In the present circumstances you should be masterly to post smooth faster because you are more experienced but acceptable more motivated as superbly because you can observe nothing but how enriching it can be to write for gibe and profit.

Energize Your Writing and Increase Your Output

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Every writer can benefit from a study of the effectiveness of their individual writing process. You can write more and you can write better by making some adjustments in your writing strategy.

Recently one of my writer friends complained about their declining word output.

“I spend more time at the computer than I ever did before and I’m just not producing like I used to,” she griped.

After spending a day in writing conferences coaching my struggling novice writers, my response came without conscious thought on my part: “Tell me about your writing process.”

“My what?” She asked.

Ah-ha!

I regularly coach my beginning writers about how to develop their own personal writing strategy or process and as a teacher of writing I think about mine quite often, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that experienced, professional writers rarely spend time talking about this critical element.

What a mistake!

It is easy to understand why. Many of us are simply too busy writing to think too much about the actual process. We have deadlines to meet, assignments to pursue, and pitches to create. When we do spend time with other writers our interactions typically fall into three categories–seeking admiration for our success, input for our end product, or escape from writing.

Many writers also take their writing process for granted and simply follow the old adage–if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But what happens when it does break down as it did with my friend? If you don’t understand your own writing process then you can’t fix it. And just like many of the machines in your life, regular maintenance checks just might prevent a major breakdown in the future.

My friend’s problem was easily identified and solved once we actually studied her writing process and writing life. Yes she was spending more time in front of the computer but she had lost a big chunk of her prewriting time due to changes in her home life. Once she understood that problem she was able to make adjustments to her schedule and she is seeing her daily word count rising back to her old levels.

So how is your writing process?

Many writers shy away from the term as it brings back fearful memories of a rigid structure forced on them in school. That is not what I want to talk about at all. Frankly, I always teach my students that there is no such as thing as the writing process.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe we each have our own individual writing process, I just don’t believe in the one-size-fits-all type strategy that many writers were force-fed. Just think about it. How could there be just one writing process–every writer I know is an individual with various strengths and weaknesses and personality traits. Every writer is wired differently from every other writer. That is one of the things that makes reading such a pleasure. It follows very logically then that every writing process should differ just as every writer differs.

Having said that I should point out that although the actual shape and form of each writing process is individual to the unique writer there are certain constants:

~ Generating ideas and choosing a focus

~ Organizing those ideas

~ Writing

~ Revising

~ Editing

The amount of time you spend on each stage of the writing process varies according to the writer and the task and this is especially true for me. Many writing tasks are so familiar to me that I spend very little time choosing a focus or organizing my ideas so I can leap write into writing. On the other hand I often generate four or more pages of fiction in about an hour at the computer because I spend a lot of time generating and organizing my ideas before I sit down.

I have spent years honing my personal writing process and know that the step I actually spend the least amount of time is writing. I have learned to let my creative juices flow and not to worry about such petty concerns as grammar, sentence structure, and word choice. I rarely waste a moment on organization or paragraphing. I just let the words flow through my fingerstips until I have emptied my budget. Then I hit save and print, tidy up my papers and set them aside.

Revision is usually the lion’s share of my writing process. It may take me two or three drafts to reorganize and shape a piece until I am willing to share it with others. Depending on how difficult and/or complex the subject then I may need to loop back through brainstorming, organizing and writing to improve my project. I may make a few minor adjustments to grammar or spelling or sentence structure, but primarily I concentrate on the larger issues of focus and development and organization.

When I am finally satisfied my article, chapter, or essay is working as a whole then I begin the actual editing process of cleaning up word choice and sentence structure and any other stray problems that have been overlooked. I usually spend only one draft on this actual process.

If you are serious about improving your writing quality and productivity then you need to spend time analyzing your personal writing process. You might be surprised by what you learn–and I know you can put the knowledge to good use.

Energize Your Writing and Increase Your Output

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Every writer can benefit from a study of the effectiveness of their individual writing process. You can write more and you can write better by making some adjustments in your writing strategy.

Recently one of my writer friends complained about their declining word output.

“I spend more time at the computer than I ever did before and I’m just not producing like I used to,” she griped.

After spending a day in writing conferences coaching my struggling novice writers, my response came without conscious thought on my part: “Tell me about your writing process.”

“My what?” She asked.

Ah-ha!

I regularly coach my beginning writers about how to develop their own personal writing strategy or process and as a teacher of writing I think about mine quite often, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that experienced, professional writers rarely spend time talking about this critical element.

What a mistake!

It is easy to understand why. Many of us are simply too busy writing to think too much about the actual process. We have deadlines to meet, assignments to pursue, and pitches to create. When we do spend time with other writers our interactions typically fall into three categories–seeking admiration for our success, input for our end product, or escape from writing.

Many writers also take their writing process for granted and simply follow the old adage–if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But what happens when it does break down as it did with my friend? If you don’t understand your own writing process then you can’t fix it. And just like many of the machines in your life, regular maintenance checks just might prevent a major breakdown in the future.

My friend’s problem was easily identified and solved once we actually studied her writing process and writing life. Yes she was spending more time in front of the computer but she had lost a big chunk of her prewriting time due to changes in her home life. Once she understood that problem she was able to make adjustments to her schedule and she is seeing her daily word count rising back to her old levels.

So how is your writing process?

Many writers shy away from the term as it brings back fearful memories of a rigid structure forced on them in school. That is not what I want to talk about at all. Frankly, I always teach my students that there is no such as thing as the writing process.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe we each have our own individual writing process, I just don’t believe in the one-size-fits-all type strategy that many writers were force-fed. Just think about it. How could there be just one writing process–every writer I know is an individual with various strengths and weaknesses and personality traits. Every writer is wired differently from every other writer. That is one of the things that makes reading such a pleasure. It follows very logically then that every writing process should differ just as every writer differs.

Having said that I should point out that although the actual shape and form of each writing process is individual to the unique writer there are certain constants:

~ Generating ideas and choosing a focus

~ Organizing those ideas

~ Writing

~ Revising

~ Editing

The amount of time you spend on each stage of the writing process varies according to the writer and the task and this is especially true for me. Many writing tasks are so familiar to me that I spend very little time choosing a focus or organizing my ideas so I can leap write into writing. On the other hand I often generate four or more pages of fiction in about an hour at the computer because I spend a lot of time generating and organizing my ideas before I sit down.

I have spent years honing my personal writing process and know that the step I actually spend the least amount of time is writing. I have learned to let my creative juices flow and not to worry about such petty concerns as grammar, sentence structure, and word choice. I rarely waste a moment on organization or paragraphing. I just let the words flow through my fingerstips until I have emptied my budget. Then I hit save and print, tidy up my papers and set them aside.

Revision is usually the lion’s share of my writing process. It may take me two or three drafts to reorganize and shape a piece until I am willing to share it with others. Depending on how difficult and/or complex the subject then I may need to loop back through brainstorming, organizing and writing to improve my project. I may make a few minor adjustments to grammar or spelling or sentence structure, but primarily I concentrate on the larger issues of focus and development and organization.

When I am finally satisfied my article, chapter, or essay is working as a whole then I begin the actual editing process of cleaning up word choice and sentence structure and any other stray problems that have been overlooked. I usually spend only one draft on this actual process.

If you are serious about improving your writing quality and productivity then you need to spend time analyzing your personal writing process. You might be surprised by what you learn–and I know you can put the knowledge to good use.

Business Writing Tips For Professionals

Monday, April 13th, 2009

Effective business writing skills can help you win that million dollar contract, earn a promotion, resolve a dispute, or generate a significant increase in new business leads. Poor business writing, on the other hand, can never be undone; it can cause you to lose business to your competition and even cost you your job. Here are 11 easy ways you can improve your business writing skills:

1. Before you write a word of copy, make sure you know who your target audience is and what specific result you’d like to achieve. If it’s an important business communication, take five minutes to visualize yourself in the shoes of the recipient and imagine what this person’s world is like.

What does their typical day look like? What are their unique needs, goals, and challenges? What problem is keeping them up at night? The more thought and research you invest in understanding your target audience and how you can help them, the more powerful and effective your business writing communications will become.

2. Avoid using your company acronyms and buzzwords. While they might seem cute and clever to you, it’s very annoying to a busy executive who has a pile of documents and proposals to read. Avoid using academic language like ‘ergo,’ ‘henceforth,’ or ‘so to speak,’ and as a general rule of thumb avoid use of technical jargon. Simplify big words: write use instead of utilize, send out instead of disseminate, fair instead of equitable, etc.

3. Use a strong, active voice instead of the impersonal, passive voice. “The meeting agenda could be discussed further” is passive. “Let’s discuss the meeting agenda” is active. Express confidence and decisiveness in your business communications. Instead of writing, “I intend to write a report on sales performance measures,” which comes across as weak and indecisive, write: “I’m currently writing a report on sales performance measures for completion on or before end of the second quarter.”

4. Write in a conversational tone instead of alienating your readers by being too formal and bureaucratic &ndash unless you’re writing to a bureaucrat or someone who prefers formality. Know your audience!

Even if you are writing a marketing communications piece that will be read by several thousand potential readers, make your writing as inviting and personal as possible. You can accomplish this feat by writing to one specific person who you can visualize as an ideal customer. Pretend you are sitting down with this person in a bar and having a casual conversation. Write your piece with this one person in mind and you will positively engage thousands of readers who will feel that you are writing directly to them!

5. Replace hyperbole with solid facts and reputable testimonials. Phrases like, “We’re #1,” “We’re the leader in our field,” or “We provide the best service,” aren’t going to get you anywhere. Instead, use a fact such as stating that the President of a leading association ranked your company with the highest quality score out of 500 certified companies.

6. Convert product features into benefits. Mentioning that you provide automated billing or an automatic domain name renewal service does not engage your customer emotionally. Here’s an example of benefit oriented copy: “Our automatic domain name renewal service will provide you with the added security and comfort of knowing that your domain names will never be hijacked by your competitors while freeing up your administrative time to focus on growing your business.”

7. Don’t rely on editing all your important business documents from your computer desktop. Print out your document and read it out loud. If you encounter any awkwardness in speech it means you need to re-write your piece to make it more conversational and flow better.

By reading your document out loud, you will also be able to spot typos and errors that your computer spelling and grammar check program might not have detected. As an example, you might have written ‘echo friendly’ when you really meant ‘eco friendly.’

8. In writing a business letter or business proposal, it is vitally important to write from your customer’s perspective and what will interest them. Start off by writing about how great your customer’s company is and what specific attributes you like about the company instead of bragging about how great your company is. Too much use of “I,” “me,” or “our company” is a sure sign of ego getting in the way of business. Make sure to generously use “You” and “Your” in your business copy if you want to make more sales.

9. Business writing is very different from writing poetry or literature. Don’t meander or get carried away with flowery language. Write the most important point you want to make in the first sentence. If you are writing a sales letter, you can significantly increase sales by simply including a powerful P.S. at the end of the letter that summarizes the main point in a fresh way, creates a sense of urgency, or adds further credibility. Here’s a powerful example: “P.S. I’ve been invited to speak at your association’s annual conference this coming Friday and hope to see you there.”

10. Be clear, concise, and to the point. Don’t assume readers will know what to do. Guide them by including a specific call to action: “click on the link to get your special report” or “call me to set up a no-cost 15 minute consultation.”

11. Use word pictures to get your point across. Can you imagine the thrill and excitement of driving a rocket-fast, cobalt blue Porsche 911 Turbo as it whisks you to your desired destination? A well-written article or report can be like that Porsche and generate a ton of new business in half the time with more fun! After all, what’s more exciting, cold-calling prospects or having them call you? (If writing is a challenge, consider hiring a professional).

Business Writing Tips For Professionals

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

Effective business writing skills can help you win that million dollar contract, earn a promotion, resolve a dispute, or generate a significant increase in new business leads. Poor business writing, on the other hand, can never be undone; it can cause you to lose business to your competition and even cost you your job. Here are 11 easy ways you can improve your business writing skills:

1. Before you write a word of copy, make sure you know who your target audience is and what specific result you’d like to achieve. If it’s an important business communication, take five minutes to visualize yourself in the shoes of the recipient and imagine what this person’s world is like.

What does their typical day look like? What are their unique needs, goals, and challenges? What problem is keeping them up at night? The more thought and research you invest in understanding your target audience and how you can help them, the more powerful and effective your business writing communications will become.

2. Avoid using your company acronyms and buzzwords. While they might seem cute and clever to you, it’s very annoying to a busy executive who has a pile of documents and proposals to read. Avoid using academic language like ‘ergo,’ ‘henceforth,’ or ‘so to speak,’ and as a general rule of thumb avoid use of technical jargon. Simplify big words: write use instead of utilize, send out instead of disseminate, fair instead of equitable, etc.

3. Use a strong, active voice instead of the impersonal, passive voice. “The meeting agenda could be discussed further” is passive. “Let’s discuss the meeting agenda” is active. Express confidence and decisiveness in your business communications. Instead of writing, “I intend to write a report on sales performance measures,” which comes across as weak and indecisive, write: “I’m currently writing a report on sales performance measures for completion on or before end of the second quarter.”

4. Write in a conversational tone instead of alienating your readers by being too formal and bureaucratic &ndash unless you’re writing to a bureaucrat or someone who prefers formality. Know your audience!

Even if you are writing a marketing communications piece that will be read by several thousand potential readers, make your writing as inviting and personal as possible. You can accomplish this feat by writing to one specific person who you can visualize as an ideal customer. Pretend you are sitting down with this person in a bar and having a casual conversation. Write your piece with this one person in mind and you will positively engage thousands of readers who will feel that you are writing directly to them!

5. Replace hyperbole with solid facts and reputable testimonials. Phrases like, “We’re #1,” “We’re the leader in our field,” or “We provide the best service,” aren’t going to get you anywhere. Instead, use a fact such as stating that the President of a leading association ranked your company with the highest quality score out of 500 certified companies.

6. Convert product features into benefits. Mentioning that you provide automated billing or an automatic domain name renewal service does not engage your customer emotionally. Here’s an example of benefit oriented copy: “Our automatic domain name renewal service will provide you with the added security and comfort of knowing that your domain names will never be hijacked by your competitors while freeing up your administrative time to focus on growing your business.”

7. Don’t rely on editing all your important business documents from your computer desktop. Print out your document and read it out loud. If you encounter any awkwardness in speech it means you need to re-write your piece to make it more conversational and flow better.

By reading your document out loud, you will also be able to spot typos and errors that your computer spelling and grammar check program might not have detected. As an example, you might have written ‘echo friendly’ when you really meant ‘eco friendly.’

8. In writing a business letter or business proposal, it is vitally important to write from your customer’s perspective and what will interest them. Start off by writing about how great your customer’s company is and what specific attributes you like about the company instead of bragging about how great your company is. Too much use of “I,” “me,” or “our company” is a sure sign of ego getting in the way of business. Make sure to generously use “You” and “Your” in your business copy if you want to make more sales.

9. Business writing is very different from writing poetry or literature. Don’t meander or get carried away with flowery language. Write the most important point you want to make in the first sentence. If you are writing a sales letter, you can significantly increase sales by simply including a powerful P.S. at the end of the letter that summarizes the main point in a fresh way, creates a sense of urgency, or adds further credibility. Here’s a powerful example: “P.S. I’ve been invited to speak at your association’s annual conference this coming Friday and hope to see you there.”

10. Be clear, concise, and to the point. Don’t assume readers will know what to do. Guide them by including a specific call to action: “click on the link to get your special report” or “call me to set up a no-cost 15 minute consultation.”

11. Use word pictures to get your point across. Can you imagine the thrill and excitement of driving a rocket-fast, cobalt blue Porsche 911 Turbo as it whisks you to your desired destination? A well-written article or report can be like that Porsche and generate a ton of new business in half the time with more fun! After all, what’s more exciting, cold-calling prospects or having them call you? (If writing is a challenge, consider hiring a professional).

Build Your Creative Dam To Complete Projects

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

Artists and writers are fed by a constant stream of curiosity. Our imaginations flow freely with ideas and connections, which allows for a rich river of creativity that can infuse our lives with joy. But what happens when this flood of ideas overwhelms us, turning our creative output into a trickle? It’s time to build a creative dam.

A creative dam guides our inspiration into meaningful flow. It eases our efforts, helps us avoid struggle and allows us to be the creators we dream of being.

I’ve been helping writers and artists build structures to guide the flow of their creativity for years, and have a few tips to help you build your own creative dam.

Commit to it. Choose the one project that has the most meaning for you right now. Choose among all of your great ideas the one thing that will give you the most satisfaction when you complete it. Then commit to finishing it.

Structure it. Many successful creatives advocate a regular place or time for writing. This kind of structure can be a great dam for your writing or art making. With structure, you develop a ritual and bypass the need to constantly get re-invigorated. This dam could be as simple as using the same notebook for a project, sipping the same kind of tea, or sitting under the same tree. It may be a consistent writing time and place. Find a structure that works for you.

Choose one. If you’re like me, you tend to bounce around between projects. This can be a workable style, if, and only if, you finish the projects. If you discover that you have several projects in various states of completion, then you need to funnel your energy into one thing at a time. I know, I can see you squirming. But try it. Stick with something until you complete it. See what rewards you reap when you follow through.

Face your fears. You may notice that as you step into the stream of completion, all the fears that lurk around the banks of your writing whisper to you from the current. They are no longer hiding behind the rush of all your great ideas. You can’t avoid them any longer. Get out a piece of paper or your notebook. Do a free write about your fears of writing. Let yourself write for 15 minutes. Then take a deep breath and go back to your writing. You may discover that when you give space for your fears, they dissolve in the powerful flow of your creativity. Do this as many times as you need. When we avoid them, they lurk under the surface and covertly sabotage us.

Be accountable. I have a job helping people stay accountable because we need this kind of support. We know that when we tell people we’ll do something, we are more likely to follow through on it. I wrote Create Your Writer’s Life, my novel and weekly essays because I have accountability. Get writing buddies, join a writing group, hire a coach, whatever way you get support, it works.

Let yourself enjoy it. Life is challenging enough without giving ourselves grief over something that should be enjoyable. Relax into your creative expression. Jettison heaviness and despair. Your creative expression is meant to enrich your life, not be a dead weight anchor slowing you down.

Build your creative dam and ease your creative overflow into satisfying and completed writing projects. If after a month you find yourself still avoiding the writing, you may benefit from coaching.

Build Your Creative Dam To Complete Projects

Friday, April 10th, 2009

Artists and writers are fed by a constant stream of curiosity. Our imaginations flow freely with ideas and connections, which allows for a rich river of creativity that can infuse our lives with joy. But what happens when this flood of ideas overwhelms us, turning our creative output into a trickle? It’s time to build a creative dam.

A creative dam guides our inspiration into meaningful flow. It eases our efforts, helps us avoid struggle and allows us to be the creators we dream of being.

I’ve been helping writers and artists build structures to guide the flow of their creativity for years, and have a few tips to help you build your own creative dam.

Commit to it. Choose the one project that has the most meaning for you right now. Choose among all of your great ideas the one thing that will give you the most satisfaction when you complete it. Then commit to finishing it.

Structure it. Many successful creatives advocate a regular place or time for writing. This kind of structure can be a great dam for your writing or art making. With structure, you develop a ritual and bypass the need to constantly get re-invigorated. This dam could be as simple as using the same notebook for a project, sipping the same kind of tea, or sitting under the same tree. It may be a consistent writing time and place. Find a structure that works for you.

Choose one. If you’re like me, you tend to bounce around between projects. This can be a workable style, if, and only if, you finish the projects. If you discover that you have several projects in various states of completion, then you need to funnel your energy into one thing at a time. I know, I can see you squirming. But try it. Stick with something until you complete it. See what rewards you reap when you follow through.

Face your fears. You may notice that as you step into the stream of completion, all the fears that lurk around the banks of your writing whisper to you from the current. They are no longer hiding behind the rush of all your great ideas. You can’t avoid them any longer. Get out a piece of paper or your notebook. Do a free write about your fears of writing. Let yourself write for 15 minutes. Then take a deep breath and go back to your writing. You may discover that when you give space for your fears, they dissolve in the powerful flow of your creativity. Do this as many times as you need. When we avoid them, they lurk under the surface and covertly sabotage us.

Be accountable. I have a job helping people stay accountable because we need this kind of support. We know that when we tell people we’ll do something, we are more likely to follow through on it. I wrote Create Your Writer’s Life, my novel and weekly essays because I have accountability. Get writing buddies, join a writing group, hire a coach, whatever way you get support, it works.

Let yourself enjoy it. Life is challenging enough without giving ourselves grief over something that should be enjoyable. Relax into your creative expression. Jettison heaviness and despair. Your creative expression is meant to enrich your life, not be a dead weight anchor slowing you down.

Build your creative dam and ease your creative overflow into satisfying and completed writing projects. If after a month you find yourself still avoiding the writing, you may benefit from coaching.

All The Tired Horsepowers

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

Hearing of the massive layoffs in the local car factories erodes a bit the certainties of future and furthers the perception that things aren’t quite the same anymore. So much for the lessons of my youth that once spoke of a surety of workable lifetimes plus a pension fades as the corporate cut away for the leanness of times. Gone are those workplaces that guarantee a place for generations. One is forced to consider what may fall into place for awhile since no longer can one plan for fifty years. Now it’s a time for improvising since changes can occur quite often in one’s life instead of that once good place to settle. One could think one might get too old for adjustments but now survival demands newness no matter where one is at for the easy chair is no longer assured.

One could point a finger since it is an ignorant habit nowadays and say it’s all the union’s fault. Too much greed and too much benefit make the American worker obsolete in the global village of huts with no mortgages and paths walked not driven. Like an expensive habit that one would be better off not partaking of, the workers are the first to be cut. Nothing considered than just a matter of survival. Hopes are for the older ones having houses that are paid and cars that will last a few more years, because it’s time to work at Wal-Mart for six bucks an hour. Medical care can maybe be put on the state and that’s a hole for another year. The younger will adapt and try to survive, law of the species; nothing unusual. It’s too late to take ten bucks an hour instead of twenty; the cars are no longer sold.

Then again one could flip a single finger in the air and say it’s all mismanagement. Too much greed and too much bonuses made the estates that lined the lakes. Way too lopsided allotments for the upper class took away the cushion for hard times. There are those that will have to be cut but only the juniors, the rest are tenure, entwined within the company until bankruptcy. Most likely are taken care of, medical provided, well paid; just a company function. Now it’s time to cut the excesses and indulgencies and get real, scramble together and figure out what went wrong since the cars are no longer being sold.

Not that the cars aren’t sharp or classy, all shine and high tech, the ultimate in current know how of gadgetry and devices, the appeal is in the showroom. Vehicles built for power and grace, style and substance. All for the fleeting glance of prestige and recognition, nothing more than a symbol to attain and maintain. The profits were good and the benefits were great, the American way of life. So one could be fair and say that that it was the greed of many getting what they could from the company to live the best that they could. Yet the real culprit is the American way of life. It is the philosophy of America: better, bigger, and wait until next year. Cars were not built to last but to show. Look at my car and my house. Like the demands and expectations of a youth, or the tantrum of a child wanting attention, America is still young. The reality of a long life requires readjustments. Settle down and dig in. The future is always there for the practicalities of balance for longevity. Changes have to be made to become mature, a matter of common sense over charm. After all it’s only survival with a little grace to get by. America can no longer act like ugly Americans; as if we’re the only ones that matter.

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