Commas are to writing what blooming flowers are to a spring walk. They give reason to pause, take a breath and see things in a new way, as opposed to rushing through a sentence.
I use plenty of commas sparingly. I've found that usage varies widely.
If you glance at a theme written by a high school student who follows all the rules, the number of commas sprinkled among the words might resemble teenage breakouts. Result? Many unneeded, but technically needed, commas. By ''unneeded,'' I mean unneeded for clarity's sake.
On the other hand, if you pick up some best-selling non-fiction and some fiction, you would think editors were under strict orders to use as few commas as possible. (They may be.)
Let's review some of the rules:
1. Use commas when listing a series of things. This is called ''a serial comma,'' which is different from a serial killer, for example, the unforgettable Hannibal Lecter played by Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs.
We place serial commas between a series of things, for example, ''I like A, B, and C.'' Or: ''We covered X, Y, and Z.'' Notice how I used a comma between the next-to-the-last item and the conjunction ''and.'' The rule calls for that comma. The AP Style Guide and other style guides recommend dropping the final comma in order to save space, as long as the meaning is clear. I think some people are uncertain whether to put in or leave out that final comma. My opinion: unless you're writing a document that has to pass muster with the AP Style Guide or a similar style guide, leave it in.
A few years ago, when I last covered this subject, someone wrote in to say that a single comma was the deciding factor in an inheritance worth a great deal of money. The will dropped the final comma when listing those who would receive inheritances from the estate. It said proceeds of the estate would go to ''person A, B and C.'' Because there was no comma between person B and the word ''and,'' the judge gave 50 percent of the estate to person A and split the other 50 percent evenly between person B and person C. In that case, person B and person C could appeal to a higher court, pleading, ''a kingdom for a comma.''
If the items in a series are complicated, never omit the last comma. For example:
The issues in the campaign are the value of the dollar, the rule of law, the failure of foreign policy, and the separation of church and state.
2. Use a comma after introductory clauses and phrases. Some people say you only need a comma if the introductory phrase is more than five words. I've heard various numbers. However, as I understand it, the rule is clear. Use a comma no matter how short or long the introductory clause. However, in the case of short introductory clauses or phrases, I think using a comma is unnecessary. For example:
Founded in 1898, the company now has assets of...
In my view use of that comma is not necessary, although most people will use it, particularly in business writing, and the rule says you should use it. Likewise, the following example:
With a full heart, I sit down to write this letter.
I say the commas in the two above examples are unnecessary because most people know those words to be introductory clauses.
With the ''full heart'' sentence above, I would rearrange it to read in ''normal order:''
I sit down to write this letter with a full heart.
When written that way, no comma is necessary, and it sounds better.
Following is the use of a comma after a short introductory clause that I think is necessary:
In the middle of the movie, he got up and passed right in front of me.
The comma makes it easier to read. Without the comma, I would have to do some thinking to understand the sentence. Not much, mind you, but some.
Note: In a high percentage of cases, a sentence with an introductory clause can be better written by placing the introductory clause after the main clause, thereby rendering the comma unnecessary. However, sometimes we purposely want an introductory clause for emphasis. That is what I did in the sentence just above that begins, ''In a high percentage of cases...''
3. Use commas between two sentences. When we join two sentences together with a comma and a conjunction, we call them clauses. So, technically, the rule reads: Use commas between two clauses. Example:
I wanted to walk the dog, but thunderstorms were predicted.
4. Never separate the subject of a sentence from a verb:
Examples:
The soldiers and the sailors, went for R&R. Never do that.
My friend, brother and sister, stayed away. Never do that.
5. Use a comma after an introductory phrase and before a quote:
According to the chief financial officer, ''We took a charge against first-quarter earnings due to supply disruptions.''
6. Set off explanatory phrases, called ''appositives,'' in commas:
The magician, also called a conjurer, works with sleight of hand.
The mountain climber, inspired by climbs of people who went before him, plans his next ascent next year.
Mark Twain, the once millionaire, was born with the name Samuel Langhorne Clemens.
Here is something interesting I learned about commas:
Have you ever seen slashes used to separate lines of song lyrics? For example:
You are my sunshine/
My only sunshine
Back in the Middle Ages, slashes began to be used in English to make it easier for people to read sentences, to tell readers where to pause, and where to breathe when singing.
Commas are the modern-day vestiges of those slashes.
So, this month, every once in a while, look down and smell the common commas. Elevate them to higher place in your estimation. Pick some and sprinkle them on someone you love.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
How to Write a Headline.
Since I began issuing my monthly EWAs in May of 2002, my purpose has remained constant: to tell my readers everything I know about writing in bite-size chunks. I have considerable skill when it comes to writing headlines. Let me know if you find this EWA helpful.
Writing a headline is a easy as 1,2.
Step #1: Figure out what you want to communicate in a phrase or sentence.
Step #2: Type those words at the top of your page. That's your headline.
But wait! There is method to my facetiousness. All headlines begin with an understanding of what you wish to communicate. Whether you're writing a direct mail piece, a brochure, a landing page or an e-mail blast, the best headlines (or subject lines) contain appealing benefits. The best headlines dramatize. And the best headlines often work on a turn of phrase, for example:
High blood pressure:
Ignore it and you'll go away
There is a knack to writing headlines, a knack that you can acquire and improve upon with practice. Here are two best practices:
1. Write the headline early and often. Whether you are writing a news feature or a direct response piece, start out by writing just a phrase or sentence that sums up what you think the piece is about. Do not try to make the language pretty or clever. As you proceed, let your headline be your creative platform. Take chances. As I'm fond of saying: ''Give the reader something to get, so the reader can say, ''Oh, I get that.'' Your readers will think more of themselves and of you when they do. Sometimes playfulness will do the trick, for example:
The most convenient bank branch is one you never have to visit.
Sometimes you may want to bring out the drama in a story:
She did not know how much her husband loved her until he sent her a Tupperware container on her birthday.
This walks down the time-honored path of effective story-telling ads from days of yore such as, ''They laughed when I sat down at the piano.'' The Tupperware ad tells the story of a husband who placed a ring inside a Tupperware container.
2. Write a list of possible headlines. There is no substitute for sitting down and banging out a bunch of possible headlines for any given piece. This is not easy, but force yourself. Go into stream-of-consciousness mode. Turn off the inner voice that says, ''This is no good.'' You will be amazed by what you can accomplish in a short time if you choose not to censor yourself.
Those are two principal techniques I recommend. To reprise: Let the headline come out of what you want to say, and force yourself to brainstorm.
Here are some other tips:
1. Make sure you write a headline, not a title The title of a Gothic romance is Candlelight Ecstasy. The headline that advertises that book is: Once you have knownCandlelight Ecstasy you will never settle for mere romance.
Titles can be short theme markers, e.g., The Year of Living Dangerously, or Tender Mercies. Headlines contain benefits, or when taken in with the visual, create the impression of a benefit.
2. Do not think that a headline must be short and snappy. More great ads were never written for this reason than any other. The writer refused to consider a longer headline because the writer thought it was just too long to be good. One headline I wrote: A bill in Congress right now will let your pension go up in smoke unless you stop it in time.'' It was a very effective ad. Sometimes you need more than a three-word headline. Longer can be better if it taps into emotion.
3. Always use active verbs. Use hyperactive verbs, if possible. Do not go blah with passive voice. Use active voice for cut-through power. If you would like to learn more about active vs. passive voice, e-mail me; I will send you an EWA on that subject.
4. Beware of puns. Using puns in headlines is like opening a speech with a joke. You had better know what you're doing, and it had better be good. Consider an ad for a flat monitor: We flattened our prices on LCD monitors. No one flattens their prices. Stores cut their prices. The pun doesn't work. Avoid overreaching. Compare that to the Wells Fargo line. The next stage. That dog can hunt.
5. Practice truth in headlines Think of your headlines as promises to your readers. Does the body copy or the content of the e-mail or web page deliver on the promise in the headline? Once a magazine ran a celebrity cover story under the headline: What is Her Secret? As it turned out, the article never covered that point. The headline was a sham. Make sure you deliver the goods. If you don't, your audience will feel cheated. I really wanted to know that celebrity's secret.
There you have it: a few thoughts on how to write a headline. And what was the headline I used for this piece? How to write a headline. How-to books are often best sellers for a very good reason. They earn their keep by teaching, as I hope my EWA has earned its keep with you.
Writing a headline is a easy as 1,2.
Step #1: Figure out what you want to communicate in a phrase or sentence.
Step #2: Type those words at the top of your page. That's your headline.
But wait! There is method to my facetiousness. All headlines begin with an understanding of what you wish to communicate. Whether you're writing a direct mail piece, a brochure, a landing page or an e-mail blast, the best headlines (or subject lines) contain appealing benefits. The best headlines dramatize. And the best headlines often work on a turn of phrase, for example:
High blood pressure:
Ignore it and you'll go away
There is a knack to writing headlines, a knack that you can acquire and improve upon with practice. Here are two best practices:
1. Write the headline early and often. Whether you are writing a news feature or a direct response piece, start out by writing just a phrase or sentence that sums up what you think the piece is about. Do not try to make the language pretty or clever. As you proceed, let your headline be your creative platform. Take chances. As I'm fond of saying: ''Give the reader something to get, so the reader can say, ''Oh, I get that.'' Your readers will think more of themselves and of you when they do. Sometimes playfulness will do the trick, for example:
The most convenient bank branch is one you never have to visit.
Sometimes you may want to bring out the drama in a story:
She did not know how much her husband loved her until he sent her a Tupperware container on her birthday.
This walks down the time-honored path of effective story-telling ads from days of yore such as, ''They laughed when I sat down at the piano.'' The Tupperware ad tells the story of a husband who placed a ring inside a Tupperware container.
2. Write a list of possible headlines. There is no substitute for sitting down and banging out a bunch of possible headlines for any given piece. This is not easy, but force yourself. Go into stream-of-consciousness mode. Turn off the inner voice that says, ''This is no good.'' You will be amazed by what you can accomplish in a short time if you choose not to censor yourself.
Those are two principal techniques I recommend. To reprise: Let the headline come out of what you want to say, and force yourself to brainstorm.
Here are some other tips:
1. Make sure you write a headline, not a title The title of a Gothic romance is Candlelight Ecstasy. The headline that advertises that book is: Once you have knownCandlelight Ecstasy you will never settle for mere romance.
Titles can be short theme markers, e.g., The Year of Living Dangerously, or Tender Mercies. Headlines contain benefits, or when taken in with the visual, create the impression of a benefit.
2. Do not think that a headline must be short and snappy. More great ads were never written for this reason than any other. The writer refused to consider a longer headline because the writer thought it was just too long to be good. One headline I wrote: A bill in Congress right now will let your pension go up in smoke unless you stop it in time.'' It was a very effective ad. Sometimes you need more than a three-word headline. Longer can be better if it taps into emotion.
3. Always use active verbs. Use hyperactive verbs, if possible. Do not go blah with passive voice. Use active voice for cut-through power. If you would like to learn more about active vs. passive voice, e-mail me; I will send you an EWA on that subject.
4. Beware of puns. Using puns in headlines is like opening a speech with a joke. You had better know what you're doing, and it had better be good. Consider an ad for a flat monitor: We flattened our prices on LCD monitors. No one flattens their prices. Stores cut their prices. The pun doesn't work. Avoid overreaching. Compare that to the Wells Fargo line. The next stage. That dog can hunt.
5. Practice truth in headlines Think of your headlines as promises to your readers. Does the body copy or the content of the e-mail or web page deliver on the promise in the headline? Once a magazine ran a celebrity cover story under the headline: What is Her Secret? As it turned out, the article never covered that point. The headline was a sham. Make sure you deliver the goods. If you don't, your audience will feel cheated. I really wanted to know that celebrity's secret.
There you have it: a few thoughts on how to write a headline. And what was the headline I used for this piece? How to write a headline. How-to books are often best sellers for a very good reason. They earn their keep by teaching, as I hope my EWA has earned its keep with you.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Writting for Twitter #3
How do you build a Twitter following? In this post, I describe a six-step method. By following these steps last summer, I built my Twitter following from 1 to 450 in three months. More importantly, I'll describe why I built a Twitter presence and what I hope to accomplish with it. First some background:
In the beginning there was e-mail. And it was good. If I wanted to send you a message, I would simply fill in your address and press Send. Done. I didn't need your permission to send you a message.
Then spammers came on the scene and spoiled a good thing. They sent out e-mails by the millions, clogged in-boxes and made themselves very annoying.
Then, in reaction to spammers, the opt-in concept was born. By law, senders of e-mail broadcasts needed to get permission from recipients before they could broadcast. My ExcitingWriting Advisories are opt-in e-mails that I broadcast to more than 2,000 people every month.
Along came Twitter, and turned everything on its ear. With Twitter, you, as a sender of short e-mail messages, have absolutely no power to send anything to any specific person. Twitter is opt-in on steroids. Twitter lets recipients, and only recipients, decide from whom they wish to receive short e-mails. In Twitter language: Users follow whomever they want. After they click on a "follow" button, they begin receiving the tweets that the person they're following sends out.
A businessperson who wants to use Twitter to drive his or her business is powerless to send tweets to anyone. Is that a recipe for effective marketing? Wait. I'll explain.
Last summer, I decided to see if I could build a Twitter following. I attracted 430+ followers in about three months. My purpose: To learn how Twitter works so that when the novel I am writing is published, I can use Twitter to turn what might otherwise be a moderately selling novel written by an unknown author into a runaway international best seller. The novel is not completed, mind you. I have neither an agent nor a publisher. Technically speaking, I have no idea if it will ever be published. I didn't let that stop me. Last summer, my objective was put Twitter through its paces, thinking of it as something between a workhorse and racehorse, to see what it could do.
Now for some background on literary pursuits: If you insist on thinking of a novel as only an artistic endeavor, please check that opinion at the door. Of course, writing it is the work of an artist, but, once completed, marketing it is very much a business enterprise. And those of you who believe that marketing a novel should be left to the company publishing it, Oh my, how times have changed. Today authors of non-fiction books are expected to develop and execute their own marketing plans. It would only be considered a plus by a publisher if a novelist did that much or more. First novels are rarely afforded marketing budgets. The typical first novel spends only seven weeks on the shelves of a bookstore before it is remaindered. Hey, everybody: A novel is a product. It's a product of the entertainment industry. If it's promoted, and if it provides satisfying entertainment to its readers, it could catch on nationwide and, subsequently, worldwide, translated into 17 languages. If it is not supported with marketing, it could die an early death. A lot is at stake because it takes years of sustained effort to write a novel. (And as I said, it only gets to be in the bookstores for seven weeks.) If it flops, you can't just come back next year with another. Many novelists have difficulty getting their second novel published if their first one doesn't sell. So here's the deal: I'm not waiting for a publishing company to kick in millions of marketing dollars. I intend to actively engineer a bestseller using social networking platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn and Face Book in a coordinated, strategically focused campaign. I'll only have one chance and a seven-week window.
Not having a published novel to market last summer, my fallback position on Twitter was to see if I could attract a community of artists, including writers of all stripes, singer-songwriters, literary agents, editors, book lovers, readers, fine artists, etc. Who would be more open to talking about an interesting novel (once it came out) than writers, artists and readers? Or so my thinking went. Luckily, I had the content of my ExcitingWriting Advisories to attract them and turn them into followers. Typically, writers appreciate someone who sends them witty140-character writing tips. All I had to do was slice and dice the content of my EWAs into 140-character pellets, not that difficult a chore. So, last May I began tweeting helpful writing tips to my one-and-only follower at the time, John Wise, who encouraged me to get started with Twitter.
Within a few weeks, I began to build a following and a method that worked for me. Just as importantly, I began to follow many Twitter users who had thousands of followers and were highly experienced. They gave me excellent advice.
(By the way, I found the Twitter community highly collegial. If you're helpful to the people I affectionately call "twits," they will bend over backwards to be helpful to you. Two ways they can be helpful: RT and FF. RT means they "retweet" your tweets to their followers, which spreads your thoughts across Twitter Nation. FF stands for "Follow Friday," a ritual where each Friday Twitter users list the people they follow that they like and admire as a recommendation to all the others that follow them. You can pick up a lot of new followers if you're "FF'd." It's no small thing in the Twitter world.)
Here's the six-step formula I created that I believe can work for anyone wishing to attract any focused following on Twitter:
#1. After you set up your profile, issue 15 tweets. Don't worry that you don't have any followers at this point. Make sure your tweets are hitting all the brand attributes you want to cover. (Remember what I said in Writting for Twitter #1: Your tweets are your brand, and Twitter is all about branding.) In my case, given my ExcitingWriting brand, I made sure my tweets were helpful to writers—covering grammar issues and higher-level writing issues:
• How to get started
• How to manage large writing projects
• How to take criticism
• Principles of writing
I developed about 50 tweets. I tried to make them sound like aphorisms. Example: "Sentences that begin with the word 'There' are usually weak. Revise." Within the tweets, I put in plenty of links back to my blog so folks could read more.
#2. Ask someone you know, a friend who is on Twitter, to go to your profile and follow you. When they do, you'll get an e-mail message that that person is now following you. That's your first follower. Congratulations!
#3. Use the "Find People" button to search for people you know who might be interested in following you or in receiving your tweets. These may be people you know personally and who know you, or people you just know of.
#4. When you find those people, click on their profile and read their stream of tweets. If you like what they're writing or find it useful in some way, follow them. Click on their "Follow" button. You'll start to see their tweets in your stream.
#5. Once those people are notified that you are following them, typically they will click on your profile and look over your stream. They are looking at your brand. Even if you issued those tweets when no one was following you, that doesn't matter. If what they read in your stream is interesting, quirky or attractive to them in some way, they may follow you back. When they do, your follower count on your profile will increase by one. You're on your way to building your following. But here's the trick: It's not about the numbers. It's more about building a community of like-minded people. In my case, I built a community of writers, artists and readers.
#6. Use the # mark to dip into tweets of people that have something to do with your interest. In my case, I searched "#writing" and "#books" to find people talking about these topics. I went on their profiles to examine their tweets. If I liked what I read, I followed them. And once I did that, most followed me back because when they looked on my profile, they saw a brand that was out to help them.
Does this sound like work? It is in a way, and believe me, while I'm using this six-step method, I run into plenty of Twitter users who do nothing more than talk about last night's Grammy awards show with other folks who are searching on #Grammy to find what's being said, and then following those people. And there are plenty of users who tweet their #Grammy opinions to their followers. That works fine for them. It's a lot less work and a lot more fun, I suppose, for them to build a community of like-minded people. But then, think about my larger purpose in building my Twitter community. What's a bestseller worth?
To use Twitter for business, you will need to attract a defined audience by supplying them with information that is useful to them. Thus, my approach of giving writing tips to attract writers.
Here are some other examples:
• A home improvement specialist can give tips on insulation
• A personal trainer can give tips on how to avoid getting injured while exercising.
• A physician's assistant can give tips on how to avoid getting the flu.
It's pretty obvious. The deeper wisdom is this: People who are out to sincerely help others do well on Twitter and get what they want in exchange.
Now here's the kicker for me and Twitter: I am not currently using Twitter. As I built my following to 400+, I lost interest. I learned everything about Twitter I was able to at this point. Until my novel is about to come out, I've decided I have better things to do with my time. Note: With more than 80 million Twitter users, 85 percent post less than one update every day. (That's me!) Also, 73 percent of all Twitter users joined during the first five months of 2009. (That when I joined.)
Why am I not currently using Twitter to promote my freelance writing practice? I'll answer that question next month. I'll also describe practical ways you can use Twitter to drive your business. And I'll reveal methods anyone can use to help turn a published novel into an international bestseller that Hollywood then turns into an Academy Award winning film staring George Clooney. (Thinking big is not my problem, folks.)
And when I accept that Academy Award for screenplay adapted from a novel, I'll thank John Wise for getting me started with Twitter. I may mention my mother and Gina, as well. Oh, and also...
In the beginning there was e-mail. And it was good. If I wanted to send you a message, I would simply fill in your address and press Send. Done. I didn't need your permission to send you a message.
Then spammers came on the scene and spoiled a good thing. They sent out e-mails by the millions, clogged in-boxes and made themselves very annoying.
Then, in reaction to spammers, the opt-in concept was born. By law, senders of e-mail broadcasts needed to get permission from recipients before they could broadcast. My ExcitingWriting Advisories are opt-in e-mails that I broadcast to more than 2,000 people every month.
Along came Twitter, and turned everything on its ear. With Twitter, you, as a sender of short e-mail messages, have absolutely no power to send anything to any specific person. Twitter is opt-in on steroids. Twitter lets recipients, and only recipients, decide from whom they wish to receive short e-mails. In Twitter language: Users follow whomever they want. After they click on a "follow" button, they begin receiving the tweets that the person they're following sends out.
A businessperson who wants to use Twitter to drive his or her business is powerless to send tweets to anyone. Is that a recipe for effective marketing? Wait. I'll explain.
Last summer, I decided to see if I could build a Twitter following. I attracted 430+ followers in about three months. My purpose: To learn how Twitter works so that when the novel I am writing is published, I can use Twitter to turn what might otherwise be a moderately selling novel written by an unknown author into a runaway international best seller. The novel is not completed, mind you. I have neither an agent nor a publisher. Technically speaking, I have no idea if it will ever be published. I didn't let that stop me. Last summer, my objective was put Twitter through its paces, thinking of it as something between a workhorse and racehorse, to see what it could do.
Now for some background on literary pursuits: If you insist on thinking of a novel as only an artistic endeavor, please check that opinion at the door. Of course, writing it is the work of an artist, but, once completed, marketing it is very much a business enterprise. And those of you who believe that marketing a novel should be left to the company publishing it, Oh my, how times have changed. Today authors of non-fiction books are expected to develop and execute their own marketing plans. It would only be considered a plus by a publisher if a novelist did that much or more. First novels are rarely afforded marketing budgets. The typical first novel spends only seven weeks on the shelves of a bookstore before it is remaindered. Hey, everybody: A novel is a product. It's a product of the entertainment industry. If it's promoted, and if it provides satisfying entertainment to its readers, it could catch on nationwide and, subsequently, worldwide, translated into 17 languages. If it is not supported with marketing, it could die an early death. A lot is at stake because it takes years of sustained effort to write a novel. (And as I said, it only gets to be in the bookstores for seven weeks.) If it flops, you can't just come back next year with another. Many novelists have difficulty getting their second novel published if their first one doesn't sell. So here's the deal: I'm not waiting for a publishing company to kick in millions of marketing dollars. I intend to actively engineer a bestseller using social networking platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn and Face Book in a coordinated, strategically focused campaign. I'll only have one chance and a seven-week window.
Not having a published novel to market last summer, my fallback position on Twitter was to see if I could attract a community of artists, including writers of all stripes, singer-songwriters, literary agents, editors, book lovers, readers, fine artists, etc. Who would be more open to talking about an interesting novel (once it came out) than writers, artists and readers? Or so my thinking went. Luckily, I had the content of my ExcitingWriting Advisories to attract them and turn them into followers. Typically, writers appreciate someone who sends them witty140-character writing tips. All I had to do was slice and dice the content of my EWAs into 140-character pellets, not that difficult a chore. So, last May I began tweeting helpful writing tips to my one-and-only follower at the time, John Wise, who encouraged me to get started with Twitter.
Within a few weeks, I began to build a following and a method that worked for me. Just as importantly, I began to follow many Twitter users who had thousands of followers and were highly experienced. They gave me excellent advice.
(By the way, I found the Twitter community highly collegial. If you're helpful to the people I affectionately call "twits," they will bend over backwards to be helpful to you. Two ways they can be helpful: RT and FF. RT means they "retweet" your tweets to their followers, which spreads your thoughts across Twitter Nation. FF stands for "Follow Friday," a ritual where each Friday Twitter users list the people they follow that they like and admire as a recommendation to all the others that follow them. You can pick up a lot of new followers if you're "FF'd." It's no small thing in the Twitter world.)
Here's the six-step formula I created that I believe can work for anyone wishing to attract any focused following on Twitter:
#1. After you set up your profile, issue 15 tweets. Don't worry that you don't have any followers at this point. Make sure your tweets are hitting all the brand attributes you want to cover. (Remember what I said in Writting for Twitter #1: Your tweets are your brand, and Twitter is all about branding.) In my case, given my ExcitingWriting brand, I made sure my tweets were helpful to writers—covering grammar issues and higher-level writing issues:
• How to get started
• How to manage large writing projects
• How to take criticism
• Principles of writing
I developed about 50 tweets. I tried to make them sound like aphorisms. Example: "Sentences that begin with the word 'There' are usually weak. Revise." Within the tweets, I put in plenty of links back to my blog so folks could read more.
#2. Ask someone you know, a friend who is on Twitter, to go to your profile and follow you. When they do, you'll get an e-mail message that that person is now following you. That's your first follower. Congratulations!
#3. Use the "Find People" button to search for people you know who might be interested in following you or in receiving your tweets. These may be people you know personally and who know you, or people you just know of.
#4. When you find those people, click on their profile and read their stream of tweets. If you like what they're writing or find it useful in some way, follow them. Click on their "Follow" button. You'll start to see their tweets in your stream.
#5. Once those people are notified that you are following them, typically they will click on your profile and look over your stream. They are looking at your brand. Even if you issued those tweets when no one was following you, that doesn't matter. If what they read in your stream is interesting, quirky or attractive to them in some way, they may follow you back. When they do, your follower count on your profile will increase by one. You're on your way to building your following. But here's the trick: It's not about the numbers. It's more about building a community of like-minded people. In my case, I built a community of writers, artists and readers.
#6. Use the # mark to dip into tweets of people that have something to do with your interest. In my case, I searched "#writing" and "#books" to find people talking about these topics. I went on their profiles to examine their tweets. If I liked what I read, I followed them. And once I did that, most followed me back because when they looked on my profile, they saw a brand that was out to help them.
Does this sound like work? It is in a way, and believe me, while I'm using this six-step method, I run into plenty of Twitter users who do nothing more than talk about last night's Grammy awards show with other folks who are searching on #Grammy to find what's being said, and then following those people. And there are plenty of users who tweet their #Grammy opinions to their followers. That works fine for them. It's a lot less work and a lot more fun, I suppose, for them to build a community of like-minded people. But then, think about my larger purpose in building my Twitter community. What's a bestseller worth?
To use Twitter for business, you will need to attract a defined audience by supplying them with information that is useful to them. Thus, my approach of giving writing tips to attract writers.
Here are some other examples:
• A home improvement specialist can give tips on insulation
• A personal trainer can give tips on how to avoid getting injured while exercising.
• A physician's assistant can give tips on how to avoid getting the flu.
It's pretty obvious. The deeper wisdom is this: People who are out to sincerely help others do well on Twitter and get what they want in exchange.
Now here's the kicker for me and Twitter: I am not currently using Twitter. As I built my following to 400+, I lost interest. I learned everything about Twitter I was able to at this point. Until my novel is about to come out, I've decided I have better things to do with my time. Note: With more than 80 million Twitter users, 85 percent post less than one update every day. (That's me!) Also, 73 percent of all Twitter users joined during the first five months of 2009. (That when I joined.)
Why am I not currently using Twitter to promote my freelance writing practice? I'll answer that question next month. I'll also describe practical ways you can use Twitter to drive your business. And I'll reveal methods anyone can use to help turn a published novel into an international bestseller that Hollywood then turns into an Academy Award winning film staring George Clooney. (Thinking big is not my problem, folks.)
And when I accept that Academy Award for screenplay adapted from a novel, I'll thank John Wise for getting me started with Twitter. I may mention my mother and Gina, as well. Oh, and also...
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Writing for Twitter #2
As I wrote last month, I am not a Twitter enthusiast, but I have made my peace with it. Twitter is about influencing others to your way of thinking, or, at least, getting on other people's radar, making connections, etc. That's why it's a social networking platform, and why I believe that it's all about branding. The assumption is that Twitter users influence their ''followers.'' What are followers? Think of Twitter as a specialized e-mail application that lets you send out very short messages to a select opt-in list. What is an ''opt-in'' list? Each month, I send this content in an e-mail newsletter to an opt-in list, to people who have chosen to receive it. My opt-in list is now 2,000+. In the Twitter world, your opt-in list comprises all those who have chosen to receive your tweets. Those are your followers.
While you have followers (people receiving your tweets), you also have the people you're following. Those are the people whose short messages, or tweets, you're receiving. Just because you choose to follow someone doesn't mean that person will then follow you.
Generally speaking, Twitter experts say you don't want to follow more people than follow you. There are plenty of exceptions, for example, someone who follows Hollywood celebrities who never follow them back. That's a perfectly valid way to use Twitter; however, if you want to use Twitter for branding purposes, you should balance the number of your followers and the number of people you are following, or, better yet, have far more followers.
If everyone who you followed was following you back, you would have a closed loop. You would develop a community of followers, which would promote branding. If you make a point of thinking about the brand attributes you wish to project as you write your tweets, you are more likely to be successful with your Twitter campaign. Followers will re-tweet your tweets to their followers. Your reputation could spread. That is how Twitter works.
There are nifty applications that look at your followers and the people they follow and let you ''un-follow'' those who are not following you. The reason they're popular: People use them to help balance those two numbers I mentioned above. The application I've used effectively to do this is Huitter.
I covered reciprocity in a past EWA. If someone does something nice to you, it's only human nature to want to return the favor. Many Twitter marketers depend on that: ''If I follow you, you'll follow me back.'' I recommend that you be very picky about the people you follow back. The numbers of Twitter ''marketers'' are legion. They will follow you expressly hoping you will follow them back so they can then clog your ''stream'' (your ''stream'' is the list of tweets on your home page) with commercials for ''business opportunities,'' nutrition drinks, weight-loss regimens, or the like.
Two dirty little secrets about Twitter:
#1 While the fantasy about Twitter may be that of celebrities using it to communicate with thousands of fans instantaneously, the reality is that even if you have 20,000 followers, only a fraction are online at any given time. This accounts for Twitter scheduling applications, which let you load up plenty of tweets at one time and then tweet throughout the day at regular intervals, thereby increasing the likelihood of actually influencing your followers. If you're interested, google ''Twitter scheduling applications.''
#2 Tweets have a life span of about five minutes. That is, within five minutes after you send it out, everybody online at that time has seen it. After that, it's toast. Ancient history. There's one important exception to that: If your followers are passionately interested in what you have to say, they can do a search on your Twitter handle. You can fill any Twitter user name into the search box and click on the magnifying glass. Every one of that Twitter user's recent tweets will come up. The follower can browse through them at his or her convenience. (In fact you don't have to be a follower of that person to do that. Anyone can do that search on any Twitter user, if they know the handle. If they don't, they can look it up by clicking on ''Find People'' at the top of the page.
Next month: the six-step method I used to build my Twitter following from 1 to 450 in three months, and why I chose to do so.
Note: Last month's EWA drew plenty of positive reviews and thank-yous. I appreciate them all.
While you have followers (people receiving your tweets), you also have the people you're following. Those are the people whose short messages, or tweets, you're receiving. Just because you choose to follow someone doesn't mean that person will then follow you.
Generally speaking, Twitter experts say you don't want to follow more people than follow you. There are plenty of exceptions, for example, someone who follows Hollywood celebrities who never follow them back. That's a perfectly valid way to use Twitter; however, if you want to use Twitter for branding purposes, you should balance the number of your followers and the number of people you are following, or, better yet, have far more followers.
If everyone who you followed was following you back, you would have a closed loop. You would develop a community of followers, which would promote branding. If you make a point of thinking about the brand attributes you wish to project as you write your tweets, you are more likely to be successful with your Twitter campaign. Followers will re-tweet your tweets to their followers. Your reputation could spread. That is how Twitter works.
There are nifty applications that look at your followers and the people they follow and let you ''un-follow'' those who are not following you. The reason they're popular: People use them to help balance those two numbers I mentioned above. The application I've used effectively to do this is Huitter.
I covered reciprocity in a past EWA. If someone does something nice to you, it's only human nature to want to return the favor. Many Twitter marketers depend on that: ''If I follow you, you'll follow me back.'' I recommend that you be very picky about the people you follow back. The numbers of Twitter ''marketers'' are legion. They will follow you expressly hoping you will follow them back so they can then clog your ''stream'' (your ''stream'' is the list of tweets on your home page) with commercials for ''business opportunities,'' nutrition drinks, weight-loss regimens, or the like.
Two dirty little secrets about Twitter:
#1 While the fantasy about Twitter may be that of celebrities using it to communicate with thousands of fans instantaneously, the reality is that even if you have 20,000 followers, only a fraction are online at any given time. This accounts for Twitter scheduling applications, which let you load up plenty of tweets at one time and then tweet throughout the day at regular intervals, thereby increasing the likelihood of actually influencing your followers. If you're interested, google ''Twitter scheduling applications.''
#2 Tweets have a life span of about five minutes. That is, within five minutes after you send it out, everybody online at that time has seen it. After that, it's toast. Ancient history. There's one important exception to that: If your followers are passionately interested in what you have to say, they can do a search on your Twitter handle. You can fill any Twitter user name into the search box and click on the magnifying glass. Every one of that Twitter user's recent tweets will come up. The follower can browse through them at his or her convenience. (In fact you don't have to be a follower of that person to do that. Anyone can do that search on any Twitter user, if they know the handle. If they don't, they can look it up by clicking on ''Find People'' at the top of the page.
Next month: the six-step method I used to build my Twitter following from 1 to 450 in three months, and why I chose to do so.
Note: Last month's EWA drew plenty of positive reviews and thank-yous. I appreciate them all.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Writing for Twitter #1
The world is all atwitter about social networking as Twitter has grown its member community a whopping 1382% between February '08 and February '09, according to NielsenWire.
I am not a Twitter enthusiast, but I have made my peace with it, believing it is here to stay and, when used properly, effective. You could say I hold a jaded opinion, after spending last summer, nearly an hour each day, seven days a week, tweeting and building up a community of followers. I was doing that for a very specific reason. I'll tell all in my January 2010 EWA. In the final analysis, if you're in business, and if you're smart about it, and if have something to say, Twitter can bring business to you. It is just another marketing tool. As more people become inured with Twitter, choosing not to use it becomes idiosyncratic, if not downright counterproductive. As I said, it's here to stay.
What is Twitter all about? The fantasy may be that Twitter is all about telling your thousands of followers in one 140-charcater tweet that you're getting on a plane and you just had the most horrid time weaving through traffic in a taxi to the airport. The reality is far different. Twitter is about branding. Twitter is a tactical-level tool you can use to communicate your brand to a specific community of "followers."
What is a brand? It is a public identity, something that resonates with clients, customers, partners and/or consumers. It's what people think of when they think of you. Businesses have brands, but so do rock musicians, fine artists, building contractors, rocket engineers, novelists, scientists, owners of janitorial services, journalists, symphony conductors and analysts of every stripe. Everyone who is in business and wants to be known for what they do should have a clearly articulated brand that helps them attract business on the web. Twitter can help define that brand and make it available to large numbers of people who can become potential consumers of the brand.
After using Twitter for about a year, and listening to smart, well informed people talk about Twitter, I've come to the conclusion that even those who use Twitter to have water-cooler type conversations about last night's Madmen or Lost episode, or those who comment on "trending topics" like Tiger Woods' debacle, are using Twitter to broadcast their brand. Your tweets are your brand, and that's perfectly okay. Twitter is about trending topics. It's about public unrest in Iran that was beamed outside Iran thanks to Twitter. It's about the guy who runs the corner service station giving car repair advice and sending customers links where they can download discount coupons. It's about an analyst tweeting quick impressions from the floor of a trade show. Twitter is about all that stuff and more. It's about whatever the users of Twitter want it to be about.
Once you become a Twitter user and establish your profile, you'll find a question that appears above the window where you type your 140-character messages: "What's happening?" To be effective writing tweets, you have to imagine the question reading, "What can you tell your followers that will add meaning or substance to your brand?"
People ask me, "How can you shoehorn everything you want to say into 140 characters?" The answer: Don't. Set up a blog for the content. Then write a short, provocative question or statement and place the link to your blog directly after.
In my case, most of the time, I don't tell my followers what's happening with me. Instead, I give them writing advice. Or to put it another way, given my brand identity, writing advice is what's always happening for me. My brand ExcitingWriting stands for writing excellence. My tweets help people improve their writing. More often, they are teasers designed to cause people to jump on the link to my ExcitingWriting blog (which has content identical to these e-mail newsletters). So the question isn't how to shoehorn everything you want to say into 140 characters. It's how to get people to click on a link.
Here are three examples of promotion-tweets I've used in recent months:
• 13 things you can start doing today to become a better writer. Sept issue of my blog at…
• Six principles that underlie everything going on with social networking. August issue of my blog at…
• Ever notice that non-profits usually ask you to make a pledge? Why is that? Read "commitment" in my Aug. blog entry at…
Another approach to writing tweets is to write a wise-sounding aphorism, for example:
• Confused about when to stop researching and start writing, it's probably time to start writing. Read my blog at…
Most people tweet links to articles that are interesting to them and, they hope, to their followers. That's all they do most of the time. They're serving a helpful role by spreading news. Thanks to these tweets, last summer, when I spent about an hour a day on Twitter, I was being exposed to very interesting content I would have never run across anywhere else.
Generally, the helping, "advice giving" model works well in Twitter and is effective at building your brand. If you're out to help someone else, explain the ropes, make life easier, you can't go wrong. It makes you the expert.
A landscaper can give landscaping advice. A mechanic can give car care advice. A technologist can talk about technology trends. A marketer can give marketing advice.
Many enjoy tweeting positive, inspirational quotes, which, I guess, makes them an expert on the meaning of life.
Of course, there are times you will want to join the on-going conversation and then, as I said earlier, it's similar to water-cooler conversations in a workplace. People comment on the show they watched last night—whatever. Often, people give other people encouragement. You get to know some very interesting people that way. Do some of that, if you like. Sometimes you really do want to tell people what's happening in your life at this very moment. (For example, in my case, I could send out a tweet that says I'm nearing completion of a novel I've been working on since May of 2002. It's the truth!) You might throw in some crazy tweets designed to get a laugh, too. For example, "Just took the Aston Martin in for an oil change. $75, they wanted. I raced over to the competition."
Twitter is a fantastic platform for spreading breaking news. And that's where it can be effective in business—if you think of your advice as a form of news, or if you can tie in your expertise with an on-going news story.
Next month: The six steps I followed in building my Twitter following from 1 to 450 in three months, and, more importantly, my purpose in doing so.
I am not a Twitter enthusiast, but I have made my peace with it, believing it is here to stay and, when used properly, effective. You could say I hold a jaded opinion, after spending last summer, nearly an hour each day, seven days a week, tweeting and building up a community of followers. I was doing that for a very specific reason. I'll tell all in my January 2010 EWA. In the final analysis, if you're in business, and if you're smart about it, and if have something to say, Twitter can bring business to you. It is just another marketing tool. As more people become inured with Twitter, choosing not to use it becomes idiosyncratic, if not downright counterproductive. As I said, it's here to stay.
What is Twitter all about? The fantasy may be that Twitter is all about telling your thousands of followers in one 140-charcater tweet that you're getting on a plane and you just had the most horrid time weaving through traffic in a taxi to the airport. The reality is far different. Twitter is about branding. Twitter is a tactical-level tool you can use to communicate your brand to a specific community of "followers."
What is a brand? It is a public identity, something that resonates with clients, customers, partners and/or consumers. It's what people think of when they think of you. Businesses have brands, but so do rock musicians, fine artists, building contractors, rocket engineers, novelists, scientists, owners of janitorial services, journalists, symphony conductors and analysts of every stripe. Everyone who is in business and wants to be known for what they do should have a clearly articulated brand that helps them attract business on the web. Twitter can help define that brand and make it available to large numbers of people who can become potential consumers of the brand.
After using Twitter for about a year, and listening to smart, well informed people talk about Twitter, I've come to the conclusion that even those who use Twitter to have water-cooler type conversations about last night's Madmen or Lost episode, or those who comment on "trending topics" like Tiger Woods' debacle, are using Twitter to broadcast their brand. Your tweets are your brand, and that's perfectly okay. Twitter is about trending topics. It's about public unrest in Iran that was beamed outside Iran thanks to Twitter. It's about the guy who runs the corner service station giving car repair advice and sending customers links where they can download discount coupons. It's about an analyst tweeting quick impressions from the floor of a trade show. Twitter is about all that stuff and more. It's about whatever the users of Twitter want it to be about.
Once you become a Twitter user and establish your profile, you'll find a question that appears above the window where you type your 140-character messages: "What's happening?" To be effective writing tweets, you have to imagine the question reading, "What can you tell your followers that will add meaning or substance to your brand?"
People ask me, "How can you shoehorn everything you want to say into 140 characters?" The answer: Don't. Set up a blog for the content. Then write a short, provocative question or statement and place the link to your blog directly after.
In my case, most of the time, I don't tell my followers what's happening with me. Instead, I give them writing advice. Or to put it another way, given my brand identity, writing advice is what's always happening for me. My brand ExcitingWriting stands for writing excellence. My tweets help people improve their writing. More often, they are teasers designed to cause people to jump on the link to my ExcitingWriting blog (which has content identical to these e-mail newsletters). So the question isn't how to shoehorn everything you want to say into 140 characters. It's how to get people to click on a link.
Here are three examples of promotion-tweets I've used in recent months:
• 13 things you can start doing today to become a better writer. Sept issue of my blog at…
• Six principles that underlie everything going on with social networking. August issue of my blog at…
• Ever notice that non-profits usually ask you to make a pledge? Why is that? Read "commitment" in my Aug. blog entry at…
Another approach to writing tweets is to write a wise-sounding aphorism, for example:
• Confused about when to stop researching and start writing, it's probably time to start writing. Read my blog at…
Most people tweet links to articles that are interesting to them and, they hope, to their followers. That's all they do most of the time. They're serving a helpful role by spreading news. Thanks to these tweets, last summer, when I spent about an hour a day on Twitter, I was being exposed to very interesting content I would have never run across anywhere else.
Generally, the helping, "advice giving" model works well in Twitter and is effective at building your brand. If you're out to help someone else, explain the ropes, make life easier, you can't go wrong. It makes you the expert.
A landscaper can give landscaping advice. A mechanic can give car care advice. A technologist can talk about technology trends. A marketer can give marketing advice.
Many enjoy tweeting positive, inspirational quotes, which, I guess, makes them an expert on the meaning of life.
Of course, there are times you will want to join the on-going conversation and then, as I said earlier, it's similar to water-cooler conversations in a workplace. People comment on the show they watched last night—whatever. Often, people give other people encouragement. You get to know some very interesting people that way. Do some of that, if you like. Sometimes you really do want to tell people what's happening in your life at this very moment. (For example, in my case, I could send out a tweet that says I'm nearing completion of a novel I've been working on since May of 2002. It's the truth!) You might throw in some crazy tweets designed to get a laugh, too. For example, "Just took the Aston Martin in for an oil change. $75, they wanted. I raced over to the competition."
Twitter is a fantastic platform for spreading breaking news. And that's where it can be effective in business—if you think of your advice as a form of news, or if you can tie in your expertise with an on-going news story.
Next month: The six steps I followed in building my Twitter following from 1 to 450 in three months, and, more importantly, my purpose in doing so.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
25 Things You Can Start Doing Today to Become a Better Writer
This piece was inspired by Mary Jaksch's ''73 Ways to Become a Better Writer.'' (You can find her piece on the ''copyblogger'' blog. She got it right!)
1. Write more. Increase the number of words you write. Start writing every day.
2. Write faster. Don't worry about sentence structure and all the junk they drummed into your head in school. Give yourself permission to stream words faster than you can think. Just get them down. Revise later.
3. Start writing a blog today. Express yourself! Go on record. Say what you need to say! (That's a song and a way of life.) It doesn't matter what you write about. This is public writing, so tell your friends you are writing a blog. (Go to www.blogspot.com now and start your blog.)
4. Write on deadline with specific word limits.
5. Go to wordsmith.org and subscribe to ''Word A Day.'' You will receive a word and its definition in your inbox every day. Learn that word. Use it. Words are a writer's tools. The more tools you have, the better.
6. As Julia Cameron suggests in her Artist's Way book, write Morning Pages every day. Write privately about your deepest fears in your morning pages. As Mark Twain said, ''Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.'' We all have our demons. One way to face them is to write about them.
7. When you're stuck, get out. Do some Yoga. Stretch. Roll a dowel under your feet. See a movie. Bridget Foley says, ''Writing is physical.'' It takes body and mind working together. Getting out can free up the mind to get in touch with your body.
8. Write about your grandest aspirations in your Morning Pages. Inspire yourself. Fill your mind with your dreams. Indulge yourself. Think of your dreams as awe-inspiring powerful clouds that can take you anywhere you want to go.
9. Go on ''Artist Dates.'' Let yourself be inspired by all kinds of artistic expression: dance, art, music, magazines, television dramas and talk shows. Take it all in.
10. Challenge your assumptions. Write a short story in ten minutes. Write a novel over a weekend. Write a story in future tense. Write a story in second person. Stretch. If you're bored, move on.
11. Revise more carefully. Raise the bar. If it doesn't sound right, it is not right. Correct yourself before anyone else does.
12. Improve your interviewing skills. Ask questions that entice people to reveal themselves and tell their deeper stories.
13. Become a collector of stories. Understand how and why stories work. (Read Story by Robert McKee.)
14. Become more observant. Watch how people dress, how they walk, how they express themselves, how they shop. Watch how they relate to and talk about everything from their religion to their children to the make of their car.
15. Ask for a writing critique from a professional writer. Submit a piece and see what that person says. Ask the person to use track changes so you can see specific suggestions. See what you can learn.
16. Read books, blogs and essays more carefully. Learn new ways to expand your methods of writing. Become a vacuum cleaner, taking in all the ways people express themselves and all the subjects they express themselves about.
17. Notice your writing ''crutches,'' the methods you routinely use to express yourself. Notice the ways you can break out and leave those crutches on the sidewalk. Learn to use new sentence structures. Learn new ways to attack sentences.
18. Read more widely. Be adventurous. Read outside your comfort zone. Pick up kinds of books you'd never be caught dead reading until now. And give yourself permission to love, hate or be disgusted by what you read.
19. Find ways to say things in fewer words. Condense. Work at this. It's an invaluable talent.
20. Write with passion. First, settle on something you feel really passionate about. Then write about it. (Writing with passion is the best way to quickly improve your writing skills.)
21. Buy a book of grammar and use it. Don't try to read it from cover to cover. Use it as a reference when you're stuck or not sure about something. I like The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers by Anson & Schwegler. And don't forget to read the ever popular Elements of Style by White and Strunk.
22. Copy the writing of a favorite writer into a word file. I know it sounds crazy and it's obviously illegal if you try to pass it off as your writing. That's not what I'm suggesting. Take a passage of a favorite writer of yours. Type the words yourself. See if you can learn anything from immersing yourself in the syntax and subtext of the writing by doing that.
23. Join a writer's group. If you live in Dallas, visit The Writer's Garrett and see what's going on. Show up for readings of writers your admire.
24. If you happen to lve in Dallas, be sure to attend meetings of the First Friday Book Synopsis. Visit www.firstfridaybooksynopsis.com. Randy Mayeux and Karl Krayer present two business books every session. Read their handouts very carefully.
24. Become an active watcher of movies. Dissect stories. (Read Story by Robert Mckee.) Discover how the story is told.
25. Tape record yourself reading your writing aloud. Listen to it. This technique helps some writers improve. It's helped me.
One Client's Recommendation of ExcitingWriting Communications
''Chuck is a top-flight business writer, up there with the very best. He has insight into the businesses and business processes he is writing about that sometimes amazes me. He expresses concepts in a way that is extremely clear, compelling, easy to read and persuasive. He can write effectively in a wide variety of styles, everything from white papers to direct response. And Chuck is so much more than a writer. He is a strategist, an effective communicator and the source of thought leadership. He is an excellent project manager, and multi-tasking writer, and has never missed a deadline.''
--PJ Hoke, VP Marketing, Thomas Group
1. Write more. Increase the number of words you write. Start writing every day.
2. Write faster. Don't worry about sentence structure and all the junk they drummed into your head in school. Give yourself permission to stream words faster than you can think. Just get them down. Revise later.
3. Start writing a blog today. Express yourself! Go on record. Say what you need to say! (That's a song and a way of life.) It doesn't matter what you write about. This is public writing, so tell your friends you are writing a blog. (Go to www.blogspot.com now and start your blog.)
4. Write on deadline with specific word limits.
5. Go to wordsmith.org and subscribe to ''Word A Day.'' You will receive a word and its definition in your inbox every day. Learn that word. Use it. Words are a writer's tools. The more tools you have, the better.
6. As Julia Cameron suggests in her Artist's Way book, write Morning Pages every day. Write privately about your deepest fears in your morning pages. As Mark Twain said, ''Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.'' We all have our demons. One way to face them is to write about them.
7. When you're stuck, get out. Do some Yoga. Stretch. Roll a dowel under your feet. See a movie. Bridget Foley says, ''Writing is physical.'' It takes body and mind working together. Getting out can free up the mind to get in touch with your body.
8. Write about your grandest aspirations in your Morning Pages. Inspire yourself. Fill your mind with your dreams. Indulge yourself. Think of your dreams as awe-inspiring powerful clouds that can take you anywhere you want to go.
9. Go on ''Artist Dates.'' Let yourself be inspired by all kinds of artistic expression: dance, art, music, magazines, television dramas and talk shows. Take it all in.
10. Challenge your assumptions. Write a short story in ten minutes. Write a novel over a weekend. Write a story in future tense. Write a story in second person. Stretch. If you're bored, move on.
11. Revise more carefully. Raise the bar. If it doesn't sound right, it is not right. Correct yourself before anyone else does.
12. Improve your interviewing skills. Ask questions that entice people to reveal themselves and tell their deeper stories.
13. Become a collector of stories. Understand how and why stories work. (Read Story by Robert McKee.)
14. Become more observant. Watch how people dress, how they walk, how they express themselves, how they shop. Watch how they relate to and talk about everything from their religion to their children to the make of their car.
15. Ask for a writing critique from a professional writer. Submit a piece and see what that person says. Ask the person to use track changes so you can see specific suggestions. See what you can learn.
16. Read books, blogs and essays more carefully. Learn new ways to expand your methods of writing. Become a vacuum cleaner, taking in all the ways people express themselves and all the subjects they express themselves about.
17. Notice your writing ''crutches,'' the methods you routinely use to express yourself. Notice the ways you can break out and leave those crutches on the sidewalk. Learn to use new sentence structures. Learn new ways to attack sentences.
18. Read more widely. Be adventurous. Read outside your comfort zone. Pick up kinds of books you'd never be caught dead reading until now. And give yourself permission to love, hate or be disgusted by what you read.
19. Find ways to say things in fewer words. Condense. Work at this. It's an invaluable talent.
20. Write with passion. First, settle on something you feel really passionate about. Then write about it. (Writing with passion is the best way to quickly improve your writing skills.)
21. Buy a book of grammar and use it. Don't try to read it from cover to cover. Use it as a reference when you're stuck or not sure about something. I like The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers by Anson & Schwegler. And don't forget to read the ever popular Elements of Style by White and Strunk.
22. Copy the writing of a favorite writer into a word file. I know it sounds crazy and it's obviously illegal if you try to pass it off as your writing. That's not what I'm suggesting. Take a passage of a favorite writer of yours. Type the words yourself. See if you can learn anything from immersing yourself in the syntax and subtext of the writing by doing that.
23. Join a writer's group. If you live in Dallas, visit The Writer's Garrett and see what's going on. Show up for readings of writers your admire.
24. If you happen to lve in Dallas, be sure to attend meetings of the First Friday Book Synopsis. Visit www.firstfridaybooksynopsis.com. Randy Mayeux and Karl Krayer present two business books every session. Read their handouts very carefully.
24. Become an active watcher of movies. Dissect stories. (Read Story by Robert Mckee.) Discover how the story is told.
25. Tape record yourself reading your writing aloud. Listen to it. This technique helps some writers improve. It's helped me.
One Client's Recommendation of ExcitingWriting Communications
''Chuck is a top-flight business writer, up there with the very best. He has insight into the businesses and business processes he is writing about that sometimes amazes me. He expresses concepts in a way that is extremely clear, compelling, easy to read and persuasive. He can write effectively in a wide variety of styles, everything from white papers to direct response. And Chuck is so much more than a writer. He is a strategist, an effective communicator and the source of thought leadership. He is an excellent project manager, and multi-tasking writer, and has never missed a deadline.''
--PJ Hoke, VP Marketing, Thomas Group
Monday, October 12, 2009
In These Difficult Times, I Hope this Example of ExcitingWriting Inspires You.
I began issuing my monthly EWAs more than seven years ago. The opt-in list now includes more than 1,900 people. Never once have I made the content of an EWA the actual copy that I wrote for a client until today. Whenever I read the copy below, which I wrote in the late 1980s for Exhibition Dynamics, it inspires me to believe that, although times can be tough, we have the capacity to be tougher than we think we can. Tell me if these words affect you in the same way. (Bill Reed, now of MarketGarden, was the designer on the brochure and referred me to the client.) My brochure copy for Exhibition Dynamics began:
''In 1933, in the depths of the Depression, a young man opened a sign painting shop in a Texas town. A few brushes and some cans of paint were all he had. The odds of his business lasting out the year were against him. But this man, Bob Powell, had a talented hand, a will to succeed and a vision that overcame all odds.
''You would see his work at county fairs, trade expositions and in showrooms. His business lasted out that year, and the next, even the Depression itself. The exhibit industry grew up around him. And gradually Bob Powell acquired a reputation and an organization and a list of clients second to none in the Southwest.
''Today that thriving business--now called Exhibit Dynamics--is national in scope, run by seasoned executives, and widely acknowledged to be on the cutting edge of design, construction technology and logistic services.
''What accounts for over a half-century of uninterrupted success at Exhibit Dynamics? Ask us. You'll experience the Exhibit Dynamics attitude.''
It's a shame that Exhibit Dynamics no longer exists, but I believe the spirit of its founder and organization live on.
In next month's EWA, I will finish up my list to 25 things you can do to become a better writer (the last 13). Promise!
''In 1933, in the depths of the Depression, a young man opened a sign painting shop in a Texas town. A few brushes and some cans of paint were all he had. The odds of his business lasting out the year were against him. But this man, Bob Powell, had a talented hand, a will to succeed and a vision that overcame all odds.
''You would see his work at county fairs, trade expositions and in showrooms. His business lasted out that year, and the next, even the Depression itself. The exhibit industry grew up around him. And gradually Bob Powell acquired a reputation and an organization and a list of clients second to none in the Southwest.
''Today that thriving business--now called Exhibit Dynamics--is national in scope, run by seasoned executives, and widely acknowledged to be on the cutting edge of design, construction technology and logistic services.
''What accounts for over a half-century of uninterrupted success at Exhibit Dynamics? Ask us. You'll experience the Exhibit Dynamics attitude.''
It's a shame that Exhibit Dynamics no longer exists, but I believe the spirit of its founder and organization live on.
In next month's EWA, I will finish up my list to 25 things you can do to become a better writer (the last 13). Promise!
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