Rewrite and Rewrite and Rewrite
I was paid a great compliment the other day. Someone said that something I wrote read as if it was easy to write. It wasn’t. In fact, it was a tad agonizing as I fussed over sentences and tried to hammer big concepts into bite sized, readable pieces. The wonderful illusion is that great writing comes easy. When you read a well written article or book, it feels as if the words flowed from the writer’s fingertips like a river over a cliff creating a gorgeous cascading waterfall. So as a writer, it’s easy to think that you are...
read moreDo you have something to say?
I’m all for getting creative with blogging and social media. Give me any company and I can come up with a list of at least 12 topics to get it started. But even I have to admit that the idea of an electronics manufacturer setting up on Facebook seemed to be a stretch. However, it seems creativity prevails. Eratech Inc., a company based in Ontario, is using social media to boost its reputation within its industry, and it seems to be working. The company promotes itself on several social media channels to make it easier for prospective...
read moreDoes it matter?
It’s New Year’s Eve Day and I am frantically trying to get a bunch of things done so I can get out of the office and enjoy some of the festivities in Boston. There’s a long list of things that I would really like to get done and an equally long list of things that really have to get done. It would be easy to skip the blog today. After all, I haven’t written for awhile any way and who is going to notice. If that’s really how I feel about it, then I am quite probably wasting my time here. If it really doesn’t...
read moreDon’t invest money when you are sad, just write
A study recently published in Psychological Science that showed people make bad financial decisions when they’re sad. Apparently, sad people would rather have less money immediately than to wait awhile get more. In contrast, people who are disgusted will still make the more financially beneficial decision to hold out for the extra dollars. Clearly, when it comes to money, mood matters so it should be no surprise to find that it matters with writing too. It’s hard to write a happy message when you’re sad and nearly impossible...
read moreWhat do you do when you get stuck?
You know you need to write something, but what? You don’t know where to start, so you put it off. You try to come back to it, but you still don’t know what to write. When this happens, take a tip from my clever second graders (Sunday School class). Nearly every week, I hand them a maze. Though it says where to start, that’s rarely where they do. They’ve learned that they wander in and quickly get lost in the twists and turns. Instead, they skip to the end and work backwards. Same maze, same twists and turns, but...
read morePromote yourself to promote your busines – a workshop to show you how
There are people in every industry who everyone seems to know. They are the “experts.” The ones that people turn to for advice and guidance. They write books. They give speeches. They’re quoted in the newspapers. Who are they? Could you be one of them? You can learn more on Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Enterprise Center at Salem State University. I’ll be presenting a workshop on the topic along with Beth Goldstein, author of Lucky by Design, and head of Marketing Edge Consulting. Beth will work with participants...
read moreCatch up with your creative
If you have ever had an inkling that you might like to draw but you feel that you just aren’t good enough or that you don’t know where to begin, then start with this book: It”s by Carla Sonheim, who is not only a talented artist but also an extremely talented teacher. She sneaks her lessons in with fun exercises that are actually giving you the fundamentals of art. Before you know it, you are looking at the world differently and your drawings are starting to look more like what you wanted, or even better...
read moreI want to be unforgettable
A rose by any other name would certainly smell just as sweet, but would anyone know about it? Names are significant. They are the opening sentence in your story. Inevitably you are going to want to set up a blog or a website and that means choosing an address, which will become a moniker. This is not just any address, but the address, the name that will embody your story and set expectations. There is certainly a lot riding on those few letters strung together. So what happens when you’ve come up with the perfect name only to find that – gasp...
read moreYou had me at the headline
Back when I was a daily news reporter, I had it easy. All I had to do was drum up the stories, ask a few tough questions and bang out a few hundred words. Then I tossed over my shiny new masterpiece (or bird cage lining) to the copy desk. They had the thankless job of cleaning it up and adding the crown jewel – the headline. These are arguably the most important three to ten words of the piece. These few words will determine how many readers you get, if any. I have long known and understood this, but I didn’t truly appreciate the...
read moreLooking for a Writing Challenge? Try this Quirky Contest
The funny folks over at NaNoWriMo who think it’s not only possible but actually good to write a novel in a month have invited writers to join an equally quirky contest. So get your pens out and get ready to write…. As explained by Executive Director Grant Faulkner: Intel, W Hotels, and Vice have generously provided a $10,000 matching donation for Camp NaNoWriMo this month. They’ve also invited Wrimos to submit up to ten pages of a script or story by August 30 in ashort film series and competition entitled “Four Stories”. The four...
read more
