Sample Page
This is an example page. It’s different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will show up in your site navigation (in most themes). Most people start with an About page that introduces them to potential site visitors. It might say something like this:
Hi there! I’m a bike messenger by day, aspiring actor by night, and this is my blog. I live in Los Angeles, have a great dog named Jack, and I like piña coladas. (And gettin’ caught in the rain.)
…or something like this:
The XYZ Doohickey Company was founded in 1971, and has been providing quality doohickies to the public ever since. Located in Gotham City, XYZ employs over 2,000 people and does all kinds of awesome things for the Gotham community.
As a new WordPress user, you should go to your dashboard to delete this page and create new pages for your content. Have fun!
Posted by Jennifer Powell on 9:25 pm in Uncategorized | 12 comments
Dogs To walk
I had a great time presenting a workshop this morning at the Enterprise Center at Salem State University. Thank you to all who came and are now stopping by the blog. I was impressed with all the great ideas for blogs, as well as the overall energy in the room. I’m really looking forward to reading what people come up with.
Of course any idea is only as great as its execution, and you could have the best blog in the world, but if it remains locked in your head, it won’t do you or anyone else any good. In order to help unleash that potential, I’m issuing a 90-day blog challenge.
Starting April 1 (no April Fool’s joke), commit to blogging at least once a week. If I can do it, you can do it! I know, you’re saying, well I’m a professional writer it’s easy for me. Sometimes it is, sometimes it’s not. I get writer’s block and, like you, I’m busy. I have a business to run. I have a column to write. I have kids to transport and feed. I have dogs to walk. Plus, sometimes, I confess, I get a sort of stage fright. I worry people will read what I’ve written and think it’s stupid. But I’ll get over that if you will. (more…)
Posted by Jennifer Powell on 3:49 am in Uncategorized | 0 comments
Which of the following statements is true?
Blogging is fun.
Blogging can change your business.
Blogging can change your life.
Blogging is overwhelming.
Potentially, they all are. There are millions of blogs out here in cyberspace, but many are dormant, dying or dead. People start and stop. Companies put up a post or two and then get swept up in the daily grind that doesn’t include the love and care of a blog. The one thing that is definitely true is that you will get no more out of a blog than you put into it. (more…)
Posted by Jennifer Powell on 11:27 pm in Uncategorized | 2 comments
Paul Levy has a lot to say about leadership. After all, he’s had plenty of practice as the head of the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority during the harbor clean up and as head of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center when it came back from the brink of demise. His ideas are sometimes counter intuitive and often a radical break from conventional wisdom. And yet, they work. In breaking up the traditional strangleholds that cripple institutions, he creates an en
vironment in which people are able and eager to do their best work.
All of this creativity, energy and innovation could easily have been wrapped into an extremely dull tome on how to be a better leader. But the very qualities that make Paul different as a leader make him different as an author.
He eases the reader into the lessons by starting with his experiences coaching girls soccer. We start on a sunny morning with parents cheering and players learning as much about life as the game and then move into the board room, which can be just as exciting.
The juxtaposition is clear. Soccer is about challenging yourself, playing on a team and having fun. Work should be too. The leader of a soccer team is a coach. The leader of a company should be too.
In this book, Paul lets readers into the backroom of the major decisions and challenges he faced as a leader and coach. He highlights his successes, and he admits his mistakes.
When he could have played it safe, he chose instead to take risks and to share the lessons he believes readers really want and need to hear.
With characteristic internal debate after gathering external advice, Paul chose to self publish this book. It was a combination of wanting to maintain control and to meet a tight schedule. Before release, he vetted it with several high placed leaders to see if it resonated with them. Their unabashedly favorable reviews indicate that it does.
I had the privilege of working with Paul on this book from the very early stages as an editor/coach. I got to watch it emerge from a jumble of ideas and concepts into a well organized, engaging and instructive guide to being a leader/coach. This is the book I wish every boss would read.
Here’s what Paul has to say on his blog, Not Running a Hospital:
This is not your traditional business book, where you can read the introduction and skip the rest. Each chapter has a rich mixture of stories, practice, and theory. I hope you will find it engaging.
You can find it on Amazon or order it at your local bookstore. A portion of the proceeds of the book will be donated to support the non-profit Massachusetts Youth Soccer GOALS program, “developed to provide a rewarding athletic and life experience to inner-city children throughout Massachusetts.”
Posted by Jennifer Powell on 5:26 pm in Uncategorized | 4 comments
In an effort to boost my creativity and to take life a little less seriously, I recently signed up for an on line
drawing class called “Silly 5” offered by Carla Sonheim, author of Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists.
She uses classes like this to sort of trick people into learning how to draw. Although the assignments are to do silly things like drawing your feet without looking at them or to draw elephants hanging on trees instead of leaves, you are learning to observe more closely and improving your eye hand coordination without even thinking about it. If only exercise, dieting and improving your writing could be so easy…
In doing the exercises, I realized that one of my problems with drawing is also a common problem with writing. I want the picture to be perfect. I want to know where each line should go. I want to know what colors will be put where. I want to know all of what’s going to be included before I get started.
But that’s not how good art work or good stories go. You may have a sense of where you are headed. You may have an idea of what you want to accomplish. You can have an outline, just as you can sketch out the elements of the picture. But it’s okay, and in fact recommended, to get started without being entirely sure of how you will add depth and color.
It’s sort of like having a map or written directions, but understanding that you will need to make adjustments when you actually take the trip. Maybe you find that a street has been closed down or that your map instructs you to go up a wrong way. Maybe you see a Blue Jay in a tree down the street in the opposite direction and you want to get a closer look.
Another thing about drawing is that a picture can look pretty boring and sometimes downright ugly on its way to being beautiful. Same thing with writing. This is where practice and skill come in. This isn’t about raw talent. It’s about learning tips and tricks to take something that is dull and lifeless and to add some color or some more lines or some layers until it pops off the page.
So, if you don’t know exactly where something is going, don’t feel intimidated – it’s normal. Do not let it stop you from getting started.
Posted by Jennifer Powell on 1:56 am in Uncategorized | 0 comments
Some days the stories get stuck. You know what to say, but not how to say it. Or worse, you’re not even sure what to say,
you just know you have to say something. You could stare blankly at a blank screen. You could go eat a quart of ice cream and run around the block ten times. But sooner or later you have to actually put letters together to form words that form sentences that make some sort of sense.
When this happens and you can’t or don’t want to put off the writing, steal a technique from the art world and start doodling. To warm up or to get themselves moving, some artists will scribble, draw circles or just push a pencil around the page. What does that look like for writers? (more…)
Posted by Jennifer Powell on 10:40 pm in Uncategorized | 0 comments
As I was debating whether I really wanted to go on a long run this weekend, my dear six-year-old looked at me with her earnest blue eyes and said, “Why are running so far?”
This is the million dollar question that you need to ask yourself whenever you write. Why am I writing this blog? Why am I writing this newsletter? Why am I writing this poem, book, letter?
There are two important reasons to ask the question. The first is that the answer will give you the motivation to write. If this is what you’ve determined you need to do to build your business, well then get writing. If you know a letter will make someone happy, get writing. If you don’t have a good answer for the “why” question, then maybe you are trying to do something you either shouldn’t or don’t need to do.
The second reason is that the answer to the why can help you figure out the content. Are you trying to connect with customers? What do they need to hear? Are you trying to get volunteers to pick up Girl Scout Cookies? What’s going to motivate them?
Well, why am I running so far? Isn’t it obvious? So I will have something to write about. That and I have been led to believe that it will keep me healthy.
Posted by Jennifer Powell on 5:48 pm in Uncategorized | 1 comment
Check out this video to see exactly what I meant with my post on words:
The Power of Words
This was sent to me by a blogging colleague and author of the insightful “Not Running a Hospital” (who ironically had not seen yesterday’s post).
Posted by Jennifer Powell on 6:03 pm in Uncategorized | 1 comment
Superman
Wonder Woman
Justice League
Skunk Girl
These are just words, but they evoke strong images and jumpstart your imagination. Even without further description, your mind has a sense of what we are talking about and what could come next. Of course, you’ve heard these words and they represent a familiar story line.* But the reason, these words can so instantly bring to mind those stories is that they were so well chosen.
“Flying man who is very strong†or “group of people with special powers who uphold the law†are just as accurate and perhaps a bit more descriptive, but they certainly don’t grab you and make you pay attention.
Certainly, the sentences and the paragraphs are important. They put the words into context and allow you to explain exactly what you mean. But the right words will grab your readers attention and run around in their heads long after they’re done reading.
Collect words. This is the first step in using them better. Keep a list of the ones you like. Think about how they sound and the images they conjure. Use them carefully and intentionally to inspire, excite and motivate your readers.
Try using words as a short hand for or instead of New Year’s resolutions. What do you want this year to be? Fun? Organized? Happy? Productive? Creative? Prosperous?
How about all of that and more?
*with the potential exception of skunk girl – this is the superhero name adopted by my youngest when she was four – her primary super power is, as the name suggests, to emit an overpowering knock-out odor. She can also fly and can become invisible.
Posted by Jennifer Powell on 2:49 am in Uncategorized | 0 comments
When it comes to losing weight, there is a simple formula: eat less, exercise more. It may be simple, but that doesn’t make it easy.
Fortunately, the simple formula for writing better is much easier to follow: Write more, read more.
The writing more gets plenty of attention, but reading more is just as important and maybe a little easier. It’s not really how much you read or even what you read, it’s how you read. As you read, pay attention to the words, the sentence structure, the paragraphs. What draws you into the store and holds your interest? What makes you stop reading? If you find a piece boring, think about why. (more…)
Posted by Jennifer Powell on 4:52 pm in Uncategorized | 2 comments
What is it with grandmas and dresses?
One of the best worst Christmas presents I ever received was a yellow dress, given to me by my grandmother when I was about 8.
I suppose it was pretty enough despite the square neck and puffy sleeves, but I hated it as soon as I opened the box. I didn’t wear dresses. At all. Ever. I was a strictly jeans and cowboy boots sort of kid. Not only that, all of my cousins – there were a lot of us – got $5 and pencils with their names on them. To me, this was way better than a stupid dress.
To make matters worse, I had not yet learned that all important skill of diplomacy and sparing a gift givers feelings. I don’t remember exactly what I said but I know from the reaction that I was pretty honest in expressing my feelings about the whole issue.
I decided recently that I wanted to write a story about this dress for my first grade Sunday School class, only I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to say. What would the point of the story be?
Sometimes it seems obvious – there’s a problem, you found a way to solve it. But even then, there may be other levels to explore.
Is this a humorous story about an out-of-touch grandma? Is it a cautionary tale about ungrateful children? Is it a heart-warming story about a little girl who loved her grandma so much she wore the ugly dress for class pictures that year?
Even if you think you know what you want to say about something, it’s worth poking at it a bit more to see if there is another way to go about it.
After all my meandering about the subject, this is what I think about that present: It’s become one of my favorite, and not because I ever fell in love with the dress, although I really did wear it for my class picture. Rather, it’s that this is a present I remember, and every time I do, I remember the giver, and she’s worth remembering. I’ve also decided that she must have seen me as a pretty little girl who would look cute in a dress, and sometimes it helps to look at your self through the eyes of others.
