Friday, December 21, 2007

Writing is Good for the Soul

Writing is good for you in a spiritual way. You get your pleasures, pains, frustrations and feelings out there on paper so it is raw. Your writing shows you a clear picture of what is going on.

you can draw conclusions from it much better because it forces you to clarify your thoughts and feelings. Also, writing em down gives you a record to return to and revisits months from now.

So get in the habit of doing it.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Learn to Create Your Own Ebook Without Ever Writing A Word

Stop Struggling Trying To Write Profitable Ebooks Yourself, Especially If You Hate Writing!You Can Now “Create Your Own E-BookWithout Ever Writing A Word”…If you want to make lots of money selling ebooks online, but you hate to write….Or if you just can’t face sitting down at the computer and slogging away to produce ebooks…

read more | digg story

Reality of Get paid for writing

There is a buzz going on in net world to write for money. In recent times many sites come up claiming to pay you for writing posts like PayPerPost, ReviewMe, sponsored Review, Smorty and lots of other whose name I don't remember now. Go through these reviews to make sure that you are getting what you believe you are getting.

read more | digg story

Thursday, December 20, 2007

She Got the Job? Even Morons Can Write Like Pros!!

Check out our bubbly blonde friend who landed the job...proving that even morons can write like pros.

read more | digg story

How to write a job advert

Most business owners will need to employee extra staff during their time with the company. But how do you write an effective job advertisement that will entice in the sort of people you are after?

read more | digg story

Writing Program for The Typing Poor

IF you have poor or slow typing skills then this maybe for you. Writing is something we should all do but should do it the most efficient way.

Dragon Naturally SPeaking is a program I have considered purchasing. I have heard good things about it and that the latest versions are much "smarter" and greatly improved.

What do you think? Have you used it?


Powered by ScribeFire.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Get Free Cash For Writing Stories

Hey, check out this site. ( http://www.soran.co.nr ) Since I'm an advanced writer, I write articles, and submit it to these guys, and they send cash to my paypal account. Helps me out a lot because I get game memberships easy. The best thing is, its all free! :]

read more | digg story

Earn Cash With Adsense and Articles

The question regarding making cash using articles and Adsense has been asked numerous times. The unbelievers will tell you that it's not possible. If that were true, there would not be so many people earning a living writing articles for their Adsense sites.In order to earn money with Adsense, you need to search for a profitable niche...

read more | digg story

Do You Blog For Cash?

Have you wonder how to get ideals and what to write on your blogs? Is pretty easy, you need to read alot...staying up to date on topics will tell you what is hot on the blogosphere. Then you write about that and get the tidal wave of readers coming to your blog when you know how to rank high.

read more | digg story

Writing and Content Sites I Found Today

The whole goal with your writing is to find your audience and distribute your message to the widest group possible. You want ALL those interested in what you have to say to read your writing. Otherwise what's the point?

htttp://taggzilla.com finds your audience.

In my searching for places to post and distribute my content I found some new, highly ranked and visited sites.

Check out www.imeem.com, www.netlog.com, www.crunchyroll.com, and www.break.com.

Especially break.com I found to be very cool and worthwhile for distributing business content both in text and multimedia format.

Check out http://taggzilla.com today to keep abreast of new developments and ways it finds your audience.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

do it your self mortgage marketing - Tips Apply to You

Insider Secrets For Writing Money-making Mortgage Marketing Materials That Attract Qualified Prospects And Multiply Profits. These are good writing tips for you regardless of the market you are in because the mortgage market is hyper competitive and what works there will surely work in less competitive minutes

read more | digg story

How To Write An Article Review - 5 Easy Tips

Write an article review on any product and promote it through your blog. Make money by reviewing hot products and submitting them to article directories and social bookmark sites. Do some research on keywords to find ones you can rank for and then you get the visitors within the article sites as well as potential rankings on google.

read more | digg story

Writing Resource that's cool for biz cards

TOday I found this cool little site that can print biz cards from photos you have loaded onto the different social networks.

You can of course write what you want in text on the card to augment the photo as well as use their stock photos if you prefer. check out www.moo.com


Powered by ScribeFire.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Quick Writing Tip

Have your plan of action. A quick script or outline of what you want to write and how much you plan to write in terms of pages per topic. Your writing will go much faster this way.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Online Data Entry Work is new earning source online

One can choose the different website and the program to make money online. But if you have the writing skill then you can make money online by writing and submitting your articles to blogs, webpages and earn monthly income plus residual income in some cases. writing and data entry can be a viable way for you to make money from your home office

read more | digg story

If You Write It: Blogs and Money

Commentary on begging for money vs selling adspace on your blog. There is a great debate about what is more effective...begging for donations or selling ad space. All you care about is what is most effective in generating you money from your writing

read more | digg story

Do It Yourself Patents

A helpful article to help inventors save money when writing their patent. there are challenges but overall this can save you lots of money by writing it yourself

read more | digg story

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Reality of Get paid for writing

There is a buzz going on in net world to write for money. In recent times many sites come up claiming to pay you for writing posts like PayPerPost, ReviewMe, sponsored Review, Smorty and lots of other whose name I don't remember now. Cautionary tale to be aware of.

read more | digg story

Make money quickly through eBook writing

Writing an eBook is actually easier than you might think and is a feasible way to make some extra money online. The cyberspace community needs its eBooks to be successful so that more and more eBooks will be written..

read more | digg story

One Thing Leads To Another - Writing for money

Excellent testimonial proving that writing collaboration can lead to making money online. There is money to be made by writing and many in need of good quality writers to produce articles written for them

read more | digg story

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Copywriting Course with Expert Copywriter Trevor Crook

Check out this video:

Copywriting Course expert video

Expert copywriting course instructor Trevor 'ToeCracker' Crook goes deep in magic words that sell your products.

These are great tips that can make or break your business and gets you more sales fast than you ever dreamed possible.
Get your copy of the 1 hour and 15 minute training for free here at:

copywriting course training



Powered by ScribeFire.

Emmy nominees for comedy writing. Hilarious!

This year's Emmy nominees for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program. Colbert, John Stewart, Conan, Letterman and Bill Maher. Very Funny stuff.

read more | digg story

Free Resume Writing Samples

Free professional resume writing samples. gets your resumes seen and acted on by those that matter the recruiters. Samples give you a blueprint to follow when creating your own resume

read more | digg story

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Automatic Writing Experiences: Communciation with Spirits

Some real life experiences of automatic writing and psychic readings using automatic writing. Automatic writing...just mull that over. Those 2 words together sound fascinating and awesome

read more | digg story

Next time you’re asked to write for free …

Harlan Ellison on writing for free! This video discusses how to respond to the "will you write this for free for me" question

read more | digg story

Make money online by writing articles

Write Articles and Make Money Online. Using your writing skills to make some fast cash is a great way to get started and get your foot in the door working from home.

read more | digg story

Writing tips -- The Easiest Way to Write Anything

Two easiest steps to write anything, and here these two steps are universal. that is to say, creative writing, business writing, resume writing, technical writing can all take these two steps. In fact, they are more an idea than concrete steps.

read more | digg story

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

BREAKING NEWS: U.S. Supreme Court Dockets Landmark Right to Petition Case

By the end of the year we will know whether the nation's Highest Court will take upon itself the burden of considering -- for the first time in the Republic's history -- the constitutional meaning of the last ten words of the First Amendment, i.e., the People's Right to Petition the government for a Redress of Grievances. It's NOT exactly about writing but supremely important nonetheless.

read more | digg story

Internet Marketing news, tools and resources

New Internet Marketing Website that offers free training, tools and articles. Matt Longley is a recognized expert in the field of SEO with emphasis on proper and speedy link building of quality, authority links. You get the chance to work with this guy do what it takes to capitalize on the opportunity

read more | digg story

Monday, December 3, 2007

50,000 Signatures Will Kill Switzerland's DMCA

Switzerland's government has silently adopted a brutal copyright law based on America's failed Digital Millennium Copyright Act -- but with 50,000 signatures, the law can be reversed. Get this shot down so we can take back some freedom.

read more | digg story

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Business Report Writing Do's and DOn'ts

Learn more about business report writing tips. This could be the most important writing you do whether you are writing a financial report to your stockholders, partners, or accountant; your banker to get financing, a venture capital firm, or a report to your customers.

read more | digg story

Tips to Writing a Blog

Here is a good primer on writing a blog. What you should do to get your blog running and filled with solid, interesting content your readers will come back to for more

read more | digg story

Tips for Writing Great Coaching E-Books

Tips for Writing Great Coaching E-BooksNever understimate the power of a well-written word.

read more | digg story

5 Tips For Effortless Writing

Not the writing tips we learn in school, but very practical and does relate to writing your own books or ebooks. Goes into detail about 5 things you can do to get your writing finished and out there to your preferred people.

read more | digg story

Thursday, November 15, 2007

THE GREATEST LETTER EVER WRITTEN BY A WOMAN!

A letter written to Proctor and Gamble. This is factual and true.

read more | digg story

The Greatest Screenplay of All-Time: Top Gun

This clip is Quentin Tarantino explaining why Top Gun is the greatest screenplay ever written. You may have to wait for the video to load.

read more | digg story

A webkinz guide written by kids, for kids

This post was written by two girls, 7 and 9, that is a good example of a written piece.

read more | digg story

Will written text survive as a communication medium?

The survivial of written text. The history of text and answers the question will the written medium survive?

read more | digg story

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Writing Tips for Novel Writing and Planning

A great way to remember how to write efficiently for your novels, character development and planning for success writing piece

read more | digg story

Tips for Writing Good Commercials

How to write good commercial copy. Copy that sells is very important skill to have

read more | digg story

Writing Greeting Cards that Pop!

Consumer tips article on writing greeting cards for loved ones, friends or networking purposes

read more | digg story

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Essay Writing Tips, Berto Style!!

You want to learn how to write a fantastic essay? Just listen and learn from Berto's great advice! Get those tops grades you want when writing your essays.

read more | digg story

Writing a good blog post, Read this or write crap!

Some simple writing tips for better writing, the quality of your posts will go a long way in determining whether your readers come back to your blog, subscribe to your feed and ultimately the success of your blog

read more | digg story

Power Business Plan Writing

Good tips for writing a business plan. Business plans are hugely important and can be the difference between you getting the venture capital funding or bank loan your company needs to survive or grow. So learn how to write a powerful, compelling one.

read more | digg story

Writing Article Tips on Squidoo

Excellent site filled with tips on how to write articles, gives you the edge you need to take your writing to the next level.

read more | digg story

Monday, November 12, 2007

Resume Information - how to construct your resume from the ground up

Here is all the information you need to help you get started in writing your resume. Learn some great resume writing tips and some real examples of resumes you can use as a guide. Make this all important document work for you. COnstructing it the right way goes a long way to you getting results

read more | digg story

Resume Tips from the e-Recruiter.biz

Ideally, your resume should be written to help you be considered for a specific job title. Here is a resume building process for you to follow. What is a resume?- What should a good resume accomplish?- What are the essential parts of a resume?- What is a job objective and why is it important?- What should not be included in a resume?answers to the questions and what you should do are contained in this post.

read more | digg story

Best tips about how to write resume

Looking for a job can be frustrating.In this article, I will list the top 10 tips I think are the most important to use while writing the winning resume. make your resume do what it is supposed to do, get attention and that reclusive interview

read more | digg story

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Top 10 Resume Tips to Get You That Interview!

Did you think about your resume file name when you attached it? What about web bugs embedded in your resume. This is a top-10 list of items that you should think about before sending out your resume. This is a checklist to keep you on track and make sure you have covered all your bases before submitting a resume that would flop. Get that interview by following this blueprint.

read more | digg story

Law Resume Tips That Extend to All Fields and Industries

Your resume is not the place to get creative. Don't try to cram in everything you've ever done by reducing the margins to half an inch or the font type down to 8- or 9-point. Employers have to look at many, many resumes and will not appreciate one that is packed to the limit, making it difficult to read or understand. Save the creativity and your exceptional nature for the interview when you really want to stand out.

read more | digg story

Resume Information That Gets You Started

Here is all the information you need to help you get started in writing your resume. Learn some great resume writing tips and some real examples of resumes you can use as a guide. A veritable treasure trove of info to get you started on your way to successful resume creation...not just any resume but one that gets you results.

read more | digg story

Friday, November 9, 2007

Submitting your writing to publishers

Tips of submitting your manuscripts to publishers and how to get the action and attention you want. It has to be in the proper format. The format they are looking for or else you get tossed in the trash can without even being looked at.

read more | digg story

The Lonely Solitary Craft of Writing

The writer life can be lonely because you sit at your keyboard or typewriter all by yourself banging out your craft and letting the words flow. You have to make that effort to get more involved and seek out opinions and connections within the writing world.

read more | digg story

The Writing Buzz: Inspirations for Elated Writing

I have read many books about writing over the years, and sometimes think I read more about the process of writing than actually writing! This passive theory and instruction can many times take me so far into the abstracts of my mind, that I strip myself of actually learning how I write as an individual.Great list of resources to supercharge your writing.

read more | digg story

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Job Hunting: The Resume

A funny take on writing and presenting a resume. Job hunting told as it is. Hilarious. This has many funny little anecdotes and recalls about how interviewers don't listen, ask questions over and over, and revisit info they should have gotten by reading your well prepared resume.

read more | digg story

How To Make A Resume Without Writing

A new software package that makes interview getting resumes and cover letters for you. This software is for you if: You have no writing skills, don't want to write, don't know where to start with a resume. Has templates of successful resumes that you can flat out steal and use to get that interview you covet.

read more | digg story

The Top Three Mistakes Attorneys Make on Their Resumes

Top three Resume Mistakes which can be affect on your legal career. Vague Explanations of Experienced and Accomplishments, Cluttered with Irrelevant Information this type of Resume Mistakes are straight from Experienced Resume Writers at Legal Resume Writing. These techniques apply to you too, NOT just attorneys!

read more | digg story

How to Construct a Killer Resume, From Start to Finish

Some good tips on resume writing. A comprehensive article that takes you from start to finish on how to construct your resume from scratch. Tells you what not to do (fire up MS word with generic resume template) and what to do. Being specific about your accomplishments and giving real, unique value to the human resource person reading your resume is absolutely essential to getting noticed, attracting their attention and interest, and ultimately getting the 1 thing you crave....THE INTERVIEW!

read more | digg story

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

How to Create a Resume on Squidoo

A Treasure trove of resources, books and good common sense info to jazz up your resume and make it pop. It talks about the importance of your resume, different elements like: objective, introduction, and other highly necessary parts of any successful resume.

read more | digg story

How to Do a Resume

how to do your resume so it gets results and gets the attention of those human resource managers.

read more | digg story

Resume Software - Does it Work?

If creating your resume gives you nightmares then it may be that resume software could help you. These are paid solutions but when you are in a bind they save you loads of time. Also, they provide what you are looking for...a resume that gets you the ONLY RESULT you care about...the INTERVIEW.That is all your resume is supposed to do. That is it's only job. This post talks about the software and how it works.

read more | digg story

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

The Experience Section of Your Resume - Powering it Up for Success

Article discuss how to write Experience Section of Resume like Work History, Dates, Description etc. Experience is going to be important to you getting that interview. And you want to slant, highlight, emphasize the parts of your experience that pertain to the individual job post you want to get the interview for.

read more | digg story

Accomplishments - The Foundation of an Effective Resume

Article discussing how to write accomplishments with impact. How to separate your resume from the rest of the 473 that are sitting on the desk of the human resource person that will decide your fate. This is how you get your resume noticed and get that interview. THe only goal of your resume is to get the interview!That's it! Just get the interview.

read more | digg story

How to Write Successful Federal Government Resumes

A great resource about Federal Resume Writing. Talks about the differences between federal government resumes and regular private industry company resumes.What you want to put in your resume for federal government and what to say when you get into the interview.

read more | digg story

Monday, October 15, 2007

What Makes Good Writing?

Normally there are some rules to whatever kind of piece you are writing. So knowing what the "general rules" are for the type of piece you are writing goes a long way to allowing you to make good writing.

For example:

An outline has rules like you start with your Title. Then you do A, B, then tab over and 1, 2, then tab again for a, b, then yet again for i, ii, etc.

So it looks something like this:

Outline Title
A. Jacks of all Trades
B. Court jesters
1 famliy history
2 being funny and still keeping your head
a. things never to say to your king
b. areas that are good for laughs

So that is a sample of what the general rules for an outline are. Bibliographies, Resumes, Cover letters, novels, fiction, non-fiction, they all have a set of "general rules" or guidelines to follow.

An easy thing to do is Google whatever type of piece you are writing + "rules" on the end of your search phrase.

You can also check out:

American Psychological Association Guidelines

Modern Language Association Guidelines

Those are the 2 most often cited guidelines and recommendations followed when creating the basic writing types.

Once you go beyond these rules it gets interesting. You use them as a skeleton for your piece.

Then you add in appropriate elements. FOr an outline it would be things that resonate with you and reminders of what you wanted to cover in the piece the outline covers.

For a novel you would have the basic format and rules about characters and plot and then you make the characters come alive, adding in mystery, intrigue, betrayal and other basic human emotions that compel people and grip your reader into your story.

The more real you make it the better.

Basically, know what the framework is and then jazz it up in a way that will have greatest impact on the intended reader.

That takes you from mediocre, ineffective writer to good/great writer.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Writing for Writing's Sake

You have to take writing as a skill...and like any skill it has to be developed through practice.

You can do some visualization because it works on athletes same as it works on you.

The best and easiest way is to practice writing...by hand.

What you do is get a piece of writing that is the kind you want. Ex: if you are wanting to write a novel then go get your favorite novel that is the genre you want to write and is extremely well written/done.

Now start copying it by hand.

Get a legal pad and start writing.

COpy the introduction, conclusion, and then I would focus on those chapters that resonated the most with you. The chapters you found most interesting, compelling, and emotionally gripping.

Because those are the authors best work within that book.

This will get you the practice you desire without a bunch of extraneous b.s. and will hone your skills on the best and brighest sections so to speak.

You can do great things.

It has been said, "There is at least 1 book in everyone".

So "Where is your book? What will it be about?"

I have written a book about health and fitness because it is something I have studied for over 10 years going back to my little league baseball days and middle school football.

The way I wrote it was by writing my table of contents first.

I wrote the title for each chapter (therefore what each chapter was about), it guided my writing for each, and I had the amount of pages I wanted the book to be total.

Then I just divided the total number of pages I wanted it to be by the number of chapters I had to give me a rough estimate of how many pages each chapter needed to be.

That is a basic guideline to get you started, keep you focused and give you direction. You are not bound by that number.

SOme of my chapters ran longer and some a little shorter.

The overall number of pages was about 20 more than I wanted at the completion of my writing.

I finished the book in 2 months. I get so tired of hearing people taking 10 years or more to write their books. THat is simply a lack of direction.

Have your plan in place and it will get done fast. That is the key.

So get to practicing and do some copying of great writing and/or some original writing every day!


Powered by ScribeFire.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

What Does Your Writing REally DO?

It speaks to your reader. That is the bottom line.

If you are not speaking directly to your reader's desires you are fighting a losing battle. Your reader, in almost all cases, wants something.

They have a certain want that your reading should fulfill.

So before you write and while you are writing you get into the mind of the reader and speak directly to them.

Imagine being inside their head.

You are talking directly to them in THEIR OWN VOICE. Your words are the sound, tone and actual resonance of their own voice so it has maximum believability.

When you reach that place of nirvana then your writing will be exponentially powerful.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Writing...in Context

Writing in the proper context for your audience is paramount no matter what kind of writing or medium you are using.

Especially for the internet knowing what frame of mind your audience is in and playing to that is the key to connecting with them.

You know how damaging words can be when taken out of context. Jokes work in the face-to-face communication because you have facial expressions, body language & gestures, and tone to use.

All those things in your arsenal make it easy to know when you are kidding, joking, or being sarcastic.

In the written word those kinds of things are much harder to convey. Especially, when you are a guy because using those smiley faces all the time is so gauche.

SO guys lay off the smileys or people might get the wrong idea about you.

Your reader is coming to you because you write fiction, business, or gossip.

Feed that need with the proper context that works for their desires. Make it fun, interesting, and entertaining and they'll love you for life.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Monday, October 8, 2007

What is Champ Writing All About?

Many of you have been asking me that question.

Champ writing is tips and tricks to help you maximize the impact of your writing. Without impact nothing happens. Your writing is dead.

So how do you do that?

First the length of your sentences and paragraphs makes a big difference.

You want to vary the length of your sentences and paragraphs.

Whether you are writing for online or offline makes a huge difference.

Online you want to keep short sentences and paragraphs and leave plenty of white space.

Offline you can use longer sentences and paragraphs but be careful. Make sure they are interesting and hold your reader's attention.

You want to hook them in, and keep them in.

Presentation is as important (if not more so) than the content of your writing.

Poorly presented writing never gets read, even if it's the best content.

Judiciously use white space and separation to make sure your writing is scannable and your reader perceives it will be easy to read.

The 1 long block of text with no paragraph breaks looks imposing so therefore it is.

Structure your writing well and it will connect with your reader on a deep level.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Get to Your POint - Now!

In today's world your reader is overloaded with stimuli and things to do. Schedules are jam packed and noone has excess time to slog through reading a piece that is unclear or doesn't speak directly to what they were looking for.

SO get right to your point immediately.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then conversely a thousand words should be able to paint a picture in your reader's imagination.

However, say only 500 words if that is the minimum required to paint that vivid picture.

Never say more than necessary.

Simple rule.

Like many things in life however, many people find it easy to say and much more difficult to do.

Use vivid language to paint the picture you want in your reader's head or to get them to feel the feelings you want in their heart.

That is how you connect with them.

Do that and your writing will go far and have great impact.

Do it not and your writing will fall flat and be forgotten almost immediately.

State your point fast, well, and vividly and your rewards will be great.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Title, Title, Title - Most Important Thing

The most important piece of your writing is the title. Bar none.

People judge whether to read a newspaper article based on the title. I read the sports page. Obviously, some sports I have no interest in and glaze right over.

Those sports I am interested in (football, baseball, playoff and tournament time in basketball) I read the title or headline of the article to determine if it is worth my time to read.

Your readers will do this with your writing as well.

The title of your article, headline for your news piece, or title/cover for your book are everything.

They have done tests where a book was offered for sale with 1 title that bombed, all they did was rip off the cover and put a new one on the exact same material that was the contents of the book and sales soared by over 500%.

Clearly, you have to catch your intended readers attention AND interest. Without it you are dead in the water.

Salt the oats. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink is b.s. When you salt the oats he eats, then walk him to the water he will drink every time.

The "salt" for your title is some element of mystery, intrigue, curiosity, or magic.

See Spot Run

See Spot's Tale of Woe, Extreme Misadventures

Which of those titles makes you want to read more?

P.S. questions can also be good titles.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Quotes - The Power of Quotes

Quotes have great power on 2 fronts:

1. Quotes as in sayings and annecdotes from famous people that ring true and are memorable
2. Quotes as in the quotation marks that draw people's eyes to whatever is housed within those quotation marks

For some reason the quote marks are "active" and make your writing come alive. It can be an inner monologue you are having, a "question to your reader?", or a famous quote with the person who said/wrote it attributed.

When you see a headline out there in the world for a marketing or advertising piece almost always it is contained within quotes.

"Why is that?"

Because the quotes draw the eyes and it's been proven to get higher response and be read more often.

To intersperse quotes from famous people is a great tactic too. It shows you have researched your topic and is a great break from mountains of same looking and formatted text.

So why dont more people use them?


"Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death." -James Byrnes

Dont be afraid of them, embrace them.

"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't." -Mark Twain

Here's a good one that is very appropriate to you today in the current environment:

"To read a newspaper is to refrain from reading something worthwhile.
The first discipline of education must therefore be to refuse
resolutely to feed the mind with canned chatter." -Aleister Crowley

The news is so canned, trite, and slantedly yellow journalistic you are hard pressed to trust one word they say. If you are and plan to remain a dedicated newshound always ask yourself, "Is what they just said likely to happen or be true or am I just trusting them because they are a famous talking head?"

So sprinkle quotes marks and famous quotes from people into your writing sparingly. Like a fine Indian spice they are potent and will delight the minds and imaginations of your readers.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Brevity is Levity....Levity is Ecstasy

Brevity in your writing is very important.

This fact can never be overstated.

To be boring and longwinded saying 8 words when 2 will suffice is the death knell to your readership and therefore your writing. What is the point of writing if not for your readers?

Keep in mind your reader and his time commitment to reading your piece.

Always provide the value he is looking for.

Especially on the internet when your piece is titled "8 Ways to Spank Your Dog Without Permanently Damaging It" talk about those 8 ways.

Dont start talking about how to massage your dog's feet, clip its toenails, cut its hair, or dye its hair (yes, I saw a news piece and people actually waste their money to dye their dog's hair). Unbelievable I know.

So stay on topic of your piece, title it effectively, and give exactly the value/info you intended to and led your reader to believe from the title you gave. Give a little bit of extra value too.

In our example that would be a super, special, secret bonus tip #9.

You reader will thank you for it and come back for more great tips and info.

Happy writing.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Higher Level Writing Techniques

Today we are going to talk about some of the more fun and interesting things you can do to your writing to jazz it up.

This will get into some intermediate level stuff and take you back to some of your old english classes.

I know for some of you that will be like pulling the teeth of a wounded elephant without getting injured yourself by its bucking and kicking.

So we have something of a challenge on our hands dont we.

Hopefully you noticed what I did in the sentence about the wounded elephant.

No I am NOT TELLING you "dont think of a pink elephant".

We have all done that trick to friends and family and gotten stellar results. Why?

Because the conscious mind doesn't recognize the negatives, words like "not". SO it strips away the "dont" and all that's left is the COMMAND "think of a pink elephant".

Many magicians, illusionists, and excellent performers will use this proven psychological technique to sway the audience and lead them in the direction they want the audience to go.

The sentence about the elephant bucking when you look at it closely is what's called a SIMILE. Similes use the word "like" or "as" to compare to seemingly dissimilar things.

In the sentence I wrote it compared you going back to your old english classes in your mind with pulling the teeth of an unruly, huge and potentially dangerous elephant.

Because that is the level of interest and affinity you had for your old english classes. Many of you would rather pull elephant teeth than go back to english because you just hated it so much.

Another great tool to real spruce up and make your writing exciting is the metaphor. It can be very graphic, vivid, thought provoking, and imagination churning.

Metaphor is when you tell a mini story that compares 2 seemingly dissimilar things. Sounds familiar doesn't it.

That's because it is similar to a SIMILE. The difference is that it doesnt use like or as, the same way that a water buffalo doesnt use humor or negotiation but bitterness and surliness to fend off predators and unwanted approachers.

In a way women have adapted the water buffalo techniques when they deal with that unwanted approach from the nerdy, ugly or socially awkward guy that musters up the courage to approach.

She shoots the evil eye, perhaps even turns away right as he is about to open.

IN the previous sentences I have compared water buffalo to a simile and male/female interaction to the water buffalo's interaction. All of those are clear metaphors that get you thinking about 2 seemingly unrelated things in a meaningful way your mind can use.

The mind is little more than an associative machine. It is always looking to link and associate new information you receive to existing memories/feelings already in there. It does this to get meaning from things you already "understand".

Use these techniques in your writing and you will better connect with your readers and have a greater positive impact on them.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

The Writing Basics That Insure Your Success

THere are certain writing basics that absolutely insure the success of your piece.

First you have to define what is success. What is your goal with the piece? Why are you writing it? What result do you want to get? What are you measuring that tells you the piece was a success?

You have to have something measurable so you can easily and quickly determine whether it was a good, successful piece.

I have harped on it in other pieces here because it is fundamental and so important to your success.

You have to a goal of what you want your writing piece to do before you write it. Then, you have to have some way to measure your results so you know if you accomplished your goal or not.

These 2 things are very critical. You learn to do them well and your writing becomes like shooting fish in a barrel.

It is a guaranteed score for you.

Whenever you can stack the deck in your favor in anything you do in life that is the sweet spot like mother's milk.

Things becoming easier. Life gets better. The air smells sweeter and the sky seems brighter.

You stop the need to struggle and fight against yourself.

Another basic step is to have a mini outline for your piece. In really big pieces or training type pieces I always use a simple outline along the lines of:

How to be a Captain
A. Leadership
B. Communication
C. Eye Patch
1. accessories
2. sword
D. Benefits of Captaindom

Something fairly simple like that to guide your thinking and focus your mind to stay on topic.

Also, it insures you cover all the topic areas that you intended to cover which is very important.

An introduction and conclusion are 2 important basics that "bookend" your writing piece. They should include the main topic of your piece in them stated in a slightly different way from each other.

So in summary, the basics of writing that you need to do are: having your goal in mind for the piece, some way to measure its effectiveness, an outline to guide your work, and the 2 edge pieces your summary and introduction.

We'll talk more again soon.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Monday, October 1, 2007

More Tips for YOur Various Writing Pieces

You now know that first you want to have a clear, defined goal for your writing piece before you begin it.

What do I want this writing piece to do?

When you have that question answered you are ready to rock and roll. Get in there and get the piece written.

When writing a sales piece or persuasive message these are good sample power words:

Free
Now
Attention
Stop
LImited
Limited Time
Limited Quantity
Exclusive
Secret
Discover
Amazing (overused so be careful)
Spectacular
Warning
Breaking News
Breakthrough Revealed


Now for more informative or writing meant to entertain:

Adjectives
Adverbs

things like:

Illuminate
Brilliant
Masterpiece
Irradiant
Deafening
Sumptuous
Delectable
Delightful
Sensory Overload

Those are just some of the colorful and vivid words you can use to spice up your writing.

Like any spices though be sure to "sprinkle" them in and not overload them or your writing becomes trite and seems fake.

That is all for today, see you next time.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Spicing Up Your Writing

Spicing up your writing is an essential thing to do. Giving it flavor, vibrance and life will make people start reading, keep reading all the way to the end, and come back to you begging for more.

So what is more interesting:

See spot run.

or

See the brilliant, muscled Spot galloping in full stride hungrily seeking out the shiny ball that was flung to the outskirts where only he can retrieve it.

Obviously, the second scene is way more vivid and interesting.

What makes Spot brilliant? How huge of a muscle bound dog is he?

Where are they? Who flung the ball? Outskirts of where?

All those questions creep up into your mind haunting as they can be.

That is what makes it interesting and gets you thirsting for more. There is a reason why romance novels aka harlequin novels are the NUMBER 1 sellling book genre in the history of the world.

They have captivated the hearts and imaginations of women for over a century because they are so vividly detailed and just beg a detailed picture right out of the imagination simply by the feelings and images the words on the page evoke.

It is a great craft. An art really to write one.

To us men it is drivel for the most part.

But there is a reason it is so powerful. Because it engages more senses than just the eyes it is more emotional and therefore has greater impact.

It engages the sounds, sights, smells and even feelings inside when you read it. It conjures up some extreme emotional intensity and as an experience is more memorable and powerful than reading a dry technical journal.

Keep in mind the vividness and engaging as many senses as you possibly can with your writing. Make it come alive and the words leap off the page.

ONce you get good at that you will have loyal and grateful readers.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Writing Pieces and Tips for Each --> Part 2 of 2

Novel writing is a whole different animal.

When you are writing your novel:

First and foremost you have to have a scintillating eye catching title that demands attention. Without a fantastic title that hooks people in and rips their interest onto you and away from whatever else they were doing you are doomed. So spend time on this first.

Get your title done first.

Once it is done it will guide your thinking for the rest of the book.

Remember to use alliteration or rhyming in your title (preferrably both) because these type of sounds and word play resonate in the mind and are far more memorable for people.

Of course it has to make sense, build intrigue, mystery and curiosity.

Short is key here to.

I realize that is a great task for a title but people do judge books by their covers. You can write the greatest novel in history and with a dud title none will read it.

That's just a fact of life so deal with it.

The second part of your novel is the body or actual book part.

When you are looking to publish your novel you should only write a basic outline and a few writing snippets.

Snippets are short pieces of writing that show the publishing company's editor your writing style and level of skill.

Publishers as a general rule never buy whole, finished books. There are a number of reasons one of the main ones being the author is too close and too attached to the work already done. Don't make this mistake!!

You'll want to hire a good book agent that has connections. They will usually be expensive in the form of a high percent commission of your advance (money paid to you upfront by the publisher which these days is usually pretty small especially for 1st time authors), and a percentage of your royalties (monies paid to you based on every book that sells).

The royalties are the real beauty of the writing a book, song or any other piece that grows and gains notoriety/mass exposure.

You wrote the piece and now it is paying you over and over because it got popular and people are using it.

Many good agents won't take on 1st time authors so you have to sell your book to your agent first. Prepare a good salesletter in the format agents are used to receiving. Their are services you can hire to write this for you.

Along the same idea as the press release their is a certain format agents and publishers expect so make sure to follow that format or your page goes straight to the trash.

The trash is death and destroys all your hard work.

You are probably thinking "I don't want to pay all that expense, I just want to write my book, send it to the publisher myself and keep all the profits".

That would be a big mistake. The true purpose of a book and especially your first book is to make a name for yourself, build a fan base, and get speaking or other publicity engagements. Your first book builds YOU!

You will make very little money off it because the advance is small and the royalties even smaller. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Neither will your popular best-selling author status.

Once you have 1 successful book though it opens the doors to higher advances and royalties because you are an established name, have a fan base, and publishers know you are a proven commodity and will sell.

From their perspective they have costs involved in production and promotion and want to know their money is being spent on a seller/winner.

Keep this in mind in the beginning.

Once you have your publishing approval based on the title, outline and snippets you wrote now is the hard part.

You have to actually write the damn thing.

You'll want to keep things interesting, intriguing, mysterious and throw curveballs to people in your storyline.

Predictability kills you.

Ask yourself "what are humans interested in?"

WOmen especially are interested in drama, human conflict, relationships, sex, gossip, family issues and turmoil, and the news. And SEX.

Men are interested in violence, gladiator style combat, sex, gossip, championship stories, triumphs, domination. And SEX.

Use these topics and things people are interested in and weave them in your story. All the great movies and novels of our time do this. There's a reason. Because it works.

Follow the formula. It won't let you down.

These are the basics of human psychology and will serve you well.

Be as vivid, imaginative and pictorially descriptive as you can. Describe the sights, sounds, and feeling in great detail.

The 3 main modes people communicate in are: visual, auditory, kinesthetic (feelings).

Use that in your story to engage all types of people.

Keep it interesting, throw in some plot twists, and have a twist in your ending and your novel will be a smashing success.



The next type of writing is cover letters, resumes.

Your goal here is first to GET ATTENTION. Without the attention of the human resources person the battle is lost. Your resume goes right to the trash and your time and energy to make and send it are wasted.

Don't let that be you.

Be different.

Your resume is your marketing piece.

It works for you 24/7 when you do it right. It gets on the recruiter or human resource person's desk and either begins working for you to convince that person to hire you or it falls flat and goes to the trash.

Make it interesting and eye catching.

Don't go crazy with weird colors.

You can use a sligthly different color than white. Use a thick paper stock that is weightier and feels different than the standard stuff the other 5,233 people applying for the job have sent in.

Add a thumbnail photo of you at the top right or top left.

This seems weird and that is the point. Noone else is doing it and the whole goal is to get attention.

Also, it has the double benefit of making you human and helping the recruiter connect with your face. You get out of the 'just job seeker #4675' mode the recruiter may be in.

THey step up and say "hey who is this guy/girl? Obviously this is a good picture, their credentials are good for the job, I am going to call them."

BOOM.

Your resume has accomplished its job.

It only has to do 2 things for you.

1. Get Attention

2. Make recruiter call you

That's it and when you attempt to make it get the job for you that is where you are going to fail. It is 1 sheet of paper and only 1 side of the paper. DOn't make it do too much.

Other creative ideas you can use are to include a link to your youtube video that explains why you'd be good for the job and what value you add to the company.

Very important to "Sell" them on what you bring to the company not a tell all about your skills or why YOU want the job. They don't care about that.

Hiring and firing employees is hugely expensive and companies hate making mistakes.

Sell what you do for them.

You could send a cd or dvd to them and obviously it would be in a different package and size than paper resumes so would get attention. The downside is with all the viruses going around they may not play it out of fear.

If you do this include instructions on what you want them to do and an outline of what is on the disk. Also, include a copy of your paper resume in there so they have something to look at should they choose not to play your cd/dvd.

Also, you could send your resume via UPS/FedEx. Use an overnight envelope or even a somewhat large box. They will be wondering what is this, I have to know.

This will definitely get the person's attention because everyone opens FedEx/UPS envelopes.

ONce, you have their attention you are halfway there.

You can also get on linkedin.com and make connections there to various companies and workers at those companies.

Networking is key in life.

The more people you know the better.

OF course, the more powerful and connected your network is, the more you make and the easier time in life you have.

I have heard many stories from friends and online associates that have used linkedin.com to make a connection and get their foot in the door of recruiter's offices.

Don't underestimate the power of this resource.

There are a thousand other things you can do to get attention that are out of the scope of this post.

Be creative.

Ask yourself, "how can I get the attention of this person that culls through 3245 resumes per day?" "What do all of them do that I can differentiate myself from in a good way to get that phone call?"

Answer these 3 questions and you are a lion's share of the way there.

There are many other types of writing including poems, songwriting, haikus, outlines, bibliographies, nofiction books, tutorials, white papers, training modules, notecards, etc.

You and I will talk about these in upcoming posts so stay tuned.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Writing Pieces and Tips For Each --> Part 1 of 2

Writing is a great and even spiritual experience.

You can bare your soul or just rant and rave about daily life and experiences.

It gives you a platform to do work 1 time, actually writing the piece and then you can talk with thousands or millions of people through your words by promoting it and then them reading it.

It is a highly efficient medium of communication.

In fact, until we get the telepathy thing down it's the most efficient.

There are so many different types of writing you can do and many have different purposes for you.

In any writing you do, before you start ask yourself, "How can I communicate to my reader the messsage I intended to in the fewest words possible"? People love brevity.

You could just be writing in your journal or the web equivalent your blog.

There your goal is to inform the person about your day or life, or convey your expertise about a topic you know or are passionate about. This writing can be very informal and even vulgar.

THen of course there is work related writing.

You write a piece for your company or a report on company metrics. Here your goal is obviously to relay relevant, pertinent company info to your superiors or co-workers. You want them to be able to see the main info at a glance and then be able to dig deeper and take more time should they need or want to read in further.

THese will most likely have many graphs, pie charts, and other pictures to convey the data.

Memos are another work related writing piece.

The goal here is to keep it to 1 page, preferrably half a page. You want it to be read by everyone you send it to. So the shorter the better while still getting your intended message across.


Tomorrow part 2 of Writing Pieces and Tips For Each


Technorati Tags: , ,

Powered by ScribeFire.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Champ Writing Lives!

This is post #1 in your championship writing series.

Writing is such an important skill. The importance of it really cannot be overstated. How and what you write has a vast impact on the amount of people you can reach and how high you can climb in the corporate world.

When you can effectively and compellingly write everything else becomes easy. Jobs and opportunities come to you. People come to you.

It is a great skill that very few people truly master.

Anyone can put down some gibberish. With so many blogs out there many people do publish their gibberish.

Most don't mean to. They are simply ignorant to the fact their writing blows and they need to take steps to learn how to more effectively write so they can become the powerhouse they were meant to be.

Before you write any piece you should ask this 1 overriding all encompassing global question:

What is the purpose of this piece and the result I want it to achieve?

Once you have that clearly defined then your writing will take on a whole new meaning and will start to get things happening for you.

There are over 100,000 new blogs coming online everyday.

Is yours going to stand out or burn out?


Powered by ScribeFire.