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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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