Write Well Me

Do you even need to be writing articles?

By Dawn Goldberg

 

Do you ever find yourself jealous of all those people who seem to come out with articles week after week after week....

Do you wonder how they can write all that content?

Whether you have an existing newsletter, ezine, or other way to write and deliver articles, you want this information!

We'll cover

• Whether you need an ezine, or should you just write articles?
• The necessary elements of your ezine
• Basic article elements
• A simple format for laying out your ezine
• How to love your list trade online binary options AKA what the heck do you write?
• Bonus: Creating compelling subject lines

What you'll get:

• 90-minute live teletraining class, including Q&A
• Recording of class
• Ezine Assessment
• Ezine Design checklist
• Love Your List handout

But keep in mind that it's just one of six juicy classes that are going to help you get a handle with a bang on all you need to with planning, writing, and marketing your content.

Buy the entire series and save over buying all six individually. Or pick and choose among your favorites - or where you KNOW you need the help.

 

Find out more about The Essentials of Article Writing and the entire Essentials Series.

 

By the way, if you can't join us live, no worries... I'm recording the class, and when you register, youl get access to EVERYTHING!

[FUEL] The Top 10 Things Writers Are Thankful For

By Dawn Goldberg

While writing may feel like a solitary pursuit, it takes more than one author to get a book or piece published. We all have that model of Real Writer, usually hermit-like, who works at his mahogany desk for hours every day, churning out copious numbers of pages. He then sends the finished manuscript on to his agent, and - voila! - the book is published.

It takes a group effort to get anything finished, and it's the savvy writer who surrounds herself with a team, and who is thankful for said team.

1. Editors. Some writers are great self-editors; some aren't. Even if you are a great editor, don't trust your eyes to review your precious baby. You're too close to it. Instead, bless those amazing people with good editing eyes!

2. Friends and family who support you. Occasionally, it *is* helpful to hear, "So how's that book/website/program coming along?"

3. Social media. You can find even more people who are actually excited that you're a writer. You can ask questions, do research, or just celebrate the fact that you wrote 1000 words today or wrote a marketing email.

4. Computers. Even if you write by hand sometimes or all the time, eventually that piece gets put into a word processing tool. Be grateful for the speed of a keyboard and sometimes-helpful Microsoft spelling tools.

5. Great resources. There are hundreds of writing resources, everything from how to develop characters to how to write sales pages. You don't have to be an expert on every writing strategy, and, as with all art, every craftsperson should be working on her craft.

6. Great writers who have led the way, provide inspiration, and are models for writing that connects. You have your list of favorite writers, those whose writing you admire and drool over. You remember those books and stories that moved you to tears and inspired you to move others to tears. For business owners who market online, there's the sales page that makes you almost green with envy. (Instead of turning green, be thankful for their model.)

7. The world - for its variety of inspiration - from the overheard (sorry!) conversation on the metro to cool, vanity license plates.

8. The ability to take the millions of words available to us and put them in some sort of order that has impact and meaning - and conveying that meaning to people who aren't even in the same room. While everyone can write, if you're drawn to writing and you have some skill, be very thankful for that. Words are powerful, and be grateful for your ability to wield that power.

9. Creativity. It's lovely when it strikes. Just remember that creativity, like everything else, goes in cycles. It's not an always-on technology. Follow your creative energy and acknowledge how grateful you are for it.

10. Readers who read what you write. Without readers, there would be no writers.

May we all be thankful writers.

To get your FREE 13-step Writing From Your Soul system and marketing-from-your-soul tips and resources, just enter your name and email address below!

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Forget Perfect and Stop Trying to Achieve It

By Dawn Goldberg

I love looking through magazines for cool pictures, words, and ideas.  Women's magazines, especially home magazines (Better Homes and Gardens, Real Simple, etc.) are perfect for this.

Articles about simplifying your life and your home and before-and-after pictures are awesome.

But sometimes, they're a bit much.

This picture is of an "after" for a wife of a professional football player who has kids and a house to manage (like many of us).  The decorator came in and organized and redid several rooms, including an all-purpose room, complete with double-duty farm sink, crafts area, computer area, homework station, etc.

My problem with this picture is that this looks all nice and stuff, but how long is that going to last? If you're really going to use this space to repot plants, clean craft supplies and tools, cut flowers... will it really continue to look like this?

Spaces are meant to be used.  Creativity is meant to flourish. Projects are meant to be started, continued, and hopefully completed.  ;->

But if all we see in magazines and tv shows is this kind of clean, no-mess perfection, then we think that's how it has to be... all the time.

And creativity - and projects - and LIFE - do not look like that.

How do you say this word? And how do others say it?

By Dawn Goldberg

So, I was born in Mississippi (in the back seat of a car, by the way, but that's another story), and I moved from Mississippi, to Virginia, to Pennsylvania, where my earliest memories start.  When I was seven, we moved to Oregon, and then when I was eight, we moved to Texas, where I stayed until two years after graduating from college (SMU in Dallas).

I tell you all this to set the stage and explain that the way I say certain words is a bit... odd, depending on where I live, at least. 

In eighth grade, my Algebra teacher called on me for the solution to a problem, and I answered, "Ten."

Snickers galore.

"What?" I said.

"Teeeeeeen," some kids said, drawing out the short "e" sound and putting their noses up in the air. 

"Yes," I said somewhat snottily (I was in eighth grade, remember).  "'Ten' rhymes with 'pen." Not 'tee-in.' It's a one-syllable word." (Even then, I was a grammar and language geek.)

My classmates didn't get it, and I've been made fun of for how I speak since then.  (Here in Maryland, people tell me I have a southern drawl.  Uh, I don't think so.  Go to Texas, and you'll hear what a southern drawl sounds like.)

ANYWAY.... there's a cool article with maps that breaks down how people say certain words, and where they live.

Think caramel, pecan, crayon (really?), lawyer, mayonnaise (another "really?" Isn't there just one way to pronounce "mayonnaise"?)

Where do you fall on the geographic pronounciation line?

[FUEL] Are You Being Confusing in Your Writing? Six Steps to Make Your Writing Clearer

By Dawn Goldberg

The most important aspect of connecting with your audience through words is being clear... Because if you're not clear, your readers certainly won't be.

Look at this box... is it meant for cleaning supplies or lost and found? If I have a lost and found item, is it safe to put in this box? If I put cleaning supplies in this box, will someone thing they're lost items?

It's not clear what this box is used for... and I bet it doesn't get used.

Same thing with your writing: if you try to serve more than one purpose with your writing, you'll just confuse your audience.

No matter what you're writing (self-help books, how-to, fiction, memoir, blog post), you must be clear. Here are six quick steps to go through EVERY time you get ready to write.

1. What’s my purpose? Is it to inform, persuade, question, entertain? What are you trying to do with this piece?

2. Who is my audience? Who are you writing for, and the answer is NOT "Everyone"! And then answer these questions about your audience: What does my audience need to know? and What does my audience already know?

3. What is my voice? Voice is the personality of the writer peeking through the words. You have different writing voices for different kinds of writing. My writing voice for my articles is more formal and professional than my blog writing, which tends to be somewhat humorous and self-deprecating. Know what your voice is going in.

4. What tone is appropriate for this piece? Tone is the state of mind, so to speak, of a piece of writing. So, for example, if I'm writing a rant, the tone might be somewhat harsh and intense. If I'm writing about a soulful journey to Alaska, my tone is going to be more quiet, and awestruck.

5. What is my end result? What do you hope to accomplish with this piece? What do you want the reader to do after he or she finishes reading it?

6. How can I move the reader forward? If you're clear on your purpose and your end result, then give your reader a step at the end... to sign up for more information, to buy the next book in the series, to get a resource off the website...

That’s exactly what I had to do when I wrote this article. I had to figure out my purpose (give information), think about who my audience was (you, more than likely an entrepreneur and business owner), what you needed to know (based on my research and expertise about the problems I see with my clients and their struggles with writing), and what you already know (which could be all across the board). My company philosophy and voice is one of creating safe (and sometimes fun) environments for people to become more comfortable with writing.

As far as moving you forward, I have a handy-dandy worksheet I created to take you through each of these steps. If you'd like a copy, just be in touch with me at dawn at write well u dot com. :)

 

To get your FREE 13-step Writing From Your Soul system and marketing-from-your-soul tips and resources, just enter your name and email address below!

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Is blogging a thorn in your side? It doesn't have to be...

Just a quick reminder that today is the live class, Essentials of Blogging, part of the Essentials Series: Content Planning, Writing, and Marketing.

If you're not writing on your blog nearly as much as you want to... if it feels as if it's a huge weight on your shoulder... if you design blog posts in your head, but they never make it to the actual blog.... know that I've been EXACTLY where you are.

And since my business is all about writing and helping others to write more easily and from their souls, I've had to figure this thorny problem out!

Join me today (or register and get the recording and the handouts if you can't make the live class), and I'll share with you the systems I've created as well as the exercises and tools I use myself to make blogging easier and no longer a thorn. :)

(Or not as much of a thorn, anyway!)

Here's a snapshot of some of the tools, exercises, and worksheets I'll be sharing on the Essentials of Blogging class...

 

We'll cover

• Multiple formats for writing blogs (Hint: it doesn't have to be this long, drawn-out thing)
• How to write lots of blog posts - consistently and easily
• Strategies to get the most out of your blog so that it works for you in all sorts of ways
• How to come up with a list of topic areas that fit your unique brand and showcase you as an expert in these areas

What you'll get:

• 90-minute live teletraining class, including Q&A
• What Is Your Blogging Hook? exercise
• Blogging Topics worksheet
• Blog Brainstorming Blowout exercise

Keep in mind that it's just one of six juicy classes that are going to help you get a handle with a bang on all you need to with planning, writing, and marketing your content.

Buy the entire series and save over buying all six individually. Or pick and choose among your favorites - or where you KNOW you need the help.

 

Find out more about The Essentials of Blogging and the entire Essentials Series.

 

I'm looking forward to sharing with you all I've learned in the last SEVEN years and 900+ posts of my blogging experience. :)

Lessons from Seth Godin's Linchpin - Lesson 2: Just Ship

Lesson #2 from Seth Godin's Linchpin (See Lesson 1 here) - The most important thing is to ship. Here's the excerpt:

The only purpose of starting is to finish, and whie the projects we do are never finished, they must ship. Shipping means hitting the publish button on your blog, showing a presentation to the sales team, answering the phone, selling the muffins, sending out your references. Shipping is the collision between your work and the outside world.  The French refer to esprit d'escalier, the clever comeback that you think of a few minutes after the moment has passed.  This is unshipped insight, and it doesn't count for much.

Shipping something out the door, doing it regularly, wthout hassle, emergency, or fear - this is a rare skill, something that meks you indispensable.

Seth goes on to explain the challenges and the reason, but what I really want to concentrate on is the how.

There's the saying, "Ready, fire, aim." In other words, just put it out there.  To riff off Lesson 1, if you wait until it's perfect, you'll never ship.

I frequently use the following anecdote with my writing coaching clients: William Wordsworth HATED to publish his works because once he did, they were dead to him.  He couldn't make any more edits or changes.  If they weren't published, they were still alive. But if they weren't published, no one else could ever see them.  They never shipped.

So, just put it out there, and clean up any mistakes as you go. Schedule the start of the new program, and I betcha you'll have it all figured out by day 1.  Give the first class, and you can always re-record.  Or you can re-purpose and re-use and do it again.  And record it that time.  You can always have a beta version. 

Just ship it.

Blogging... Boon or bane of your business?

I have to say that the challenge I hear over and over most often from clients and colleagues is that they have SUCH a hard time writing on their blogs.

And blogging should be easy... it's shorter, less formal, more conversational, allows you to connect and interact with your community...

So, why is it so hard?

I'll give you one answer right now: it's because - for some odd reason - we attach so much importance to it. This thing that seems to be easy carries so much weight - or so we think.

The trick is to let go, not be so attached, and write - often.

I have to say that this whole blogging problem is one of the main reasons I created the Essentials Series: Content Planning, Writing, and Marketing. I kept hearing from person after person about how it's so hard to write blog posts, how they're NOT writing blogs posts, and how they can't get motivated to write blog posts. (Three different issues.)

That's what we'll be covering in Thursday's Essentials of Blogging class, one of six rich classes in the entire Essentials Series: Content Planning, Writing, and Marketing.

We'll cover

• Multiple formats for writing blogs (Hint: it doesn't have to be this long, drawn-out thing)
• How to write lots of blog posts - consistently and easily
• Strategies to get the most out of your blog so that it works for you in all sorts of ways
• How to come up with a list of topic areas that fit your unique brand and showcase you as an expert in these areas

What you'll get:

• 90-minute live teletraining class, including Q&A
• Your Blogging Hook exercise
• Blogging Topics worksheet
• Blog Brainstorming exercise

But keep in mind that it's just one of six juicy classes that are going to help you get a handle with a bang on all you need to with planning, writing, and marketing your content.

Buy the entire series and save over buying all six individually. Or pick and choose among your favorites - or where you KNOW you need the help.

 

Find out more about The Essentials of Content on Your Website and the entire Essentials Series.

 

By the way, if you can't join us live, no worries... I'm recording the class, and when you register, youl get access to EVERYTHING!

Lessons from Seth Godin's Linchpin - Lesson 1: The Search for Perfect

I've been reading Seth Godin's Linchpin for a while (I do enjoy it, but I've also been mesmerized by Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.  She wins over Seth a lot of times :).

In Linchpin, Seth talks about how it's more important to be indispensable - a linchpin - rather than an easily replaceable cog in the wheel. 

There are all sorts of gems in here, and the first is about being perfect.  Here's what he says:

"How many of your coworkers spend all day in search of perfect?

Or, more accurately, spend all day trying to avoid making a mistake? These are very different things.  Defect-free is what people are often in search of.  Meeting spec. Blameless.

We've been trained since first grade to avoid mistakes. The goal of any test, after all, is to get 100 percent. No mistakes. Get nothing wrong, and you get an A, right?

Read someone's resume, and discover twenty years of extraordinary exploits and one typo.  Which are you going to mention first?

We hire for perfect, we manage for perfect, we measure for perfect, and we reward for perfect.

So why are we surprised that people spend their precious minutes of self-directed, focused work time trying to achieve perfect?

The problem is simple: Art is never defect-free. Things that are remarkable never meet spec, because that would make them standardized, not worth talking about."

There is so much we could talk about here!!

First, the idea that things that are remarkable never meet spec.  I believe that one reason that's true is that remarkable things have no models.  Specs and standardization come well after remarkable. 

But we - as consumers - want remarkable.  Why do you think Apple has been so successful?  Because their products were remarkable - due mostly because they never existed before.

And then there's the idea that art is never defect-free. And sometimes those "defects" are what make something valuable and remarkable.  Think of the upside-down Jenny stamp.  It is the most valuable stamp because it came from a single run - a mistake - where one sheet of stamps was printed upside down. 

How can you be remarkable?

Real people work in customer service

By Dawn Goldberg

I love clever writing, not just for fiction, but for companies and customer service.

We want to do business with companies we know, like, and trust.  I'll take it a step farther and say that we like to do business with PEOPLE.

So, when a company has very clever writing, you know a real person wrote it.  (Yes, real people write the stuff that sounds robotic, but it sounds... robotic.)

Here's a recent favorite example from Wordle.net, an online tool that allows you to make really cool word-based graphics. This is taken from a question on their FAQ page.

Could you remove or change the name of the “Sexsmith” font? I don't want my students to see it.

Yes, with pleasure. First, please write to the musician Ron Sexsmith, after whom the font is named, and get him to change his name. You may also want to write to Sexsmith, Alberta, Canada, and see if you can get them to change their name before any of your students inadvertently consult a map. Christian rocker Paula Sexsmith ought to be in your sights as well; don't let her feel left out. Take a slapshot at goalie Tyson Sexsmith, while you're at it.

“Sexsmith” is a common surname and placename, especially in Canada. It's analogous to “Shoemaker”, “Fletcher”, or just plain “Smith”; it's a profession. A “seax smith” was someone who made seaxes.

The place-names Middlesex, Essex, Sussex, etc., all derive their names from the seax.

If the children of Boston and its suburbs can grow up in Middlesex county, perhaps giggling occasionally at the mention of the sheriff or courthouse thereof in local news broadcasts or 5th-grade geography lessons, then I believe that the children of the world can weather the mere sight of those letters, in that context. Good luck!

To find more fun writing from real people, visit the rest of Wordle.net's FAQ.

10 Things I Learned in Alaska

By Dawn Goldberg

My recent trip to Alaska with Mark was out of this world.  I had always heard people talk about how majestic it is and how it's the ultimate place to see.

But actually being there is a whole lot different than hearing how amazing it is.

While I probably can't in any way convey the awesomeness, bigness, out-of-this-worldness, I can at least share the top 10 things I learned in Alaska.

1. The real purpose of napkin rings.  Because everything is so expensive in Alaska, you make do with what you have and come up with some rather innovative ways to save money.  I noticed Mark's stepmother didn't use paper napkins; instead, we used lovely Vera napkins.  Now, if you've only eaten a muffin, and you delicately wipe your mouth, there's no need to wash the napkin.  But how do you remember which one is yours? I mentioned how we could adopt the cloth napkins (not just for formal dinners!), and I could easily embroider our initials on each napkin (easy since the four of us have four different initials). Irene looked at me and said, "That's what napkin rings are for."  Oh.  I always thought they were for formal settings, but there actually is a practicaly reason, not just an aesthetic one.  (Hint: you buy different napkin ring holders, and everyone picks his or her favorite, like wine charms.)

2. Tides are important.  For all sorts of reasons, including leaving your boat moored until the next day and how you're going to get it.  Plus, there are sneaky reefs that are more dangerous the lower the tide. 


3. Creatures live in the wild, both land and sea, not just in zoos.  The biggest lesson was when we were rowing to Mark's island.  It was a calm day, and since we were rowing and didn't have a motor, it was very quiet.  Suddenly, from ten feet away, a HUGE sea lion (about 10-12 feet long), smoothly pokes his head out of the water and makes this loud "Whoosh" sound.  He probably just wanted to see what the heck we were doing (and to see if we had any fish, I imagine).  He dove back in.  He came back up a few more times, somewhat parallelling us.  It freaked me out, considering he was much larger than us and even the boat.  Then there were eagles every day, but I was a bit annoyed with them that they wouldn't just stop and let me admire them.  No bears, though, although we heard plenty of stories.


4. So, what do you call someone who loves land as opposed to the water?  I always thought it was "land lovers" (crazy thought, I know), but while in Alaska and reading my Diana Gabaldon book, I saw the word "landlubbers." And THAT is the right word (that "b" can be easily mistaken for a "v," and lovers of land makes sense).  True definition of landlubber: an unseasoned sailor or someone unfamiliar with the sea.

5. Rubber boots (also called Southeast Slippers) are not an optional part of one's wardrobe in coastal Alaska.  It rains a lot, and then sometimes you actually want to get on a boat.  Everyone wears them, from adults to teenagers to little kids. 


6. Lots of outfits? What's the point? I didn't need near the number of shirts and pants I brought, as well as nice shoes.  I just needed sweat pants and sweat shirts I didn't mind getting dirty.  And then maybe one nice shirt.  Next time I'll leave more clothes at home.

7. Out the road. I don't know if this is particular to Alaska or at least Sitka, Alaska, but there are two major roads.  When you go down the one road, you're going "out the road."  Now, back here in Maryland, Mark says up the road, down the road, on the road.  Nary an "out the road" here.  I haven't quite figured out that one.

8. Fish die. You know that science fact about salmon swimming upstream, spawning, and then dying? Guess what? They die.  And the rivers are filled with dead and dying fish.


9. Stuff is really expensive in Alaska, especially in Sitka because it's only accessible by plane or boat, not roads.  A half gallon of Half and Half is maybe $4 at our local grocery store in Maryland.  Almost $7 in Sitka.  A jalapeno yogurt dip that we get for $7 at Costco is $15 in Sitka.

10. Alaska is a salve for the soul.  It's amazing. I felt so much more in touch with nature.  When these huge mountains thrust themselves out of the sea and tower above you, you can't help but feel insignificant.  And, as weird as it sounds, there's a comfort in that.  Here on the east coast, it's easy to see the damage that humans do to the land with overdevelopment, smog, concrete, trees ripped down.... In Alaska, it would take a lot for humans to cause so much damage that humans overshadowed nature.