Writer’s Block Cures

Andrea Goulet has some great ideas to counter writer’s block. Fifty, in fact.

Check them out.

Things like people watching to mood lighting changes may seem basic and even new-age-ish. But some are useful to get the mental picture sharper, before you go to paper or keyboard.

Killing fluff -a short laundry list

Reputation. Reasoning. Responses. Our writing has a huge influence on them.

I am working on an article about the ‘fluff’ that creeps into resumes, and why the format is in need of an overhaul. I came across this quote in Writer’s Digest: “Unless you’re doing laundry, you’re not allowed to fluff.”

To which I would like to add:

• Unless you’re calling in to the Rush Limbaugh show, you’re not allowed to use circumlocutory arguments.
• Unless you’re wordsmithing legal copy for the back of a cholesterol-reducing drug ad, you’re not allowed to write long, entangled sentences provoke zero emotional response.

Does blogging pay?

Famous question. There’s a famous answer to go with it –the one I hate– and that is “It depends.”

Having said that, here are some rates that Bloggers are asking.

• How much money should you make on blogging.
• They could be as low as $5 per post, to as high as $500 a month.
• Others pay on the basis of page views.

Shel Holtz Workshop in April

IABC Phoenix is bringing back the Shel Holtz. Which means another jam-packed session on social media for IABCers and non members. I attended the last one in 2006, so I highly recommend this.

Shel isn’t just an authority on social media, he’s a hands-on user. If you read his blog, or listen to his podcast (co-hosted with Neville Hobson also an IABC member) you’ll see. Things move way to fast in the social media space. You’ll learn to not just keep up with all those flavors of social media -the RSS, the wikis, the avatars –but how put some of them to good use.

The Topic: Communications & Social Media: Next Steps

When: April 8th, 2008

Cost: $40 for IABC members  ($125 for non members)

Register: Here

Journalists approve of social media

Journalists are not as fearful or pessimistic of the new media as some make it seem.  Pew Research study just out finds that journalists do approve of the changes taking place in their business model.

Considering the impact of the internet and social media on their business model, local and national journalists have given new media a vote of approval.

The study was done with 585 national and local reporters, producers and media executives.

Writing for the connected "Mediasphere"

I used this example to illustrated a connected mediasphere, and how writers need to consider the non-linear nature distribution (and consumption) of content when they write.

Thanks to Marcom Interactive for this map of the Modern Mediasphere.

Finding your niche

Maybe you want to write for a print publication, but have no clips to show. How do you pitch them?

A good place to start is to check out to what extent they cover the territory. Since any territory, be it business, health care, finance,  entrepreneurship, keeps changing all the time, you will soon see some gaps. Many publications try to create fresh content online, too and here you’ll find more slots that are waiting to be filled. They know that there’s little value today in regurgitating content for online readers from the from print version.

If there is one, start with the print version, and scrutinize what ‘departments’ you would best fit into. What angles might you write about within these departments? Go over back issues and see if you can identify the writers’ ‘beats’ and if there are different writers covering print and online. Maybe there’s an overlap, maybe not. Go after the niches. If they do a lot on direct marketing, see if they’re covering opt-in, on-demand, issues about privacy etc.

There could be several reasons why these gaps could exist. The online and print readership profile may slightly different. The online business model may be still being “worked on,” the editor may be stretched…which means he/she is looking for fresh ideas. It never hurts to ask. Editors appreciate someone who’s taken time to do some due diligence and offer solutions. I got two assignments by doing just that.

Time & Tone of voice

At the workshop, the question arose as to how much time in a week should someone allocate to writing. I thought of addressing this here as it is a blogging 101 question.

Instead of giving the usual “it depends” let me put it this way. Think of a blog as a space a to take down notes. This would mean staying logged in through the day, and writing short posts whenever you feel inspired. People tend to forget the “journal” roots of a what was once called a web-log, and think too much about the “publishing” side of it. Log your thoughts twice of thrice a day, and chances are, if you are only journaling what you are passionate about, you’ll hit your stride in a couple of weeks. If you’re the kind who would prefer to log your thoughts remotely, there are some solutions –emailing your blog from your mobile phone, for instance is one of them. Only when you are satisfied with the content, should you hit the “publish” button.

Connected to hitting your stride, is finding your voice. What attitude would you bring to your journal? Are you a critic (there are millions of them out there,) a cynic, an analytical person, an objective voice, or a curator of information? The latter has been defined by Steve Rubel as selfless subject matter experts, sherpas and guides for a world facing information overload.

The look of your blog. Why it matters

Writers don’t always pay enough attention to design. Writers getting into social media, should too.

“If you really want to show how much you care about your readers, your niche and your blog, your next step should be concerned with what your blog actually looks like,” says Nancy Williams.

She has good advice on picking a theme and a template that suits the purpose of the blog.

Choose your words carefully

Writing comes easy to many -we all write loads of emails, don’t we?- but writing to a targeted audience doesn’t come naturally. Writing for new media, is someting else entirely.

In a recent workshop I shared four principles worth keeping in mind when writing today.

• Write the way they speak
• Write the way they think
• Word paint
• Cut to the chase

To take up just one of these, consider how E. J. Montini, writing for The Arizona Republic, word paints:

“If Arizona’s summer monsoon were an affair, it would end with an unshaven, disoriented man standing in the middle of a debris-strewn street, watching an exotic woman speed off in a convertible. He stares blankly as she disappears in the distance, secretly wishing that she would stop and turn around.”

Amazing choice of words: a convertible, an unshaven man, a street scene described like the opening of an Arthur Miller play.

Good writers pay attention to the pauses and the sounds that add color to the picture.