The Write Blog
PREVENT PROCRASTINATION: HOW TO GET THE JOB DONE WITHOUT WAITING UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE
Writers are known procrastinators. Whether we’re afraid our ideas won’t be good enough, or we’re waiting for inspiration to strike, we tend to set ourselves up for stress by waiting until the last-possible minute to begin serious work on our projects. But it is possible to break away from this pattern. Whether you have an […]
REDUNDANT AND REPETITIVE
There is a lot to be said of brevity. Shakespeare wrote somewhat ironically through the mouthpiece of the long-winded Polonius in Hamlet that “brevity is the soul of wit.” And William Strunk reminds us in Elements of Style that “A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason […]
SILENCING THE “EDITOR WITHIN”
One of the most difficult parts of writing – even if you write all day, every day – is learning to ignore your internal editor when you’re working on a first draft. Even now, as I start writing, I can hear the nagging voice of doubt that makes it difficult to put words on paper. […]
IN OTHER WORDS . . .
When you work with words every day, it’s not always easy to keep your vocabulary fresh. I’m a word junkie. I’d like to think that I’m a formidable Scrabble opponent. I even have one of those dorky word-a-day calendars on my desk. But, like any other writer, I occasionally slip into a word choice wasteland […]
“IRREGARDLESS” IS NOT A WORD
Sometimes when trying to achieve a fun, casual tone in writing, especially important in many marketing and sales projects, it’s usually best to write the same way we talk, right? Wrong. Our speech is riddled with poor grammar and misused words because we don’t have the advantage of editing our words as we speak (but […]
THE ART OF ASKING QUESTIONS
After completing my first feature-length article, I received a mini-lesson on the art of asking questions in your writing to keep the reader’s interest. In order to be effective and engaging, each paragraph should begin and end with a question – not literally, of course – a sort of literary catapult that moves the reader, […]
BEAT THE BLOCK
In the world of writing, writer’s block is an inevitable beast even the most valiant of writers must take on. After all, writing full time is not for the faint of heart. Luckily, there are a few tricks of the trade to keep the brain functioning and the creativity flowing even when the ugly beast […]
STAMP OUT WIMPY VERBS
Any good writer will tell you to build your sentences on verbs. It’s not nouns or adverbs or adjectives that make your prose shine. When it comes to great writing, the verb is the powerhouse. OK, so write with verbs. That sounds easy enough. But as with all things writing, wrapping your sentences around verbs […]
DON’T SELL THE CAR. SELL THE NISSAN.
Imagine you walk into an auto dealership, and the salesman walks up to you and says “Hey, we got these great cars! They can take you from home to work much faster than a bicycle, and did you know that almost everyone in the US owns at least one?” You’d look at him like he […]
HOW TO GET THE BEST COPYWRITER FOR YOUR DOLLAR
I sympathize with anyone who has to shop for copywriters. We come in such a wide variety of skill levels, prices, and personalities that it’s almost impossible to compare apples to apples. You, as the customer, obviously want to get the most bang for your buck. You figure that the dirt cheap copywriters ($35 a […]