Writing, Copywriting, & Marketing Strategies
Whether you’re writing a blog post, a sales page, a short story, or even a book, you have something of value you want to share with your readers.
Maybe you have an incredible productivity tip that will help them finally achieve their goals or maybe it’s a fantastic product that will make their lives easier or maybe it’s a personal story that will help them feel less alone in their struggles. [Read more…]
Stephen King observed in his memoir On Writing,
“If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that. Reading is the creative center of a writer’s life.”
Of course, all different kinds of books can help you develop your skills as a writer. Well-written novels can show you how to tell gripping stories and paint vivid pictures with your words. Motivational books about writing can help you develop your confidence and find your voice.
But in today’s article, I’m sharing twelve books that focus specifically on teaching you how to strengthen your skills as a writer and storyteller. They get into the nuts and bolts of how to structure and edit your writing so it will captivate your readers. [Read more…]
Imagine your computer keyboard has started acting up or an appliance in your house has broken. Ugh!
If you’re like me, one of the first things you do is head to Google to see if there’s a tutorial that will help you fix the problem on your own.
You scroll through the search results, and one of the articles looks promising. You click it and begin reading, hoping it will help you.
But the author starts using technical terms and jargon you don’t understand. Your head begins to swim.
You don’t finish reading and, instead, quickly click away to another article so you don’t waste any more time.
Why did the author lose your attention?
Well, those jargon words and technical terms probably made you feel like you were trudging through a bog, rather than effortlessly sliding from one sentence to the next.
Are your readers having a similar experience when they read your writing? [Read more…]
These past few months I haven’t had a chance to write on the blog because I’ve been preparing for a big adventure. I’m moving to North Carolina!
It still feels strange to write that though the moving date is now days away. I’ve lived in New York my whole life so it hasn’t quite sunk in yet that I’ll soon be calling another state home.
But I’m excited for what the future holds, and I can’t wait to get past the craziness of moving.
This move so far has felt like a crash-course in becoming a minimalist. My parents are selling their house and moving to North Carolina too, and we simply can’t take everything with us.
So we’ve had garage sales, given away or donated furniture and books, and thrown out everything else that won’t fit in the moving truck. [Read more…]
The other day, I was checking my email when I came across a suspicious looking message. It began with the line, “Dear Sir/Madam.”
The first paragraph read,
Please pardon me if I intrude into your privacy, and may I humbly solicit your confidence in this transaction. I came to know about you in my private search for a reliable and reputable foreigner to handle this confidential transaction.
Wow, that writing sounds like something straight out of a Dickens novel. I quickly clicked delete, suspecting that this was a phishing scam.
You’ve probably received emails like this too. And maybe you’ve also chuckled at their standoffish, overly formal tone. It seems to be a trademark of these types of spam emails.
However, not too long ago, no one would have laughed at that style of writing. It’s the style most people would have used if they wanted to come across as polite and professional.
In fact, your English teacher probably taught you a similar academic style when you were in school. Flowery language. Long paragraphs. Precise grammar. No contractions.
And then came the Internet. Over time, everyone from bloggers to big corporations realized that a conversational style of writing is a much more powerful way to engage and connect with your audience. [Read more…]