The Importance Of Curiosity When Creating Bullets

A guest post By Sean D’Souza of Psychotactics.com

Step into a bookstore, step into the business section and pull out a book. Then flip the book to the back cover. And here’s what you’re sure to find on almost every business book. Yup you guessed it. You find bullets.

And there’s a reason why bullets make it to the back cover of a book
It’s because you tend to read the title, then the subtitle (on the front cover) and then flip the book to get a gist of the book. Yes there’s the yada, yada about the book on the back cover. Yes, there’s an index. Yes, there’s a contents page, but you ignore most of the yada, yada and head for the bullets.

And you do so, because bullets are like flashing Christmas lights
They flash because of their ability to create curiosity. And not just some amount of curiosity, but a massive amount of curiosity. So here I’ve got a book on my desk that’s about podcasting. And at the very top of the back cover are these bullets.

* How to find and download audio and video podcasts to your computer or portable media player
* How to develop, format, produce, edit, encode, and upload your audio or video podcast, including in-depth information on using music legally
* How to set up an effective audio studio, including the complete and updated “The podcast studio buyer’s guide”
* How to create great video, including tricks of the trade such as the law of thirds, the line, and the three-point light
technique, as well as tips on casting, locations, scheduling, and more
* How people are marketing and making money through podcasting in the era of Web 2.0

Notice how they’ve put the entire guts of the book in those four or five lines?
And notice how each of those points started with a ‘how’ statement?

So let’s tackle those two ideas one at a time.
Idea 1: Notice how each of those points started with a ‘how’ statement?
Idea 2: Notice how they’ve put the entire guts of the book in those four or five lines?

Idea 1: Notice how each of those points started with a ‘how’ statement?
It doesn’t matter what the line, if you put the word ‘how’ before it, it instantly becomes interesting and curious.

e.g I went to Ireland this summer
With “how”: How I went to Ireland this summer.

e.g. I make butter chicken.
With “how”: How I make butter chicken.

Of course you can always add a “why”.
e.g. I make butter chicken.
With “how”: How I make butter chicken.
With “why”: Why I make butter chicken.

e.g. I went to Ireland this summer
With “how”: How I went to Ireland this summer.
With “why”: Why I went to Ireland this summer.

Of course you need to tidy up your sentences so that they’re not as boring as the ones above, but you do get the point, right? The only question that does remain is how do you get all of these sentences. And the clue lies in Idea 2.

Idea 2: Notice how they’ve put the entire guts of the book in those four or five lines?
So take your entire book or course, or speech, or whatever. Split it up into distinct parts. e.g. The Brain Audit has seven parts so it could be split into seven distinct parts, but hey you could choose seven or you could choose five.

Then pull out something from each part to describe what the reader could get from that part.

So in The Brain Audit Book the bullets read like this:
1) How to instantly get (and keep) the attention of the customer.
2) The roller coaster sequence (and why it matters when selling).
3) How to create a uniqueness factor in a matter of days.
4) How to know if a customer is really interested in your offering.
5) Why benefits and solutions aren’t the most effective way to sell.

Each of those bullets represents a different part of the book.
And each of them have a simple ‘how’ and ‘why’ structure to get and keep attention. In fact this same technique that you see at the back of a book, can be used for any promotion, be it a sales page, an event, a speaking engagement, product or service.

The fundamentals are simple.
Take your product/service. Split it into five/seven parts and pull out the most important highlights/benefits.
Take those highlights/benefits and put a ‘why’ or ‘how’ before it.

And there you have it: a whole bunch of bullets.

And that’s how you make your product/service or course stand out. Like flashing Christmas lights.

Sean D’Souza is a writer, marketing guru and expert on sales psychology. Read more by Sean on Psychotactics.com

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Categories: copywriting, Craft

Mastering Words: Transform Your Writing Weakness into Strength

A guest post by Angela Ackerman of The Bookshelf Muse

Each day, we seek to put our best foot forward. We shower, dress for the day’s activities, style our hair. We plan, organize, gather our things, and check the mirror before leaving to pluck stray fluff off our sweaters and straighten sleeves.

Why?

To enhance our strengths. To appear confident. To show the people who interact with us that we are collected and ready for whatever comes our way.

It’s human nature to minimize our weaknesses. We hide zits, disguise thinning hair and avoid talking about our embarrassing mistakes. But in writing, covering up flaws can keep us from success.

Attitude

All writers shares a common epiphany on the writing path. I call it Staring Into The Abyss. This experience happens when our writing has strengthened to the point where blissful ignorance rubs away and we begin to realize just how much we don’t know.

It’s a dark moment, a bleak moment. We feel shock. Frustration. Despair. Some stop right there on the path, their writing spirits broken. Others take a micro-step forward, progressing toward the most important stages leading to growth: acceptance and determination.

Once we come to terms with what we don’t know, we can set out to learn. Taking on the attitude of a Learner is what separates an amateur from a PRO.

Asking for help

Writers can strengthen their skills on their own, but it’s a lot of hard work. Reaching out to other writers will shorten the learning curve considerably. Critique partners can help identify your weak areas and offer strategies to improve. They also will know of resources which might help.

There are many great sites for writers to find a critique partner or two. I recommend The Critique Circle (free & safe to post work). There are also sites like Absolute Write, Critters Workshop and Agent Query’s Critique Partner Wanted board. Or let someone play matchmaker for you: Ladies Who Critique & Rach Writes.

Read

No matter what areas need to be worked on, books can help. Find inspiration through your favorite fiction authors and in ‘how to’ books (here’s a good list to start on). Pick up a few and take notes. If you can, pair up with another writer to read the same book and then discuss it. Learning together gives you a better chance to fully understand any topic.

Resources, resources, resources

There are thousands of articles on writing that can teach strong writing technique. Plotting, Story Structure, Voice, Description, Showing vs Telling, Style, Dialogue, Characters…whatever areas you want to develop, there is content out there to help you.

The trick is finding the best nuggets of information without losing your whole day online. Try this Search Engine for Writers for starters. Then, bookmark The Writers Resource which is a must-have for any writer. And saving the best for last, turn your gaze to the sidebar! Write to Done is a treasure trove of fantastic material for writers.

Think outside the monitor

Many of us are introverts, and it’s easy to get caught up on the keyboard and screen. There’s nothing wrong with this, unless your rectangular life preserver is holding you back. Writing Groups, Conferences, Work Shops and Retreats are all excellent opportunities to hone writing skills and meet mentors. Writing events need not be expensive–get involved in a local writing group and see what events have a low or no cost for members.

When you’re looking for opportunities to learn, don’t forget the movies. So much can be gleaned by watching films to see what makes them work. In fact, some of our biggest epiphanies as writers will come from studying screenwriting. I highly recommend reading Save the Cat & Writing Screenplays that Sell. These books are pure gold. Trust me, your writing will thank you!

Write and rewrite

Transforming writing weaknesses into strengths takes time. Choose learning strategies that work best for you and never stop writing. Each step of the way, apply new-found knowledge to the page. We learn most of all by doing, so always make time to write.

Angela Ackerman writes on the darker side of MG & YA. She blogs at The Bookshelf Muse, a description resource hub for writers. Her book, The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression is scheduled for release in April 2012.
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Categories: Craft, Creativity, Fiction, Habits, Productivity - Tags: critique groups, publication, writing, writing strengths, writing weaknesses

Eight Simple Tips for Editing Your Own Work

A guest post by Ali Luke of Aliventures.com

One key factor that separates mediocre writers from good ones (and even good from great) is the quality of their editing.

If you’re working for a big magazine or publishing house, you’ll have an editor who goes through your work, checks for any clumsy or ambiguous phrasing, and fixes any typos – but if you’re working on your first novel, or publishing posts to a blog, you’re almost certainly going to be on your own.

It’s hard to edit your own work. You might end up skipping editing altogether because you hate it – or you might spend hours trying to get a piece right. These eight tips will help you develop your editing skills:

#1: Don’t Edit While You’re Writing

You’ve probably heard this one time and time again: don’t stop to edit while you’re writing. It’s great advice, though many writers find it hard to stick to.

It’s fine to pause and correct a typo, or restart a sentence, while you’re creating the first draft – but don’t keep going back to delete whole sentences or paragraphs.

If you really struggle to write without editing, try Write or Die, which forces you to make forwards progress by deleting your words if you stop typing for too long.

#2: Put Your Work Aside for a Few Days

Try to build extra time into your writing schedule, so that you can let your work sit before editing. With a short piece like a blog post, a day away from it – or even a few hours – is enough. If you’ve written a whole novel, try to put it aside for at least a week or two before starting the editing process.

By doing this, you make it easier to see your work afresh. You’ll come up with new ideas, and you’ll find that you can spot chapters that don’t fit, plot holes, inconsistent characterization and other big-picture problems.

#3: Read Through in a Different Format

Physically turning your words into a different format can help you spot problems or mistakes more easily. You might want to print out a blog post before editing it, or transfer your novel manuscript onto an e-reader device.

Often, it’s useful to take a look at your work in its published form (or as close to it as you can get). If you’ve got a blog post, for instance, you might use your blog platform’s “preview†function to check it out. If you’re writing an email newsletter, you could test it by emailing it to your own account. Sometimes, you’ll notice problems that didn’t stand out before, such as too many short/long paragraphs or glaring typos.

#4: Edit for Structure and Content First

Too often, writers start their editing by polishing up every sentence – and then end up cutting out huge chunks of their material later. It’s much more efficient to do your big picture editing first: that means looking for:

Chapters or sections that need to be cut out – perhaps they’re too advanced for the piece, or they’re a tangent to the main point Missing information that you need to add in, like a whole new section or chapter Scenes or sections that need to be radically revised

Major cuts, additions and rewrites need to happen before you start digging down into the individual sentences and words.

#5: Cut Out 10% of Your Words

Once you’re broadly happy with the shape and flow of your piece, it’s time to cut. Most writers over-write: we use more words than we need, and we weaken our argument or story in the process.

Do a word-count for your whole piece, and try to cut 10% of the words. If you’ve written an 800 word blog post, for instance, aim to cut it to 720. Look out for:

Repeating the same point several times – unless you’re deliberately doing this as a rhetorical device, it’s probably unnecessary. Trust that your reader will get it the first time. Wishy-washy phrases like “in my opinion…†or “it is my belief that…†Occasionally these are warranted; often, you can simply cut them out. Unnecessary adjectives. Don’t tell us “John said loudly†if you can say “John shoutedâ€.

#6: Use Spell-Check – but Use Your Eyes Too

Always run your work through a spell-checker. That might mean using a browser plugin, or simply writing in Word or another word processing program so that you can check for red wiggly lines.

Don’t rely on spell-check to catch everything, though. Some errors will slip through – missing words are a common one, as are homophones (words that sound the same but are spelt differently, like “which†and “witchâ€). Sometimes, spell-check will pick up on words that are actually correct – mine has some bizarre ideas about “its†and “it’s†– so don’t blindly follow every suggestion.

#7: Read Your Piece Backwards (or Slowly)

It’s tough to proof-read your own writing: by this final stage of editing, you’re so familiar with the words on the page that mistakes just slide past you. One trick for better proof-reading is to read backwards from the end of the piece.

If you find reading backwards too awkward, then try reading s-l-o-w-l-y. That might mean running a pencil along each line as you read, or increasing the font size so that you don’t see so many words at a time on your screen.

#8: Let it Go

Finally, to edit well, you need to eventually stop! If you find yourself taking commas out and putting them back in, or rewriting the introduction one way then changing it back, then you’re done: it’s time to put your work out into the world.

If you’re like most writers, you’ll never feel entirely confident about your work. You’ll have a nagging sense that it could still be better. But perfection is an unattainable target – so settle for good enough. Even if a few imperfections remain, a published piece is infinitely more useful to your readers than a piece that sits on your hard drive forever.

Do you have a great tip for editing? Add it in the comments below…

Ali Luke is a blogger, novelist and writing coach. If you’re trying to take your writing further, check out her post on 7 Habits of Serious Writers to find out how you could improve today.
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Categories: Craft

The Biggest Mistake Most Writers Make

A guest post by Sean Platt of GhostWriterDad.com.

Not having a website or blog to call their own is one of the biggest mistakes a modern writer can make.

It’s shocking how many writers make it anyway.

Perhaps it’s the abundance of free solutions that lull writers into the false belief that they’re building something with long term, sustainable value, when the truth is they own nothing at all.

From social media hot spots such as Twitter and Facebook, to Web 2.0 properties like Tumblr and Posterous, writers can easily find free solutions that will allow them to easily hop online and get noticed. Unfortunately, those “free “ solutions carry the ridiculously high cost of holding those writers back.

Any writer who says they don’t need a website is wrong.

You don’t need a website to succeed at a baseline level, but if you expect to mine the maximum potential from the time you spend online, and nurture the writing career that’s in your head, then a website is non-negotiable.

A website is a MUST, but that website must also be built on a quality framework that is easy to install, simple to manage, and will help you get your work noticed by the greatest number of possible readers.

That makes the WordPress CMS the best possible choice for your website’s underlying structure.

You may think of WordPress as blogging software, since that’s precisely what it is. Yet WordPress also has everything needed to build a robust website that offers everything a modern writer needs to grow a healthy business and a lucrative writing career.

Best of all, WordPress is 100% free.

Here are 5 reasons why every modern writer MUST have a blog:

Blogs Are Prime Real Estate For Audience Bonding

You need readers.

Visitors mean nothing. It’s readers who will help you grow by buying or spreading your work, opting into your lists, telling their friends about who you are and what you do, leaving reviews of your work, and doing much of your marketing for you.

But you must turn your visitors into readers first.

Blogs simplify the process.

The most powerful element to blogging isn’t the ease of the software; it’s the human element that allows you to grow closer to your readers, and them to you.

Your blog is a place for your readers to get to know and like you. Since people like to do business with people they like, a blog makes that easier, whether your business is selling books or selling services.

Your Blog Makes List Building Easy

No matter what your business model, or your personal reasons for blogging, the key to maximizing the effectiveness of your time spent online is to concentrate on gaining and retaining subscribers.

If list building sounds too clinical or markety, think of building a list as building your fan club. This is a massively rewarding strategy, both because of the tangible direct response nature of having a list with fans who will respond to your emails, and with what you can learn from your market by paying attention to your list.

List, or “fan†building can work with any market.

My list at Ghostwriter Dad offers a free eCourse that teaches people how to make more money writing in less time. There is never anything to buy and there is about 75,000 words worth of free information. Whenever I have a new book about writing or social media, those subscribers are the first to know.

I have another list for my serialized fiction series, Yesterday’s Gone. This list is filled with “Goners,†or fans of the book. They get special chapters and exclusive content not available on Kindle. Whenever I have a new fiction book or short story, those readers are the first to know.

Two very different lists, both extremely helpful in nurturing my writing career.

Either list would be extremely difficult to build without a blog.

Your Website Will Give You a Place to Build and Store Your Written Assets

You’re a writer, with magic to be envied. You possess the rare skill of being able to create something from the depths of nothing. You can alter thinking, sway emotions, and paint pictures in your readers’ minds.

You can manufacture money from thin air and the assets you build, simply by moving your fingers across the keyboard.

But you must create your content first, then make sure you dock it in a safe harbor.

A blog gives you reason to create great content. Blog posts, newsletters, special reports, landing pages, viral videos, interviews, sample chapters for your books — you have no limit to what you can create.

A blog, more than any other tool, free or paid, will give you a reason to create content, and a place to keep it safe, visible, and easy to share.

Create enough content over a consistent period, and you will be able to repurpose and package those assets to establish streams of steady passive income.

Your Website Makes it Easy For Publishers, Readers and Clients to Find You

While there are some people who get bitten by the blogging bug and get a burning desire to start sharing every element of their lives, that’s not you.

You started out online because you wanted to build a writing career, and were smart enough to see that the digital trends were undeniable.

Mostly, you wanted to get noticed.

Whether you’re looking to get discovered so you can land a traditional publishing contract, establish an audience of readers who will be eager to buy whatever you write, or establish a stable of steady clients for your growing freelance business, a website makes it much easier for publishers, readers and clients to find you.

More importantly, an increasing number of publishers, readers and clients now expect writers to have a website or blog. If you don’t, you risk being seen as out of touch from word one.

Your Website Provides a Central Hub For Your Writing Career

Whatever else you do, or wherever else you might spend your time online, a website offers a central hub to your writing career.

Your Facebook is important, as is your time on Twitter. And of course, that author’s profile on Amazon has tremendous weight, but you’re only a digital sharecropper if you don’t own your own domain.

The common denominator for an overwhelming number of successful writers is this simple formula: they own their own domain and have established a blog.

Your blog is the sun; everything else in your online world should orbit around it.

You don’t have to be great to get going, but you must get going if you expect to be great. Without a website, you’re only cheating yourself, and your career potential. If the thought of managing your own domain seems overwhelming, you can start with a free solution at WordPress.Com. It isn’t what’s best, but you can do it today with a few clicks, so you have no reason not to dip your toe.

Read more by Sean Platt at GhostWriterDad.com. Get his free report “9 Website Building Mistakes You Should Avoid.â€
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Categories: Blogwriting

Know Thyself. 7 Truths About Writers

A guest post by Joanna Penn from The Creative Penn, one of the Top 10 Blogs for Writers

Claiming the word ‘writer’ for yourself can be a big step. You may have been writing all your life but do you actually call yourself a writer?

Know Thyself was inscribed on the ancient Greek temple of Apollo at Delphi. People would go there to seek knowledge of the future or to find revelation about themselves. The words were a reminder that the first step to truth is to look inside.

Fundamentally, writers write, they put words onto a page or screen. But there are other aspects to writers. Do you recognize yourself in these traits?

1 We are loners

Writing is a solitary art. Even writers who collaborate create their pieces separately and knit them together later. We are not naturally team players. To be a happy writer is to enjoy solitude for creation. Writers are often introverts in the sense that they are energized by time alone with their minds. They may love being with people but it tires and drains them. I spent many years thinking I needed to be a team player, that it was essential to being a rounded person. Then I did the Myers Briggs test and found that introversion is just a natural state for some of us and certainly more dominant in writers.

2 We want recognition

Writers have egos and our desire to see our words in print or type stems from this need to be recognized. We want the six figure book deal. We want to be on Oprah or the New York Times bestseller list. We want to write words that change people’s lives. We want to be read. For all that to happen, our writing needs to be out there in the world.

3 We are scared and doubt ourselves

We want people to read our words but at the same time, we fear criticism and negative reaction. We compare ourselves to others and we often come up short. We doubt that we are original or that people will even want to read our words. We worry that we have opened ourselves up too much to the world, and then we fret because we haven’t been truthful enough.

4 We are deeply creative but sometimes forget this

When I was working as a corporate IT consultant, I found my creative side withering and dying from lack of exercise. I wanted to write a novel but I couldn’t imagine even starting one. I didn’t believe I could find that creativity in myself. So I started saying an affirmation on the daily commute. ‘I am creative, I am an author’. I said that over and over, and gradually I began to explore ideas and start to write. Four years later, I have two novels available on the biggest bookstore in the world. Although we may spend years in the wilderness, we can resurrect that creativity.

5 We know execution matters

Ideas are abundant. They swirl in the air about us and we pluck them down. We form them into finished works. People talk to us about the ideas they have, for this book or that story, but they don’t execute on the idea. We write, and we finish what we started.

6 We are always improving

Writers are readers. We learn from others by their words and we constantly try to improve our own ways of expression. We take courses on how to improve our writing. Sometimes we spend more time on reading books about writing than we spend actually getting white on black. We are obsessed with understanding why this works and why that is successful and we put what we learn into practice.

7 We know there are dark places within

Inside us are memories, emotions and an imagination that runs deep. We go there to tap into the experiences that make our writing resonate. Sometimes what emerges may be violent or horrific, resonant in truth and raw in emotion. We write with the knowledge that most people feel these things but they don’t admit to themselves that they exist. We have the ability and the strength to write those words without apology.

Do you agree that these are truths about writers? Are there any more?

Joanna Penn is the author of thriller novels Pentecost and Prophecy. Her site TheCreativePenn.com helps people write, publish and market their books and has been voted one of the Top 10 Blogs for writers 2 years running. Follow Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn

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Categories: Craft, Creativity - Tags: creativity, writing

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