There will be times in your writing where you’ll be . . . a little stuck. Maybe your outline is perfectly fine, but there’s a little catch in it somewhere and you just can’t express the idea correctly. You’re sitting there, mouth half-open, and you’re staring at the screen, waiting for your fingers to move. And they’re not moving. This …
Quantifying the Benefits of Authorship
What would being an author mean for your business? Many nonfiction authors who write books about their areas of expertise discuss the intangibles of having more credibility or visibility, a larger footprint in the marketplace, or being seen as a thought-leader. If you had to quantify the benefits, what would that dollar figure be for your business? I was discussing …
Choose To Write
Sometimes I feel like a petulant child when I sit down to write. “I don’t want to write,” the child complains. “I want to play games and have fun.” I’ve tried to discipline the child and tell her that this is for her own good, that she needs to buckle down and get her work done, but she protests even …
Don’t Be Original: Steal Like an Artist – a review
Over my long vacation, I had the pleasure of reading 11 books, 7 of them nonfiction, and most all of them of interest to authors and thought leaders. My next several posts will provide reviews of the best of these books. There is nothing new under the sun, states Ecclesiastes. And Austin Kleon seconds that motion is his excellent book …
The Handy Dandy Toolkit for Nonfiction/Business Writers
I’ve heard many speakers say that writing is so much harder than speaking. When you’re speaking, you can use vocal inflection, intonation, pitch, gestures and body language, and a whole host of other tools to effectively convey your message. But hold on a sec! As writers, we also have tools of the trade can we can use in writing our …
Writing Blogs, Articles, and Books to Boost Your Career – Part 4
You’ve done your homework: now you’re ready to write the article. What are the considerations to review as you begin? Some recommendations: Refer to the guidelines supplied by the publication. Generally, double-spaced, clean, legible copy is desired, although increasingly, providing articles on disk or via electronic media is requested. I’ve found that my articles stand a better chance of getting …
Writing Blogs, Articles, and Books to Boost Your Career – Part 3
Now that you have an idea of your topic and its treatment, you must decide where you will send your article for possible publication. You may even want to do this before you begin to write, since all publications have a unique format, content, and writing style. To begin your data base for media contacts, consider the following action strategies. …