Category Archives for Writing
7 Quick Tweaks That Could Make All the Difference to Your Blog Posts
You’ve finished your blog post—finally. You type the final few words, breathe a sigh of relief, and hit “publish.”
You might be making a big mistake.
I know how tempting it can be to hurry blog posts out into the world—especially when you’re busy and just getting the post written at all is a huge achievement.
Don’t worry: I’m not going to suggest that you spend hours trying to perfect your post (I’m a firm believer in “published is better than perfect”).
Instead, I have seven quick tweaks that could make all the difference to your post—and to the results you’ll get.
The Art of Giving Up: When to Walk Away From a Writing Project
What was the most recent thing you’ve wanted to achieve really, really badly in your writing career? I mean something that you would persevere with even if it meant sacrificing a good portion of your time.
For me, it was publishing a book. Actually, two books. Both of which have been in the works for at least two years now.
Other than those, I have at least a hundred documents of writing material I speculated would make for some pretty decent stories at their conception.
There are thousands of these stories in my head, and the task of narrowing down the selection to just one or two or even six is a daunting one. Some stories resonate more than others at certain times, and others may be interesting to pursue for only a few months or weeks.
How do you know when a project is good—that a project is worth pursuing?
That your project is worth putting in the extra hour a day just to ensure it advances at all?
Is It Really Procrastination? The Perks of Writing Under Pressure
I like to play with fire when it comes to writing on a deadline. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a serial procrastinator, waiting until the last minute something is due before finishing it. Sometimes I don’t even start until the night before.
I’ve always been told how much easier it is to not procrastinate and that I would be prouder of my writing if I just took more time on it.
However, recently I was able to put that idea to the test. In a writing class last quarter, I was working on an original comedy script. At first, I tried writing my pages for the week in advance. I’m not a naturally comedic person, so I was conscious of the challenges I would face in the class.
These challenges presented themselves to me quite quickly. I wasn’t funny, the structure of my episode wasn’t working, and I was struggling to find the voices of my characters. At first, I thought comedy just “wasn’t my thing.” And then, one fateful week, I got really busy.
The Why and How of Putting Yourself in Your Readers’ Shoes
If you’re a writer, you have them—journals and Word documents filled with writing that most likely no one will ever read. It’s a joy in itself to write for the sole purpose of expressing yourself or to practice, and in many cases, you’re probably glad that particular work will never see the light of day.
However, sharing your thoughts, ideas, and creative turns of phrase with readers is the real goal of writing, and most of the time, you’re writing for an audience. Writing is the process of transferring what’s inside your mind to the minds of your readers, and it’s easy for much of it to get lost in translation.
Whether you’re having a hard time picturing who your readers are, or you struggle to write clearly for people who don’t have your knowledge, putting yourself in your readers’ shoes can help you make sure that your readers are connected, engaged, and picking up what you’re putting down.