best writing advice

How to Write a First Draft of Anything

A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * I re-posted the image above on Instagram a few days ago. Don’t we go into any new project (or year) with a vision in our heads that often doesn’t quite mirror the mess that ultimately spills out? We might have a vision for a totally jacked stallion, lead-penciled rippling muscles capable of leaping straight at your face if they wanted to. We try our best to pull out what’s in our head and shape it into something that could run wet and sweaty off the page. And then—oof—what we end up with in first draft is something a not very talented preschooler might produce. My own first drafts are like that: littered with typos and half-written phrases, like I’m […]

How to Write a First Draft of Anything Read More »

A Writer’s Hierarchy of Needs: How to Do Our Best Work

A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it.   Where to Do Your Best Work Yesterday, I disturbed the spider ecosystem thriving on Tiny Porch (TP), the official name of the screened porch of my backyard Tiny House Office (THO). My THO is a small office I built in my backyard; it’s where I do my best work. (You can read the back story on it here.) I’d been meaning to take care of that spider situation all summer. But I’d been avoiding it, instead breezing by it with blinders on. Kidding myself about the growing number of feathery webs. Ignoring the small, growing piles of spider trash on the floor—the chewier parts of a fly, the undigested husk of a beetle. Spiders can be real pigs. Then I started

A Writer’s Hierarchy of Needs: How to Do Our Best Work Read More »

Why Brand Voice Matters in a Time of Social Crisis

A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * If the outrage and events of the past weeks have taught us anything, it’s the importance of sharpening your voice. Not just sharing your voice. Not just adding to the din and repeating the words of others—follow-the-bouncing-ball, karaoke-singalong style. But actually doing the hard work of honing your own point of view. Owning it. Making your intent and your ideas crystal-clear to others. The part about honing a point of view is important. Brands that have gotten into the most trouble this past week are the ones that are practicing messaging karaoke, singing along without really honing their brand voice. Without having internalized the words. Chris Franklin nailed that here: Yowch. I feel it, too. * * *

Why Brand Voice Matters in a Time of Social Crisis Read More »

Is It Better to Write When You’re In a Good Mood? Or When You’re Not?

A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. Recently, I gave a mini writing workshop for a MarketingProfs client. The workshop (“How to Write Your Face Off”) was online, which meant the 30 or so attendees could see and hear me… but I couldn’t see or hear them. That’s always a weird experience: imagining an audience that’s there—but also not there. The webinar experience reminds me of when I used to stage musicals in front of my dresser mirror in my childhood bedroom. Last week, when I turned on my mic and started talking, I had a momentary impulse to belt out the opening lines of “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.” (Not really. But that thought made me laugh.) Instead, I just flipped to the first slide. * * * In a virtual

Is It Better to Write When You’re In a Good Mood? Or When You’re Not? Read More »

A Writing Prompt for an Anxious World

 There are two truths I’ve realized about the Coronavirus pandemic: Everyone feels they are dramatically, uniquely affected. Everyone is right. Every one of us is affected. No one knows exactly how much. There is a relentless, invisible virus among us, and there is also a weird anxiety in the air. Like one minute I’m in a positive mindset: We’ve Got This! Then literally a minute later I watch that doctor’s video about how fastidious you need to be when you clean your groceries… and fear and anxiety settle in. Like suddenly I’m jumped by a Feelings Mafia that’s been lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce + mug me + empty me out. It wears me down. Maybe you, too? * * * I spend a third of my year on the road, speaking at events and meeting people like you. But, as of now, I won’t be on an

A Writing Prompt for an Anxious World Read More »

6 Things Hank Green Wants You to Know About Writing

  Author, YouTuber, VidCon-co-creator Hank Green distills the 8 things he wishes he knew when he was writing his first novel. There are lots of gems in his 4-minute video that apply beyond fiction-writing. Here are the 6 that apply best to any writer: You have to care about whatever you’re writing about. “I had to love [the book characters] like friends in order to have the motivation to finish telling their story.” How does this apply to you over there—writing about a restaurant point-of-sale technology or a B2B solution? Takeaway for Marketing: Find the human at the center of the story. Write that. How technology helps a single human is always more interesting than the tech itself. [Related: Vivid Writing: How to Paint a Picture in the Mind of Your Reader.] Schedules don’t matter, but momentum does. “Writing schedules are not a thing I have… but if I do

6 Things Hank Green Wants You to Know About Writing Read More »

Vivid Writing: How Do You Paint a Picture in the Mind of Your Reader? Add These 5 Things.

  Big Word Day is a day that encourages people to use king-sized words just to impress others. I love words. Sometimes I like big words. (And I cannot lie!) But using big words for the sake of using big words…? So. Dumb. The point of writing is to connect with other people. To be understood. To shed a little light on the world. (If that’s not the point, you’re writing a diary.) That’s why I’m always yammering on about clear writing. But even better than clear alone is clear buddied up with vivid writing in a recognizable style. What’s “vivid writing” mean? It means you add color and description to evoke emotion. One way to do that is to use some detail. Details make writing come alive. Details paint a picture in a reader’s mind. And that’s critical in Marketing, especially, where our goal is to ignite change. So

Vivid Writing: How Do You Paint a Picture in the Mind of Your Reader? Add These 5 Things. Read More »

How to Find Your Unique Brand Voice [with Examples]

The brand voice you use in your marketing is potentially a huge differentiator. It’s also vastly ignored by most companies—especially business-to-business companies. That spells plenty of opportunity for you and your company. “Back up,” you’re thinking. “What’s ‘tone of voice’? That thing I studied in Humanities?” Yes. And also no. Brand voice is how our writing or copy sounds in a reader’s head. You can say the same thing in different ways. If you have an unadorned sausage, for example, you might ask for a condiment by saying… “Hand over that mustard.”“Can you pass me the mustard?”“Pardon me… would you have any Grey Poupon?” The difference between those is the tone of voice you use. Brand voice signals three things: Who we are. Why we do what we do. What we are like to deal with. In marketing, the voice we use when we communicate with our prospects and customers

How to Find Your Unique Brand Voice [with Examples] Read More »