Writing

This Blog Post is Brought to You by Paper…Mostly

This blog post was written mostly on a blank piece of paper. Yes, actual paper, with ruled lines and everything. I can’t remember the last time I sat down and scribbled away until I figured out what on earth I was writing about.

5 Reasons You Won’t Read This Blog Post

Whether I’m writing for print, online, or in cuneiform, my job as a content producer is to serve you, the reader. You are investing precious time with me, and I better not disappoint you. There are, after all, at least a few other sources you could visit instead. So why do I ignore this?

What’s Your Evil Twin Saying Between the Lines of Your Content?

I don’t want to freak anyone out, but… your evil twin might have co-opted your message. Don’t have an evil twin? I’ll take your word for it, but that leaves me wondering about the contradictory messages in your content. In fact, subtextual messages have been responsible for some of the most fraught, but enlightening, interactions […]

Award to the Wise: Readers Are the Real Judge

At the custom publisher where I spend my waking hours, the halls are adorned with praise for well-written articles and smartly designed feature spreads—a triumphant redesign of a moribund business school magazine, a celebrity cover for a prominent medical title with a circulation that seemingly knows no way but up. The list goes on.

SEO Killed the Analog Star

Someone spouted this thought in the billion-voice echo chamber that is Twitter the other day: “Too many people are writing content for Google and not their readers.” The dude nailed it. Of course, five minutes later he Tweeted: “5 affordable ways to see Paris like a local”…which, of course, is something that’s been covered more […]

Conquer the Writing Process (Or Let it Conquer You)

The interesting part about writing is that much of the “writing” process involves staring at a blank document on the computer screen. I rock back in my chair, I play with my hair, I stretch out my back. But all the while, the ideas are churning in my head (and that’s not just what I […]

Editors Gonna Edit

I’m having a hard time saying this: I don’t really like being edited. (I also have a hard time saying the word “edited.”) And I’m an editor. Everyone thinks her words are just right, brilliant even, that there’s no better way to say what she’s trying to say, that she needs those 400 extra words […]

5 Ways to Break Creative Block

The blank Word document taunts me without saying a word. Writer’s block has set in, even though my imagination is working just fine. I close my eyes and picture hurling my computer out the window. I can see the cables, mouse and keyboard trailing behind it for eight stories, then catching up after multiple thwacks […]

How to Make an Editor Happy

Times are tough for freelance writers, so you need every edge to secure work and maintain good relationships with your clients. This is especially important in a custom media environment, where many magazines operate with a small staff. Editors have to know their writers will hit the mark every time. Deadlines are always fast-approaching and […]

Lead and I Will Follow: On Writing Good Leads

You’re making me nervous. You clicked on this link expecting to learn something or to perhaps be entertained. I could boldly hope that you may even retweet or bookmark this article. But a lot of that depends on my lead. Here’s hoping it worked.

The Most Interesting Writer in the World

I dig beer. And if you’re going to concoct an advertising campaign with attendant brand building that appeals to my need for suds, please, for the love of the almighty marketing gods, tell me your pitch man is the most interesting man in the world. That’s audacious. And better yet, tell me things about him […]

5 Editorial Resolutions for 2011

I’m not learning to tango in 2011. Nor am I going to take a painting or sculpting class. And I probably won’t get around to climbing Kilimanjaro. But I did jot down five things that I’m going to keep in mind as my staff and I map out the year ahead. (Yeah, I know—it’s hard […]

Give the Gift of Good Content

Is there a more sparkling, party-filled, cookie-eating, holiday-song-playing month than December? Wrapped up in all that fun is gift giving. Do you want to be the person who gives earrings to a woman without pierced ears, a snowblower to your friend in Hawaii or an evergreen-scented candle to someone who sneezes at the first sight […]

5 Tips to Fight the Writing Procrastination Gremlins

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For every 300-word blog entry or 2,000-word article they write, many writers spend a substantial part of that time doing everything they can to not write the story. Writing may be something you have wanted to do since you started a class magazine in the sixth grade, wrote editorials for your college paper, or had […]