“For my stand-up, I always have my notebook with me and if something strikes me, I’ll write it down.” – Janeane Garofalo, Born Sep. 28, 1964. Some of these essays go for deep, profound quotations. But this one is just a great, compact piece of professional advice that will have a PROFOUND impact on your […]
Writing Even Your Brain Farts Down Will Change Your Life Read More »
“The whole secret of life is to be interested in one thing profoundly and in a thousand things well.” – Horace Walpole, Born Sep. 24, 1717. This is also a decent philosophy for thinking about your core content that you will use to build an audience around. You choose your central, main topic. And then
“If you really don’t care what an audience thinks, make a home movie and show it on your wall.” – Ned Tanen, Born Sep. 20, 1931. Maybe some kind of artist types can get away with not caring what an audience thinks of their work. But most artists care. And business people definitely should care.
Caring About Customers, And Showing It In Writing, Are Two Different Things Read More »
“You can’t tell any kind of a story without having some kind of a theme, something to say between the lines.” – Robert Wise, Born Sep. 10, 1914. “Storytelling” has been a buzzword in marketing for a few years now. I’ve taught two courses myself, focused on using story to sell. But this is something
How to Tell Stories That Sell (Without Going All Blah Blah Blah) Read More »
“I can’t write without that urgency. Something is wrong if it takes more than five days to finish a screenplay. A story created this way will always be full of life.” – Werner Herzog, Born Sep. 5, 1942. Whatever you’re working on, you’re probably taking too long. Do it faster. Stop honking around. Focus on
If You Want to Write Better, Practice Writing Faster Read More »
“If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.” – Edgar Rice Burroughs, Born Sep. 1, 1875. Until you are a copywriter… Stop buying copy books. Stop collecting swipes. Stop hand-copying old ads. Stop it. Instead… Start writing some copy. Start publishing it.
What Holds You Back From Being a Copywriter is Not Writing Any Copy Read More »
“One should never write down or up to people, but out of yourself.” – Christopher Isherwood, Born Aug. 26, 1904. Here is a magical shortcut to becoming a good writer. Learn to dictate. You don’t have to use digital dictation tools, but you could. I do sometimes. What I mean is to simply compose your
Sneakiest “Hack” For Writing That Creates Easy Reading Read More »
“Human beings love stories because they safely show us beginnings, middles and ends.” – A. S. Byatt, Born Aug. 24, 1936. The key part of this quote is the word “safely”. What we allow people to do with persuasive communication is a bit of virtual reality. A bit of lucid dreaming. We allow people to
Stories Allow Us Safe Exploration Of Dangerous Futures Read More »
“If you don’t write stories you love, you’ll never make it. If you don’t write stories that other people love, you’ll never make it.” – Ray Bradbury, Born Aug. 22, 1920. Your best work is going to occur in that intersection or overlap where the subject you are passionate and enthusiastic about is the same
It’s Not Enough to Simply Love What You Do Read More »
“A wide screen just makes a bad film twice as bad.” – Samuel Goldwyn, Born Aug. 17, 1882. Are you getting too caught up in the details of your project? The little things. Tripping over word selection. Alliterative names. Logo design. Etc. If you are even thinking about that stuff before the core
The Emperor Doesn’t Need New Clothes if He Is Buff and Badass Read More »
