Atilla, the Great Idea Killa
Ideas. Everyone talks about getting ideas. I get one. It’s great. I jump on it. I start to write. Soon enough I find myself in a pile of mush — words all over, thoughts in too many places.
What made me think this was a great idea? Now I’ve wasted all of this time. Here I sit — still no blog post and now one mangled idea. it isn’t pretty. What the heck am I doing wrong here? I was sure this idea was great. I am Atilla, the Great Idea Killa.
Yeah, I do that too.
I Want Compelling & Elegant!
The truth is that most ideas misbehave. They’re just not strong the way they come to us. They have a problem staying on track. Sometimes they fall apart. Often, they’re too large or stray all over the place. Your average idea needs a little help to be what it will be when it grows up to be a “Hey, lookat me” blog post.
A few minutes — really, just a few — spent putting focus on an idea and the writing becomes so much easier. Here are six (plus one) ways to make blog writing compelling and elegant. They give it that quality, and just the right size and style that fits this new genre: the blog post.
- Give readers important and relevant details that go beyond the obvious.
- Provide unpredictable new information, analysis, or evidence.
- Offer an understanding of life, an insight into a subject, an indication of something that is significant.
- Be 100% secure that the information is factual.
- Stand ready to discuss points readers find intriguing or controversial.
- Leave room for readers to comment by not answering every question inside the post itself.
- Plus one: Always assume your readers know more than you do — about everything.
When you’re going for spectacular, when you want your brand to stand out, take a look down this list. Somewhere in there is one trait that will raise your idea to the next level. Imagine if you used all of them. Yes, a simple blog post can be compelling and elegant.
Elegant is simple. Simple is elegant.
But you knew that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Ever have a really great idea, only to find out later that it wasn’t really yours afterall?
Sure. They say there’s no such thing as a new idea.
Think about “Romeo and Juliet.” Now think about “West Side Story.” 🙂
The process of converting ideas from thoughts to words is tricky because we use two entirely different organizational processes — one is based on free-association and the other is based on linear-thinking.
I find mind maps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map) aid in bridging the great divide between thoughts and sentences. Mind maps accept random thoughts and display them in a graphic format so they can be rearranged into coherent linear communication.
There are a number of mind mapping software programs. I use one by Mindjet called Mind Manager (http://www.mindjet.com/us/). There is also a an open-source program called Free Mind (http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page).
Hi Scot,
Welcome!
You must teach writing in one form or another. 🙂
Mind maps and freewriting are part of the next trait organization. Thanks for mentioning them. You’ve give such great concise definitions which aren’t easy to do in concrete terms.
I appreciate your comments and your insights! I often recommended mind maps myself.
I have been blogging now 5 months and find myself questioning whether I have written about “such and such.” Do you keep charts, lists or something that easily shows what you have written? I know the categories help, but do you use any other methods to keep track of your writing?
I enjoy your site tremendously. Thank you.
Blessings,
Shirley Buxton
http://www.writenow.wordpress.com
Hi Shirley,
Once in a while, I bump into that question, espeically if it’s a story I tell quite a lot. I use the search box up there and do a search for it. If you don’t have one, like I didn’t on my blogspot blog, you can get one as part of claiming your blog from Technorati or as a Google search box. 🙂
That saves me a lot!
Thank you, Madame.
You are very welcome.