Got the Idea. Now What Do I Do with It?

March 7, 2006 by Liz

A quote I like a lot says

I hate writing. I love having written.

Make a Five-Minute Writing Plan

You can at least get to be friends with writing, if you start with a simple writing plan.

I’ve got a pile of ideas. Writing the article should a breeze. Right? Well maybe. But sometimes, it isn’t. Why is that? Usually it’s because I haven’t really decided what it is I want to say. This is how to avoid that problem by making a quick writing plan.

Decide What You Want to Say (1 minute)

Choose the idea you’re most interested in.
Write one sentence stating why readers need to know about it.
Use that sentences a working title for now.

Plan How You’re Going to Say It (2-4 minutes)

Sketch, visualize, or tell yourself what three main points of the article will be. “I’ll say this and this and this.” Most articles that aren’t how-to articles only need 1-3 points well-said.
Add something from your personal experience–one bit– that will make a point more clearly or make the article more appealing.
Let the research sit there, unless you need it to look something up. It’s served it’s purpose. (See DonÃ¢â¬â¢t Hunt IDEAS Be an Idea Magnet.)

Five are minutes up, time to start writing!

Starting, Going, Done in Minutes

When I write I think about my audience–one person that I might be talking to. That makes it easier to frame my message. I picture a prototypical reader–always someone who likes me. Why start out with someone who doesn’t? Then the writing would take on a defensive tone. I want my writing to be friendly so I choose a friendly audience. It’s as simple as that.

Middle, Beginning, Ending

Ever sit down to tell a story and not know how to start it. Inevitably a listener will say, “Start at the beginning.” But just where is the beginning? Sometimes the beginning is the hardest part to see. That’s why I start from the middle with the main points that I just sketched out.

By starting from the middle, no blank screen can intimidate me. I know exactly what I’m going to write and in what order. I get my ideas on paper and flowing. I begin to see the article take form and imagine my readers reading it. I also get a feeling for what exactly it is that’s working.

Write Until You Need to Walk

While I write I add flourishes–metaphors and explanations. Occasionally my mind gets stuck on a word or an idea. It’s that feeling where I know what I want to say, but just can’t seem to find the words or the image to express it. That’s when I move around. Movement helps let the ideas gel. I walk around the apartment, looking at the floor and thinking–this is a no talking, no listening time–it’s sort of like putting my brain on a swing set. The sentence I am trying to write plays in my head–over and over in new versions. When I get back and sit down, I’m ready to write again. In fact, that’s how I got from the words Sometimes I walk in this paragraph to here just now.

Beginning, Ending

When I get the Middle set, I stop to read it and set the subhead. Then it’s time to tackle the Ending and Beginning, which are usually about the same thing–why the heck should people read this and why the heck should they be glad they did?

As the old presentation adage goes:

Beginning: Tell them what you’re going to tell them (and why they want to hear it.)
Middle: Tell them what you said you’d tell them.
Ending: Tell them what you just told them (and why they should be glad they heard it.)

So that’s exactly what I do to call the writing done.

What I Just Told You

Starting with a simple plan–a sketch what you want to tell your readers–and starting in the middle are two ways that you can get yourself into the writing with less pain and more productivity.

Only two things here are critical: know what you want to say and a change of venue when you feel stuck. Don’t feel a need to follow my process. A writer’s process is fluid and personal. Find the gems in what I do that work for you and toss the rest aside.

As always, I’m here if you want to talk about this. Writer’s have so many cool techniques and strategies. I’m really interested in what works for you.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Don’t Hunt IDEAS — Be an Idea Magnet

March 6, 2006 by Liz

Ideas Get Things Going

The question that professional writers are asked most is Where do you get your ideas? The answer they always give is Ideas are everywhere.

It’s true that ideas are everywhere, but . . . that’s not much consolation when you look everywhere, and you seem to find nothing.

Yet ideas are the stuff from which quality content is crafted, and quality content is what builds relevance. Relevance draws people to read us, to add to the conversation, and to share our ideas with others. Quality content packed with relevance also leads search engines to show us off in their rankings. So solid ideas are critical to blogs, websites, and all online businesses.

Ideas are what gets the whole process going. But . . .

Sometimes the very idea of getting an idea can be intimidating.

Be an Idea Magnet

Looking for ideas can be a lot like looking for a white shirt in the Mall of America. If you don’t have anything to narrow your search the task can be overwhelming. Too many kinds of white shirts to choose from and soon they all seem to have the same value–none at all. Ideas work in much the same way as that. Without some sort of criteria to sort them you can look all day and not find a single one.

Ideas really are everywhere. The art is in training your mind to see the ideas and pull them in before your thoughts pass by them–to make your mind into an idea magnet of sorts.

Many Ideas At Once

Sometimes I’m asked to write a book of ideas for teaching some skill set or group of strategies. You might be surprised to find out how I go about such tasks. I identify pages of ideas before I start writing. One idea at a time is just too much work and too painful for me. I approach the task as I approach doing dishes. Wash all of the dishes first. Then dry them all.

Attracting Writeable Ideas

When I write for my blogs, I figure if I’m going to find one idea, I might as well find many. That way I’m set for a while. With a pile of ideas, I can switch my brain over to concentrate on the writing and editing–that’s work enough for me.

Whether you’re looking for one idea or many, or trying to find a spin on a topic that’s too big to write about, the process for getting to a solid idea is basically same.

Here’s how to get your brain to open up to 4-5 ideas at once.

1. Gather resources with a yes or no look. (60-90 minutes max)

Limit research time–the more ideas the less time spent per idea.
Use a variety of resources online, magazines, newpapers, and books.
Check only headlines and take only a quick look.
If what you see doesn’t grab you. Move on.
If it catches your interest, print it or tag it to come back to.

It’s important not to read at this point. Just let the headlines soak in. The variety of resources offers a visual change that helps to keep your mind fresh and tends to bring in a wider variety of points of view. You might find yourself seeing connections between one piece and another. That’s good.

2. Read with a highlighter, a pencil, and a pad of paper. (30-60 minutes)

Highlight keywords.
Jot key points in the margin using 3-4 words you might say if you were restating the point to a friend.
If you get article ideas, mark them on the piece that inspired them.
When you notice connections between pieces you’ve chosen write them on the pad of paper.

Do these things quickly to let your mind capture and collect information without filtering it. You’ll start to make further connections to your personal experiences. Note those on the writing pad too. What you’re doing is guided brainstorming. (I made that term up.) Feel free to throw out any resources you know just won’t work.

3. Sort your resources into like piles by topic. (5-15 minutes)

Give each pile a working title.
Add to each pile a bulleted list of events, thoughts, or learnings from your experience that fit with that idea.
Choose the idea that you find most useful to your readers and put the rest in a folder.

Also do this quickly as a “brain dumping” exercise. Write what comes to mind and keep going until you have a list–however long or short—for each pile you made. Now you have some solid ideas. Keep them all, even the ones that seem thin or uninteresting. After a day or so you might find uses for those that you don’t like right now.

The Benefits of Working Out Once a Week

This workout shows results immediately. In just that much time I have ideas I can write about. I do this “workout” about once a week when I’m not under pressure to write something. The workout takes away the rush and tumble of having to push through my feeds with deadlines hanging over me. Even when I want to cover breaking news. I have ideas ready to go if I want to post a quick article before I start researching.

The relief that comes from knowing I have many ideas in the hopper makes writing exponentially easier. When I sit down to write, I can concentrate on what I’m writing about. I know it’s a fully vetted idea that will work, rather than one I have to hope will work out. I can use the time I might have spent looking for an idea and use it to check my work.

Writing’s more fun when your brain is free of that voice that keeps saying, “I need to get this done. I need to get this done. My readers are waiting for me.”

A brain is a writer’s instrument in the same way as a voice is a singer’s instrument. Why shouldn’t writers train just as vocalists do?

Power writing is a very cool thing.

Try it and let me know how it goes. I’m here to help any way that I might.

After all, I’m the nice one. 🙂

–ME “Liz” Strauss

A Content Editor’s Quality Checklist

February 26, 2006 by Liz

Editing for Quality

It’s true that every writer needs an editor. We all know that I sure do. In textbook publishing, we say that every writer really needs two–a content editor and a copyeditor. The first makes sure that the logic and ideas make sense. The second makes sure that the work is readable. Readable doesn’t mean much, if the ideas are all over the place.

Content editing doesn’t need to take bundles of time. You’ve gotten the ideas onto the paper. Print the post out and read it. A pause for a content edit makes sure that your information is accurate, relevant, and accessible. Why not make sure your ideas move in a way that readers can follow them? It can only make you look smarter.

For that purpose, I offer you this basic content editor’s quality checklist.

Content Editor’s Quality Checklist

Does the work have a clear focus on one topic?
Does the introduction grab interest and offer a clear purpose for reading?
Are the facts accurate?
Does the work follow a logical plan from beginning to end?
Does the body of the work present well-ordered paragraphs of main ideas with relevant, supporting details?
Does the conclusion leave readers feeling satisfied, feeling a sense of conclusion now that they have reached the end and know what to do with the information?

Use this checklist for the content edit first. Then move on to copyediting — making sure that the spelling, grammar, and punctuation are correct. Do the two tasks separately. Trying to do both at once is like trying to have dinner with two dates at two different restaurants — not a good idea.

Use the content editor’s quality checklist and you’ll be that much more confident that your reader won’t get lost looking for the forest among the trees. Now whether they’ll agree with you . . .

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

Business, Blogs, and Niche-Brand Marketing

February 21, 2006 by Liz

Just the Facts

These are the facts.

The blogosphere is doubling in size every 5 and a half months.

On average, a new weblog is created every second of every day.

Municipal Wi-Fi Networks are becoming a reality. Anaheim, CA; Arlington, VA; Brookline, MA; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO;, Miami, FL; Minneapolis, MN; Grand Rapids, MI; New York, NY; Philadelphi, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; San Francisco, CA; Tempe, AZ; and others are already planning or building Wi-Fi networks to be ready in the next 2-3 years.

The Technorati Filter By Authority slider gives readers the power to filter out all but the most important blogs in any niche. Will other Search Engine follow?

Business Meet Blogs, Blogs Meet Business

Sounds great. Doesn’t it? Bloggers read blogs. I’ll have more readers. Right? But those readers will have more blogs to read. With new blogs coming at such a stunning rate, it’s reasonable to think that blogs in the Magic Middle might be pushed aside as younger, shinier blogs appear. It’s also fair to assume that readers will limit the searches to only important blogs, leaving me out. What’ll I do to capture their attention?

Niche-Brand Marketing

The wisdom of the Long Tail–that as business moves on line, less and less of what is offered needs to be “one size fits all” and delivered via giant outlet–leads me to niche-brand marketing. I review this list often for my blogs and for my business, or Liz Strauss Consulting wouldn’t be consulting much longer.

Define a niche for your business. Choose a niche you truly care about. Find a place to stand. Don’t try to be all things to all people. Do one or two things that play to your strengths and passions. Do those things better than anyone else.
Find out everything about the customers in your chosen niche. First and foremost, make sure that said customers exist. Then don’t just get information. Fall in love with everyone of them. Figure out how to crawl into their skin and feel their pain. Know their loves and their wishes. Find their needs and desires. Learn to read what they’re not saying.
Define your brand through your customers’ world view. In reality, you don’t define your brand, your customers do. When you understand your customers intimately, find a way to state your brand–what you and your customers stand for–in less than one sentence. Write those words everywhere your customer will see your name, your blog’s name, or your business name. Let them know you mean it.
Use your brand to test every decision you make–large or small. Be your brand. Live it. Make your brand show in every detail, every action, every move you make. If you live your brand, and test every decision against it by asking, Will this help my customers see my brand? your customers are more likely to buy into the brand you’ve chosen on their behalf.
Be authentic; never skimp on quality; never go against your brand; and you will set the standard. You won’t just be different; you will be unique, irreplaceable. Authenticity cannot be “knocked off and done more cheaply.” Attempts to copy you will only be poor facsimiles. Quality and authenticity are the birthplace of brand loyalty. Customers will know where to find the real thing. Once they find it. They stick with it.
When your customers recognize that you care about their needs, value them and the relationship that you have with them. Relationships will always be everything in any human endeavor. Never lose sight of the fact that you and they are people–not users, not clients, not numbers–but folks with thoughts, feelings, and ideas that make you and your business better.

Why Customers Love Niche-Brand Marketers

We are a fascinating species. When we don’t know where to go, we’ll go where everyone else goes. But give us one reason to come to you, and you’ve made a customer–a reader–possibly a friend forever.

We think that people who think the same way we do are smarter than other people. So when you choose a niche that we care about, we think that you’re highly intelligent. We trust your judgment in other things too.

When we find someone who tries to solve our problems and who values us. We’ll go out of our way to do business with you. It’s just not that often that we get that kind of service.

That’s how small niche-brand marketers get to be great niche marketers one customer at a time. That’s how I plan to make this a place where I can put down roots. I want want to be here for a long, long while, making relationships with some really great people.

How about you?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Blog Improvements by Chris Garrett

January 23, 2006 by Liz

Chris Garrett offers a great post on Quick and Easy Blog Improvements over at Performancing. He features Sumeet Jain’s in-depth NoFollow article and gives hands-on, “use-right-now” advice that’s well worth checking out. I’m particularly taken with Number 4 which says:

Show your most popular or best posts – a new visitor to your blog needs help in deciding if this is going to be a blog they want to return to. Show them your best and brightest content. There is code available for WordPress and it is really easy to do on Drupal using the statistics module, others will have plugins or you can hard code it into your template.

I like a guy who cares about readers.

Thank you, Chris.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

A Blogger’s Personal Narrative Checklist

January 10, 2006 by Liz

Successful bloggers write well. As a professional writer, I have a few tips, tricks, techniques, strategies, and of course, checklists that I use to keep me on the right path. It’s time I started sharing them.

Almost everyone uses personal narratives. They’re the stories we tell to our families and friends. They’re the incidents we relate at work about meetings we attended. A personal narrative is any story you might tell about something that really happened to you. Bloggers do that all of the time.

Use this short checklist to review your next personal narrative to add value and polish to it.

Personal Narrative Content Editor’s Checklist

Does the introduction make readers want to continue?
Are the events clear and in chronological order?
Does the body stay to the core of the story, using only rich and relevant details for support? Less is definitely more in most cases.
Do you use exact words that portray the experience in a way the reader can understand it?
Does the conclusion tie the story together, leaving the reader glad to have read it?

Taking a minute to review the narratives you tell will kick them up a notch. Your writing will be just that bit more entertaining. It might be the difference that makes readers bookmark your blog to come back again.

–ME “Liz” Strauss