Category: Writing Tips

Why Headlines Don’t Matter (Except When They Do)

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

I have a penchant for witty yet meaningless titles, whether they’re blog posts, song titles or book titles. I prefer wit to meaning.

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/895100 by Hans Beyhs http://www.sxc.hu/profile/hbeyhs” width=”222″ height=”222″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-2647]With song titles I don’t think it matters. Let’s forget song titles.

With book titles it matters some; but subtitles cover a multitude of sins.

But blog posts, ah, blog posts. Every copywriting expert out there will tell you that getting the headline exactly right is more than half the battle; that the wrong headline essentially invalidates your blog.

Here’s when that doesn’t matter and why I ignore it.

… more … “Why Headlines Don’t Matter (Except When They Do)”

It’s Just a Song (Not an Autobiography)

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Listening to David Gray while we made pancakes together I found myself wondering about some of the things he believes.

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/951615 by ilco http://www.sxc.hu/profile/ilco” width=”222″ height=”222″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-2652]Which makes no sense because I know writers of all kinds have their characters or the voice of their song saying or doing things that aren’t necessarily aligned with their core beliefs. While Web Martin and Jake Calcutta are more like me than they ought to be, I know I’ve written things in my songs that aren’t beliefs I put into practice every day. In fact, the more I allow myself to put words in my character’s mouths or express opinions in my songs which aren’t my own, the more depth and breadth my writing will take on and possibly the more I will understand people who think and feel and say those things.

… more … “It’s Just a Song (Not an Autobiography)”

Finding Why (#6 of 6 Tools to Write)

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

#6 in a series of 6

It’s easy to lose track of why you wanted to be a writer in the first place. If you have vague dreams of fame or fortune, those won’t keep you going, especially when they don’t materialize quickly.

[image: writing is the tool I use to understand what's important in my life” width=”200″ height=”324″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-2531]While we’d all love to be rich and famous, I don’t think that’s why you write. It’s not why I write.

I write because I love the feel of words. I write because I have feelings which are clarified only when I find words to put them in. I have ideas which might benefit others. I have questions.

I believe writing takes the vague, wandering abstracts out of my head and makes them clear, understandable things I can look at and play with. I believe it helps me decide whether they should remain part of my life or be forgotten in the drawer.

… more … “Finding Why (#6 of 6 Tools to Write)”

SMART Goals (#5 of 6 Tools to Write)

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

#5 in a series of 6

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1214569 by Lysanne Ooteman http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Protect” width=”200″ height=”167″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-2535]If you don’t know where you’re going, not only will it be harder to get there, you may not know you’ve arrived.

Business folk all know about SMART goals. They know you never begin something without those SMART goals.

A simple Google search will provide endless results, including the fact that everyone has their own version. I’ll provide a brief review here using the version I like best.

Goals should be:

… more … “SMART Goals (#5 of 6 Tools to Write)”

Pre-Writing (#4 of 6 Tools to Write)

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

#4 in a series of 6

Another mistake we make is to assume that what flows from our pen must be finished product. Logically, we know this makes no sense. There’s always a bit of re-writing before the proofreading and editing. We would never expect others to deliver perfection without practice.

[image: photo of picture frame http://www.sxc.hu/photo/636590 by Oliver Gruener http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Plusverde” width=”222″ height=”253″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-2485]Whether it’s the next chapter in your novel or a page of marketing copy for your website, it can help to sit down and intentionally scribble the ugliest, roughest draft you can imagine. Make it your plan to write something so simple, so messy, so basic, so ugly, that you can’t possibly use it. This is just a note to yourself about what you’re planning to think about considering writing.

This is much like the trick I use to get myself to do household chores. If a picture needs hanging, next time I see the hammer I lay it on the floor where the picture is to be hung. Then when I run across the box of nails, I set that in place. If the picture needs a hanger attached to it, that goes in the pile as well. Eventually I walk past, look at this instant picture hanging kit sitting on the floor, and realize that it will take almost no effort to finish the task. It gets done.

The hardest part about writing is writing. Not the polishing, the formatting, the editing. Just starting. Just putting down the few words that say what we really mean.

Pre-writing is a way to start ugly and simple and just get something down on paper.

Once the task is started, sometimes the compulsion to continue is overwhelming.

That’s okay too.

Continued tomorrow.

Timer (#3 of 6 Tools to Write)

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

#3 in a series of 6

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/429177 by scott craig http://www.cancerbox.com/” width=”200″ height=”139″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-2479]Being passionate souls, writers have a tendency to over promise, over commit and just plain try too hard.

When facing a challenging task, it’s human nature to try to swallow the elephant in one gulp. Every “getting things done” specialist in the world tells us that’s wrong — and yet we persist. If you want a jump start on eating the elephant, start with one tiny bite.

If you’re 12 years behind on your book, it’s easy to assume that it will take four hours a day for the next 10 years to catch up. And what happens is you spend four hours a day worrying about writing and zero hours a day doing it. If you missed yesterday’s post on habits and rituals, go back and read it. Then we’ll talk about why a 5-minute timer is such a great habit-building tool.

This all-or-nothing perspective makes habit-building a real challenge. … more … “Timer (#3 of 6 Tools to Write)”

Your Writing Schedule (#2 of 6 Tools to Write)

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

#2 in a series of 6

Every February thousands of songwriters converge on February Writing Album Month. FAWM founder Burr Settles lives by the Jack London quote which has always been part of FAWM culture: “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”

To many artists it seems nonsensical to sit down and intentionally crank out 14 songs in 28 days.

That’s not creativity; that’s just work. they say.

Seven years of participation taught me otherwise.

[image: photo of office http://www.sxc.hu/photo/947942 by stephan fleet http://stephanfleet.com/]

… more … “Your Writing Schedule (#2 of 6 Tools to Write)”

Your Writing Environment (#1 of 6 Tools to Write)

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Revisiting this list of 6 tools to get you writing instead of whimpering in the fetal position on the closet floor.

The first, because it is largest, most evident, and the most mechanical (which means the easiest to think about and implement) is your environment.

The pervasive image of the starving artist huddled, shivering in their garret leads us, perhaps unconsciously, to believe that art is immune to environment, or even that art is created by pain and suffering.

Your rational brain knows that this is nonsense.

“Even the most abstract mind is affected by the surroundings of the body. No one is immune to the impressions that impinge on the senses from the outside. Creative individuals may seem to disregard their environment and work happily in even the most dismal surroundings . . . in reality, the spatiotemporal context in which creative persons live has consequences that often go unnoticed. The right milieu is important in more ways than one.”—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, p. 126

A proper environment, as Csikszentmihalyi points out, adds enormously to our ability to create.

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1354904 by kslyesmith http://www.sxc.hu/profile/kslyesmith” width=”444″ height=”165″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-2417]

Here are a few things you should carefully inspect to ensure that they are the best you can arrange for your writing environment. Some will have a large effect. Some will have a small effect. But all will affect the comfort and ease of your creative abilities.

… more … “Your Writing Environment (#1 of 6 Tools to Write)”

6 Tools to Help You Find and Develop Your Blogging Voice

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Replying to my newsletter signup welcome email, Rory asked about finding his blogging voice. My writing voice came so naturally to me that I had been writing for years before I met an aspiring writer who needed help finding their own.

To be sure we’re all talking about the same thing: “voice” is the unique way each of us makes word choices, uses syntax and punctuation and pacing, and blends and balances dialog and exposition.

While few of us will ever have the instantly identifiable voice of Raymond Chandler or Dr. Seuss, our fans should find something unique to recognize in our writing just as our loved ones recognize our voice, even through the heavily compressed medium of telephone voice services.

A few points about finding your voice:

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/19949 by John Lee http://www.sxc.hu/profile/digi” width=”444″ height=”113″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-2360]

… more … “6 Tools to Help You Find and Develop Your Blogging Voice”

5 Ways to Provide the Fresh Blog Content Your Fans Crave

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/15900 by Andras Deak http://www.sxc.hu/profile/dean” width=”200″ height=”324″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-2353]We’ve all seen a teenager open the refrigerator for the thirteenth time hoping miraculously that a pizza has appeared where only broccoli lay before.

There’s a marvelous scene in one of the Crocodile Dundee movies where someone points out that his hotel room has a television. He turns it on saying, “I’ve seen television before.” As the I Love Lucy theme fades in he says, “Yup, that’s what was on”.

Can you imagine if the food in the fridge really never changed or if the show on television was actually always the same?

There are some activities in life which hinge on variety, newness, change, to keep our attention. Eating the same foods over and over again gets boring fast – even pizza.

The single greatest reason for potential fans (which means potential purchasers of your book) to visit your website is to find something new.

… more … “5 Ways to Provide the Fresh Blog Content Your Fans Crave”