As a bestselling editor and a writing coach, I'm all about helping people get the results they're seeking through the written word. That's especially important when it comes to promoting a business. If you're trying to sell yourself, your product or your services (and...
Are you a good negotiator when it comes to writing fees? If you're a writer trying to make a living, you'd better be. WritersMarket.com just posted a blog entry by Robert Lee Brewer, which gives some great negotiating advice. To his comments, I would add just one more...
Want results? Then watch your words. Slap some lousy copy onto a website or in a brochure for half the world to see and you’ll get the same response you would with a poorly written ad, media release or newsletter. Zippo. Nada. Zilch. Conversely, you can promote your...
I have to admit there’s one point of grammar that’s always stumped me—whoever vs whomever. Maybe my confusion comes from growing up in Paris, France and having to worry about French grammar. I was great at French grammar. I had to be. Since I failed the spelling...
Too many writers hamper the creative process--and their prose--by trying to perfect their writing at the start of a project. After years of writing books, magazine articles, web copy, advertorials (the print equivalent of infomercials) and more, I know that poor...
Google the phrase sloppy letter, and you will find a series of diatribes against the practice of careless correspondence. So it will probably surprise you to learn that I advise all my writing coach clients to write sloppy letters as part of the writing coach process....
Worried that you haven’t come up with that grabber title for your article, book or chapter? If you’re still writing, relax. Titles often come when you least expect it, when you’ve given your conscious mind a break and let your subconscious take over. As long as you...
Organization doesn’t come easily for a lot of writers. They live in a swirl of documents, some on the computer, others on scraps of paper or cocktail napkins in piles on their desk or the floors. That doesn’t work for me. And to be honest, once you get past the...
Just in case you're joining in late or need a refresher from a writing coach (me), let me recap my first six writing tips for writing just about anything before finishing up with Writing Tip#7. Writing Tip #1: Just start. Don't worry about anything but getting words...
Most writers routinely don't observe my next two writing tips for authors--adding detail and avoiding qualifiers. Writing Tip # 5: No matter how nervous you are about going out on a limb, if you've done your research then state your position as fact. Qualifiers...
