8 Tips for Improving Your Writing Style

 

There are many types of writing styles, though many of them incorporate simple words, short sentences, and direct language that engaged readers. While you should preserve your unique authorial tone, you can also improve your writing style with deliberate choices about structure and usage.

What Does Writing Style Mean?

Writing style is the voice and tone a writer uses to convey a story or express an idea. Every writer has their own personal writing style based on how they use words, their level of formality, their sentence structure, and their overall approach to the art of writing. A good writer uses different styles of writing depending on the purpose of their text. For example, blogging has a more casual tone while business writing requires more formal language.

4 Types of Writing Styles

There are four general stylistic categories that writing falls into. These different types of writing styles are differentiated by their purpose. Writers will use one of these general styles while also incorporating their own personal style into their piece:

1. Expository writing: An expository writing style is used for delivering facts and information rather than storytelling. Examples of expository writing include nonfiction books, scientific writing, technical writing, and news articles.
2. Descriptive writing: A descriptive style uses figurative language and sensory details to paint a picture in a reader’s mind. Poets use this type of writing style in their work.
3. Narrative writing: Narrative style has a plot, characters, and setting and is used in creative writing. It is the style writers use to craft a novel, novella, or screenplay. Examples of narrative writing style include Ernest Hemingway’s short story The Old Man and the Sea and The Shining by Stephen King.
4. Persuasive writing: A persuasive writing style tries to influence readers to adopt the writer’s point of view. Examples of persuasive writing include letters of recommendation, academic writing, and cover letters.

8 Tips for Improving Your Writing Style

To be a better writer, you need to know how to be direct and clear, while also putting your own stamp on your writing. Follow these eight writing tips for improving your style:

1. Be direct in your writing. Good writing is clear and concise. Lose filler words, like unnecessary adverbs and prepositional phrases, simply take up space and weigh a sentence down. Say exactly what you mean in the most direct way.
2. Choose your words wisely. There are many ways to write a sentence, and there are different words you can choose to convey the same idea. Always choose the simpler of two words. Use familiar vocabulary instead of lofty words from the English language. Simple words are more direct and easier for all readers to understand. Use a thesaurus if you need a little help finding a replacement or an easier way to say something.
3. Short sentences are more powerful than long sentences. A story loses steam with wordiness. Short sentences are easier to comprehend, something that readers appreciate. Avoid trying to pack too much into a line. Every sentence should contain one thought or idea.
4. Write short paragraphs. Keep your paragraphs short and manageable. Each one should consist of sentences that support the same idea. Short paragraphs are easier to digest. They also create a more visually appealing layout on the page. Academic writing often consists of lengthier paragraphs, as they need more information to support each theme. In less formal writing, shorter paragraphs are the norm.
5. Always use the active voice. Use the active voice and adhere to subject-verb-object sentence structure. It’s the most direct path to making your point. With the active voice, the subject is doing something, which is more exciting than the passive voice, in which something is being done to the subject. The passive voice might be grammatically correct, but it creates long, complex sentences and is a weaker way of presenting information.
6. Review and edit your work. Proofreading your first draft should be the first step in your editing process before you hand your story over to a professional editor. Tighten your writing, check your word choice and sentence structure, and hone your voice to improve your style.
7. Use a natural, conversational tone. Your writing style relies on your own, unique voice. Communicate in your comfort zone. In other words, write like you converse. Shape ideas with your original thoughts and voice, and do your best to avoid clichés. Your writing style should reflect your personality.
8. Read famous authors. Pick up any book by Mark Twain, and you’ll know it’s his writing simply by the tone of the story and the words he uses. Great writers put a stamp on their writing with a signature style. Along with works of fiction, read Strunk and White’s famous style guide The Elements of Style. Learning how other writers create their style. Then do the same with your own writing.

 

Culled from Masterclass.com

The 3 Stages of Social Media Marketing for Events

Social media revolutionized the way people experience events. From promoting concerts to organizing protest marches to simply throwing a party, social media platforms are important tools for communicating and mobilizing people.

For nonprofits, social media marketing is now an instrumental part of growing an event. And while social media is often thought of as in-the-moment and spontaneous, effective social media marketing requires forethought. When planning a social media campaign for your nonprofit event, it helps to break it down into phases. Read on to learn about the three phases of social media event promotion and how to succeed every step of the way.

Social Media Marketing: How to Handle Your Event Promotion

1. Before the Event

Supporters will not attend your event if they don’t know about it. That fact is at the core of your first phase of social media event promotion. In the weeks (or even months) leading up to your event, use social media to spread the news and register people ahead of time.

To get started, identify …

Your Platforms

You can’t succeed without focus. There are new social channels popping up all the time, but you should concentrate your efforts on the two or three platforms that work best for your organization and your event.

Your Goals

Clear goals will also help focus your social media promotion efforts. For a nonprofit event, registrations or ticket sales will likely be an important measure of success. Though, it’s important to also keep the long-term value of gaining new followers and generating engagement and impressions in mind.

Your Key Announcements and Deadlines

Structure your social media promotion around a few important announcements or deadlines. You might release the date or main activities, or announce speakers, special guests, or deadlines for early-bird ticket prices. This allows you to repeatedly promote your event while relaying important information to your audience and keeping the message fresh.

It’s also a good idea to begin the use of event hashtags well before the big day. This encourages your supporters to use them and helps create interest and buzz. Reach out to a handful of dedicated supporters and ask them to post about the event. You can also call on any sponsors or partners to promote the event on social media. Send them sample text or share images that they can easily post to their social networks.

2. During the Event

Your pre-event social media work is about awareness and registrations, but during the event, your objectives shift. Day of, your efforts will seek to:

• Enhance the attendee experience
• Share the event with those who couldn’t make it
• Collect content for future engagement and event promotion

Attendee Experience

Your organization can use social media to understand what your audience loves about your event and what they don’t care for. This is where an event hashtag becomes really important as it allows you to discover posts about your event in one stream. Like, share, and respond to positive posts. This will encourage people to keep talking about your event. You might even start trending!

But don’t ignore complaints. A study found that 42 percent of people who contact a brand on social media expect a response within an hour. While you’re sure to be busy on the day of your event, reading and responding to negative posts can alert you to problems you may not know about. Even if you don’t have an immediate solution, replying or messaging the attendee shows you care and want to make things right.

Share With Your Social Audience

Social media allows people all over the world to experience events they can’t necessarily attend. Use your social posts to show others what they’re missing. This will not only nurture existing relationships, but also intrigue new potential supporters. Post high-quality pictures and videos, short testimonials from attendees, and fun updates and highlights of your event. Those who could not (or chose not to) come might be enticed by what you share and make a note not to miss your next event.

Collect Content

Events offer tons of content opportunities. From pictures to videos to quotes, a great event can help generate blog and social media content for months to come. Get your whole team on board and task them to write down any awesome quotes or favorite moments. It’s also smart to have a specific list of images you want to capture ahead of time so you can ensure they’re taken.

While it’s important to have a plan walking into your event, you also need to be flexible with your day-of social strategy to capitalize on the day in an authentic way. Some of the best social media content happens in the moment. Don’t be afraid to replace or add an extra post that really shows off what’s special about your event.

3. After the Event

Much like a fundraising campaign, the final phase of your social media event marketing is about follow-up, reengagement, and key learnings. Make sure to post some thank you or wrap-up messages on your main social media channels. Now is also the time to consolidate all of the content you collected for future marketing initiatives. Review your assets and decide how they will be used in future promotions.

In this phase, you can also use social media to collect feedback from your community. In the days after, post questions about attendees’ favorite experiences. You can also promote the link to a survey to get more detailed feedback. This information will be extremely valuable when you plan your next event. You will learn what elements resonated and what issues you can improve upon.

Finally, keep your followers and event attendees updated on your subsequent events. If this is your signature annual event you can even start selling tickets for next year immediately. Let people commit now, when they’re full of happy memories.

 

Social media is a fun and flexible way to enhance your events. But, like other forms of marketing, it still requires focus and preparation. Use these three phases to optimize the social media element of your next event marketing plan

 

Culled From Classy

Dedication and Willingness to be Terrible: How Ishiguro won the Nobel

 

Kazuo Ishiguro wrote the bulk of The Remains of the Day in four weeks. All it took was extreme dedication—and a willingness to be terrible.

In the way the sculpture or carpentry is a craft, writing is a craft. There is art, lifestyle, and romance to it. Writers don’t just jumble words on blank pages; writing is a mix of discipline, dedication, a staring into the abyss of the subconscious, and a unison with the supernatural. Like a worker of clay, writers mash words, and are themselves mashed and caked in the clay of the art.

Writing is a delicious work, but it is for the most part simply work. It’s often lonely. It’s rarely romantic. “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect,” Anaïs Nin said.

Writing is refreshing and exciting, and it is also a public service. Writers of literature are public servants in that they use their stage not just to celebrate literature but to also put the creation of literature in its place – of mirroring the society. And it’s especially refreshing when writers at the highest levels of the field do that. One of them has been Kazuo Ishiguro, the British novelist and the latest winner of the Nobel Prize.

On Thursday, 5th October 2017 the Nobel Committee announced Ishiguro as its 2017 laureate for literature. The Committee noted in its citation, that came in part because the author, “in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.”

Almost immediately after the announcement was made, a story from The Guardian, written by Ishiguro himself and published in December of 2014, began circulating on social media. The piece is headlined, “Kazuo Ishiguro: How I Wrote The Remains of the Day in Four Weeks.” The article details how the author overcame the consensus about writing, and most importantly the haul of life’s demand, to conjure enough letters that would become Ishiguro’s most famous piece.

Due to distractions from the “first flurry of public success” that accompanied his second novel, an end seemed to have come to his “proper” work, spending a whole year fruitlessly to write the opening chapter of a book. So Ishiguro and his wife, Lorna, hatched a plan to jump-start his creativity:

I would, for a four-week period, ruthlessly clear my diary and go on what we somewhat mysteriously called a “Crash.” During the Crash, I would do nothing but write from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. I’d get one hour off for lunch and two for dinner. I’d not see, let alone answer, any mail, and would not go near the phone. No one would come to the house. Lorna, despite her own busy schedule, would for this period do my share of the cooking and housework. In this way, so we hoped, I’d not only complete more work quantitively, but reach a mental state in which my fictional world was more real to me than the actual one.

The goal, essentially, was to deliberately create an environment in which the author and his narrative might be fused into one. It was a crash. “Throughout the Crash,” Ishiguro notes, “I wrote free-hand, not caring about the style or if something I wrote in the afternoon contradicted something I’d established in the story that morning. The priority was simply to get the ideas surfacing and growing. Awful sentences, hideous dialogue, scenes that went nowhere—I let them remain and ploughed on.”

And he hooked it. Four weeks later, Ishiguro had a draft of The Remains of the Day. He tinkered with it still, yes. He added and trimmed and honed. For the most part, though, he had, in a concentrated month, completed a masterpiece. He’d spent his year of unproductivity, he notes, doing the background work of the writing—he’d read books by and about British servants, and histories, and “The Danger of Being a Gentleman”—and the Crash came at a time when Ishiguro knew what he needed to know to write what he wanted to write. All that was required was to sit down and do the work.

It’s a helpful reminder to writers of literature both serious and less so—and to anyone who might be intimidated by talk of writing’s metaphysical properties. “If you mix Jane Austen and Franz Kafka then you have Kazuo Ishiguro in a nutshell, but you have to add a little bit of Marcel Proust into the mix,” said Sara Danius, the permanent secretary of The Swedish Academy, explaining the Committee’s choice of Ishiguro. “Then you stir, but not too much, then you have his writings.”

It’s high, and accurate, praise—but it is the reward for Ishiguro’s quest for knowledge, strong spirit to make a difference, unchained mind, and stalwart dedication to link the clutters of words, dialogues and character. And it is indeed a vital imaginative breakthrough!

How to Find Your Writing Style: 8 Tips for Developing Voice and Tone

Just like a famous designer might have a unique fashion style, great writers develop their own signature methods for storytelling and communication. Try these tips for developing a writing style that fits who you are and the stories you want to tell.

What Is Writing Style?

A writing style is an author’s unique way of communicating with words. An author creates a style with the voice, or personality, and overall tone that they apply to their text. A writer’s style can change depending on the type of writing they’re doing, who they’re writing for, and their target audience. A news journalist will have a very different style than a blogger, for example.

2 Elements of Any Writing Style

An author’s writing style is defined by two elements:

1. Voice: Voice is the personality you take on in your writing. It is the point of view through which you’re telling a story.
2. Tone: Tone is identified by the attitude that a piece of writing conveys. Writers create tone through elements like word choice, sentence structure, and grammar.

4 Types of Writing Styles

There are four main types of writing. While a writer will still incorporate their own voice in their writing, these different writing styles each have a purpose and specific audience, which dictates how an author should shape their copy:

1. Expository writing: Use an expository writing style to inform or explain a topic to readers. Examples of expository writing include technical writing, business writing, high school essays, and news articles.
2. Descriptive writing: Descriptive writing uses figurative language and sensory detail to describe a person, place, or thing to allow readers to create a picture in their mind. Descriptive writing is the style of writing most often found in poetry.
3. Narrative writing: Narrative style is writing that tells a story and includes elements often found in a novel or short story, like the main character, setting, and plot. It is most often used in fiction writing. Examples of narrative writing style include The Catcher in the Rye, The Color Purple, and The Lord of the Rings.
4. Persuasive writing: When you use a persuasive writing style, you communicate your opinion to try to influence the reader to adopt your stance on a subject. Examples of persuasive writing include cover letters, advertising campaigns, political speeches, and editorials.

8 Tips for Developing Your Writing Style

Whether you’re writing a novel or an article, you need a unique writing style that is distinctly you. Follow these general guidelines to help you find that style and develop your writing voice and tone:

1. Be original. Focus on the point you are trying to make and say it as only you can. Avoid using clichés—they lack creativity and originality and imply that you can’t think of anything else to write. Choose language that reflects both who you are and who you’re writing for.
2. Use your life experiences. The accumulation of unique experiences in your life have given you a distinct point of view. Incorporate that into your writing process. Let events in real life that have shaped you also inform your own work and voice.
3. Be present in your writing. Whether you’re developing a narrative storyline or writing a blog post, immerse readers in your story by being present when you write. Use an authentic tone. Use efficient syntax to effectively convey the details of your story.
4. Have an adaptable voice. While you should have a confident and consistent voice, writing styles should shift depending on what type of writing you’re doing. Different genres will work better with different types of writing styles. In creative writing, your personality will shift depending on the narrator’s perspective, and whether the story is told through first person or third person. Writing narratives with heavy dialogue, like screenplays, will require a writer to take on different styles with each character.
5. Step out of your comfort zone. Don't be afraid to experiment a little in your writing. While your style should reflect who you are, it should also stretch the limits of your literary personality. Incorporate a variety of literary devices to amplify your voice.
6. Read other authors. William Faulkner. Margaret Atwood. Stephen King. Ernest Hemingway. Each author has a unique voice, tone, and overall writing style they developed over the course of their writing career. Read some of your favorite authors as well as famous writers you’re not yet familiar with, and focus on how they use words and compose sentences to tell a story.
7. Write often. Good writers have a regular writing habit. The more you write, the more your writer’s voice will come into focus. One method many writers use is to have a morning journal. This daily writing ritual requires a three-page, longhand, stream-of-consciousness writing exercise first thing every morning. You’ll develop better writing skills and find your own unique style.
8. Hone your craft. Once you feel like you have a handle on your personal style, consider these other, more technical ways you can further improve your writing style.

 

Culled from Masterclass.com

How to Improve Your Customer Engagement on Social Media

Looking for ways to improve your customer engagement on social media? Here are 8.

First off, if you have experience in social media marketing, you know that engaging users is no easy task.

The biggest mistake people make when promoting their brand, company or even themselves on social media is thinking that simply posting is enough. However, that’s far from the case. Managing a Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account means having to strategize ways to keep your current audience captivated, while simultaneously attracting new users to your page.

Both of these activities can be full-time jobs. And, unfortunately, most people struggle to do either well. After all, how many times have you heard the words: “We just need to post better content”?

But because building a loyal following on social media isn’t easy, that doesn’t mean it has to be complicated. Some of the best digital marketers today started building Instagram pages as a hobby -- until suddenly they were boasting hundreds of thousands of followers. What they did was double down on their strengths and learn how to work on their weaknesses.

Here are eight ways you can increase your engagement on social media and make your pages a destination worth following.

8 Ways to Increase Customer Engagement on Social Media

1. Always post.

The first rule to increasing engagement is to constantly create and post relevant content. To do this, you need to figure out what content engages your audience. A lot of brands don’t fully understand how crucial it is to study their competitors and other people in their space.

One of the best strategies is to be a curator instead of a creator. With so much great content being posted to social media, there’s no reason to try to build an audience solely off original content. Curated content, or content shared from other pages, is how some of the most popular pages have built audiences in the millions. @Thefatjewish, for example, boasts over 10 million followers, and the page is almost entirely curated content.

So, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Look for trends that are currently grabbing people’s attention, and capitalize on them.

2. Stay relevant by being timely.

The most successful accounts know how to piggyback off trending topics, events in the news and significant policy discussions. They recognize that it’s a lot easier to insert yourself into a massive conversation that’s already happening than to start a conversation from scratch.

Jonathan Foley, founder of @Positivity and @Societyfeelings, and CEO of WULF Marketing, says, “When you see a page or account that has extremely high engagement, it’s because they know how to create content that resonates. So if you make every post with the intention of it being extremely relevant to something that’s already happening in the world, you’re going to tap into that traffic. Some great examples of people doing this are @lelepons, @course and @barstoolsports.”

This eye on relevancy strategy must be working for Foley and @Positivity, since the page gained more than 100,000 followers in less than a month, and averages over 1 million impressions per day.

3. Be bold.

If you want your page to get noticed, it has to stand out from the crowd.

Users follow so many brands and pages that after a while they all begin to blend together. As a brand, know that it’s your job to always find ways to separate yourself from what everyone else is doing.

For example, short videos on social media with big text above and below the video have become extremely popular. Something Gary Vaynerchuk has done to make his videos stand out is add a red progress bar to his videos. This might seem like a small detail, but it separates his videos from the competition.

4. Get to know your audience.

A great way to connect with people on your page is to create a conversation.

Many people believe that “creating a conversation” means posting pictures and then responding to comments with general, rehearsed responses. However, that attitude may put you with the people out there struggling to succeed.

To increase customer engagement, be engaging yourself. This means calling out specific people in your stories, or finding ways to thank or even reward your most engaged followers. And, if you don’t have the bandwidth to reply, hire someone to do it for you. Yes, it’s that important.

5. Run campaigns and promotions.

Nowadays, even the most viral-worthy pages have to spend money to continue growing.

Running ad campaigns behind your most popular or most engaging posts can be a great way to sustain momentum and continue building your brand. Once you know which posts resonate the most with your audience, present them to new audiences so that you can attract the kinds of people you want following your page.

Furthermore, you can use this data to inform your own content creation or curation process. If meme posts get the most engagement, then share more of them. If it’s videos, share more videos. Let the data inform you so you can do more of what’s already working.

6. Have a personality.

Brand awareness is key. But brand awareness and the best content strategy mean nothing if you’re dull as a doorknob.

The best social media pages have a personality. Whether you’re an influencer or a big brand like Skittles, your job is to develop a brand voice people want to listen to.

Some questions to ask yourself are: what topics (within your industry) get people riled up? What types of content are controversial? What can you do that will get people talking? And, most importantly, what can you say that the most people will be able to relate to?

Creating customer engagement takes real work. But by using data and trial and error, you will learn over time which pieces of content resonate the most. Chances are, they’ll be the posts with the most personality.

7. Post when your audience is watching.

One of the most underestimated aspects of social media growth and customer engagement is timing.

Different sources will give you different information on the optimal posting times. Some say you should post after work hours - but we all know people check their phones during work. Others say you should post during work hours - but then again, that's when people should be working.

The truth is, when you "should" post depends entirely on your audience.

Are you trying to engage 16-year-old gamers? Then probably post after school hours, since high school is a bit more strict about kids using their phones. Are you trying to engage college students? Middle of the day could work, but so could really late at night.

Timing is a trial-and-error process. Try posting at different times of the day, and track your engagement. When you start to see patterns, use them to inform your posting times.

8. Make your posts (and your page) visually appealing.

This may seem obvious for a visually based network like Instagram, but it’s a lot harder to implement on Twitter, LinkedIn and even Facebook.

Optimizing the visual starts with your bio and ends with your content. Make sure your bio is spaced appropriately and has emojis that speak to your brand. Make sure the post pinned to the top of your profile is one with a high amount of engagement (and a great picture). And, most important of all, make sure your profile is a complete representation of who you are and what you share. Do this by alternating between text, pictures and videos.

Remember: if your page looks great, users will be more likely to give it their attention, which of course is the whole goal.

By Aj Agrawal

Why You Must Write Down Your Ideas

 

If you do not write down your ideas then you've been doing a whole lot wrong for a long time.

I really do not want to go into the things you've been missing out on but just bear in mind that they are huge. Writing down ideas is one of the simplest but most powerful tools you'll ever come across. I'm talking about a mental tool that will advance you to a whole new level.

But why is it so important, and what will it do for you?

What you gain when you write down your ideas

Here's one quote from Michael LeBoeuf:

“When you write down your ideas you automatically focus your full attention on them. Few if any of us can write one thought and think another at the same time. Thus a pencil and paper make excellent concentration tools.”

I've seen stuff I wrote down like eight years ago and I soon as I read through, the ideas came surging up like a storm. It literally feels like time travel, but it's just something written on paper.

A tool that can make your ideas attack you that powerfully from eight years ago will keep you fully concentrated on them if you've just written them down in the present as to-dos. You'll focus your full attention on them as LeBoeuf has said and be able to get them done at lightning speed.

But writing down your ideas doesn't just give you razor-sharp concentration, it equally keeps you chock-full of content. By that, I mean - in simple terms -  that you can finally wave your final goodbye to writer's block.

Francis Bacon, Sr. suggests that you should...

“Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.”

That's coming from the great man himself.

When ideas pop into your head and you write them down, you're essentially arming yourself, or put differently, loading up on guns for your armoury. When you need to get creative at any point, all you gotta do is take one out and fire.

The thoughts "that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable" - you can't argue with that. And if you don't write them down they'll vanish, disappear the same way they came.

If your memory is like mine, or like half the people in this world's, it's pretty much a leaking bucket. One moment it's full to the brim, the next moment it's brimming with emptiness. Your pen and paper are that useful bowl you can put the bucket in, so if the ideas are ready to take their leave from your mind, they can just seep nicely into that bowl and stay there for when you need them.

Bottom line is, if you constantly write ideas down you will never find yourself in a position where your mind is blank and you're looking for something to write on.

 

4 Ways to Successfully Self-Edit Your Manuscript

 

You’ve finished the first draft of your nonfiction book or an article for publication. It’s time to hand your manuscript over to an editor, right?

Wrong.

Recently, I met a prospective author who was working on her first book. “So,” she asked, “an editor like you can help me fix up my first draft, right?”

On the one hand, she’s right: a part of my job is, indeed, working with authors to help improve their books. On the other hand, this author’s question reveals a common misconception about the editor-author relationship—that the writer finishes their writing and then hands the work over to an editor to make it into something publishable.

Editors provide sound advice and love to work with authors but can help more if the writers take some necessary steps to revise their work before approaching an editor. Simply said, you must self-edit your work first.

In between the end of your writing process and an editor’s intervention, there are steps you can take to help self-edit your work and bring it one step closer to something that’s ready to go out to readers. Let’s review a few strategies for self-editing that can be useful to you as you get ready to move from writing to editing and, then, publishing.

How to Self-Edit Your Manuscript - Before You Hand it Over to an Editor

1 Take some time away.

Even though you might have edited your work as you worked on the manuscript, when finished, you need to consider it as a whole. After you complete the first draft, take at least twenty-four hours (for a shorter piece) to a week (for a longer piece) entirely away from that work. This allows you to clear from your mind the original thought process you used when you were writing. Then you can just focus on the work itself as a less-familiar piece of writing.

Many writers are afraid to do this because they worry that the writing will seem terrible to them upon re-reading. That’s why you self-edit! Plus, it’s equally as common that you’ll be pleasantly surprised upon a later re-reading and think, “Did I really write this? It’s so good!”

2 Read out loud.

This is a time-worn staple of self-editing advice and for a good reason. Nothing helps to give you a new perception of your own writing like actually hearing it read out loud. If you stumble over a sentence, lose track of the story, or find yourself being bored by a paragraph—you’ll know to flag that for revision.

3 Put your feelings away.

Writing is an emotional process; it’s easy to feel like each individual piece is a stand-in for your overall intelligence, skill, or creativity. Admitting that a sentence isn’t clear or that a section of the piece is off-topic or boring can be painful and feel like you’re admitting to having less ability as a writer than you think or claim to have. It can be equally hard to accept that a turn of phrase you thought was poetic or brilliant before now seems silly or over-the-top.

However, it’s important to remember that the revision process is another opportunity to show your chops as a writer. When you hesitate to make a change or explain away a negative feeling you get from some part of your writing, ask yourself if this is a writerly response or an emotional one. Learn to recognize your emotions as a writer and navigate around them as you self-edit your work.

4 Imagine you’re your own worst critic.

This self-editing strategy works well for those who have learned to separate their writerly instincts from their emotional ones. Read your piece and think of what a very critical reviewer or reader would think. Will they find the tone too sentimental? Will they find the progression of events in the narrative implausible? Make a note of these pitfalls and then look back at the piece of writing to see if these issues could be addressed.

Often, it’s entirely possible to challenge yourself to revise in a way that will satisfy the most skeptical. And the result will make your work better, even though the process of pointing out these flaws to yourself might be painful.

At a minimum, I want to see a second draft—not a first draft—from prospective authors. I want to feel like the writing has been read through and worked on before it got to me. This shows a willingness to develop the writing and an ability to separate their attachment to the work from the needs of the reader.

After all, the reader is the most important part of the equation, and both self-editing and professional editing should work together to get a piece of writing ready for that reader’s comprehension and enjoyment. With these self-editing strategies, you’ll be prepared to do your part in that process.

Once through, you can submit your work to a professional editor. Contact The Ready Writers for professional editing tailored to your manuscript's specific needs.

Culled from Write Non Fiction

5 Tips to Determine Pricing for Your Events

 

An empty hall is probably the most disappointing part of hosting an event. Apart from the fact that you will probably lose money, your invited guests get to speak to empty chairs, and you might lose credibility with your sponsors! This can happen for both free and paid events. But for paid events, you might want to consider that your ticket pricing may have something to do with those empty seats.

So, here are some tips to help you determine the price of tickets for your event.

How do You Determine Pricing for Your Events?

1. Recognize that the event determines the ticket pricing

This might seem obvious, but it is way deeper than this. This goes beyond understanding the objectives of your organization but also the motivation of your intended audience. What is in demand at that particular time in that particular location? In a place like Nigeria with a high unemployment rate, a job search-related event might actually sell, but the organizers have to put in mind that the majority of your attendees will be unemployed, so might not be able to afford high ticket prices. Low ticket prices mean you will almost certainly get a full house and bigger revenue. But charging a low ticket price for an event for seasoned professionals might pass you and your organization off as non-credible and so might lead to low turnout. In summary, it is important to recognize how people view your event and this will determine how you price your tickets.

2. Have a Financial Objective

Unless you run a nonprofit organization, it is important to create a financial objective which is knowing how much revenue you hope to make from the event. This will help you build your budget as well as know how much to set for ticket prices. The normal process is to divide your total budget by the number of estimated attendees to get a price for each ticket. But there are other factors to consider that might give you additional revenue like sponsors and exhibitors so all the revenue burden doesn’t fall on the attendees. It is also important to note that your potential attendees are comparing your prices with similar events in your industry, so it is important to know your competition and their pricing.

3. Have Ticketing Options

This is common, especially in events that all classes of people enjoy like sports and entertainment. Football clubs have ticketing options so their fans in all steps of the economic ladder can buy. This is also common in music concerts and comedy events where there are tickets for the affluent and tickets for the ordinary man. Offering one ticket option can discourage a particular class of people and this can lead to the planner not getting maximum revenue. If it is priced too high, you might get few affluent people in your event and if it is priced too low, you might get lots of ordinary attendees but won’t be able to raise enough money to cover the cost as the affluent might not take your low-ticket event seriously.

4. Keep Data of Past Events

If you have hosted events before, it is important to juxtapose their financial successes. Compare data by calculating each event’s rate of return and then look closely at differences in ticket sales. Note the steps you took to that ensured maximum revenue in a particular event and this might help planning for your next event easier. Feedback from your attendees is also a way to plan ahead. Get personal information of your attendees and try to get their thoughts if the amount spent on the tickets was worth it. This can give you a clue on how to price your next event.

5. Monitor Your Ticket Sales

From the moment you start selling your tickets, it is important you monitor sales to know how you are performing. If you notice any discrepancies or notice sales are falling short of expectations, do not fret. Investigate what went wrong and act on it quickly. For instance, if the problem is affordability, you can offer a discount or a promo to raise demand. Monitoring sales will also help you collect data for future events.

 

Samuel Ejedegba

5 Tips on Finding Time to Write

 

If you ask a lot of writers what their biggest challenges are, most would say it is finding the time to write.

Ironic, isn’t it? How could you be a writer and not have the time to write? It’s like being a dancer and not having the time to dance or being a cook and not having the time to cook. While it might be possible not to have enough time to do what you love, because you have a very busy schedule, the things you still do in the midst of your busy schedule such as eating, taking a drink, going on a stroll are simply the things you make the time for. So, like those things you have the time to do, all you have to do is make or find the time to write too.

Now, here are a few tips on how to find the time to write even when you feel that there is no time.

 

How You Can Find Time to Write

1. Decide to write

Everything you do, from getting up from your bed to brushing your teeth is a decision, and decisions start from the mind. So, what you have to do is make the conscious decision to write. Once you have made a resolve to write, you will be surprised at how much time you would have to write.

2. Make it a priority

To find time to write, it is important that you make writing a priority. Plan your day around your writing activity and shelve other things in order to get your writing done.

If you need to, you can get tips on how to optimise your time and manage it effectively.

3. Do it first

Ensure that writing is one of the first activities you do in the morning - if not the first. This is because if you postpone it for other things, you might be swamped to the point of exhaustion that inhibits creativity.

4. Take a notepad everywhere you go

It is easier to write when you have a notepad with you. So, even when you are going on a short walk with a friend or sitting at the bank waiting for the customer care representative to attend to you, you can use the time to write.

5. Use your free time

Almost everyone gets some free time on their hands. When you find out that you have some free time, perhaps during the weekend, rather than using it to watch Netflix or something else, write.

Beyond these tips, it is important that you stay committed to writing. You should perhaps have a specific time you write, and remember to reward yourself for your commitment.

Your audience are waiting to read your work. Don't delay them any longer.

 

Need help with your writing? The Ready Writers offers attractive and reliable services on writing, editing, transcription and more.

 

The Little Known Secret to Writing a Bestseller Nonfiction Book

 

If you’re a writer, it’s fair to assume you’d like to write a bestseller. In my 12-plus years of experience as an editor for a major publisher, bestseller status is the Holy Grail of the writing trade, and it’s not just an ego thing.

Hitting the bestseller lists is an emblem of the impact a book is having.

Bestsellers are not just about fame and money; in fact, writing a bestseller guarantees neither. They are about having an impact on society.

Bestsellers are world changers.

By definition bestsellers are rare. Whether it’s the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, or Publishers Weekly, the value of these lists is in direct relationship to the fact that they are limited.

So what does it take? How do you make it onto a bestsellers list? In this post I discuss the key elements to writing a bestseller, including a little known secret that can have a significant effect on book sales. Mind you, this post is not about how to buy your way onto a list. It’s about how to get there organically.

The makings of a bestseller can be divided into internal and external factors. Internal factors are those within an author’s realm of influence. External factors are those beyond the author’s control but which an author can still capitalize on.

Platform

An essential internal factor is platform. Platform is an author’s ability to promote his or her own book. The bad news is it takes time to build a platform. The good news is, if you’re willing to work hard over a period of time, an influential platform has never been more accessible than it is right now. Check out Author Media’s terrific platform-building tips.

Excellent Writing

Another important internal factor is excellent writing. It’s true that many well-written books do not hit the bestsellers list. It’s also true that most books that hit the list are well written, especially those that stay there for a while. In short, if your book is not well written, it probably won’t hit the bestseller lists. My favorite books on the craft of writing are Stein on Writing, Bird by Bird, and The War of Art.

The Wild Card: Luck

One external factor is luck. How big a role luck plays in the life of any bestseller varies, of course, but let’s face it, some books get lucky. Oprah selects your book for her Book of the Month Club. A video or blog post goes viral. You can’t predict these things, they just happen. It’s important to note, however, that luck is often a friend to books that otherwise are worthy of attention.

The Little Known Secret: Write a Book the World Needs

This is the external factor that many authors don’t consider and is so, so important. If you write an excellent book and have a decent platform that you then leverage to promote your book, chances are the book will do fine. It will sell moderately well, and both you and your publisher will be happy.

To write a bestseller, though, often you have to say something unique that the world is ready to hear. In ancient Persia when recently crowned Queen Esther is deliberating about whether to intervene for the Jewish people before the king, her guardian, Mordecai, asks, “Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther’s moment had arrived. Bestselling books are often those that have been written for such a time as this. Write a book whose moment has arrived.

How to Write a Book Whose Moment Has Arrived

Let me sketch out some possible steps for writing a book whose moment has arrived:

1. Study all the bestselling books on your topic. Obtain a good working knowledge of the main things that have been said in your field of inquiry.
2. Survey and interview lots of people. Do your research. Ask anybody and everybody what their thoughts are about your particular topic, particularly those who have written about it.
3. Ask, “What hasn’t been said or emphasized that should be?” Based on all your research and intuition, what does the world need to hear?
4. Ask, “What would constitute a watershed message in this area?” The message has to be both unique and sincere. We all know when someone tells us something that sounds too good to be true or smells of ulterior motives.
5. Test the waters. Write some blog posts or articles that deliver your message. Don’t worry about letting the cat out of the bag. If your idea has legs, people will want a book-length treatment of it.
6. Write the book. You’ve done your homework, composed your message, and refined your delivery. Now go, brave writer. Who knows but that you have come to your royal keyboard for such a time as this?

One More Thing

Let’s say you do all the above, and your book fails to hit the bestseller lists. Then all you’ve done is created a signal contribution to your field that will still help quite a few people. That’s worth doing no matter what.

Credit: Chad Allen

Lady Gaga Taught Me These 4 Secrets to Building a Successful Brand

 

Lady Gaga is on fire ... again. With her recent breakthrough performance in A Star Is Born, she is generating a lot of Oscar buzz. In the film, Gaga plays Ally alongside Bradley Cooper's Jack -- a couple whose personal relationship struggles as Ally's professional life takes off. With many publications betting she will shine during award season, Gaga is hot.

But, this isn't Gaga's first rodeo. Having launched her singing career around 2007, she has been a chart-topping role model for thousands of fans, broken records, taken home countless awards and influenced the industry.

Yes, she is an international star. But, she is also an extremely savvy businesswoman -- and I have learned everything from her when it comes to building my successful business, Archangel, which helps mission-driven entrepreneurs, and its annual conference, Archangel Summit.

It was around 2013 when I started following Gaga. I was watching the music industry - and it was in a decline. Yet, there were some artists who were killing it. Lady Gaga was one of them. While she had been around (and super successful for years), she was continuing to get stronger and stronger, despite the current landscape. At the time, I knew nothing about her, but I was intrigued by her success. What was so special about her? I began my quest to figure that out.

 

Secrets to Building a Successful Brand

 

Here is what I learned from Lady Gaga on what it takes to build a successful business - and what you can learn from her, too.

 

1. Get crystal clear on who you want to help.

It is so important to find the right customers for your company.

Like a lot of people, Lady Gaga is attracted to people who were like her. She has written countless times about being bullied in school and feeling like an outsider. It was these same people she went after when she decided to build her community (more on that in a bit).

For me, I needed my perfect avatar to target. I wanted to help entrepreneurs like me: those who are mission-driven and want to create an impact. To find these people, I met with anyone and everyone and started asking a million questions to get to the root issues and how I could be of help. I started to look for patterns to define my mission.

For you, focus on whom you want to help right off the bat. Take a stand. Look at your core values, what issues are important to you and your mission. This will help create cohesion and bonds among your core base. Look for those people who fit into that community. But also, just as importantly, do not try to please everyone. You can't.

 

2. Build a tribe.

 

Next, you need to find these people -- a lot of these people -- and build your tribe.

When it came to building her community and ambassadors, Lady Gaga didn't go for the traditional, top 40 pop audience. She went after the fringe -- the people who were bullied, those who didn't fit in, the outcasts -- and made them her family. And then she branded her tribe -- "Little Monsters" -- which was so important.

Every year, for our Archangel Summit, we sell out, with more than 3,000 people attending. We are able to accomplish this by building our own tribe. When I launched the entire Archangel platform, I didn't start off with a product, service, experience or event and try to sell people on that business model. Rather, I started off with a tribe and asked out how could I serve them.

By going down this path, it is much easier, in the end, for entrepreneurs to sell. After finding this passionate audience, you can figure out the most common challenges this tribe is facing and how you, as the founder, can be the most helpful.

 

3. Focus on being memorable.

 

Whatever you do, be remembered.

Usually, when artists perform, they do pretty much the same act in each city. It can be a bit, well, blah. But, Gaga customizes her shows to each specific audience -- adding in personal touches to make each performance memorable. It is very micro level. So, people throw things on stage, and she interacts with them. I have seen her do it with a Canadian flag, which she danced with; a denim jacket she put over her dress; and a touching moment, when a concertgoer named Brittany tossed up a letter. Lady Gaga stopped the set, opened the letter, learned that the girl had just come out to her parents, who didn't accept it, and asked Brittany on stage. She then sang directly to her. I am not rehashing this story for no reason; I am doing so because I remember every single moment of that concert.

In each instance, she made people feel special, like they belonged.

For us, I go crazy when it comes to the day of the Archangel Summit event. It isn't just panels and keynotes, but also Cirque du Soleil-style performances. I do this to not only keep people energized, but because I haven't seen it anywhere else.

Do the same for your own business. Do things that don't scale -- and they don't have to be such a grand level as having trapeze artists swinging through your event. For instance, you can insert personalized videos into emails, thanking someone for her purchase. Or send a special thank-you card after your service. Whatever you choose, you just need to show people you care about them.

 

4. Keep the momentum.

 

There are only so many product launches you can have, events you can hold or online courses you can unveil. Between those big milestones, keep the community going.

Lady Gaga does it by creating a special, almost secretive culture. She and her Little Monsters greet each other with the "Monster Claw" sign and use words like "monster hugs" to show affection for each other. They have their own social media platform where they can interact all year round, and a strong Facebook page where Gaga often posts.

What I have done that can work for any founder is create a strong social media group. (Some people do this with Google, others with Facebook.) In it, we highlight stories of community members and the impact they're creating, we co-create our events with the tribe (for instance, asking which speakers to have for future events) and we share strategies, to name a few ways we engage.

During the year, we also keep people engaged by continuing to educate them with webinars, email newsletters and smaller, more intimate events. These all help to continue to develop this community, so when our next major event occurs, it isn't hard to sell out.

Culled from Entrepreneur

How to Create a Writing Habit that Sticks

 

Let’s face it, writing can be very instrumental. Through your write-up, you can proffer solutions and enlighten people; you can also motivate and give hope to the crestfallen. The challenge you may encounter is that you may not always be motivated to write, or you may be a major in the school of procrastination. So, here are some things you can do in order to create a healthy writing habit.

 

How to Create a Lasting and Fruitful Writing Habit

 

1. Make up your mind

The mind is a very powerful force and everything you do starts from within. So, if you haven’t made up your mind to start writing daily or consistently, you may never be able to write. Therefore, quit talking about writing and start writing.

 

2. Set a routine

Once you have made up your mind to start writing, set a day or time you want to start writing. It can be every Wednesday at 5:00am or every day at 2:00pm. Pick a time and day that works for you and ensure you are faithful to your writing schedule. You can set a reminder on your phone.

 

3. Tell people about your goal

If you decide to start writing regularly, don’t keep it to yourself; tell people around you such as your friends, relatives or colleagues about your resolution and let them hold you accountable for your writing goals.

 

4. Focus on writing for a month

It is said that a habit is easy to form in 14 days, although that may not apply to all things, especially if you intend to write once a week. So, in that case, it is better to focus on writing consistently for a month first, and then 3 months, and then half a year and on…until your writing habit is formed.

 

5. Make your writing fun

While you are writing, try to make the activity fun, so that it doesn’t feel like a chore. You can listen to music while writing or take your favourite drink, or write in an area you find amusing or comforting.

 

6. Reward yourself

As you achieve your writing goals per week or per month, ensure you reward yourself, either by buying yourself a nice meal or watching a movie at the cinema, or whatever you feel you deserve. As you reward yourself on each writing adventure, you look forward to writing more.

 

Sometimes, as you work towards forming your writing habit, you may lose motivation and feel the need to stop, in a case like this, you should re-energise your resolve by reminding yourself why you started to write in the first place. Alternatively, think of all the people that have benefited from your previous write-ups and keep writing.

A Simple Guide To Finding The Right Speakers For Your Events

 It’s easy to find yourself attracted to big names when you’re looking for speakers for your events or conferences, almost like they’re shiny objects or something. But I’ve been to enough conferences (as both an attendee and a keynote speaker) to learn that organizers can put themselves into some pretty bad positions by getting distracted by celebrity and not thinking through the right speakers for their events.

Bill Lee, the VP of client development at Eagle Talent Speakers Bureau, a company that advises and supports organizers in selecting the best speakers for their events, brought up a good point when I connected with him about the process. He said, “It seems like everyone and their grandmother is a ‘speaker’ these days ... but the fact is, not everyone has the background and, frankly, the personality or communication skills to speak and truly engage an audience for an hour or more.”

When you select someone to speak to your audience, you place your audience’s trust in you onto that speaker. You need to do everything you can to avoid destroying that trust because once it’s broken, it’s hard to rebuild.

To maintain trust and host an event with speakers your audience will love, here are seven questions you must ask yourself when selecting the potential speakers:

1. Are they going to deliver something your audience won’t find elsewhere?

It frustrates me when I speak at events and run into people who never change anything about their speeches. Look, I get it. They probably spent days in front of their mirrors at home practising over and over until they really nailed their speeches. But why should someone attend your event if he or she can just sit at home wearing pajamas, eating a bowl of Cheerios on the couch, and watching the same speeches on YouTube? Ask your prospective speakers exactly what they’ll deliver to your audience to keep them engaged.

2. Are they too cool to stick around, or do they care enough to make the effort?

When I was a younger speaker, I learned something from my friend Jay Baer that changed the way I approached my future speaking engagements. It’s a simple practice, really: Stick around with your audience afterwards and humanize yourself. Audiences often put speakers on pedestals, and that puts those speakers in a position to make attendees feel special. There are only so many speakers can do in 45-minute keynotes, but they can make a difference by chatting one-on-one or in small groups afterwards. Ask whether your speakers are willing to stick around to connect with your audience.

3. Do they go out of their way to be helpful?

If you think certain speakers will automatically draw thousands of attendees to your event just because you book them, think again. I’ve seen organizers rely on a speaker’s fame to attract an audience for ticket sales, and those conferences go under because they don’t market effectively. However, if the speakers you invite offer to go above and beyond to help you attract attendees — by spreading the news with their networks and getting other influencers involved — you can more easily justify the cost of booking them and getting them to your event.

4. Does their content connect with the goals of the event?

It’s great when presenters give amazing speeches that get everyone pumped up for a while ... but then what happens? Your speakers have to be able to connect the content of their speeches to your goals for the event because aligning those goals and tactics is what will make your event successful. The best speakers will ask you what that success looks like, and they’ll marry their content with those goals. (If entertainment is what you’re looking for, you might want to go the “Blue Man Group” route.)

5. Are the content and delivery of their speeches authentic?

I quit using podiums when I speak because I tried walking through the crowds a few times and heard feedback that my audiences felt it was more authentic that way. And I felt the connection, too. Audiences want to connect with speakers; they want people who will be real and share honest stories and present themselves naturally. I’ve seen people decide to become speakers one day and start speaking with no real-world experience at all. But the best ones have true examples of failures and successes and share their knowledge and real experiences in an authentic way. There are actors out there who pretend to know, and there are teachers who really do. You want the latter.

6. Are they flexible?

Your speaker room is not Mariah Carey’s ready room, and your speakers shouldn’t expect to be pampered. I’ve seen some well-known names make ridiculous demands, and they end up becoming more trouble to host than they’re worth. Think of it like dating: If your first few interactions give you the impression they’re divas, just cut ties. Those problems usually only get worse, so pay attention to your gut feelings about those signals.

7. Can you count on them?

I spoke at BOLO last year, after an agency executive let the organizer know three hours before his speech that he couldn’t make it because a big business deal arose. Maybe it’s the Midwest values in me, but if you commit to something and others are counting on you to follow through, then you do it. If you absolutely can’t, do everything you can to help fill the position. The right speakers for your event will be there when they say they will, and they’ll offer solutions or backup speakers to step up in case of emergency.

When it comes to speakers for industry events, the most well-known speakers aren’t always the right ones. As you evaluate your options and select people to speak at your next conference or event, ask yourself these seven questions. Your audience will thank you.

 

Culled From Forbes

Children’s Book Publishing Tips

 

If you’ve always dreamed of publishing a children’s book and you want to make that dream a reality, you must make sure that your goal is realistic. Writing books for children can be exciting, but it takes thick skin, an ability to handle rejection, and a commitment to revise and rewrite. The best children’s book authors are soft-hearted and thick-skinned all at the same time.

Once a publisher bites on your children’s book idea, you’ll want that feeling again. This is why most authors who publish their first children’s book will go on to publish more.

Tips on Writing and Publishing a Children's Book

Publishing your first book can be a challenge. If you want to learn from others who’ve experienced everything from rejection to publishing offers, here are 5 valuable tips:

1. Read As Many Children’s Books As You Can

Visit as many bookstores and libraries as you can and read as many children’s books as you can both old and new. The only way to know the market and what types of characters are appealing is to immerse yourself and the products that have already been published. You don’t want to copy content but you can get a feel for the writing style, illustrations, and characters that publishers prefer.

2. Attend Writers Workshops and Critique Groups

Become a regular at your local library and ask the people in charge when bulletins, workshops, and conferences are going to be held. When you attend these workshops and critique groups, you can not only speak with authors and interview them to find out how they got started, you can also submit your manuscripts and portfolios so they can give you their honest feedback.

3. Learn the Collaborative Process of Publishing Picture Books

If you’re going to be publishing a book for children between 3 and 10 years old, you’re probably going to have to secure a deal for a picture book. You don’t have to be both the illustrator and the author of the book, but you do have to learn about the collaborative process before you start it.

Collaborators involved in the process include you, the author, the illustrator, the editor, and marketing personnel. If you want to work with a publisher, you have to be flexible and willing to work with all of the parties involved. If you need full and total control, you should publish your own book.

4. Make Your Manuscript Great and Be Persistent

Your manuscript is essentially your job application and your interview all at once when you’re in the field of publishing kids books. You have to remember that it’s great books that get published but it’s great manuscripts that get noticed. Publishers receive thousands of unsolicited manuscripts from excited first-time authors just like you so yours is going to need to stand out.

Don’t just write up a manuscript in a rush. You need to commit yourself to revising it, editing it, revising it, rewriting it, and redoing the process from start to finish before the manuscript is submitted. The publisher must believe that the book is going to compete and having errors and run-ons in your manuscript won’t give the company confidence.

5. Share Your Work With People Close to You

You will probably have to deal with a lot of rejection no matter how good your book is. There are large presses and small presses and sometimes your book just won’t be a good fit. One way to help you build your confidence before you question your talents is to share your work with people who will enjoy reading it. This is what will ultimately encourage you to keep writing.

As fun, as it might sound, getting your children’s book published isn’t an easy process. It will take time to learn the ropes and sift through the competition on the market. Use these tips for publishing a children’s book, and start brainstorming ideas.

If you have got aspirations to get your book published, contact SOI Publishing for an easy walk-through by proven experts.

Article culled from Best Value Schools