Write Well Me

Great Writing - This Time From a Small Child

Last week I shared great writing from a medium-sized child.  Now we're going down in the age scale (but not the writng scale).  Anastasia, nine years old, wrote the pieces below as part of my birthday celebration.  And I'm not just sharing this as a last-ditch reminder that my birthday was last week.  You know.  Just in case y'all forgot. 

Every morning when I wake up,
I see the birds and hear the pup.

And then when I rise from my cot,
I think of you, of you a lot.

I think of you because you're you,
because you do the things you do.

You've led me each step of the way,
for me to start a brand new day.

A brand new day with 24 hours,
Then nighttime with moon and stars.

Then, when I am done with night
I see the sun, shining bright.

But it would seem that you're the sun,
giving light to everyone.

I think of you again and again,
but what to say next? I click the pen.

And...

When I grow up I want to be
An author,
A teacher,
A writer, a thinker

But there's something else I want to be
something better
Than all of these.
I want to be like you, you see!

Because you're wonderful, because you're great
Cause even though
the money's low
I think you're in a really great state!

Her take on her ability to write?  "It feels unfair that I can write so well.  It's like someone's telling me what to say.  Like there's a little person inside my mind telling me the answers.  It's like cheating."

Great Writing - From a Medium-sized Child

Kathryn has to write a personal narrative for her English class, and she has been less than thrilled.  The topic was an important time in your life and what it taught you.  After some thinking (and complaining), she decided to write about getting a puppy last year.

Here's how she started:

I tapped my foot impatiently, my eyes super-glued to the clock.  2:30…2:31…The teacher was still going on and on.  2:33…Why couldn’t they let us out earlier?  2:34…2:35…The teacher was still yakking on about boring school stuff!  2:37…three minutes to go!  2:38…2:39…One minute left!  2:40 and the bell rang!  I raced out of the classroom and down the hall; my only need was to get to my locker and out the door.  Locker 171, 176, 180, and finally 190.  I ended up doing my combination so fast I missed the last number, so I had to start again.  Finally I got my locker open, put all my stuff in my backpack, and ran down the hall like a lightning bolt.  I zoomed down the steps three at a time and got onto the bus, out of breath.  I then waited on the long bus ride that seemed to take twenty hours, even though it was only twenty minutes.  Eventually I got home to see my family waiting for me in the car, like planned.  I hopped in and bounced around in my seat like a little bunny rabbit waiting to receive her carrot.  I simply couldn’t wait for the weekend ahead of me.  We were going to Shenandoah National Park for a weekend of hiking and sightseeing, but that wasn’t why I was so excited.  We were getting a puppy in a few weeks’ time and today we were meeting him for the first time.

I think it's an amazing example of creating suspense, and this from a twelve-year-old.  And, of course, I take all the credit for the good writing genes.

(By the way, if you've been following me on Twitter, then, yes, this is the same child who got into trouble tonight for leaving uncooked homemade pizzas unattended so said puppy could eat them.)

Paragraphs Create Movement

In my Writing Essentials Program today, we talked about the visual impact of writing.  Sure, reading is a visual activity; we use our eyes to read the words and process.  However, before we get to that point, our eyes (and brains) take in the page and what it looks like.  Not enough white space, and we feel overwhelmed.  Sentence and paragraph lengths that all look the same bore us.  Paragraphs that go on for pages defeat us. 

It was that specific super-long paragraph that held our attention today.  If a writer has a long paragraph, then she needs to look at the core point she's trying to get across in that paragraph.  I'm guessing that if it's a loooooong paragraph, that there's more than one core point in that paragraph.  In the spirit of the writer taking the reader along a journey, help the reader navigate from one core point to another.

So one core point for each paragraph.  It's like saying to the reader, "Hey! Look at this.  Got it?  Good, now let's move on over there."

Hence, the idea that paragraphs create movement.

More Great Writing - Hope Havi Finds an Apartment

I've been following Havi Brooks on Twitter, and, as she's an awesome writer, I devour everything she writes. 

My favorite thing she's written is her blog post about her ad for an apartment. Read the full post as well as the actual ad.  It's well worth the read.  (And I hope an apartment applied straight-away, Havi!)

License Plates - Words on Cars

From Toni Jo in Las Vegas:

• KYDTKAT - Kitty cat
• HVNCNWT - Heaven can wait - who knew you could fit so much seven letters!
• SOLESVR - Toni Jo thought it might be Soul Survivor or Soul Saver.  Thoughts?

From Mike in Texas:

• 70 NEMO - Mike says this was restored car; he's guessing from 1970.  But NEMO?  Any car experts out there?

And now from me in Maryland:

• MR MR - Surely, they don't mean the music group, do they? Unless they're huge fans.

So happy to have my license plate club out there looking out for good plates.  You, too, can submit license plates from your state and let the rest of us analyze them.

Help for the Lonely

The International Association of Solopreneurs launched two weeks ago. As a solopreneur, sure, I'm out there on my own, but I'm not alone.  IAS helps make sure that we have all the information and support 

Here's what you get as a member:

• Open office lines two hours per week allowing one on one support from our experts. Achieve success at a faster pace.
• A library of over 35 interviews with successful solopreneurs for inspiration, learning and ways to avoid some of the common obstacles for going it alone. These interviews will consistently be added to. Never feel like you are alone.
• Multiple free teleclasses each month with a variety of experts. Never feel lost for the answer and knowledge to achieve all that you want.
• Group coaching call once a month for sales, marketing and accountability. Need to stay focused and taking action--we will hold you accountable, ensuring your success.

Oh, and guess who one of those experts is?  Yep, little ol' me.  As a matter of fact, Donna interviewed me today, and I gushed on and on about following one's passion.  I'll let you know when you can listen to the gushing.

And one more thing... if you think you might be interested, you can test drive for 14 days for free.

Don't go it alone anymore.

Are You Standing Still?

As Chief Operating Officer at AssistU, I write, among many other duties, the introduction to our community monthly newsletter.  I was reviewing our history for 2008, and I came across one of the pieces I wrote.  I thought it was applicable to all business owners (and people), not just AssistU VAs. 

As a VA, you go through the VTP. It's life changing and transformative. You build your life around what you learned. You create high standards. You build boundaries to protect those standards. You believe yourself to be valuable and worthy. You work with clients who see your value and appreciate you.

And then life changes. You change. Your business changes. You decide to learn a new skill. You decide you want to learn a new skill. You make new friends. You visit a new place. You change.

Your business has to keep up.

Enter professional development and self-growth. We're all moving. We're not static. A friend sent me an e-mail with this subject line: "I'm sorry I missed you. Stand still next time." You're not standing still; make sure your business isn't either.

May we all continue to grow

How do you keep your readers engaged?

Last night I had my Write Well U monthly call.  I get to talk about writing and words, and it's a great way for me to spend an hour.

People asked some really good questions.  I wanted to share one of the questions with you and get your thoughts.

Q:  As you're writing, how do you keep your readers engaged?

I've never been asked that question before.  Off the top of my head, here's what I answered:  Just knowing that your job is to keep your readers engaged is a big step.  Writing is all about the reader, not about the writer.  The next step is to take risks; have a voice in your writing.  Sure, you'll turn some people off, but you'll attract far more than by just writing something that a computer could have spit out.

The interesting piece to that question is the "As you're writing..."  How do you keep your readers engaged as you're writing?

Say Yes

A couple of weeks ago I had the extreme honor of attending AssistU's Community Recognition Awards in Vegas.  (For a complete recap, see Stacy's post.  Please note that I did not shoot an AK-47, nor did I shoplift anything.  Other than that, our experiences were very similar.)

As part of the ceremony, both Stacy and I were gifted with one of the best books ever, Life Is a Verb by Patti Digh.  The core of the book is about engaging with life and six practices for intentional living.  And what do you know?  One way to go through these practices is to write.  Heck, Digh even recommends we WRITE IN THE BOOK.  Shudder.  Shudder some more.

Actually, funny enough, the VAs who were present at the CRAs all took time to write in my book and in Stacy's.  I have words of love sprinkled throughout the pages of this book that's supposed to help me engage fully with life. 

It won't surprise anyone close to me how much this book resonates with me.  What are the six practices for intentional living?  Intensity, inclusion, integrity, intimacy, intuition, and intention.  Nope.  No surprise whatsoever.

I've stepped completely into the book, and I wanted to share a piece of the following poem Digh quotes as an introduction to the intensity section:

I asked her if I could wear nail polish
and she said honey
she calls me that sometimes
she said you can do just exactly
what you want to
Thanks God I said
And is it even okay if I don't paragraph
my letters
Sweetcakes God said
who knows where she picked that up
what I'm telling you is
Yes Yes Yes

~ Kaylin Haught, "God Says Yes to Me"

I love the writing style.  (Yes, even someone who teaches writing can enjoy something that isn't punctuated.)  I love the almost-silly nature ("who knows where she picked that up").

And I have written in the margins.