Write Well Me

How to Convey Your Message with Power and Passion - Part I

I’ve always been about writing. It’s just what I did. In school I was told I was a good writer. So I got lots of support, and my confidence was pretty strong.

I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, so when I went into undergrad, I figured majoring in English would be a good thing. (You have to be able to communicate well, right?) At the same time, I also worked in the law school on campus as a court runner. How better to see the inside workings of the legal system than to work in the legal department? Within a month, I figured out that I so did NOT want to be a lawyer.

Now what?

I went back to that place—what I could do well—or at least what I had been TOLD I could do well: writing and teaching. So I finished my English degree with a minor in business administration and my certification to teach.

Well, two years working in a school where my 7th and 8th graders were more concerned—and rightly so—with pregnancies, taking care of their siblings as their parents worked three jobs, and gangs—took its toll on my enthusiasm and passion. The last thing they cared about was writing.

And I couldn’t blame them.

I found myself feeling lost. This is what I thought I wanted to do—teach.

And I thought it might have been me: if I did a better job, if I connected better… Maybe I could have really helped fire their passion about writing…

So I left teaching. It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. Maybe I’d watched To Sir, With Love too often and thought that I could change these kids’ lives.

Fast forward a few years, and I was working with business owners to manage their businesses, and, of course, writing was a big part of what I did—and still do. I strategize, craft, and create everything from Ezines, marketing campaigns, web copy, affiliate management and campaigns.

I ran into a lot of people who really struggled with writing. And some of these people were amazing at what they did, but they couldn’t write. But, more importantly, they didn’t THINK they could write. I started to take what I could see their problems were (because, yes, there were some places where they did need some help—but it wasn’t hopeless) and begin to design solutions.

I thought it was just going to be this little thing I did on the side, you know, an eight-week writing class. Teach the class. And—poof—they’re better writers! Mission accomplished, and I’ll just go back into my life.

Unh unh.

The writing class grew from eight weeks to twenty-four weeks as I really understood where people struggled—they didn’t have a chance to really integrate what they’ve learned and techniques into their writing. Most importantly, they didn’t have an opportunity to practice and bring their own writing style into being—and hone it and polish it.

What really happened, though, was that I rediscovered my passion and my soul purpose: to connect. It’s the work I’m meant to do—and it’s my greatest gift—and my greatest need. Now I've taken that passion and gift for connection and help others connect with their passion. 

So how do you convert your passion into powerful writing?  It starts with confidence. If you’re not confident about your message, it’s not going to matter how well you write. Along with that, you have to be confident about getting that message out there. Remember when I talked about being in school and getting awards for my writing ability? That confidence made me THINK I was a good writer. Was I good a writer? Maybe, maybe not. But I thought I was.

Once you've got that confidence (or at least working on it), the number one thing to focus on to get big results in your writing is to be very clear about your message. Everything comes down to being clear about your message. 

If you don’t know your message, if you’re not clear on what you’re trying to do, if you don’t know the results you’re hoping to get (and I’m talking about focused results—not just “I hope people read this article” or “I hope people respond on Twitter”), you’re going to struggle with writing or your writing is going to fall flat.

The clearer (and more specific) you are about your message and the results you want to achieve, the easier it is for you to write. Because then the words flow, because they're flowing from the heart.

You’re connecting with your audience.

And that power and passion comes naturally.

When we struggle with the writing, or the words just don’t seem to come easily, or you think that you fall on the “I suck” part of the writing spectrum—it’s because of two things

• lack of clarity (and this covers all manner of things: purpose, audience, message)


• lack of self-confidence

Now, are there tips and techniques that will help you? Absolutely, and we’ll get to those in Part II next week.

Until then, we’re going to start with what you want from your writing:

• you want it to be easy


• you want it to flow


• you want to connect with your readers, your audience


• you want those readers to do what you want them to do—there needs to be a reason WHY you’re writing

Imagine being able to sit down to write—and it’s easy. And you’re so clear on what you’re writing and the message you’re trying to convey. And the words flow…

And that being your experience with writing—over and over.

Stay tuned next week when we discuss Part II of How to Convey Your Message with Power and Passion—10 techniques to jazz up your writing—AFTER you’ve become clear on your message, purpose, and audience.

I've Got the Writing Rhythm and Blues

As I talk with my coaching clients and work with people in my programs, the self-criticisms and struggles of gotta write, "Just do it," and feeling not good enough abound.

As writers, it's what we all struggle with.

"Am I good enough?"

"I should just stop what I'm doing right now and give up this ridiculous idea."

"Now that I'm committed to this project, I'm not having any fun.  When you're writing about something you're passionate about, isn't it supposed to be fun?"

Writing isn't easy.  Oh, the crafting of words and putting them together isn't hard, but writing professionally isn't as easy as it looks.  Especially when we create in our heads what a Real Writer looks like.

Real Writer sits down at his mahogany desk. He pulls out either a notepad with delicious paper and a calligraphy pen or an old-fashioned manual typewriter. He takes a sip of expensive French coffee, flexes his fingers, and -- writes. For two, six, eight (whatever seems right in our personal epic imagination) hours, he writes. At the end of the requisite writing time, he puts down the pen or covers his typewriter and flexes his fingers for the final time. He leans back in his high-backed leather chair, pleased with the book he's just finished, his, oh, let's just peg it at his hundredth book.

And writing never seems to come that easy to you as it does to Real Writer. Maybe that's because Real Writer is a fiction. He doesn't exist. And you should stop holding him up as the model for what writing looks like.

There is no one Real Writer.  There's you, and me, and that writer over there, and the hundreds of thousands of other writers across the globe.  And writing for each of us looks different.  For me, writing might look like playing with creative strategies to work through a plot snag.  Recently, that took the form of drawing a street map.  Is that writing?  Yep!  Because it got me clearer in what was going on in the story and what I needed to convey.

For someone else it might look like research.  If one is writing about how women, ages 25-59, are taking an independent, stronger role in their finances, then the writer probably is doing a lot of data gathering and interviewing of women in that age group.  Is that writing?  Yes, indeed it is.

So, if you're feeling stuck, unsure of your next step, or a lack of confidence in your writing ability, purpose, or just general low feeling (which is much more common than you might think), here are some ways to get out of those writing rhythm and blues.

• Understand that writing is a process.  Writing might look like staring out a window, drawing maps, researching.  It might also look like going over and over your plot structure or outline until you're happy with it.  Before you've even written a single paragraph.
  
  
• Embrace the creativity.  The minute you sit down and feel like you should emulate Real Writer above, you're in trouble.  Let the creativity flow, in whatever manner it needs to.
  
  
• Just do it.  Unfortunately, sometimes that's what it comes down to.  The thing isn't going to write itself, and you do need to devote time to your writing project. 
  
  
• Create a structured writing time.  Don't wait for inspiration to strike or for the whole thing to magically write itself in your head so that then it's easy to transcribe from your head to paper or screen.  Create a writing schedule and - write.
  
• Adjust when necessary.  Just because you create the structured writing time doesn't mean that it's written in stone.  Maybe you find that you don't really have energy at 6:00 p.m. and so you have to find a different time to write.  Maybe you need two or three big blocks of writing time instead of smaller blocks every day.  Find what works for you and adjust as necessary.
  
• Be kind to yourself.  You are a writer.  Your process works for you.  You are not Real Writer.  No one is.  Stop holding yourself up to that as a model.  Ease into your role as a writer and be gentle with yourself.

The best thing you can do is to flow with the writing rhythm and blues.  Let the melody of your writing life carry you.  Don't fight it and don't try to create someone else's music. 

Living, Not Existing

Last week I had the extreme honor of assisting Laura at her Attraction Marketing and Money Mindset retreat.  I knew I'd be there to be the hostess with the mostest, but I didn't realize that it would be yet one more opportunity to create amazing connections with yet more people. 

One of the things to come out of this retreat from one of the AMMMPers (what I call them) was the idea of truly living, not just existing.  This was a powerful shift for her, and it was a shift for me as well.  I'm pretty vibrant and alive, but with all the personal stuff I've been going through, there's definitely been an element of existing.

I'm going to change that.  I'll live my life and my business with more intention.  I'll make writing part of every day.  And not just all the writing I do on a daily basis - blogging, article writing, Twitter - but fiction writing. I'll be making some changes to my business, good changes, life-giving changes. 

I'll be breathing life into all facets of my life.

Thanks to all the wonderful women at the AMMMP retreat who helped me see this, as they were stepping into their own visions.  They all welcomed me with open arms and hearts, even though they were at this retreat for them and their businesses; they invited me to be one of them. I look forward to this journey for all of us.

(Awesome women in the pic above:
1st row:  Beth Pelfrey, Teresa O'Neill, Janine Underhill
2nd row:  Joanne Stein Letlow, Beverly Keaton Smith, Laura West, Martha Pasternack, Laurie Mandato, Chris Baeza)

This and That

No rhyme or reason to the following links.  Just cool stuff that has come my way and that I wanted to share with you. 

• The Secret to Captivating Content:  More Cowbell!  I hadn't seen the original SNL skit, but I've watched this numerous times since I saw Brian's post.  I guffaw each time I see it.  I love the idea of looking for that small, almost innocuous thing and making that the focal point.  It's a great writing point.  (Even if you don't care about writing, watch the video. )
• On Lego-powered Time Tracking.  I'm always happy to look at new ways to manage my time.  I don't know that I would go the Lego route, but if you're spatially or kinesthetically minded, this might be the method for you.
• Thanks to Word Lily - Guess the 100 Most Common English Words.  Blah.  I only got 45.  When I saw some of the words I missed, I was pretty disgusted.  Take five minutes, do the quiz, and report back how you did.
• Test Case:  My So-called Vacation.  I liked Bing's idea that for every minute he has to work on vacation, he needs one hour of vacation time to recover that lost minute.  I wonder how I can apply that to my own life.  I'm not sure, but I do know I need down time that doesn't include me being in front of a computer or doing chores around the house.  (How many parents out there are ready for school to start?  I'm struggling with having no structure - which means boundaries in sand.)
• Passive-aggressive Notes.  You need this on your blogroll, if only to laugh and shake your head at the notes other people will leave their fellow human beings.

Have fun!

Mindfulness

Today is my writing day, and I'm feeling some trepidation over writing.  With all the traveling I've been doing, and the fact that it's summer, I haven't been able to find a writing schedule that sticks.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to get some writing days in before vacation.  Then I wouldn't feel like a schlub, and I'd be that much closer to finishing the book.  With a deep breath, I wrote.  My chief concern was staving off the wonky, and I worked toward not letting the wonky in.  One of the things I did was have Chris draw out a card from the gorgeous Grace cards by Cheryl Richardson.  On the front of the card he chose, it said "Mindfulness."  On the back, it said, "Manage your mind.  When we direct our thoughts and words toward the outcome we most desire, we ignite grace."  Seemed like a good card; I'm always up for being mindful.

Six hours later, I realized that all that I had written that day was gone.  The document was two weeks old, and didn't show an update from earlier that day.  It was gone.

To this day, I have no idea what happened.  It's not as if hitting save isn't an everyday thing I do.  No clue.

The next day, I decide I'm going to try again.  My "j" key on my keyboard wouldn't work.  No joke.  Granted, it had been loose off an on for a couple of weeks, but I was always able to press it back in.  That day, no matter what I did, it wouldn't press down.  I decided the Universe didn't want me writing, so I listened.  (Note:  Chris came home and fixed the "j" in under 30 seconds.)

It's been a couple of weeks, and I'm getting ready to write.  I decide to start out by refreshing my Grace card.  "Mindfulness" has been displayed long enough, and I'm thinking it's time for a new one.  I shuffle the deck, fan them out, and then pick the edge of the card that calls to me.  I pull out the card, and guess which one it is?

Mindfulness.

I can create the outcome I want.  I can create the experience I want.  Writing today will be easy.  I'll also be gentle with myself and ever mindful.

What's With You Guys? Wake Up!

I posted about Wordle the other day, and no one, not one person, said anything about it.  Not here at Write Well Me, not in a casual conversation with me ("Hey, Dawn, that Wordle thing you found the other day is the coolest thing in the world!"), not a thing.

Go play with Wordle and come back and report.

Wordle Me This

For those of you who like the word cloud feature on blogs, you're gonna love this.  For those of you who love words, you're gonna adore this.  And for those of you who like to look at the world with a different set of eyes, you're gonna have your socks knocked off.

What's this socks-knocking thing?  Just an application called Wordle.  In their words, it's a "toy for generating 'word clouds' from text you provide."  It's incredibly easy to use.  Within less than a minute, I created my first Wordle.

I created two different Wordles:  one using random words (a bit like Power Words) and another using this blog's feed.  I much prefer the second.  Probably because there were more words from which to choose on the entire blog rather than just whatever words I could come up with.

We even used this as a strategy in the last class of Ready, Set, Write. As a group, we came up with a list of words and created a Wordle.

A couple of notes that I've found just in the few minutes of playing with Wordle:

• Since it works on the word cloud basis, if you enter words individually, you have to enter some words more than once to get that big word look.
• It looks at individual words.  If you type in a phrase like "old partner," it doesn't recognize it as one unit.  It sees two words, "old" and "partner."
• If you don't have a blog or RSS feed, instead of entering random words, you can cut and paste from anything. 
• Once you create your Wordle, you can right click on words and remove them.  This was helpful when I created the Wordle above.  Since one of my recent posts was a funny look at how people use online communities using the example of light bulbs, "lightbulbs" and "bulbs" were very big in my Wordle.  I liked "light" being big, but I didn't think "lightbulbs" and "bulbs" were truly indicative of me and Write Well Me.  :) 
• You can randomize your Wordle layout by clicking the "Randomize."  (I went back to create a Wordle to make sure that the correct command was truly "Randomize," and I got caught up in making a new Wordle.  I forgot to check, and I had to go make another one.  It IS "randomize.")
• There are several options for Wordles.  I have no idea what all the different options are, but I'm having fun seeing the different colors and fonts.

After doing the Wordle above for Ready, Set, Write, I want to do Wordles for everything!

Great Writing Idea

Heather pointed us to the Lightning Bug writing website.  One of their ideas (and the one that Heather used for her Freaky Friday writing prompt) was to write a story from your own mirrored perspective (the perspective of your reflection).

I love this idea.  There are so many things you could do with it.  What does your reflection think about the time you spend in front of the mirror?  Are you an eyebrow plucker (like me)?  What does your reflection think about that?  Is your reflection as critical of you as you are?  Or more?  Does your reflection only live in the mirror, or does it travel to and from the various mirrors in the house, much like the portraits in the Harry Potter books?  What's it like being a mirror image where right is left and left is right?

I'm sure there's a lot more I (and you) could do with this idea.

One reason it really impacted me was earlier this summer my younger daughter Anastasia (eight years old, mind you) had come up with an idea for a story that revolved around one's reflection.  Once there was a little girl who grew up not knowing the difference between mirrors and windows.  When she looked out the window of her bedroom, she thought it was a mirror.  She thought that she was actually nature, by turns a tree, or a butterfly, or a squirrel, or a cloud.

I was thunderstruck.  That's quite a concept, and a creative idea, from an eight-year-old.  I asked what any adoring mother/author would.  "Can I use that idea someday for my own story?"

She was gracious enough to say yes.

What can you do with your reflection?

Writing with a Wow Factor

In my quest to help people write well, I've created some fabulous programs at Write Well U (if I do say so myself - I guess I did just say so!).  These programs are fee-based as there's quite a bit of value you get no matter which program you're interested in.

I know that some people may not be ready to commit to a program that lasts for weeks.  Yet people still need to write well, and one thing that often gets in their way is the lack of opportunity to practice writing.

That's where the WOW! (Writing On a Whim) series comes in.  Here's how it works:  you sign up for the series (it's free!), and once a week you'll get a writing prompt.  The prompt can be anything from a thought, quotation, word, or phrase to get you thinking and, hence, get you writing.  All you have to do is sign up and commit to spending fifteen or so minutes a week writing.  How hard is that?

I haven't yet made it public on the Write Well U website (that's coming on Wednesday), but I'm giving you, my beloved readers and people who love me (because you read my blog, right?!), the inside scoop on WOW!  Take a peek and sign up if you dare.

May we all write well!

The Need for a Reminder

Not to beat a dead horse, but I do love Mike Dooley's Notes from the Universe.  Here's an excerpt of one I received last week.

You live in Gaithersburg. You dream of rocking the world; that you will create Write Well U; that you will be in all the right places at all the right times. Yes! I can see it now, if you make create Write Well U your end result, and don't mess with the cursed "hows."

It's easy, Dawn, simply understand that your dream, the end result, is far bigger and more important than any of the steps you think you have to take. From a physical perspective, you simply can't know all that's involved. Your idea of the right steps may not be the best way for your dream to come true.

See why I think this is cool?  Okay, I get that it's a database thing and it's easy enough to plug in the form field of my answers into the Thought.  But still - seeing it in writing is powerful. 

Darkness Falls Across M&M's

This is the coolest thing ever!!!!  Thanks to Meryl for blogging about it, and if I hadn't felt neurotically pressed to catch up on over 400 blog postings, I would have never found it.  Neuroses are good for some things, it seems.  (And I have to say that I'm shocked that I hadn't heard about this before today.  Where are all my dark chocolate friends?)

I know we're supposed to be thinking about how grateful we are as tomorrow is Turkey Day, but I've always had a thing for horror movies.  The game is right up my alley.  Take a look - at the very least just to enjoy the art.

First of all, let me just say that I'm thrilled that M&M's makes dark chocolate M&M's.  Dark M&M's came out when Revenge of the Sith was released; you could choose your allegiance to the dark side M&M's or the Force M&M's.  Months after the movie was passe, I was looking for the dark side (I pledge my life to the dark side if dark chocolate is involved - just joking - mostly!) M&M's, and eventually they disappeared.

Imagine how happy I was to find holiday dark chocolate M&Ms!  I bought four bags and one bag of obligatory milk chocolate for my husband.  I hope dark M&M's stay for good!

An Inconvenient Truth and Some Interesting Resources

Several weeks ago, Chris and I saw an Inconvenient Truth, the documentary that chronicles Al Gore's trek across the globe as he presents his slide show on global warming and the earth in crisis.  It was well-done, and it affected me so deeply that I actually didn't know how to write about it.

I think one of the reasons I didn't know how to write about it was that I didn't want to lecture or alienate my audience.  But then, what else is a blog for but to say whatever the hell you want?  I'm never NOT (how's that for a nice double negative!) going to offend someone or write something that someone disagrees with.  Why stop now?  :-)

According to Gore, our weather, our resources, and our lives are impacted by the way we use the world.  He talks about how the U.S.'s auto industry is so far behind other countries in terms of fuel efficiency and environmental friendliness.  Our cars are some of the worst ecological automobiles in the world - even China has higher standards for its automobiles.  Only Australia has worst standards than our own.  Only Australia.

There are all sorts of statistics, and I'm sure opponents of the film could find their own statistics, but one set that really stood out for me is that world population has risen from 2.5 billion in 1942 to 6.6 billion today.  The world population is projected to reach 8 billion in 2020, just 14 years from now. 

That seemed almost impossible, so I came home and immediately searched for independent sites to confirm this.  I found some really cool tools on the web that allow you to project population as well as to look up population from past years.

My favorite tool:  World Population.

I also found a site that gives SOOOO much information on world overpopulation that I was easily overwhelmed.  You can find information by country, trends of births and life expectancies, how much of the population is comprised of children, and more.  You could easily spend days on this site.

Finally, if you're interested in an Inconvenient Truth and its ideals, you might want to check out their blog.

May we all take care of the earth.

Lust, Part II

I love these Amy Brown notecards.  They're beautiful, and fun, and quirky (and some are perky!), and whimsical (today's favorite word, by the way!).

I especially like the Morrighan series.  :-)

Actually, I'm not sure which I like better:  the cards or the collectible tin.  I have the Cloak of Stars set, and I gotta tell ya that I don't send too many of these cards out because I will be so sad when the tin is empty! 

I must overcome this feeling, embrace the spirit of abundance, and send my Amy Brown cards to spread the whimsy!

Beautiful, Inspiring Art of Michael Whelan

With my obsession with my iPod and love of Jim Steinman’s music (think “I’ll do Anything for Love, but I Won’t Do That” - Meat Loaf; “Total Eclipse of the Heart” - Bonnie Tyler; “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” - Air Supply; and “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” - Celine Dion) of course led me to Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell and Bat Out of Hell II – Back Into Hell.

As I was looking through the cd insert while the cd ripped into my iTunes, I discovered the art of Michael Whelan.  The cover art on the Meat Loaf cd led me to Michael Whelan's website, and there I came across his incredible talent.  He’s done the cover art for Stephen King’s The Gunslinger and the beautiful dragon on Barbara Hambly’s Dragsonsbane.

You can purchase prints or even originals (I’d love to be able afford the $9,200 price tag for Lord Protector).

Michael Whelan's art is an example of things I see that just inspire me to create something as exhilirating and beautiful.  What if I could create something with such color and vibrancy and life?  That would be a life to live, indeed.

What I lust after

My husband, computer guru and specialist for hire, just received a laptop for one of his corporate clients.  Chris wanted to show me how small the laptop was, and he said, "This is what you get when you buy the best of the best."

Sigh.

It truly is wonderful, and it's about a 1/3 of the size of my current laptop (which is over 3 years old).  I could fit it into most of my purses.  I've been happy enough with my laptop (even with my husband and friends making fun of the lead-like quality of my computerized ally), but I have to admit that the lightness of this new Dell outweighs (get it?!) my loyalty to my old anchor.

So, here I am with my tongue lolling out in computer envy.

Should you have your own lustful feelings of computer envy, you can check it out at Dell.

Divine Inspirations

When I was writing Divine Computer Tips, I had a section called Divine Inspirations, usually links to things on the web which truly inspired (hey, go figure).  Even though I'm not writing Divine Inspirations any more, I can still be inspired by things on the web - and you know I'm going to write about them!!!!!

Here's your first (if you're new to the Write Well Me blog and not an old subscriber to Divine Computer Tips) Divine Inspiration:

My newest favorite magazine is Faerie Magazine. The first issue I received, I read from cover to cover. Then, I read it again and marked all the websites I wanted to explore. One evening, I sat down with a glass of wine and just immersed myself in fantasy and magic. Here are the sites that caught my eye; may they catch yours.

Silk Cloque - some very interesting clothing items. As beautiful as the fabric looks, I don't know that I'll be wearing these!

Faerie Worlds - Faerie festival in Oregon on July 29 -30. I’m almost considering visiting, especially since Brian and Wendy Froud will be there.

Mythic Journeys - Mythic journeys presentation/conference in Atlanta on June 7 - 11. I’m not as interested in this conference as in Faerie Worlds above, but it’s still cool. Brian and Wendy Froud are going to be here, too.

Faerie Journals - Cool intro movie and flute music – very magical! The journals are beautiful, although the opportunity to buy is restricted. Unless you're a wholesaler, you have to buy from a retail store, many of which are not on-line, and none are in Maryland. :-(

Moresca - another creative intro to a site. Moresca is at our local Renaissance Festival every year, and I YEARN after their costumes. They're well-made, gorgeous, and made of the most incredible fabrics ever. My goal - to own a Moresca medieval costume!

Fenton and Lee - Know someone who likes chocolate? Someone who likes fairies? Get one treat that satisfies both delights: Kissed by the Faeries chocolates!