Planning vs. Stream of Consciousness

Hello gang,

I haven't written in a while, been busy with family and took a little time off.

I was thinking about how we write and how it can be different for different types of writing.

And I was wondering about how you all compose a piece of work.  for example, do you find it better to sit and outline something first, or at least summarize it?  Or are you like me and just start typing and let the ideas flow.

I'd have to say I'm a stream of consciousness writer, almost always.  While I may conceptualize an idea in my mind first, I rarely will plot it out in outline form.  I usually get an idea and then write it.  or maybe research first, if need be.

I find this to be true whether I'm writing a fictional novel or short story or an article for a client.

I'm not sure why this is, but it's always worked for me.  It kind of makes it exciting, because as i'm writing, in my head, I'm a sentence or two, or an idea or two ahead.  It's fun and challenging.

What are your experiences with this?

Do you find it easy or difficult to write for clients?

hello everybody,

I hope everyone is having a terrific labor day weekend.

I was thinking this morning about the difference between writing for your own websites or blogs and writing content for a client's blog, for example.

When you're writing an article, website content, a marketing plan or even strategizing the development and growth of a small business, it's so much easier when it's your own writing, isn't it?  After all, we're most comfortable with ourselves.

Then when you're faced with creating content for a client's website, blog or other information, do you find it's harder or just as easy?

for myself, I suppose I'd have to say it depends.  When I'm lucky enough to get a project that falls within my areas of interest or expertise, it's much easier.  However, as is so often the case, there will be a client who needs something created that, although possibly familiar to me, is not necessarily an area in which I'm totally comfortable.

I have to say, however, that I do enjoy this.  Because I long ago learned a great secret to branching out into new fields of interest or learning.  And that secret is: do not worry.  Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?

What I mean by don't worry in this case is that if you approach a new subject with the mind set that you may not know all you need to now, but are confident the knowledge will come to you soon, you will be amazed at how fast you learn and how many new ideas appear.

I have always found this useful, especially when learning a new programming language.  I really enjoy the challenge of delving into a new and unknown world.  And I find that my writing skills grow even stronger the more I challenge them.

What have been your experiences?

Do the work - don't cut corners

This is just a quick little thought about our writing.  Whether you're writing content for the web such as an article, blog, press release or your own website, creating a marketing piece or writing an investment presentation, I think it's wise to say never cut corners.

What we're writing is far too important and too permanent.  As stated in an article we published last week, the link to which is in a post from a few days ago, your writing makes the strongest impression.  And perhaps the most permanent one.

So take the time to write it out.  Don't try to save time or money by taking shortcuts.  Although your reader may not be a writer, they can still detect when something is not right.  If you've ever read an article that's been put through an article spinner, you'll know what I mean.

Just a little thought for the day.

Oh, and by the way, I would really appreciate your comments and questions.  I want this blog to be a valuable resource, so if there's anything you'd like to know, or would like me to post, please feel free to comment or even email me directly.

Content creation for the web may be the most important writing of all

There are so many forms of writing, such as fiction, non-fiction, instructional, news and education, just to name a few.  probably one of the largest categories is writing for business, which in itself has many sub-categories.

of all the business writing, however, perhaps the trickiest is writing content to be published online.  At first, this might seem strange when you consider the complexity of writing a business plan or marketing tactical plan.

Although these are very important and often quite lengthy, they do have a pretty straightforward purpose and use.  They'll be read by one person at a time or a group.  But they will be delivered to those who are the intended audience.

When it comes to writing for the web, there is a whole new level of complexity that goes into it.  For one, web-based content must be SEO )search engine optimized) for greatest effect.  you want web-based content to be found by search queries.  you also want people to link to your website, blogs or social media pages.  so your content must be crafted to appeal both to the reader and to the search engines.

Additionally, most online content is written to sell something or get the reader to take action.  When you combine all of this together, you get a truly complex content cocktail.  That's why it's vital to make sure you can produce the best cocktail you can.  or hire someone who can do this for you.

I've found this to be true over and over again.  When I've written content for my clients, it's been for a variety of categories such as IT consulting, cloud computing, independent musical labels, multimedia design and even local music artists, just to name a few.  But the one thing they've all had in common is that their work was complex to produce and had to incite the right type of action from their visitors.

so the moral of this story is, take your internet writing as seriously as you would creating a new business plan or a sales presentation to a big investor.  Web content is complex and long-lasting, so make it the best you can produce.

Your writing makes the strongest impression

hello everyone,

I wanted to start this week off by posting a link to an article I published over the weekend.

In the article, I talk about how your writing makes the strongest impression on clients, employees and partners in many cases.  it's a short article, but it contains some great information and I think you'll really enjoy it.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Tips-For-Effective-Writing---Your-Written-Content-Makes-The-Strongest-Impression&id=7956579

Writing is immortality

one of the great things about writing is that it gives you a sense of immortality.  This is especially true, I think, for the internet.

When you create an advertising piece, it might be used for a time, but it will probably have a shelf life.  Similarly, business plans, proposals, sales presentations and marketing plans have a short lifespan.  However, when you consider creating content on the web, things change dramatically.

When an article is written and distributed, a blog maintained, comments written for blogs and forums and website content written, these things are pretty much forever.  yes, they may be taken off the internet at some point, but by and large, their shelf life is many years.

This is fantastic if you're the creator of said content and this content is linked to you.  This means a long term benefit of search engine rankings, traffic generation and authority for you, your website and your company.

On the other hand, it's also like playing with a loaded weapon.  If the content you create is not of a very high quality, this is going to stick around and haunt you as well.  So it behooves anyone out there, either business owners or writers, to make sure that the content you create for the internet is worthwhile.  Because in a real sense, it's going to give you or your ideas ever-lasting life.

Don't give it away

Hi all,

Just a quick thought for the day.  This one is directed to the writers out there.  it can be hard to get started and get to a point where you can earn a nice chunk of change being a writer.  Although there are many freelance sites out there such as odesk, elance and freelancer, the majority of the jobs posted are ridiculously priced.

No good writer worth his or her salt wants to write a 500 word article for $1.  That's insane.  And yet, you'd be amazed at how many people out there want us to create award-winning content for their websites, sales sheets or whatever for next to nothing.  Doesnt' make much sense, does it?  After all, you get out of it what you put into it.

It can be tempting to take these cheapo jobs at first, and maybe it's a good idea to do so once or twice just to establish some credibility.  But you also have to be careful.  If you're a writer who agrees to write for a penny per word, then people will begin to believe that is how you view yourself after a while.  so be cautious and be persistent.

one thing that will help you is to build up a portfolio of written pieces, do some writing for a clients' website or a friend.  Get some quality published pieces under your belt and use them when applying for jobs where you want to write a 500 word article for $10 or $20 or more.  Over time, your confidence and insistence on your own value will bring you the good clients.  A real client who wants a real writer will appreciate your value.

What do you writers think of this?  how about you clients who are hiring writers?