Month: February 2023

Since starting this blog, I’ve completed two editing courses on SkillShare. Editing is a work in progress.

But the concept of free writing came up in both. Free writing is a great way to ignite your creative process.

One of the best books I’ve read on this is Accidental Genius by Mark Levy. So, I decided to reread it.  

Here are two key takeaways from the book this time:

Unlock Creativity

This is my main takeaway. Free writing unleashes creativity and helps generate new ideas. It is about writing whatever comes to mind without worrying about grammar, punctuation, or organization. No judgment.

Set a Time and Place

Setting a time and place for free writing is non-negotiable. Okay, not non-negotiable, but important. Setting aside a specific time and place establishes a routine. It creates a habit. It lets your brain know it’s time to write. No excuses.

That’s it. Give it a try. Each day, shoot for 15 minutes. And then add five more. And then five more. And then five more. If I did the math correctly, that is 30. Right?

Making free writing a part of your daily routine will change the way you think.

Oh! One more thing. I handwrite during my sessions. Yep. Old school. Well, an iPad and Apple pencil in OneNote. So old school-ish. I’ll talk more about why I do that later.

No. Not my age.

The big five-oh I’m talking about is that I recently posted this site’s 50th post in 50 days.

Here are a few things I have learned from it that might help you:

• It was hard. It was hard creating something on one topic each day. And many days, I didn’t want to post. I thought I had nothing to say. But…
• It made me focus. I read three books on writing. Watched two SkilleShare courses on editing. And now, I am watching one on verbs of all things. The point is…
• It made me think. When I started teaching at the university, I noticed things about business that I hadn’t noticed before. Simple things. Things like why we do this process. The steps for that process. The same thing happened here for writing. And then…
• It forced me to create. I am inherently lazy. I don’t think I’m alone. Our brains are wired that way. I’ll look for reasons not to do something. But I had to share something. Even if that something wasn’t great…
• It developed a habit. I am not sure if it was 21 or 30 or some other number. But if I think, “Why does it matter? No one is reading. No one will care…or know. I’ll just skip it today.” I do it anyway. And doing it anyway – even something small – maintains the momentum.

I know these are my lessons about writing about writing. But I think they translate to any subject. No?

This, of course, is the famous six-word story by Ernest Hemingway.

It creates lots of possible questions.

Infinite possible stories. Happy and sad.

Great depression-type economy for words.

Easier said than done. But possible.

I tried for hours. No luck.

Will attempt it again. Next year.

Thanks for stopping by. Talk later.

The answer is yes. And the good news is it’s your fault. That is good news because you can do something about it with a few changes:

1. Why are you writing

Before typing the first word, ask yourself, “Why am I sending the email? When they are done reading this, what do I need them to do, or not do.” This seems obvious. But it’s vital for the next step.

2. Don’t bury the lede

Put the most important thing at the top. Assume the first line is all they’ll read. Tell them the action(s) they need to take or the one thing you need them to know.

3. Make it scannable

Like it or not, most people don’t read. They are busy. They scan. They are looking for the point. They need emails to be scannable.

4. Supporting information

And then, if they need or you want to give them context, a story, or an example, you can add it.

Will this guarantee your emails are read?

Probably not. But it will increase the chances.

I traded ideas with a physics teacher in a discussion forum and made a funny reference.

“These courses seem to move at warp speed (did I use that term right?), I quipped.

I expected an LOL. Or maybe a 🙂 in return.

Instead, he replied, “I am not an astrophysicist but traveling at warp speed appears to be a fictional representation of motion that happens so fast that one can warp space and time. This means that one can go faster than the speed of light which would demolish one of the most important pillars of modern Physics which is Einstein’s theory of relativity.”

Well. That missed the mark.

My attempt at humor – or at least the delivery of it – failed miserably. And this person gave me a thoughtful answer. I wasted his time.

No real damage was done to the relationship between this teacher and me. But. I won’t always be that lucky.

The point is. Humor is a fantastic way to build relationships in your writing. But if the reader doesn’t get the humor, wasting their time is the best outcome.

Nor brevity for worthless.

I leave them in my class periodically.

It’s an asynchronous, online class. So, worry not. No real eggs are sacrificed.

Instead, I give tips during my live presentations that save students eons of time and mountains of frustration. Or I’ll add a benign-looking resource link that is easy to miss. Or…hold on…I don’t want to give away ALL my secrets.

But I will share this secret:

Why I do it.

There are too many to discuss, but the three most important are:

Reciprocity. The law of reciprocity tells us that by doing someone a favor – even a small one that doesn’t feel like a favor – they will likely return the favor. A favor like turning in an assignment on time.

Intermittent Reward. These rewards are spread throughout the course in the most unexpected places. But the unexpected reward doesn’t go unnoticed when found, consciously or otherwise. This is why lotteries and slot machines work.

Personification. Though, for some reason, the dynamic seems adversarial, I’m on their team. And offering these bonuses lets them know that we’re sharing this experience. I’m personified.

You might not leave Easter eggs like the ones I mentioned.

But a random thank you for doing a good job is cool. Or pointing out to the team that this idea came from Sarah. Or even an apology.

Protip.

Whatever you do, don’t use real eggs. And, if you do, write down where you put them. Trust me.

That’s true, of course, for some people.

But, generally, people are good. And, generally, people like people.

It’s why there’s a waiting list for season tickets. It’s why a pop singer’s show is sold out in 10.3 seconds. It’s why a binge-worthy television series exist. It’s why a movie like Step Brothers is a classic.

Those things are powerful because they create a shared experience with people.

Remember this when writing.

If you’re trying to talk your students into watching your tutorial video, don’t tell them about the list of the things you’ll cover. Show them how other students like them have saved hours on an assignment and got their weekends back because they implemented the tips you share.

If you roll out a new training, don’t tell them about the innovative technology or the theory behind it. Show them how others went from zero to hero and now live a life they didn’t think was possible because of the technology or theory.

I’ve seen many leaders move their teams faster, with less pushback, and greater buy-in, by capitalizing on the physiological reality that people like people.

So, before you press send, ask yourself if you talked about the thing or people.

Did we just become best friends?

1. It helps me work out things that are on my mind.
2. It helps me write faster.
3. It helps me improve my emotional intelligence.
4. It helps keep my habit muscle strong.
5. It helps maintain my sanity.
6. It helps keep me sharp.
7. It helps me think about things on a deeper level.
8. It helps me think of new opportunities.
9. It helps me use words that I’ve learned.
10. It helps me put words in an order that I might not otherwise do.
11. It helps me come up with ideas to share.
12. It helps me practice my grammar and spelling.

I talked about writing at least 10 ideas each day here. This is the list I did one today. Maybe you can use them.

The art of writing is in its musicality. And nowhere is this more evident than…well…music. We probably don’t even notice the breaks in grammar or the clever wordplay when singing along.

I am sure there are infinite examples, but listening to the radio today, I heard two. Two in one song’s chorus.

The song is God’s Country by Blake Shelton. Here are the chorus lyrics. Do you see them?

{

I saw the light in the sunrise
Sittin’ back in a 40 on the muddy riverside
Gettin’ baptized in holy water and ‘shine
With the dogs runnin’
Saved by the sound of the been found
Dixie whistled in the wind, that’ll get you Heaven bound
The Devil went down to Georgia but he didn’t stick around
This is God’s country (yeah)

}

The first is “Sittin’ back in a 40.” This is a play on words to the term, the back 40. The back 40 is undeveloped land usually found at the back of the farm. Both phrases make Blake’s point. The one in the song is more…musical.

“Dixie whistled in the wind” is the second. Another play on words. This one to the term whistlin’ dixie, which is to engage in unrealistic thinking. Same meaning, but the common use of the term would be…not as musical.

I actually think there is another one in there. Do you see it?

The craft of writing is never linear. The beginning is not always where we start writing. And we don’t always finish writing at the end.

And as we see in these examples, the nonlinear location of a word or two is not normal. But sometimes, it’s worth it for the sake of musicality.