How to Lift Your Writing to new Heights – in Just 10 Minutes

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How to Lift Your Writing to new Heights – in Just 10 Minutes

via Write to Done by Mary Jaksch on 10/26/10

By Mary Jaksch

Want to Write Better? I mean, a lot better – in just ten minutes. I'm not talking about some kind of writing Voodoo; I want to show you a no-fail way that can improve your writing dramatically in minutes.
Let's start at the beginning. And that means starting with the brain, because that's the main machine we use for writing. Whether it's having great ideas, or choosing a structure, or dancing with words – it's all to do with brainpower. So a simple way to write better is to boost the performance of your brain.
How to boost brainpower in only 10 minutes?
Here's what made me consider this question:  I was recently in Las Vegas at Blogworld where I spent 5 days in canned air with piped muzak. I tried to write – but my imagination was sluggish and my focus scattered.
When I got back home to New Zealand, I inhaled the pure air deep into my lungs. And I got really excited about raising my fitness. After all, as a writer I tend to sit at my desk a lot. Maybe you do too?
I started an 8-week Fitness Challenge and wrote a post, called Want to be Fit, or even Ultra-Fit? Join the 8-Week Challenge People are joining in droves. (Leo Babauta joined too and is super helpful in the Challenge forum).
As soon as I started cranking up my fitness, my creativity flooded back. It's not only the oxygen that sharpens our skills, what makes a difference is that exercise is a circuit breaker that lifts us out of the writing rut.

Here is how to lift your writing to new heights in 10 minutes

1. Exercise briskly for 10 minutes
   If possible, exercise outside so that you have a change of environment. Once you're outside, walk briskly or run. If you can't go outside, use whatever is at hand for exercise. For example,  a staircase is a great exercise tool. Run or walk up one flight of stairs. Then take some deep breaths and repeat.
2. Raise your pulse rate
   It's important to raise your heart rate substantially. When you do that, the mind lets go of worries and preoccupations and focuses on the exercise itself. This means that you can return to writing with a clear mind.
3. Get out of breath
   Being out of breath is good! Use it as your benchmark for brisk exercise.  When you are 'out of breath' you are gulping huge amounts of oxygen which will refresh your brain.
4. Be mindful
   When you exercise, leave mp3 player and phone behind. Focus on your present experience. Notice the color of the sky, the ground under your feet, and the sounds around you. When we are mindful (which is really a form of meditation), the mind becomes expansive and open.
5. Drink water
   At the end of the 10 minutes exercise, drink a couple of glasses of water.  Hydration also helps your brain to function well.

Taking ten minute breaks like this is a great habit. Not only does exercise boost brainpower,   it also acts like a circuit breaker. This is especially helpful if you get stuck with the piece you're writing, or if progress is sluggish.
Once you get back to your desk, remember to sit upright. Good posture helps your mind to focus. That's why most forms of meditation include instructions for upright posture. When the spine is aligned, random thoughts die down and you are less likely to get caught in endless cycles of 'what if' or 'if only' thought patterns, and can open up to your full creativity.
Mary Jaksch is Chief Editor of Write to Done. Read more on her blog Goodlife ZEN. Together with Leo Babauta, Mary runs the A-List Blogger Club, an ongoing training for bloggers that members rave about:
6 months ago my blog and writing was nowhere. Enter the A-List Blogger Club. Since then I've gotten guest posts on big sites (including on Zen Habits), totally rebranded and simplified my site, have begun making money from affiliate sales, launched an ebook, and today my subscriber numbers are over 1,500! When I joined I was at 120. So thank you. You are making dreams come true. – Scott Dinsmore: 'Reading For Your Success'.
Tip: the A-List Blogger Club will close the doors in 5 days time until the end of the year. If you're keen, get in quick.

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Why You Should Shoot Adverbs on Sight

By Mary Jaksch

Yes, I’m declaring open season on adverbs. What is an adverb exactly? Erm… it’s the word I just used: exactly. So I’ll cull it and write instead ‘What is an adverb?’

An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective or a phrase. It answers questions such as ‘how’, ‘when’, ‘where’, or ‘how much’. Such details may be important, but we need to understand the dynamics of information versus pace.

Information versus pace

‘Pace’ identifies the speed at which readers can devour your text. Long sentences and detailed descriptions slow down the pace. Lean sentences and short paragraphs speed it up.

The more detailed information you give, the slower the pace. If you use words that are redundant, the reader may start to skip and even leave.

What does redundancy mean in terms of writing? Test the two definitions I found on the Internet. Which one slows your reading down?

1. Redundancy means words that are superfluous.
2. Redundancy means the superfluity of a linguistic feature due to its predictability within the overall structure.

Just imagine reading a whole article in the style of the second example. I bet you couldn’t click away fast enough!

Now that we’ve got that redundancy thing cleared up, let’s take a look at the implications.

The redundancy test

How do you know when a word is superfluous? It’s simple. If the meaning stays the same without the word, then you’re faced with a ‘superfluity of a linguistic feature’.

He hurriedly scribbled the number down on a pad

In this case the adverb ‘hurriedly’ is superfluous because the word scribbling already implies writing fast. The sentence ‘He scribbled the number down on a pad’ is leaner and stronger.

John got up and walked restlessly to the window.

Here, the word ‘restlessly’ is redundant because the restlessness is already shown in the action.

Some writers like to use not only one, but two adverbs. For example: She really, truly cared for him. In this case, consider culling one of the adverbs, or even both. Here, you would end up with: She cared for him.



In a recent guest post pitch I found this sentence: As writers it’s normal to jump both mentally and actually from one project to another.

That’s a very athletic sentence … which would benefit from some brutal editing.

Should we let some adverbs live?

According to Master Editor Sol Stein in his book Stein on Writing there are two rules for letting adverbs live:

1. Keep an adverb that supplies necessary information. Example: He tried running faster and fell. If he’s already running, you must keep ‘faster’. If you remove the adverb the sentence means that he fell as soon as he started running.
2. Keep and adverb that helps the reader visualize the precise image you want to project. Example: She drove crazily, frightening the oncoming traffic.

Pace is better than pretty

Many writers try to improve their writing by making it ‘pretty’. They try to stuff their text full of colorful adverbs and adjectives. Wrong! Lean sentences that heighten the pace keep readers from falling off the page.

Improve your writing now

A simple way to improve your writing is to take a piece you’ve written and highlight all adverbs. Then try to delete as many as possible. Your readers will thank you.

Have YOU got examples of how killing an adverb strengthens writing? Please share them with us in the comments.

Mary Jaksch is the Chief Editor of Write to Done. Enjoy more of her stuff on Goodlife Zen. And check out the A-List Blogger Club that Leo Babauta and Mary run jointly.




Original: http://writetodone.com/2010/08/30/shoot-adverbs/


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How to Win Friends and Influence Readers

Sent to you by Andy via Google Reader:

How to Win Friends and Influence Readers

via Write to Done by guest on 7/15/10

A guest post by Katie Tallo of Momentum Gathering.

The royal road to a man's heart is to talk to him about the things he treasures most. ~ Dale Carnegie

Every blogger searches for that royal road. We want to touch the real lives of our readers – that's why we talk about their children, their food, their homes, their hobbies, their businesses, and their beliefs. That royal road shines brightly when we infuse our blogs with our real lives, but it shines brightest when our blogs reflect, ignite and enhance the lives of our readers.

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. ~ Dale Carnegie

But how do we win friends and influence readers if a lot of readers love apples and we write about oranges? We can't be everything to all readers.
Or can we?
We can if we join forces, pool our resources, help each other and engage in communities.

1. Join an aggregate blog.

By pooling a bunch of unique, engaging and diverse blogs, an aggregate blog gives readers everything they need in one roadside oasis. The Daily Brainstorm is a new aggregate blog that launched this week. It is a blogazine featuring some of the best bloggers on the planet, along with promising up-and-comers. It reaches into the hearts of readers and talks to them about their health, food, writing, exercise, diet, news, homes, gardens, travel, hobbies, money, blogs, careers, science, technology, politics, entertainment, simplicity, productivity and relationships. All the apples and oranges of life and more. By joining an aggregate blog, you'll stand side-by-side with other bloggers, you'll engage with more readers, and you'll extend your influence by association.

2. Find a community of bloggers.

There are forums, clubs and communities of like-minded bloggers across the web. The support, guidance, expertise, camaraderie, laughs, resources, opportunities, lessons, networking, and friendship is priceless. I joined Leo Babauta and Mary Jaksch's A-List Blogger Club three months ago. Since that time, I have picked up bucket loads of friends, readers, experience and momentum that I could not have gathered alone.

3. Guest post and mention your friends everywhere.

By guest posting, you step outside your blogging comfort zone, blend your blog with another and push yourself beyond the boundaries of your niche. You'll end up creating orangapples that might appeal to a whole new reader. Tweet about your friends and mention their blogs in your posts. Their success will become yours.
And on that note, here are some of the friends I am now collaborating with at The Daily Brainstorm and first met in the A-List Blogger Club. They are definitely worth checking out:

• Mary is the passionate, fun-loving blogger behind Goodlife Zen and Write to Done.
• Leo is an inspiring, genuine, thoughtful blogger of Zen Habits, Mnmlist and Write to Done.
• Barrie is the bold and insightful life coach extraordinaire of Live Bold and Bloom.
• Jean is the gregarious, motivational force behind Virgin Blogger Notes.
• Arvind is the authentic and kind voice behind the blog Make It Happen.
• Angela is the wise soul and gentle presence at Powered by Intuition.
• Manal is the heartfelt and honest voice of One with Now.
• Alison is the friendly and sincere blogger of Loving Nature's Garden.
• Lisa is the lovely and engaging blogger of Privilege.
• Leah is the vibrant and profound blogger from Peaceful Planet.
• Farnoosh is the wonderfully real and powerful voice behind Prolific Life.
• Jeffrey is the thoughtful and philosophical presence behind The Art of Great Things.
• Linda is the reflective and truthful blogger of Thought Medicine.
• Doug is the clever and warmhearted blogger behind The New Wealth Paradigm.
• Tammy is the sassy simple living blogger at Rowdy Kittens.

Those are some of my friends and some of my favourite places to hang out with them. I hope you'll visit, get involved, join aggregates, find clubs and, in the process, win friends and influence readers. When we enrich our virtual lives with collaboration, connection and friendship, we enrich the real lives of our readers. We become the royal road, a pathway to their hearts.

Your turn: Do you have some friends, clubs, communities, or aggregates that you'd like to mention? Join in the conversation and tell us about them.

Katie Tallo is a Contributing Writer for Write to Done, a Managing Editor for The Daily Brainstorm as well as a director, motivator, runner, vegetarian and mother who writes a blog called Momentum Gathering where she encourages simple, positive actions for joyful and vibrant life change.

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