Rough Draft

You don t have too look far to find a list of the best books a writer should read. This is a benefit for new writers, no doubt. Unfortunately, those of us who have been around for a number of years often own every book that tends to make these lists. And we read them. And... Listen to episode

If you re like me, you like to read. And you like to read a lot. In fact, some people might call you obsessed. I get that all the time. No surprise, since I try to read 100 books every year … But it can be frustrating. Daily demands. Lack of time. Big books. You get... Listen to episode

What I m about to say might make you grit your teeth. Clench your fist. Or even pick up a crow bar … I want to show you why marking in a book is a good thing. And I want to show you that unless you do this, you re likely missing out on the best kind... Listen to episode

I don’t care who you are — blogger, freelance journalist, ghostwriter, ad copywriter — if you are writing on the web then you need to read these copywriting books. Two are more recent than the others (and Influence by Cialdini is not technically a direct response copywriting book). But these are the books I would... Listen to episode

No one wants to write dull, lifeless copy that lulls even the most hyper people to sleep. Certainly not you, right? But why do we find it so hard to write what we want to say in the least amount of words — and still maintain potency? It s not easy because we tend to fall... Listen to episode

Here s a million dollar question: is there a magical blog post length? In other words, should you aim for a word-count sweet spot? The answer is no, there is not an ideal word count for a blog post. But there s is an ideal number of questions you need to ask yourself before you write. And... Listen to episode

Listen. You have control over inspiration. You run the show. Look at magicians, for examples. Curious bunch. They pull furry mammals out of their hats. Levitate humans. Hide automobiles out of sight. The great ones make a killing, jet set around the globe, and beat groupies off with a brass-tipped wand. The not-so-great ones —... Listen to episode

I am about to destroy the lie that suggests your first draft must be perfect. The illusion that great copy is born in a single moment of white hot inspiration. One of the most famous white-hot inspiration ambush stories in American literary history involves Jack Kerouac, Beat Generation pioneer. As the legend has it, Kerouac... Listen to episode

The end of your article is one last final opportunity to catch and keep the attention of a reader. Don’t screw it up. The sad thing is is that the close of an article, sales letter, or an email is usually an afterthought. It s something we writers rush to get to, and wipe our hands... Listen to episode

Why talk about dialogue in a podcast about online writing? Dialogue builds tension. Allows you to show instead of tell. And so much more. People love to read dialogue. We gravitate to the words on the page that are surrounded by quotation marks — the speech marks — because we know that two humans are... Listen to episode

So your visitor loved your headline. Will she read the rest of the article? One of the best ways to increase your chances is by using internal cliffhangers. A cliffhanger is a scene in a book, movie, newspaper story, or TV show that holds something back from the reader or viewer. More than likely you re... Listen to episode

Good writing uses transitional words and phrases to help the reader smoothly work through what you wrote. It’s strange how simple, but powerful, these words can be. Basically, these words and phrases are used to connect one idea to the next. Look at the word Consequently for example. Consequently means as a result. So when... Listen to episode

On the Internet, there is no shortage of answers to the question “What is a paragraph?” From prestigious universities to forums. Unfortunately, they are all wrong. The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill defines a paragraph as the building blocks of papers.” Fair enough. What else would you expect from... Listen to episode

Here s the thing: your sentences don t have to say much. They just have to say the right things. Here’s how to do that. When you are trying to get people to respond to your articles, subscribe to your email newsletter, buy your products, or donate to your cause … you need to write seductive sentences.... Listen to episode

Sentences are pretty simple little things. Noun and predicate. So why do we screw them up with lame verbs? Good question. Even in the complex sentence, we still depend upon the noun, we still depend upon the verb. So those constructions better rock. And because the difference between a brilliant sentence and a bad sentence... Listen to episode

White space sounds like a design issue. So why should you, dear web writer, care? Because words matter. I want you to imagine a statue. An aged bronze sculpture of a young girl, possibly eight years old, in a long dress. She stands about 50 inches … roughly four feet tall. Her head is cocked... Listen to episode

Everything up to now — all these markers that flag a reader to come in for a landing — traded in words. But not the next element. And curiously enough, it s probably as important and powerful as the headline. Remember the episode about the headline experiment involving Google Reader? Remember how I said I learned... Listen to episode

Want to improve your chances a visitor will actually read what you wrote? Then take a look at these easy guidelines for writing meaningful, compelling links that please both people and search engines. Links are hugely important for the web. In a macro, 30,000-foot way, links are the currency that help search engines evaluate the... Listen to episode

In this Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat world, who needs words, right? Well, we all do. But only if they are readable. Enter bullet points. Why bullet points? Like it or not, they keep people reading your blog posts, pages, articles, and copy like nothing else … In the online attention economy, studies show us that readers... Listen to episode

The purpose of the subheadline is two-fold. Standing out is its first purpose. The second purpose is a little more complex. Imagine your average reader. She s fallen in love with your headline. It s a good one. It s a humdinger. And now she is scrolling down the page, evaluating whether she wants to invest the time... Listen to episode