. . . taking your blog from stagnant to stunning
December 24th, 2009 — Thursday is Words Day
Luckily, I do. Fail, that is.
My high school choir director scolded me time and time again for using my “solo voice” when singing in the group. “You sing well, but you must learn to use your choral voice,” he would say, frustrated. “Blend!”
I failed at blending and wound up exiled from the singers, reassigned as the accompanist.
December 10th, 2009 — Thursday is Words Day
What made Walt Disney’s cartoons unique when they were first introduced? Personification. Disney grabbed anything within reach and gave it human qualities–feelings, abilities, speech, etc. And the tradition continues in Disney’s later films. For example, from Beauty and the Beast: Mrs. Potts, the talking teapot, the clock and the candlestick–all inanimate objects brought to “life.” Even the beast himself is an example of personification.
December 3rd, 2009 — Thursday is Words Day
Here’s an opportunity to network with other bloggers and get some exposure for your blog. Daniel Scocco of Daily Blog Tips just announced his next group writing project for bloggers. Why should you participate?
There are a few rules:
November 19th, 2009 — Thursday is Words Day
One of the writing “Facts of Life” is that every story, article, book, or blog post must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. The most important paragraph in any piece of writing is the first one, called the Lead. Jumping directly into the body of your piece is likely to elicit a “Huh?” from the reader, followed closely by a click on the browser’s exit button. The lead coaxes your reader to continue reading the remainder of the piece, which, if done well, will “follow the leader.”
Your opening is more than an introductory handshake to set the tone — it’s a commitment to your reader that your prose will entertain, intrigue, inspire, and inform him. Think of the lead as a seconds-long commercial to entice your reader to “buy” the remainder of your story. A tall order, yet with the number of techniques to choose from (see list below), the challenge of writing an opening is not an impossible task. It can even be fun.
November 12th, 2009 — Thursday is Words Day
Several years ago, I attended a CLASSSeminar training with Florence and Marita Littauer. They taught us an easy-to-remember outline for presentations that can be adapted to blogging as well as speaking — the P-I-E-R method. The word PIER is a tool to remind the presenter of the four major elements each aritcle, presentation, or speech should contain: Continue reading →
