Do You Need the Challenge of a Writing Contest?

Motivation is a mighty interesting thing, and writing contests really illustrate the point.

Will you write for food? A t-shirt? An Amazon gift card? OK. Just remember to read the rules, terms and conditions carefully (if for no other reason than some poor writer labored over them) and if the contest charges an entry fee, read them again. Carefully.

Still rarin' to go? Here, a few contests underway now:

Grate Righter, Bad Speler Contest (No I'm not kidding! This is my favorite!)
Contest closes at 12 AM CST on Sunday, May 29, 2011
http://lifein64squarefeet.com/2011/04/15/the-grate-righter-bad-speler-contest

Soaring Above Essay Contest (Looking for personal accounts re: overcoming obstacles)
Entries due May 31, 2011 
http://www.twinfeatherpublishing.com/contest.asp

Fiction in Five June Contest (750-1,000 words on writing prompt, given upon request)
Entries due June 6, 2011. Entry fees are due June 3. Hmmm.
http://janiewrites.com/writing-contests/a-fiction-in-five-rules

Good luck and haf fun! (I'd love to see your entries for the first contest.)

Think Social Media Isn't Worth the Time?

Is customer service a fad? I don't think so.

Is social media? Doubt it.

Business owners who don't "get" social media need to get a grip: customer service (translation, staying in business) and social media are inseparable.

If you don't show your customers some social media love, someone else will. And there's a very good chance, no matter how much they love you, you will be drowned out by the tsunami of other voices in the increasingly (digitally) social world.

Watch this, and you'll get it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8&feature=youtu.be

Show your customers some social media love, build relationships online, just don't go AWOL.

Need some help crafting your online message? It's probably easier and less expensive than you think.

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Online Editing Tips from ACES: Readers Notice Sloppy Writing

I'm not convinced that the web spells the death of decent writing. Sue Burzynski Bullard of the American Copy Editors Society (ACES) recently offered 8 tips to improve online editing, especially for news sites. My favorites:

4. Be transparent. “Tell us what you know and how you know it...and tell us what you don’t know.”  (One of my aha! moments in J-school came when a professor told us: what you leave out of the story can bias it as much as what you put in.~ Diane)

and

8. Quality counts. . ."..readers notice sloppiness whether online or in print."

All 8 tips -- all worth reading -- here:
http://www.copydesk.org/resources/2011/tips-for-editing-online
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Animoto for Authors

Want to make a 30-second commercial for free? You can, with Animoto. While the "lite" version is free, a more full-bodied program that can make longer videos (among other things) is available for $5/month.

Below, a video promoting the new edition of my hiking guide, 60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Cleveland, available in June. Happy hiking...and happy movie making!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Getting Good Directions

 When I was a freshman in high school, my art teacher inspired me to be a writer. He probably didn't mean to, but that's what happened when he began our class by teaching from the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. It introduced me to the idea that the left- and right-hemispheres of our brains handle different things, or (more accurately) handle things differently.

At first, I was dumbstruck to find that I could draw something that looked remotely realistic. I just followed the book's directions and ta-da! That head actually seemed to fit on that body!

Before we finished with the book, I had learned two important things: I have no artistic talent, and by following the author's directions I could draw better.

I still love good directions, and I think writing them is something of an art. If my words can inspire you to assemble a shelf without dissembling the room where you're working, well, isn't that a beautiful thing? I know things can get ugly when I follow bad directions.

Still developing my artistic side.

Recently, I tried to enter a photography contest. (Guess I'm still developing my artistic side.) I was confused by the entry rules,  requested and got clarification, ultimately deciding the entry process was more trouble than it was worth. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who felt that way: The contest was cancelled due to lack of entries.

Directions matter. Marketing efforts and customer service initiatives can fail because of bad directions. Businesses can be sued because of bad directions. (Think of the poor DIY-er surrounded by the tools and pieces/parts of that shelf assembly. Misleading directions + a hammer = a lawsuit waiting to happen)

Directions seem pretty mundane, I know. Directions don't have to inspire, but they should - at least - direct. The next time you encounter crystal-clear, helpful, easy-to-read directions, I hope you'll think kindly of the person who wrote them. And whenever you find yourself in a nasty spot because of some bad directions, please, put down the hammer.

Question for my freelance/technical writer friends: have you ever gotten a job because you pointed out the inaccuracies in an organization's directions? 

New hiking book available June 2011

Grab one and hit the trail!

On Demand Studios and Defining Your Job

I've weighed in on the pros and cons of writing for low-paying content providers in the past, so there's no need to revisit the whole debate. Today, however, I managed to remind myself about two important things regarding Demand Studios and other low-budget content farms. In case you need reminding, too, here they are:

The Good: Sometimes you're getting paid to learn! 

I recently snagged an assignment about creating writing prompts for third-graders. Next month, I'm presenting to middle-school students about the writing process. What a perfect excuse to do a little research and get paid (a little) for it, I thought.

It worked out just like that. (I'll paste a link to the article here as soon as it's published.)

The Not-So-Good: Some assignments are poorly defined.

In my excitement over the first article, I grabbed a second, on creating T-shirt slogans. The problem? The assignment just wasn't well-defined. I should have recognized that, but it's not always easy.

An article for eHow, for example, is supposed to be pretty cut-and-dried. Think how to tie your shoelace, or replace the engine block in a '79 Camaro. It might be involved (and you're supposed to cover it in 500 words) but it's well-defined.

Now, I think it's more fun to wrestle with T-shirt slogans than with engine blocks, but the fact is, I wasn't dealing with motor head T-shirt slogans or political slogan.  I agreed to write about T-shirt slogans. Totally unqualified, undefined T-shirt slogans. Dirty T-shirt slogans? Funny T-shirt slogans? Nope. Maybe I could have covered that in 500 words.

My mistake. I'm still wrestling with the slogans. On the plus side, I got a blog topic out of it. I also got  a little philosophical exercise thinking about the creative vs. the copywriter.  While that may be worthy of a blog entry, it definitely doesn't belong on a T-shirt.

If I figure out what makes a good T-shirt slogan, I'll be sure to post it here. And if I figure out how to make money entertaining philosophical thoughts, I'm outta here!