“TOP 10 SECRET TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING: Write with a Purpose!”

TOP 10 SECRET TIPS:

7. WRITE WITH A PURPOSE AND OUTCOME IN MIND. Like DUHHH! Everyone is bombarded with material to read in every form coming from every direction. Why are you writing? Why should anybody read what you write, even the niche you identified in Tip 8?

Answer these questions:

 What can you contribute that’s new? (Or, tell me something I don’t know.)
 What can you contribute with a different spin from anyone else?
 What problem can you solve?
 How can you help someone?
 Who will benefit or gain?
 Who cares?
 How can you make a colleague a better researcher, teacher, or clinician?
 How can you make someone’s life
       • easier?
       • healthier?
       • safer?
       • more meaningful?
       • more productive?
       • more efficient?
       • more influential?
       • more satisfying?

In other words, “Your writing is all about your readers; it’s not about you. It’s what you can do for them that counts” (Berk’s Law, 2010). Match your expertise to your readers’ needs.

These questions have to be answered whether you’re writing a blog, report, research article, or book. If the outcome isn’t a significant contribution to your discipline or to your readership, they won’t read your blog or article or buy your book. Your writing must be salable to your readers.

(Up Close & Personal: You’re probably thinking: “Where are the jokes you promised?” They’re sprinkled here and there, hither and yon, ying and yang. What you really wanted to ask was: “Why am I writing another piece on ‘writing’ in an already overcrowded field?” Great question. I thought I answered it previously, but maybe you were busy checking out my French derivation of niche. Wasn’t that a pip?

Although writing [but not necessarily publishing] is expected of all academicians, I don’t think most search for sources on how to write [or publish], no matter how much they may struggle. I thought my blog series could not only suggest a few new pointers, but also provide an easily accessible, anonymous, high security, secretive, covert, and free platform for a concise Berk’sNotes® resource. No one will ever know you peeked. Go ahead. Peek. I know you want to.)

My next blog will take you to Tip 6: how to pick topics about which you are passionate. We’re back to the heart of writing agaaain!

COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC

“AS A PROFESSIONAL, ARE YOU REGARDED AS ‘DISTINGUISHED’ BY PEOPLE CAPABLE OF DISTINGUISHING?” The Antithesis of Salieri’s Quote!

THE ANTITHESIS OF SALIERI’S WORDS!
As a neophyte academician in 1980, I was struck by that brilliant collection of words. Further, I was struck a second time by the message or rather the antithesis of the message. It was the opposite meaning of Salieri’s words that hit me between the eyeballs. Inter-ocular-wise, the antithesis undergirds our professional accountability and success:

“All that we say and do professionally must be regarded as distinguished by peers who are capable of distinguishing.” Berk’s Law (2010)

The “peer review process” establishes the credibility of our work and our worth. It determines the value of our contributions and our advancement in academia. That process also represents the standard of excellence in the profession. Although it is judgment-based and fallible, that standard is sacrosanct; mediocrity is simply unacceptable. (NOTE: These reflections also apply to many other professions.)

BOTTOM LINE: FAME and being regarded as DISTINGUISHED are based on what other people think about you. The culture perpetuates this notion of affirmation of our self-worth by others. Salieri knew the truth. Despite the legitimate role of peer review in our professional world, ultimately the quality of what we say and do is in our hands. That’s who we are now and who we will become.

This message was told slightly differently to hundreds of college basketball players at UCLA in the 1960s and ‘70s by their legendary coach John Wooden who recently passed away: “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

What are your thoughts on any of the preceding reflections? Something must have stirred within or outside of you. Tell me. Come on, spew it out. You know you want to comment. What struck you? Do it!

COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC