TOP 10 SECRET TIPS:
6. WRITE ON TOPICS ABOUT WHICH YOU ARE PASSIONATE (continued)
Back in Your Heartland: Where’s your heart? This is not about your content knowledge. We’re back to the heart again. Your whole heart should be engaged in your writing. Half-, third-, or quarter-hearted writing is not enough. It’s either all or nothing. Pour yourself into your writing. It should be a fully immersive experience. Allow your readers to feel your spirit of passion about your contribution, whether it’s a tweet, comment on a discussion, response on Facebook, or a scientific breakthrough for a cure for stupid reality TV programs about spoiled, immature celebrities. You may start with the content, but as you revise and edit each draft, make it sneakily engrossing and captivating for your readers.
(Up Close & Personal: Every e-mail, LinkedIn message, PowerPoint presentation, blog, article, and book I write begins with the substance—the serious content. That’s the most important element to be communicated---the “WHAT.” Then I shift gears into the “HOW.”
Once I’m tentatively satisfied with the content draft, I scan line by line and read the words as a reader would, to search for places to add humor or spin some of the material with rewording to make it fun or more interesting. I assume every paragraph to be boring for my readers. I use this same strategy with every PowerPoint slide in my presentations.
The challenge is to create appropriate humor, visual metaphors, and popular cultural references to grab and maintain the readers’ attention. It’s an unending process of revision, especially in my articles, books, and PowerPoints. The more deadly serious and boring the content, the more turbo-charged I am to humorize that material. That’s how I brand my writing. It’s the art of writing for me and what I love the most. I’m never satisfied that I’ve done enough to make it interesting and funny.)
My next blog will present Tip 5: examine how a mentor or coach in your writing life can provide mighty wise counsel and poke you in the eyeballs (like the 3 Stooges) or kick you in the shins along your writing journey.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
BLOGGUS INTERRUPTUS: My series on “writing” is on hiatus for 2 days so that I may use this blog to reflect on this past year’s 180 blogs and begin my new blog year with humor. “Writing” will resume soon. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
BLOG REFLECTIONS
My Experience. Are you kidding me? Who would ever thought I would be measuring time in blogs. Since my 2 incredible daughters (Corinne & Marissa) persuaded me to start blogging exactly 1 year ago, I’ve learned a lot. Blogging has been an amazing experience. It has motivated, inspired, cajoled, and, sometimes, even pinned me up against the wall in a half-Nelson to write. Thinking in 200–400-word chunks is different from 2000–5000-word articles and 50,000–100,000-word books. A blog seems manageable and attainable.
The Alternatives. The article and book alternatives are considerably more formidable and, at times, seem to be more within the realm of Don Quixote’s “Impossible Dream.” That’s why they mean so much on our vitae. It’s kind of difficult to harpoon a windmill on a horse; in fact, it’s nearly impossible to even find a windmill nearby these days. Where do they hide them? Maybe Sancho will know.
If I were still at Johns Hopkins or, for that matter, any other research university, the unrefereed, “unpublished” blog would be regarded as a meaningless waste of time (as opposed to a meaningful waste of time) in the context of annual productivity and faculty evaluations for annual review and promotion and tenure. Why bother? There’s no academic pay-off. If you want to blog, you do so for other reasons, and, in addition to everything else. Not so in the corporate or other worlds beyond academia.
My Niche. As I embarked on my journey into “Blog World,” I knew that few of my colleagues in the academic community read blogs and almost none writes them or comments on them, perhaps, for the reasons above. Over the past year, that was confirmed week after week, with the exception of a few spikes of interest in particular blogs or blog series. With a constantly increasing bombardment of job and family responsibilities pounding on academicians, it seems that the priority, time, and interest for my blogs, at least, remain relatively low. To attract a following in the thousands is unrealistic. That may not be the case for other writers’ blogs.
Fortunately, my niche has expanded slightly beyond the ivory tower to include writers, K–12 teachers, healthcare, corporate, IT, software, training, and coaching professionals from a bunch of countries, and students. You never know who may find value in what you write until you test the World Wide Focus Group (WWFG)! I did not expect that expansion and will intentionally consider that audience in future blogs.
What’s Next? A vacation. Haha. As year 2 begins, after this “writing” series is over, I will continue to search for topics that can
(1) provide you with important information at a glance, such as the Web 1.0–3.0 series,
(2) offer guidance that might take what you’re doing professionally or personally to the next level, such as writing and publishing, and
(3) make you chuckle and, maybe even, laugh out loud with my twisted brand of humor.
However, I really, really could use your help. REALLY! I would appreciate suggestions for topics and jokes and feedback on what’s working or not working in my blogs. I want each blog to be meaningful and valuable to you in ways that other resources are not. Let me know your thoughts. (NOTE: Of course, I will still continue to write articles, some of which may grow out my blog series, and try to finish my 14th book.)
In that spirit, tomorrow I will begin this next blog year with a totally meaningless and valueless Top 10 list. See you then.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
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
TOP 10 SECRET TIPS:
9. WRITE EVERYWHERE YOU CAN (continued)
Leverage Putrid Service: The quality of service provided by many businesses and institutions is putrid. We can experience extremely long wait times and delays at all of the preceding venues. My charge to you is: Leverage that putrid service to the benefit of your writing. Don't waste your energy with negative self-talk, complaining about delays you can't control; seize them as opportunities to write.
No Access Needed: Although most of the venues now have Internet access (some for free), except some prisons, that doesn’t matter for most major writing activities. You don’t need to be online to write blogs, reports, articles, books, etc. Any piece of writing can be copied and pasted onto any platform or site later. You will be amazed at how much you can complete in 15–30 minutes if you're able to rivet your attention on your writing. Be prepared to write at any of those venues. You can accomplish a lot.
(Up Close & Personal: I have gotten used to writing, editing, proofing, and weeping over reviewers’ comments at many of the previous sites. I’ve cried at the Toyota dealer, sweated buckets while writing on torn, uncomfortable chairs at a non-air-conditioned Midas Muffler, and written piles of blogs and articles in hospital emergency and waiting rooms, doctors’ offices, airports, and the MVA. I’ve been stuck in airports or on the tarmac for 3–9 hours on several occasions. That’s solid writing time. You can either get angry or write; it's your attitude and choice. The more you write in these public settings, except prison, the more you can build up your concentration skills. Since you’re writing every day, writing on the fly becomes a habit; writing in your office becomes a luxury. There is no excuse for not writing. “You can do it!”)
Tomorrow, I will discuss Tip 8: how to pick and write for a niche audience. I know you’re itching to read about niches.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
TOP 10 SECRET TIPS
10. WRITE EVERYDAY. In the movie Finding Forrester, fictitious Pulitzer Prize winning novelist William Forrester (played by everyone’s fave James Bond, Sean Connery) gave the following advice on writing to his talented 16-year old mentee Jamal Wallace, whose secret passion was writing:
“You write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is to write, not to think. If you try to write the perfect page one, you’ll never get to page two.”
What to Write: You need to force yourself to write responses to e-mails, texts, tweets, comments to blogs and online discussions, etc. Search for every opportunity to write. Even better, create them by formally mapping out a writing project, such as the following:
• blog
• section of an article
• piece of a chapter or report
• chapter in an accreditation self-study
• portion of a speech or lecture
• jokes for an article, presentation, or stand-up gig
• scene for a play or screenplay
• scene for a TV movie of the week with geezer-like Tom Selleck
• any chunk of a manuscript
Chunking: Think about your writing in short bits, pieces, and chunks, not total papers. They’re easier to complete. What ever you commit to write should be part of your “to-do” list every day. It should be important and urgent, category A, on your list. Your writing is high priority.
Chunk writing keeps the writing juices and other fluids flowing and your brain neurons-synapses firing, unless, of course, you’re on crystal meth. The more frequently you write, the more you improve your ability to express your thoughts grammatically and mechanically, plus there’s more flowing and firing to boot. You’re honing the art and craft of your writing.
(Up Close & Personal: I’ve been writing for hundreds of years. However, one of the best exercises I have found to stimulate my creative writing bodily fluids to keep pouring out all over my PC was to commit to writing a 200–300 word blog almost every day. This August 1 will be my 1st Blogiverary. I’m aiming for 180 blogs. I really look forward to writing a blog every day, except when I can’t think of anything. Mine is a professional blog, but you can write a social blog or whatever you’re willing to write. I strongly recommend creating a series of blogs on a single topic, as I am doing on “writing.” It’s much easier than writing on a completely new topic everyday. Whatever works for you, do it. Just write.)
(Application: Writing blogs is an extremely effective method to build students’ writing skills. The blog keeps your writing fresh and forces you to stretch mentally and produce something of value for your readers. That’s a significant challenge.)
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
WHY WRITING?
I receive occasional requests from junior faculty and students, usually on my LinkedIn professional network, for tips on writing and publishing. It seems everybody has to write, especially professsionals in all fields. No one can escape. Writing-wise, it’s kinda like “No Professional Left Behind!.” People are talking less and texting and typing on social media networks more than at any time previously. They’re writing more, but not necessarily at a high level of quality.
Just about everybody (meaning, colleagues) I talk to about writing has problems writing. Most are not satisfied with the quality and/or quantity of what they write. They feel they can produce more and always do it better. But it’s tough to do.
There are buckets of books, online writing groups (academic and nonacademic), workshops, and other resources that can help you in your writing quest. So why do I need to throw my blog into the writing ring? Because I know you love my metaphors and I might be able to contribute some new tidbit of advice that might shoot your writing to levels beyond your wildest imagination, or maybe not. I thought I’d give it a whirl, plus, my blogs are free and occasionally funny. The other options are neither.
WHAT THIS BLOG DOES NOT COVER
If you’re interested in publishing pointers, fawgettaboutit. Two previous blog series dealt with writing and publishing for professional journals (4/22—5/9/10) and books (9/18—10/5/09). This blog is also not about grammar and mechanics. Spelchek and copy editors do a great job with that.
WHAT THIS BLOG COVERS
It’s about strategies to improve the quality and quantity of what you write professionally, but also personally. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a research, theoretical model, lit review, historical, commentary, or even murder mystery piece, OR a blog, e-mail, social media comment, article, chapter, or book. These are generic suggestions that work, I think.
TOP 10 SECRET TIPS PREVIEW
Here’s the list that will be addressed in the next few blogs:
10. WRITE EVERYDAY
9. WRITE EVERYWHERE YOU CAN
8. WRITE FOR A NICHE
7. WRITE WITH A PURPOSE AND OUTCOME IN MIND
6. WRITE ON TOPICS ABOUT WHICH YOU ARE PASSIONATE
5. ADOPT A MENTOR OR COACH TO REVIEW DRAFTS
4. THINK DRAFT
3. PROOFREAD THOROUGHLY
2. MINIMIZE DISTRACTIONS AND INTERRUPTIONS
1. FIND AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER OR WRITING GROUP
Read any, all, or none of the upcoming blogs on these tips. If you just get 1 or 2 ideas from this series, it will have been a total waste of my time. I’m shooting for 3. Let me know my hit rate and any comments or suggestions, as usual. My next blog will examine how to WRITE EVERYDAY.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
1. Carry Work When Traveling
If you really want to stay in control of your workload or jump ahead, carry work materials when you’re on the move. This time saver is one of the most effective time management techniques you can possibly use. Before jumping, whenever you leave your home, office, ship, or football field to go anywhere, take a briefcase, bag, or backpack with work materials and laptop with you. Don’t leave without something (including your American Express card—ya never know what will pop up), but don’t take everything, especially any vertebrae-breaking, cartilage-tearing monster course textbooks or complete dissertations.
SAMPLE OF TASKS
Today, as you travel to almost every destination, wait time will be involved. During that travel, you could complete the following 20 tasks:
• grade papers
• edit term papers or essays
• edit thesis chapters
• respond to e-mails from students and colleagues
• read articles for an article or chapter you’re writing
• write a section of an article or book chapter
• edit a manuscript
• write a review for a journal manuscript, grant proposal, or book chapter
• write a course lecture or student activities
• write an agenda for an upcoming meeting
• write the minutes from a past meeting
• write a letter of recommendation for a student or colleague
• write your letter of resignation
• write pink slips to whack your staff
• add a few items to your “to-do” list
• write a blood curdling murder mystery
• plan how you’re going to spend your federal stimulus check
• read The Chronicle of Higher Education for job options
• write a blog
• revise your profile on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn
You may have noticed that about 65% of those tasks require writing. That seems to be a significant component of our job description. Estimate your wait time to decide how much and what type of work to take. Depending on how you travel, your work opportunity will vary. Several travel options will be examined in the next blog.
COPYRIGHT © 2009 Ronald A. Berk, LLC & Coventry Press
Once you’ve decided how you are going to transform your published article into a book chapter, DO IT. When you have a draft of the chapter, consider whether it looks like a clone of the article in structure and style OR an “extreme makeover,” almost unrecognizable from the real McCoy. Since you would typically update citations and references, reformat heads, and revise the text after your copyeditor butchers it, the final chapter will almost always appear different from the article. Every copyeditor’s changes are different. If you are blessed with a copyediting of your article, your book editor will find other changes to make. (Note: Your copyeditor can be your best friend and mentor in improving your writing ability. I’ve learned sooo much from every editor. That learning never ends. There is always room for improving one’s writing skills. End of Note.)
Copyright-wise, check with the specific journal for its policy on using material from your article in total or in part, including graphic, pictorial, and other nontext content. At minimum, cite the article in text or in a footnote, such as: “This chapter is based on the article by Berkorino and Magillacutty (2009) published in the Journal of Previously Rejected Manuscripts” or “This chapter is a revision of a previously published article by Snoothauser and Barfbag (2008).”
In your draft table of contents, fill in chapter gaps around your collection of articles to insure a comprehensive treatment of the topic. You may have to add 1–2 or several chapters to distinguish your work from the competition. “But, hey bro or sis, your book is like almost complete. That is sooo cool.” Where did that come from? Ending a sentence with a preposition? “Did you really work with copyeditors?” Kinda…
Write drafts of these additional chapters and you’re on your way to bookdom. Isn’t this “article” approach faster, easier, and more streamlined than writing the whole book from scratch? Plus, it punctuates the significance your research program by providing a capstone product that synthesizes a given body of work over several years. The book will also have more staying power than a single article.
It’s possible to adapt this approach to a collection of conference presentations, workshop materials, blogs, listserv commentaries, professional journal (diary) entries, and other writing products. They lack the quality-control ingredient of the journal review process, but the final manuscript can still be sent out to multiple reviewers for feedback. What matters most is that you continue writing, every day, if possible. It is one technique to continue learning and producing, even into your retirement. Wow, what a great idea!
COPYRIGHT © 2009 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
