Every time you sit down to write, you bring extra baggage with you. And, just as with the airlines, that extra baggage can cost you dearly. Your writing baggage might be filled with past experiences in the educational system: college, high school, or before. Perhaps you struggled with language mechanics or diagramming sentences, and now […]
Writing
How to Boost Your Writing Motivation, Scientifically
The following guest post comes from Chandler Bolt, a tireless supporter of new authors. Through his books and courses, Chandler has inspired countless writers to fulfill their dreams of writing and publishing a book. Have you ever struggled with a serious loss of motivation as a writer? I’m not talking about that slight resistance we […]
Should You Really Get Up Early to Write?
I’m a little tired of reading about successful people who rise and write for hours before daybreak. How about you? I’m filled with admiration for their work ethic and discipline. But it’s not my process, nor is it necessarily yours. And for reasons grounded in neuroscience, waking early to write might work against you. Writing first […]
Writing with Confidence About Uncertainty
Strategies for using indirect language patterns with intention When writing to communicate expertise and authority, you want to avoid language that makes you seem uncertain. My previous post here described indirect speech patterns that make you seem less confident or knowledgeable when they creep into your written words. However, indirect speech isn’t all bad. Indirect […]
Speech Patterns that Threaten Authority in Writing
Indirect speech is one way that we communicate politeness, willingness to collaborate, modesty, and other worthy attributes when we speak with each other. Despite the American love of “getting right to the point,” people who always speak directly may sound brusque, impatient, or rude. However, indirect language patterns often read differently in print. In writing, […]
Polite or Pushover? Indirect Speech in Business Writing
If you send business emails, write blogs in a professional capacity, otherwise write in a professional context, I think this might be a really important topic for you you should read this post. Indirectness. Copyeditors will find it and delete it. Writing coaches give you grief about it. My online course on revision includes a […]