Joel Heffner

Joel Heffner’s blog is moving to http://www.joelheffner.com. We should be all settled in within a few days.

Joel

One of the problems that writers face is the inability to come up with something to write. It’s usually a temporary problem. However, when you’ve got it, it seems like it will never go away. Here are 10 quick suggestions on how to overcome writer’s block. There are hundreds of tips for writers on my Twitter. You can also find an interesting creativity tool at The Writer’s Creativity Finder.

1. Ask a question.
Think about the topic you’d like to write about and ask questions about it. Ask as many as you can think of. Then, all you have to do is answer them.

2. Start with a single word.
Think of a good word to start out with. Add another word. Add more words until you make a sentence. Add some more sentences. Make a paragraph. Add some more paragraphs. Before you know it, you’ll have something.

3. Ask for help.
Ask someone for advice. Moms are great at giving advice. Anyone will do for advice.

4. Do research.
Go on Google, try Wikipedia, open an almanac, or go to a library. There’s a lot you can find if you look.

5. Do it differently.
Look for the biggest, smallest, newest, oldest, most expensive, least expensive…you get the point.

6. Make connections.
Think of a person and something that you don’t usually think goes together. How might they fit?

7. Numbers.
How can/do numbers affect what you are thinking about?

8. Make a list.
Think about what you know about a subject. Create a list, outline, or mindmap.

9. Adapt.
Think of something you know about and adapt it to something you are thinking about.

10. Ask one question.
Think of a really good question and ask many people the same question. Use a question like, “Is ___ still important?” If you put together enough responses, you’ll have something great to write about.

Each day folks ask about how they can become published writers. Today’s the day to change your life…if you want to. Writing for magazines seems to be one of the most popular types of writing that folks ask about. First, the bad news. There are fewer and fewer magazines around to write for. This is not an easy market. If it was, everyone would be doing it. If you want to change your life and be a published writer in magazines, here are some suggestions to get started. Remember, you actually have to do the work to get published.

1. Find a magazine you really like and know.
2. Look through the magazine to see what “types” of articles are in it. Are they interviews, how-to’s, etc.
3. Who are the writers in the magazine? Are they staff members or outsiders (freelancers)?
4. Here’s the tough part…think of a story that the editors would like for their readers. Remember, the editors think about what their readers like to read.
5. Once you’ve got an idea, you need to check with the publications submission guidelines. You can probably find them on the magazine’s site.
6. Now, you have to write a query letter. A query is the suggestion that you have in a letter format. Before writing a query, find out the details of what a query looks like. There’s plenty on queries online and in books
7. Write your query. Read it over carefully. Remember, your query is your introduction to the editor.
8. Send it out. Send it to only one magazine. Magazines don’t like it when you send it to more than one at a time. If a magazine rejects your idea, you can send it to another magazine.
9. Wait.
10. It may take MONTHS to get an answer.
11. If the editor wants the article they will tell you exactly what they want. They may ask that you alter your idea or give it a different slant.
12. Incidentally, beware of the “rights” that they editor is working with. You may be selling all rights to use the article again.
13. Go back to #1 and try it again. The more queries you’ve got out, the better the chances that you will get published…and paid.

Good luck. Please let me know how things work out.

P.S. You can’t get published if you don’t send in the query. Send it.

Twitter is fun. It also can be very useful. If you want to maximize the effectiveness of Twittering follow these basic Bio tips…

1. Create a bio for your Twitter account. If you think it’s cool to leave the Bio portion blank. That’s fine. If you want to use Twitter to get Followers or help your business, create a Bio.

2. Write your Bio so that others will know “who” you are. Include keywords that others would want to see if they had your interests.

3. Avoid boasting in your Bio. If you say that you are the world’s greatest anything, it makes you sound like a jerk.

4. Include your name in your Bio. Although one of my Twitter names is TipsForWriters, I make sure to include Joel Heffner in the Bio.

5. Use real words. Don’t try to use more words by putting words together like this: Iamawriter.

6. Avoid using uppercase letters. USING UPPERCASE LETERS MAKES YOUR WORDS MORE DIFFICULT TO READ AND IS CONSIDERED TO BE SHOUTING ONLINE. Don’t do it.

Is the AIG brand name dead? Will they be able to change the company’s name to save it? Will people ever forget the fact that they needed billions to stay afloat? Will people forget that executives took millions when the company should have been bankrupt?

Is this the best way to kill a brand name ever? Probably.

Today’s financial conditions create strong feelings. The President seems confused. The Congress is hesitant to act and possibly make mistakes. AIG is now a hated entity. If “we” had only seen what was coming…as we should have.

History has repeated itself big time. When I hear of more bleak financial news I think of a famous quote about a different time and place. It’s up to everyone to beware…and act when necessary or else it may be too late.

“In Germany, they came first for the Communists,
And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists,
And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews,
And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up.”

~~Pastor Martin Niemoller

If a tree has to be removed, most folks cut it down and grind it up. That’s most folks. If you happen to be in the Philadelphia Flower Show, you might decide to paint it like this one. It’s easy to be creative, all you have to do is paint a tree.

The Painted Tree was on display at the recent Philadelpha Flower Show.

A few years ago, I attended a presentation where three clowns, I mean speakers, made a presentation. They did just about everything wrong. However, the worst part was their use of technology.

The person responsible for getting the PowerPoint started did not know that to get a PowerPoint presentation started all you have to do is click on an icon. We should have known that things were going to get worse at that point.

The next joker to speak, sorry again, I meant to say, the next distinguished speaker, turned his back to the audience to read the slides. I don’t mean glance at the slides, I mean he read every word on every slide. Incidentally, he did not have the greatest looking back.

Although three people were joining in for the presentation they had only one microphone. It was on a relatively short cord so that some of the speakers had to bend over, as if in great pain, to use it.

Although they were speaking to a group in a large auditorium, the screen was only about eight feet wide. I was lucky (I think) because I was sitting in the front and could see the slides. The folks in the back definitely could not. It might have made sense if someone had tested the set-up first and someone else sat in the back to see if the screen was legible.

Unfortunately, the worst part of the whole day was that the three people were representing one of the major technology companies in the world. [I won't mention the company to protect three jobs.]

*Know the equipment that you are going to use.
*Know the room you are going to speak in.
*Know how to use PowerPoint if you are going to use it.

It is very easy to look like a jerk when you use technology that you are not familiar with. It can also get you fired.

We often think that the first thing that comes to our mind is the best solution for a problem. Maybe. Maybe not. If we accept the first solution to a problem without going any further we may miss out on one or more better ways to go. Photographers look for different angles. Writers think of different endings. Speakers consider alternative ways to get a point across.

Creative people consider more choices.

Writers write.

Procrastinators talk about writing.

It’s that simple.

Why?

Writers have the guts to tell others what they have to offer. It could be by entering something on their blog or submitting something to an editor. They write and they tell someone about it.

Procrastinators sometimes write. The problem, to me, is that writing alone isn’t enough. You have to tell others about it and show them what you have written. The procrastinators have many reasons (excuses). “It isn’t ready yet.” Maybe, but perfection is never achieved. “They may not like it.” So, most writers suffer from rejection. Some of the most successful writers have suffered the most rejections. There are many more “reasons” for the procrastinators.

If you are one of the procrastinators, start a blog. It’s easy. Go to http://www.blogger.com and you’ll be up and running in minutes. You don’t have to start with the great American novel. Start with something. Open a Twitter account and start encouraging folks to peek at your blog. Before you know it you may have a following. Get some feedback and hopefully some encouragement. If it isn’t encouragement, learn from it.

Write it. Do it. Now!

Please try it. I don’t think anyone really wants to be a procrastintor.