Joan Didion on Why I Write

…it took me some years to discover what I was.

Which was a writer.

By which I mean not a ‘good’ writer or a ‘bad’ writer but simply a writer, a person whose most absorbed and passionate hours are spent arranging words on pieces of paper.

Joan Didion

 

Thanks to Brain Pickings for reminding me of this quote. It's such a delicious quote about a IMG 1201 300x300 Joan Didion on Why I Writetopic I care deeply about. I too am a writer, compelled to pick up pencil and put to paper or to furiously type on a keyboard daily. Since I was a kid I've enjoyed many hours enamored with words on paper. While I've held a number of titles throughout my life–project manager, executive coach, CMO-for-Hire, buying assistant–being a writer is something that I am everyday regardless of my title. It's just a part of my genetic makeup. I simply can't help myself.

I have this notion that each of us have something that is so endemic to who we are that we are compelled to do it; a compulsion that comes within the deepest part of who you are. For me arranging words on paper is my compulsion. It helps me process my thoughts and to understand the world around me. When I am in my deepest despair you'll often find me curled into a corner of a library or bookstore. Once I've sorted through my thoughts I feel much more at ease. I suddenly know how to approach a problem or take a creative approach to a project. If I don't write for a day I just don't quite feel like myself.

Writing? It's just a part of who I am.

What is your compulsion? And what compels you to do it?

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Break the Rules But Do It On Purpose

Growing up the daughter of an advanced composition teacher words were a big part of our household. Our board games mostly consisted of boggle, scrabble and the like. My father, although an engineer, also cared about the use of words and grammar. I vividly remember him at the kitchen table, dictionary and thesaurus next to him, while he wrote a report or speech. Whenever he got stumped he'd yell to my mother to ensure he was using a word in the correct context. He once scolded me at length for answering the phone "This is she." rather than "This is she speaking." While I hated the correction I am grateful now that he cared that I knew how to speak properly.

Creating content calendars, writing blog posts and communicating on social media is just a part of my everyday life so it's pretty safe to say I feel most at home when surrounded by words.  That's right I'm a word nerd. I care about it so much that this is one place in my life I become a bit judgmental. I'll admit I have a hard time dating IMG 1473 225x300 Break the Rules But Do It On Purposea man who can't spell and poor grammar in a blog post instantly turns me off to a business. There's a particularly well known blogger (nope–not going to give their moniker away) who has good content that I'm very interested in but the writing is so amateur that I only read about a quarter of the posts. It's such a shame. Don't even get me started on people who use cliches way too liberally. A post for another day.

As content quickly becomes a key differentiator for businesses on the social web understanding how to write well is critical. It's ok to break traditional grammar rules especially when writing for a digital landscape. Just be sure to know the rules first and to do it purposefully. Otherwise you might just look like a fool rather than a cool, smart business person who stands out for all the right reasons. Here are a few particularly vexing grammar blackholes:


One space or Two?

In a 140 character world every character matters. So. Much. In a character limited world it's perfectly fine to use one space between sentences rather than the traditional two.

Real estate is valuable on the web.

It's ok to abbreviate a word-just be sure it connotes the right thing. For example, using Assn. for Association rather than Ass. (a real example used by a former boss before I corrected him).

Writing for social

When writing for social media make sure to know the proper usage of a hashtag before using it. For example, FTW means For The Win not For the Whales. Or Finish The Wine. Although you should always finish tasty wine.

The Oxford Comma Dilemma

The good old oxford comma is an unnecessary extravagance when writing for the web. Don't know what an oxford comma is? It is a serial comma, the name of a song, and something that is no longer needed for proper grammar but of course you can use it if you'd like. By the way, the last comma in that sentence is an example of an oxford comma. Here's a great little ditty about the modern use of the oxford comma by Grammar Girl.

I hope this has helped you treat words better. They're like my children. Please don't mangle them. And? You will be judged.  But only because I love you and I love words.

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Memoirs About Chefs Are Chic

Chef 300x300 Memoirs About Chefs Are ChicLately I've been noticing the rash of writers who become chefs or take up serious cooking and then write a memoir about it. Of course by now you're probably familiar with Julie & Julia, the cooking experiment that became a movie and a worldwide phenomenon. You may or may not know about The Sharper Your Knife the Less You Cry in which a writer moves to France to become a chef. It's fantastic. Highly recommended. And now comes Apron Anxiety the memoir by Alyssa Shelasky that chronicles this writer's journey to becoming a foodie after dating this well-known reality chef.

Being a writer who is planning to write a book but is currently without a subject I'm starting to wonder if I should take up cooking? And…then I remember that while I adore good food–even consider myself a foodette–since I don't cook–I have no idea what to do with food except to eat it. And I don't enjoy preparing raw ingredients–like at all. The 10 minutes I spend preparing my green smoothie every morning aside–I have no talent at cooking food that people would actually want to eat. Sure, my dog loves everything I cook but then again she's eats anything she finds on the sidewalk so pretty sure she's not a good judge. In fact, it's pretty much a requirement for dating me that you know how to cook well. Or, love of good food and a willingness to eat out every night.  Also, I've lived with many chefs in part to get any of their delicious scraps. Given the evidence, or the lack of evidence of my cooking ability, I'm pretty sure writing a memoir about cooking is definitely not a good idea.

Still, memoirs about adventures in the kitchen are popular these days so perhaps I could whip something up (see what I did there?)  Here are some prospective titles:

Rosé, Prosecco and Tequila, Oh My!

All The Food My Ex-Boyfriend's Have Cooked

All the Ways I Can Make Toast

So…I'm thinking all of these will be voted down.

Shucks.

Back to dreaming up a new subject for my book.

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The Power of Introversion on Creativity

Susan Cain's TED talk on The Power of Introverts is thought provoking, honest and funny. It's become so well received that she even made the NY Times. She highlights the belief that creativity comes from being gregarious rather than "solo flights of thought." I'm often seen as an extrovert but that's actually not the whole story. I consider myself an extroverted introvert (what Cain calls ambiverts). As an ambivert I often need a mixture of crowds and alone time to bring my creativity to fruition. To wit, Cain claims that solitude is often a crucial ingredient to creativity.

Even if you're an extravert, a little quiet time can likely help your creativity and productivity.  Let's curl up and watch shall we?

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A Letter to My Neglected Blog

Dear blog,
You've been neglected. Frankly, you've been starved lately. I'm sorry about that.

We need to talk.

It's like this. I've got lots of clients lately and they've asked me to blog for them. And? It brings in the bacon. So I've been blogging–just not on your pretty digital pages. I've missed you. I know, I know. Everyone says that. But I really mean it. The thing is, I'm just not that good at balance. I tend to swing from one extreme to the other. I don't say this as an excuse. This is more of a reality check. There are times when my client work is just going to have to come first. I hope you'll take solace with the fact that I have been blogging.

Here are a few of the things I've been blogging about lately.

  • Perusing Twitter helps me find unearth cool new gems like the fact that the new SimCity will be rad with alternative energy sources and other cool additions. Thanks to Miss Courtney O'Rourke for the tip.
  • Earlier this year I walked the High Line in New York City. When I heard about The LowLine a The LowLine300x200 A Letter to My Neglected BlogKickStarter project that aims to re-purpose an abandoned trolley station into an underground park I just had to write about it. And? They're using innovative new fiber-optic solar technology.
  • Apparently there's a World Water Day and we recently celebrated. I wrote a little piece about how to  save some water !
  • I also wrote about the cool new 918 Spyder hybrid sports car from Porsche. Um, it's a sexy car. That plugs into the wall. And it goes 0 to 60 in 3 seconds.

Let's see. I've written about saving the planet, playing fun games that help save the planet and a sexy sports car. You have to admit–it's pretty cool right? No? Does it make you feel any better that it was for a good cause?

You can take your time to make up your mind on that one. In the meanwhile I hope you'll forgive me for needing to focus on client work and be happy that at least I've been blogging. A lot actually. And? I promise to make more time for you–ok?

Now, what have you been up to?

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Genius & the Creative Spirit

I happen to be a big fan of creativity and memoirs. One of my favorites in this genre is Elizabeth Gilbert. Yes, the author of that book, Eat, Pray, Love that is equal parts loved and hated. She's a brilliant writer who I admire for 1) her ability to turn a mean phrase 2) her willingness to use her life as her muse. I adore what she's done with her creative spirit that if I could suddenly take the place of any writer it might just be Elizabeth Gilbert.

Clearly this woman is bright. Like off the charts smart. And incredibly talented. As a creative at heart, this is a very inspiring talk. It's a bit long but if you want to feel understood, learn more about the creative spirit and laugh it's well worth it.

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Do you really want to…

Be a ballerina like Natalie Portman in Black Swan? (Well, minus the crazy)

Be some other sort of performer?

IMG 49951 225x300 Do you really want to...

Be an entrepreneur? One of my favorite VC bloggers, Mark Suster recently wrote a great post, Should You Really Be a Startup Entrepreneur? that was featured in the virtual tech bible, Tech Crunch. It really painted an accurate picture of what being an entrepreneur is all about. It's ALOT of hard work. It isn't always gratifying–especially in the short term.  Passion is likely a prerequisite for most. You're going to have to develop a thick skin to fend off all those no's until you get a yes. It reminds me of other similar posts written about other fields. There's this one, So You Wanna Be a Writer? which given the subject, is naturally written in the form of a poem–by Charles Bukowski.

The road to being successful professionally has a few things common. Here's how I see it:

- It's something you MUST do. Get ready to ride the up and downs.

- Practice. Practice. Practice.  Learn your craft. Well. Develop mastery. 10,000 hours according to this man.

- Two words: Dedication & Perseverance. Be willing forgo immediate rewards for longer term satisfaction or success.

The key to success begins with doing what you love and then a whole lot o' work. It's not all that glamorous. I know it's true. I've done it. I've watched , this entrepreneur, and this one among many others do it. If you want a life that is more remarkable than just punching the ole' time clock for 40 years while waiting for retirement it's something you MUST do. You want something better than mediocre right? It's not about being an entrepreneur. You can be a musician like Christine Bougie who follows these "rules." You can be anyone, doing anything. No matter your passion, you must be who YOU are. Follow what you naturally love to do (whatever that is) and become masterful at it.

Now get to work.

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