Now consider your writing. Are you trying to say too much? Are you over-stuffing small ad spaces with a short article? Are you putting out too many frivolous press releases? Overseeing communication or having too many ideas in a single message means your target audience can’t “savor” the real message. They are lost in too much content.

For a more successful “serving” of communication, trim your thoughts into a few short ideas. Focus on one main message. Only announce important events or worthwhile accomplishments. Let your audience enjoy what you have to say without feeling stuffed. If they aren’t too full, they’ll be more inclined to come back for more.

Good luck keeping up with baby!

A writer often “pairs” with a client in order to complete a project.  A good rapport can mean a smooth process and satisfying end product for all concerned.  It means positive communication, openness to feedback and a clear strategy set forth from the beginning.  The end product meets expectations and the good work results in future collaboration. 

A bad partnership with a client is often one that begins with an unclear path.  Perhaps a referral by a friend makes talking details awkward so expectations are not set properly.   Then there is dissatisfaction with the final product because both sides were not completely up front from the start.  Maybe the client feels that, because they didn’t get exactly what they wanted, they have overpaid and issues over payment come into play.

Asking the right questions from the beginning and being upfront with the project details and working process is the best way to avoid negative situations.  Also, getting feedback and approval at every step of the process ensures that the project does not go off course.  Finally, if things do go sour, meeting with the client and understanding what went wrong prevents future mishaps and shows the client that you are still a conscientious partner. 

Translate this to your business. To many, the act of writing is a painful experience. From long articles and press releases to short emails and website updates, any length of writing is a headache. Your solution: keep something to eat handy. How? Create a stockpile of writing. Describe your products and services and save those descriptions. This will give you an arsenal of information to pull from every time you have some type of business writing to do. There will always be new things to say about your business, but certain aspects of it never change. By keeping writing on hand, you can save time and energy. Consider it your writing pantry.

Now, let’s have a snack.

So, how do you make your reader smile? One suggestion is to jazz up your words like a cocktail:  with a twist. A sudden shift in tone can be a happy surprise for your audience. Take a somewhat serious or straightforward stretch of writing, and throw in a quirky observation. The human foot is a mechanical miracle. Take that, knee cap! 

Often an informal tone also invites opportunites for humor. Writing as you would speak to a friend lends an intimacy to your writing, like your speaking in confidence, and gives you opportunities for humor. Shut up! Really?

If you have an ongoing series (such as a blog), that is serious in tone, you can take an entire article or entry and come to it with a new, fresh style. Again, readers might find the change in tone refreshing, as long as your deliver the subject or content that they originally signed up to receive.

Trying too hard to be funny can be disastrous so, certainly, if you are attempting this type of writing for the first time, you should run it by a trusted friend or colleague to get their opinion. Nothing is worse than someone trying to be funny and failing miserably. But, if successful, a little humor can go a long way to bonding with your reader.

Keep smiling!

3.) Don’t burn your bridges. Try to resolve conflicts and end relationships, especially with clients, amicably. Even if someone no longer needs your product or service, that doesn’t mean they can’t refer you to someone else.

2.) Don’t look back in anger.  Yes, let’s go ahead and quote the band Oasis here. Think of the past as ancient history and don’t be afraid to reconnect with old friends, colleagues and classmates because of what you think may be embarrassing foibles. It’s all water under the bridge. And, if it’s not, you’ll know soon enough.

1.) Don’t play leapfrog with a unicorn. Okay, so couldn’t think of a third thing and my husband just leaned over and told me that. Well, you know what? He’s right. Digging up the past can be fun and fortuitous. But it can also be dangerous. Stay away from suicidal ex-boyfriends, overly dramatic ex-girlfriends and old college buddies who owned hookahs, as potential business connections.  While it might be nice to reconnect with acquaintances and expand your network, some connections are not worth rekindling. 

Now, in all honesty, I have misled you.  The true meaning of Auld Lang Syne is actually not telling us to forget the past, but poses the question of whether we should forget:  Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?

And the answer:  We’ll take a cup of o‘ kindness yet, for auld lang syne. 

We’ll drink to old friends and old times past.  We will remember and toast it all.

So here’s to you, your good health and great success in 2012.

Happy New Year!   

In the meantime though, I still believe there are lessons to be learned from the culinary arts that can be applied to writing. 

1.       Take your time. For me, cooking is a pleasure when I’m not rushed or being hassled by hungry mouths. When I take the time to take out the ingredients, chop things correctly and follow the recipe step by step, I enjoy the process more and my dishes taste significantly better. Applied to writing, if I take the time to concentrate and follow a logical outline, my writing is clear and concise. When I rush, my thoughts are jumbled and my writing unclear. 

2.       Taste as you go. Sampling for salt and seasoning is part of cooking. Sampling is a part of writing also. Stop part way through and read your words out loud. Do they flow? Do they make sense? Make adjustment as you go so that you don’t get to the end of your work and realize that your tone or flow is not working. 

3.       Let it sleep. For those who know beans, you’ll understand when I say that certain foods do better if left to “sleep.”  My mom always made her black beans prior to a holiday and then put them in the refrigerator or freezer to let them “sleep” or rest. They absorb more flavor and always taste better after the fact. Your writing could also benefit from a rest period once completed.  Give it a day or two and then return to it.  You’ll find your mistakes and have a fresh perspective on tone and content.

Words are like food. They can be sweet and delicious. Enjoy yours this holiday season and throughout the new year.

1.       Skip the Appetizers. Avoid a wordy introduction. Get to the point quickly before you lose your audience. You don’t want readers to lose interest before the “meatiest” part.

2.       Measure portions. Don’t overserve yourself. That goes for food as well as words. Too many ideas or long, complicated sentences only confuse the issue and create overload. Simple is better.

3.       Take a break. The radio says, “Stop between dinner and dessert to take a break. Take a walk, play a game of catch or football.” Exactly. A pause in writing brings fresh perspective and helps you see errors.  Relax and eat a turkey leg!  Then come back to your work with renewed interest and energy.

The radio also said, “If you get through the meal without unbuttoning your top button, consider it a success.” Ditto. Consider a succinct piece of writing sleek and sexy, not fat and bloated. Of course, if good eating habits and good writing habits were easy, we’d all be swimsuit models and Nobel Prize winning writers.  But we’ll keep trying.

Happy Thanksgiving!

1. READ. Emails, press releases, newsletters, articles and blogs are easily accessed.  Find examples of the type of writing you need to produce and, when you like one, ask yourself why. Is it the tone, the style, the length, use of examples, references to websites? Seek out the type of writing you enjoy reading and try to imitate it.  By the same token, when you find writing you don’t enjoy, take note and don’t make the same mistakes.
2. RE-READ. It’s been mentioned several times in this blog but proofing your own work is essential to being a better writer.  Reading your own work, using spell check, reading out loud, allowing someone else to read - these are all methods to make your writing stronger.  Asking a colleague for constructive criticism on your writing may also help you improve.
3. REPEAT. Keep writing.  Once you stop, it is hard to start up again so keep it going. Even if you aren’t actively publishing, try to take the time to write a blog entry about your work or an email summarizing some of your successes for the week or month.  Even if you don’t use this type of piece right away, it’s a wonderful arsenal to have. 

1. Make an appointment on your calendar. Clear out your schedule for the short-term. It’s easy to get side-tracked with tasks. Make your writing task the top priority.

2. Find a template. Try not to reinvent the wheel but find something similar and use the key pieces to create an outline. This is especially true with a press release where there are tons of existing ones you can use as models.

3. Open up a document. Whatever word-processing program you use to type documents, create a new one and type in a basic outline. You can even add a headline to inspire you. Copy and paste samples you found that you want to follow. Fill your page. It’ll make you feel better than staring at a blank one.

4. Bribe yourself. Now you have to write and it’s hard.  So offer yourself a kick-ass reward for completion: a glass of wine, a chcolate cupcake, a movie, a massage or manicure/pedicure. Be creative but be generous. You know what you need to inspire you.

5. Write.  I can’t do it for you. (Well, I can but you have to pay me.) You have to do it. Keep it short and sweet but say what you need to get the job done.

6. Proof.  Wait a few hours or overnight but before you turn your work in, read it.  Then re-read it out loud.  Then read it again. Make sure it reads well and has no errors.

7. Pat yourself on the back. Now your work is done. Say to yourself three times: I rock. I rock. I rock.