Category Archives: Blogging Better

Do Not Read This.

headline

.לחצו פה להסבר על תרגום לעברית

Whether you are a filmmaker, an entrepreneur with a new app or product, or a blogger, you know that the first few words you say about your project are critical. It’s the make or break moment.

Think of your personal life. When someone says “I have bad news….” your stomach clinches and you brace yourself.  Or if they say “I have great news…” you experience excitement and hope.  But more to the point, do you know the feeling you get when someone says “Well, it’s a long story. But…” and your eyes glaze over immediately. IMMEDIATELY. Because it’s going to be a “long story” which is not appealing. Sometimes the qualifier “well, to make a long story short…” is also an eye-glazer, since that is almost always followed by a LONG story.

So you know you have only a very short period of time to grab and hold the interest of your reader or listener. Really, this idea applies to just about everything, from dating to pitching a Hollywood executive to pitching an angel investor.

Our attention spans have gotten shorter. And in a non-personal situation, your listener has no reason, no obligation to actually listen to you anyway. Or even pretend to. So it’s bit merciless.

Any easy and obvious arena in which to notice short attention span thinking is on Facebook. When you share a post that contains a link, the link automatically generates a lead in – the first few words of the article, generally, or in the case of some manually edited sites, a selected quote that characterizes the piece.

So what happens very often is that a person will “like” the link – and even comment on it – but not read the article itself. They just “like” the headline and make assumptions based on that.

That should frighten us, collectively. As individuals we need to slow down and digest information. Especially in a world hungry for truths.

But as creatives who battle with this (for now) short attention span problem, we really have no choice but to play along and work with it.  Yes, as a blogger, you want a title to have as much curiosity appeal as possible so that people will definitely click on it.

But don’t forget that if you ever aspire to be a writer who is taken seriously by those who matter – publishers, filmmakers, decision makers, etc.? You need to follow through with an entertaining, cohesive article, script or pitch.

So this post is really about two things:

In your personal life: Really be aware that a snappy headline or first paragraph or two are not going to be enough information for you to really grasp a subject unless that subject is George Clooney, in which case, a picture is worth a thousand words. Ha!  But generally speaking, make it a habit to slow down and pay more attention to what you read and to be more critical and analytic of it. You might be “liking” and commenting on things that you actually are not informed of. Minimally embarrassing, this habit can also have major repercussions as you become one of the Willingly Uninformed.

In your business life: Use snappy titles, headlines and opening remarks to grab attention! Of course! But if you really want to make in impact, follow up with information that is well organized, entertainingly conveyed and impactful. That is, if you CARE about getting published, funded or represented.

שלום לכם דוברי עברית! כדי לקרוא את הפוסט הזה בעברית, השתמשו בדפדפן כרום ולחצו על “Translate” למעלה. כדי לקבל הסבר מעמיק יותר, לחצו פה.

 

Word Crimes!

Dealing with Trolls

trollלחצו פה להסבר על תרגום לעברית.

Troll. Or if you are a Hebrew speaker, or Hebrew-curious, טרול.

You may have heard of them. Not the kind that lives under bridges, but the kind that leave nasty, and sometimes crazy comments online. They are everywhere.

If you blog, they will find you.

What do you do? You don’t. Do not feed the trolls.

Trolls are not healthy, normal people so any response will only illicit more fury, craziness and semi-coherent ramblings. But you knew that, right? That’s common sense.

Here are some tips for dealing with trolls that you really need to know:

  1. Set your blog comments to “approve” so that you see and approve of all comments before they are posted to your blog. This is a critical step.
  2. Never, ever approve a troll’s comment. Other commenters may disagree with you but if they are reasonable and actually have a point, I suggest that you do not go all 1984, but actually approve them and reply with your point of view.
  3. Do not read the whole comment. If you can see in the first sentence alone that this is a troll? Delete. Do not let that junk into your brain. It can ruin your mood for absolutely no reason.
  4. If a troll comment is aimed at you but not on your blog also don’t read it and don’t reply. If you blog for another website, for example. Trolls are like wasps; every barbecue will attract at least one or two. React in the same way you would at a barbecue. Roll up a newspaper and smash them in the form of absolute silence. Replying and interacting is like feeding a troll.

It’s hard not to feed a troll, to react. It takes an enormous amount of will power. Just the other day a troll commented on a blog post of mine in another blog with a very long, crazy rant. This person was angry, yes, but in a way that made me curious. What was his or her point, actually? And I made the mistake of reading the whole thing. Every cell in my body wanted so badly to say something back. To tell this person just how nutso he or she is. To regain some of my – wait – but the other comments were positive and intelligent. Why would one demonstrably crazy person get any reaction from me?

You think I’m going to say something wise and Zen, right? About how crazy people should not register in our minds as someone to interact with because x, y and z, right?

Nope.

You have stuff to get done, right? So do I. I don’t have time to interact with some anonymous person I will never, ever meet, with nothing better to do than post crazy rants. I have too much to do. So I don’t let a crazy post take up my time or any mental space. We are all human, so of course reading a mean, crazy troll rant will upset us – even if for only a few minutes – but I don’t have time to get upset about something that it not a legitimate concern in my life.

And either do you. :)

 

 

 

Write Better Content

Yesterday, I attended WordCamp Israel, 2014, a day of learning and discussions for WordPress users. As a long time WordPress blogger, and a former Hollywood script analyst, I thought it would be interesting to talk about something less technical than widgets, coding, or meta tags but to really delve into why story is so important and how an appreciation of it can make your content better, no matter why you are blogging:


I started off with a sad but very illuminating story. About four years ago, my best friend lay in her bed, dying. It was breast cancer. I had just returned from Israel. Julie – she said weakly – tell me about your trip. I thought it was horrible to talk about a vacation while someone was dying!

Please, Lynn said. She was not able to even open her eyes.

I told her about the Red Sea and how warm it was. I told her you could see the hills of the Saudi Kingdom from there. I described the hot, greasy schwarma and the tender, crumbling falafel.

I felt like Sherhezade – I had to keep talking.

I described Petra and the silence in the desert. And the way the old city in Jerusalem smells a little like smoke and oil and flowers.

One tear rolled down Lynn’s cheek. It’s so ancient, she said. That was the last thing she ever said to me and that was the moment in my life when I realized how important – how truly important story telling is.

Because it transports us. Even on our death beds.


Stories only happen to those who can tell them.

~ Paul Auster


Here is a truth: Good stories – good writing – good content – is immersive, compelling and entertaining. Every time. 

You already know this. Because this recognition and ability is hard-wired within you. Believe it. But many of us do not ourselves consume enough good content online (we skim, more on that later) or we assume that it’s easy to write good content and we may not try all that hard.  quote

I learned valuable lessons about mediocrity in my ten years in Hollywood – in an environment of extremely high stakes, where NO NOT GOOD ENOUGH is a daily mantra, I learned that NO is an invitation to better and that mediocrity will never, ever make you stand out from the crowd.

I learned that asking more and MORE of your story, of your idea or concept was a way to sharpen your skills:

 NO. Not good enough. What else happens? Why is this unique?

In Hollywood this might seem like a jaded attitude but really it’s just a reaction to too much material and too little time. And so often, unfortunately, what we think is unique and interesting – just isn’t. It’s a rough environment.

Writing online is a different environment and yet asks the same of a writer – why is this different – because today we are inundated with content and information masquerading as content.

There is an ocean of information online and its easy to get lost in the crowd. How is your blog better? 

Whether you blog for personal reasons or to sell a product or service, your content is just one more piece of information floating around.  Usually when we think of improving readership, we think of SEO, hashtags, sharing on multiple social media outlets efficiently. And this is true. It is important.

But content is king.

Here’s the thing: you don’t need to have a doctorate in English (or any other) Literature to get some fundamental truths of story. You just have to know how important good content is.

Remember – story telling is innate within us. The ancients knew how to tell stories and there’s never really been any improvement on the basic construct, whether in writing or in the oral tradition: odyssey

Beginning

Middle

End

Or – as I say – Beginning, middle, BLOODY POINT ALREADY!

We are accustomed to digesting stories in three acts – the set up, the complication and the resolution.

Today I went to the store. They were out of tahini. I found the tahini.

In and of itself – this three-part story is not entertaining. Stories have many moving parts. By changing one element we have a much more interesting story – one that begs for our attention:

Today I went to the store. They were out of bullets. I found the bullets.

Now you have my attention. You have aroused my curiosity. The fun thing about story telling is that it has so many moving parts. What point of view should you be writing in? First person? Third? What is the main point of your story? Where is this happening, what makes this unique? You have a world at your fingertips. Practice your “blogging voice” or persona until you get it right.

Imagine yourself at a dinner party. Hey everybody! You say. Hey! You’ll never believe what happened! And you get all eyes on you and you get this immediate reaction to your story. And by dint of the fact that you started telling a story, we know you want to entertain us.  Yes, some people are better story tellers than others but it’s both because they do it a lot and because they enjoy the feeling of entertaining others. There is a high and an immediate feedback.

However, when you blog, you write into the ether. You are greeted by silence. Which for many, is a relief. Many writers are shy. But – how do you know if your blog was successful? By the number of comments and shares? Yes, in part. By the number of followers and those who discuss the article? Definitely.  But there are some caveats. What makes readers share, comment on or otherwise interact with your blog?

There are a few things you should take into consideration. Chief among them is the fact that definitely attention spans are shorter. The internet has given everybody in the world a voice and there is a huge amount of content online. Ergo, writing not just good but great content is more important than ever.

Most people skim content. In the New York Times there is a great article by Karl Greenfeld, about Faking Cultural Literacy – which points to our modern tendency to glean as much information as possible as quickly and easily as possible. Further, we live in an age of “listicles” – Top ten ways to lose weight before summer! Top three things you need to know about sex!

So where does good story telling fit into the modern reading habits and attention span of those who would build our readership? How can bloggers adapt? 

Be PROVOCATIVE, speak TRUTH and be RELEVANT.

In other words:

Get my attention

Tell me the authentic truth

Make it matter in my life

Here are a few ways you can study up on better content writing:

Keep a diary of what content you read and why.

What do you notice about why you clicked on or read what you read? What grabbed you? Was it relevant to you in your life? Was it written with honesty and authenticity? Was it provocative and interesting – in either the title, the piece itself or ideally both? Did what you read leave you with something you didn’t know? Did it make you want to take action – even if that just means following the RSS feed?

Learn about great content by reading it. 

Curate your Facebook Feed. Follow those publications and writers that consistently write what grabs you. Read great content and study what makes it great.

Establish a clear vision for your blog.

Why do you blog? Whether for pleasure or for business you should be able to define and describe your blog in what amounts to a tagline: Great activities for eco-hikers! Or whatever that description needs to be. When you are clear about your blog, your blog will be clearer. What, exactly, can I expect from your blog in general? And how is it different from other content?

The worst sin you can commit as a writer is to be dull and obvious. Avoid this at all costs. Don’t give me anther stupid listicle of the top three ways I can polish my cutlery. And if you do write for a cutlery business, or a medical supplier? You can still try to find a way in to that blog post that is authentic, truthful, entertaining and relevant. You can find a way.

Remember:

Beginning. Middle. Blood Point Already.

Get my attention

Give me some truths; make me laugh or think or disagree with you.

Leave me with something that means something in MY life.

Now go out and blog and do it well! If you need some private lessons to improve your writing, please drop me a line. I am glad to help. If you fancy a social situation and live in Israel, come join the Tel Aviv Writer’s Salon and get those creative juices flowing.