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Nice Try. Do it Again.

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(image by Mike Hindle)

I invited friend and writing colleague Myra Levine to contribute a guest blog post for the enjoyment of  our Say It For You readers (and my own, of course!)  …

 

 

We were reading A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, and Mrs. Painter pointed out that when the author wrote dialect, he wrote the way his characters spoke.

“When you write dialogue,” she said, “the reader
wants authenticity, not perfect grammar.”

Naturally, I wrote my next assignment (Discuss three ways in which Dickens develops the theme of self-sacrifice) as a conversation between two semi-literate high school students.  Mrs. Painter handed it back to me with these words in big red letters:

Nice try. Do it again.

I didn’t mind. The smile on her face was a drug. I had entertained her. And the freedom to ignore comma rules? Intoxicating. The smartest thing I did was tell everybody my new life goal—to write novels. It’s harder to give up on a goal you’ve made so public. Enthusiasm comes and goes; pride is eternal.

But writing a good novel turned out to be HARD. I spent ten summers taking writing classes at the University of Iowa to learn what I hadn’t been taught in high school and college creative writing classes.

Inspiration turned out to be everywhere. The germ of the idea that turned into my first novel came from a bunch of gossipy mom friends. The idea for my second novel came from a health scare. It turned out to be no big deal, but the thought How do you raise your kids after you’re dead stayed with me.

Whatever you do for a living might give you inspiration. Think John Grisham. Or you might be one of those “What if…” writers, like Stephen King. Going through a terrible breakup? Get your psychic revenge by writing a murder mystery. I slip people who annoy me into my novels. No lawsuits yet.

And you know more than you think you do. When I had my first hip replacement, I was surprised to learn that you don’t hold a cane on the side of your bad leg. (If you test this, have someone nearby to catch you when you tip over.) It occurred to me that someone could catch a suspect who’s faking a limp when he holds his cane on the wrong side.

What have you learned in your years as a ________ that would make a character feel real? What personal demons could you turn into inspiration? And what did you never learn in English Class that you can ignore… or hire someone else to fix? Think about it.

 

      Myra Levine is a novelist, memoirist, and writing coach. Her free online writing seminars on Eventbrite have attracted over 2,000 writers from all over the world. She publishes as M. E. Levine on Amazon.com & Audible.com.

Find her at www.MyraLevine.com

 

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Gwawdodyn Hir Content Marketing

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In Writer’s Digest, I was introduced to Robert Lee Brewer, who created a series called Poetic Form Fridays, sharing, each week, an example of a different kind of poem. The Gwawdodyn Hir, for example is a six-line Welsh poetic form characterized by five things:

  • Each poem is a sestet (it has six lines)
  • There are nine syllables in the first four lines
  • There are ten syllables in the final two lines
  • Lines one, two, three, four, and six end rhyme
  • The end of line five rhymes with a syllable in line six

Brewer advises writers to try different formats for their own writing, setting the example by writing his very own Gwawdodyn Hir love poem called Languish:

Move the blood around your beating heart
and provide our love a chance to start
as if you’re the horse and I’m the cart
or lost explorer without a chart
to know the universe or words to say
through these silent days when we’re both apart.

As a marketing content creator, what I found so fascinating about this article and about Brewer’s original poem is that, staying within such almost over-restrictive Gwawdodyn Hir guidelines, the man was able to create a highly original piece of content, expressing a message of his own choosing.

In creating blog posts or articles, working off a “grid” can help writers organize their thoughts while still creating unique content:

“Consider the following steps and tips to write an article,” ExcelTMP suggests.

  • Choose a topic
  • State your point of view on that topic
  • Write the title.
  • Each section of the article should:

Describe what the section is about and why it matters.                                     Give detailed research or examples                                                                        Provide a “takeaway” thought for the audience

HubSpot offers its own grid:

  1. Why the topic matters: Explain the importance of the concept or task.
  2. Who it applies to: Identify the audience, industry, or sector that will benefit from the post.
  3. What to expect: Summarize what the post will cover (e.g., “In this post, we’ll explain why [term] is essential, outline how to [task], and provide practical tips to get started”).To stand out from the crowd, try incorporating your own expertise or examples as it relates to the term.

It’s interesting that, just one year ago, in this Say It For You blog, I quoted another Writer’s Digest author, Mariah Richards, who said, “There are no original stories, but there are always original ways to tell old stories,”

In the field of content marketing,  one concern I hear a lot from business owners or professional practitioners is that sooner or later, they (and we, their writers) will have depleted the supply of new and different ideas to write about. It’s true that, by its very nature, periodic messaging will involve repetition, with the variety coming from the “e.g.”s and the “i.e.”s, meaning all the details you fill in around the central “leitmotifs”.

Just as Robert Lee Brewer was able to be creative with the restrictive Gwawdodyn Hir guidelines, in our mission as creators of marketing content for our clients, we can create highly original pieces of content to convey our clients’ marketing messages to each of their targeted audiences.

 

 

 

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Keep Readers in Touch With Trends

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The Old Farmer’s 2025 Almanac offers a variety of pleasures, with information ranging from astronomy to folklore, and from pets to sports. Since, at Say It For You, we focus on creating marketing content for blog posts and newsletters, I was particularly taken by the Almanac authors’ focus on current farming trends…

“By understanding the latest developments and technologies in your field, you can ensure that your skills and knowledge remain relevant and in demand,” Baris Bingol of sertifier.com advises the career-minded. “Keeping up”, she explains, includes staying informed about:

  • new products or services
  • changes in regulations
  • shifts in consumer behavior
  • emerging technologies

In farming, Almanac readers are informed,

  • Scientists are using “bee vectoring”, in which special hives allow bees to transport trace amounts of pest control powders blueberries, apples, and tomatoes.
  • Farmers are teaming up with restaurants, growing heirloom crops for sale to local chefs, who then create dishes featuring them.
  • There is increased demand for microgreens, as people embrace a lifestyle that values freshness.
  • Gardeners are interested in growing herbs for medical use.

Our readers, whether or not they’re inclined towards the “trendy”, like to feel they’re keeping up with the trends. But what I’ve learned over the years of developing content for clients in different industries, is that customers expect their service and product providers to do the work for them, keeping them up-to-date and putting all that information into perspective.

 

There are two positive sides to wiring about what’s “trending”, I explain to business and practice owners:  While your content keeps your readers savvy about what’s trending, it helps establish you as a thought leader in your field!

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The Convenience Factor in Content Marketing

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This week, in our Say It For You blog, we’re sharing insights from the book Prove It, in which authors Melanie Deziel and Phil M. Jones teach readers how to use content as a tool to earn audience trust… 

Even before you get to the “proof” stage in your marketing, according to RevLocal, there are five pieces of primary information that consumers use to either learn more about a business, or reject it out of hand. These include price, products and services offered, the availability of both, customer service, and (for services in particular) – location. Coupons and special offers may be important, the authors add, as are testimonials and reviews.

“Claiming to be convenient is making a promise that customers’ interactions with you will be frictionless,” Deziel explains, quoting statistics from the National Retail Federation showing that 9 out of 10 customers choose a retailer based on convenience, with that observation holding true for groceries, electronics, personal care items, and pet supplies.

As head of a team of content marketers at Say It For You, I found those observations about convenience especially important. Creating a steady stream of content takes time and patience, which is precisely the reason many entrepreneurs employ ghost writers. “Winning back time” is the way Doug Karr and Chantelle Flannery, co-authors of the book Corporate Blogging for Dummies describe the big advantage for business owners, or professional practitioners in “hiring it done when it comes to composing, researching, and editing content”.

 

On the other hand, what I’ve experienced over the past eighteen years is that, if the content is to succeed in demonstrating that the business owner or practitioner is staying in touch with what’s happening in the community, as well as in his or her field of expertise, the process  of creating content cannot be a matter of  “do-it-for-me-and-wake-me-up-when-it’s-over”. Even as they offer maximum convenience to their customers, the owners themselves should not expect to enjoy the “convenience” of non-involvement in the process of creating content.

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If You Want Them to Listen, Watch Your Language

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With now 60 countries of the world naming English as their official language, English comes out on top by a large margin, Paul Anthony Jones writes in Mental Floss. (There would be 61, but, while English is the national language of United Kingdom law, government, business, and education, it’s never been made official. In fact, English became official in the U.S. just this year!)

Within the United States itself, people in different regions use not only unique pronunciations, but unique vocabulary. In Texas, a laundromat is called a washeteria; in Ohio you’d refer to a vacuum as a sweeper.  In the Northwest, something expensive is “spendy”, Cassie Wright points out in Lingoda.

When it comes to content marketing, keeping it basic means using understandable, clear language. “In order to write an effective sales page, it’s absolutely critical to speak the language of your target market,” Joey van Kuilenburg writes in Linkedin, paying attention to the terminology they use, including phrases and word choices. At Say It For You, our message to the business owner and practitioner clients who hire us is this:

Your business or practice can’t be all things to all people. Everything about your content should be tailor-made for your ideal customer – the words we use, how technical we get, how sophisticated the approach to a subject, the title of each blog entry – all must focus on what together we learn about your target market – their needs, their preferences, their questions.

There are certain “Americanisms”, which are sayings we take for granted, but often don’t realize make no sense to foreigners, even to those who speak English.  That’s because foreigners don’t share our cultural memories and understandings.  As content marketers, we can actually turn that “outsider puzzlement” to our advantage, allowing readers to feel they are in our “inner circle” when we share those language “secrets”, I’ve observed over the years working with Say It For You clients from many different industries and professions.

The guiding principle in creating content is that, if you want them to listen, watch your language!

 

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