One of my favorite pastimes is reading books about writing. In my research, I found that there are seven laws or truths that have forced me to examine my own writing habits. Based on Anybody Can Write – A Playful Approach, by Jean Bryan, I have taken her laws and put my own spin on it. I know this is a long one, but just take it one bite at a time and use it as a resource.
LAW NO. 1: To write is an active verb. Thinking is not writing. Writing is writing.
If you were ever to visit my home in historic Weston, you would find quite a library of books about writing. For many years I was a member of The Writers’ Digest and have quite an investment.
Reading books about writing is not writing. Writing is writing. It takes effort. It is easier for me to curl up on my couch (with the lull of Fox News on the TV, Max and Murphy at my head and feet) and read about writing than drag myself over to my “writing spot” at the kitchen table where I am forced to sit up straight with lights beaming in from every direction keeping me from much-needed sleep and produce something.
How often have I driven home from one of our offices and my muse strikes? The moment someone cuts in front of me, the ideas vanish along with my religion. I should keep a small tape recorder handy or leave myself a phone message — and then commit the ideas to paper. Form and shape will come.
LAW NO. 2. Write passionately. Share.
You know that you know what you know. To know and not to do is not to know. To know and not to write or share could have a negative impact on your business.
No one ever lost business by sharing information – in fact, the opposite is true. I was so impressed with a Miami Beach agent visiting the Weston Town Center office meeting. He took the time to travel to Weston from his Miami Beach stomping ground (he admitted he got a little turned around – I can relate). He graciously shared his successful business model with the attendees who hung on his every word.
Even though he admitted he went to Facebook (kickin’ and screamin’), he said that one of his “friends” had posted that he was travelling to a difficult country. This post afforded Todd the opportunity to immediately send over a book on that particular country.
Even though this agent admitted he is a baby Facebook user, he is an experienced marketer and understands that Real Estate is a relationship-building industry. I would hope the recipient of that book sings his praises, so that the whole world would know – even though that WAS not this agent’s motivation for his kind deed.
Do you think the agent was concerned about his business taking a dip or dive since he has been “on the speaking circuit?” If he were concerned, he would have continued driving until he reached Naples and called JoAnn with an “oops, somehow I missed my turn!”
Writing is an opportunity to share what you know with your community.
LAW NO. 3. Write honestly. Risk vulnerability.
What I often hear in my travels as I conduct blogging sessions are the inaudible messages –
a. I can’t write.
b. I don’t want to sound stupid.
c. My kids are laughing at me as we speak.
d. My seventh-grade teacher gave me an “F” on my “What I Did Last
Summer” essay and I have not recovered. My therapist promises that I’m almost there.
e. How do I start? Where do I start?
A. I can’t write. If you can speak, you can write. In fact, you would do well to write like you speak so that when people meet you, they will say, “you sound just like your blog.” Theresa Boardman has made that statement.
After blogging sessions, some of you have approached me to write for you. The problem is, when people meet you, you will have to speak with a Southern accent, use stupid idiomatic expressions like “rarer than hen’s teeth” and learn how to sing Karaoke. Your writing must be uniquely you. Write the way you speak. We can help you clean up the grammar and format your piece. Just get your own, individual thoughts down.
My daughter is an educator to the deaf and hard of hearing. The largest stumbling block to learning is the absence of language. Until she teaches them to communicate through sign, the deaf have no language and cannot learn — let alone write.
Once they have learned ASL (American Sign Language), they begin writing. I have read some of their writings which are raw and to the point. One thing about the children of deaf culture, they are quite literal and brutally honest. They don’t care if they “sound” stupid.
B. I don’t want to sound stupid! My first attempt at writing: I composed a (mail-merged/personalized) letter to my Singles’ Department about a trip I had taken overseas with my daughter and mother – Western High School’s Senior Trip – The Cradle of Civilization – Greece and Italy.” I was so proud of myself! Besides being a fun overview of a great trip, the letter actually tied in with one of our areas of study.
When I attended our first Singles’ meeting after the letter had been mailed out, I assumed I would get praises and high fives or at least a subtle smile from across a crowded room!
A senior single in the group approached me and said she did not appreciate the letter, did not understand the letter and to take her off my mailing list. She had no problem airing her complaint before this group that I had just joined.
I was hurt and confused. I went over the letter in my mind to see where I may have offended her. I allowed her to make me feel “stupid.”
The blogging arena leaves big, open doors for pickle-juiced people and their not-so-kind commentaries. People may call you names and threaten not to do business with you. Forge ahead . . .
After my negative encounter, I approached our facilitator privately about this issue, he informed me that “Rose was in a depressed state to the point of medication, and the levity of my letter just ticked her off.” He loved the letter and asked me to head up the Department newsletter. I accepted.
Although somewhat sensitive to Rose’s condition, I did not allow pickle-juiced attitudes and commentaries to destroy my new love – writing. Not only did I head up the Department newsletter, I wrote 25+ sketches, (many which were performed by drama groups), and a play in three acts that was written in two weeks and performed twice six weeks later. Seeing my play performed before my eyes and hearing my words recited by the cast was one of the biggest delights of my entire life.
Imagine your being at the airport and listening to the person sitting beside you reading your postfrom his iphone to the person sitting beside him? It could happen!
C. My kids are laughing at me as we speak. You’ll be laughing when they ask you for an advance on their allowance from the closing you just attended; and yes, the client came from one of your Facts & TrendsTM posts.
D. My seventh-grade English teacher gave me a “F” on my “What I Did Last Summer” essay, and I have not recovered. My therapist promised me that I’m almost over it.
If some teachers knew how their actions impacted the entire lives of their students, they might have chosen a different action. I had the opportunity to visit with my eighth-grade English teacher at one of my high school reunions. Miss Sophie Theodore was one of our meanest teachers. Everyone feared her. When she walked through the school halls, the lockers shook. At our meeting I told her how proud I was to have been one of her best students and how I’ve been able to help others all through the years with English grammar because of her great teaching. In fact, I tutored two ladies who were failing Business English at Miami-Dade Community College in the 1980s. After nightly sessions with me, they passed the semester with a “B.”
Miss Theodore did not flinch. She stared at me and said, “Karen Bargery, oh, I remember you!” in snarly “pickle-juiced” fashion. I left quickly to join friendlier classmates.
Move on. You win.
E. How do I start? Where do I start? These tie into the next law.
LAW NO. 4. Have fun – Write for personal value but keep your audience in mind.
If you are torturing yourself, you are torturing your reader.
Even though I gleaned these seven laws from the book, Anybody Can Write – A Playful Approach, by Jean Bryan, I have added my personal spin. If I just typed out these laws in some perfunctory manner, I would have produced a cerebral, utilitarian and functional writing. Posts beg and scream for that personal component to make it real, relevant and relatable. Blogging, which is a very important part of the social networking strata, builds community and fosters relationships.
LAW NO. 5. Write anyway. Ignore the critic.
From the time we are born until the time we die, we experience criticism. Constructive criticism will come from your manager. Unless the agent in the next cubicle is your bosom buddy, I would refrain from asking him or her for editing advice. “I’ve just written this masterpiece post on my new $5.7 Million Dollar listing. Will you read it and let me know what you think?”
Beware the external critic.
The internal critic is someone I have named “Gemini Critic.” You read your post over and over. You put in one word. You take out the same word twenty minutes later. You say, “Gemini, will I ever get this to right?”
“You rang, ssssssssssssire?” Gemini sneers, as he peers over your shoulder. He laughs. He mocks. He slaps his knee.
Gemini is a product of your environment. He was not born with you, but at some point in your education, you allowed him to affix his slimey, green body to your shoulder. It is difficult to kill him completely; however, you can put heavy, gray packing tape on his mouth.
Beware the internal critic.
LAW NO. 6. Write often.
Being a folk singer from the 70s, I learned early that practice makes excellence. At the age of 17, I was singing in supper clubs hoping to become the next Linda Ronstadtt, Joan Baez or Joni Mitchell. I would lock myself in my bedroom/music studio for hours while I picked out each chord, rehearsed every phrase, and memorized all the vocal notes. My mother would bang on the stairway. “Get down here; the fried chicken’s getting’ cold.” Back then I didn’t care about fried chicken the way I care about it today. I wanted to master the song and polish my performance.
Learning songs came from my struggle with my music, my guitar, my voice and the lyrical way the words flow.
Writing a post comes from my struggle with ideas, personal experience, teaching analogies, research, instructional information, and the lyrical way the words flow.
I strive to:
1. Write often. Pick an exact time and day(s).
2. Write in the same place if I can. I write best at my kitchen table writing spot which is not too comfortable so that I focus. Otherwise, I become blocked.
3. Read the post aloud to hear the rhythm of the words.
4. Make writing a priority. Leave the housework and yard work to my imaginary maid or the landscaper. If I waited until “everything’s perfect and all’s right with the world,” I would never have time to do anything, much less write.
5. Get up, take a break, and give myself a deadline. Write the deadline on the refrigerator – the place I go when it’s time to take a break.
6. Hint to my Facebook friends that I am in the midst of composing something compelling and life-changing.
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Whether your current topic is the market, your listing, or a community event, the post forces you to do the research, read other posts, and evolve into an online expert. You are both student and teacher.
LAW NO. 7. Write with conviction.
I remember attending a Real Estate seminar where the speaker said that he never understood why Realtors invested in the stock market before they invested (if at all) in their own industry. He committed to buying three properties a year.
After that, I talked my mother into several different investments. Even though the path has been difficult at times, I still stand on my conviction and would recommend that anyone looking to invest would strongly consider Real Estate.
Conviction is assurance. Conviction is passion. Creativity is the child of passion.
1. Write with conviction and the creativity will arrive on its own. You do not have to summon it.
On a piece of paper, draw a circle in the middle and put the address of your listing. Draw lines out from that circle to the different rooms. Draw lines and circles out from those circles until you have exhausted your circles or run out of paper. Write as quickly as you can without thinking. Just write. This is known as “bubble” thinking.
2. Look at your listing from a different angle:
When my daughter Melody was in fourth grade, she had a presentation project where she had to tell all the places where J. Hudson Taylor, an English missionary, had traveled and worked throughout China. At the time, Wrinkles the Puppet, was a very popular toy, and Melody owned several. Wrinkles the Puppet was a Shar Pei dog, and Shar Pei dogs are from . . . .you guessed it, China. I gave Melody an idea about doing the presentation from the dog’s perspective. (Now whether the missionary had a dog, remains to be seen.)
She wrote the script, drew a map of China with the highlighted travel points and glued the map to the back of my only cookie sheet. A refrigerator magnet became the moveable object for the map. As Wrinkles the Puppet woofed about his owner’s travels, Melody would move the magnet accordingly.
The kids loved it. The teacher loved it and requested that she do it for the other fourth grade classes. It was a hit!
Hopefully, you won’t be writing about your listing from the dog’s perspective, but if you allow your mind to wander, you may come up with a fresh, new marketing angle.
If your listing has historical significance, imagine what the historical figure (original owner or famous person who lived in the same time the home was built) would think about the up-to-date renovations — a time machine effect.
Write down all the senses and tell your reader what they will experience as a result of being in this home, what they will see, hear, touch, taste and smell.
3. Weave all the amenities into a narrative. Your reader might be in the middle of Memphis and wonder if a bidet is just another word for a “fancy foot washer.” This may call for a link.
4. Start with a quote that suits your post. It is much easier to springboard off someone else’s wonderful words of wisdom. This encourages mind-linking – the known to the unknown.
5. Start with metaphors and similes. We’re back in English class and I am feeling the icy stare . . .
Example of Simile – using the words “as” or “like”: “Like a lilting butterfly, the setting sun lit the hand-painted, floral mural adorning the walls of the little girl’s bedroom . . .”
That was a little over the top, but you get my drift.
Example of a Metaphor – “This lushly landscaped outdoor Garden of Eden beckons you to dine in the moonlight . . . “
A writer is an artist who uses words to paint pictures for his reader. If you write, “in the evening enjoy your Chicago-brick fireplace while you sip your . . . . .”
Please don’t write coffee.
Have you been to Starbucks lately? There are so many combinations of coffees and teas, we could not even mention them all here.
“. . .sip your steamy, frothy, chocolate mocha latte.” Did you hear the rhythm? Can you see the latte? Can you smell the chocolate? Can you feel the steam? Can you feel the froth as it sits on the top of your lip? Can you taste the mocha? One word picture and I have traveled through every one of your senses.
Your audience wants to go with you. Their pom poms are out. Like peppy, young Dolphin cheerleaders at the Super Bowl, your readers are your fans and are rooting for you. Let them get lost in your post. They are sitting in front of that fireplace with the air-conditioner set to 55 degrees, watching the Super Bowl on their 52″ high def television set, “sipping a steamy, frothy, chocolate mocha latte.”
Your audience will not only go with you, they will want to stay with you or at least visit you often. Regardless of how you feel, commit your ideas to paper. Your readers are waiting. Write it anyway.
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