This week, I’ve had a number of readers ask me questions that relate to blogging; setting up blogs, writers and blogging, and promoting through blogging.

In response to this, I’m preparing a short eBook that will be available shortly for download from this site, which is essentially a re-work of a class that I taught some time ago, titled “Blog Essentials for Self-Publishing Authors”.

The eBook will include information that was not in the original course, including a variety of updates and lists of resources, both free and paid. As usual, comments will focus on resources that are open-source in nature.

To be updated when this free eBook is available, please subscribe to my blog using the sign-up box at right.

I have had these three rules taped to my wall for many years. The note is in my own handwriting, but I can no longer remember what midnight crisis prompted me to write it down on a yellow post-it in red ink. The sticky back has long since worn off, and there are three dusty layers of tape, two clear and one of yellowed masking tape, because this reminder is valuable enough to travel with me wherever I go.

The rules are simple.

1. Always delete your first paragraph. It always sucks. It’s full of rushed, unsorted data that exists because of your rush to get the good stuff on paper. The first paragraph is your brain dump. Nobody wants to read at the dump.
2. Don’t explain too much. The most difficult part of writing in any style is to really understand what your audience wants. (It’s never what you think.) They don’t always want or need to know why a thing is the way it is. Don’t withhold anything – but don’t use more words than necessary to sell your message. Remember what you’re there to do.*
3. Try to be original. Remember, humans have been on this planet a long time. Somebody has probably already figured out what you’re about to write before you ever got here. But if you can spin the concept in a new and devastatingly clever way, you’ll be remembered for that.

See? Not hard at all.

*This is not original to me. (See item number 3.) I might be flattering myself to suggest that I independently came up with the same idea that also appears on page 75 of the fourth edition of The Elements of Style, but since I’ve already disclosed to my readers that I love Elements more than the bible, I’m sure I just adopted it into my own philosophy.

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Bowker, the USA ISBN agency, is making plenty of changes that are especially helpful to self-publishers and small presses. I was very lucky this week to be able to get Andy Weissberg, a recently appointed GM at Bowker, on the phone for what turned out to be a rather lengthy interview.

Andy is a great guy, and his job is to head up the Identifier Services division, which is the office responsible for issuing ISBN’s and similar products. Andy generously gives us a gut-spilling interview that is a full walk-through of the entire process for a self-publisher or small publisher.

Andy has brought a fresh, digital marketing-based approach to an old organization that has plenty of credibility and stablility. From the standpoint of anyone who is self-marketing their information product, it’s a match made in heaven. Thanks to features that make the best use of meta-data that publishers insert for their titles, the playing field is becoming more level between large and small publishers.

Key changes include;
- enhanced meta-data optimization for top search engines
- social media enhancements
- self-management of issuing ISBN’s via the web (coming soon)
- dramatic changes to the pricing structure, especially to reduce costs to users who only need a single ISBN (coming soon)

I was particularly impressed with Andy’s statement that it is at least partially the self-publishing movement that is prompting Bowker’s changes. Books, they are a-changin, and Bowker is keeping pace nicely.

Watch for more interviews like this in April, and I’ll be meeting up with Andy at Book Expo America in Los Angeles between May 29th and June 1st for a video podcast. Thanks Andy – it was a real pleasure.

This podcast can be re-distributed without royalties provided that appropriate credit and cross-linking is given. To link back to this podcast, please use the direct link for this post, which is here. (Or, just copy what’s in your browser’s URL bar right now.)

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Sir Arthur C. Clarke died this week. It was incredibly difficult to hear, even though it’s clear that he lived a long and fulfilling life. I learned many lessons from him, and I continue to learn them as I read more of his vast life’s work.

Clarke was 90 when he passed away from the effects of Post-Polio Syndrome, a disease from which my father also suffers. Polio is a disease that only the tough ones can survive. My dad had polio as a teenager, and it caused permanent damage to his trachea. In the days when physiotherapy was more magic than science, my Dad self-re-habilitated his affected left leg by his own sheer willpower and determination. Clarke was also a guy of real character and vision, and his approach to writing revealed this in many ways.

Remember the generation that Clarke grew up in during post WWI – when a quiet, gentle life was such a great desire of the British people. The young Clarke must have been considered a dreamer who hid in his fantasies of life in outer space. I’d bet his mother really wanted him to be normal.

When a writer has a vision of a work that is vastly different than anything else out there, it can be hard to explain that vision to an objective person. But perseverance will reward a great idea with recognition and profit. Clarke was a spearhead for an entire generation. I think nothing of encouraging my daughter to break new ground, and to ignore her critics if she’s sure of herself.

Clarke paved the way for all authors with fresh ideas – not just sci-fi freaks, like me.

Some might say that I have serious control issues. Not a bit of it – I just like all the forks to face west in the cutlery drawer. The blades of all the knives must face east, but the spoons can be any which way. I still stack my mixing bowls according to size and colour, but I’ve conquered my issues with the folding of fitted sheets in the linen closet.

Because of this monkey on my back, for many years, my drug of choice has been 3M Post-it notes. It’s not difficult to maintain this addiction, because I don’t have to buy them discreetly. But the cascade of storage problems for the variety of note styles I now have in my personal stock has forced me to add harder stuff to my repertoire, like Rubbermaid storage products. And when I need a fast fix, I rely on my handy box of Ziploc bags in my bottom desk drawer.

One of the key ways that Post-it notes have actually helped to further my career is through something called a card-sorting exercise. This is custom-made for writers with organizational issues and a parade of marketing issues and tasks to sort out. I can’t do an outline without them now.

To really make this work, you need a broad surface that holds the adhesive on a Post-it really well. A glass patio door is pretty much perfect, but a window or white board will also do nicely. You will also need an assortment of Sharpie pens in colours that you find attractive. I use different colour pens to differentiate different clients: Joe is blue, Rick is green, Sue is orange, etc.

A card-sort exercise can be used for a variety of things, but my favourite is for prioritizing information and processes. If you’re working on a project where you have to stop and ask yourself things like “What comes first?” or, “Have I covered all my bases?”, this trick is for you. It is especially helpful in creating steering documents for group projects, because it ensures that all members of the team share the same vision. I always use it for project planning, marketing sessions, etc., but I also use it for simple stuff like planning my vacations, and my daily to-do lists.

Essentially, anytime a concept, task, challenge, or don’t-forget item occurs to you about a project, you write it on a Post-it using about 4-5 words max. I try to write large enough that I can read the note from about 10 feet away. This means you can relax – it’s now documented, and you won’t accidentally forget it. You can now feel free to open yourself to the next concept.

Once you’ve put all those ideas that were spinning around in your head on their own notes, you stick them all on a wall or glass door. (They seem to stick better on glass than painted surfaces.) Then, simply re-arrange them in priority order, or in columns, or to assign particular tasks to certain people, or whatever categorization you choose. When you’ve got them arranged how you like, use a digital camera to take a snap of the wall, and then you can remove them if necessary. By studying the photo, you can make a lovely chart which can be turned into a PDF and emailed to all team members.

I’m actually quite fond of leaving them up on the wall when I have space. There’s nothing more satisfying than ripping a task note off the wall once completed, and crumpling it up to throw in the fireplace. Plus, all I need is a periodic glance at my wall to remind me of what my tasks are and keep me on track.

If you’d prefer a virtual version of this exercise, 3M has created a cool mini-app that only costs $20 bucks. This hip little program allows you to click on a virtual yellow pad of notes, and quickly type a note to yourself. You can then arrange them all over your desktop in the same manner that you would on the patio door. This is great for doing on a plane – no phone to distract you, nobody tapping on your door.

I just checked, and I have notes stuck on a wall in every single room of my house. That includes the bathroom. I even have them in my car. Try explaining that to the cop that stops you for speeding. He only needs to glance around the car to know what you’re high on.

In my recent research about overcoming writer’s block, I’ve found about 1000 ways that claim to help you overcome this sometimes long-term affliction. Some are cool, some are crazy, but most are just off-the-edge enough to work.

Here are some of my favourites;

1. Grandma Peggy gets first spot, as usual. Her axiom? “If you weren’t at least a little insecure, you wouldn’t be a real writer.” In other words, stop being moody and get busy.
2. Watch a movie. At the top of my pile for writer’s block is Get Shorty, starring John Travolta. What most people don’t know is that the movie was written by a friend of the real Chili Palmer, Elmore Leonard. The real Palmer has a small role in the film – and yeah, he’s smoky. Check out screen shot at right – Palmer is the younger fellow at the right elbow of actor Dennis Farina. (Another one of those actors I adore.)
3. Watch another movie. Another one of my icons, Mae West, is not just known as the Queen of Corsets, but also as the writer of a number of her own films, including the famous My Little Chickadee, with W.C. Fields. Whenever in Las Vegas, be sure to visit the Mae West bathroom in the NY,NY hotel on the strip. Gilded furniture, pink velvet upholstery, and marble everything. Talk about sanctuary.
4. Need a muse? Why not put Walt Disney’s severed head on your desk. No, it’s not messy: it’s wax. (But still creepy.)
5. Make up your own word, like Brandon Burt of the City Weekly . Of course, his was not in response to writer’s block, but to writers being blocked, aka the recent writer’s (WGA) strike in Hollywood.
6. Figure out what’s blocking you. This serious post by Jimmy of Cinemoose.com points at some clever ways to objectify your block and shoot it square in the eye.
7. Try a Mind Map. The University of British Columbia here in Vancouver, Canada, has a page about mind-mapping software. For a clear idea of how you can use mind-mapping, watch this YouTube video by marketing guru Ford Saeks.
8. Eat something bizarre. For example, Korean chicken in a cup. De-Lishus. Pepto on standby.
9. Visit your fave author. At right is a photo of my husband meeting his, Jack Whyte, author of the Templar Trilogy, among other things. Whyte gives incredible 60-minute talks in bookstores like Chapters, where he discusses gory details of daily life at the time of King Arthur.
10. Make something. It doesn’t have to be big, but it does have to be inspired by something positive – don’t make something with your anger. All you really need are popsicle sticks and empty mint tins. Sometimes making something more tangible can break negative cycles that happen in our own unreal inner world.

It seems to me that I heard somewhere a quote by Bruce Lee, and although I cannot find a link to it, I’m sure it was his, because it represents his philosophy of taking all the good things from various martial art styles and making them his own. The essence of the quote was this: that when one does not actively seek out other styles, or art, or work, and thinks only about their own styles, art, or work, they have nothing to prod their creativity. (Which becomes the block.) They eventually become a prisoner of their own ideas, and cannot move their brain in any new directions. So grab those boots and walk right out that door – if only to your regular coffee joint. Bring something to capture the ideas when they start to flow.

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I’m thinking quite seriously of spending about 3 months in Las Vegas. I love my Canadian home very much, but let’s face it: it’s cold and wet. I need to dry out. (Some might suggest that LV is the last place anyone should go to “dry out”, but I’m not rich enough to drink my way through that town.)

Does anyone take a sabbatical in America? Mexico seems to be the destination of choice for writers and musicians looking for objectivity. But I’ll still need to run my business from wherever I am, which means reasonable access to technology, international flights, and decent Chinese takeout. Vegas sounds like the perfect solution.

Nothing is real in Vegas anyway. Even the air in the casinos is so pumped up with extra oxygen that it’s no longer really air – it’s a feel-good mixture that enhances your dice-tossing skills. Where else can you eat pie for breakfast, ride a roller coaster before lunch (not after it), and wear an evening gown to business meetings? I’ll tell you – nowhere but Sin City, baby.

Besides, to a Canadian, everything in America is super-sized and attractively unnatural. Preachers dress like movie stars, and movie stars dress like prostitutes. The President thinks he’s a cowboy. Citizens buy carbon credits to make up for all the disposable items they use. I mean, you’ve got to love a country that puts glitter in deodorant.

I don’t even have to make it all the way to Vegas – I hear there’s a little place just over the Nevada border where you can buy a steak dinner for just $1.49. Now, doesn’t that sound like an unreal deal to you?

The Writer’s Online Workshops are a great resource for writers who want interaction with peers, but are limited by time and distance. There are others out there like this, but these workshops are moderately-priced and easily available.

>All content copyright Peggy Richardson,
2007. For re-posting permission, which is often granted, please email
blog@peggyrichardson.ca.