Some days, it hurts. Some days it feels great. All days, I’m noticing a difference.

by Horia_Varlen

Now, what the heck does this have to do with writing? Well, I recently found out from an NC State journalism student that her professor assigned the class a writing exercise. He told them to describe a toothpick. Not just any toothpick, but the one he handed out in class that day.

While the assignment sounds difficult, I applauded the idea. Toothpicks aren’t very interesting objects. To describe one in more than one sentence, you have to think deeply about words. The exercise forces you to pause and think about words, how they can describe and object, and what you are trying to say. In other words, it’s a way to work your writing muscle.

Your turn. Instead of a toothpick, choose an object in your office. Aim to write two entire old-school paragraphs (five or six sentences each) about the object.

Then for some heavier lifting describe one of your company’s products or services. Ponder each word. What are you really trying to say about that product or service? Why is it awesome? Why do your clients or customers care?

Save that draft, because that copy could wind up on your website or in your next newsletter.

On this St. Valentine’s Day, that feeling you have about your blog post or monthly newsletter might feel more like loathe than love. Your relationship with writing isn’t any different than any other: sometimes it takes work and sometimes “you’ve got the love.” (Florence + The Machine.)

In the spirit of the day, let’s see if we can find the latter. Here are some ideas to add love to your writing.

Love a word.
Don’t you just love the sound of the word bulbous? OK, maybe not. That one always makes me laugh. Listen to people speak and write down words that make you smile, giggle, tickle you or produce images in your head. Subscribe to an email “word of the day” and keep a list of words you like. Next time you’ve got writer’s block, grab one of your words and think about how to incorporate that into your entry.

Photo by *_Abhi_*/Flickr Creative Commons.

Love an item.
Uh, don’t take that the wrong TLC network special show kinda way. What I mean is, what is your favorite product or service that your company offers? Why do you love it? What lovely reviews have you received that you can incorporate into the writing?

Love the format.
Of course “all form and no content” is a bad thing. But some days, that writing love just isn’t there. Next time that happens, leave the keyboard and grab the camera. Take 10 relevant photos of your business, service, product or whatever. Create and post a slideshow instead of writing a blog entry. Feeling chatty? Record some video of you and another employee talking about an issue your clients or customers face?
If you’re not into other media forms, think instead about the formatting of your written words. Spend some time examining the layout of your blog or e-newsletter. Are you using subheads, bullet points, photos, graphics? All of these can help spice up a post that’s feeling a little flat.

Love your customer/client.
The best words are those written with the client in mind. Focus on one of those clients/customers and write him or her a letter. What do you want to say to your best client? Your worst? Turn that letter into a unique post or even better, use  that instead of an article in your next e-newsletter.

Last year, some cockroaches decided to move into my kitchen. It sounds like a confession, “Uh, is this thing on? Oh. Hh-Hi. My name is Jennifer, and I um, well, I have cockroaches.”

I promise I keep my kitchen clean. But somehow these bugs were undeterred by the swept floor and counters gleaming with 409. They moved in, set up shop and refuse to leave. I have encouraged these roommates to move out many times, but I’ll skip the details in case you’re a member of the Cucaracha Fan Club.

Still my battle against the bugs is teaching me a thing or two about content creation. And of course, a good blog post idea outweighs embarrassment every time. So learn from my kitchen:

1. Persevere. Those cockroaches don’t give up. They don’t die. When you squish one, there’s always another. They can withstand nuclear blasts and apparently, professional bug killer spray. Creating creative content is tough. Your blog post receives no comments. No one notices your video on YouTube. Something goes wrong, and you feel as though you’ve been hit with a cool blast of nasty chemicals.  But if cockroaches can keep going, so can you.

2. Offer good food. As much as I hate it, the cockroaches would not have moved in if they hadn’t found a food source. How can you offer a buffet of yummy content to bring your customers and clients to you? A strong smorgasbord features content in a variety of forms from the appetizers (tweets) to the light meals (video) to the Porterhouse (white paper or e-book). But don’t worry too much about variety if you’re just getting started. Unlike cockroaches, humans have picky taste buds. Think quality, not quantity.

3. Evolve. According to some quick research, scientists don’t actually like to say that cockroaches are the most highly evolved species. Humans have evolved, too, just like every other species. We’ve all evolved differently.

This has two lessons: A) If your approach isn’t working or has stopped working, what can you do to evolve? Have you tried a different type of media (audio/video)?  Maybe the food has gone bad (see No. 2) and it’s time to prepare some better meals. B) Those who refuse to evolve are always left behind. Don’t be a Neanderthal.

Photo by Kodomut/Flickr Creative Commons.

4. Pick up the crumbs. After cooking or preparing food, I often find several crumbs and bits here and there. When you are writing blog posts each day, what are you leaving behind for others to use? Content that could be reused on Twitter? Ideas for future projects? What scribbles are left on your pad of paper? What quick ideas parachute into your brain and then quickly leave? Find a way to capture those on Evernote or your notebook or whatever works for you. Bonus: This can be used in reverse. When reading other people’s content, what crumbs can you pick up and turn into a meal?

5. Keep it clean. Leaving dirty dishes on the stove or in the sink is just asking for the bugs to come crawling out. Obviously you’re keeping your content clean in the “rated PG” sense. (At least, I hope so.) I’m referring to the process. You might quickly dash off a “dirty” blog post or quick Tweet without too much thought. But a clean, thought-out approach to your editorial calendar and content will move you forward much faster. What topics have you covered this year? What topics have you left uncovered that include your keywords? What topics are your customers asking about? All these should be part of your master plan.

Sure, these are all great lessons. But the lesson I want most is the one on how to eradicate cockroaches from my kitchen. So please, share your thoughts.

One of my better self-portraits so far.

Many members of Flickr employ this technique to improve their photography skills. Some Flickr members take a picture of anything; others, like me, are taking a picture of themselves.

By taking one picture per day, you guarantee practice for at least a few minutes, because there’s no such thing as taking ONE picture. You end up taking several before choosing the best one to post.

I can already see an improvement in my photography skills. I can also see which areas require more work.

The other day it hit me: why not do this for writing? People tell you all the time that if you want to improve, you must practice. Sure, I’ve heard that many times. Every writer I know with a blog touts practice in his/her posts. But listening to advice and hearing it are two different things.

It finally clicked — only after I began pressing the shutter button.

There’s a lot of advice out there on how to be a better writer. You’ll find some of it here. You can read my posts about writing blog entries, newsletters, editing for grammar and spelling and finding your voice. You might be listening.

But until you start putting your fingers on the keyboard, you’re not going to hear the click.

Writing also organizes those thoughts into something people can understand.

I had the opportunity to do just that last year, while working on a book with the famous Barbara Hemphill, nationally known for her work as a professional organizer. Barbara and I co-authored a new book, “Organizing Paper @Home: What to Toss and How to Find the Rest!”

This week, we’re having a Productivity Party, and you are invited! Join us Wednesday night to learn more about getting organized in 2012.

It’s an open-house-style event so stop by after work between 5 and 8 p.m. Barbara will offer inspiration, specific tips, and immediate action steps to get you started on designing a plan to transform your home, your office, and even your mind, into a Productive Environment™.

Barbara will speak two different times. While there, pick up an autographed copy of the book and feast on yummy food.

Plus, it’s all FREE!

Check out the Productivity Party event page and register today.

Busy happens. But regular posts are a big part of keeping the SEO crawlers coming back to your site. So if you’re in charge of a company blog, how do you find the time to make it happen each week?

As a professional organizer, I see many people struggle to manage time. So here are some tips for making it happen. Now, I just need to follow my own advice!

• Schedule the time. Write blog posts the same day each week, preferably at the same time. This will help you develop a habit of writing at that time. Your mind and your typing fingers will get used to this habit. Soon, you’ll be a Pavlovian experiment, creative juices (no drool, please) flowing right on schedule.

• Just say, “no.” The trick is to treat this like any other meeting. It’s an appointment and you must stick to it. Don’t schedule other things during that time. You may prefer not to schedule a specific time, but just a day. For me, it’s enough to write organizing blog posts on Wednesdays. That’s the day I do it. Always. But if 5 p.m. arrives and it’s not done, guess what I’m doing at 5:05? So some might find it helpful to choose a time slot.

• Speaking of which, choose a time slot that works for your natural rhythms. A full restaurant lunch followed by the resulting food coma will make 1 p.m. a tough time to focus. Or maybe you need two cups of coffee before the synapses fire, which makes 9 a.m. a bad time.

• Get inspired. You’ll be much more excited to write if you have something to write about. Carry a little notebook around with your, or use a notetaking app on your phone. Either way, be sure to wear your thinking cap at all times. What around you would make a good blog post? How can you help your clients? (Get more ideas in last week’s post, “How to Create a Brilliant 2012 Writing Plan.“)

• Plan ahead. Feeling especially creative? If you’ve got the time, write up two more blog posts that day and schedule them for the following weeks. The stress of knowing your words must be posted within a few hours can jam your creativity. Plus, you’ll be creating a buffer in case you have an off-week.

What strategies do you use to accomplish your writing?

As you’re creating your goal list, you’ve probably included “writing.” You know writing is an important tool for making your business grow, whether it’s copy for the regular enewsletter, some fresh words for your web page, or your goal to send out quarterly press releases.

But how will you make it happen?

If you’re not going to hire someone to write, you need to find the time in your busy day to get it done. So here are some ways to make 2012 a great year for your written words.

Choose the when - Your blog posts and newsletters are like children; keeping them on a set schedule makes life easier. In this case, choose a day for your blog entry to be posted or for the newsletter to go out each month. By getting into a regular habit, you’ll eventually find yourself writing your post without even thinking about the work. Plus, it’s much easier for your readers if they expect the email newsletter on the 15th of each month.

Map out your time – As a professional organizer, I tout the benefits of organizing your time effectively. Scheduling each moment of our lives isn’t practical (or fun), but creating a rough outline of how your work day goes can make a big difference in productivity. This also gives you the advantage of scheduling activities at better times of day. For example, if you feel more creative in the morning, schedule your writing/brainstorming time then, instead of dashing together a blog post at the last minute. Check out my organizing blog post for more on how to create a time map.

Create and keep a list- For blog post ideas, newsletter ideas and just … regular ideas. Use Evernote, a piece of paper, or a sticky on your computer desktop. Just have someplace to jot down things as they hit you. You will not remember it later. Trust me. Later, when you’re scrambling for a newsletter article, you can scan your list and find a topic.

Photo by Horia Varlan.

Create a calendar – If you’re blogging or sending out a regular newsletter, you should always be thinking strategically about your content. Have you addressed each segment of your target audience this year? Who are you missing? What topics have you already covered in great detail? Which aspects of your service or product could use highlighting? What events are coming up in your business that you can mention? To help guide you to the answers, create or use a calendar to track your planned topics. If you keep this up, you’ll notice patterns, which can help you plan for the future.

Set a deadline - The trouble with running a small business is that it’s, well, small. You’re running everything else and have a million things to do. It’s easy to let that weekly blog post slide off the map. To help prevent this, make sure you set a deadline each week. Aside from your schedule, keep your natural rhythms in mind. For example, setting the deadline for 4 p.m. Friday for a Monday morning blog post might not be a great idea. Instead, consider noon Monday for a Tuesday morning post.

Consider some help – If you are the only one in your company writing the newsletter, blog posts and press releases, you’re going to have some blah days. If you’re not a sole proprietor, consider asking your coworker/partner/intern to take a stab at the weekly post once in awhile. Not only will he or she have a different perspective and some fresh thoughts, but reading the words might inspire you with some new ideas, too. Plus, it’s always good to rest your muscles once in awhile.

They’re on the computer, on your desk and in a filing cabinet. You’ve got names and numbers — some entered into your smartphone, while others are kept in your bucket of business cards.  Your kitchen counter is covered, and you can’t figure out if that bill is paid, because you switched to ebilling last month and didn’t receive a statement.

It sounds completely crazy, but despite all our technology, paper is still the No. 1 organizing challenge for homes and businesses alike.

I teamed up with “paper tiger lady” Barbara Hemphill this year to write a new book, “Organizing Paper @Home: What to Toss and How to Find the Rest!”

It’s her 30+ years of organizing wisdom and principles, combined with some new information to create an organizing manual for the digital age.

Here is what you get:

• An examination of all the papers, documents and files in your home, with a step-by-step look at how to find, sort, organize and categorize them all.
• A special chapter with tips on how to go Almost Paperless™.
• A retention guide to help you determine how long to keep important documents;
• Solutions on how to stop that paper pile before it starts;
• Special tips in each chapter to address electronic files, calendars, contact lists and more;
• Ideas on organizing your time and calendar;
• Suggestions for how to organize digital photos;
• Strategies for dealing with a “To Read” pile that’s now in print and online;
• And much more!

Here’s a quote from Barbara (and I’ve actually heard her say this):

“No one wants to spend hours dealing with the business of life, but there are things we all must accomplish, from paying bills and filing taxes to sorting the photos we take. Using my organizing principles, you can turn your home into a Productive Environment™ where you can accomplish your work and enjoy your life.”

Wait, there’s more!
Register for a Productivity Party with Barbara Hemphill Jan. 25: http://productivityparty.eventbrite.com/  Details TBA, but you’ll definitely get a chance to hear Barbara speak, get a book signed and eat some FREE food.

Raleigh's First Night Celebration, with the acorn. Photo by SnickClunk.

We’ll be back Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Have a Happy New Year!

Photo by the Italian voice.

But honestly? It’s almost Christmas. When a holiday approaches, it feels like a big conductor is waving his baton over the working people of the world, urging them to slow to largo and soften the music.

I’m putting in extra hours this week ahead of my vacation, but I’m not immune to the heavy lull smoothing across society.

So I’m giving myself a break.

The thing is, you’ve often had this struggle. You’re staring at the blank blog post page or the newsletter you need to write and the words are just not there.

It happens to all of us. Whether it be Christmas or that perfect sunny day in May calling your attention out the window, some days you just have a “bad hair day” when it comes to writing.

That’s OK. After all, no one is perfect — not even the writers of the world. So put on a hat, smile and take a deep breath.

You can start fresh in the new year.