Lost In Your Own Writing?
Hallelujah! After waiting for nearly a year, Lost is back on the air. Since the writers’ strike, I’ve been starving for something other than reality shows on television. The two-hour season premier of Lost was like a steak dinner when you’ve been eating nothing but macaroni and cheese for the past six months.
The show was an hour’s worth of snippets from past seasons to get new viewers caught up. I could have done without it (having bought seasons 1 – 3 on DVD), but my roommate, who has a habit of falling asleep while watching television, was very happy.
I never thought I’d be excited about a television series, but dammit, I’m hooked.
So, how does Lost relate to writing? Well, it’s all about writing a good series… of blog posts, that is!
Too much of a good thing
Some of my best series were born from running off at the mouth – or rather, the keyboard – and then deciding they were too long. I often see other posts be too much of a good thing. They’re interesting, but that’s too much in one sitting.
Not every topic has to be a novel. Take a look at your posts to see how you might be able to break one down into several smaller posts, each on a related but different topic. If you used headers on a long post, make each of those a separate post. Your first post might touch on all of those subjects, but ideally, you should…
Leave your audience wanting more
Go ahead; be a tease. Offer a little taste of what’s to come. Like Lost, there’s so much good stuff happening each episode that you don’t want it to end. When it does, you’re already looking forward to next week’s episode.
Stay on track
What is the purpose of your series? Do you have a main topic? If not, your series will wander. Each post has to tie in to the original in some way, somehow. When my main point of the post veered off course too far, I turned it into a post unrelated to the series and banked it for a rainy day. This is how the how to say no post was born.
Link out
While you compose your series, think about other posts you’ve done in the past that are relevant to the topic at hand. Think of posts you’ve read on other blogs that are related. Add the links as you write to keep your mind focused on the subject.
Tie up loose ends
The beginning post introduces your series. The final post wraps it up nicely, and it’s just as important to your series as the introduction. Summarize your series together and leave your readers satisfied with a good ending.
16 Responses to “Lost In Your Own Writing?”
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Harry,
Oh, boy did I need this post right now! I love the idea of serial posts and used it for my launch (thanks Copyblogger) to great effect. I’ve got several others in the works. (I can’t type as fast as I can come up with ideas, what with real work and all…)
Yet I have a few posts that I try to get out, and end up forever adding thoughts to, making them more and more unwieldy and less and less likely ever to leave the laptop!
You’ve given me the aha! moment about the posts that stump me. Previously I’ve gotten the series idea, then written it. After reading this post it seems so obvious. I’m going to run right off and break up a couple of posts right now. The plague of long articles I just can’t tweak enough is over.
As always, love your blog. It’s the first thing I read in my inbox, because I know between the two of you I’m bound to get a point to ponder, or in this case a jolt that I can put to use right away.
Regards,
Kelly
Maximum Customer Experience Blog
Kelly,
Thank you for the kind words, both James and I are glowing at the praise. I’ve read a lot of blogs where the writers have inspired me and I’m glad to see that my words are inspiring others. And to hear our blog is the first one you read each morning is one of the highest compliments we could hope for!
I like serial posts because I’m the opposite of you, I’m slow to come up with ideas for daily posts. If I hit on an idea for a series, I then have a plan and the writing comes easier. I don’t have to rack my brain over what I’m going to write tomorrow or the next day because it’s all laid out nice and neat for me. Series are a wonderful way to keep your writing momentum going – and keep your readers coming back for more.
Keep up the good work!
@ Kelly – You made my morning. Thank you
Sort of like having an agenda or homework assignments for a class. James is far too into that right now, I imagine. : )
Serials provide a framework so it’s not, “What in the big wide world should I discuss today?”
*scratches head* James far too into assignments? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Ahem. Not clear, I guess. I meant college assignments.
When I was in school, it was a good thing. But I loved school. If I could be a professional student, I probably would. Instead I’m a professional learner, of sorts.
Kelly
@ Kelly – too funny. Just goes to show you how different Harry and I can be. I’m off rambling about this and that, and he’s keeping you all sane and on track.
I love school, too, by the way. Too curious not to!
@Kelly: I love learning, but not in a school setting. Left to learn on my own devices I do a lot better.
@James: Good observation, I never thought of it that way.
One thing they taught us in High School was that the first step to revising was to eliminate your first paragraph. And usually they were right.
You make some great points about keeping things brief. Cutting is one of the toughest things to do when editing your own stuff.
And one more point is to [click]
@Cromely: I find myself doing that often, and it does make for a stronger post. Another tip I picked up along the way was to start with the end. Cutting is difficult, James and I are finding that with our novel. I think I’ve finally resolved myself to the fact that even though there’s a lot of good stuff, some of it is going to have to be left on the cutting room floor.
As far as novels are concerned, what is that saying? Murder your darlings, yeah, but now I forgot who said it. Basically don’t become entranced in your own cleverness and stay true to the story. As far as Lost? Oh I used to love Lost! I fell in love with the blond woman who hated the pig farmer and didn’t the curly hair soccer player win? It was good and juicy and I yelled at the screen. Laugh if you will, but I now love Project Runway.
@ Ellen – Hehehe… That was Survivor. The soccer player’s name was Ethan. Can’t remember the name of the other woman and the pig farmer, though.
Good point about the novel. I agree.
@Ellen: Project Runway cracks me up and I can’t stand Heidi Klum. And if you want to laugh, I’m hooked on America’s Next Top Model – but just for the photo shoots! I like the way they show the shots being set up and then each model’s best shot at the end of the show.
I haven’t watched an episode of Survivor since the Guatamala season, and that was only because a friend of mine said I had a clone on there. Oh, and we had an office pool going on too (would you expect anything less in Vegas?). When there’s money involved, I’m there. That season turned out to be pretty profitable.
I like Heidi Klum. Maybe ’cause she’s married to Seal. Thanks for correcting me James. I came back to correct myself after I realized I was talking about Survivor. Lost – too many plot lines left dangling that the writers never managed to tie up. Drove me nuts.
Hehehe… they don’t call it Lost for no reason!