Pick a site, any site. What’s the first thing you notice? What draws your attention right away? Where do your eyes land? What do they do then? Do your eyes flow over the page? Do they follow a specific path, flicking to the left, then skimming over to the right and maybe down the page? Do you leap from color block to color block or jump from title to title? Or do your eyes zigzag through utter chaos as you search for something you can focus on? When any site at all appears on your
> Read MoreArchives for July 2009
Blog Archives
Enjoy 1,000+ articles geared to your content-marketing, writing, freelancing or small business endeavors. Scroll down for recent posts, select a category, or browse the archives here.
How to Be Funny
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So Copyblogger (for whom James writes regularly) recently ran an article on how to be 20% funnier than you currently are. Now, I enjoyed this article, so I’m not going to trash it. I will say that I think the author missed some seriously easy ways to inject humor into your writing. Here goes: Follow Your Own Train of Thought Every one of us has a weird train of thought. When the person next to you randomly pipes up and asks, “Hey, do you like blueberries?” he did not get there because someone walked by
> Read MoreSix Elements You Must Master to Write a Publishable Novel
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We like to cater to the desires of all types of writers, from fiction to copywriting. (Check out our posts on fiction writing here.) So when Larry Brooks, an old friend, an ex pro baseball player and most importantly a bestselling novelist, offered to write a series on fiction writing and getting published, I was quite happy to say yes. Click here to read Larry’s first post, Five Things You Need to Know to Write a Novel. Or, read on and enjoy the next in the series! John Lennon asked us to imagine there’s no
> Read More5 Things You Need to Know Before You Write a Novel
Written by Larry Brooks
We like to cater to the desires of all types of writers, from fiction to copywriting. So when Larry Brooks, an old friend, an ex pro baseball player and most importantly a bestselling novelist, offered to write a series on fiction writing and getting published, I was quite happy to say yes. Some really smart people do some really dumb things when writing their first novel – or their tenth, for that matter. They read – at least, they should, if they aspire to write – and because the pros make it look easy, these
> Read MoreWhat James Did This Summer and Where He Got the Money
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“Well, that’s just it!” I love it when Naomi says that. I really do. And I grinned from where I was folded up like a lawn chair in the back of the rental car. Her husband Jamie, our driver of the moment, was nodding, and we all agreed: Some people just don’t get it. And that’s why their business is still limping along doing nothing. But that’s not what you want to hear about. You want to hear about my summer vacation, don’t you? Yes, I finally took one. I was pondering relaxing on a
> Read MoreHow to Make Scary-Big Stuff Happen
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I used to want to own a castle. I still do. But as I got older, I began to want other things more attainable than a castle. I wanted to make a living entirely from my writing, for example. (Done.) I wanted to own a motorcycle named Butch Cassidy. (Being made by a mechanic friend of mine as we speak.) I wanted to learn how to whistle. (This is apparently about as feasible as getting Leonardo DiCaprio to show up on my doorstep and pledge his undying devotion to me. Why do you elude me,
> Read MoreHow Far Should You Take Your Creativity?
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Creative people always try to think out of the box and look for the next brilliant idea. We want to create something so unique and incredibly outstanding that it makes the rest of the world pay attention. But how far is too far? How much can you stretch the boundaries of convention? Where is the point when it all breaks down in functionality, usability or effectiveness and just becomes confusing? What good is anything if no one knows what it is or what to do with it? Architects and Engineers Don’t Get Along A friend
> Read MoreWhat the Carnies Can Teach You About Freelancing
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The taste of dust in my mouth. The smell of cows in the air. The sound of buzzers, bells and staccato gunfire ringing in my ears. Loud screams… Yes, folks, the local fair has been in town. For a few days each year, the empty lot behind the skating rink transforms into a razzle-dazzle low-scale and dirty festival of noise, cotton candy and empty wallets. Teens dress baggy or skimpily, hooking up all over the place. Children run to and fro, joyfully skipping out of reach of poor parents shouting, “This is the last ride!”
> Read MoreDrive-By Shooting Special: Pick Nick’s Brains
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“I am never doing this again,” James hissed, exaggerating his tip-toeing just in case a floorboard creaked and set off the noise again. “You volunteered,” Harry said from the sofa where he’d been leafing through a magazine. “SHHH!!!” The waving hand said it all. “You’ll wake her up! Goddamned little-…” “James.” The disapproving look on Harry’s face said more than James’ signal for silence. “Sorry.” He tried to look repentant. He really did. “You know that saying? ‘I’m an angel when I’m sleeping’?” “Uh-huh.” Harry leafed through more pages. “Well, I bet whoever made that
> Read MoreThree Ways to Use Your Screw-Around Time to Improve Your Business
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Working from home has many perks. For example, I just recently placed a small microphone under a tree stump in my front yard. When the mail carrier tries to go by my house without picking up my outgoing mail, I pretend to be Satan tallying up that willful disregard for my postcards as a mark on the “bad boy” list. That guy NEVER forgets my Netflix. One of the reasons I can do things like this is because I work from home. The other reason is that I don’t have a conscience to speak of.
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