ideation

My Writing Journey – Don’t Go Alone! (11/03/2016)

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Have you ever tried to do something alone?  It could be dieting, exercising, or anything else.  It’s an uphill battle, and if you’re going at it by yourself, your odds are not very good.

Don’t go alone.  If you’re dieting, join a friend who is also dieting.  If you’re exercising, join a friend who is doing the same.  This will establish some accountability, and you’ll be able to work on your goal.

Are you working on a blog post for a website?  Find other people who are doing the same, and they can encourage you.  Don’t do it alone.  Your momentum will be a lot better if you have your friends to encourage you.

For me, I attend ideation once a week.  Everyone there is encouraged to continue on their idea.  Those who keep going will keep getting encouraged.  For me, it’s like an idea gym.  The ideas that work out the most turn into successful businesses.  I don’t go alone and neither should you.

So the next time you’re doing something alone, try to see if there’s someone else that you can share the experience with.  For us, we’re all sharing this journey together so we don’t have to be alone.  It’s better this way and you have a much better chance to succeed.

What will there be next week?  Since I’m busy with conference planning for Toastmasters, I won’t be attending ideation so I’ll try to think of something special.

See you next week!

Your friend in writing,

Kyle

My Writing Journey – Springboards Lead to New Beginnings (10/06/2016)

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When you’re writing, you need a starting point.  Where do you begin?

You may have found some ideas from your competition, but now you need a way to start.  How do you begin?  One way is to use a springboard, a useful device that can get you into the topic that you want to talk about.

In Ideation just yesterday,  I started creating springboards to bring clarity to what I wanted each writing prompt to accomplish.  Do I want to solve a conflict?  Do I want to write from a different character’s point of view?  Do I want to follow up on a story that I already written?  This springboard provides instructions and it clarifies the kind of message that I want to present.

For instance, in my Think & Write “The Fight“, for example,  I would use this springboard:

Desperate for money, you are in a wrestling ring with a champion. You must survive 10 minutes to win the money you need. Describe your experience.

In another Think & Write “Dreaming While Awake“, I would use this springboard:

Your child or someone you know has a special magical talent. What is this talent and what do they do with it?

In over 100 of my Think & Writes, I have provided springboards for everyone of them.  For these exercises, there is a starting point for each person to pick up and start writing their own stories.  And if you try this, it really helps with writer’s block.  Writing for me has become a daily habit that I never cease from doing.

So when you’re blogging, think of good starting points.  Use your springboard and jump right into an awesome post idea!

What’s next?  Meet back next week and I’ll tell you.  It’s part of the suspense.  I wouldn’t want to spoil the fun now, would I?

See you next week!

Your friend in writing,

Kyle

My Writing Journey – Less is More (9/15/2016)

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How much are you trying to tackle?  Is a 1000 word entry really needed to grab the attention of your audience?

Less is more.

When you’re in the planning stage of your blog, you need to determine how much time you need to complete each service.  During my ideation session this week, I was introduced to a different version of the inventory.  It was based on priority and it honed the focus on fewer categories.

When you’re working with a lot of ideas, it actually makes a lot of sense to find the related ones and pair them together.  This unifies your concepts.  And although it gives you less to work with, it provides more impact.  The clutter is reduced and you have a more clear and concise message.

Now you may be sentimental to some of your ideas that might be very dear to you.  Don’t cut them out entirely, but reduce them where you can.  You need to know where to cut, and make those cuts there.

Less is more.  Ask yourself: what do I already have?  What do I need to add? What steps are needed?  It’s not necessary if your consumer is spending too much work just to get to your message.

Remember.  You are trying to achieve the minimal viable product (MVP).  This is the minimal product required to meet the needs of the customer.  It’s like working on a puzzle and only adding the pieces needed to solve it.  If the pieces are all arranged in a way where the puzzle is easy to solve, this is what we want.  With a simple and concise message, the concept is the same.  Easy to solve and easy to understand.

With the inventory that was made for me, I have what is currently created.  What do I offer to this?  Is it monetizable or not?

So less is more.  The less you have, the more concise your message is, the better.

Next week, I will go over inventories and what offerings you need to have an effective blog.

See you next week!

Your friend in writing,

Kyle