Writing

What’s The Character’s Name

Garth Beyer

http://youtu.be/dSaO1-Hi5v0

I wrote a 50,000 word novel for National Novel Writing Month. I didn’t think of a name for the main character when I was writing it. Oddly enough, I did name every other character in the book. Any time my main character’s name was supposed to come up while writing, I typed “[insert name here].”

I did it because I didn’t know what to name my character. Halfway through my novel, I laughed at the idea that the way I’ve been writing “[insert name here]” implies that the reader of the novel is the main character.

All said and 50,000 words done, I had to insert a name. I went with Alexander Preston. There’s no definitive reason behind it. Summed up, “Alexander Preston” is something common and something uncommon. Want to know how much time I spent picking out the name? 2 seconds.

I thought of one stupid name and then I thought of Alexander Preston. I can’t believe how many hours some writers spend thinking of a name. Better yet, I can’t believe how many days businesses spend thinking of one.

Here’s what most miss:

The name of the main character doesn’t make the book. The name of the business doesn’t make the business. Branding isn’t about throwing out A and then B, C and D happen.

It’s about making B, C and D happen in a way that people attribute it to A.

To all the writers and folks determined to create one startup after another that read my blog. Don’t waste time like others have. You can come up with a great name in an hour.

And if you don’t know how, I’ll be writing about it tomorrow (or tonight if I have time).

 

Stay Positive & [Seriously, Just Insert A Name Already]

Nothing Works. Really, It Does.

Garth Beyer

No post lined up for today.

No great ideas today either. Good ones, but not great.

So instead of writing about a good idea. I’m choosing nothing. Because when people expect great and all you have is good, nothing is a better choice.

There’s overselling (1), underselling (2) and not selling at all (3).

Now rank them in their importance to you.

 

Stay Positive & Nothing Isn’t Always Just Safe, Sometimes It’s Smart

Garth E. Beyer

Love/Hate Relationship With Famous Quotes

Garth Beyer

A couple posts ago I shared content from a handout given by Adam Schrager, WISC-TV. He quoted Mark Twain for saying “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.”

That quote was actually written by Blaise Pascal. Not Mark Twain.

There’s an entire faction of study that seeks confirmation of who said what in the history books. It’s all fascinating of course; it’s something I love about famous quotes, but it makes me wonder why any journalist would consider using a respectable quote from the past to strengthen their writing.

Couldn’t Schrager have just said, “it’s worth taking the time to make a letter shorter.” Schrager is already a credible source to be making that statement. Why credit someone else? Especially someone who never even said it.

Even when considering using quotes that are verified, perhaps any Winston Churchill quotes. They are all solid. They are all persuasive and informative. Certainly many of them pack a punch. But still, could you not write it better? Could you not angle it in a way that is more comprehensible for readers of this time and accept the credit you deserve for stating it in such a way?

We can’t keep living in the press of the past, no matter how well spoken people were at the time. And, quite plainly, if I wanted to read what Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, or whoever is wrongly attributed to a famous quote has to say, I’ll pick up their books.

But when I pick up your writing, I want to read your writing.

/rant

10 Lessons From A Successful #NaNoWriMo

Garth Beyer

NaNoWriMo

This year (2013) was my first year attempting National Novel Writing Month, shortened to #NaNoWriMo. I am ecstatically happy to report that it was a success. I will be editing the book through December and January and will have it available hopefully at the end of January.

Here are some of the best lessons and reflections while writing.

1. Stick to the schedule of 1,700 words a day, but don’t beat yourself up if you skip a day. I skipped a total of 9 days. It was fun having a larger word count to write some days. It mixed things up.

2. No editing. No review. No changes.

3. Following lesson two. Keep writing forward. How you ask?

4. Remember that you can do absolutely anything. I was riding in a car looking at the scenery and saw a park. I thought to myself “my main character should go to a park.” My main character never did, but I realized I could do anything I wanted.

5. Go at it with the goal of surprising yourself. I didn’t plan to share the novel with anyone or sell it on Amazon, but I will because I surprised myself with how good I think it is.

6. When you’re sticking to the schedule of 1,700 words. Stick it out in one sitting.

7. Keep your fingers on the keyboard as often as possible. Don’t sit back to think, don’t drink water to think, keep your fingers on the keyboard and think. Each time you lift your fingers off the keyboard, you’re disconnecting yourself from the story.

8. It never gets easier. You will have your spurts of incredible writing sprees and inspiration, but each day that you sit down to write, you’re essentially starting over. I laughed each time I would check off my writing on the calendar because each day is the shape of a square. “Tomorrow I’m back to square one.”

9. Coffee.

10. Do NOT talk about your story while writing it. I don’t care who is asking or why they want to know. I don’t care how good you think your story is or how many people are asking to hear about your story. I don’t care if you’re being bribed or blackmailed. Do NOT talk about your story while writing it. Just to set it in stone for you, I’m going to repeat myself a third time. DO NOT TALK ABOUT YOUR STORY WHILE WRITING IT.

NaNoWriMoGarth

Stay Positive & Next Year, Do It All Again

Garth E. Beyer

Photo credit

 

Small Words To Communicate Large Ideas

Garth Beyer

The following seven lessons are courtesy of Adam Schrager, WISC-TV

1) One-to-one Relationship: For example, if your mother, father, or roommate asked you, “What happened in class today?” Chances are you wouldn’t answer, “Well, the guest speaker clearly articulated the proper procedure on how to write for the broadcast audience, underscoring the significant and substantive differences between it and the written world for print journalism.” No, hopefully, you’d say something like, “We had a reporter in to discuss how to write for television news.” Write the way you talk.

2) KISS Principle: Keep it simple, stupid. Mark Twain loved to say if he had more time, his books would have been shorter. Simplicity does NOT mean stupidity. To explain the difficult simply is an art form.

3) Be concise: Preferably, one thought per sentence. That’s how people speak.

“It has often been said
there’s so much to be read,
you never can cram
all those words in your head.

So the writer who breeds
more words than he needs
is making a chore
for the reader who reads.

That’s why my belief is
the briefer the brief is,
the greater the sigh
of the reader’s relief is.” – Dr Seuss

4) Avoid jargon/euphemisms: Why would you say, “Airline officials blamed a lack of visibility for the crash,” when you really mean, “Airline officials blame the crash on thick fog.” Why say, “Ford reports that automotive production declined last month,” when you really mean,” Ford officials say the company made fewer cars last month.”

5) Make a commitment: you should be able to state your story in a single sentence with a subject, ver, and object. Everything else, all the details, should flow from there.

6) Activate your sentences: Write in the active voice; use action verbs. For example, why write “The man was arrested by deputies after smashing pumpkins,” when you could write, “Deputies arrested the man for smashing pumpkins.”

7) Write to enhance, not to describe: In broadcast journalism, we see the pictures. We know what we see. Enhance what I’m seeing with something I can’t see, don’t tell me what I’m seeing.

Will Anyone Give A $%*@ About It

Garth Beyer

That’s the first question Dave Florin, president of Hiebing, a PR agency in Madison, asks when it’s time to evaluate an ad campaign or PR strategy.

Here’s a few more bits of wisdom shared:

  • Most marketing philosophies speak over the heads of people. Every strategy needs to pass the “So what” test. If it passes the “So what” test, then it’s much more likely to be paid attention to.
  • Sensitive + awesome = sweet spot
  • Relevant + differentiated = sweet spot
  • Know who the product does not appeal to
  • “Compelling stories are engaging, simple, portable. . . at the end of the day, there is a person there.”

Businesses try to appeal to everyone and waste money on it. The way to good writing is to write to a single person that fits your target. The same goes for creating ads. Create an ad with one person in mind. Every newsroom and broadcast station that I have visited, I can always find a poster of a person that is meant to remind everyone of who they are supposed to be writing to.

Who do you write to? And do they give a $%*@?

Stories That Leave You With Goosebumps

Garth Beyer

As it goes nowadays, don’t ask where I saw what I’m going to tell you I saw because I don’t remember. All I remember is that I watched a video wherein there was a large glass phone booth placed in the city (likely NYC) and it had a cord running from it to a headset that was on a pedestal about 15 feet away.

There was a backdrop behind the pedestal and instructions that someone was supposed to enter the phone booth and speak into the phone and another person was supposed to listen 15 feet away. The point was to tell the other person how you really feel about them or thank them for something. What I heard people say to each other was touching and gave me goose bumps.

The group Improv Everywhere did something similar to this by placing a megaphone on a lectern that had a sign on it “SAY SOMETHING NICE.”

Then there is StoryCorps which combines the two, adds even more emotion to it by having the people right next to each other, and takes out the visual element of it. One particular story I listened to gave me even more goosebumps than when I watched the phone booth video.

The story of a kid, Brian Lindsay, who was struck by a van while riding his bike talked years later with the paramedic, Rowan Allen who was there at the scene.

The story was real, you can hear the voice, you can hear them say what was on their minds. Most stories that you read, they don’t tell you what they were thinking and if they do the emotion behind it is very narrow. With audio, it is more emotionally evocative and powerful because hearing the voices makes the story personal, human, and allows you to feel all the emotions – you can hear the laughter, you can hear the sarcasm, you can hear the passion in what they say.

Now think of reading a story or reading a text – you can’t register more than one emotion. “Is this person being sarcastic?” “Are they serious?” It leaves so much of the emotion to interpretation and if there’s one thing that’s difficult to put into words, it’s how people feel.

The main point on that is this: if you read a story wherein a person writes “I can’t put into words how I feel.” Then it’s a contradiction because they just did. But if you hear a story wherein a person says “I can’t put into words how I feel.” They really can’t, you get the emotion from it, you get the sincerity.

There’s a reason why it’s suggested that you write like you would speak. So people can hear you.