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19 Jan 10 Developing Ideas To Write About

A large part of being a better writer involves how you manage your ideas.  There will be times where you feel you just can’t think of anything to write about, and how you work through them is extremely important.  For any freelance writer, or blogger, and even website owner, keeping the new ideas flowing is where your money comes from.  So how do you keep the well from going dry?

Well for starters, carry a notebook with you wherever you go.  Of course in the modern age of technology, a smart phone or a PDA can serve the same purpose.  Anything that enables you to quickly jot down an idea while you’re on the run.  Frequently ideas hit us whey you’d least expect, and you have to be ready to write down that idea so that you can save it for use when you have the time.  That’s one of the best ways to stay fresh and full of new concepts.

Make sure that you read as often as possible.  For a writer, reading is a great weapon because gaining knowledge influences you to think.  With that thinking about a certain piece you’ve read, comes new ideas or concepts you’ll be motivated to write about.

Try having a running dialogue with someone else in the industry, or even the audience of where you write.  See what their feelings are on your writing, or what’s going on in the common culture that relates to what you write.  That can give you plenty of ideas because you’ll see how someone else thinks.  That may influence you to write a new topic, or an old topic rewritten from a different point of view.

Always keep up on the news as much as possible.  Current events are what get the most reads, because the majority of internet searchers are looking for information regarding news.  Keeping current, and relevant to where the world is in this instant is key.  Plus all the different news stories are bound to influence something that you’ll want to write about.

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10 Jan 10 5 traits of Quality Content

How do you define quality? Think hard. Well, we cannot define quality in the absolute terms. We define it by saying how one thing is in comparison to certain benchmark. It holds true for content as well. Quality of content is not known, and no one can tell you the formula to create quality content.

But, I can tell you about the traits that are common among all types of quality content.

Traits of quality content

  • Not repetitive: This is the first trait of quality content. It is not repetitive. If your article touches upon topics that are not or rarely written before than you will be considered authority in your field.
  • Well researched: A high quality article is often well-researched. It does not dwell on the “as I think,” “I believe,” “I suspect” statements. It is also often supported by links and bibliography
  • Entertainment quotient: Quality content is high on entertainment, regardless of complexity of the topic it covers. Writer of an entertaining article uses simple language and humor to keep the tone light when he describes complex topic. Humor is important.
  • All-inclusive: Do not rush for finishing an article soon. Try to cover every aspect of a topic that you are writing about. A good article goes beyond 500 words and covers almost every aspect of the topic at hand.
  • News with a view: Breaking news is not forte of every blogger. Most of the bloggers cannot do that as they do not have right people at the right place, therefore, you should consider elaborating on the breaking news with your unique view on the topic. Think hard, you will develop a point of view.
  • Thought-provoking: An article that stirs your thought or gives you a critical outlook about the subject at hand can be clubbed with quality articles. A quality article also gives a new point of view or tends to challenge the assumption held by people at large.

Next time when you write check your content for these traits.

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23 Nov 09 5 More Reasons Why You Should Join Twitter

he 140-character magic has made us more creative. Now we know about our power to express whatever we want in 140 characters. Before twitter, it was unbelievable. We thought we can never say anything by spending so less letters. Even our text messages used more letters than that. Twitter came and showed us what all we are capable of, but not everyone believed it. There still are people who do not know why Twitter is such a phenomenon. In the last post, I gave 5 Reasons in favor of Joining Twitter, which I think was not sufficient, therefore, I am writing 5 more reasons here.

Reason 1: To express what you feel

We express ourselves, we do it daily, and we do it in huge chunks. We talk about how we feel about certain government decision, certain blog, certain people, certain ideas, certain system, etc., but what about “what are you doing” questions? Well, twitter asks you this, and it gets all sorts of answers in maximum 140 characters. This is a great way to express yourself by giving bit-size information, rather than bearing the burden of need lot to say

Reason 2: To listen what others have to say

A good communication is the one in which you listen double as much as you speak. People will listen to you only when you will listen to them. It holds true with twitter communication as well. This tool help you listen to what people has to say, and to understand their point of view on the matter as well.

Reason 3: To strike conversation

Twitter is not Instant messaging (IM) service, but still you can strike conversation here, Use @your friend’s name to send a reply to what your friend has to say, or send a direct message (or DM them in twitter term) and begin the ping-pong game of conversation.

Reason 4: To know where is your friend

In most of the cases, your friend will tell on her own that where she is and what she is doing. If you are following your friend closely then I am sure she will tell you all about her there. As the news has come to me, twitter is going to allow geo-stamp (geographic location stamp) on the tweets, which means you can tell from where your friend has tweeted.

Reason 5: To sound knowledgeable

You do not need to be an Einstein to sound knowledgeable, you just need to be on top of the news, and what too is better than twitter in achieving that? Follow what you love most or what your peer group wants to hear from you and talk as if you own the information. Twitter can help you in doing all this.

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