HOW I WRITE ... ESSAYS

Essays are usually not regarded as the most exciting of writing exercises. They are usually about boring topics and are used in academics. When I think of essays, I usually think "essay tests" which are not fun for anyone. However, if you follow a basic structure, you can write an essay on almost anything. Make sure to include an interesting introductory paragraph, logical middle using three points, and a concluding paragraph ending with an idea that will stick int he reader's mind.

The introductory paragraph should set up your essay topic and lay out the three main points you will include in the middle. Avoid saying anything like, "this essay will talk about," or "I will address three points of," because that is boring. Try to introduce your three main points in a natural and conversational manner.

A basic, typical essay contains three middle paragraphs that address three main points regarding your overall topic. This seems to be the universal construction; speech givers recommend sticking to three main points in the middle of speeches as well. Make your three points specific and related. Use good transitions to make sure the first paragraph flows logically into the second, the second the third, and the third into the conclusion.

Once you've written your introduction and your middle, you are ready to write your conclusion. Recap what was contained in the body of your piece while avoiding saying anything like, "we've just discussed," or "I've just covered." Figure out a way to tie everything back together to reinforce how your three points relate to each other and to the main topic. Finally, use a point of irony or humor or some interesting fact to end your conclusion in an effort to make the essay stick in the reader's mind.

Numerous references have been written on the topic of writing essays for a variety of applications. Hopefully I have provided a general basic overview to get you started the next time you need to write an essay. And, perhaps, like it did me, it will help you to score in the 91st percentile on the essay portion of your GMAT.

NEW YORK STATE OF WORDS

Last week I enjoyed a frigid spring break with my daughter and her high school choir in New York City. We spent over 36 hours on the bus and got an average of five hours of sleep each night. We returned on Monday and I'm still catching up.

As one might expect, New York City is full of words. Words on billboards, words on street signs, words on homemade signs tacked to street light poles. Words in multiple languages. Words telling you to go this way; words telling you to go that way. Words on a Vistaprint car magnet proclaiming availability for "baby proofing and seatbelt installation services," a brilliant business idea in New York City where there are people who rarely drive, mostly carrying their babies in snuggies on their chests and who probably don't know how to install their carseats properly and who probably do not switch them to and fro as much as we lesser-city people do. Also a brilliant idea in a city where people are constantly running, always late - and I can understand why for as long as it takes to maneuver around people to get from point A to point B. A brilliant business for New York City but not so much where I come from because the small percentage of people who would pay for such services would not equate to enough to earn an adequate living.

But, I digress. I saw so many words in New York City; more than anywhere else, like the number of words in a city is directly proportional to the number of people. The point? The world does not run without words. And the more of us there are in any given area, the more we need them so we can avoid utter chaos. There were times I could have used even more words to keep up with our tour guide who claimed to have lived in the city nearly all her life but who still managed to make a couple of wrong turns and not realize two major events were being held the exact same times we were going to be in those particular areas.

We need an exorbitant number of words to tell us which way to go or we would all be running into each other, getting nowhere. Without words to ground you to your location when you finally swim out of the sea of drunk St. Patrick's Day Parade goers going the opposite direction from you, you would not be able to get back on track on the way to your destination. And the more diverse we are, the clearer the words need to be in the language we speak or they are rendered useless. I was reminded in New York City, again, how much not only I need words because they are the tools in my chosen profession, but how much everyone needs words in order to function and in order to maintain, well ... order. Sure, sometimes pictures can do the trick but to be positively clear, they also need words.

Happy word searching, world!
The Wordsy Woman

Wicked Words

Today's blog post brought to you by ... The Empire State. On Wednesday, I travelled over sixteen hours on a bus with my new friends, my daughter, and her friends from her choir to New York City. I hoped I would be inspired into a blog topic and I was.

Last night, we went to see Wicked on Broadway (I will do my best to avoid spoilers). The show was fabulous and, as I watched it, it occurred to me that I was having a different experience with it than my immediate theater-mates. The people I enjoyed the show with were singers, dancers, actors, and music teachers. Judging by reactions of one such teacher sitting next to me, the performance was flawless. The right notes were hit, the lines delivered impeccably, and the dance moves right on cue. And I thought so, too. Thing was, if they had been closer to mediocre, I, not an actor but for a one act play I did in high school, dancer, or singer but for in the shower, would not have known the difference.

What fascinated me about the story was, the story. The writing. The words. I loved the jokes, especially the subtle ones. I was enthralled by how the imagination of the author of the original story's words worked and by how the script writer flawlessly converted the words into speaking and singing words. I've never written a play so it was a great learning experience. I learned that instead of leaving a hook at the end of chapters, you leave them at the end of Acts. The reason you care, of course, is that despite the fact they already bought their tickets (or the books), if it's bad, they will tell their friends, and they will be the last tickets (or books) you sell.

The story of Wicked has wonderful surprises and answers almost all of the questions about how what was what was that way in the Wizard of Oz. Again, what seemed to fascinate the people around me was the singing, dancing, and acting, but what fascinated me the most was the imagination the author used to create the story and why the author chose to write the story the way it was written. But, to me, there are still a few questions I have (which I won't detail to avoid spoilers), but that's okay, because it provides an opportunity for another author to come along and tackle a more challenging feat of weaving The Wizard of Oz and Wicked into another story to answer those questions.

Other than the "on ice" shows and a few children's stories at a local theater, I've never been to a play or musical. I recommend it, even if you can't get to Broadway, whether you are theater people or word people.

The Wordsy Woman
http://www.wordsywoman.com

HOW I WRITE ... SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

As someone who has always been much more comfortable with the written than the spoken word, I love social media. And email is one of the best inventions of my time (the other being MP3). The social media world in the realm of marketing is exciting because it is ever-evolving with nearly limitless opportunities to create new ways to use it. At this time, I use Good Reads, Twitter, Pinterest, Linked In, and Facebook. Just like when writing anything, when deciding what to post on these various outlets, I consider my audience. Regardless of which outlet I'm working in, however, my goal is always the same: to provide value through information, entertainment, or insight. Here is a breakdown of how I approach each:

Good Reads:

The audience, of course, for Good Reads is readers. I have an author account so I can link my blog, provide free giveaways, and track my reviews. But Good Reads users don't want to see only my books, so I make sure to periodically update my reading list, rate books I've read, and find new books to add to my "to read" shelf. This allows my Good Reads friends and others to get to know me as a reader and book lover.

Twitter:

Most of the people I follow and who follow me on Twitter are also writers or people in the publishing industry. Therefore, they are not going to be impressed with anything "instructional" I might post. So I try to limit my tweets to insights, thoughts, and feelings about the writing life, including things going well, challenges, and what I'm doing in my writing life like holding a book signing.

Pinterest:

Pinterest is completely image-based which can be challenging for people working strictly with words. Most of my Pinterest followers are other writers or aspiring writers so I try to pin items that might interest them. Of course, I have my own products but I also have several other boards that writers may find helpful, including writing-related quotes, books about the writing business, reference books, and funny pictures of writing mistakes.

Linked In:

Because Linked In strikes me as more formal, I keep it all business and, frankly, I forget to post updates there. Mostly, it is a place where people can view my resume, peruse my work experience, and see what endorsements I have.

Facebook:

In order to gain "likes" for my Facebook pages beyond my friends, I ran an ad and now have around 350 likes for my Wordsy Woman page. I'm not sure of the characteristics of my following, but I suspect, like with Pinterest, it includes people interested in writing but who may not be as entrenched in the business as in Twitter. Therefore, I can be a bit more instructional. Every Wednesday, I post a writing-related quote and whenever I think of it, I post a link to my blog. I also use it to post insights about the writing life, lessons I've learned, and what I have going on.

Social Media is powerful and, like others, I am still learning how to best use it. In addition to adding value, another rule I follow regardless of which social media outlet I'm using is to reciprocate when I can. On Twitter and Pinterest, I follow anyone who follows me unless their interests are not related to writing at all. On Good Reads, I try to add books written by other local authors to my book shelves, and on Linked In, I endorse people who endorse my skills if, in fact, I can attest to their skills. And on Facebook, I "like" the business pages of my friends who like mine. I guess this is the whole "network" part of social networking. Regardless of which sites you use, social media is here to stay and I, personally, am anxious to see what the future holds.

Do you have any insights about or tips for the power of social media? Feel free to share in the comments section.

HOW I WRITE...BLOG POSTS

This is not my first rodeo...err, blog. I've had several false starts into the world of blogging. At first, I started a random blog connected to my original website, www.jodiet.com. I tried to write about things that struck me as funny, what I was thinking about, or things that spoke to me in some way. One may think that such a wide open blog subject would mean a never-ending supply of blog post topics. It had the opposite effect for me; without a focused blog topic, I ran out of ideas very fast. My post frequency quickly dropped off from weekly to bi-weekly to monthly to totally gone.

I then tried to add a weekly legal issue related post to the same blog. I got bored with that pretty fast, too. Then I had the idea to start a blog for moms who are going to school, building a career, or in some other way are trying to better themselves and improve their lives. So I did. It was called something like Moms on their Way. I kept that up for a few months and I did have some requests for free meal planning and grocery list spreadsheets I offered, but the lack of readership discouraged me so I quit.

Though my blogs had varying topics, the main purpose has always been to build a presence on the web and direct people back to my website. It took me awhile to realize my blog content should somehow relate to my business. This Wordsy Woman blog was born on April 12, 2012, shortly after I re-committed myself to my business and began the re-branding process into Wordsy Woman Word Sales and Service. I decided that my blog, like my business, would cover the topic of words. This provided me with enough focus so I could find topics to cover in my blog posts and it was broad enough so that I should never run out of ideas. There are thousands of things one could write about words, even if it is simply pulling a word out of the dictionary and giving the definition (though, thankfully, I've not had to resort to that yet).

My first regular post was published on June 9, 2012, and I'm happy to say I've consistently published a new blog post every single week since then. I keep a list of possible blog post topics in my notebook and I cross them off as I cover them. My goal with my blog is to not only provide samples of my writing style and voice and show what I know about words and writing, but, most importantly, to provide value to my readers. Although it is therapeutic for me to sometimes ramble on about my random musings, it is not worth anything to the reader unless there is something instructive or a bit of helpful information included that they can take away from it.

People blog for many different reasons including to stay connected with their family and friends or to spread awareness about an important topic. My blog is a business blog; it is the goodwill help-people-say-what-they-want-to-say part of my business and a way, hopefully, I can help anyone say what they want to say and not just those that pay me. My advice for anyone wanting to start a blog to complement or promote their business is to provide value and pick a general topic related to your business that is broad enough so you have a wealth of post topics. Of course, include links to your own website and any others you've referenced in the post, but do not include sales pitches. Another bit of advice that I find difficult to follow because of the nature of my posts, is to include photographs as much as possible. Above all, think information and you will be able to build a blog readership which can do nothing but help your business.

Do you have your own business blogging advice? Please feel to share it in the comment field below.

Happy Blogging!
The Wordsy Woman