Thursday August 28, 2008
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My dad was wrong. I just discovered that I am good for nuthin' after all. In fact I've been good for nuthin' all along. I am 100% biodegradable and that means I can be recycled into nuthin'. It also means that no matter how much I waste, no matter how much I consume, no matter how much I pollute, in the end I am environment-friendly. Best of all, I now have an end use.
Now that's something to put on my resume!
This comes as particularly good news to somebody who is not sure what his purpose is. Sometimes I write these humor columns, pretending to be funny. Sometimes people even laugh, and I worry that it might be the start of an ominous trend.
Sometimes I am selling my happiness book, pretending to be a successful author. With 2,000 copies of my book keeping the floor from floating upwards, perhaps I AM successful. Levitating floors are generally not considered signs of success in this part of the country.
Sometimes I am optimizing websites for search engine rankings. "What exactly does that mean?" I am often asked.
"Well...it means that I get my clients' site high up in the searches." Blank stare.
I try again. "It means that I help Google show you my clients' web sites. Blank stare.
"Well...I'm not sure how to explain it. But I get paid to do it." People understand that.
"I turn on a machine that defluctuates the turbo-rotating modulator down at the spare parts plant," someone adds.
"What exactly does that mean?" I ask.
"Beats me. But I get paid to do it." We are soulmates.
Sometimes I write for pay, because people seem to want something written. They hope that if they can't say it themselves, I might be able to find just the right words.
"C'mon, David. You have lots of words. Why don't you lend me some? Why, just last week you promised to 'defenestrate' me, whatever that means." They want me to put their thoughts into words, and occasionally they want me to create their thoughts. I worked for a politician years ago. I vaguely remember how to write somebody else's thoughts before he knew he had them.
"So what do you write?"
"Web site copy, mostly."
"Really? Not another book?"
"No, I still have 2,000 copies of the last book piled up in my office."
"I'm sure they'll sell quickly, David."
"Really? Want one?"
"Uh...gotta go. It's time for my pet goldfish's nap."
I also write this humor column faithfully every week. But people actually PAY me to write website copy. Now, dear reader, answer me this question. Would you rather be reading this hilarious column, loaded with frosting and topped with chocolate syrup, or would you rather read plain vanilla website copy.
OK, go ahead and read the website copy, then. See if I care.
One thing my website copy and this column have in common is that they are not biodegradable. Remember how computers would save the environment as they replace the three gazillion tones of paper we trash every few hours in offices around the world and elsewhere?
Now we discover that all that paper at least was biodegradable, recyclable, reusable. It wasn't all that bad for the environment, after all. But the monitor you are reading this on will last forever. (SFX: evil laughter) Adventure seekers from the planet Zorgoppppt will land here in the year 2304 and discover all these abandoned monitors scattered around.
One Zorgopppptian will say to the other, "prrg, ddyte h hthp oooo djudu" (Translation: "Groovy paper weights!")
But they won't find me, thanks to my lifetime achievement. I'll be long gone, because I am (chest swells with pride) biodegradable.
About The Author
David Leonhardt is biodegradable and happy at: http://www.thehappyguy.com
He is author of Inspiration & Motivation To Go: http://www.thehappyguy.com/l/daily-motivation-inspiration.php
The Get Happy Workbook: http://www.thehappyguy.com/happiness-work-book.html
and Climb Your Stairway to Heaven: the 9 habits of maximum happiness: http://www.thehappyguy.com/happiness-self-help-book.html
To write your website copy, newsletter or award winning biodegradable cereal box copy, email him at: Info@thehappyguy.com
Comment by Robert Schaeffer Public Ed. Dir., Nat. Ctr. for Fair & Open Testing
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Slow Pokes: Short Story On The Changing World Of Writing
"No one will ever know who I am, I'm a nobody-writer from nowhere? I've had a thousand rejections from all the major publishers. It seems my destiny is never to be read, another nameless soul lost to the sands of eternity." Johnny's face twisted into a pained grimace, you could tell his heart was tied up in a pretzel knot of self-deprecation.
Mix a martini, don't forget the olives, or pour yourself a tea, relax and enjoy!
Write With Passion: 4 Steps To Emotionally Charge A Nonfiction Article
You have just completed a draft of an article. It seems flat, even to you. It needs some spunk. Needs to be more alive. Possibly you're at a loss on how to spruce it up so that it creates an emotional connection with the readers.
Write Your Story, Put It On A Website, Sell Millions of Copies
Although he has his own website, John Grisham probably does very little self-promotion. When you have Doubleday on your side, most of the marketing is done for you. There are not too many John Grisham's out there though, so the unknown authors, with small publishing houses, have to be responsible for marketing themselves. This is not hard work, but it does take persistence and ingenuity. Follow this model, and you'll be successful.
In his book, "Achieving Financial Independence as a Freelance Writer," Ray Dreyfack, a full-time freelancer for 30 years, suggests that writers "ease" into full-time writing while maintaining their day jobs. If you're following this advice, either by choice or by necessity, you know that it's not always easy. Obligations to jobs and families tend to take priority over writing. It's easy to lose focus of your writing goals when you have so many distractions in your life.
Starting a Freelance Writing Career (or Thoughts About Taking the Plunge)
Nike's ad has taken on new meaning for me of late; "Just do it!" runs through my mind like a mantra. Although my dreams have nothing to do with athletic shoes and little to do with athletics (unless you count the long list of ideas I have developed which revolve around my sons and their activities), I have spent a long time avoiding the one thing I've always wanted to do - write.