Writer's Block

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People use the term "writer's block" when they want to complain about not being able to get inspired for a writing project. Actually, it is not specific to writing; a musician, painter, or any other kind of artist can feel blocked.

The energy of inspiration can be felt by the reader if it is present in the paragraph. I don't know how it happens, but it does. I had it when I wrote the first sentence of this paragraph, and if you reread the sentence you can feel it a little. When you have the energy of inspiration, rhythmic sentences spill out of the mind naturally.

"For score and seven years ago..."
"What a marvelous night for a moondance..."
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder..."

Some sentences have that energy. You know when you have them. Write them down. And do not pretend you can force them to come if you feel blocked. Work with your words even though you are blocked, but do not let any uninspired words appear in your final draft.

And never revise inspired words out of your writing project to accommodate a change you are making. The inspired words are the most important.

Another way to infuse a project with inspiration is to make it a collaborative project. Like music played by a band instead of a soloist, collaborative writing compounds the energy it creates. You can send your project to my inspired colleagues at DoctorMyDocument and let us add our own touch of inspiration with the $40 trial.

Advertising Your Business

Expensive advertising firms do not have more inspiration than we have. We know how to doctor your advertisement.

**A quick, easy way to find out about our service is to purchase the $40 trial. 

More Examples:

Advertisement we created for a small painting business.
Advertisement we created for RCLmoving (A delivery service and moving company).

***Below is an example of a Craigslist advertisement we created for All-Size Roofing.

TITLE:
ALL-SIZE ROOFING, Inc. – Your friendly, local contractors for 23 YEARS

CRAIGSLIST ADVERTISEMENT:
FOR 23 YEARS, we have contributed to success in Central Massachusetts, for HOMEOWNERS and BUSINESS OWNERS. Our experience enables us to enjoy our work, providing top quality in fewer work hours and making your roofing project simple, easy, and affordable.

DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS about Firestone Rubber Roofing, Gutter Installation, Architectural Shingles, Fascia/Soffits, or Chimney Releading/Repointing?

NO HASSLE FOR YOU, we can get most roof repair jobs done quickly and easily.
Please take a minute to call Mike at (xxx) xxx-xxxx or email ALLSIZEROOFING@gmail.com so that we can provide either advice or an estimate, depending on your interests. We enjoy making life easier for people with roofing projects and look forward to hearing from you, anytime.
All Size Roofing
30 Abbey Rd. Leominster, MA 01453 AllSizeRoofing@gmail.com (XXX) XXX-XXXX ------------------------------THANK YOU----------------------------------------- 

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If you are ready to let us help with advertising, purchase the $40 trial.

***Below is an example of a Craigslist advertisement we created for our tutoring service:


TITLE:  --- ONLINE TUTOR -- WRITING HELP: We help parents empower students ---

CRAIGSLIST ADVERTISEMENT:
 "We impart the knowledge that leads to real mastery of language."
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Dear Friends,

Thanks for looking at our post. Students often struggle with academic writing in high school and college, and it can cause them to form negative perceptions about their intelligence and ability.
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Our goal is to empower students by using writing assignments as OPPORTUNITIES to teach important principles and build intellectual enthusiasm.
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Increased Confidence
Powerful Writing
Critical Thinking
Grammar and Composition
Web-Research
Poetry, Prose, Persuasion, Narration, Speeches and Rhetoric
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Perhaps you are concerned about a struggling student, or perhaps your student is thriving in school and you want to enhance his/her ability by taking a proactive step.
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We provide "scaffolding" (based on Vygotski's "Zone of Proximal Development") to support students while they gain new writing skills. By directing them to apply principles of grammar and style along with great study/research strategies, we make their work easier and more educational.
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The student likes getting the help, and the parent likes knowing that an additional teacher is working to empower their child.
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This is the kind of service you need to try in order to assess. You can use our $40 TRIAL for your student's first correspondence with us.
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Each session involves email correspondence over the course of several days and consists of consultation, guidance, editing & proofreading, and review.
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A 10% DISCOUNT is available for those who pay for five sessions in advance.
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TYPICAL SESSION
Step 1: The student sends us a writing project and asks one or more questions.
Step 2: We provide answers, guidance, and direction for "taking the first step."
Step 3: The student completes all or part of the assignment and sends it to us for corrections and feedback.
Step 4: We answer any questions and reflect with the student on the important principles that have been learned.

Most importantly, the student is empowered psychologically.
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During a typical session, we might correspond with the student via email THREE TO FIVE times, spending a total of about 2.5 hours:
1.) Helping the student to correctly interpret the requirements,
2.) Providing advice that makes academic writing easy and fun,
3.) Making corrections and giving feedback,
4.) Reviewing and reflecting on the principles that have been learned.

In college, the student will always know that his or her education was "elite" in the sense that professional writer/editors were used to supplement their formal education.
As an adult, the student will realize and fully appreciate the proactive steps you took to ensure his or her success.

***Discounts are available for those who pay for several sessions in advance.
***English Language Learners Welcome!!

---We look forward to hearing from you, taking note of your interests and concerns, and following your special instructions. You can respond to this ad or contact kevin.matteson@gmail.com

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Kevin Matteson, Sue O'Neill, Sarah Yazdi, and John Griffin are the writing and editing professionals that launched www.GiftBiography.com, but we also help students of all ages learn to write and communicate powerfully by applying the principles of grammar & composition, classical rhetoric, and literary style.


[END OF EXAMPLE]

More Examples:

Advertisement we created for a small painting business.
Advertisement we created for RCLmoving (A delivery service and moving company).

If you are ready to let us help with advertising, purchase the $40 trial.

Let the Reader Wonder

Make your message resound in the mind of the reader.  How can you get good acoustics in there? It's the same as trying to get a nice sound in any other room: you can improve acoustic conditions by emptying out the room. When 100% of the reader's attention is on one thing, it makes a powerful impression.

Consider this sentence:

The children were hurting my head.

Add another item for the reader to consider or remember, and the attention is divided. It may be necessary to add more words when trying to be informative, but be careful when being informative, because information encumbers the reader:

The children were playing an awkward tune on some flutes they had been given for Christmas, and the shrill noise was hurting my head.


This sentence is more informative, but it is not as fun to read -- not as intriguing.  Also, I hope it gets good gas mileage, because it takes a long time to go from point A to point B. This has more power: The children were hurting my head.
So, informative details are not always helpful. Sometimes, it is best to let the reader wonder. 
***If you want to learn about strategic writing or get help with a document, you can hire us for a "Doctor My Document" $40 trial.

Strategic Writing: Trim away unnecessary words.

Let's give this sentence a complete makeover:

#1.) Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States, was shot by a killer named Boothe.

#2.) Abraham Lincoln was shot by a killer named Boothe.

Sentence #2 is more powerful, because it is not weighed down by unnecessary words. Big, fat, heavy sentences that cannot hold their own weight are very cumbersome to the reader. They are tedious to read and interpret.

Taking this idea a step further, let the reader sometimes do the work of interpreting what you write.  Don't spoon feed them and rob them of the opportunity to experience their own insight. For example:

#1.) The sound of the piano will always remind me of my dead little brother, who enjoyed playing piano very much. I like to visit his grave and play a little tune on an electric keyboard.

#2.) The sound of the piano will always remind me of my dead little brother. I like to visit his grave and play a little tune.

Example #2 is not as informative, but it let's the reader achieve a profound state of mind.  You want the reader to have a profound state of mind when reading.  Let the reader do some of the work. Let her wonder.

Make it your priority that you give the reader images and concepts without a lot of unnecessary detail.  Do not waste a single word.

If you want to get involved with strategic writing lessons, you can visit us! (DoctorMyDocument.com). 

Document Editing: Time Management Rule #1

The most important time management practice is list-making.

You are already multitasking when you become aware of something more that you are required to do.  You cannot do it now, but you also cannot afford to have it on your mind -- because it will take up too much memory in your brain computer and slow your processing speed. 

How can you avoid letting your brain computer get knocked offline when an additional task is added?

Step One: Write it on the list that you keep in your pocket.
 
Step Two: Completely forget about it and get back to what you were doing. In this way, you skillfully fend off interruptions.
 
Step Three: Do not keep it as a file or email message to yourself. Keep it in your pocket (see step 2)

***Special Warning: Do not let yourself become intimidated by your list of things to do. It's lucky you are even keeping it.

***If you need to delegate some work to professional writers (starts at $40), click here.

Lost List of Things
I write the list of things to do.
Weighing the sum of the whole lot.
I might have missed half of that shit
If I never polluted the pad with my burdens.

Responsibility weighs me down.
But I keep my head down in the work.
I don’t even look at that stupid pad
Until I have to add an entry or see what’s next.

I hate that pad that keeps me okay
With its things to do and its
Condescending ways
of talking to me.

But when I lost it one day,
And I had no idea what things there were to do
Or what was required of me…
I think something snapped sideways in my mind.

www.DoctorMyDocument.com

Make a Donation, Receive a Document:

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Document Ninja Training Session #1

The first ninja training session is about quickening your attention. There is no such thing as quickening your attention, because attention is neither fast nor slow. Attention hovers in a steady way, but you can slow down your activity so that your attention becomes quicker relative to what you are doing.

We'll send you a document that can help you quicken your attention and hone your document ninja-ing skills. Reading this document will help you to be more methodical with your written and verbal communications.

Stylistic Concepts for Email Communication
Crash Course in Neurolinguistic Programming
Feeling Your Words
Covert Hypnosis
The Power of the Topic Sentence in a Paragraph
The Power of the Topic Sentence in Argument
Say It, Explain It, and Say It Again

Now do you feel inspired to make a donation and receive a document? Thanks for your interest!

Ghostwriting in the Information Age

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He lives in a creative haze that smells like incense and coffee,
Delivers a document, somebody pays – in a sense his lifestyle is carefree.
Nevertheless, he is uninsured and preoccupied with projects,
And the I.R.S. is always snooping and trying to take his paychecks,

“Five large and empty” are not real at all.
Our important concerns are fleeting like a dream.
He just turns his attention to the project that pays
And helps that client follow in folly the story of life situations.

The ghostwriter has no need for contracts.
Clients pay each week on a given day.
Nobody ever asks for money back,
But if they do, they can take it and go away.

At the time of this writing, approximately seven million Americans are unemployed.  I am not one of them; I make my bread by spewing the sacred word.  I don’t know any words that are particularly sacred; all words are sacred, because they are the tools of my trade and the product I provide.  With words and my laptop, I can always be okay and have some extra money for family. 

If you want to get involved with ghostwriting, we can help!  It'll cost you $40 if you want us to assess your skill and provide consultation.

Some projects are very difficult, but not as difficult as submitting the authority of some foolish manager or superior officer.  People can just leave me alone. I write documents, and nobody needs to tell me when and how to do that. And if you need a document written or edited, please send it to support@DoctorMyDocument.com

Public Speaking Ninja

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Speaking to multiple listeners is like fighting multiple opponents.  You don't have to worry about all the opponents, because only one can invade your personal space at a time. Knock out one after another as they trip over each other's feet.

When speaking in front of a group, you can have similar bold confidence. Speaking to one listener is no different from speaking in front of several.  Just talk slowly so you can use a rhythm you like, and speak from the belly instead of from the throat.  Smile. Look at all the faces like so many interesting fish in a fish tank.  Smile. You are a public speaking ninja.

Need help? We are Document Ninjas. We can write a powerful speech about anything. 

What is the correct way to use a semi-colon?

 
Some writers use a dash when they should use a semi-colon, and others do the opposite.  There are actually several uses for each. You can Google around to find out all the details, but these two ideas are very useful and easy to remember:

1.) Connecting independent clauses with a semi-colon
A semi-colon is used the way a period is used:  to connect independent clauses.
"Jose won the contest. Everyone expected him to win."
"Jose won the contest; everyone expected him to win."

**An independent clause is a group of words that could be a complete sentence if they wanted to be, even though they might choose to be part of a longer sentence. Do not use a dash to connect independent clauses. Use a semi-colon!

2.) A dash works like a comma, but a really big one.  A dash is very useful for managing long sentences, especially ones that already contain a few commas -- this sentence being an example -- because using a set of 2 dashes can help you to avoid using lots of confusing commas.    So, a dash is like a really big comma that takes itself too seriously.

Another example:
Jose won the contest, an impressive accomplishment, and although he felt good about the victory he could not help thinking about the disappointment his opponent must have felt.
This could be written with dashes:
Jose won the contest -- an impressive accomplishment -- and although he felt good about the victory he could not help thinking about the disappointment his opponent must have felt. 
If the sentence needed to be longer, the dashes would be extra helpful for keeping the sentence clear:
Jose won the contest, an impressive accomplishment, and although he felt good about the victory he could not help thinking about the disappointment his opponent must have felt -- because this contest occurs only once every four years.  
In this last example, you can see that the dash works just like a comma.  It is useful, though, for helping the reader to compartmentalize the many parts of the sentence and think about it in an organized way.  Part of being a good writer is the ability to accommodate the reader's quirky attention.


NOTE: This is not a complete explanation for the uses of the dash and semi-colon.  There are other uses; for example, a semi-colon is often used to separate items on a list. In this blog, we just wanted to share the insights above and leave you with this easy-to-remember concept:

"A dash works like a comma that takes itself too seriously, and a semi-colon works like a period that does not take itself seriously enough." 

DO YOU NEED SOMETHING WRITTEN OR EDITED? 

Readers love figuring things out on their own.

Use brevity.

I value brevity so much that I sometimes say, "Medium regular!" even though I actually prefer milk instead of cream.

Brevity is important, because "less is more" when writing Web content. Less information is more fun. Same as in school. Readers don't really want to hear what I have to say, so I just say something rhythmic, and their minds imagine images. Chicken finger. Readers love figuring things out on their own. Uncooked, Chinese chicken finger dough takes ten minutes to chew.

Every sentence is work for the reader. It's just like toxins in food. You cannot eat without getting toxins, and you cannot write sentences without detracting from the reader's experience.  The best way is to not write anything at all and instead leave the reader alone to enjoy bliss in the present moment.

But if you must write something, use brevity.