If you're in advertising or marketing, this may sound familiar.
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Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tips on Ghostwriting by Andrew Crofts
Yesterday morning (afternoon), the BBC interviewed Andrew Crofts: Ghostwriter extraordinaire. He’s the Tiger Woods of Ghostwriting, and has this to say to those charged with the task of writing on someone else’s behalf:
“The process is really asking questions and listening. People will tell you their whole stories if you just keep prodding them gently and becoming their friend and confidant. They have to trust you completely. Be completely honest. People do trust people who listen to them. Because everybody likes to be listened to, don’t they? We’re all so busy talking and telling each other stuff and showing off. Nobody is listening to anybody.”
Check out his book on Amazon.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Feeling Civic-Minded?
Check out the great Writer's Digest piece: "10 Rules for Writing Opinion Pieces." In addition to the points made in the piece one thing that's always worked well for me with opinion pieces, and that I respect in others' opinion pieces, is some sort of quantifiable information that supports their premise and position.
10 Rules for Writing Opinion Pieces
July 27, 2009
by Susan Shapiro
"Opinionated editorial essays are often the most fun, fast and furious pieces to get into print—especially for nonfamous writers with strong opinions and day jobs in other fields..." READ THE REST
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Nonfiction Writing Doesn't Have to Suck
Just because you’re writing about real life, politics or business doesn’t mean you have to be bland about it. If you want to see the masters of engaging nonfiction prose, pick up a copy of Creative Nonfiction magazine. If you’ve ever thought that you weren’t a very good connoisseur of nonfiction writing, read two issues and then I dare you to get through a piece in People (though I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy; it’s not that I’m a snob. It’s just that it was written for a. post-orbital lobotomy patients and b. people for whom books are an interior design element rather than a vehicle for enhancing the human experience).
Creative Nonfiction is the publication that put out Silence Kills, 12 essays collected to explore the current state of America’s healthcare system. As the debate about healthcare reform erupts around us, it’s as germane as ever. Not light reading, but good reading. On a less ominous note, Creative Nonfiction’s anthologies are not to be missed. Check out the latest as recently reviewed by the New Yorker Book Bench.
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