Fundamentals of Writing: How to Write Articles, Media Releases, Case Studies, Blog Posts and Social Media Content

Contents

Introduction

1 The Importance of Creativity

2 Communication Process

3 Pleased to Meet You

4 The Writing Process

5 Outline Before You Write

6 The Three Cs of Writing

7 Before Writing Articles

8 Overview: Types of Articles

9 Writing Article Leads

10 Full News Articles

11 Soft Articles and Leads

12 Feature Articles and Leads

13 Writing Media Releases

14 Writing Case Studies

15 Social Media

16 Writing Blog Posts

17 Constructing Sentences

18 Paragraphs and Transitions

Appendix I: Full Articles

Appendix II: Case Study

About the Author

Introduction

Welcome to Fundamentals of Writing, a book written specifically for those who want to improve their writing skills and apply them to writing articles (for newspapers, magazines, corporate and other publications), media releases, case studies, blog posts and social media content. The book is based on several writing courses that I teach online for University of Toronto continuing education students and for private students and corporate clients.

Fundamentals of Writing is for you if you are looking to

- become a more effective writer;

- organize your thoughts before you write;

- write for a defined audience;

- make your points in a clear, concise, focused manner.

If you are like me, you fear the blank screen or blank page. You look at it and feel intimidated. You see it as an empty vessel you have to fill with words—only you are not quite sure which words to use, how to order them or how to use all those squiggles (known as punctuation marks).

Perhaps you are not like me. Perhaps you love the sight of a blank page. You view it as a blank canvas, an opportunity to create. However, you may feel your creations take too long to come to fruition. You start, you stop, you start again. Moving forward is a slow, painful journey, and you often feel you've missed your mark or destination, even if just by a tad, when you are done.

Welcome to the wonderful world of writing.

My hope is that this book will help you overcome that feeling of intimidation. And if you don't feel intimidated by the blank page, that's cool. My hope is that the book will simply help make you a stronger, more confident, writer. In both cases, the hope is that this book will help you write in a more focused and concise manner, and will help you effectively structure your written communication when writing articles, media releases, case studies, blog posts and social media content.

Although the book covers writing stronger sentences and more organized paragraphs in the last couple of chapters, it does not cover spelling or grammar or how to write advertising or promotional copy, business documents (email, letters and reports) or how to write for the web. (Visit www.paullima.com/books for books on most of those topics.)

When it comes to the fundamentals of writing, this book will get you grounded and focused—especially if you feel as if you're often spinning your wheels when you write. Fundamentals of Writing focuses on the writing process to get you thinking about your audience, purpose and desired outcome before you start to write. Then it helps you effectively and efficiently write well-structured, focused documents in a clear, concise manner. You will come to understand the importance of following that process no matter what you are writing because, simply put, writing is a process. To improve your writing, you need to understand the process and apply it in a dedicated and disciplined manner. Exercises in this book will help you apply the process to the types of writing previously mentioned.

The book will also help you spark your writing creativity and exercise your writing muscles, to get them into shape before you start to plunge into writing projects. And, as mentioned, there are a couple of practical chapters toward the end of the book that will help you improve your sentence and paragraph structure, should you need some help with your writing at that level.

Note: This is the first edition of the book. The book should be 99.5% error-free. If, however, you like to play spot the tpyos, feel free to let me know if you find any, or have any other comments about the book. Email me—info@paullima.com.

Paul Lima

www.paullima.com

1. The Importance of Creativity

Writing is considered an art by most fiction writers, one that involves a great deal of creative thought. For the rest of us—those who write business documents, articles, case studies, media releases, blog posts, social media content, web content and even non-fiction books—writing is a craft. However, even crafts involve at least a modicum of creative thinking, some types of non-fiction writing more than others, admittedly. Technical competency and understanding the structure of the document you are producing are important; however, unless you are producing a price list, it is difficult to imagine writing without a degree of creative ability.

With that in mind, we are going to look at some creative techniques and do several creative exercises that you may be able to apply to your writing, or at least use to loosen up before you start to write. But before we look at creativity and writing, let's look at something that can interfere with creativity, or what I call your internal critic or censor.

Writing seems to be painful in some way for almost everyone. For instance, when it comes to spelling and grammar, English is a convoluted and inconsistent language. For many of us, including me, spelling and grammar—let alone stringing words together in coherent sentences—can be frustrating. If you're my age, that frustration might include some early memories of grade school teachers who seemed to relish slashing thick red marks through your earnest writing efforts. For me, that would be Mr. Conron, my grade five teacher. As confusing as the rules are, having a teacher crush your work under the weight of red slashes can make the act of facing the blank page an intimidating endeavour.

My internal critic/censor, Mr. Conron, would not give me a pen in grade five, the year students graduated from pencil to pen. Instead, he made me use a pencil all year because I could not spell well or write neatly enough to earn my ink, so to speak.

But there was a reason for this.

Writing, to me, was complicated. All those rules and exceptions to them. Who could keep track? Maybe you, but not me.

It is "i before e except after c, isn't it? Oh, unless the word has an aye sound as in neighbour. If that is the case, how do you account for weird"? When it comes to writing rules, that word is just ... well, weird. So my writing was messy because I could not spell! When you don't know if it's "i before e or e before i you make a chubby i and a skinny e" and put the dot right in the middle, hoping to fool the teacher, which I seldom did.

Mr. Conron wielded his red marker like the sword of Zorro, gleefully cutting huge red gashes across my mistakes. He never once commented on content or creativity. He just slashed at mistakes, as if perfect spelling and grammar are what writing is all about. There was no room for art or craft, just correct spelling and grammar. Oh, and neatness.

I battle Mr. Conron whenever I attempt to master the creative art of writing. When he rears his ugly head, I say, Get thee behind me, Satan! And I keep on writing—through typos and grammatical errors, through incomplete sentences and incorrect words. I write until I have finished an error-filled first draft and then I laugh in his face. Because I have learned something about writing: writing is a process. First, you create, and then you correct. Mr. Conron (and Word's automatic grammar and spell check) be damned!

Even before you create, there are steps you need to take to become a more effective and efficient writer. However, before we look at the writing process in detail, answer me this: You, too, have an internal censor. Who is it? Take a moment. Identify your critic/censor. Name him or her. Give him/her a nickname (like Satan). Place your thumb on the tip of your nose and wiggle your fingers at him/her. Go on. Do it. Say your critic's name (or names!) out loud and thumb your nose at your Mr. Conron ... .

There! Doesn't that feel better?

Now ... pick up a pen. Find a sheet of paper. And write about your internal censor/critic, and what impact he or she had (or didn't have) on your writing. Write without stopping or correcting yourself. Screw spelling, grammar and neatness. Just write, write, write. Write as if you were freefalling—falling from an airplane without a parachute. Nothing can stop you. Not grammar. Not spelling. Not Mr. Conron. Take five or ten minutes and write, write, write ... . Doesn't matter what you write or where you go. Just write.... Don't censor yourself. Consider this for your eyes only. Abandon your internal censor, and... On your mark ... Get set ... Write!

Write about your internal censor for 5 minute or so, and then read on.

How to Overcome Your Mr. Conron

Welcome back. Hope you are feeling okay... First, understand that writing is a process. Mistakes are part of the process. In the process, there is a time to create and a time to revise. If you do not follow the process, Mr. C. will trip you up every time. He will get you revising or editing when you should be creating. He will cause you to waste time editing work that is not even at the first-draft stage. He will have you feeling frustrated and stupid.

Writing is difficult enough without Satan squeezing the last ounce of fun out of what should be a challenging but enjoyable creative art or craft. I use several creative writing exercises to bypass my Mr. C. They help me focus on the creative aspect of the work and even get a document organized or outlined before I start to write. I save dotting the i's and crossing the t's for the last stage of the process—editing—and relegate Mr. C. to a small (but important) role as editor. In short, I lock him in a cupboard, feed him nothing and only use him when I need him. And I do need him; every writer needs an editor. But there is a place for him in the process, and it is not when you are getting organized or creating.

Before we look at right brain, or creative, exercises in this book, here are a few words for thought you might want to think about:

It took me my whole life to learn how to paint like a child again.—Pablo Picasso

Never look at a reference book while doing a first draft. You want to write a story? Fine. Put away your dictionary, your encyclopaedias, your World Almanac and your thesaurus ... . You think you might have misspelled a word? Okay, so here's your choice: either look it up in the dictionary to make sure you have it right—and break your train of thought—or spell it phonetically and correct it later. Why not? Do you think the word is going to go away? When you sit down to write, write. Don't do anything else except go to the bathroom, and only do that if it absolutely cannot be put off.—Stephen King

Do you see what these words are saying? When you are creating, you must overcome your inhibitions and internal censors. You must be as free as a child. In short, when you are creating, spelling and grammar do not count. There will be time for correcting later, once you have completed a first draft. After all, who do you show the first draft to? (To whom do you show your first draft?) Nobody! Who cares if there are tpyos? Fix them later.

If you are working in a word-processing program like Word and you have your spell checker and grammar checker turned on, you are inviting Mr. Conron to inhibit your creativity. You are seeing and correcting so-called mistakes as you write—before you complete your first draft. In doing so, you are wasting time and losing your creative train of thought. Brainstorming, pre-writing exercises and the first draft are for your eyes only.

With that in mind, turn off spell check and grammar check and start creating. Try these exercises below using pen and paper, unless otherwise indicated. There is something formal about neat rows of letters and words on the computer screen. They just seem to cry out for revision when you should be focused on creation! So use pen and paper for the creative exercises.

Writer's Journal

Since you will be writing while reading this book, I suggest you start a writer's journal, using either a notebook or a specific file on your computer. Whatever the case, it should be an easily accessible place where you can write as you work your way through the book.

Your writer's journal is where you write notes, observations and reactions, and the place where you do your journal exercises. It is your safe place. It is not a diary. It is you playing in your creative sandbox. It is not for public consumption. So have fun in your journal, and don't censor yourself.

Does that mean anything goes in your writer's journal? To answer succinctly: yes! Why not? It's for your eyes only. Enough said.

In addition, you might want to write in your journal for fifteen minutes or so a day, at least three days per week—even if you think you have nothing to write about. Simply use what you learn—particularly from your freefall and clustering—and write about it on a regular basis in your journal.

Again, your journal is not a diary. Keep notes in it and use it to practice some of the exercises you will read about over the next few chapters. In other words, don't just try the exercises once and move on. Try them while you are reading the book, and then make them a regular part of your journal-writing practice or workout.

When is the best time to write in your journal? Whenever you can! Perhaps you can take time first thing in the morning or just before going to bed, or instead of watching the news. Only you can find, or make, time to write. And if you want to be a writer, writing when you don't necessarily have anything to write about is a great way to exercise your writing muscles and clear your head so you can clearly focus on what you have to write about when you have writing work to do.

Right-Brain Writing and Pre-Writing Exercises

Below are several right-brain (creative side of the brain) pre-writing exercises that will help you tap into the creative side of writing. While you may not need to use each of these exercises before you write, using them is a great way to exercise your writing muscles before you engage in the more serious endeavour of trying to write a document. Just as a sprinter or marathon runner would not run a race without a regimen of exercise and without warming up, these exercises will help you get into writing shape and can be used to warm up before you write.

Also, if you suffer from writer's block, these exercises are a great way to unblock writer's block. (They are such great ways to unblock writer's block that I have written a more extensive writing exercise book called Unblock Writer's Block. The book presents these and many more writing exercises in detail.)

In addition, when conducted with a particular topic in mind, the exercises presented here can help you discover ideas, themes, words, phrases and other material that will make it into your document, so they are a great way to conduct internal research—to look for material you can use in your writing.

Freefall

Freefall has been called writing without a parachute or stream of consciousness writing. Freefall is a means of writing whereby you literally write, for five minutes or so, without stopping. When you freefall, you don't have to have anything in particular to write about. You just put pen to paper (recommended over fingers to keyboard) and write, write, write. You don't stop, no matter what. Think of yourself as an artist practicing gesture sketching (rapidly drawing and playing with lines or gestures that do not necessarily become pictures). There is no goal or destination. You start without a beginning and do not have to end anywhere in particular. Just jot down the first thought that pops into your mind, followed by the next and then the next and then the next ... .

In other words, to sustain your freefall, tap into your stream of consciousness—the thoughts that are flowing through your mind (even as you are reading this page, you can hear them rushing through your mind)—and write, write, write. If you feel yourself coming to a halt, doodle or use ellipsis ( ... ) until you tap back into the stream. Do not stop.

Do not stop to correct spelling, grammar or punctuation.

Do not stop to reflect upon or edit your work.

Do not stop.

Write quickly, without stopping to edit or revise.

It can feel unusual to write when you think you have nothing to say, or to continue to write when you know you have made a spelling or grammatical error. However, that is the whole point—to get used to the separation of writer and editor by jumping into the stream and letting the current take you somewhere, anywhere, or nowhere in particular. Just follow the stream of consciousness as it meanders through your mind. Write without censoring yourself, until you reach what feels like an end. Or not. Give yourself at least five minutes, if not more.

Journal Exercise: Let's Freefall

I want to stress here that your freefall does not have to be a straight narrative. Have fun. Play. Experiment. Push your personal boundaries. If you latch on to something that feels like a bit of business writing or work-related writing, run with it. But do not try to impose form or narrative on your freefall. Write fast. Do not pause. Especially do not pause to revise.

What I suggest that you do now is this:

Sit comfortably where you will not