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Shakespeare

Why Everyone Hopes You’ll Be the Hero

by Robert Bruce on February 11, 2011

I walked into the small, yellow audition room and stopped twelve feet in front of the cheap plastic fold-out table.

There were three of them sitting in there, bored, distracted, glancing at their watches.

The big heart inside my chest was pounding on the rib cage, hoping this was the one.

“Hi, uh …. Mr. Bruise is it?” No. 1 said.

“Yes, it’s actually Bruce, but thank you, I …”

“All right, what do you have for us today?” No. 3 said.

He was looking down, rustling some outstandingly important paperwork into some sort of crucial order.

“Yes, thank you, I, I’ll be doing a short monologue from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and another from Sean Penn’s turn in Carlito’s Way.”

I heard one of them groan under his breath.

With sweat pouring down my chest and into the front of my new shirt from Ross, I began acting like nobodies motherf***ing business …

“All right, thank you, that was beautiful, that was really well done. You’re beautiful Bruise, we’ll call you …” No. 2 said.

I walked out onto the street, and into six more years of small yellow rooms, fold-out tables, and “We’ll call you …” promises.

I’d gambled it all, and at 30 ended up humiliated, broke, and directionless.

Years later, after my time in Hollywood was over, I was sitting next to a very old man at a bus stop. We chatted for a few minutes, turns out he’d been an extremely successful businessman in the midwest.

I told him my experiences, my many failures in work, and he listened patiently.

Then he uttered something that changed the way I looked at work, success, failure, and everything else related to human industry — forever.

“You know, those casting directors really wanted you to be the one they were looking for. They weren’t against you, they were waiting for you to nail it, so they could pack up and get back to their martinis.”

Think about this. Think about why you don’t start.

You’re afraid, which wrecks your ability to execute.

You’re full of excuses, which kills your idea before it’s born.

You think buyers, or readers, or clients, or investors are against you, which makes you unfit for fighting.

You’re probably not a twenty-something trying to make it in Hollywood (neither am I, anymore).

Maybe you’re 65, and starting a freelance marketing shop.

Or you’re 43 and and you want to build your first iPhone app.

You might feel that the world, your circumstances, and your past are all staring you in the face, mocking you. Telling you it’s no use, might as well throw it in.

Truth is, every person and company in this world wants you to rescue them. They’re just waiting, hoping you, or your product, or your service, is the hero that finally solves their problem or fulfills their desire. They hope you’re the hero they’ve been waiting for all this time.

You may not feel it, and they certainly won’t tell you, but it’s true.

“You know, those customers really want your product to be the one they’ve been looking for. They aren’t against you, they’re waiting for you to nail it, to solve their problem, so they can get on with their lives.”

You might fall flat, you might make an exquisite failure, but don’t let worry or nervousness about how your “thing” will be received stop you.

Do your research, know your lines cold, practice daily, and then ship it.

Go make it. Be the hero.

About the Author: Robert Bruce is Copyblogger Media’s resident raconteur and copywriter.

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5 Warning Signs You Might be a Blogcrastinator

by Michelle Russell on April 13, 2010

blogcrastination (blŏg-kras-tuh-ney-shuhn) — the deferment of writing a blog post to a later time; often a mechanism for coping with anxiety.

If you’ve been a blogger for long, you know how ugly blogcrastination can be.

It disrupts your goals, stifles your spirit, and makes you second guess your decisions. It can take you from writing a post every day to letting days, weeks, or even months go by without writing.

It can even make you question whether you’re really cut out for blogging.

I know because I’ve been there, and the good news is that there is a way through it.

But first, you’ll need to accept that you are a blogcrastinator (this can be difficult and requires strength of character) and begin to develop an awareness of its telltale signs.

See if you can recognize them in yourself:

1. You keep postponing

If this is you, you sound a bit like Shakespeare’s Macbeth: “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow . . .”

The thing is, you honestly do intend to get writing. This afternoon or tomorrow morning or this weekend . . .

Just not right now. First, you have to finish six loads of laundry, choose the décor for your new home office, and get to inbox zero.

After that, blogging is definitely at the top of your priority list.

Or so you keep telling yourself.

Treatment Plan: Give yourself a series of very short time slots in which to write, interspersed with other activities. Do not make a big deal of this. Convince yourself it’s not in the least important, and you can do it in small chunks. Remember, you’re just jotting down a few sentences here and there. (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.)

2. You push so hard it hurts

Your method of writing is to power on through, pounding your brain against the paragraphs over and over until you’re done with the piece, no matter what.

In fact, you probably don’t call yourself a blogcrastinator at all, because you do finish posts . . . when you can bring yourself to sit down and write. The problem is, writing is so painful that you can’t bring yourself to do it very often.

Treatment Plan: The prescription for this is simple: take a break for a few minutes! Pay attention to how you feel, and when the writing starts to feel like dragging a boulder uphill, stop.

Preferably do something physical, like taking a brisk walk or putting away the dishes, anything to get out of your mind and into your body. This will let your creative faculties relax and breathe. If you make this approach a habit, you may be surprised at how darn enjoyable writing can be.

3. You are easily distracted

This symptom wears two cunning disguises.

The first lets you distract yourself with other ways of “working on” your blog, such as checking your site stats, tweaking your theme, spending four hours in Flickr Creative Commons looking for a killer post image, or (the most insidious distraction of all) doing research for your posts.

The second disguise appears when things other than your blog or website or home life distract you. Because God only knows what will happen if you don’t get that roof reshingled today.

Treatment Plan: You’re probably seeing blog posts as something you “have to” write. Try reframing them as an “I want to” or, even better, an “I get to.”

Think about it. How many pursuits require such low overhead and so little equipment (hmm, computer, brain, and fingers — and the fingers are optional), and let you share so much with the entire world? Pretty cool when you stop to consider it.

4. You’re constantly generating ideas for posts

Blogcrastination of this type can be a result of either fear or fun.

If it’s the former, you’re perpetually jotting down ideas for future posts because this allows you to avoid the scary process of actually writing any.

If the latter, you simply get off on brainstorming — it’s play to you. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get those posts written.

Treatment Plan: Use your idea-generating ability to outline your next blog post as if it was a series of mini-posts. Pick a topic from your list of ideas, and then jot down bullet points or subheads for what it needs to include. Eventually you’ll have the skeleton of the post, and all you’ll need to do is go through and insert some connecting words and phrases.

5. You’re a chatter, not a writer

You put the “social” in media.

In your world, “twit” is not an insult and is always followed by “-er,” and you like nothing more than posting in forums and commenting on other people’s blogs. After all, it’s the way to make friends and organically grow your own following, right?

And you truly do get a lot from the conversation. In fact, sometimes you think you do your best writing in those other places. Sadly, sometimes it’s your only writing.

Treatment Plan: Turn those detailed comments, forum posts, and twitter conversation into blog posts. Use the same energy, building off the ideas of others; just funnel it into your blog instead. That way, you’re still getting to talk, and you’re building your blog at the same time.

Now, was that so bad?

Remember, blogcrastination can be overcome, and the pain it causes can be a thing of the past. The first step is to rediscover how much you can enjoy writing. We are all here with you.

Okay, everyone, time for a group hug.

About the Author: Michelle Russell publishes the blog Practice Makes Imperfect, where she blogcrastinates regularly, as well as spending plenty of quality time on Twitter. With superninja Wendy Cholbi, she also helps brand-new bloggers get their WordPress blogs up and running.

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How to Blog like Shakespeare: Writing for Three Audiences at the Same Time

by admin on January 22, 2010

image of shakespeare using a laptop

William Shakespeare is the shorthand we use when we want to describe a great writer. He stands for the pinnacle of writing ability.

One reason is that he mastered the art of writing for completely different audiences. He appealed to the ultra elite, to regular theater-goers who never missed a performance, and to the illiterate mobs in the cheap seats. And he managed to satisfy each audience magnificently.

I’ve written a blog series around the web about how to write for each of three different audiences: new readers, regular readers, and experts. Now it’s time for us to try the Shakespearean feat of pulling these three audiences together.

Before we move on, I want to be clear that writing for each of your audiences is not the same thing as trying to write for everybody. Writing for your different audiences isn’t the same thing as writing for Wikipedia.

Write different posts for the different groups

Not every post has to work for every reader. Sometimes, instead of trying to write one post that works for everybody, pick one of your audiences and write for them.

If your blog gives marketing tips, you might give tips for new readers on Monday, regular readers on Wednesday, and experts on Friday. To be clear about who each post is for, you could call them Marketing 101, Marketing 201, and Marketing 401.

This approach pleases all three audiences more than you’d think. New readers learn a lot all at once, regular readers get refreshers and expert knowledge, and experts appreciate the reminders and will probably send people your way, too.

Embrace the series

Series are a great way to tackle the Eternal September problem, which is one of the main challenges of blogging.

Because readers come in at different phases of the conversation, we tend to either have to constantly remind people where we are, or write each post so that someone just joining in can grasp what’s going on.

Not only that, but most blog readers are used to reading short posts, and sometimes it’s hard to complete a complex thought in 800 words. Eternal September combined with short attention spans tends to lead to posts that lack substance and offer little more than constant primers.

With a series, though, you can start everyone on the same page. Series also give you enough room to develop your thought in a little more depth.

Writing a series gives you another opportunity to please all three audiences. New readers get the advantage of being caught up all at once, and they get a great introduction to your blog and your voice. Regular readers can appreciate the longer coverage of an idea, especially since you can use the room to give detailed stories and explanations. Experts respect a good series because you can show your knowledge of the field and you have the chance to say and explain something novel.

For some concrete examples of how it’s done, take a look at the Resources section to the left of this post, with series like Copywriting 101, Content Marketing 101, or SEO Copywriting.

Don’t write a series just to write a series, as it’s easy to tell the difference between a post that’s just way too long and an idea that needed several posts to cover well. A series is not a substitute for good, concise writing.

Focus on new and regular readers

Given that they make up at least 95% of your blog readers, your writing should always deliver the maximum value to new and regular readers.

This is where we tend to go wrong. by trying to write too often for experts (for example, other bloggers in our topic). In writing for experts, we run the real risk of losing everybody else.

Think about your blog post in layers. One layer of your writing should help new readers. After you have them covered, the next layer should be for your regular readers. Lastly, if you can work it in, the final layer should be for the experts.

Write as an expert, not like one

Just because you’re an expert doesn’t mean you have to write in a way that’s hard to read and understand.

Good writers know that the real challenge is writing about difficult topics in a simple, clear, and approachable way. As Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

If you’re able to write about difficult topics in a way that non-experts understand, you’ll do what many experts can’t. There’s no better way to establish your authority with all three groups, experts included.

The wheel has come full circle

Blogging is a new medium, sure, but it’s a medium by which we express, educate, entertain, and engage people. And people haven’t changed that much. That’s why we can learn from the past; their challenges are our challenges.

As blogging evolves, what will discriminate the remarkable and memorable from the bland and forgotten?

It’s not how well you can create spikes of traffic, but how much art you bring to the craft of blogging. It’s great to have a killer blog, but even better to have one with a touch of poetry.

There were dozens of playwrights in Shakespeare’s day who knew how to fill seats, but there’s only one Shakespeare. Which do you want to be?

This is the fourth and final part of the How To Blog Like Shakespeare Series from Charlie Gilkey. Check out the other posts in the series:

About the Author: Charlie Gilkey writes about meaningful action, creativity, and entrepreneurship at Productive Flourishing. Follow him on Twitter to see how he does at the whole brevity thing.