Language: English

In a recent workshop/training in Turkey, I found out a simple difference, which has major implications: When you write for the regular Internet audience, you should consider your audience – in a hurry, wanting fast results, eager to get to the point. Small sentences, active verbs, no gerund, no passive voice, no metaphors, plain speech, short texts. When you write for a friend, when you write a letter, you should also consider your audience – you can write longer texts, your verbs can also be in a passive tense, you can have non-active verbs, you may use the gerund, metaphors are allowed, so are fancy words and long texts. In a nutshell: The Internet is for speed. The friendship is for long, warm texts.

„The best way to get over writer’s block is to write. Sit and type something. Even if it doesn’t make any sense. Even if you are just transcribing the lyrics to a song. Just type. And eventually, the words will come.” „You can write a post for just one person, and still find that a lot of people want to read it.” „When you have a good idea far from your computer, write yourself a note. My home is littered with scraps of paper that Rand and I have scribbled on. We’ve learned to check with one another before throwing them away. “Is this important?” “Yes. That’s the start of the next great American novel.” “… on the back of a Safeway receipt?” “Yeah.”-„ „At some point, you’ll spend hours looking for something online. A guide, a piece of information, some help about some topic that’s pressing on you. And if you don’t find it, you need to sit down and write the post yourself.” „Bad is better than boring.” „Done and mediocre is better than unfinished and brilliant.” „This is a leftover tip from journalism school, and I still love it: if the first paragraph of a post is holding you back, then start with the second paragraph. Then you can either write your lead paragraph later, or realize that the second paragraph is a perfectly okay place to start.” „Stop trying to be deep. Stop trying to elicit an emotional response from your readers. It will feel heavy-handed or manipulative. Just tell your story – …

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