{"id":8967,"date":"2016-02-26T17:38:30","date_gmt":"2016-02-27T00:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/otmk.wpengine.com\/?p=8967"},"modified":"2023-10-10T12:24:44","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T19:24:44","slug":"amazeballs-im-writing-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outsourcemarketing.com\/blog\/amazeballs-im-writing-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazeballs! I’m writing again!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have confession. Back in 2007, we were encouraging our clients to incorporate blogging into their marketing. While my team had written some posts and done some keywording for clients, I\u2019d never logged in and created a post myself. <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, I knew all the reasons why to blog but didn\u2019t know diddly squat about how to do it. I was a fraud. <\/span><\/p>\n

I started dabbling with our <\/span>Responsible Marketing Blog<\/span><\/a> in late 2007, then in 2008 I set a personal goal to write a blog post every weekday for a year. 12 months later I looked 12 years older, but I\u2019d written 286 blog posts–nearly 24 posts per month.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the first time since I graduated from Gonzaga, I was writing every day. I found myself revisiting my old friends Mr. Strunk and Mr. White and diving in once again to William Zinsser\u2019s excellent <\/span>On Writing Well<\/span><\/a>. I was so inspired I took action on my dream of writing a book. I met with authors. I found a literary agent. I even wrote my book proposal and the first chapter. <\/span><\/p>\n

When the economy derailed in late 2008, it took some of our best clients with it, and blogging took a back seat to survival. I haven\u2019t written regularly since. <\/span><\/p>\n

Until now, thanks to Ann Handley. <\/span><\/p>\n

We just read Ann\u2019s book, <\/span>Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content<\/span><\/a> in our Outsource Marketing Book Club. I\u2019ve enjoyed Ann\u2019s work at <\/span>MarketingProfs<\/span><\/a> and her previous book, <\/span>C<\/span>ontent Rules<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chock full of advice and ideas to help and inspire any writer, <\/span>Everybody Writes<\/span><\/i> has been summarized and <\/span>reviewed<\/span><\/a> by people far more qualified than I. It\u2019s one you\u2019ll read once, share, and refer back to again and again. <\/span><\/p>\n

So what inspired me to get writing again? Well, it was partially because Ann\u2019s writing style makes writing sound fun. <\/span><\/p>\n

Really, this book helped me deal with my two biggest excuses for not writing:<\/p>\n

Like a lot of writers, I’m a little insecure about my grammar and punctuation and how my prose stacks up. Call it my high school English class hangover. While these things are important, Ann\u2019s focus is on clarity and voice. There\u2019s even a chapter called \u201cShed High School Rules.\u201d Yes!<\/span><\/p>\n

With my insecurities now at bay, my second excuse was a lack of time. Ann doesn\u2019t buy this, and shared this quote from Jeff Goins of <\/span>GoinsWriter.com<\/span><\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t write a lot. Just write often.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I seldom sit down to write for a few minutes. It\u2019s usually for a few hours. Hearing those words somehow gave me permission to enjoy writing in the time I have available to me. So I don\u2019t have to finish 10 pages a day like Ernest Hemingway. <\/span>Two good sentences<\/span><\/a> in a day like James Joyce works, too: \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Amazeballs! I’m writing again!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have confession. Back in 2007, we were encouraging our clients to incorporate blogging into…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2953],"tags":[2881,449,2669,1247],"class_list":{"0":"post-8967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-content-marketing","8":"tag-blog-writing","9":"tag-copywriting","10":"tag-outsource-marketing","11":"tag-responsible-marketing"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAmazeballs! 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