“As things stand now, I am going to be a writer. I’m not sure that I’m going to be a good one or even a self-supporting one, but until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says ‘you are nothing’, I will be a writer.”
There's more to content marketing than writing, for sure, but writing is one of the cornerstones. It delivers stories and messages that move people to think, feel, remember and take action.
We're here to stand up, and say no to boilerplate marketing guff wrapped in BuzzFeed-style headlines. False promises delivered in velvet-ribboned boxes by one-eyed Witchdoctors promising riches on the other side of a click.
There's a better way, and who better to show us than the Dean of Gonzo, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (RIP).
#1. Learn from the best
Conrad, Hemingway, Fitzgerald. Thompson famously typed out the books of his favourite authors to learn what he called, "the music" of their writing, the rhythm, the fluidity, the colour of the language.
He often spoke of how this helped him develop as a writer in the early days. If it can work for Hunter S. Thompson, it can work for you too. Maybe steer clear of recounting your drug fuelled weekend's in Vegas though.
Head over to your bookshelf, dust off that copy of The Great Gatsby and get typing. 10-15 minutes a day for about a week should do it. Think of it as muscle-memory. Let the clackity-clack of those keys drum the creativity into your subconscious.
#2. Know the rules, but don't be a slave to them
Although sometimes criticised by his more traditional press counterparts, what made Thompson great was his fearless honestly and unique style.
The realisation that he didn't have to write like the New York Times was, in his words, "like falling down an elevator shaft and landing in a pool full of mermaids".
Blame the lawyers if you like, but business writing doesn't have to be hackneyed, unadventurous and dull. You're still writing for people, and people appreciate a bit of honesty and personality. In fact, those two qualities are the very ones that can determine success or failure. Just don't go mad with the adjectives. While we're on it, you should read Orwell's Politics and the English Language too.
“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.”
#3. Write letters
Thompson was a prolific letter writer. He wrote some 20,000 letters between 1958 and 1967. His recipients ranged from US Presidents to journalists to friends.
I recently wrote a letter to a close friend in London. As most people do now, we normally communicate via Whatsapp, email and Facebook, but one night, in a fit of inspiration I found myself pulling paper out of the printer and I started scribbling.
My hand hurt as I wrote. The muscles used to grip a pen have faded with the incessant jabbing at keyboards and smartphone screens.
The letter ended up around 10 pages long.
2 interesting things happen when you write letters
1. It may be the first thing you have written in a long time where you have a crystal clear picture in your mind of who you are writing to. The fact you know your recipient will propel your sentences, and oil the writing machine.
2. Writing letters will re-open your vocabulary, unearthing gems that lay dormant in the day-to-day scrabble of email writing. Words you didn't think you knew will present themselves at exactly the right time, adding colour and vibrancy to your writing.
#4. Find your Woody Creek
In the mid-60's Thompson left California with his family, and headed for Colorado. Having just received a $15,000 royalty check from a previous job, he bought a modest house in Woody Creek, perched some 7,000ft high in the Rocky Mountains. Hunter would later refer to his hideaway as his "fortified compound".
When asked by David Letterman in a Tonight Show interview in 1997, Letterman enquired "what do you guys do out there?". Thompson paused, and wryly replied, "Mainly we work, David".
Writers are famously reclusive creatures, and for good reason. How many times have you sat down at your desk, with renewed determination to work on your next blog/ebook/whitepaper - only to end up replying to some non-urgent email, or reading an article you were alerted to from a notification on your smartphone? An hour passes and you've written 30 words, while you managed to click 10 links and read a bunch of other stuff you had no mind to explore.
(How did you end up reading this blog post? Chances are you're supposed to be doing something else.)
The distraction habit can be hard to break without a plan. Followers of Mindfulness will understand the power of 'habit realeasers', where simple changes in behaviour can break down unconscious habits through repeated and mindful practice.
Tricks to break the distraction habit
- Turn off your email, phone, IM etc when you are writing
- Put some music on
- Read a book before you write
- Work in dedicated time-blocks of 40-60 minutes
- Sit somewhere different when your working on content
- Write the outlines of your content using pen and paper
Final thoughts
Writing is its own challenge and reward. To raise the bar you need to get in the zone, think about how you're doing it, where you're doing it and what the heck you're trying to say. Then strive to deliver the best set of words you can to convey that meaning. Write it, leave it, come back and tear it up, then write it again.
Good words need to percolate a bit, brew in their own juices, simmer and reduce. It's not easy, but it's worth it, and your readers will thank you by coming back for more.
