Imaginary Friends and Other Writing Tricks
I've been slowly going back through the LIve Video Classes, and the class I reviewed today was fresh out of the box on August 8, 2014.
There were a number of interesting points in the class, but one that really caught my attention was one in which Jay (magistudios) suggested writing to a single person - even an imaginary person!
Keepin' it real
Give them a name, an age, a sex, and even a bit of a profile; someone who might be interested in what you were writing about - then write to them. You'll be more likely to toss in a bit of humor or a little folklore to keep your reader engaged, and less likely to be the stilted professor lecturing their class into a coma. (My apologies to any stilted professors who may be reading this ;)
Imaginary audience, real business
Jay also outlined a 5 day planner that made a great deal of sense. You can speed up the timeframe for planning or slow it down based on your schedule, but here's the gist of it:
Day 1... research what people want to know in your niche .
Day 2... 'create' the person you want to write to - your ideal reader
Day 3... write down 10 blog post topics based on your research and your ideal reader
Day 4... schedule days for writing or publishing your 10 posts, and start writing!
- ask a few questions within your content, and provide a few tips. Engage!
Day 5... schedule some fun shares with your Google+ circles / communities
- sync these messages with your posts' publication dates
If you'd like to check out the whole WAbinar, you can find it at https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/defining-...
Now go have some fun with your imaginary playmate. Just be sure to be home before the street lights come on!
Dennis
Recent Comments
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At first blush it sounds sort of weird to create an imaginary person but, by the end of your post, I changed my mind and now think it is a good idea. Will try to be home before the street lights go off!
Greetings Willafay!
I have a habit of thinking at right angles to reality at times, which is probably why the idea appealed to me.
Jay went so far as to write blogs in a draft email to the imaginary friend, then he just cut and pasted it into his WordPress editor and hit Publish!
Interesting break with normalcy ;)
Dennis
Dennis. Great advice. In my other life I work as Mind Wizard. I have segmented my sub conscious into a Board of Directors each with different duties eg safety, innovation, finance, PR etc. Their individual and group offerings give me a variety of characters and scripts. I have no problem keeping it real although others may be a little suspicious. Thanks for the post. Larry
Greetings Larry -
Nothing wrong with having a circle of imaginary friends / business acquaintances - in fact, I alluded to making an entire Sim City in another comment in here.
Sometimes it's best to keep it on the down low though!
Dennis
Greetings Keith and Jay!
I don't know how to respond to a couple of high flying members who are setting the stage to channel thousands of beginners into WA.
I *really* wish I had the confidence to make a similar statement - but I've gotta walk before I can run, and crawl before attempting to walk. Sooo, I'm still working on my first $100,000 ;)
Hopefully this will find its way past interesting and land somewhere near useful!
Dennis
I have family members who are extremely high almost cabinet-level in the US government. They are helping us... it's nothing we're doing, it stems from a Thanksgiving dinner conversation a while back. If we can do our part, they will do theirs.
Greetings Alexx!
Apparently Jay, the member who does all the Live Video Classes, has been trained as a radio personality - and this is one of his "tricks of the trade".
I keep attending the new classes and reviewing the old recordings to pick up bits of information.
So far, it's been great - but I'm keeping an eye out for Murphy here too!
Dennis
Hey Dennis, I think I can remember catching this training, Jay always encourages you to be that little bit more structured in your method? Thanks for the reminder. Great post.
Cheers
Darwyn
Greetings Darwyn!
This video class, along with about 150 other classes, was before my time. I figure that about this time next year, I will have slowly wormed my way through all of them.
Stay tuned!
Dennis
This is how I have always tried to create my writing.
I wrote a book about learning to fly a radio controlled model aeroplane back in 2007 and it was reviewed on Amazon by a guy who said having read it he felt like we had sat down together and we had discussed the content over a cup of tea.
You don't get more personal than that.
You have a leg up on many of the rest of us, Carol & Colin (Eureka, I got it!!)
You are to be congratulated on having a personable & engaging writing style. I, on the other hand, am still workin' on it ;)
I can be taught though!
Dennis
My imaginary friend has always been that lovely young lady, you know, the one who laughs at your jokes even though they are not funny. But maybe I should find an imaginary friend who is a bit more real, and lets me know when I'm being stupid . :)
Nothing wrong with having several imaginary friends Gary - even an imaginary clique!
Then you need other cliques to keep your clique from becoming too stuck on themselves, and before you know it you've built an entire Sim City of personalities - unless the men in white come and take you away first.
So let's keep this on the down low ;)
Dennis
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You're always worth reading Dennis. I'm a bit impatient when it comes to hour-long sessions so I haven't slogged my way through Jay's WAbinars yet. Thanks for picking out the important bits and cramming the lesson into a nutshell. ~Marion
Hi Marion!
More nutshells to follow... :)
Dennis