Nothing like a good spring clean

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There’s nothing like a good
Spring Clean to set yourself up right for the silly season is there?

Last weekend I packed away all mine and the kids’ winter clothes, donating many plus outgrown toys to charity. It felt GOOD to give our wardrobes space to breathe. Thanks to the purge, I have a renewed vigour for dressing well. Ironically, by limiting my choices I now feel that I have more! It’s about culling the inappropriate, deleting the detritus, focusing with intent.

This week it’s Decypher’s turn. My loyal visitors will notice that this blog’s been given a style makeover. One that more accurately reflects the lightness of being which I hope my words impart.

Next step is updating the site’s homepage with one designed many moons ago and HTML’d by my dear Kindleman colleagues. Thanks boys!

Hope you like it. I do!
Charlotte

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I could – should – will care less

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OK, I admit it. I’m old. I’ve spent a long time denying it but it’s true.

I know this, NOT because:
- the crows have walked a mile around my eyes
- my youngest child started big-school this year
- I can’t stay awake through a movie (unless I watch it at 2pm at Manly Cinema and its The King’s Speech)
- I’d rather be up at 6am running than stay up drinking the night before
- I hate crowds

No, this is not why I know I am old. They are all signs yes, but they are not what forced me to admit the undeniable truth. This realisation that I am old, came while watching my niece’s summer holiday video.

And it has (almost) nothing to do with the fact she is a gorgeous teenager and how did she get to be so grown-up all of a sudden. But with her video production abilities and attitude.

Without a skerrick of training, my niece produced not just one, but a series of summer holiday videos. All in a few short minutes.

Back in the day, when I produced videos for a living, it would take us a week in pre-production just to plan the thing. Then a couple of days shooting (at least) and a few more days in post-production, editing until it came together with high-end production values that perfectly represented our clients’ preferred view of themselves.

But my neice, now she just turns on her all-in-one-stills-camera-that-also-shoots-video, records herself and friends doing some silly stuff, plugs it into the back of my computer, and using bog-standard software that came preinstalled with the machine, she cuts it together as fast as you can snip the tag off a new dress and voila! there they are eating bananas backwards on YouTube (apparently backwards is all the rage – its how the TV shows make Vampires fly up trees – among other things).

I know I am old because it takes me a week to produce a blog post. Which is because I still value ‘quality’ and ‘high-end production values’. I still care what it looks like. What I look like, and sound like. (Yes, I know – old!)

These young kids, they don’t care. However it comes out, whatever it looks like, the aim is to just get it up there as quick as you like. Their communications are about connecting, as many times as possible, in any one day.

Yes I know that’s obvious when you look at Twitter. Inane bite-sized bursts rapidly firing all day, every day. But it was only when I saw the video creation & upload in action that I realised quite how tediously long and drawn-out my way of creating is.

With our clients, in many cases this is unavoidable. The legal, technical and other signoffs and approvals required by their nature make the process painstakingly time-consuming.

But on this blog and in Kindleman’s own tweeting I’m making a new New Year’s Resolution:
I am going to care less.
Write shorter.
Be faster.

It’s good to set yourself a new writing challenge. So this is mine.

Let’s see how short it can get without losing the point!
Charlotte

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From a Junior Publicist’s Point of View

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Did I ever tell you how much I loved my first ‘real’ job? Junior Publicist, Random House Australia.

I know a lot of people may have fond memories of their first professional post, but my fondness grows stronger each year. It was a job filled with amazing people and events, which though I enjoyed at the time, I have more appreciation of in hindsight.

My boss was the epitome of P.R: loud, brazen, prone to the odd tipple and everybody’s best mate. She had a heart of gold, but god-love-her, was not perhaps the best mentor going around. That job was left to one of my seniors, herself an author and later to head up Sydney Writers Festival in one of its best years. The Publishing Editor, Jane Palfreyman, was worshipped – still is today – and for very good reason. She and her team were un-quantifiably generous, accessible, talented, quick-witted, empathetic and broad-minded.

They’ve handpicked some of the best raw writing talent to emerge out of Australia. While I was on their watch: Nikki Gemmell (Shiver), James Bradley (Wrack), Christos Tsiolkas (Loaded) and Malcolm Knox (Summerland) were just stepping onto the stage. Funnily enough – perhaps in part because I read them at such a formative time in my life – they’re all on my list of favourites. Now just take a look at those guys today. Alongside their own hard-won effort, their success is due in great part to the guidance of this cohort that I left behind.

It was a happy decision, my decision to leave. I still had some exploring to do – film, advertising, motherhood. Becoming a writer. I found working on the ‘inside’ made it too difficult for me to let that last option stay on the table. It was intimidating, being surrounded by such writerly talent and knowledge. Back then, I was too young to find the confidence to be counted there. And I knew intuitively, that I needed to gain some diversity of life experience before I would have anything decent to write about.

These days, I often find myself missing that world, and the people in it. But every so often, through sheer good fortune, I get to rub shoulders with them again.

Today was such a day, thanks to The NSW Writer’s Centre; an amazing place that supports writers of all styles to bring their work to a better place. One of the ways they do this is through the First Friday sessions, and in one of those serendipitous days of joy and luck, the guest speaker was Ali Lavau – freelance editor to all the great Australian publishing houses. If this was an American celebrity reality show, she would no doubt be titled, ‘Editor to the Stars’ as she works with those gems of Australian literati that I mentioned earlier and has a number of lauded and awarded authors whom she can claim to have shepherded to success.

She edits adult literary fiction and narrative non-fiction, and herself writes children books. If I listed all her training, credits and experience, this blog post would scroll through to China. Suffice to say, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone whose career encompassed more aspects of the book world on every level.

So what wisdom did Ali impart for us aspiring authors sitting on the other side of the fence?

For that instalment, you’ll have to come back next week. But out of curiosity – had you been in the room – what question would have most wanted answered?

Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte

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The Year of the Music

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I asked about your plans for 2011 in my last post. How’d you go?

Me?

I’ve signed up for a Year of Music and Writing.

You know about me-and-the-writing, but maybe not so much me-and-the-music. You’ll need to have been around a while to know that side (kudos to those who remember when; thanks for hanging around :) ). In the intervening decade the muse was set aside in favour of growing up: having children, building houses, building business, balancing budgets, getting ‘serious’.

You also know from my last post, that didn’t necessarily play out the way we’d hoped. So this decade (where I undeniably leave the flush of young innocence behind) is where I get to take some of that accumulated wisdom and have a little more fun with it.

Maybe I’ve signed up for more than I can handle – there are still the kids, gorgeous husband, business partners and friends to support – but to quote a cliche that really seems to have its roots in some genius: Unless I’m happy, I can’t make them happy.

Rather than just writing a list of dreams, I have taken some positive action steps to ensure I realise my goals for writing and music success this year:
1. I’ve accepted an invitation to join the Sydney Philarmonia Choir’s Festival Chorus
2. I’ve enrolled for Alan Mill’s Year of Writing course run by the NSW Writers Centre
3. I’ve committed to an hour-long piano lesson a week

But I must recognise that the real impetus is thanks to my partner. 100% supportive of my goals and a true facilitator of them. For Christmas this year I got the piano of my dreams: Roland’s brand new HPi-7F. This digital flagship offers something for everyone: lessons for the kids, playbacks &recordings for composition and most importantly; a genuine replication of the tones, decay and touch sensitivity of a purebred.

I’m in love. May the honeymoon last all year and these dreams and plans inspire you to similar giddy heights. Tell me where you’re taking 2011.

Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte

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Why Writing’s a lot like Living

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Sometimes time flies because you’re having fun. Other times, because you’re so intent on battling murderous torrents. Either option clearly describes the blessed curse of writing. And… my life of the last year – hence, my apologies dear reader – for the lack of scribing from Words Made Easy.

The birthday card I wrote for my dearest recently, applauded the massive milestones we hurdled last year. Some were his alone, but the real biggies were those we faced together.

We may be a typical case study of either:
- the GFC and/or
- the ten year cycle of entrepreneurs and/or
- the unavoidable budget blow-outs of owner-building gargantuan renovation and/or
- how stress leads to serious illness and/or
- building a business from scratch is like having a 3rd child and/or
- that being bold and taking risks sometimes pays off and/or
- that life’s short and there’s no point living one you hate and/or
- its friends and one-step-at-a-time that gets you through and/or
- sooner or later things do get better and/or…
(the list goes on)

We went through the ringer in 2010 but thanks to staying the course, being brave, keeping positive and the encouragement and support of incredible family and friends, we have popped out the other side ALL The Wiser, Happier, Saner and Together.

You know who you are. Thank you.

Thanks to a fabulous Christmas break we are now ready to face 2011. I can see that corner ahead and *I* am excited for what lies around it. Where will this year take *you*?

Time to start planning! Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte

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A business writing experiment on Twitter

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As many of you already know, I formally joined with two colleagues late last year under the banner, Kindleman – creative brightsparks. We’re a brand house that delivers end-to-end marketing communications; from strategy, to creative concept and execution.

Though Kindleman was born on December 1 last year, we have actually been working together informally for a few years now. With me as writer/strategist, Dan as brand design and Tim as online expert, we found our skills were a natural compliment. And it seems that our clients did too. Since our unification our business has been going gangbusters.

This is all fabulous. But with added work comes added stress and seriousity. Quite honestly, sometimes I find all this great success a shame.

When we first started working together, we called ourselves a creative collaberation. We revelled in the fact that we each brought a creative discipline. I was in the throes of writing a novel, Dan was in the process of exhibiting some stunning canvases and Tim spent his mornings and afternoons surfing, with a lovely bit of design work in between.

Then we got serious. Now I have two half-complete novels in my bottom draw. I don’t know the last time that Dan picked up a paintbrush and Tim’s lucky to sneak in a cheeky half hour surf session before dawn breaks.

Our clients love us. We love them. But boy there are times I really miss the art of creative writing.

I’m not a complainer by nature, and I am often found educating clients on how to make the best use of their inherant skills and apply them to their existing businesses. So I thought I would do the same.

Rather than letting my fictional writing languish, I allowed the launch of Kindleman to inspire it. While the boys were busy building our website, and designing client account databases, I turned my back on the serious stuff and let my muse do some talking.

It wrote the story of Kindleman. The fable. The metaphor. Our true history. Once that’s much more than a power brand shop slaving away in Manly. The reason behind our work.

Dan & Tim loved the story. But as an image heavy site, there wasn’t a place to publish on kindleman.com.au. I showed it to my husband. But he couldn’t fathom that a creative writing piece would have any role to play in a business landscape. I got angry, then realised that he’s probably right. In the traditional corporate world and its communication styles, the Kindleman fable would struggle.

But there is a new landscape. One which is being forged as we speak. Where old rules don’t apply and new ones are still in the making. The Twitterverse.

So, I began last week, with a slow drip-feed of the Kindleman fable, via the Kindleman twitter account. And through the Kindleman Facebook account. I’m interested to see whether this approach to social media might have any cut-through at all. Or whether its too esoteric, even for that.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the yarn thus far. And on whether you think this is an acceptable or too whacky publication strategy.

So please come and read it: www.twitter.com/kindleman. If you follow Kindleman you will get a daily update to the story.

Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte

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The difference between blogs and articles

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Does it really matter?

In short, YES.

The extended version reads: You can get yourself into SERIOUS trouble if you don’t know the difference. Claiming ignorance will not save you from this trouble. Naievely, inadvertently masquerading one as the other is no excuse.

At a minimum, your trouble will deprive you of gaining a great blog following. At worst, you could be sued for libel, misrepresentation, defamation. Now I don’t know about you, but as a writer I don’t have a great slush fund that I can call upon in dire emergencies. Especially not self-created, legally entagling nightmares.

So whether you have stumbled upon this blog thing as personal lark, or whether you are deploying it as a serious SEO and brand building program for your business, you might want to read on.

A case in point

Earlier this year I had a prospect ask for a quote for some copywriting for his soon to be launched website. He wanted both articles and blog posts written. Great. Makes sense to me. Until I started to delve deeper…

…What exactly did he want to say on his blog posts? What points should we be covering with his articles?

One and the same – he felt.
The same message in a different channel – he said.

Partly true.

But here’s the big problem…

.. a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Because writing a blog as if it were an article can really damage its success. And writing an article like a blog could get you in serious trouble (see entry paragraphs).

So what is the difference?

You read the newspaper right? Or magazines? Occassionally at least? OK – if never, then do yourself a favour and flick through one next time you’re waiting in the doctor’s surgery. (If its my obstetrician you should get through at least 4 magazines before the receptionist bothers to tell you he’s running an hour late. This will give you plenty of time to explore the following explanation).

When reading printed media, you will soon discover at least two stylistic approaches.

1) the journalistic article: These are generally written in the third person, in a factual reporting style. They will use references, quotes and sources to support any claims. They seek to appear independent, well-researched and impartial.

2) the opinion piece: These are written in the first person and convey the writer’s personality through jargon, slang and generally more colourful, entertaining language. They often choose to represent just one side of a divisive argument or ignite a powerful debate.

So how does apply to the online world?

Put simply, a blog is an opinion piece. Or at least the good ones are. Successful blogs (defined by huge followings and big fan bases) are written in the ‘voice’ of the author which is generally what constitutes the major difference between ‘blog’ and ‘article’. It’s also what makes them eminently more readable.

Be careful

What an opinion piece doesn’t do, is save your bacon if you choose to write something defamatory.

Here’s the Rub

Generally a publisher wears the ultimate responsibility of any piece. So if the facts are wrong, if its defamatory or libelous, its the publisher (insert: newspaper, magazine etc) that gets sued. But when you write and publish a blog – who is the publisher? That’s right – YOU!

And the same laws apply to you as to any well-paid, self respecting journalist who triple checks a source before signing their name to work. The only difference is, the journo also has a legal team, a sub-editor and an editor watching their back. Checking and rechecking their facts, questioning their judgement and generally acting a safety net against potentially libelous writings.

Who does this for you?

Make sure someone does, even if its just you. Think twice before you press that hot little ‘publish’ button. It could be a lot hotter than you think.

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Why Procrastination Works Best

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If, like me, you are constantly struggling to increase your productivity… and if, like me, your vow to cut time wastage often falls by the wayside: Fear Not.

I had en epiphany this weekend:
When we procrastinate, we are going somewhere.

Perhaps not fast. But certainly somewhere. And as long as in the big picture you have a big goal, then:
You are going Somewhere, Better.

rainbows-and-the-humberI set myself in goal in 2009. Well, I set myself quite a few goals actually as you would note by reviewing past posts… But one of the more important goals was to: increase my productivity. Sound familiar?

Productivity superstars like, Dave Navarro and Charlie Gilkey, have taught me some powerful tips for time mastery. As we all know, one of these is having a Clear End Goal. If you know where you are going you are more able to catch yourself when wasting time on irrelevancy. And refocus on that which is pertinent to your main objective.

But, if like me, you are also in the field of creativity, marketing, copywriting and social media, you will have noticed something else.

We can not survive on a one track mind.

So what’s a dreamer to do hey? If we don’t focus on our ‘true purpose’ 100% of the time, then are we truly wasting it?

NO. I don’t believe so.

You see, genius minds embrace multiple streams of interest. Take Leonardo Da Vinci… Among other things, he designed helicopters, studied anatomy and was a prolific artist. While we may classify these broadly under the umbrella of ‘design’ they still cover vast ground. So too designers like Eames, and artists like T.S Eliot who happily worked in finance by day and wrote poetry by night.

When Time Wasting works

Though not alive today, I’m sure if interviewed, each of these men wouldn’t dream of giving up their various activities. Beacuse each fed into the other.

The point is, that while I strongly believe that we should have a specific end goal, it’s still the journey that counts. Without it, many of our goals would not be reached. And without the diversions that lead to epiphanies, we may miss the crucial point of discovery that sees us reach The Ark.

IN real terms. My end goal is to see my business healthy and profitable. My short term goals to reach that are to become more knowlegable and to keep writing. However, unless I diverged along the suggested readings of random Tweeps, or took my kids to the Museum, or sympathised with my brother-in-law over his recent job loss, then I wouldn’t ‘get’ what was happening in the world around me and I wouldn’t be able to write with a heart.

Sometimes following the unexpected trail can lead you to a forest glade of delights. Perhaps even Baby Bear’s porridge. But you will never know unless you give yourself the time to meander.

So, by all means:

Set your goals and follow them.

Set your clocks and keep track of your time.

But every so often – probably more often than you allow – turn off those clocks and step out of the blinding goals’ light. Take the path less travelled…  and you may find yourself at the end of the rainbow.

:: Just the goal you had always dreamed of, but never dared believe.

Where would you like to go today?
Let’s get this conversation started.

Charlotte

image thanks to author Molly Dwyer – http://www.mollydwyer.com

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