Animals have a skeleton. We know this because if we x-ray an animal, we can quite clearly see the skeleton. And we fail to realise that articles have a skeleton too—and they’re called sub-heads. But unlike animals, the sub-head skeleton doesn’t show up from the very start. Instead you’ll find it shows up later. A […]
How Slightly Exuberant Sub-Topics Get You In Trouble
What is a sub topic? What is the difference between a topic and a sub topic? Have you heard about a program called InDesign? Well, if you haven’t, it’s a program I use to create amazing-looking e-books. Then one day, someone asked me to show them how to create e-books similar to what I was […]
Will It Bloat?: How The Outlines Gives Us Clues About The Length Of Our Articles
Most writers write They sit down and they write. And some smart ones outline. But even the outline gives us clues about bloating It shows you how your article can go well past the original intent and into puffy-land. And you don’t even have to look at the words in the outline. The bloat is […]
Headline Writing: Three Core Factors That Trigger Off Curiosity
David Ogilvy started up O & M, one of the largest advertising agencies in the world. That very same David suggested that headlines were the most important factor in communication. Not by a factor of 2:1 Or 3:1 But a whopping 4:1. He suggested that 80% of your article is dependent on your headline. His […]
When Outlines Behave Like Cats: How To Keep An Outline From Going Off At A Tangent
Good doggie. Nice doggie. Yes, dogs will often do what you say The cat, on the other hand, has a mind of its own. Your outlines are often like cats. You try to rein them in, but they just meow, snarl and go their own way. And it will drive you crazy. But you can […]
How To Correctly Use Emotion To Create Drama In Your Article
I raced madly. I raced madly, but I didn’t care. I raced madly, but I was too excited. I raced madly, but something was gnawing inside of me. Something was about to go wrong. I raced madly, but I couldn’t shake the depression. So what’s the difference between the first line and all the rest? […]
How To Avoid Speed Bumps When Writing Sub-Heads
I used to live in an apartment block when I was growing up And there were these twins: Wayne and Dwayne. And as you’d expect, it was common for me to make a mistake. I’d call Wayne, Dwayne. And Dwayne, Wayne. And sometimes get it right, without knowing if I got it right or not. […]
How Do You Decide On The Length Of An Article?
I don’t. I create an outline. And with the help of that outline I can usually write about 500-800 words. Then I stop. If the outline has a lot more elements then the article goes on forever You can indeed write an article that goes deeper and deeper, but for the most part, you definitely […]
Announcing: The Cartooning Course + The “First 50 Words” Course
On 12th May, two Psychotactics courses will be launched. You’ll want to read more about these courses, so here goes. 1) The “First 50 Words” Course 2) The DaVinci Cartooning Course 1) The “First 50 Words” Course You know how they say “first impressions count?” Well, they do. They count a heck of a lot. […]
How To Write Faster and Better Using The Power of Limitations
When you walk into an ice-cream parlour, something weird occurs. We look up to the board and find twenty or thirty flavours of ice-cream. And to most of us, this doesn’t even seem weird. We expect to have tons of choice. But notice what you’re doing as you step up to order your ice-cream Your’e […]
