Di Slaney - businesswoman and poet

Last year at a networking event on creating a pitch in business I met Di.  An experienced entrepreneur running a success marketing company, she disclosed that she also wrote poetry and asked for volunteers to review a poetry collection she was finishing as part of a Creative Writing course at Nottingham Trent University. 

Intrigued I volunteered and last month she sent me her work which I found fascinating.  Not being a poet I couldn't judge it on it's poetic merit but as a piece of work about the joys, frustrations and challenges of running a business I could certainly relate to much of the writing. 

In return for my review, Di kindly agreed to write a piece about the challengs of writing, being in business and how to connect the two sides of what she does.  It makes interesting contrasts about  writers and what they bring to being a writer, depending on their backgrounds.

Di Slaney

I haven’t yet been published, but I’m in the throes of putting the finishing touches to my first poetry collection. This is my final stage dissertation project for the Creative Writing MA course at Nottingham Trent University. I decided to do this course in 2008 as a way to get back to writing creatively after 10 years of focusing on building my marketing business and writing commercially for clients.


What was my writing background?

In my twenties I’d written poetry sporadically, been part of a local writer’s group and had viewed it as a hobby, without any real plan or destination in mind. In my thirties, I hadn’t written anything creatively personal at all – my energies had been ploughed back into my business, with nothing left over. But in September 2008 I’d had a little epiphany after convalescing from major surgery – was time running out for me now I was into my forties? Was I always going to be tethered to the coalface of the business, despite my sizeable team? Could I really write anything decent and what would it take to find out?

I thought that the best way to see would be to do a course where there would be deadlines and goals; a structure to work within that would keep me going when the pressures of my business cranked up and even the ironing pile looked more inviting than a writing assignment ...Plus expert tuition and a supportive community of writers to keep both motivation and output high.

So how has it been?

Well, it’s been a tough two years on the course with some real high and low points. I chose to study part time so that I could continue to work full time in the business, and while this has been essential to keep all the plates spinning, it’s been really difficult to juggle personal and commercial priorities. I’ve found the best way to get concentrated writing time is to get all the business stuff out of the way during the day, deal with domestics in the evening (cats, dog, husband!), have an hour watching TV to mentally ‘switch heads’ then head off upstairs to my office to write into the small hours. Midnight to 2.00am has been the most productive time for me, when everything has gone quiet and no one is screaming for attention in my e-mail inbox. And the rest of the household is snoring happily!

The reality of the course...

has been that – as per everything else in life – you get out what you put in. I have to say that I’ve been disappointed by the lack of community spirit with some of my fellow students, but I’ve accepted that writers tend to be solitary, defensive creatures who don’t necessarily network and ‘trade’ in the way that I’m used to as a business person. I’ve made one strong contact who has been fantastically supportive and we swap morale boosting e-mails in times of writing crisis. I hope that we stay in touch beyond the course and continue to support each other in our writing (her fiction/my poetry). It would be great if we could both get what we’re looking for in terms of readership and publication.

Tuition standards on the course have been similarly patchy, but I’ve had great fortune in my poetry tutor who is inspirational, rigorous and generous with his teaching time – traits that I’ve seen to be in short supply with other tutors who are maybe more focused on their own writing careers than on developing their students.

Have I been a typical student?

No, because I’m used to running and controlling my own environment, setting the goals and organising a team to deliver them. I’m also more numerate, clinical and impatient than most of the literary types that I’ve encountered, and have often felt that I’ve been speaking a foreign language in my dealings with academia.

Have I got what I’d hoped for from the course?

Overall, I think yes – I’ve definitely been spurred on to write regularly and have learned a lot about form, editing, the perils of publishing and the literary scene. Will I keep writing beyond the course? Definitely. I’ve got focused energy and purpose now for my own writing and also, as an unexpected by-product of the whole process, renewed passion and enthusiasm for my business.

The irony is that having started the course feeling dispirited about life in general and my business in particular, my poetry collection is all about the process of building and running a business! A business/poetry fusion project, as it were.

Where do I go from here?

’sME – the poetry diary of an entrepreneur will be finished in the next two weeks, and available in pamphlet form at the Prowess conference at The Belfry Hotel, Nottingham on 16th September. Hopefully this will mark the start of a new phase for me as a poet, as well as the end of my time as a creative writing student.

For more information about Di Slaney, her company and her upcoming event go to
http://www.diversity-nottm.co.uk/

Eileen's footnote
Thanks Di for your thoughts about your experiences.  As a businesswoman of many years, I find writers often self absorbed and not very practical in the way they work.  Because I write for business, I'm used to deadlines, being paid and being pragmatic.  Doesn't sit well with me then when I see them throw up their hands because the practical side of writing seems hard.

Random thoughts from a consultation with a client

Talked to Sara Dale about her book, books and writing in general last week. 

With her book she's moving smartly on towards the end of her first draft.  She has the last few chapters mapped out and on past experience when she sits down to write, it's flowed well with her thoughts crystallised and focused.

The question then is what to do with the first draft.  Thanks to our combined strategy, she's already started making links with people in her field, and those at the sharp end of managing work and life issues.  These links have provided feedback for her that she's on the correct track with the book and also guided her towards topics that are relevant and appropriate.

It's been a fascinating process as an observer and Sarah certainly thinks she's made more progress than she thought possible in only four months with the help of an outside nudger.

Now she's scanning her network for contacts that might help her on the next stage of taking the book to published stage.  But shaping the book from the beginning has I believe been an important strategy that will pay off for her big time later down the road.

Business writing: does it feel like work or play?

Found this great quote by Warren Beatty

'You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what you're doing is work or play.'

I read an interview about an American copywriter who was asked how he managed to write so fast and with such a fresh approach to his work.

He talked about how he wanted always to have fun writing and he tried to bring a childlike vision to his work.  Not childish but the open mind that children have in the questions they ask and the views they come up with.

And he's right.  If you're writing for your business and it's a slog for you, then that's what will come across to the reader.

You need to feel the joy of what you're doing and communicate to the reader.  That's what get's results.

Business writing: how to write to communicate and connect

Writing is a fundamental skill in business.  But it terrifies many business people. 

Why?

They're afraid of the blank page.
They're afraid of grammar and punctuation which they believe are there to expose their weaknesses.
In short they're afraid of getting it wrong.

Let's look at what we're trying to achieve when we write.

Whether we're writing for business or we're would be novelists, our aim is to make some connection with our reader.  That's it plain and simple.  Because without that connection the reader won't turn the page.

That's essential in business isn't it.  And even if they won't turn the page, i.e. on a website, you still want them to keep reading.  Because and let's be honest here, you want in the short or long term to sell them something.

What motivates most business people is not merely the desire to make money, but to offer something you're passionate about.  Something that will help people lead happier, more fulfilled, healthier, richer lives.

That's why passion is the key to connecting.

Imagine you want to buy something.  Who are you more likely to buy from?  Someone who just mumbles and mutters and shows no enthusiasm.  Or someone who looks you in the eyes and tells you honestly what the product can, and as important, can't do.

So you need to drill down to the reasons you want to pass on this product or service.  What do you believe about it that you can transmit in what you say or write?

Be proud of what you're offering.  Be passionate about how it can help people.  Always write as if you're speaking directly to one person at a time because only one will read it at a time.

When you write from that core of belief, your writing will sing and connect with those it can help.

Let me know what's happened to you when you've written from your core beliefs instead of writing from the surface.

What's the state of publishing

I came into writing from a commercial perspective,i.e. direct sales copywriting. It’s interesting that I’ve seen ideas converging over the last few years from my previous experience of copywriters (including myself) happily self publish in on and offline formats ahead of many ‘traditional’ writers.

From what I’ve heard and read, it seems that newspapers are struggling to find a workable strategy to make money online and publishing is fragmenting with smaller outfits able to be more responsive to new trends.(think of turning a ship round)

It is a time of flux and that may frighten you especially if you still have that traditional large advance as your Eldorado.  the new is that advances are shrinking even for the top authors.

Still I urge you to dive in. Publishing in its traditional format is dead. But this opens up opportunities for us as writers to strengthen our individual experiences in this wonderful world of writing.  The successful authors of the future will embrace all the technologies and use them to make the connections to readers that are vital at some stage whether direct or via agents and publishers.

Attending the conference gave me great hope for the future and I came home more enthusiastic and excited about the possibilities.

Check out http://www.writingindustries.com/ for more information on the sessions.  They are intending to upload recordings of the sessions.

Writing; what's genuine

New article about writing in business over on http://eileenparr.blogspot.com/

What results do you want your business writing to have

Note down 3 results you want then think about how you can write to have that result.

Writing for fun is exactly that. Fun. But why can't writing for your business be just as much fun?

After all your business is your passion so you can be inventive, creative and passionate about it when you write.

Knowing what result you want from your business writing sharpens your approach giving you clarity and focus.

Business writing;why it should be like looking at the bottom of a glass of water

'I've never met a human being who would want to read 17,000 pages of documentation, and if there was, I'd kill him to get him out of the gene pool.' Joseph Costello

I'm sitting in front of a brand new cooker, with a trout on a tray and a pudding(apple cake) in said oven which should be cooking.

In my hand I have the instruction manual and I'm checking(for the third time) the symbols, the instructions and the recipe book which came with the oven.

In the end I admitted defeat and finished off my meal in the microwave, which was okay but not what I had in mind.

When finally, after a visit from an engineer we discovered the clock has to be set... before the cooker will work I felt very stupid.

But in my defence, nowhere in the instruction manual did it say so. And the engineer did agree that it caught out a lot of people.

Yet again it confirmed my suspicions that instruction manuals are written by people who understand how to do what the manual is about and they don't think of starting from the beginning.

While this is vital for manuals, it's also something to keep in mind whenever you write for business because jargon, assumptions and dense text are dangerous if you want to connect with the reader.

As writers we're complacent at our peril. In a workshop I headed up, a 300 word newspaper article that was clear to me, was criticised by most of the group for being dense, boring and too long to wade through. Even though the subject was of interest to them all, it hadn't captured their attention well enough to make them persist to the end.

Always we should be thinking about our writing:

1. Is it clear?
2. Is it to the point?
3. Is it relevant?

Whatever you write won't interest everyone but if the writing ticks those 3 boxes then it stands a better chance of not being tossed(literally or metaphorically) in the bin

How do you write for business - using your senses?

'He'll see you now Eileen.'

The assistant held the door open for me and I walked in hand outstretched, deep breathing to stop the rising panic in my abdoment.

What's in your mind when you read those words? It's an interview? Or maybe a doctor's appointment or is it the dreaded bank manager?

In that case it was the bank manager, back in the days of 'real' bank managers, who weren't your friend who said yes but rather held you to account all the time.

Now if you've ever had any kind of interview where you felt nervous you could conjure up the same feelings as I had on that day. Newbie commercial manager, new company, new role. Out of my comfort zone by a factor of 10.

So in a few words I've made a connection - to a universal event and to a set of emotions which most people in business can share.

When people tell me business is factual, rational and emotionless I want to laugh. Because that's not my experience of being in business... or of how other people in business behave.

Last week I went networking. Small event which I like because it gives you chance to talk to people instead of threshing around trying to shower business cards around the room.

Let me give you 3 examples of emotion and passion I found in those business people.

1. Manager of very successful local bus company in charge of their flagship route. The energy flying off him could have powered the room.
2. Owner of a waste recycling company. So inside his subject and how he could help other businesses save money.
3. Manager for a local business organisation. Passionate about using resources wisely to help sustain small businesses.

None of those fed me facts and figures. Instead they all connected at a level of how they could serve other people.

Yes businesses want to save money. They also want their problems solved.

That means we have look from the inside out as if can see it from their perspective. As if we can hear their moans as yet another problem lands on their desk. And as if we're they're when they go home the end of the day with a stress headache.

So when you write to connect with prospective customers write about how you can give them a good night's sleep because you've solved their most pressing problem. Write about how they can expand their business because you've blitzed an obstacle out of their way. Show them how they can't possibly live without your service.

If you're not passionate, why should they be?

Writing a book - reasons to do it

7 REASONS TO WRITE A BOOK - 3

You have a passion for sharing knowledge.

What passions do you have that you can share? One of the facts the Internet has thrown up is that since we’re no longer restricted to the people in our neighbourhood the world is full of fans with interests.

You might be the one with the in-depth knowledge. You don’t know till you try. You can share knowledge on many levels. Let’s take an example of bringing up children. A book could be written from different perspectives.

Expert to beginner.
Paediatrician to mothers giving advice in a down to earth way.

Expert to expert.
Paediatrician to other doctors sharing findings of research.

Peer to peer.
Mum to other mums sharing their experiences, good or bad.

Lay person to expert
Mum to doctors telling them why in her experience some of their theories are wrong of unhelpful.

Mum to children
Talking about the problems of motherhood, or particular parts of it like dealing with teenagers.

For more reasons see The Writer's Little Book of .... Business Writing for Results

Business writing for results-key points

Key Point Summary From The Writer's Little Book of... Business Writing for Results (for more details about publication go to www.writerslittlebook.co.uk

Knowing what you want to achieve with your writing increases your chances of achieving it.
Remember this at all times when you write. Only one person will read your piece at a time
Keeping your radar tuned for opportunities for writing will pay results.
What do you want your writing to do for you?
Feature + that means for you = benefit
Time spent researching the market to find the gap is never wasted.
Does the title of your blog entry, or article or book create curiosity in your reader?
Writing for your website is simply another medium for marketing your business.
There’s always something you can do to move your writing on.
80% of the most effective writing relies on thorough editing. Never believe that your first effort will do the job – it won’t.
Use your blog as part of your complete marketing strategy and over time it will pay off for your business.
Tweeting may seem like a waste of time but it can have a power beyond what you can imagine.
Positioning yourself as an expert in your field produces opportunities to build your business profile
Writing has one purpose and one purpose only. To transmit the ideas, thoughts and knowledge of the writer across to the reader.
Matching your reader’s language can make life easier for you.
Clear layout can increase the chances of your reader understanding your text and responding to it.
Subheads make your case fast.
Headlines are your ad for your piece of text.
Having a system for your writing projects means you’re more likely to achieve your aim and less likely to miss out something important.
Clear notes are the key to efficient writing.
Writing business proposals that connect to your reader’s needs increases your chances of success.
Consider purpose of any report before you write it.
Minutes should be impartial and a factual record of events.
Always angle the text to what interests the reader not what interests you.
Expanding your ideas about what a book is will give you the key to how you can write a successful one.
Keep your sentences simple.
Making friends with grammar gives you freedom in writing.

And finally, enjoy your writing!

Writing for the media

At a recent networking event, I listened to 2 journalists, one ex BBC and one current on the Working Lunch business programme. They were talking about what it takes for businesses to be featured in the media.

I thought it might be useful to summarise some of what they said.

1. It's about the audience. Just as any business writing should be targeted to the audience's needs, so is any media coverage.
2. Be interesting and most important. . . understandable.
3. If you can't write the introduction to the story in a couple of sentences then it's a rubbish story. Like writing a clear, crisp elevator speech that reaches the heart of what you can offer people.
4. What's the connection? To current events, what people need and how you can help them.
5. Think about where is best for your idea/information to be seen. Many people think about only the top programmes and media. You might have faster coverage in industry magazines than in national newspapers.
6. Journalists are now more prepared to use PR releases as they stand because there are fewer staff in newsrooms.
7. Weekly newspapers are now in effect daily newspapers because of their online versions so are looking for more content all the time.
8. And last but definitely not least, be passionate about what you have to offer. Enthusiasm sells faster than formal pieces.

Writing to deadlines in business

Having to produce words about their business - fast- is a challenge for many business owners. So what are the 3 keys to being able to do it?

1. Being prepared. Assume that someone, somewhere, sometime will ask you for a few words about your business. Work out ahead of time 3 keypoints you want people to know. Make sure they are clear in your mind so that you can reproduce them in print, on line or face to face.
2. Having a system. Part of your preparation should be to create a system which you can use to expand on your keypoints to 100, 200 or 300 words. If you know about Twitter then you know you only have 140 characters for your message. That forces you to be concise. Moving up from that you can then build a Twitter message into a blog entry maybe up to 300 words. From there you can expand it into a fuller article at will.
3. Be flexible. Having set ideas about the way you construct text will limit the number of ways you can use it. If someone asks you for text but they want it in a specific way because of the format it needs to fit into, then help them by being flexible.

Once you've mastered those three approaches, you'll never be stuck again and you'll be ready to take advantage of many opportunities.

Writing templates for business

There are a lot of templates out there for business writers to follow and I agree they can be helpful. But I've always recommended would be business writers especially those wanting to write for the web to do it themselves from scratch. Yes it takes a little longer but the dividends in understanding what you're doing pay off time and again.

I cane across the same thing in a review of a children's illustrator, Bruce Ingman, who was discussing his style. What stuck in my mind from the review was his comment that you have to understand what you're doing before you can pull it apart.

Copying for copying's sake will end up in stale text and parrotted phrases.

Develop your own style with your own personality so that you can write about your business with authority and passion.

Writing tools: what's essential for a writer?

Lately in the Guardian Saturday Review Section they've run a series of pictures of writers' and artists rooms with explanations from the writer about the room and what's in it.



Every week it fascinates me to see how varied the rooms are; as varied as the writers and artists featured. Part of writing is creating the atmosphere in which we write. For foreign reporters that means writing on the hoof and at speed; they don't have the luxury of "creating ambience".



For most of us it can be created over time and I believe it's a tool that can enhance your writing.



Often tools are thought of as things like dictionaries, thesauruses and the like, on of off-line. Tools that help us search for that exact word or phrase we think will make the difference. And depending what you're writing there may also be research sources for your current project.



If I took a photograph of my working space it would be on the extreme end of the crowded room spectrum. I don't gaze out across lush green meadows or a beautiful ocean. On the contrary I stare at a wall only covered in inspiring quotes and notes about current projects.



It works for me because I could allow myself to be distracted if I had a wonderful view. But your space should support you like the other tools you use.



But the most important tool I think any writer should cultivate is mindset. It isn't always thought about as a tool but your attitude to your writing should be as positive a help as all the other tools at your disposal.



Inspiring views are fine but it's more important to learn to be inspired whatever the view and cultivating a positive mindset is part of that. Part of learning to write to deadlines is to force the inspiration and ideas to come when you need them.



When clients demand 24 hour turn around times then you can't wait. So make yourself write regardless of the setting and the view. Make the words come at your command; decide what fires you up to write at your most powerful and passionate and use it as a conscious tool.

Business writing

Are you a writing phobic. If so how is that hurting your business?

I've been working this week on my new book on business writing to be published at the end of April so I've been thinking a lot about how people I meet networking think about writing for their business.

They seem to fall into 3 categories:

• People who loathe the thought of it and put it off until they're pushed to do it - like writing for their websites
• People who quite enjoy it but it comes at the bottom of a long to-do list
• People who understand the impact it can have on their business

I have to say the third category are the rarest and usually include those who are on top of their marketing strategies.

It's easy to understand people who loathe writing because many of them have been put off in school because they didn't 'get grammar' or enjoy writing essays. But writing for your business is quite different and what I find difficult to understand is how they won't then pass the work on to someone else who could do it for them.

I meet a lot of people running their own businesses who feel they should do everything themselves, especially if it saves them money. What we often don't cost in though is our own time. For instance, I could do my own tax affairs but it would cause me stress and take me longer than my accountant who is doing it all the time.

One of my clients employed me to write a letter for them, but not till after they'd spent 10 hours struggling with it. At their hourly rate that actually cost her £1,000 in lost client fees because she wouldn't spend the considerably lower amount I charged her for something I did in a fraction of the time. Crazy situation.

Tomorrow I'll look at the second category of writing phobics

Writing: how to create confidence

What makes a confident person?

Most of us, especially in the UK would say that we could use more confidence. And over the last couple of days I've had several examples of that.

I listened to Simon Woodruffe, founder of Yo Sushi speaking. And to my surprise he admitted that in the early days his confidence was not as it should be. He came across as in your face and sure of himself but the inside didn't match the outside.

Also in the UK I've met many loud people who dominated the meeting, the room or the group. But they're not the ones who've impressed me the most over the years. One of the business writers I've met who have impressed me is Bob Bly.

Talkative yes, but not dominating and you don't mind him talking because he knows what he's doing and has proved it over the years with his work with companies, his courses and books.

The method that works for me in writing is to try it. Write, write again then write some more.

Write about what you know, what you love and what stirs you. Make the outside and the inside match up.

That's what creates confidence.