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Writing content for your websites pages is different that
writing for any other medium. There are some simple facts you
should be aware of before you put pen to paper. It can take some
time to get the balance right so be aware that you are going to
be fine tuning your content for some time.

Write for your visitors and not for the search engines. Search
engines are a consideration but you want to communicate with the
people who arrive on your site. You want to inform them and
motivate them to take action. Fortunately text written
specifically for your visitors will also be search engine
friendly.

Inject your personality into your writing and try to connect
with your visitors. This connection will make your visitors feel
at home on your site. Informal, friendly, conversational
language works best. You want your visitors to feel like they
belong.

Another important thing to remember about writing for the web is
that people scan what you write; they don’t read it from start
to finish. This is a very important fact. Therefore what your
write should be easily read and easily scanned.

To help make your site easy to scan:

* Employ a easy to understand, attention grabbing heading

* Start with the conclusion or summary (inverted pyramid writing
style)

* Do not bury your message

* Include sub-headings that if scanned tell a story

* Incorporate only one idea per paragraph - make them self
contained

* Highlight important words and phrases

* Use bullet-point lists

* Keep your language simple

Your writing should help to build credibility for your business.
To do this you should build trust for your visitor.

Establish credibility by:

* Customer Lists

* Testimonials

* Case Studies

* Articles and White Papers

* About Us Page

Use language that informs your visitors. Make sure the language
does not exaggerate or over sell your offering. Any type of hype
tends to make visitors suspicious. Avoid marketing language and
focus more on an editorial style.

Even on a highly technical site it is best to keep your language
simple. Remember that all visitors to your site will not be as
knowledgeable as you are! Try to put yourself in your visitor’s
shoes. Be empathetic towards your visitors and address their
needs. What information are they looking for? How con I describe
things to really make them understand?

The goal of your writing is to inform and also persuade people.
The key is to know and understand the people to whom you are
writing. Once you understand them then it is a process of
writing in a clear and understandable manner directly to them.
As this is not an overnight process it is essential that you
monitor your results. You need to know what is and what is not
working. This way you can continue to refine your message over
time.

Sometimes, to get inspired, you need to understand the value of your skills and what you have to offer the world. Writers and Poets possess important abilities that the world needs desperately.

Recall your first love. Was there music involved? A favorite love song? Do you remember the words? Lyrics are poems in themselves and why do songs have lyrics, anyway? Why isn’t the music sufficient? Well, sometimes it is. Most of the time, music alone fails to garner praise from the community of listeners and there’s a fantastic reason: lyrics communicate for listeners the words they often do not have to describe their emotions. Time and again, Poets and Writers (capitalized here because of the significance they have in this article) express what they feel in such a way that those not skilled in our area use our words to speak their own. In some cases, people had no idea what they felt about someone until they heard it expressed in a song.

Let’s explore another genre (and be patient with me if it’s not your primary one): romance. Don’t worry, we’ve more genres to briefly explore. In the case of romance, which has fueled the interest of wives, mothers and daughters, the art of romanceeven seductionis explored. On a deeper level, romance readers learn romantic methods of communication. They learn the vocabulary of love.

What about the value of Science Fiction? What is affectionately called Sci-Fi is also called Speculative Fiction, which is perhaps a more appropriate name. Why? Because it speculates about the future. If we can write it, then it can become. Since movies come from screenplays, discussing movies for this topic is just as appropriate as the novels, though of course, the book is almost always better, isn’t it? For example, “Star Wars” speculates about future technology and worlds. From that type of speculation comes important dreams, plans, ideas, concepts for technology, etc. I’ve always wanted a landspeeder because of “Star Wars”. If I get one, it’ll likely be because someone who watched or read “Star Wars” made it come to life. This can go much further, of course, to concepts portrayed in such movies as “Independence Day” and “War of the Worlds”, in which Earth must defend itself. By predicting possible future complications now in our literature, we create future solutions today.

Virtually every novel, poem and article or essay depicts some aspect of human history. If you’ve ever read memoirs of deceased family members, then you know the value of every comment about past life. I think Jose Marti advised us to have a son, plant a tree and write a book so that we could attain immortality. Books can outlive them all. What we write today could well exist hundreds, even thousands of years from now. I remember seeing a book written by Christopher Columbus and not caring what he wrote, just that something so full of life from the past stood in a glass case in front of me. When you start that negative talkyou know what I’m talking aboutremember too that you have your abilities for a reason. The world needs you to do what you’re made to do. If you’re made to write, then do it.

Pen to Paper~
Chris Goebel
Editor, Humdinger Literary E-zine
http://www.humdingerzine.com
Subscribe to Chris Goebel’s newsletter, Jack of Genre: Newsletter for Writers, at:
http://user98512.websitewizard.com/Jack-of-Genre.html
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Would you like to use this article in your e-zine or on your website? Just include the author’s blurb (above) with the article. Make sure not to change the article in any way and to keep the entire blurb intact.

This author started with a clean website and wrote 5 articles in as many weeks. There is nothing else.

Within a week, this author’s site got a #1 ranking from Google, using the author’s name as the keyword and has stayed there during this period. MSN finally gave a #1 ranking after wavering between 8 and 12. For 2 to 3 days, Yahoo ranked it as #1 or #2, after which, the ranking disappeared altogether.

There are about 100 sites which reprinted these 5 articles. Many did not activate the link found in the author’s bio. The three major search engines reported a total of 48 inbound links. MSN reported 34 links, Yahoo 13 and Google 1. All in all, this author’s site received about 100 visits from various countries. One article appeared in foreign-language site from Brazil.

Do not be surprised at meeting the odd article pirate. This particular website strips the author’s bio, changed the title slightly, take the whole article in word for word and claim the article as his original creation. Looking at this site closely, it is easy to spot the various styles of different writers, yet this article pirate claimed authorship of all those articles.

This author’s personal take.

Have lower expectations - taking a digit or two off from the figures is closer to reality for most writers.

Choose the right topics. Writing about celebrities, hair are popular topics. There is one particular article on hair in places where the sun has hardly shone before, which had over 30,000 hits in an article-submission site alone. In contrast, articles written by this author on cryptography and technical analysis have only 100 hits. How these popular topics are related to your website’s theme will need your creativity at its best.

Consider using teenagers and young people as your test-market. If they do not read your articles, chances are, few would.

Submission to article sites is an exercise in patience. The author still wonders how some experts still claim there are hundreds of article submission sites, when there are only tens of listed article depositories. Probably, they may be referring to the thousands of one-theme sites such as web marketing.

Despite some flaws, this author still recommends article-writing as a web promotion tool. Seeing your articles accepted by 100 sites and read by thousands is indeed gratifying. Seeing your opinion being quoted and discussed in forums is exhilarating. Seeing one of your articles being blatantly pirated provides a new badge of honor - how many articles get pirated anyway? The internet, like everyone else, is imperfect.

Stan Seecrets’ Postulate: “Website promotion is a journey of a million sweats. Savor each drop and it will taste like honey.”

The author, Stan Seecrets, is a veteran software developer with 25+ years experience at (http://www.seecrets.biz) which specializes in digital asset protection. A free RSS/XML syndicated feed on all his articles is available. You can email him with comments or criticism to Stan at seecrets dot biz.

© Copyright 2005, Stan Seecrets. All rights reserved.

Goodfellas is another successful story that follows the Hero’s Journey template. Mirroring this template allows the screenwriter to write effective screenplays and stories.

The Fade In introduces the context of the story. In Goodfellas we hear Billy Batts begging to be let out of the trunk. The protagonists respond by stabbing and shooting him some more. This Fade In is equivalent to the famous Star Wars text based roll-on. It is incredibly common, for example, in Al Pacino Scarface, we learn context through narrative and visuals (the expulsion of cuban criminals by Fidel).

Next we meet the hero in his Ordinary world and his motivations for wanting to embark on the journey.

The third sequence introduces us to the antagonist - headed by Paul Cicero, who is to be the hero’s supernatural aid.

The fourth sequence further enhances the rewards of the journey for the hero [”I was the luckiest kid in the world.”]

The fifth sequence presents the Interdictor and the Interdiction to the journey [Henry’s Dad].

In the sixth sequence the interdiction is overcome [the postman gets beaten up].

Now that there are no obstacles, we journey to meet the supernatural aid and mentor [Paul Cicero].

Again, the benefits of embarking on the adventure are extolled [”at thirteen I was making more money than the grown ups in the neighbourhood.”]

In the ninth sequence, the hero consciously agrees to the journey [Henry dressed in the gangster uniform].

The tenth sequence demonstrates that Henry, our anti-hero, still has a lot to learn [he tries to help and cleans up after the guy who is shot].

In the eleventh sequence the supernatural aid guides the way - he introduces the hero to the Shape Shifter [Jimmy]. We are meeting the allies that will accompany the hero on his journey.

We learn about the Shape Shifter.

The (dangerous) Joker [Tommy] is introduced.

A Threshold Guardian bars entry into the First Threshold [Henry gets busted].

There are warning of the new rules before entering the First Threshold [”never rat on your friends.”]

A celebration as the hero embarks into the First Threshold [Pauly et al greet Henry outside the courtroom].

The 106 stage Hero’s Journey and complete analysis of Goodfellas and other story structure templates can be found at http://www.managing-creativity.com/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://www.managing-creativity.com