joy -

like the sun -

like a breath of fresh air -

pure warmth, comfort,

safety, satisfaction

gratitude -

like the ocean -

like a complete exhale -

sheer release, relaxation,

serenity, flow

love -

like the earth -

like savoring an aroma -

full vibrance, aliveness,

harmony, vitality

happiness -

joy, gratitude, love,

and all other fulcrums

comprising its spectrum

of

good

feelings

This week’s guest blogger is the New York Times Best-selling Author of “Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook & Other Social Networks.”

He’s Dave Kerpen, one of the highest ranked influencers on LinkedIn and founder and CEO of Likeable Local—a media management enterprise that helps individuals and businesses to establish and optimize their web presence.

What advice does he have for Prosers? What about writers in general?

Read on to find out…

1. Practice, practice, practice.

The old joke comes to mind: A tourist in New York asked a woman on the street, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” and she replied, “Practice, practice, practice.” The truth is, the best way to get better at anything is to do it repeatedly. Write a personal blog or begin that novel you’ve always wanted to write. Offer to write some content for your company’s marketing team. Write a short, interesting LinkedIn update each day. The more you write, the better you’ll become at writing. That’s why I write here on LinkedIn every Monday and Thursday, no matter what.

2. Say it out loud.

I read all of my articles and books out loud before I publish them, and many of my emails out loud as well. It’s great to hear my writing the way others will “hear” it as they read. Especially since tone in emails is difficult to convey, it’s valuable to say what you’re writing aloud, and then consider a quick edit, before you put it out there.

3. Make it more concise.

Less is often more, so during my editing process, I’ll often ask, “How can I say the same thing in fewer words?” People don’t have time to read a long email, or memo, or article, so out of respect for your intended audience, practice making your writing short and sweet. I’d even argue that tweeting has helped me a lot with this, as it obviously limits you to 140 characters. If you’re not on Twitter yet, [you should be].

4. Work on your headlines.

Mentor once told me that 50% of your writing is the headline. So, spend equal time and energy working on your headline as you do the piece itself. Whether it’s the headline of a blog post or an inter-office memo, or a subject line for an email to a sales prospect, your headlines will either grab your reader’s attention, and get them interested in what you have to say, or not. Lists and questions work very well as headlines and subject lines. Practice them.

5. Read.

Besides practicing writing, the number one way to improve your writing skills is to read great work. I read at least one book per month, at least 20 articles per week, and countless tweets, Facebook posts and emails per day. I know we all have limited time, but truly the best way to become a better writer is to become a better reader.

Note: This article was excerpted with permission from the author. To view it in its original form, please copy and paste the following link into your web browser:

linkedin.com/pulse/20130221123241-15077789-want-to-be-taken-seriously-become-a-better-writer

To learn more about Dave, look for him @DaveKerpen on Twitter and be sure to visit www.likeable.com for more information on how to make better use of social media for your own work.

__________________________

Stay tuned here each week for more in this #MondayBlogs series— designed to educate and inspire you from the inside out. We’ll give you insights and resources from the literary industry at large as well as exclusives about your own world of words:

-Prose.

Once upon a time, the Phoenix soared high through the sky, flapping its fiery wings with passion undying, dying to keep merging with and emanating more and more pure-energy-of-life, crying with fervent glee appreciating the everlasting, eternal opportunity to dine with grace and motivation divine.

Then, spontaneously, the Phoenix's fire died, and seemingly its life, as well, and so its loved ones fell into emotional hell over despair of the dear departed one who inspired them to share the same fiery love for Fire and (the) Sun. But just as this perceived emotional hell had begun, the Phoenix's expended ashes erupted with a beam of one blinding golden-passion-energy that temporarily prevented these beings from seeing lucidly the seemingly miracle reality of what was happening so abruptly and triumphantly and relatively instantly.

(The) Sun was immediately back with nothing except the same-wild-flame bliss as before, the same mysterious yet intimately familiar Force that these lovers of the Phoenix did adore. Then, the resurrected Phoenix inspired the people to both believe and see that they all, too, were themselves nothing but the Phoenix, and had only forgotten that they, too, are that passion undying, dying to keep merging with and emanating more and more pure-energy-of-life, crying with fervent glee appreciating the everlasting, eternal opportunity to dine with grace and motivation divine.

And so, thus ensued, a renewed perspective and gratitude for the respective altitude of the prospective aptitude from these prospects' attitude to see the latitude of their gratitude for the Phoenix's rise and return, and so they conspired to learn never to repress the authentic urge, the relentless urgency, to BE the Phoenix and rise again and again and again for all Eternity.

The End (or so it would seem)