Pat Iyer’s Blog
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We versus You – Being Clear
As any driver knows, when you change lanes, you’re supposed to signal your intention to do so in order to warn drivers behind you. This helps to prevent accidents. Do you signal your intentions when you use we versus you? I’ve noticed that speakers and writers often...
Structure Your Book
You can’t build your book without a blueprint. Knowing how to structure your book will help you make that first critical step - to begin. First, make a list of the benefits your book will offer to your target reader. Then decide how you will organize your content. The...
A Powerful Book – Create its Foundation
Want to write a powerful book that people will love? Check these 7 elements for building its foundation. 1. Create an outline before you start writing. The outline should fit your vision for your powerful book. By researching competing books, by reviewing your...
How to Edit Your Work
You’ve written a report, speech, newsletter, or other document. You’ve put a lot of time and thought into it. You have an investment in it. Now you need to edit your work. You can find lots of practical advice about how to edit your work. However, none of these...
How to Conquer Blogger’s Block
If you’ve ever worried that you don’t have any ideas for your blog, here is how to conquer blogger’s block. Blogger’s block is a special kind of writer’s block. A fiction writer may get stuck in a story because something is missing: a plot element, a needed character,...
Write a Book and Expand Your Business
You ask, "Write a book - me?" Are you wondering how to expand your business? Do you have a lot of expertise to share – which you know would help your audience? Has a major segment of the market shifted away from buying your services? Are you questioning your marketing...
The Power of Headlines in Writing
Many features can make or break the power of headlines to draw in a reader. Length Matters Google usually displays 50-60 characters of a headline, so, regardless of a headline’s length, the beginning needs to be compelling. In general, for English-language headlines,...
How Perfectionism Prevents Publishing
Perfectionism and its sidekick, procrastination, can not only strangle the life out of your writing but prevent it from ever seeing the light of day—i.e., the eyes of others. This is a sinister partnership. Imagine a writer named Julianne. All her life, she’s wanted...
Lean Writing: How to Cut the Bloat
Editing to remove bloat makes your writing leaner. Bloat occurs when one word makes another unnecessary. Adjectives can create bloat. I covered them in this post. This post presents tips on unnecessary pairings of words, which weaken your writing. Create lean writing...
Powerful Punctuation Point: Parentheses
She Lost a Job Opportunity Because of Punctuation Errors I know this because she lost a job with me. I looked at countless resumes when I had my own business. The moment I saw a typographical error, grammatical mistake, or punctuation error, I stopped reading. Do you...
Recent Posts
The Art of Editing: Refining Your Written Work
As a writer, you’ve invested considerable time and effort in crafting your document, be it a report, speech, newsletter, or …Read More »
Make the Most of Your Writing Time
One of the most frequent complaints of my writing students and clients is “I don’t have enough time. How do …Read More »
Inner Critic or Inner Guide: Who is Talking
At any stage of my writing, I may hear an inner critic, a voice that says things like, “No, that …Read More »
What’s Your Type?
When I write about errors in manuscripts, I usually focus on punctuation, spelling, and grammar because those are my favorite …Read More »
Readers Make Better Writers
I always loved reading more than almost any other activity. It’s no coincidence that my siblings are also avid readers. …Read More »