Word count: 605 words
Reading time: About 2.5 minutes
Would you like to be a speed demon and demolish writer’s block? Here’s a new e-mail-based class that can help you double or triple your writing speed!
It took me more than two hours to finish last week’s newsletter. Not because I’m a slow writer. In fact, I wrote the column in a mere 20 minutes. But I’ve been having some problems with my Adobe-based website software called “Contribute.” The only thing to which that buggy software is contributing is my potential nervous breakdown!
That said, last week’s web disaster made me appreciate my current writing speed. If you dialed back the clock a decade it would have taken me two hours — maybe more — to write the darn thing as well.
How did I learn to write so quickly? Although I gathered plenty of tricks when I worked as a senior editor at a metropolitan daily, writing quickly wasn’t one of them. Nor could I write fast when I was a freelance writer. (And, oh dear, that cost me!) Instead of being a freelancer, I was more like a walking case of Writer’s-Block-R-Us. It took the desperation of being self-employed and having three infants who needed my attention to force me to learn (and develop) some tools and techniques for speedy writing.
If you’ve read my book,8 1/2 steps to writing faster, better, you’ll have the blueprint for what I learned. But I’ve come to recognize that books don’t suit everyone. For starters, once you receive a book, it’s up to you to read it and act on it. Not everyone is that self-disciplined. Furthermore, learning to write faster is a good-sized chunk of work — and chunks like that can be intimidating. I decided I needed to break down my learning into more bite-sized pieces.
Thus, after a year of carefully pondering this idea, I’m pleased to announce my new self-directed writing course, called Extreme Writing Makeover.
This course consists of a carefully calibrated e-mail lesson from me, once a week, for a year. The e-mail will be similar to this newsletter except…
- From time to time, it will be a little bit longer (but no more than 25% longer!)
- It will be presented in logical, sequential, easy-to-understand steps (see: product information)
- It will be delivered every week, on the same day you sign up for it, and,
- It will include a small piece of homework (which you won’t need to pass in for marking — it’s simply designed to cement the lesson I’m teaching.)
This course will suit:
- Corporate communicators who want to speed up their writing time to meet the increasing demands of the hyper-charged workplace
- Copywriters and freelancers who want to be able to produce work faster so they can make more money
- Anyone who wants to write a book — especially those who are wary about the time it will take
- World-class procrastinators — if you think you have writer’s block, here’s a way to blow it off the face of the earth.
What’s more, the course won’t be a sinkhole in your week. I’m super-committed to efficiency and I know you’re already busy. The course will take no longer than four minutes per week to read and the homework will take less than an hour.
Oh, and if you already own 8½ Steps to Writing Faster, Better, please know that while the concepts match those presented in the book, this course is 100% new material and much more detailed. You won’t be getting anything recycled! And, in fact, if you buy the premium version of the course, you’ll get a copy of the book as well. (If you already own the book please e-mail me for details on how to claim a special discount you can receive on the course.)
Extreme Writing Makeover is completely self-directed so you can start anytime.
