Word count: 221 words
Reading time: Less than 1 minute
If I hadn’t earned a degree in political science when I went to university, I would have chosen to study psychology. The subject fascinates me — as it should any writer or entrepreneur.
If you want to write effectively, you need to think about what people want to read and how they read (both are psychological questions.) If you want to see your writing published in magazines or corporate publications, you need to learn how to sell (another psychological question.) And if you have an online business, you really need to understand the differences between how people read and buy on the Internet versus the rest of their life (a deeply psychological question.)
For all these reasons, I’m a big fan of the work of behavioural psychologist Susan Weinschenk (pictured above) who has a PhD in psychology, has written three books on psychology and has consulted to a variety of Fortune 500 companies. I can’t tell you how often she posts (it just pops up in my RSS reader and because I follow more than 80 blogs I have a hard time keeping track) but check out her blog.
Most of all, however, I suggest you consult her archived list of 100 things you should know about people. Invaluable! My favourites are: #33 – Bite-sized chunks of info are the best, #49 – The brain looks for simple patterns, and # 100 – Sustained attention lasts 10 minutes.
What makes them click is a great question — but she explores so much more than that! I consider her someone who explores the power of psychology for writers.
