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Thanks, Claudette Rowley =============

Write Your Way To New Possibilities

By Claudette Rowley Copyright 2003

What makes writing such a powerful tool for reflection and discovery of new possibilities?

* Writing makes invisible visible. At any one time, you have myriad thoughts, ideas and insights lodged in your mind, waiting to be released. Writing is one way to let your thoughts flow, to take you wherever you need to go.

* Writing assists you in putting aside your internal censor. It is important for you put aside any self-judgment when you begin to write. Refrain from judging how "well" you're writing or ideas that show up on paper. Instead write to think, write for fun of it, write to relieve confusion. Sometimes thinking mind can't access what writing mind can.

* Writing is a process of reflective thinking or self-observation. It puts you in touch with emotions or thoughts you might not be aware of. Plunging into a problem on paper, you may suddenly see a solution clearly.

* Writing is a form of creativity, and creativity is one of best antidotes to mental or emotional confusion and burn-out. When you feel like you've thought a problem to death, stop thinking. Turn to creativity and engage right side of your brain. And allow answers to come to you.

Try this exercise:

Intuitive Writing

Find a quiet place and a 15-20 minute block of time. Sit down with a sheet of paper and a favorite pen or pencil. Think of an important question you'd like answer to. The question can be about anything - sky is limit.

Clear your mind of everything but question itself. Write out your question on paper. And let your hand - NOT your head - begin to form an answer. This is an exercise in intuitively connecting with yourself. You will begin to see that "thinking" of an answer is not always to most effective way to gather information.

Technology vendors often contribute bylined articles to trade journals. The articles are great exposure for these companies but they don't come cheap – trades rarely pay for these articles but vendors spend time and resources to assign pieces, write them, approve them and submit them. Your PR agency can help your clients leverage their investment by wringing top value out of these articles. Here are some possibilities: 1.Reprints 2.White papers 3.Product briefs 4.Booklets 5.Speech outline and handouts

Reprints It's pretty galling to contribute a byline to a publication, only to turn around and spend major bucks for reprint rights. But reprints are good things: they significantly increase your client’s exposure to market. Make sure you use reprints anywhere you can, including press kits, presentation handouts and conference take-aways. Post them on your site too. Even if you haven’t paid for electronic rights you can probably link to publication’s URL, assuming they’ve posted your article online. (It doesn’t hurt to ask.) If you’ve got digital reprint rights and are posting article on your client’s site, avoid using a scanned hard copy of printed article – resolution is poor and not very readable. Create a .PDF file and use that for posting and downloading.