This week: Clean Up Your Copy Edited by: Jayngle Bells  
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Hi, again! We’re wrapping our series on contest creation and overhaul. We've started from the conceptual, examining how a contest is, in fact, part of your brand (or a brand in and of itself) "Who Is Your Audience?" . We moved into the concept of clarity concerning the content itself and the messaging behind it. "Have I Made Myself Clear?" . We then tackled what to do when your audience is looking for an external solution to an internal problem - by providing a community-within-a-community that meets that internal need "Solve Your Writer’s Problems" . In other words, your audience identifies themselves with your brand.
This entire series is adapted for our needs from Storybrand by Donald Miller.
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In the final installment of this series, it's time for some nuts-and-bolts. We've covered quite a bit of the conceptual stuff, and now it's time to put it into practice. Let's recap what we've learned:
 Your audience wants to work for the prize - not to understand the concept of your offering.
Your message needs to be straightforward about how you can help them get the most out of their writing time.
Treat your brand as a story. Use a clean, but interesting, nonfiction copy format of show don't tell.
Success relies on helping your authors thrive, even if that means a little extra work for you.
The stronger your story, the more intriguing it is. The more intriguing it is, the more people listen.
The longer people listen, the more likely they are to identify with your offering.
What Does This Mean to The Contest Creator?
It means you want to keep it simple without skimping on the critical details. You want to keep it linear, while providing a great narrative. You need to lay out what you're offering, how it benefits your authors and what they need to do to be successful. Remember, successful is a two-part endeavour on your end - sure, you may have a "winner", but you are also the cheerleader of all your authors or participants.
What Steps Can I Take to Improve My Brand?
One of the first things you can do is learn to write short, powerful WdC copy.
Develop your story, your reason for existing. Now streamline it into a simple digestible message. Your audience should be able to tell someone else what you're about in a sentence or two.
Be specific in what you offer and what you're looking for.
Bake your assistance to their problems/needs right in your copy. Don't make them look for it.
Establish yourself as the safety net and the cheerleader. You're here to help, and you've got their back.
To accomplish these things on WdC, you'll want to learn some key features:
Choose a high-impact title and a description that is clearly understood!
Dropnotes and popnotes allow for larger amounts of white space, while still providing necessary information.
Learn to title those dropnotes clearly and effectively.
Group like with like. Rules should reside together. Your main story should live in one spot (although there is an argument for having a conclusion at the bottom of the page). Your main offer should reside in a different spot.
Never do a "gotcha" with your rules - where all the rules look like they're together, but then you tack one on at the end. Don't scatter your rules around.
Learn how to incorporate the WritingML that can help your writers jump around the page or directly to the forum.
If you have multiple pages, see if you can combine some of them, or consolidate them into a book. If you can't, link them properly and don't make your authors chase their tails in a circular "never-finding-the-info-I want" race.
Learn how to use font size, colors, photos and images (where applicable), emoticons and all the formatting options at your disposal to change the way a page looks and feels. Sometimes it takes trial and error, so take your time and get it right.
How Do I Incorporate Originality?
First and foremost, you ARE original. None of this is intended to make your idea some boring flavor of gray mush. In fact, it's the opposite. You're trying to make it easier to set your contest or activity apart. The easier you are to mesh with, and the easier your contest is to understand, the more draw you have.
The reality is contests (and many activities) are a lot like writing: it's all a retelling of some kind of archetypal story. It's all a matter of the spin you put on it.
Choose a style and a theme.
By this, I mean for the actual prompts or challenges or whatever. If your idea is that there is no theme, well, I hate to break it to you, that IS your theme. It's your selling point. So figure out who you're selling it to, and get them to buy in.
Your style is how you approach your writing and interactions.
Are you for the super-serious writer looking to be published? Then you're looking at exclusivity and probably a higher rate of individual participation (peer reviews, etc). Your copy should reflect that, as should your visual presentation.
If you geek out on finding great prompts, how will the prompts relate (or not)? Your enthusiasm about the prompts and why great prompts are awesome to work with needs to shine through.
If you are an aggregator (you take submissions from all over the place, or accept older pieces, etc), what's your story behind that? Why are you a collector and what makes that so cool?
Are you a teacher or builder? Is what you do about helping people get better at some aspect of writing, the site, or something in their life? You want your experience, compassion, empathy and abilities to shine through your story.
If you're just out to have fun, make sure your copy is exceptionally fun to read, but don't lose the core message and concepts.
What About Appearance?
This is where it gets extra dicey, because there's a very fine line between "visually appealing", "visually stunning" and "what exactly am I looking at?".
This is the second type of style you need to worry about, but it's vital to branding, especially if you run multiple contests. You want people to recognize you - and what you stand for - as quickly as possible. Yes, you can use different graphics, but your style should have a certain flavor.
Logos. I'm a fan. Put some thought into clean, clearly identifiable visuals of your contests/activities. If yours are outdated or cluttered, rebranding is perfectly fine!
Use colors and graphics judiciously. The graphics you choose and the color palette is up to you, but don't clutter your page with them. Some of the most memorable things are also the simplest things.
Lose the dense paragraphs. Clean, uncluttered, easy on the eyes.
Use proper spacing. Writing on the internet isn't the same as writing on a page. Despite those protesting otherwise, it is far easier to read short, well spaced, and nicely arranged text. Leave plenty of white space, and use graphics to your advantage to denote sections or changes in tone, content or importance.
Wind your way back up to learning the key features of WritingML and WdC to incorporate these things as best you can.
I don't want this series to feel like a never-ending list of tasks just to get a contest or activity off the ground. However, success in most endeavors is found with a bit of understanding, some planning and a good presentation. You want successful writers; I want you to have a successful (and fun!) time getting there and establishing your community.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes; we all do it. If something didn't translate to the page and people are confused, just fix it. If you're not connecting with your audience, ask around and get some feedback. Keep in mind the site ebbs and flows just like life. You may have very busy months and very quiet months. You may have prompts that won't resonate. It happens.
And if something just isn't working, or has stopped working, there's nothing wrong with rebranding. If you don't know where to start, ask for help! Feedback is the best way to grow, and getting help with brand-building is a great way to start your community! |
An aggregator contest:
Congratulations to Lilith 🎄 Christmas Cheer  , the new owner of "The Quills" !
Make sure to nominate great work!
Open prompt, free verse contest:
A "builder" activity:
A teaching/learning group:
World-building contest:
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https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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Did you find this series helpful? Are there single topics or other series concerning Contests and Activities you'd like to see covered in future issues?
Feedback from "What You're Doing Matters." :
...as John Houseman's character put it in A Christmas Without Snow [0:36:58 - 0:38:18, and especially 0:37:53 - 0:38:02]: "The meaning of amateur is "He or she who does a thing for the love of it.""
I couldn't agree more!
We all have friends who ask “why aren’t you trying to write a novel”, or “when can I read something you’ve published? “ They don’t get it. I actually just enjoy writing, full stop. Yes it’s great when someone at least reads one of my stories and says something nice or laughs, but I’d still write it even if no one ever read it. So cheer us on. Sunday Writers, unite."
Unite, indeed!
Vincent van Gogh sold one painting during his lifetime. Now, if you found a van Gogh in your attic, you'd instantly be a millionaire. But you know what? Vincent couldn't care less now.
Sage advice buried in there, my friend  .
The demon twins, Fear and Self-doubt, torture us enough without some self-righteous know-it-all. It is a form of bullying, plain and simple, and there is no need for it.
You are correct. We are often our own worst enemies, and we certainly don't need external bullies. And you're right, it IS bullying.
When I first arrived, everyone said, "You need to be published!" Why? I caved, took 3 pieces and sent them off. One was eventually published. "OK," I said. "So, what did that prove?" Nothing. I still write for ME. That's all I need."
Some people struggle to understand that not everyone needs external validation. Good for you! Keep writing for yourself.
I write to leave a legacy to my children and my children’s children, to give them a blueprint of the traces of their ancestral heritage. One day, when I am long gone, they will be asking the whys and the wherefores. They can resurrect me from the grave and find out all the answers through my writings.
I think that's a great reason to write! What a lovely legacy to leave your loved ones 
I whole heartily agree with you 100%
Thank you for the support! It was a tough topic to tackle politely - I really don't like it when people try to tear others down. I think it was a good exercise in restraint for me!
*due to the volume of comments, some have been edited for length. |
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Contests & Activities: May 25, 2022 Issue [#11379]
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