Seeking inspiration

There is a myth called inspiration. Is it real? I don't know. What I do know is that writing comes from a frame of mind special to you. Everyone is different. For JK Rowling, she hides in coffee shops and writes in the back room. For me, I drown myself in music, preferably with ear buds on.

And I write every day. Every one. Writing is like any skill. The more your practice the better you become. Stop for a week and it will take another week to get back into the swing.

so, you need to be honest with yourself and discover what allows you to be a great writer. Turn on the fan, write in your car or go hide in the local park. It doesn't matter. Just do it and do it every day.

Oh, I am sitting in a Starbucks and listening to U2 and, man, I am digging it.

Going beyond 55 words

Blogs, in today's world, need to be tight and to the point. Hence, the 55 word challenge: keep it to the point; get in, get out and nobody gets hurt.

But what if the 55 word challenge hurts your message?

There are times when you need to step out of the Twitter driven world of character counting news. There are times when you need a full story. There are times when I want to know all the details, damn it!

When do you know when that time has come for a longer blog post? There are no hard and fast rules. It will likely come down to a simple gut instinct. At 55 words you can re-read your post and know if the details are missing. Does this mean you now have free reign to write a book online? No. I still feel strongly that a longer blog post should first focus on one single message and deliver it completely. Have two messages? Then create a second blog post.

That's my message: end of blog post.