I just erased an entire blog post that was intended for this spot. I had an interesting anecdote to start things out and tied it to an important business principle, but when I read it back it bored me. It did not pass the “So What?” test, so I ditched it and started over.
As any parent with young children will tell you, kids have no problem asking questions. Even the simplest declaration can set off an avalanche of inquiries that would make the most experienced journalist proud. They leave no possibility unexplored and are committed to revealing every detail.
When writing a story for your email newsletter or blog that requires fact gathering via research or interviews, it is important for us to ask all the right questions as well. I have learned over the last 25 years or so that the most important part of the story-writing process is making sure to ask the questions that your readers would ask if they had the same opportunity.
I have developed somewhat of a bad habit at home. I don’t necessarily think it’s bad, but based on some recent body language I have received, I may need to rethink my position on it. Every once in a blue moon, I may correct someone on the way they are using a word or phrase. Not in an obnoxious way, of course, but more in the saying back the correct word in a childlike tone as if asking if that is what they really meant to say way.
See, I told you it wasn’t obnoxious.
As a longtime editor and reader of intern-penned articles, I often was faced with explaining why their papers were overwhelmed with red ink. My opening line was usually, “It’s not as bad as it looks.” Although, usually it was.
