8 Things That Make You A Sucker

Since I last posted here, Alex Shye, Founder at Soulmix has revealed 8 things that suck me in.

1. Explain something -The best headlines tap into an emotion.

2. Ask a question - A good question creates an sense of curiosity. 

3. Add a number - You love lists. Writers love lists. Everyone loves lists! (If you are reading this now, it's because of #3)

4. Overreach - Have you noticed that many articles don’t just guarantee interesting information?

5. Be negative - Another good way to tap into emotions is to be negative. There are many ways to be excessively negative. The easiest way is to just add a swear word into a headline.

6. Add unnecessary adjectives and qualifiers.

7. Invoke authority - People trust authority. Even if the writer isn’t an authority, someone is.

8. Combine these tricks together - And they work even better together.

Three Types Of Writing

Day Ten:

Dave Trottier in "The Freelance Writer's Bible" describes the three categories of writing as:

1. Commercial Writing - anything you write for business or an institution.  It pays the best money, BUT there is no byline
2. Traditional Writing - what we normally think of as writing; novels, magazine articles, stories, screenplays, etc.  Pay is less than Commercial Writing unless you get fame and fortune.
3. Entrepreneurial Writing - includes self-publishing. Rewards can be significant, but may require capital outlays.

Based on my values and goals Traditional Writing appeals to me and it aligns with what I want out of writing.

Tomorrow: My writing attitudes and values.