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In between rhyme (creativity exercise)

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Write, create, innovate: exercises

mridhaThe Greek philosopher Aristotle, was originator of  advanced human thinking in ancient Greek and in his book ‘On Interpretation’ he describes how words were powerful tools for his thinking – especially when words were connected to a thought he wanted to materialize, execute or one that conveys a meaning of creativity. He believed that in such way we are encouraging creativity and paving the road for possibilities to come.

In many already suggested exercises (see section ‘Write, create, innovate: exercises’) certain experiences, and the way how our senses react to environment have served as a given trigger for an emotional response that can be translated into a creative outlet.

Today, and in the exercises to come, let our focus be more on language, rhythm and melody of the words that can also train our creative thinking and especially be useful for other forms of writing.

I suggest we start with an internal rhyme like:

I try to write, remembering your kiss as you held me tight.

‘Type, type!’ I say to myself; ‘Don’t get fooled by a sentimental hype!’

So, you see the first and the last word in the stanza rhyme, giving the verses completely new feel and meaning to the written sentence.

For your exercise, you can call to mind an issue you have and pick one word of your own interest (it might be connected to a topic you are writing on, project you are working on or any other word that ‘bugs’ you somehow 🙂 Write in flow, without too much thinking – just try to follow this one simple rule; don’t pay attention to the logic or the meaning behind your verses; use simple facts about the situation, what you think, what others might think, what you could try or what you already did, what could be holding you back and other thoughts related to the issue..

This is more leisure and fun approach to brainstorming, which can be also beneficial: relaxed manner of thinking decreases tension and helps us become more open to the hidden treasures that language holds for us.

Have you already tried this exercise or something similar before? Please share in the comments below.

3 tips to nail your book presentation

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Write, create, innovate!, Writer's creative bites

Nicholas-Boothman

When you write a book actually it’s not even the half work done. The most difficult part is yet to come and that is marketing ans selling your book. In this chain of activities, beside writing an amazing book and author bio – there are still significant things you can do to increase the selling prospects of your book: writing a captivating book presentation (synopsis) and giving a splendid pitch!

It can be a very difficult and daunting task since there’s so many things you want to include and you think that everything is equally important.

Now, there are probably some technical rules that you would need to follow, like number of words and paragraphs, (editors and agents will probably have their own requirements when it comes to how long they expect synopses to be) but my writing books so far, taught me that the essence of  book presentation should incorporate three approaches that I’m going to share with you now. It can be applied both to oral presentation and the written synopsis of the book.

It doesn’t matter if you are a fiction or non-fiction writer: many inexperienced authors make a beginners mistake and that is:

  1. Not everything is about them as writers – on the contrary!

Instead of forcing an attitude “me, me, me” and how good your book is, your focus should be on your audience – your potential readers, publisher, book sellers. In your presentation you need people who are listening and reading your stuff to put in the center of the action and make them feel that the presentation and the book in question is addressing them personally.

2. Become a mentor

Put yourself in your reader’s chair: what kind of experience does your book transcends? What your readers can learn? If your goal is to entertain them, what are the attractive points of the book you can emphasize?

Your book presentation shouldn’t be just a short version of already written story/text: make your audience a hero, take them on journey, give them new insights – make them WANT that book. And here, you are only their guide and mentor that navigates them through these new exciting adventures. As a writer, and mentor you’ve already traveled this journey and think of your presentation as a way to pass on the skills and knowledge you acquired.

3. Chose humility as your biggest asset

When you don’t try to steal all the spotlight, your point of view change. You’ll become more humble in understanding and communicating with your audience. While carefully crafting your book presentation, think of the benefits that your audience will get by reading your book; share your knowledge and wisdom in such way that is inviting, attractive and hard to say no to: your story needs to instill confidence, empathy, training, advice, tools or just fun – what ever is the value your book is providing.

I know this is a quite different approach to writing a book presentation/synopsis, yet in my experience it turned out to be very beneficial.

Once you try to think as your potential reader and in your presentation you accentuate what your reader should ‘take from a book’ – everything becomes much easier and clearer.

What can you expect on “Business in Rhyme” in 2016

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme

Probably most you remember that a couple of weeks ago I ran a poll about future topics you would like to see more featured on this blog.

Creativity, writing and entrepreneurship were the leading topics with the most votes, which is also in alignment with most read/liked posts in the past year. So here is what I intend to do:

  • once a week (at least) there will be a creativity exercise, mostly based on writing and poetry techniques – but not as a typical prompts but rather in more engaging ways;
  • there will be more posts exploring the possibility of how you can turn your writing and creativity into a viable business;
  • also I would like to go beyond the value of poetry for business, but how it can help us in different areas of life  – something like this post.

My general intention with this blog is to really make a space and a community where we can all share our experiences and also learn in an engaging and fun process – so there will be some other novelties as well (I don’t want to reveal everything at once 😉 )

I also want to thank you all for an amazing ongoing support for this blog and my recently published poetry – it simply makes this worth while and it’s an encouragement to make it even better and more resourceful.

Looking forward to get “busy in rhyme” with all of you here!

Maja