Pat's 7 Secrets

Writing with a Bird's Eye View

You're wondering about that title, aren't you? That's what writing good headlines is all about. You need to make people wonder where you're going with the idea. Uh-oh...

I'm losing my focus!

Ha! I just showed you what I want to discuss this time.

Focus is keeping your eye on the ball. It's not writing about the optimal condition of golfing fairways when you're writing about an optimal swing. The fairway has nothing to do with the swing--the aim, the position of the ball, yes, but NOT the swing. Right?

Why I said you need a bird's eye view in my header is actually counter to what that really means. Rather than writing about everything you might see from a high vantage point, you need to narrow your little birdy eyes so that you see only what's in front of you--your topic. You must FOCUS.

Let me give you an example of narrowing to a suitable focus:

When you're writing about a popular band for teenagers, what can you write about?

Here are some aspects:
The music
The band members
Fans
The musical genre and where the band's music applies
Anedecdotal information about the band
Their music videos
And on and on.

OK. Let's take the first example. Say you're writing about Evanescence. You can write about the way that Amy Lee sings, how Ben Moody plays. Their anthem "Bring Me to Life," or anything directly pertaining to their music.

When you start writing about where they come from, biographies of band members, direction of their music videos, or anything that ISN"T strictly about their music, you've lost your focus.

Stick to one topic. Maintain focus. No tangents. Keep your mind glued to the subject and write only about one thing. Everything else you may be tempted to drag in can be other articles. How cool is that? :-)

posted by Pat Marcello @ Friday, July 28, 2006