You Got Talent…Not!
You don’t have the talent, now go home!
Lately, I’ve been catching some glimpses of American Idol, trying to comprehend what makes this show so popular. It hasn’t taken me long to understand the addiction — lots of folks with limited talent are looking for their 15 minutes of fame only to be whacked within 15 seconds by Simon Cowell who can sniff out a bad act almost before the first note is sung.
Over the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to review some submissions from fellow “writers” and have come to an important conclusion: a lot of people need to spend some extra time improving their work while others simply do not have the talent.
In the spirit of American Idol, I am offering the following tips to intrepid writers everywhere:
Follow directions — I’ve asked you to write about “this or that” but you’ve pulled in totally unrelated material that has nothing to do with the assigned topic. You lost me somewhere in the second paragraph where you began your rant.
Speak to me, not at me — Conversational writing is fine, but you are missing an important point: I don’t want you to tell me what I should do, rather you must persuade me. I hear your opinion, but you don’t back it up with compelling reasons. Instead of saying “you must” use “consider this” and you may keep my attention.
Your material isn’t original — I don’t need to use Copyscape to see that some of your material has been lifted from other sources. You were too lazy to simply rewrite what you read or you rewrote it in such a way that it has lost its original impact.
Where is your passion? I don’t understand why anyone writes about a subject that is of no interest to them. At the very least, inject some passion into your work because readers need to have a reason to push past your opening paragraph.
Bullets are not a substitute for good paragraphs. From time to time, I use bullets as well as numbered lists, but that doesn’t give the writer an excuse to avoid writing complete sentences or paragraphs that have some meaning. Your “7 Reasons…” could have been combined to 5, but you didn’t notice that the 4th and 6th points were redundant.
Your grammar is atrocious – They’re/there/their are problems usually resolved by the 7th grade, but you are an example of someone who perpetuates this problem. I have also found you incorrectly using: were/where/wear, misusing apostrophes, and you have an obsession with ellipses….
About those “awards” — I don’t care if you are an Ezine Articles “expert” author or that you won your 8th grade spelling bee. What I need to see from you today is talent, something you have yet to demonstrate.
Randy and Paula may “kid glove” your work, but I certainly will not — now where is a gong when you need one?!
Interesting post! I’ve often wondered whether writing is more of a skill or a talent. The best that I’ve been able to come up with is that it’s a little of both.
There is nothing quite like reading an article where it is so well written that you forget you are reading because the image is just rolling through your head. These are some good tips to create that kind of article.
Nice one Matt, well put. Stumbled sir
Yay! Thank you for pointing out that it takes talent to write! I’m sick of people assuming that what I do is easy, or that “anyone” can do it. I agree with Laura that writing is both a skill and a talent. Sadly, some people have neither and the Internet makes it easy for them to publish their work.
Laura: Agreed! Skill and talent go hand in hand. A writers can be an excellent wordsmith, but taking those words and shaping them into something meaningful and powerful takes both.
LRP: Good point — forming word pictures is a wonderful way to get across what you are trying to convey to the reader.
Rob: Thanks, bud. I appreciate your help as always.
Mary: I don’t mind people dominating the $5 per article category, but to suggest that they should be in the same category as a professional writer is comparing a Saturday golfer with Tiger Woods!
Awesome and uncannily accurate Matt, I hope you feel better now you got that off your chest.
Gawk, you have no idea!
Great advice, Matt, especially about persuasion. People don’t want you to preach, but to inform, suggest and persuade.
Sharon: I fall into this trap sometimes myself. Most of life’s lessons are caught, not taught.
Vigorous: Thanks, Jesse for the link. Your “elimination” article was priceless!
crazy foto!!!:-)