Writing Tips at GarySpeer.com

I’m working on some ad copy for a prestigious land and housing development in Branson, Missouri. These Branson lots, from what I’ve seen of the developer’s plans and website, are beautiful. They’re located on a nice resort golf course and within a few miles of one of America’s leading country music/family entertainment meccas — Branson, Missouri, which was a real contender back in the 1980s and 1990s with Las Vegas and Nashville for attracting star power and big-name entertainers.

My single biggest problem trying to create ad copy for any location in or near Branson is this: I live about 45 minutes from Branson, and personally have never really liked the place. It’s too loud and showy to suit me; and even the “family” attractions are a carefully crafted family location, sort of like the Disney theme parks that way.

It becomes very difficult for me to set aside personal feelings and to see things from the broader, “tourist” perspective.

How do you handle situations like that? It’s not that I feel obligated to write about something “bad” or distasteful or unpleasant. It’s not that I’m being forced to compromise any ethics or personal values — I just really don’t care for the place I’m writing about, and I have to work very hard to make sure that doesn’t show through.

If you’ve found yourself in a similar situation, leave a comment and tells about it.

Technorati Tags: writing ad copy, difficult writing assignments, writing tips at garyspeer.com

I don’t know whether any of you writers that come here do Hub Pages or not. Anyone? Anyone making money, or making much money, at it?

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then obviously you don’t make money building “Hubs.” But I’ll explain what the place seems to be all about and maybe it’ll work for you.

Hub Pages (at http://hubpages.com) is similar to Squidoo, and similar to Helium. Squidoo, perhaps because the odd name gets attention, is the most popular such site, but Hub Pages claims to have a better “click through” or “conversion” rate. Hub Pages allows you to sign up for free and write articles on just about literally anything you care to write on. Assuming it isn’t pornography, plagiarism, hateful, racist, or otherwise illegal, the subject matter is pretty much wide open.

Once you write an article — and they really aren’t very clear on any minimum word length or other guidelines — and publish it, your writing is online for anyone to read. Based on an intricate system of “rating” by the Hub Pages people and the popularity of the article (they actually call each individual article or “Hub Page” a “Hub”), your completed article/page/Hub is given a numerical rating and your standing in the community is given a similar rating.

Here’s the way you make money writing at Hub Pages: Each page/Hub you write displays Google Adsense ads. If someone goes to your Hub and clicks on an Adsense ad, Google pays X-cents per click. The Hub Pages site splits Adsense “clicks” with you, 60 percent to you and 40 percent to them.

Anyone out there doing Hub Pages and making any money at it? I welcome your comments and reactions to it. It seems to be a very legitimate way to make income online. According to various testimonials at the hubpages.com website, people are making hundreds and even thousands of dollars monthly. It seems to me that it would involve a serious, long-term time investment. But since they let you write about just about ANYTHING from home food canning to car insurance to everything around and in between — hey, it’s a fascinating idea.

Weigh in on the matter, will you? Tell us what you think about the site, and whether or not you’re a “Hubber.” (I just registered yesterday and haven’t had time, yet, to put together a Hub.)

Technorati Tags: Hub Pages, Internet writing, writing tips at garyspeer.com

That last post I made about the expression “put your [fill in the blank] on steroids” prompted a discussion with my wife, Shirley, about whether that is a simile or a metaphor. (If you reread my post, you’ll see I made a quick “cop out” by saying the word steroids was “used metaphorically.” Confession time for the old blogger guy. He He.)

So I looked it up to be sure. Here goes:

1. A simile is a comparison using “like” or “as.” It usually compares two dissimilar objects.
2. A metaphor states that one thing is something else. It is a comparison, but it does NOT use “like” or “as” to make the comparison.

That’s about the most concise, easily understood explanation I’ve ever found. Here are some examples:

Simile:

“Asking for an intelligent response from him is like asking a group of teenagers for wrinkle cream reviews.”

Metaphor:

“Her eyes were sparkling diamonds against the backdrop of her perfectly formed, dark lashes.”

I just keep the “simile = like or as” and “metaphor = is” formula in mind and it helps me remember.

Of course, the important point in this not learning “simile” and “metaphor” to pass some sort of test. (Unless, of course, you’re facing a test in school or preparing to be on “Jeopardy!”) The most important lesson here for writers is to develop skills to use the wonderful richness of our language. “Gifted writers” find the figurative use of language an easy, natural thing to do — the rest of us have to write, write, write, and practice, practice, practice.

So get busy. Write, write, write, practice, practice, practice …

Technorati Tags: simile, metaphor, figurative language, writing practice, writing tips at garyspeer.com