I wish you a successful and prosperous 2008, however you define successful.

A new year is the time many of us think about what we intend to do differently in the future and what we intend to strive for. And it is a good time to do this - not only does a new year open in front of us, but we are often refreshed and have more time than during the working year.

Many people disregard resolutions as a meaningless fad. While I don’t think it is the only time to make resolutions, and I agree many new years resolutions don’t survive beyond January, I don’t agree that they are meaningless.

Making a resolution just because it is 1 January and everyone is doing it - that perhaps is meaningless.

Making a resolution because you really want to make a change or improvement is a great thing.

My tips for making resolutions today (or at any time) that will last are:

1. make them SMARTY goals (I’ll outline them in another post, but essentially they are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timed and WhY)
2. don’t set too many - one or two major resolutions per area of your life is plenty
3. write them down somewhere you can see them to be reminded frequently
4. consider telling a trusted friend so they can help keep you on track
5. set your own goals - don’t copy others or do what others think you should do

Other than resolutions, it is also a good time to clear out last year and start afresh. My New Year, New Business article has some tips on refreshing your business, so I won’t repeat myself!

Good luck with your resolutions and goals, and enjoy 2008.

So many of our dreams

at first seem impossible,

then they seem improbable,

and then, when we summon the will,

they soon become inevitable.

~ Christopher Reeve.

I have read the first of Reeve’s autobiographies, which gives this quote even more power to my mind. The man struggled to do anything much after his accident, yet he exercised for hours every day (not exercise as the rest of us take for granted) so if he could keep reaching for his dreams, and get acting roles, and help charities and inspire people when he was immobile from the neck down…

I think we can take his ideas about dreams seriously and confront the difficult challenges with the belief we CAN do it.

~~~~~~~

My dreams story:

Some years ago, I had a dream of not working for anyone else. Then I had a mortgage and that dream seemed highly unlikely if not impossible. But I worked hard, saving money and reducing my debt, interest rates fell and I sold the shares I’d been given at work for a good price. The mortgage was no longer a reason to work for someone else.

But then I doubted I had a marketable skill so my own business was still improbable. Until I did a few writing/editing projects for friends and appreciated I had a skill with words that others valued.

Suddenly, I had a business doing something I love and working for myself was inevitable. And I wouldn’t give it up for a job, either.

What is your dream story?

I wish you the best of times over the festive season - lots of laughter, friendship, contentment, peace and gratitude.

Have a wonderful day tomorrow and take time to enjoy the people you love.

I found the following sign (posted in Germany’s Black Forest) to be a funny translation - at least  I hope the translating is what caused the bad expression!

It is strictly forbidden on our black forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose.

I wonder what other sexes there are as men and women are only examples of the possibilities!

Want it written better?

Unmarried males and females must not share a tent in the Black Forest Camping Site.

Makes more sense and is simpler, but nowhere near as funny

Writing satire can be difficult but can produce some very funny work. However, you need to match the satire to an appropriate audience.

Some time ago, I wrote a satirical piece about being a year 12 student - I referred to the wonderful social life (visiting a newsagent, a library, seeing movies of books under study, etc) and the joy of always having something to do (hmm, now I think of it, it is pretty similar to running your own business!)

I know it worked as various friends and teachers at my writing course read it and laughed. Yet I gave it to another person once and she took it very seriously. Her comment was along the lines of “That’s an interesting piece, but I’m not sure how many other year 12 students would agree with you about the highlight of the year”

Personally, I found her response funnier than the original story! However, it does prove a point - if you are writing in a style that is not mainstream or is perhaps different to the norm in a particular context, then take care that your piece will not be misinterpreted in a way it is meaningless.

Learn about your target audience and preferably test your work on a couple of them. You don’t want to waste your best writing on an unappreciative audience!

Writing spam? Don’t you just want to delete it rather than create more of it???

Occasionally, I read a piece of spam that gets into my inbox - mostly by accident and sometimes as research

I can see various spam emails being useful as examples of bad writing so I can show you how to improve your writing - or give you a giggle at bad writing anyway!

For instance, I got one yesterday that started with “Kind time of day of ladies and gentlemen” - why limit yourself to good morning or good afternoon when you can cover both at once! Obviously, a simple “Greetings”, “Hello” or “Dear friend” would be my suggestion.

Then, there was “Get $999 you download our casino.” Hmmm, a casino that will give me money to download them? I am very curious as to how I could possible download a casino - but not so curious I clicked on the link A better way to say it would have been “Get $999 when you download our casino software” or “Join our casino and get $999″.

And “same problems. somewhere in the world.” could probably have been better written as “The same problems occur throughout the world” or “Someone in the world has the same problem as you.”

I could go on and on, but thought I’d finish with mentioning a blog entry that shows you how to write better spam - enjoy!

I did a bit more driving than usual over November and I noticed a few idiots on the road. You know the type - overtake every car they can, speeding well above the limits, but somehow staying in sight and stopping at the same red lights as you.

Honestly, it is costing them in stress and petrol use, and greatly increases their risks (of accidents and fines).

Yet travelling safely & steadily gets you where you’re going with less risk, less cost and you arrive ready for whatever awaits.

Thinking about these drivers, it occurred to me that driving is like running a business. Some people start a business and run at it, trying to make a fortune in the first six months, changing direction as each new opportunity or distraction arises. These people are often stressed and overworked.

Others take their time - do some research, study up on various topics, gather advice and opinions, set up systems, and so on - and develop strong foundations for their business. These people may sometimes be frustrated at things not going fast, but they stay the course and develop a good business.

Consistency, steady progress, solid foundations, patience, planning deliberate moves - all of these traits will make business growth a little slower but a lot stronger.

So how do you run your business? And how do you approach a major writing project?

Along with some other Business Mums, I accepted a challenge of doing one post every day this week - and I did it I wrote some of them in a group and just predated them to publish one day at a time, but it wasn’t always easy to think of topics to write about on demand.

However, I met the challenge, so maybe this is a challenge you could set for your blog, too.

Some of the other blogs in the challenge were:

http://preciouswater.com.au/blog/
www.mydayoff.com.au
www.melissakhalinsky.com/blog
http://marakye.blogspot.com/
http://smallbusinessdiva.wordpress.com
http://buffmineralcosmetics.blogspot.com/
http://home.exetel.com.au/huysing/wordpress/
http://kidsmusiccompany.wordpress.com

Yesterday, we had the chance to look at the grade 1 classrooms our child may be in next year. We had time to wonder around and look at the children’s work and the provided posters on the walls.

It was interesting to see that they have learnt about adjectives, different writing styles (narrative, reporting, discussion, etc) and proofreading - I’m sure I didn’t know all that in grade 1!

I occasionally help a trainer with a communications module he teaches as part of a course, and I can tell you there are a lot of adults who don’t know what these grade 1 students are learning. Of course, I see many other examples as I read things in general, too.

Maybe we’ll have a very literate community in 30 years or so, or maybe it’s just our school setting a high standard. Either way, I’ll keep sharing writing and grammar tips here and in my newsletter in the hope of helping people use correct grammar - and parents stay up with their kids!

As a professional writer, most of my work is commercial - I write business profiles, articles, webcopy, brochures, letters and so on. But every so often, I write something completely different, and I love the variety.

Recently, I have have had a few ‘different’ projects.

First, I wrote some letters to help out Santa as he likes sending Australian letters to Aussie boys & girls (instead of talking about snow and ice) - personalised letters from Love Santa are definitely professionally written, lol!

QuickCrafts Onlineis producing a set of books for children about Australian animals and I have been editing the stories to suit the under 5 age group - although I always write in simple terms, I had to use even simpler vocabulary and ideas for that age group!

Real Mums is about reality parentingso they wanted some Santa letters for Mums. These were fun as they need to be humourous and aimed at Mums while maintaining a Santa feel in case the kids read mum’s mail!

It is fun to be involved in projects with such different types of writing!