Ghostwriting is a misnomer. Because most ghostwriters do more than write. If you hire a ghostwriter, which of the following do you want them to do? Ghostwriting jobs that are just writing are easier If you bring an idea, and organization, and proof points to your ghostwriter, all they have to do is write. That…
“Do your own research” is one of the most pernicious phrases on the internet. Hucksters use it to fool people. It will lead you astray. Based on my 20 years as a researcher, I’ll delve into what research actually is, what it means when someone writes “do your own research,” and why it leads to…
If you’re contributing a piece to a major publication, they will want something new. If it’s new, it probably requires research. Today I’ll share how I do research — and specifically, what I did for the piece I published last week in the Ideas section of the Boston Sunday Globe. As I described yesterday, I…
If you’re writing, you’ll want to cite published research that you didn’t do yourself. Here’s how to find research worth citing — and avoid citing crap research. Think of me as your mom, saying “Don’t put that research in your document. Do you have any idea where’s it been?” Finding research to cite How do…
Two or three researchers can do better than one. Here’s how to take advantage of that. For the purposes of this post, I’m talking about Web research that informs writing, whether that’s an article, a book, a white paper, or an internal document. Even if you’re doing actual primary research, such a survey or interviews,…
A lecture is you standing up and droning on about what you think, based on your voluminous experience. It’s boring in person, and it’s a deadly way to write. In today’s short-attention-span world, a lecture is a good way to get people to click away from the post, stop reading the book, and give up…
I write business books. Every chapter is a 5,000-word package full of stories, detail, statistics, insights, and recommendations. You don’t just sit down and write one of those at random. Here’s what it takes to create one. In the last 10 years I’ve written, cowritten, or ghostwritten six books. Five of them were case-study powered business…
A friend of mine got an email “poll” announcement from the Republican National Committee. This is a “push” poll — an attempt to conduct politics using the poll as a cover. I’ll explain why no legitimate political party should ever do this. Here’s what the email looked like: And if you scroll all the way…
Today I release “The State of Business Writing, 2016,” my first research report about the challenges of writing at work, based on a survey of 547 business writers. This is the first public release of the whole set of research. Biggest takeaways: 81% of people who write for work agree with the statement “Poorly written material wastes my…