John Fancher’s Rules to Free Your Writing

Rules like haiku structure and iambic pentameter at first feel like they stifle creativity. But creativity begins where limitation tries to stop it.

John Fancher’s excellent 30 Days of 99 (#24) is LOADED with mind opening, writing inducing “rules.”

In his own words:

I’ve always had a thing for “writing assignments” and even arbitrary
“rules”. For reasons I’ve gone over in previous messages in this series,
rather than limiting your writing, rules and assignments can actually
FREE your writing.

And they can make writing FUN. Anything you can do to make your writing
fun, especially tricks which can you give you a skewed or new perspective
on your subject matter, are priceless.

Here are just a few ways to do this

1. As you write, imagine you are a member of the opposite sex. Or a child.

2. Write from an animal’s point of view. If you were to create an animal “mascot” for your business, what would it be?

3. Think of a fictional character (book, movie, TV, play) and write from his/her perspective.

4. Think “what subject line would KILL my business? What’s the WORST subject line I can think of?” (Thank you, Glenn Livingston)

5. If your product or service was a conscious being, what would it say?

6. If you had to write an AR message where every sentence started with the same word or phrase, what would it be?

7. What’s the funniest thing about your product or service?

8. If you had to recommend a book, movie, play, or, oh, let’s say a song at the end of each email, what would they be? 🙂

9. Ever had a dream about your product or service or company?

10. Do an “alphabet list” for your business. A is for___, B is for__

And getting friends or co-workers involved, like my reader did, is a great way to keep it fun and fresh.

You don’t have to actually use what you write, but these are great ways to come up with ideas when you’re “blocked”.