I found " I Love to Write Day " while researching some blog topic ideas for this month. Since the inception of "ILTWD" in 2002, nine states have officially recognized the day and 22,000 schools celebrate it.
The 9th annual celebration, according to " I Love to Write Day " founder John Riddle, "is to have people of all ages spend time writing. They can write a poem, a love letter, a greeting card, an essay, a short story, start a novel, finish a novel…the possibilities are endless. But I want people to take the time to put their thoughts down on paper. When people become stronger writers, they become better communicators.”
As the daughter of a veteran newspaperman , I was taught the need for brevity, simplicity, and incorporating the basics of the "inverted pyramid" in story structure. My father writes poems, song lyrics, plays, movie scripts, and short stories. A more interesting writer than I, his rare email messages to me are brief, barely denting my inbox.
And, ILTWD made me realize the opportunities that we have to write more than email marketing messages about our products and services, to extend our capabilities beyond the mundane. Today's celebration of writing started me thinking about creating an email (yup, that's what I am going to do!) in verse - something that would be a bit different than the norm. And, it would help me to flex those creative brain cells. I'm hoping that my dad will be proud of my effort.
Marketing Takeaways:
1. Consider doing something a little outside the norm for your standard business writing.
2. Find some content that appeals to your creativity (or your funnybone) and try to use it in your marketing messaging.
3. Encourage feedback from your message recipients with a contest or survey.
What are you going to do for "I Love to Write Day"?
P.S. If you don't feel like writing, today is also "National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day".
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Andy Cook 12:23 PM on November 15, 2010
This is awesome! Obscure holidays are really fun. This could be made more spreadable with a Facebook event, Twitter hashtag, and LinkedIn group. I'm always a little disappointed when good ideas aren't marketed well...
Another obscure holiday - July 6th is Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day
Jeanne Hopkins 1:14 PM on November 15, 2010
So, as a follow up to this piece - I sent the blog post to my parents. Here's my father's response ;-0
Hi Hon,
Good piece. Like to see the poem. Thanks for the kind words
Love,
Dad
Cindy Lavoie 2:10 PM on November 15, 2010
Very cute post. Everyone should be encouraged to write more...writing develops the ability to think clearly. Thanks for reviving the fun element of writing!
Hsuan-min Chou 2:26 PM on November 15, 2010
What a great idea! As a copywriter, I write pretty much every day, and it's nice that it's recognized, cuz copywriters are not nearly as flashy as the designers!
Dave Hale 2:32 PM on November 15, 2010
Every day I review psychology-related papers from my graduate students. Many of them I assist with editing in order to submit to peer-reviewed journals. This type of writing gets me out of the usual business writing I do for most of the day.
Michael Balkind 2:36 PM on November 15, 2010
Jeanne,
Nice piece. I think I'll celebrate too. As a novelist, I write an awful lot - novels as well as marketing blurbs, tweets,snippets, & other nonsense that try to convince readers to read my books.
It's tough game and a lot of fun.
Thanks,
Michael Balkind
Author of Sudden Death & Dead Ball
Diane Conklin 3:23 PM on November 15, 2010
Great little holiday and great post. I think you got them all in " brevity, simplicity, and incorporating the basics".
Jule Rizzardo 8:57 PM on November 15, 2010
I love this article! A little creative writing is a great idea, to take a break from the marketing style of writing that many of us do to support our online pursuits.