Interview with Lynda McDaniel, author of “Words at Work”

Lynda McDaniel loves to get people fired up about writing. Whether she’s coaching, training, or writing books, she digs into her satchel of proven techniques and personal experiences to help them increase their confidence and catapult their creativity. As they work together, her clients can better access their own problem-solving and creative-thinking skills and draw from their strengths and stories—the ones that set them apart from the rest and help them excel at work.

In August 2009, Lynda published her latest book, Words at Work: Powerful business writing delivers increased sales, improved results and even a promotion or two. It draws on her lifetime of writing books, articles, and business documents with essays and instruction. More than how to dot Is and cross Ts, Words at Work teaches readers how to think big and write big. It explores how to mine their creativity and write their ideas in an organized and compelling way so that they can persuade, sell, teach, improve, guide, explain, change, contribute, motivate, praise, recommend, propose, and create.

Her next book is entitled Words at Work-Book. The companion to Words at Work, it takes readers deeper into the fundamentals of good writing. (Available fall 2009.) Too often today, business writing is like the literary equivalent of fast food: slapped together, full of fat, and hard to digest. Through interesting, short quizzes, and fun exercises, readers refresh their understanding of grammar, punctuation, and style. And by the time they finish Words at Work-Book, they’ll be ready to write letters that get results, documents that demand attention, and proposals that persuade.

In 2005, she created and produced Compelling Communications©, a series of business-writing seminars. Her coaching and seminar clients include the City of Seattle, Cutter & Buck, First Choice Health, Kroll Security, Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Seneca Real Estate Group, Sound Inpatients Physicians, T-Mobile, U.S. Small Business Administration, University of Puget Sound, University of Washington, and YMCA.

She brings bring more than 25 years of writing experience to her seminars, presentations and books. National companies I’ve written for include DuPont, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Georgia Institute of Technology. Her long career as a journalist includes feature articles for magazines and newspapers such as Law & Politics, Associations Now, Southern Living, Country Living, Yoga Journal, University of Chicago Magazine, Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, guideposts.com, andwashingtonpost.com.

Lynda spent years learning how to write and tell great stories, and she loves to share all the tools and tips she’s learned along the way. And she still writes, every day. She has an unflagging commitment to both the science and art of writing. www.lyndmcdaniel.com and www.lyndamcdaniel.com/blog.asp. Or www.afcbw.com

Q: Thank you for this interview, Lynda. Can you tell us what your latest book, Words at Work: Powerful business writing delivers increased sales, improved results, and even a promotion or two, is all about?

A: Words at Work shows everyone from C-level to entry level how to jump-start their writing—and results. Each chapter starts with a short essay from my life that illustrates a key issue about the writing process. (My clients kept telling me how much my life experiences inspired them.) The rest of the chapter includes detailed explanations and examples about that issue. Topics include: Listen to your gut, write for your readers, overcome your fears, copy great writers, tap into your creativity, tell stories, and most importantly, trust yourself.

Q: Is this your first novel? If not, how has writing this novel different from writing your first?

A: Words at Work is a non-fiction book, though it is filled with interesting characters. It’s part memoir, part nuts-and-bolts of writing. This is my fifth non-fiction book, and it’s different from the others because the voice is all mine. As a reporter for 25+ years, I’ve mostly written in someone else’s voice—my editors’ or the publishers’. That’s what they hired me to do. But Words at Work comes completely from my head and my heart.

Q: How difficult was it writing your book? Did you ever experience writer’s block and, if so, what did you do?

A: Words at Work was such a labor of love—the only hard part was finding the time and saving energy from all the magazine articles and writing teaching I was also doing. Fortunately, I kept hearing two messages from my coaching clients and seminar students that really spurred me on: 1. That my life experiences inspired them and 2. That I offered information they’d never gotten in school. I wanted to write Words at Work to share this message with a wider audience in the hopes of helping them achieve their goals.

Q: How have your fans embraced your latest novel? Do you have any funny or unusual experiences to share?

A: I’ve already received some wonderful endorsements for Words at Work. People are surprised that it’s not a boring grammar book! They like the stories I tell—the kind of stories that introduce or reinforce an important concept in the readers’ minds. And they appreciate the hope and encouragement I offer. I’m pleased that Words at Work just won the top award in the National Best Books 2009 Awards in the category of writing/publishing. That really validates what I’m trying to say and how I said it.

Q: What is your daily writing routine?

A: I do my most creative writing in the mornings, before the day gets complicated, but I write all day, sometimes into the evening. I don’t often write late, though I know that’s an ideal time for some. Whatever your schedule, it’s important to do other things and let the mind rest. That’s one of the best ways to foster ideas and creativity.

Q: When you put the pen or mouse down, what do you do to relax?

A: I enjoy films—another form of storytelling. I love stories of all kinds. I also love dogs of all kinds, and I spend time walking my dog in parks and natural settings. And cooking. Just as I don’t like ho-hum writing, I don’t like boring meals.

Q: What book changed your life?

A: If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda Ueland. More than any other book, this book inspired me to both honor my own creativity and learn how to improve upon it. Brenda is amazing. She lived earlier in the 20th century, but I use present tense because she still seems so alive. Her words jump off the page. I could hear her voice in my head as I wrote Words at Work—and I hope I succeeded in sharing the same kind of inspiration and encouragement with my readers.

Q: If someone were to write a book on your life, what would the title be?

A: Tall Tales: A life of telling stories

Q: Finish this sentence: “The one thing that I wish people would understand about me is…”

A: That I love sharing the fruits of my long career with others. Students in my seminars and coaching sessions tell me how inspired they are by my own journey with writing. I’ve learned a lot—often the hard way—and yet that actually encourages people. They see that obstacles can be worked through. That’s why they urged me to write Words at Work—to share these lessons with more people and help them achieve their goals.

 

In her latest book—Words at Work: Powerful business writing delivers increased sales, improved results, and even a promotion or two—Lynda McDaniel shares tools and techniques she developed over her long career as a writer and business writing coach.

Not taught in school

Words at Work helps fill in the gap between what’s taught in school and what’s needed on the job. Many topics covered in Words at Work are very different from those in most business writing books.

Like these five unique ways to improve business writing:

Eureka!—Tap into your creativity in just 10 minutes to improve your writing—and your career.

· Stories—Tell tales and keep your audience captivated. Stories appeal to our emotions, which is what makes us buy. Not selling anything? Think again. Everything we write is a sales piece.

· Projection—Pay attention to your thoughts about others—they’re telling you something important about your hopes, your dreams, and your writing.

· Deconstruction—Borrow from the best to make your writing better. Study the work of professional writers to learn how to make your own writing sing.

· Bad writers just stopped too soon—Edit in short, sharp bursts rather than one longer session. With each shorter session, your brain helps you find more mistakes and misstatements.

Step by step

Each chapter starts with a short essay from McDaniel’s life that illustrates a key issue about the writing process. The rest of the chapter includes detailed explanations and examples about that issue. Topics include:

· Listen to your gut

· Write for your readers

· Overcome the fear of starting

· Write fast first drafts

· Tap into your creativity

· Edit your way to success, to name a few