Chances are you’d tell me how it looks. Amiright?

The thing is, there’s more to it than that. Description can include how something feels to the touch, how it smells, how it tastes, and how it sounds.

Stop limiting your descriptions to what you can see – it’s one more easy way to make your writing a lot more compelling. Check the video!

The meaning of words is only part of the battle.

How they sound affects how well people pay attention, and makes them more (or less!) likely to accept your message.

Improve your writing by putting this fact to use. Check out the video!

More thinking won't fix it. 

When you’re trying to write and you can’t get started…

… start anyway.

It’s not thinking that gets you over the hump. It’s the physical act of writing, whether you’re using a pen on paper or typing on a keyboard. Check out the video.

Most of us start writing when we get the topic.

That’s a work-wrecking mistake.

Start with what you want the reader or listener to do.

The topic isn’t the goal. It’s the road you’ll take to get there.

Every story is told in three parts.

You don’t have three parts? You don’t have a compelling story.

Check out this 90-second video that lays out the heart of every story you’ll write.

Every big project is the result of many small achievements. You'll be shocked to find how quickly a few minutes a day can add up. Lemme give you some examples from my own experience.... JOIN THE MAGIC SHOW. CLICK HERE.

When you're telling a story in a speech, op-ed, essay, or anywhere else, begin telling the story when the action is already underway -- a punch is thrown, a response is given, or trouble is on its unstoppable way. Your instinct is probably to set everything up first, then build to the first big moment. Nope. Start in the middle of that first big thing.

Here's an essay about collaboration between songwriters. You don't have to be a musician to learn from this detailed account of the relationship between Chris Collingwood and the late Adam Schlesinger. Great material here about how craft and art differ more by name than by action, how listening that becomes analysis is probably the best education, and how much there is to know as a creator besides your own perspective. 

(Image via CNN)

Musician and writer Robbie Fulks at Talkhouse on the technique behind the art of Adam Schlesinger's lyrics. A dazzling primer on succinct, evocative writing. Click here.