#caref writer

[lemonhemlock]

I love Larys this season and his scenes with Aegon that's all. Compelling and Matthew Needham is quite a force. Well and Rhaena hunting down Sheepstealer is good. Nothing else is fun.

i agree about larys with the one caveat i'm going to list below

larys is probably the one green character who makes the most sense, both that his characterisation is consistent AND the way others view him and his reactions to that MAKE SENSE. larys is still larysing but when aemond proves to be a contrarian he switches back to aegon. for once, aemond's shenanigans get proper consequences from his small councilors.

how does alicent not have any leverages against being dismissed when she is the one hightower representative left? sure, aemond sends back for otto, but do you think the story frames that as compensation for dismissing alicent or did the writers feel obligated to bring him back bc he needs to have his death scene? not one braincell was put into this. daemon does shit in the riverlands and the riverlords STAND UP and bully him back. he also has a big scary dragon and they don't give a shit, so it CAN be done, the writers know deep down how to do this, IF THEY CAREF

why is tyland not putting his foot down and demanding something for house lannister? his brother has a bunch of maiden daughters and daeron is unmarried and has a dragon. the frey lord and lady negociated with jace for their support, jeyne arryn is PISSED that she didn't get what she wanted

what the hell is ironrod even doing? he threw in his lot with aemond but aemond doesn't seem to like him or even give a shit about him so why doesn't he have some kind of reaction. i guess the discussion with larys could have been a step in the right direction because you can say he is testing out the waters to see if he can curry favour with aemond by offering up intel OR if he could forge an alliance with larys and go from there

and this is where i have an issue with the writing bc, on the one hand, they are categorically NOT portraying larys as incompetent, but they are also inadvertently making him SO BAD at his job by making these stupid changes from the book. another symptom of wanting to have one's cake and eat it too. the city is in lockdown but rhaenyra can sneak in, no problem, elenda can not only sneak in, she can access an entire network of pro-rhaenyra agents larys somehow knows nothing about, can raise literal riots, can recruit dragonseeds (why do you even need dragonseeds from KL when you're living on dragonstone?!), rhaenyra's food can reach the population somehow even though there are checkpoints at every entry, the dragonseeds can leave by boat and LARYS KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT ANY OF THIS 🧍and no one even thinks to ask him 'hey wtf is going on? you're kinda fired'. but they can't, can they? they can't get rid of larys because he is important to the plot and they need him in the thick of things!

there's a dumbass post circulating now in which someone ✨generously✨ gives people permission to complain about the show but without bringing that "boring book" (FB) into discussion for a comparative analysis. because apparently the book is bad but somehow not bad enough to keep watching tv media derived from it 🤡

the problem with HotD is that it makes FB the pinnacle of logic and storytelling. it doesn't fix any problems, it compounds them. this shit with larys would not fly in the book bc it is dumb as fuck! so you can't help but compare it to the book where these things did not have to be explained away by waving a magic wand or getting a lobotomy

this post is long enough as it is and other people have already explained the problem with the rhaena storyline, so i won't get into it right now, but, in a nutshell: her story can make sense in a void, she get a semblance of an arc: she wanted a dragon and now she will get one and goes on a journey of re-defining her identity, i suppose, after having been dismissed as not sufficiently targaryen as a result of her being dragonless. so, it's the classic problem of making sense in a watsonian way, in the context of the show, but in a doylist way it's Not The Best because they have to delete the only canonically POC low-born character. so we lose that perspective in a show that already prioritizes the highborn

larys has the same problem with him being a sexual deviant directly connected to his disability. as an individual character, it can be explained and justified, but as representation for disabled people (who suffer from a severe lack of representation in media as is), it's Not Great

[superectojazzmage]

Thinking about doing a BioShock replay so getting this old essay/observation thing I had in my drafts for awhile and actually making it, but something I’ve kinda realized is that the reason (or maybe just one reason) that BioShock Infinite isn’t as fantastic and well-constructed compared to the iconic original (or even 2) and has had people souring on it a lot in the years after it’s release is that it forgets the real core that BioShock was built around.

Namely that what BioShock is really about is video games themselves as a medium. BioShock is a story about video gaming, a meta exploration of video games and their gameplay, narratives, and developments. The world of Rapture is carefully constructed entirely around this idea.

Rapture is a small, isolated, contained location where people are free to do whatever they want within the confines of the “system”, just like the world of any video game. A playground where people can be whatever they want to be and do whatever they want to do without fear of consequences, even things that would be regarded as evil in a normal world.

Things like plasmids and vita-chambers and Adam and Eve are all video game mechanics taken to their logical conclusion — upgrades/spells you have to genetically modify yourself into a monster to use, checkpoints that literally stitch your mutilated body back together when you come close to death so you can keep “playing”, experience points that are an actual physical substance you need to acquire to become stronger, power-ups and health pickups that are literally just addictive drugs in hypodermic needles.

And, of course, the famous “would you kindly” twist and everything involving Atlas/Fontaine and the way you can do things/use items that all the NPCs and enemies can’t is all one big warp on the idea of player characters and how players behave in video games. Your character is basically a human robot, a living weapon bred and altered and programmed from birth to be able to be like that.

You can use checkpoints and do all these freakish upgrades to your body because you’re built to be able to. You do everything the objective marker/weirdo over the radio tells you to is because that’s what you usually do in video games you’re programmed to do it, and it’s engrained so thoroughly in you that even after the spell is ostensibly broken, you just instinctively default to following a different voice’s orders. And the splicers, those dumb enemies you’re fighting? Previous players of the “game” who got in too deep and now stalk the maps, killing everything in sight and obsessively hunting for more experience points and unlockables.

The characters of Rapture, the people who built it, are twisted parodies of game developers. A controlling, hypocritical, and narcissistic auteur director, Andrew Ryan, who doesn’t believe in anything except himself and his “vision”. The pretentious prima-donna artists and writers like Sander Cohen who pour their neuroses into the work and on their coworkers. Character designers represented with a crazed surgeon, Steinman, who views people like paintings. An environmental designer, Langford, so obsessed with getting every detail right and perfecting the trees that she doesn’t notice or care about the office around her burning. Uncaring, abusive managers and producers like Suchong who don’t care what they have to do to get the project done. Cutthroat meddling executives like Fontaine who slip into the artistic world and play it for their own ends. And all around them, hapless programmers and play-testers and interns responsible for the actual nuts and bolts that make the game function suffering under the crunch or being discarded at a moment’s notice when they’re “outmoded” or try to unionize.

The central point of BioShock at its core, is to deconstruct and examine the nature of the medium and genres of video games. It is an exploration of what a world would have to be in order to function like a video game world does, it’s setting carefully constructed around this idea, and the answer is… a horror story. It’s a tale that can only really be told as a video game, because it is so inextricably linked to that medium of storytelling.

Infinite doesn’t have ANY of that.

There’s no consideration for the artform and construction of video games, no commentary on gaming culture and ideas. The worldbuilding has no central theme beyond whatever theme was in Ken Levine’ head at the moment, hence why the game cycles through God knows how many ideas without doing justice to any of them and has a completely nonsensical setting and overall plot that looks superficially smart but falls apart at a moment’s examination. The characters don’t map to anything. The gameplay doesn’t map to anything, and in fact is usually completely incongruous with the setting and story. The only thing that maybe could be seen as a twist on the gaming medium is the multiverse plot point/lighthouse scene possibly reflecting on the idea of sequels, but even then it’s so half-formed that I can’t even really discern what point they’re trying to make.

You mindlessly slaughter thousands of people to get to the next cutscene where your characters suddenly become actual thinking humans again and start responding to death realistically. You down drinkable plasmids that are barely even tangentially acknowledged by the narrative.

Compare how intensely interwoven things like plasmids and vita-chambers are with the story and worldbuilding of OG BioShock with how vestigial and barely acknowledged similar things are in Infinite. Compare the complexity and nuance of OG BioShock’s setting and characters with the cartoonish stereotypes and simplicity of Infinite’s entire cast except maybe Booker and Elizabeth themselves. Infinite can barely pick a single thesis to discuss, let alone grapple with its nature as a video game. If BioShock 1 and 2 are a story that could only be told in video game form, Infinite is like a book or movie shaped peg that Ken Levine is smashing into a video game hole.

I don’t know where I’m going with this other then making this observation but yeah. I am curious if Levine will have learned the lesson with his upcoming not-BioShock game Judas, or if it’s going to be the same pretentious bundle of incoherently jammed together ideas that Infinite was.

[kateemmerson]

Musings of a Café Writer living #LocationFree

Living #LocationFree for the past 5 years is often met with wide eyes, scrunched up noses, and some weird questions. I know it might sound like nothing more than terrifyingly homeless mixed with exhilaratingly glamour-filled champagne parties on yachts, Instagram style.

It honestly falls somewhere smack between these two extremes.

While it may be very real that digital nomads (aka global nomads, remote workers, location free, etc.) might not have one permanent base to call “home,” we are certainly not “homeless.” We have a gazillion ways we each live into this lifestyle, and we can pretty much make it up as we go along – if we don’t like somewhere, we can move on to more suitable spaces, cities, countries (Covid and visa/passport reliant of course). Plus, folk living this lifestyle are not doing so because they have zero responsibilities, no partners, kids, animals, etc. – we are all working and contributing to society in some format. We have just figured out the best way to earn the required dollars en route – whether working remotely for a company, working in the digital online space, working in the country they are in, running global companies, have property investments, Bitcoin, or business investors – any type of work is possible, to be honest! The worklist is as varied as your creative brain allows … with the added benefit of freedom from a location. Of course, we sleep in beds too! Whether in fancy hotels, rented homes, snazzy apartments, Airbnb options, co-living, house-sitting, or any combo of the above. What binds us together as a tribe is that we are not bound to one location for work or life. There is a sense of freedom, mobility, choice, and possibility!

Possibility of options, countries, cultures, environments, lifestyle, etc

Right now, I’m chilling in a quaint café on the prom of Portobello (see pic taken at Miros <<<) with the quieter than usual buzz and banter as “we-are-in-weird-lockdown-life-but-still-allowed-out” vibe. I’ll soon be self-isolating again before I make my way to my mum in the UK for Christmas, so I am making the most of a little thrill of being outdoors at Edinburgh’s Seaside. There is a delicious light shimmering off the sea and bouncing off the clouds, reflecting the changes in the sun as we edge towards winter solstice. After 7 years of spending most of my time in summer or what travel agents refer to as shoulder seasons, I am fondly referring to my current city of choice as Edinburrrrrrr.

Remember my cold water swimming escapades on Iona that I shared earlier this year? I will manage one more cold dip this month, which means I will have been cold water immersing for 6 whole months! I didn’t even know that I wanted to try it before starting my significant retreat and detox process on Iona. I’m still in a bikini with no warm booties, gloves, or wetsuits like many swimmers – just keeping it real and semi mad. Even if my swims are super short -they still count as a cold water blitz of energy and immune-boosting habit!

  This week, I launched my fifth book, and I feel like a kid in a Christmas Santa store, to be honest. It’s some insights, sharing, and tips from living the last 5 years #LocationFree. I also interviewed 16 other souls (between 40 and 60 years of age) living in similar ways to me. It’s a super exciting collection of tips snd stories for anyone who is intrigued about the possibility of downsizing, packing up, and living and working globally.

One of my all-time favourite things to do when I travel is sitting in a café or restaurant on a beach somewhere – from Malaga to San Fran, Cape Town to Skala Eressos. I simply need my laptop and a strong coffee or a fab glass of vino, depending on the time of day. And always water – and usually a kitty somewhere close by. I seem to attract them and consider myself a bit of a cat-whisperer. Did you spot the content kitty on my book cover?

There is an element of pure delight that is elicited when I can look up from my computer and see water – waves, sand, pebbles, sheep munching seaweed (yes 100% on Iona!), people laughing, kids playing, folk squealing in the waves and that heady aroma of sun, sand, sea, and sun-lotion. Or the smell of rain mixed into it more often than not, here in Edinburrrrr.

I find myself in this glorious city for most of winter 2020, exploring somewhere North. I am still officially #LocationFree and will be for the foreseeable future. I was only planning to be location free for one year, to figure out what country I wanted to live in, but it turns out it’s been too much fun, and here I am five years later.

Ooooh, the cafes you will find when not in your hometown. From dingy and downright skanky, to glamorous, elegant, and exotic; to simple family-run salt of the earth to trendy hipster vibes with a gazillion delicious choices; or the simple paired back local café that only serves one type of coffee and eggs – just the way you like them: the smells, the chalkboards, the conversations, and the locals. The cakes and the decadent treats made with love – from the latest LA trend to grandma’s secret pistachio and rose water recipe. A café is always filled with possibility – and is still the first place I seek out to feel like a “local” in a new spot. It’s one of my “settling-in” hacks I share in my book “10 Lessons for Living #locationFree

So I find myself with a big grin on my chops as I own the fact that I am a café writer. It can be a table on a busy cobbled street, a hotel lobby with glorious views of the pool, a tiny spot perched precariously on a hill, or my all-time favourite, seaside café!. Anywhere in the world, this will put always put a smile on my face.

If there is some Latin Salsa or Bachata music drifting out of the speakers even better, offering the quiet promise of a party as day turns to night….that will always make me type faster and get through my workload ready to pop on my salsa shoes and have a whirl on the floor.

I don’t even need earphones, really –in fact, my ears always get sore trying to wear earphones, no matter the brand or style! I usually welcome the buzz around me and find ways to switch off when I need to focus.

I have amassed a few “offices’ around the world that I have stamped my name on. To this day, there is one table at Gialos on Skala Eressos where we run writing retreats, which is known as Kate’s office. Although I didn’t get to work there in 2020, I know it is waiting patiently for me 2021. I am usually sitting at my “desk” by 6 am before the rest of the sleeping Greek village stirs. While the restaurant is still being cleaned and set up for the day – George will even stop his daily prep to bring me a double greek Coffee. Or as we order there – ena diplo hellenico para kalor!

PIC: This one below taken at my “office” Gialos in Skala Eressos when the world cup was on (and my Argentinean partner at the time was in Russia supporting his team) 

It’s always about the views, to be honest. I find vistas open up my creativity and thinking. Sea trumps everything for me – being able to sit outside and feel the sunshine and breeze is high on my list of needs. When not working, I also love to be a fly on the wall, simply watching people. I can make up stories in my head ad Infinitum. Travelling a lot on my own, I also love to smile and then connect, laugh, and chat with total strangers. It’s bizarrely natural for me to make random comments and speak to people I walk past or sit next to. I will always talk to cats and dogs and stop owners for a cuddle of their four-paws if allowed. I guess that’s why I have found it relatively easy to be location free. What’s the point in staying separate and cut off from others– even when communicating from behind a mask nowadays, we can still connect energetically and with a twinkle in our eyes.

  PIC – The awesome Malaga crew where I pulled together a writing group and started my book 10 Lessons for Living #locationFree exactly one year ago!! Note the lovely views right on the sea! 

Wi-Fi is surprisingly not always high on my agenda, as I prefer working offline with fewer distractions when in writing/blogging mode. In fact, I will often choose cafes that do NOT have Wi-Fi – especially if I am running a writing group – as that just distracts everyone.

My challenge to you today is to visit a local café and watch the world unfold around you! Make it an adventure if you haven’t done it for a while. Take your laptop, a great book, or your journal to pen some thoughts. Let me know what you find on your café outing – I’d love to hear what great conversations you engage in or inspired ideas you come up with when sitting with a different view.

A dear friend just sent me this on Whatsapp this morning – so I will do my level best to simply keep on writing from my heart wherever I am. I just have to. What about you?

“Advice? I don’t have advice. Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. Write like you’re a goddamn death row inmate, and the governor is out of the country, and there’s no chance for a pardon. Write like you’re clinging to the edge of a cliff, white knuckles, on your last breath, and you’ve got just one last thing to say, like you’re a bird flying over us and you can see everything, and please, for God’s sake, tell us something that will save us from ourselves. Take a deep breath and tell us your deepest, darkest secret, so we can wipe our brow and know that we’re not alone. Write like you have a message from the king. Or don’t. Who knows, maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to.” Alan W Watts

WANT SOME INSPIRATION ABOUT POSSIBILITY? GRAB MY BRAND NEW BOOK  10 Lessons for Living #LocationFree 

Do you wish you had the courage to follow your dream, to quench your wanderlust? To downsize, pack light and explore the world while still working? Do you honestly think others are able do it because they’re younger, richer, are single and have fewer responsibilities, with no kids to tag along?

Wrong. That’s simply not true. This book will show you that it’s possible no matter what your age! Do you really want to play it safe just because you’re no longer in your twenties, waiting on tables as you backpack around the world?

Musings of a Café Writer living #LocationFree was originally published on Kate Emmerson - The Quick Shift Deva

[dear-jjh]

silence | park woojin

gif originally posted by woojinnies

requested: yes!  format: in paragraphs  characters: park woojin x reader word count: 2.2k genre: fluff, angst author’s note: i’m back! writers block have been occurring more frequently these days and maybe because i was also very busy! people have been wanting a woojin scenario so here it is, im sorry it took so long! i love woojin so much :(  i hope you’ll like it! As always, please let me know how I did, I would really appreciate it if someone leaves a comment or feedback (it motivates me to write more and better) in my inbox, thank you!

masterlist

“Thats so stupid! Why would you think that way?” Woojin screamed as soon as you both entered the apartment door.

You turned to him, your eyes starting to tear up, “Stupid?” you scoffed, “Is that what you think of me now?” You started to walk in your bedroom as you say, “I can’t believe you’re being like this right now.”

He grabbed your right arm that caused you to face him. He looked so furious, for a moment you were scared because you’ve never seen him like this before.

“I let it pass, Woojin. I let everything pass as if nothing happened.” You lightly bit your lip, “You, however, never tried to apologize for your behavior.”

You attempted to pull your arm from his grip but he began to tighten it. “What behaviour are you even talking about? Hanging out with my friends? Whats wrong with that?”, the anger and annoyance in his voice could be felt and it made your body tremble.

“Thats not the point. You’ve been cancelling on me and then I find out from Daehwi that you’re with them?” This time you were successful from pulling your arm from his strong hold.

He groaned as he ran his fingers through his dark hair. You hated seeing him upset, even more, it was because of you. You hated seeing him in this state.

“That was because we finished our practice early! I explained it to you already and you said it was fine! You were out too, so I don’t understand why I can’t go with them after practice!”, the way he raised his voice on you was intimidating and you had to take a step back away from him.

You took a deep breath before you let out everything, “This isn’t even about that anymore. Its not even about you going out with your friends.”

At this point, you were looking straight in his eyes. “I don’t feel prioritized, Woojin. I put everything aside just for you, but can you do the same for me?” a short sigh escaped your lips, “Of course not, right?”

A single drop of tear began to flow down your cheek and Woojin saw that. He rushed to your position and tried to wipe it with his thumb but you decided to turn you face away from him. All he could do was stare at your broken hearted expression instead.

“I only go out with my friends because I don’t want to stay in this apartment alone. Do you know how lonely it feels when you’re not here?” you stopped as you tried to wipe your tears.

“Most of the nights, I stay here waiting for you to come home. I stayed here alone waiting for someone who might not even come.” you paused to take a deep breath, “And you know whats worse? You would come home but, I would be sleeping and once I wake up, you’re gone again.”

At that moment, Woojin felt extremely mad and disappointed at himself that all along, he never realized it until you expressed your feelings to him. Realizations slowly started to hit him. All he could do was try to wrap you in his arms to console whatever you were feeling but as he stepped closer, you walked away.

You headed to the bedroom that you and him shared and grabbed your gym bag from the spacious closet. Woojin stood silently in front of the wooden bedroom door not knowing what to do.

Tears started to flow down your cheeks as you packed you clothes. Enough clothes to stay at your parents house for as long as you desire. Once you filled the bag with unfolded clothes that you “packed”, you zipped it and carried it on your right shoulder.

You gripped the bedroom’s doorknob for a few seconds before heading out to the living room to tell Woojin that you’re not going to stay here for a while. Maybe for two weeks, or longer. Until you’re both okay and ready to face each other again.

Right when you set your first step out of the bedroom’s door, you scanned apartment that you both lived in for almost 2 years now. With your blurry vision from the tears starting to form again, you spotted Woojin sitting on the couch with both of his hands on his face as he silently sob.

You could tell that he was still upset from the argument that you just had but what you didn’t know was that, as the realizations started to hit him, he began to despise himself. He promised you that he wouldn’t hurt you but right now, he was the one causing your pain.

Woojin lazily lifted his head and you could tell that he was crying as the area that surrounded his eyes were wet and his eyes were beginning to swell.

Breaking the eye contact, he looked at the gym bag that you carried on your right shoulder and shifted his eyes to your face. “Where are you going?” he said, breaking the awful silence.

He stood up from his seat and started to walk towards you. You, however, did not bother to look at him, “To my parents’ house.”

His eyes widened in shock. He pulled you into his arms and began to cry, harder than before. You bit your lips trying to hold your tears from falling but you failed. You were now both helplessly crying in each other’s arms.

“Why? Do you have to go there? We can fix this right now.”, Woojin said as he tried to catch his breath.

“I have to do this.” you paused and sighed, “We both have to take some time for ourselves in order to save this relationship. I’m not doing this to get away from you.” You pulled back from his embrace to face him. You took both of his hands and carefully held it as you said, “I’m going to do this because I love you.”

After saying those meaningful words, tears once again started to flow down your cheeks. You let go of his hands and cupped his warm face with the palm of your hands. He pressed his forehead against yours which made you close your eyes tightly.

He tightly gripped your hands, not wanting to let go. Not in any second, not it any minute, not in forever. But you had to. This wasn’t goodbye.

You trusted yourself that this decision will fix your relationship. You know that you and Woojin are stronger than this.

“Nothing can break us apart, right?” Woojin said.  “Nothing.” You forced a smile while looking at him.

He also forced to give you a warm smile back, “Forever?” he said as he offered you his pinky to complete the pinky promise.

“Forever.” You said as you interlocked both of your pinkys together.

And that was it.

You sighed as you absorb the peaceful view from the balcony of your room. It has been two weeks. Two long weeks since you last talked, since you last saw each other. Those two long weeks felt longer than it was supposed to. You missed him so much and you badly wanted to see him.

You stepped back into your bedroom and closed the glass door behind you to prevent the cold breeze from entering your room. You decided to let yourself fall back to your bed. You stared at the empty ceiling above you and take in the isolating silence. This type of silence was driving you crazy. The type of silence where you might lose your mind.

A whole lot different from the silence you got used to when you were with Woojin. Silence was comforting with him. It didn’t feel like this. With him, it was calm and peaceful. Your safe haven. Just lying down in his lap as he scrolled through his phone and you “read” your book. 

You weren’t reading though, you were quietly watching him from your comfortable position. Mesmerized by the peacefulness drawn in his face. How the corners of his mouth would casually lift up each time he finds something funny in the discovery feed of his Instagram. How he would carefully play with your hair trying to run his soft fingers as lightly as possible.

You didn’t know this but, each time you would actually read your book. He would secretly stare at you as well. Observing how your brows furrow and how your lips would frown a bit as you try to focus and read seriously. He would internally giggle to himself because he thought it was so cute. How your eyes would softly close because you we’re starting to drift to sleep caused by him playing with your hair.

He treasured and cherished those simple moments. He wouldn’t trade it for anything in this world.

You sighed as you grab your phone from your side table, hoping that there would be some sort of notification from Woojin. You started to lose hope to see that there was still nothing.

You thought that maybe, he didn’t miss you like how much you missed him. You were starting to overthink that maybe he wanted to break up with you because you left him. Maybe your decision was stupid and that you should’ve just stayed there to fix it.

You shook your head attempting to brush off the thoughts you were having.

“Y/N!”, you heard your mom rush to your door while knocking as loud as she can.

“Yes, mom?” you responded to her, it was probably quieter than you thought it would be because she didn’t hear you as she kept knocking.

You groaned, not wanting to get up from you cozy position. You opened the door and your mom’s face lightened up.

“Come down now, dear. Dinner is ready, we’re all waiting for you downstairs.” she said with a warm smile on her face.

You gave your mom a slight smile and said, “I’ll be there in a few. I’ll just change.”

After changing, you headed out of your bedroom and heard your parents laughing. The sound of their laughter made you smile, but as you stepped closer to the stairs, you spotted a familiar figure giggling and sitting beside your usual seat in the dining table.

They began to notice your presence from the upper floor as they turned their heads to you. The laughter stopped and they all sent you a warm smile from the table.

You carefully rushed down the stairs towards the table with tears beginning to form in your eyes. A relieved yet bright smile formed in your face.

“Woojin?” you said as calmly as possible, trying not to breakdown in front of them.

He casually stood up from his seat and reached for the flower bouquet that laid in your empty chair. He offered you the bouquet, but you ignored it and hurried in between his arms instead.

He placed the flowers on the table and wrapped his arms around you, his right hand caressing the back of your head, which didn’t help at all because you sobbed even harder in his chest.

You heard his chuckle from the top of your head which made you pull back from his tight embrace. “W-what are you laughing at?”, you look at him, hands around his waist while pouting.

“I was going to ask if you missed me,” he smiled, “But from the way you hugged me, I already know the answer.” he gave you a satisfied smile.

You missed him so much, his smile, his face, his playful teasing, his presence, you missed everything about him.

You wiped your tears while still unconsciously pouting, which he found adorable. He embraced you in his arms again and whispered, “I’m sorry”.

You looked at his sincere face and said, “It’s okay now. I figured that I would have lost my mind if I didn’t see you any sooner. I missed you so much. I spent everyday with you for two years and two weeks of being apart killed a part of me.”

Woojin’s eyes began to water as you said expressed your feelings. “The longer time or days that we didn’t see each other, I became afraid of completely losing you.” he silently whispered in your left ear, “God, I would never want that to happen. You’ve become a huge part of m and I wouldn’t know what to if I lose that part of me.”

You felt your heart flutter upon hearing his words. He pulled back from your arms and said “Will you come home with me now? Home didn’t feel like home without you in it.”

You felt the sincerity in his voice and his eyes were filled of hope that you will.

“Yes, I will” you happily exclaimed with no hesitation, “During the time when we were apart, I realized that I would rather be in silence with you because it was comforting than be in silence alone and let thoughts run in mind, it was isolating.”

A thin line formed in Woojin’s lips. He pulled you back into his arms and closed his eyes as he pressed his lips on your forehead, and you did the same, you tightly closed your eyes cherishing the moment, cherishing him.

posted on 180223

[seafaired-archive-blog]

PART TWO. SIBLINGS !!

the continuation of my exploration into the family life of Naut Gooischot. Part one regarding parents and parental figures can be found HERE. Since Naut has 12 siblings, and all of them helped to shape him into the man he eventually was to become, they do deserve to be more than a simple number in his bio; yet, I did not want to add all of these characters to the bio therefor I’m using this post to link into it later. Names in italic are twins or triplets. 

underneath the cut because of the length, really, I go into detail about the personality and story of 12 family members. This is damn near a novel reaching over 2000 words.

Aafke Gooischot ( sister ) 46 The second child born to Saar and Mathies, the kind of girl who held the sun in her smile; she takes after her mother in that way, bringing laughter wherever she goes. An excellent cook and fully prepared for motherhood by the time Naut was pressed. She had tried so hard to take control of the farm when her father became too weak to do so, yet her stepmother Bregje had found it best if she was shipped off to Middelburg; for perhaps in the city there would be someone foolish enough to try and make a proper wife out of her. 

Aafke married to quite the charming baker and had four children of her own, her husband taught her how to read at the age of 31 in the hopes that she could one day read bedtime stories to her children, rather than make them up or recite them from memory like she had always done. But it was too late for her to learn how to write, a lack of skill she only comes to regret once a year; when Christmas rolls around and she has to ask her husband to write her letter to Naut. Not that he ever answers, but she likes to think of the sentiment as a gift in itself, rather than something to which she expects a reply. 

Justen Gooischot ( brother ) 45 Where Naut was pressed into the navy, Justen found himself there out of his own free will. The type of man who carried violence in his chest with glee. Perhaps the two brothers are more alike than they’d ever like to admit, for they clashed often during their childhood. Justen was the wildfire who burned everything in his touch  /  wild and uncontainable. 

Like his older brother, Justen never married and rather enjoys the single life. He knows too many women now widowed because of their husbands dying at sea and he doesn’t want to leave a wife of his own like that, for he is very aware of his own mortality. From time to time the two will see one another on the shore; yet it never gets any deeper than idle chitchat. Too much history and too much blood drying between the two of them. 

Justen went off and made a name for himself in the navy, aggressive in many ways. A rather uncomfortable man to serve with, yet one who gets the job done nonetheless.  

Bastijn Gooischot ( brother ) 43 If his older brothers were alike in their taste for violence, Bastijn seemed to be made for softer weather and clearer skies; a dreamer and a lover of words. As a child, he would often cling to his sister’s skirts asking her to tell one more story ( always one more, until eventually, Aafke ran out of things to tell him. ) 

It came as no surprise to anyone within the family that Bastijn would grow up to be a writer. Not a famous one, mind you, but it earns him enough to live a rather comfortable life upon the shore. Often, his stories talk of loss and loneliness; always cured by the appearance of some holy being. While some members of the family think he’s talking about his mother  /  for even if he was little over a year old when she died, he surely must have felt the grief her death left the family in, some know for it not to be the case. 

Bastijn remains unmarried, instead, living together in a delightful house in Amsterdam with another male writer. He claims it is better for the inspiration, that two minds driven by poetry make better stories together; but some are hardly sure of those tales. 

Lotje Gooischot ( half-sister )  / Liesje Gooischot ( half-sister )  40 The oldest of the twins born to Kaatje and Mathies, Lotje found herself almost responsible for the well-being of her twin from a very young age; the two of them are identical and the poor health of Liesje made the oldest of the pair fiercely protective. There was a time during their childhood when Lotje was the voice of her sister, always speaking for the both of them while Liesje didn’t make a single sound.

When older, the two would remain together, connected ever since the womb of their mother. Born together  /  die together. They build an empire together as seamstresses, for if anything, their mother had trained them well in the art of it. No children were to come from either of them, no husband to change their names and sweep them away. To this day, Lotje sometimes still speaks for Liesje when she cannot find her voice. 

Ewoud Gooischot ( half-brother ) 38 With the failing health of their father, Ewoud was the one who got to run the farm. After all, he had inherited his mother cleverness and her eye for business. Numbers always seemed to sit well with him  /  connections in them quickly drawn and changed to better fit his needs.He is a loyal man, loyal to his wife and own children above anything else, for he takes after his father in the sense that he has 8 of his own. 

Underneath him and his wife the farm once again blooms. With the aggressive nature of a wolf, he has bought the land of other farmers they once used to call their neighbours, expanding their fields, making more money than his father had ever dared to dream. Thanks to his older brothers, Ewoud managed to secure himself a position within the VOC. He delivers supplies to them, and they, in turn, pay him better than any market run ever could. 

Roosje Gooischot ( step-sister ) 35 Roosje doesn’t know that the men she has called father her entire life isn’t technically hers, Mathies never had the heart to tell her this and did not love her less for the lack of his own blood in her veins. As a child she was awfully loud, always singing or shouting and it seemed that she could not simply talk in a normal volume; perhaps it had something to do with her fear of not being heard above the sound of seven older siblings. 

Later, this voice of hers would prove to be quite useful; for she was a leader at heart. She was never married, nor did she ever get any children of her own, but she found herself in a strange companionship with the local priest. A man of good faith who allowed her to live in his home, when he got sick she swiftly took over sermons and services. By the time of his death, it was actually her who lead the community visiting the church on Sunday. 

The story goes, that many men tried to banish her from her church, but that the women praying for the return of their husbands kicked more men out of the door to keep her there than they allowed to go through to pray.  

Louwrens Gooischot ( half-brother )  33 The oldest of non-identical triplets, for a moment it seemed as if Louwrens would not grow old. For the boy suffered from a weak health as a child to the great distress of his mother and older siblings. Yet, Louwrens grew up to be quite the handsome man indeed. With plenty of women waiting for him to ask for their hands in marriage, yet Louwrens was rather content remaining on the farm on which he was born. 

He helps Ewoud whenever he can, doing most of the hard work while his older brother focuses on the numbers and the connections within the business world. Perhaps, he simply was never interested in relationships and romance, to begin with, and perhaps, he was simply far happier on his own with his family than any relationship could ever make him. 

Lindert Gooischot ( half-brother ) 33 As the middle child of the triplets, Lindert was rather town in his childhood. On one hand, he felt insanely responsible for his younger sister, and the two siblings that would follow her; but on the other, he was also coddled by his older siblings most of the time. From a young age on Lindert exhibited all the signs of a clever brain and a mouth which seemed to be twice as such. 

It was always obvious that he would go and leave the rest of them behind, moving to Leiden at the age of 19 to become a teacher. Even with the disadvantages of his place in society he somehow got to rise through the ranks, securing himself a rather well off career as a professor at one of the most prestigious universities the country has to offer. 

Lineke Gooischot ( half-sister ) 33 Lineke was the cause of many headaches for her father, mother and older siblings alike; she could be found climbing trees than anything else. She was, perhaps, the wildest of all the Gooischot children, giving the older boys a run for their money when it came to wrestling and other typical boy games. 

Neighbourhood kids were scared of her, even older boys quickly turned around the corner when she accompanied her father into town for she wore her thirst for blood like a weapon, teeth always bare whenever she smiled and strength displayed whenever she helped him lift bags of grain. Instead of focussing on marrying like so many girls her age seemed to do, Lineke threw herself into the possibility of a career, finding herself onboard of a ship all too soon. Hair cut short, breasts pressed flat against her chest with bandages, and the Gooischot family name helping her when it came to securing a job upon a merchant vessel ( for the two brothers in the navy were nothing short of renowned for their strength and naval skill, so the same must be true for this sibling as well )  

She eventually became captain of a ship running underneath the command of the VOC in the disguise she had to build for herself. Perhaps, Lineke is the best-kept secret of the family. 

Sieb Gooischot ( half-brother )  28 A clever little man with a mouth as quick as a whip; Sieb was always the one able to talk himself out of any situation, even as a child he was able to wiggle himself out of chores with carefully selected arguments. It surprised no one in the family that he became a politician, or at least, is trying to. It was either that or a common thug. 

Leading a small party of revolutionaries in the lower parts of the Netherlands he can often be found talking about independence for the provinces, feeding into the ever growing hate directed towards the prince of Orange. Most of his siblings are ashamed of him, not that he cares; with his wife and his two children following him from town to town he is the happiest that he has ever been.

Carlijne Gooischot ( half-sister ) 22 The last of the Gooischot siblings, and the only one born to Bregje. There has always been a strange form of separation in regards to her and her older siblings, for they did not like her mother very much, and it was obvious that Carlijne was the apple of her mothers’ eye, making the rest suffer under her leadership while Carlijne grew up in comfort. 

Her mother prepared her for marriage for as long as she could possibly remember, grooming her, teaching her how to be a proper wife to a good officer either from the navy or the VOC. It mattered little to Bregje, and since it has been what she has been told all of her life; neither does it matter a lot to Carlijne. However, it is the life she too wants for herself. She doesn’t harbour grander dreams  /  no desire to see the world or do anything else than to raise her own children in peace. And that is also absolutely fine. 

Tagging the biggest ( and only ? ) Naut fan on this side of the RPC  !!!    @oceanfoamed

[kevinalevine]

Copy: 66 Copywriting Tips that Will Boost Your Conversion Rates by 327%

The famous American television and radio host Larry King, used to say to his audience a very witty story about his father. He says that his father, a Ukrainian jew, came to the US thinking that America is the greatest land of all, where even the streets are paved with gold. However, shortly after arriving, his father realized three things:

The streets weren’t paved with gold.

The streets weren’t paved at all.

He was the one to pave the streets.

  There is no secret for anyone that content marketing is a must. And the truth is that copywriting isn’t just about writing blog posts anymore; it’s about telling good stories well. How do you get to create those stories that will increase your conversion rates hundreds of times?

We do not claim to have discovered the magic formula that will boost your business guaranteed. However, we’ve put together a comprehensive list of essential copywriting tips that will surely revamp your content, and it will blow up your conversion rate.

  Write in Short Paragraphs

Set Yourself a Word Count to Make Your Copy as Laser-Focused as Possible

Don’t Use Terms that Might not be Widely Understood

Forget Academic Writing

Make Sure Your Copy is Well Structured, Clear and Logical

Be Detailed when It’s the Case; Don’t Assume Your Readers Know Everything

Know the Goal of Each Piece of Your Content

Content Does not Necessarily Mean Just Words

Use Plenty of Paragraph Breaks and Quotes to Make Your Copy More “Readable”

Show Empathy with the Reader

Don’t Forget about the Power of Storytelling

Use Punctuation Carefully to Make Your Copy Impactful

Use Sub-headings to Highlight Your Key Points

Make Sure Your Copy Is Free of Spelling Mistakes

As Much as Possible Be Authentic, Honest and Trustworthy

Always Keep the Design in Mind when Creating the Text

Create a Style Guide for All Your Copy

Do Your Psychology Homework

Your Copy Should Be Much More about Solving Problems than about Self-Expression

Define Your Readers and Create Content for Them

Always Do Your Homework. Research your topics

Write List Posts

Include the Important Numbers in the Headline

Use Short, Well Structured Paragraphs

Write Your Copy in a Conversational Way

Take Advantage of Power Words

Make Efforts to Become a Better Writer

Make Efficient Use of Social Media

Remember that All of Your Content Matters

Use Synonyms and Help Google to Help You

Stalk Forums for the Exact Words Your Readers Use

Write Your Own Description Tag

Focus on Long Tail Keywords

Write Up to the High, Positive Expectation

Be Crystal Clear and Give Quick Previews that Make Your Points of View Acceptable

Deliver Something Valuable in an Intuitive Way

Go with the Status Quo Over Newly Presented Facts

Learn how to Measure the Success of Content Marketing

Learn where Your Readers Get Their News and Information from

Get Inspired by Your Community’s Interest

Thoroughly Document on Your Niche to Find Content Inspiration

Talk to the Sales and Support Team

Create a Content Strategy Calendar

Remember that Visual Information Makes Readers More Thorough

Harmonize Your Online Content with the Offline One

Always Keep the Attention Span Matter in Mind

Learn from Your Most and Least Shared Content

No Shares, No Likes, No Comments = No Traffic

Originality Is a Must

Existing Content Needs Love, Too

Timing Is Everything

Spot your competitor’s most engaging content

Make Use of Content Curation to Boost Your Influence

Analyze, Analyze, Analyze

Creativity Is Key!

Fill Information Gaps – Become a Reference

Targeting Longtail Keywords to Engage Your Audience

Repurpose Your Content

Make Use of Content Convergence

Make It Interesting and Diverse, not Just Relevant

Don’t Forget about the Content Monarchy

Quality Is not a One Time Act, It Is a HABIT

The Title of Your Content Will Influence Your Rankings

Ask Rhetorical Questions to Engage Readers

Choose the Fonts and Colors Carefully

Use Positive Frames to Describe Information

    1. Write in Short Paragraphs

There a few things more off-putting to a reader than a whole block of text with no spaces. You’ll do nothing but chase away your readers with such type of content. Writing in short paragraphs is an effective way to write on the web as it provides ‘eye relief’ throughout the page. Short paragraphs are easily digestible and can be skimmed over at a glance.

  2. Set Yourself a Word Count to Make Your Copy as Focused as Possible

  Long content or short content? Which one is better? What is the case? The more, the merrier, or less is more? Well, if you are looking for a short answer to this question you need to know that there isn’t one, as it depends on rankings, conversions, followers, popularity, authority, engagement, keyword optimization, etc. Yet, it seems that shorter articles are better correlated with higher ranks. We’ve detailed this matter in a previous case study we invite you to take a look at.

The bottom line is that you have to be very savvy about the number of words you use in your website copy, depending on what you want to achieve. Write according to your readers’ needs and remember that nowadays digital readers have a limited span attention.

      3. Don’t Use Terms that Might not be Widely Understood

  Big words don’t make you seem smarter.

Being able to explain complicated things in simple terms, however, truly is the sign of intelligence.

There are obviously times when you need to use technical terms or introduce complex concepts. But try not to get too comfortable using jargon and keep forcing yourself to remain accessible to as large an audience as possible. When not sure if you’ve met this, ask yourself: Would a newcomer to the field have an easy time following your text? Would an outsider grasp the importance of what you published?

  4. Forget Academic Writing

When we talk about academic writing we don’t necessarily mean scientific articles. But there’s a certain rigor to that writing which might not appeal to the general audience. This is not to say you should dumb things down. Essay Tigers expert recommends using everyday language to engage with as wide an audience as possible.  There’s a simple, two-step approach for making this happen:

Read what you’ve written out loud. If some parts don’t sound like something you’d say to a friend in real life, then change it.

Read what you’ve written out loud to someone else and ask them to tell you what the copy is about. If they can’t tell you easily, then change it.

  5. Make Sure Your Copy is Well Structured, Clear and Logical

We’ve touched on this before but it’s worth repeating: clarity is key. You’ve probably got the best lesson in writing in primary school: everything needs to have an intro, a body and a conclusion. And all of these need to be clearly laid out. Here’s a quick rundown of what you need to touch on: What is the point of your copy? You’re writing a new text because you have some claim to make, some wisdom you want to share.

If you were to write it in a single sentence, what would that sentence be?

How do you know what you claim is true? You need to present evidence (case studies, statistics, expert opinions) and explain why your evidence is relevant… Just because it happened in some instances, it doesn’t automatically mean it’s going to be true for everyone. Why does any of it matter? In public speaking, there’s the concept of “WIIFM” – “What’s In It For Me?”

The reader needs to know what they’re gaining by reading your article.

What’s the best thing they can do with the newfound wisdom?

  6. Be Detailed when It’s the Case; Don’t Assume Your Readers Know Everything

  This is a delicate balance because explaining too much could make knowledgeable readers bored, while not explaining enough could make inexperienced readers feel left in the dark. But it’s always better to err on the side of caution and explain the background of something. Why is phone encryption suddenly a problem? What is the deal with fake news? Even if a lot of your readers might know a great deal about your topic, you can still provide details while also putting a new spin on it.

Source: http://coschedule.com

  7. Know the Goal of Each Piece of Your Content

  You don’t just write to a mass content. Each piece you publish should have a goal in terms of the effect on the reader.

The best scenario is when the reader will actually take an action as a result of reading your piece.

For instance, if you publish a DIY instructable, you might get people who read or watched it try to do the same. That is, of course, quite ambitious and not all pieces need to elicit action from the readers for them to be successful. Yet, looking at the screenshot below, you can easily follow the steps presented, right?

  You could also write an article where you explain a new concept or study something people knew certain things about (but didn’t know what to think of it). That means your main goal was to expand your readers’ knowledge. Or you could simply publish a piece on a subject that’s quite well-known and invite people to comment about it, thus facilitating an exchange of good practices between people who otherwise might not have interacted with each other. There’s more than one way to make a difference and you just need to set up realistic goals.

Source: ideas.evite.com

  8. Content Does not Necessarily Mean Just Words

  Don’t have enough time to write a long piece? Having a bit of a writer’s block?

There’s a lot of ways to publish content other than text: mix it up with images, create a video out of it, make a podcast, etc.

Sometimes the choice about how to reach your followers is pragmatic (it takes less time to record a podcast than to write the same content); other times it’s about strategy – maybe your followers are more easily swayed by videos or maybe it’s easier for them to follow content as podcast (while driving) than writing. When in doubt, just mix it up – it’s always best to cover more ground. And always build compelling copy for each method. 

    9. Use Plenty of Paragraph Breaks and Quotes to Make Your Copy More “Readable”

Writing good copy should be a bit like writing good journalism.

“One paragraph, one idea,” is a very useful motto when it comes to structuring your text.

Set out a claim, explain why it could be true, illustrate it with an example and then see what the implication of that claim might be. Then discuss that implication in the following paragraph. When you have a longer text, bring out some quotes or poignant phrases that might draw the readers’ attention, so that they can better focus and find the section they need more easily.

  10. Show Empathy with the Reader

  Answering the reader’s WIIFM (What’s in it for me) question is a great start, but if possible, you should try to go beyond that.

Try to understand your readers’ frame of mind: what are their expectations, what might they be worried about?

Sometimes it could be as simple as tapping into their shared history

Look, we’ve all been there: trying to meet the deadline even though…

Other times, you need to tap into something that drives your readers and what their expectations (positive or negative) could be (“You’re probably thinking that this is too hard for you to do – that’s a normal reaction, but…”). All in all, it’s about putting a face to your audience and making the writing more of a dialogue than a monologue.

Source: brettrelander.com

  11. Don’t Forget about the Power of Storytelling

  Sometimes we can get too technical about things and assume our readers are information-parsing-robots. They’re not. They’re human beings and have a natural tendency to like stories and be attracted to the coherence and consistency of a well-told story. You can keep all the facts and all the logical analysis you wanted to pour into your copy, but if you really want to strike a chord, make sure to wrap it in some nice storytelling tropes:

Is there a hero to your story, trying to overcome difficulties? Is there an antagonist trying to stop the hero from succeeding? Does goodness get rewarded in the end, despite hurdles along the way? Etc.

Source: echostories.com

  12. Use Punctuation Carefully to Make Your Copy Impactful

  Read this aloud: “He only told her he loved her.” Which word did you emphasize? There wasn’t a correct way of saying it, but how you chose to say it made a big difference. It might also have been influenced by your traits, beliefs, experience and social background. This is not just about using correct grammar (which, as the Internet warns us, can save someone’s life).

It’s also about using punctuation with purpose.

You want to convey a sense of urgency? Use short sentences and replace semicolons with full stops. You want to make a short detour in the middle of your sentence? Pick your weapon wisely: commas, dashes, parentheses…

You want people to pay attention?

The exclamation mark may have worked before, but it’s now been so overused on clickbait sites, that people just tend to ignore it and what it’s meant to signify.

These may seem like details at first, but once you understand how punctuation impacts not only the reading, but also the understanding of a text, you might decide to pay these details a lot more attention.

  13. Use Sub-headings to Highlight Your Key Points

  We tend to like having a sense of completion. Especially with a work that’s quite sizeable, it’s nice to have smaller milestones. It’s encouraging to know that while the end is not necessarily near, we’re definitely heading in its direction.

Sub-headings help your readers stay motivated.

But they also serve a very practical purpose: they make particular content easy to find both for first-time readers and for recurrent ones.

  14. Make Sure Your Copy Is Free of Spelling Mistakes

  This should go without saying, but it’s important to understand why this is important. It’s not just that it can make readers annoyed because they have to do a double take on a sentence. It’s also not that even small typos can lead to inaccurate statements, in particular when they’re easy to miss (writing “you’re now allowed to…” instead of “you’re not allowed to…” changes the whole meaning, but is grammatically correct in both cases).

Spelling mistakes underscore lack of professionalism and lack of concern for the reader.

The message is pretty straightforward: “We didn’t care enough about the people reading this so as to spend just a little more time on making this copy look like a polished product. We think this is good enough.” And that’s not what you want them to think.

Source: liquidbubble.co.uk

  15. As Much as Possible Be Authentic, Honest and Trustworthy

  There’s a lot of carefulness and consideration put into most writing. But when they’re not doubled by authenticity, when the text doesn’t seem to be coming from a real person, or to be addressed to one, that attention comes across as disingenuous and unnatural. So try to stay honest with your audience and use your unique selling point. 

Be open about your intentions and about your experience and abilities.

Admit when you’re not up to speed on something. Don’t jump on bandwagons. Talk about what matters to you. It’s really hard to define what “authentic” is, because we should always try to get outside of our comfort zones. But I think authenticity comes from being able to admit, having tried something new or that everyone is raving about, that you didn’t like it that much and you want to do something else next time. That honesty is what keeps followers interested and engaged.

  16. Always Keep the Design in Mind when Creating the Text

  This goes beyond fonts and colors. It’s about page layout and how everything looks (and feels). In a way, it’s a bit like fashion – some types of content just go better with certain types of layouts. If your pieces are lengthy and complex, with pictures and charts and graphs, make sure you have a page layout that makes that kind of content attractive and easy to go through.

A more traditional style might help the reader keep focused on the text.

If you work in short bursts of content, be it text, photo, or video, create a layout where every other element points toward your content marketing strategy (rather than distracting from it). Once you’ve settled on a style, try to keep it in mind whenever you’re writing new content: where is this paragraph going to be on the page? Should you insert this picture to the left or to the right (or in a medallion)? How easy is it going to be to flip to the next page? Etc.

  17. Create a Style Guide for All Your Copy

  Try to define your style. There’s obviously going to be a lot of adjustment as you grow and find out more about design, but you should document these changes as much as possible. Coherence and consistency in style are rewarded by readers, even though most of the time their influence is subconscious. So keep up and create a manual to document your decisions: What font, size and color should article titles be? What about body text?

How big should the pictures, videos and other objects be? How much space should they take relative to other elements?

What colors do you use, aside from the colors already visible on your site? What colors and styles to highlight words, show hyperlinks or frame text boxes? Etc.

Of course, these things can be defined in various ways, so that you’re still left with enough flexibility.

  18. Do Your Psychology Homework

  We’ve referenced psychology quite a few times in this list already, when talking about what we want, expect or like. There’s a whole field out there about economic behavior and it’s still expanding. Turns out we’re not actually those rational individuals we believe ourselves to be (no, not even you, sorry to say). Most of us are actually pretty irrational when seen from an outside perspective, even though we abide by our own internal logic.

We don’t always make the best buys, the best choices or act in our best interests.

Why are so many of our behaviors counter-intuitive? There’s no easy answer (no single answer either, for that matter), but it will definitely help you to find out more about what the explanations might be. Writers like Ariely, Duhigg, Goleman, Kahneman or Taleb all featured extensively on the bookshelves in the past few years and with good reason.

Source: http://irrationalgames.com/

  19. Your Copy Should Be Much More about Solving Problems than about Self-Expression

  A lot of content comes from wanting to share experience. You know something most other people – even those in your field – might not know. You are excited about that and want to make them aware of your new gained wisdom. The important thing to remember is that the focus should stay on sharing and not on you as the source of wisdom. That’s not to say your opinions have no place in your writing, on the contrary. But always ask yourself these 3 questions:

Will this info help my readers to better understand the subject? Will this info help my readers to better apply this knowledge for doing something practical? Will this info help me to look cool but not add anything valuable to this piece?

If the answer to the first two questions is a resounding “Yes”, then you should definitely include that piece of information in your copy. If the answer to these questions is “No” and the only “Yes” comes from the third question, well… you’ve got yourself a pretty good conversation opener for the next party.

  20. Define Your Readers and Create Content for Them

  As you gain more readers, start thinking about them as potential clients. Who are they? How can you split them into smaller groups based on age, gender, line of business, interests, income, etc.? You might not have all this information all the time, but you should at least try to find out as much as you can about them. Because if you are to have an ongoing dialogue with them, you need to try and understand what they’re like. Are they typical representatives of a certain generation (X, Y, millennials)? Do they even fit the definitions or are they a group with much more specific characteristics? It would help if you could listen to them – have a way to collect their feedback and allow them to voice out their opinions.

The better you get to know your readers, the more likely it is you will be able to write directly to them and keep them interested in your company.

  21. Always Do Your Homework. Research your topics

With so much information at our fingertips, it’s easy to think we know a lot. In reality, we know very few things well. We know a bit more superficially. Most of the topics, we just have a very inaccurate understanding of. But what happens when we try to talk about something we know little or nothing about as if we knew and stumble upon someone with actual knowledge on the topic? The result, as you’ve guessed, is disastrous. Do your homework before publishing any new content. Do more than just a cursory overview of the information that’s been published lately. Go in depth:

Read books, not just articles; Watch documentaries and videos of experts in that topic; Try to get in touch with people who’ve actually experienced that topic first-hand.

You’re still not going to be an expert even after doing all these things, but at least whatever you write about that topic afterwards will be a valuable contribution to the ongoing dialogue. You can use tools such as BrandMentions to easily research topics that interest you an to get updated on the subject.

  22. Write List Posts

  List posts can be really useful – just look at this one. Joke aside, there is actual value to list posts. Sure, you don’t get to go into a lot of detail, but the richness and variety of ideas will compensate for the lack of depth. Readers are aware of the fact that lists tend to gloss over details and they’re OK with it, mostly because what they’re looking for is variety of ideas.

Quality usually beats quantity, unless it’s exactly quantity that you’re after.

  23. Include the Important Numbers in the Headline

  Lead with your most important data. Don’t try to attract users with cheap, vague clickbait tactics like the one below:

You won’t believe how many writing tips we have in this list!

A lot of editors seem to have forgotten that what people really need is information, not mystery. And people will read your article for what you promise them in the title – and leave satisfied after getting what they wanted. Moreover, sometimes the numbers are impressive in themselves.

Here are couple of examples of numbers that make you think and want to find out more:

Wi-Fi and mobile-connected devices will generate 68% of all internet traffic by 2017.

In 2015, 64% of all in-store sales, or sales to the tune of $2.2 trillion, were influenced by the internet.

Only 44% of web traffic is from humans; a massive 56% of web traffic is from bots, impersonators, hacking tools, scrapers and spammers.

A single second delay in your website loading time can result in a 7% loss in conversion, and 40% of web users will abandon a website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load.

  Source: hostingfacts.com

  24. Use Short, Well Structured Paragraphs

  Ever heard of the KISS rule for public speaking?

Keep It Short & Simple.

That’s exactly how you should think about your persuasive copy. We’ve already mentioned earlier in the list that you should think of your texts as an ongoing conversation. Most people talk in short bits during a conversation, to allow the other person to process what they’ve heard (and also leave plenty of opportunities for interventions). This formula grabs attention easily. Admittedly, your readers can’t jump in while reading your text to alter its course, but they still need to process what they read. They’ll appreciate a clear and simple structure, where everything seems to flow naturally, rather than verbose paragraphs whose main purpose seems to be to obfuscate them.

Remember: one paragraph, one idea.

If you’ve changed ideas, it means you need to change paragraphs as well (or, at the very least, sentences).

  25. Write Your Copy in a Conversational Way

  Try to make your text read like a real conversation (with actual people). Obviously, that’s not 100% possible; you’re not writing plays, after all. But you get our gist.

People have conversations in their heads anyways.

You read a text and find yourself muttering out loud “true, true…”, “wow, that’s crazy!” or sometimes even “that can’t be right, can it?!…” You can even try to interact with the reader when you’re sure your text will elicit a certain reaction. Just said something counter-intuitive or shocking?

You could try to start your next sentence with something like “I know what you’re thinking: ‘surely that can’t be right.’ But it is entirely accurate.” It might not always work and you will have to even resist doing this sometimes, but it’s worth keeping in mind that this is a possibility.

Source: printwand.com

  26. Take Advantage of Power Words

  Do you know anyone opposed to progress? What about anyone who rejoices at the sound of the word suffering?

Not all words are created equal and some words have more power than others.

It is usually because of a specific cultural background of that word, the way it has been used consistently by people to mean a certain thing; so much so, that a particular association is now the only one that comes to people’s minds. Richard Weaver, a 20th century rhetorician, introduced the concepts of “god terms” and “devil terms” to refer to words that have an almost universal positive, respectively negative, connotation. There is a thin line to balance here between being rhetorically savvy and being manipulative, but power words are definitely worth exploring if you want to create better texts.

In his incredible book “Predictably Irrational,” Dan Ariely dedicated a chapter to the power of words in the process of decision making. Long story short, to test the power of the word “free” concerning concrete value, Ariely asked a group of people to choose between a 1 cent Hershey Kiss or a 15 cent Lindt truffle. Most of the people opted for the second version. Nothing intriguing so far. Another random group of subjects were asked to make the same decision just this time both products were cheapened with 1 cent. The results? As you can see in the image below, the subjects seemingly flipped on their opinion of these two treats.

Do not underestimate the power of “free”.

  27. Make Efforts to Become a Better Writer

  Writing is a skill, not a trait you’re born with.

Sure, some people have more talent than others, but just like with a lot of artistic skills, hard work, passion and determination can overcome a talent “deficit.” On the other hand, natural talent withers if it’s not exercised regularly. Read viciously what your favorite copywriters publish. Read books about writing. Go to classes about writing. Listen to podcasts and watch videos about writing. And most importantly?

Write every single day. Always with intent, always trying to get better at something.

Look into style and try to emulate various writing styles. Take what is useful from each of them. Look into creative writing and push yourself to write about things you never cared before. Not everything will stick – in fact, most likely won’t. But being better at writing is something that happens slowly and in bits and pieces. It’s also something worth pursuing.

  28. Make Efficient Use of Social Media

  We’ve touched on this before in our posts and it’s as relevant now as it was then: social proof can be a huge help, as long as you use it strategically. There are plenty of statistics out there about what works best: how many words to use in your posts, what time to post on each network, when to use tags and what to use them for. These statistics are a good starting point, but you’ll have to put in some work, too. They represent average findings of everyone online. You might discover different findings for your business or line of service, as long as you’re willing to put in some time for trial and error tests.

We’ve conducted a very in-depth study to figure out if social signals influence SEO and one of our findings was that a strong presence on social networks is correlated with better rankings, as you can see in the screenshot below.

  29. Remember that All of Your Content Matters

  Write every time like that’s the most important thing to publish.

Don’t think of anything you write as a throwaway or filler.

You need to believe that what you write is important, otherwise there’s little chance the reader will think it.

  30. Use Synonyms and Help Google to Help You

  Synonyms have been managed automatically by Google for years now, yet what you may not know is their high influence not only on your copy but also on rankings. We all use Thesaurus  now and then to “beautify” our content.

You might not know that you can use synonyms for rankings as well.

Let’s say that you are in the “laptops” niche and you write content on this matter. It wouldn’t be bad if you used not only the exact match laptops, but also synonyms or words from the same area with this one : computers, notebooks, etc. And this is because Google is becoming increasingly smart and it returns results not based on the exact matching word but by the intent of the user, using sometimes synonyms of the words or their lexical family.

Use synonyms smartly on your website in order to rank higher not just because you’re obsessed with ranks, but because your website might be relevant to people who search using similar but not quite exactly the same words. More on how to take advantage of this technique can be found on a previous in-depth research we’ve done on how to exploit the synonym technique to increase your traffic.

  31. Stalk Forums for the Exact Words Your Readers Use

  Most of the time we speak about things we think our readers want. But they may be interested in different things, or talk in different ways about those things. Think of a piece of software, for instance: how the developer might describe its functionalities (“Formatting text in XProduct”) is not how users might ask questions about it (“How do I make my text bold in XProduct?”). Therefore go ahead, check the forums and search for the exact word your readers use.

  32. Write Your Own Description Tag

  Copywriting doesn’t imply just blog writing and in-depth article research but also every piece of content written that is related to the business you are working for. Therefore, one of the things you make sure as a killer copywriter (and/or SEO professional) is that you write your own description tag for every important page on your site. Otherwise, Google will do that for you. And you might not want that.

Why is this useful for your copy?

Usually, when someone does a Google search they want answers really fast and very relevant.

This means that if they search for Copywriting Tips and Tricks they would expect to see at a glance exactly what they searched for. And if, along with the title, in the description tag you show them the quick wins they will have, you get more clicks.

  33. Focus on Long Tail Keywords

  Long tail keywords are those three and four keyword phrases which are very, very specific to whatever you have to offer. Regardless of the fact that it might be easier for your content to rank higher when using long tail keywords, it is also a better way to connect with customers. We’ve written more on this subject in a previous post.

  34. Write Up to the High, Positive Expectation

  It does hurt to say, but the more you read meaningless content on the web, the more you expect the next link you click on to give you hands on content.

If you’re unlucky enough to be the fourth or fifth and the reader is already bent out of shape, you clearly wouldn’t like to be in the position of disappointing him. It’s harder to work for content than it was for linkbait and clickbait years ago, because this time there’s no shortcut to get people’s attention. You’ve got to be fair and you’ve got to deliver. Let’s call this Attention Web.

Only promise what you can deliver!

  35. Be Crystal Clear and Give Quick Previews that Make Your Points of View Acceptable

  We all have belief biases – this means that when facing a logical argument, we’re more likely to believe it if the conclusion seems more plausible instead of analyzing the supporting evidence. Bold points of view are lifesaving. They raise eyebrows and tickle curiosity, while sending the impression of reliability. Which is why people will read the first sentence of your post – unfortunately, after this they realize you’re about to contradict their prior beliefs and leave. Just like that.

  36. Deliver Something Valuable in an Intuitive Way

  Suppose that you’re lucky enough to write about the topic someone’s recently been interested in – this only means they’ll notice your work, at best. From here to actually reading your content there is a lot of work paved with intermediary steps.

Digging too deep into a topic often implies taking a lot of extra risk.

We only read in-depth content analyses; we do our homework properly, we’re never out of touch and we can tell you what’s trending from sleep. And yet, there’s nothing easier than losing the interest of your readers.

Source: slate.com

  37. Go with the Status Quo Over Newly Presented Facts

  Status quo bias is an emotional bias; a preference for the current state of affairs.

The current baseline (or status quo) is taken as a reference point, and any change from that baseline is perceived as a loss. The truth is that we care more about maintaining our Status Quo (state of facts) than we do about truth; and if you’re saying otherwise, chances are your brain is playing some tricks on you.

Therefore, if it’s not imperative to change, innovation for the sake of novelty is the number one enemy of reader loyalty.

  38. Learn how to Measure the Success of Content Marketing

  Content we share doesn’t always equal content we’ve engaged with. It’s a lot easier to share content based on its title than it is to actually engage with it. Yet, it’s highly important to know how to measure the success of a piece of content. Metrics for on-page behavior, for SEO, bounce rates, average time spent on page, the number and quality of the comments or the metrics for social media performance are elements you should always keep an eye on.

It is not just the people who convert are important, but the pages they convert from.

Here you can find how to constantly monitor and learn from these metrics

  39. Learn where Your Readers Get Their News and Information from

  No, you won’t need night vision goggles or an invisibility cloak to monitor your community.

What you do need is to pay attention to your surroundings. Working inside of a system often makes us lose what’s most important in succeeding—the holistic view of the industry.

  40. Get Inspired by Your Community’s Interest

  There’s no place more insightful than your own community—you’ll find plenty of ideas there if you just take the time to look at it. Being part of an industry often takes a lot of time, especially in domains that seem to be so competitive, in a never-ending effort to become better. However, sometimes we should just stop. And see what it is that’s missing—there’s always a glitch—something that you haven’t discovered yet. Start from there. I know it might sound like a task hard to achieve but tools such as Brand Mentions  can really ease your job.

  41. Thoroughly Document on Your Niche to Find Content Inspiration

  Whether you are a content marketer who is interested in the content from a specific area or you are into more generic matters, first thing first, you need to check out what is going on in that niche and find some inspiration from those findings.

Correlating search trends with the most recent mentions on the web seems to be a great formula, regardless of the niche you are interested in.

  42. Talk to the Sales and Support Team

  Through all its efforts, a company/business/website is trying to find a way to best reach its audience. Some efforts are sort of an “indirect” contact with the public through online content but there are also some others who are in direct contact with the user. A discussion with the sales and support team might be a great opportunity for you to better understand your audience’s needs or challenges and adapt your marketing copy accordingly.

Source: helpscout.net

  43. Create a Content Strategy Calendar

  After collecting a bunch of great article ideas you need to gather them together in a way that will be efficient and effective for your website or blog. And creating a content calendar is a method to get the best results out of your ideas. Although “Content Strategy Calendar” might sound a bit pretentious and you might get discouraged or think it is a very complicated task, the truth is that even a simple Google Doc Spreadsheet can help you out. What you need to keep in mind for each article you are going to write is that you have to take in consideration items such as:

What type of content is it? Where do you intend to publish it? What is the article’s audience? How and where are you going to promote it? How are you going to scale the result?

  Source: meistertask.com

  44. Remember that Visual Information Makes Readers More Thorough

  The more we try to put information in pretty wrapping, the harder it will be to present it without visual support. It is just one among other smart copywriting formulas. Every attempt to make web content more interesting contributed to this borderline surrealistic change to the way we perceive content online. It seems that our brain really loves graphics more than you’d imagine:

visual information has increased by 9,000% since 2007

color visuals increase willingness to read by 80%

we receive 5 times more information than we did in 1986

we don’t read more than 28% of the words when visiting an online page

  Source: contently.com

  45. Harmonize Your Online Content with the Offline One

  The online and the offline often find themselves in competition and it shouldn’t be like that. In reality, although the two environments should not be compared, it’s impossible not to weigh one against the other. Yet, regardless of the advantages and disadvantages each one brings, one thing should be clear: they need to be coherent altogether and they both need to tell the same stories, even if with different lines.

Source: blog.hubspot.com

  46. Always Keep the Attention Span Matter in Mind

  Because technology today can store so much information, we can’t keep track of it anymore.

Writers in the 17th century claimed they had read everything written in their language throughout history.

Today, this statistic is unachievable even to those of us who try to keep themselves up-to-date in their fields of expertise.

Nowadays, our attention span is 8 seconds and falling. Approximately 66% of our attention is spent below the fold , especially when it comes to content, and we’re impatient to get over the (often) boring introductions directly to the heart of what interests us.

  47. Learn from Your Most and Least Shared Content

  Figuring out what works for your niche is crucial. Looking at the content that performs best in your niche might be intuitive. Even though you might think it’s redundant to look at the bottom of the list, there are insights to be learned from your weakest performing content, too.

You need to see which pages have attracted the least amount of visitors and what type of content is not of interest to your viewers.

Creating uninteresting content isn’t useful for anyone. It is not useful for your target audience, and it’s clearly not productive for your business.

  48. No Shares, No Likes, No Comments = No Traffic

  Content creation and shareability are parts of the content strategy concept and you can’t separate one from each other.

It would be a true shame to create great and useful content that does not receive any love from the community.

Just like us, you’ve probably seen a lot of bloggers create great articles that impressed you. But, they received little to no engagement. While creating content has its obvious benefits, maximizing shareability assures the success of your content strategy.

  49. Originality Is a Must

  You don’t have to re-invent the wheel on a daily basis.

You may also create content that has been done before as long as you augment it with a new spin.

As long as it’s a fresh and interesting approach to an idea, go ahead with it.

Remember that most of the times originality is nothing but judicious imitation.

The most original writers borrowed one from another.

  50. Existing Content Needs Love, Too

  When creating content, we tend to never look back and always think of the next idea.

You should always take your existing content and see what you can gain from it.

Maybe create a sequel, maybe an update, maybe there are some ideas in that piece of content that weren’t fully discussed. And even if it’s evergreen content we are talking about, remember that this kind of content is relevant for people now and it’s going to be relevant for them after a year, too. We’ve written a blog post on exactly this matter, where we put together some of the best ways to repurpose existing content.

  51. Timing Is Everything

  As the famous lines say, there is a time for everything : a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot. And this applies in copywriting as well.

It’s obvious that writing the right article at the right moment is crucial.

There are times when important changes occur in the niche you are addressing and clearly you need to react on the spot and have a piece of copy ready for the moment. Yet, there are times when you need to know what new trick you need to unveil in order to capture your audience’s numb interest. Also, an important part of this matter is maximizing the shareability of your copy. Therefore you need to figure out when you’re going to get the most out of your content, at which moment of the day, the week or month you should share the content to receive the most traffic.

  52. Spot Your Competitor’s Most Engaging Content

  Content marketing – done correctly – can be a very effective way to attract and retain clients, but the problem is more and more companies produce more and more content. It’s highly important to understand how to produce content that will engage your target audience, but is also vital to know what your competitors’ most engaging content is. To figure this out you don’t have to spend ages collecting and analyzing all that content, you can do things way easier and efficiently if you use the proper tools.

  53. Make Use of Content Curation to Boost Your Influence

  Everyone has wrapped their brains around the idea of content creation and knows they should create amazing content to engage with their target audience. And that’s how content curation, the less known brother of content creation, gets left out in the cold.

A professional content curator picks and polishes the most amazing content and serves it up to the community and also gives credits to the owner.

It is definitely a power that can be harnessed, and remember that content curation is not content marketing.

  54. Analyze, Analyze, Analyze

  This applies before actually writing the piece of content but also after the copy has been unleashed to the world. Learn to monitor the places your content is published and analyze the traffic. Visitors who come and go are an invaluable resource of information regarding the content’s usage pattern. Watch out for data like keywords, bounce rate, and click patterns to learn more about their interests. Also, ask about the blogs and social networks where they spend their time online. You may find discussions that may shed a light on their needs and interests.

On the internet, in an age where everything is monitored, you are bound to find data about anything.

  55. Creativity Is Key!

  There is this common perception that creativity is a taboo subject or that is a “feature” that only the chosen ones are gifted with. As Steve Jobs once highlighted, most of the times creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.

  However, copywriting and creativity go hand in hand. This is why while sticking to your business plan, you enter a comfort zone, which is the worst enemy for creativity. When you empty your mind of all past concepts, you’re going to fill it with creativity. You have to liberate yourself from the limitations of what you already know.

  56. Fill Information Gaps – Become a Reference

  An information gap is a construct, a theory or an idea that the audience believes should be informed on, but doesn’t seem to be explained quite extensively. Rather, the reader feels like the information comes in bits and pieces, like an underlying premise of any discussion that derives from the matter. Here is where your content jumps in. Yet, for the strategy to work, the information will have to be relevant and systematized, while offering an in-depth perspective on the topic. Become a reference and the results will follow.

Once you’ve proven yourself as a trusty, authentic go-to blog, your leads and email subscription rates can dramatically increase.

  57. Targeting Longtail Keywords to Engage Your Audience

  Micro-targeting paints a big picture. The more you invest in targeting the right long tail keywords, the bigger a shot you have at accessing a key audience interested in a specific topic. Choosing topics for content writing should always be the result of a targeting process. Once you do this, the chances to grow a solid audience with an increase intent in your business are sizable.

  58. Repurpose Your Content

  Running a blog with constant valuable and high quality content might sometimes be difficult as it is a resource-consuming process. Therefore, why not getting the best out of the content that you’ve already worked on? Repurpose the content you already have. Not only will you save resources, but you’ll also extend the reach of your blog and maybe find new ways to reach your audience. Here are some great ideas of how to repurpose your content:

  59. Make Use of Content Convergence

  Before asking yourself how this might help you, allow me to explain what this is about.

It refers to merging one boring, dull topic with a more exciting topic, whilst giving it a theme which gets attention.

If you are to write copy for, let’s say, plumbing supplies or for air conditioners, you might find it difficult sometimes to remain consistent, creative, original, etc. Here is where convergence might help you. Try giving the content a snappy title, make it more about the reader than about the website, As we’ve detailed in a previous blog post, by introducing a new element to the narrative you’ve made a boring item more interesting and opened up your website to getting links from places your competition would find hard to replicate.

  60. Make It Interesting and Diverse, not Just Relevant

  Undoubtedly, relevancy is a must.

While being relevant, a diverse mix of content can be used in order to keep things interesting for your readers.

This might require videos, case studies, articles, e-Newsletters, webinars, blog posts, data visualization posts, competitions or photographs. This might require some market and consumer research skills in order to understand consumer expectations with regards to the kind of content they want to read. Yet, it’s totally worth it.

  61. Don’t Forget about the Content Monarchy

  Whether you agree or not, “Content is king” is one of the widest spread Internet memes. You will see the phrase referenced all over the place. And we tend to think that mostly Google is “the guilty” one for this matter. For a while now, Google has been promoting the importance of content and it has even shaped an algorithm on exactly this matter, ready to penalize sites that do not respect content quality guidelines.

The thing you need to remember is that you need to write good, relevant and qualitative content for the sake of your readers but also to avoid any Google Penalties.

  62. Quality Is not a One Time Act, It Is a HABIT

  As the saying goes, we are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence is not an act, but a habit.

You’ve written a blog post and you have thousands of shares and appreciations? That’s a great. Yet, that one time performance won’t keep you on the top for long. On the contrary, once you’ve set the bar high, you need to keep up with it to have killer content. 

  This is similar to the one hit wonder music bands.

We all remember the musical hit, we sing it at birthdays parties for a period of time, yet we probably won’t buy the album just for that tune.

Same thing may happen to your content. If you want your readers to look at your blog/brand/name with respect and put you in the trustworthy content category, make a habit out of delivering quality.

  63. The Title of Your Content Will Influence Your Rankings

  Every site owner’s dream (and goal) is to rank as high as possible for their target audience. Every search engine’s dream (and goal) is to make sure that the most relevant websites rank the highest. Therefore, it’s a vicious cycle.

Yet, keywords used in the titles of your copy have a high ranking importance. We’ve conducted a study where it seems that keyword appearance in the title makes a clear difference between ranking 1st or 2nd.

When creating the title of your content you should really think things through, as the title must not be only relevant and attractive but also SERP friendly.

  64. Ask Rhetorical Questions to Engage Readers

  Do you ever use rhetorical questions in your writing? Like this one, for instance?

Rhetorical questions make your arguments more persuasive.

Also, your audience will become engaged. And if your arguments are strong and valid, readers will be more likely persuaded by them.

  65. Choose the Fonts and Colors Carefully

Around here we put a lot of emphasis on content and go on and on about how it comes first. But that doesn’t mean we’re blind to aesthetic choices. If you have good, original, insightful, even life-changing content, but choose to display it in green Comic Sans over a pink background, you can count us out. And a few other readers, too.

Choice of font and color scheme can greatly influence the success of a piece by being a factor for accessibility.

Certain fonts make for easier reading when it comes to big blocks of text, while certain color schemes make it easier on the eye to spend long amounts of time on landing pages. Font and color also go a long way in terms of credibility: some combinations simply look slick and professional, while others give an “untrustworthy” vibe, despite potentially good writing.

  66. Use Positive Frames to Describe Information

  Negative frames describe something that isn’t taking place. Positive frames, on the other hand, describe something tangible, something that is happening. Studies  show that we need more mental resources to process negative frames as they reduce comprehension and degrade the impact of your message. Therefore, positive frames should be the one you should look for.

NEGATIVE: Don’t be late. POSITIVE: Arrive on time.

NEGATIVE: Don’t drink excessively. POSITIVE: Drink responsibly.

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