Blog
5 Minutes on Collaborative Writing with a Writing Coach
By Sue Stoney, the Message Crafter When Robinson Jeffers, the American poet known for his work about the central California coast, was building Tor House in Carmel-by-the-Sea, he retained the services of a stone mason on the condition that the stone mason allow…
On Being a SME
By Sue Stoney, the Message Crafter While working on a slight re-do of my website, I found some messages I had shared with my clients as I was coaching their writing. I thought, “This is helpful information about collaborating with subject matter experts (SMEs). I…
How to Write a Blog
By Sue Stoney, the Message Crafter I was talking to a web developer recently, and he was complaining about the dearth of original thinking reflected in content in recent times. It seems busy subject matter experts (SMEs) don’t have time to write about what they are…
Writing Tips for Business Leaders from Writing Coaches
By Sue Stoney, the Message Crafter Photograph taken by Molly Walker, Walker Communications The five sets of tips I’m sharing with you here come from my own experience, as well as from my colleagues, fellow members of the San Francisco chapter of IABC (International…
The Power in Collaboration: 5 Things I Learned in 2 Years Coaching Others’ Writing
By Sue Stoney, the Message Crafter While I learned more than 5 things in the more-than-two years since I opened my own company, TheMessageCrafter.com, it’s these 5 that have showed me how my years in the corporate world have informed the 2 years I’ve owned my own…
Words Come Loaded: Get a License to Use Them Well
By Sue Stoney, the Message Crafter If you’ve ever heard the words “denotation” and “connotation” before, it was probably in high school English class. So let’s review: “Denotation” is the dictionary meaning of a word. “Connotation” refers to the wide array of positive…
Avoiding Words with Rounded Corners (or how to write with a sharpened pencil)
By Sue Stoney, the Message Crafter Are you as tired of tired words as I am? Do you have your favorite pet peeves when it comes to the overworked entries in our lexicon? Here is my short list of “overused favorites”: Amazing Awesome Nice “Friend” or “Google” or…used as…
Writing a Book: How to Get Started (and Keep Going)
By Sue Stoney, the Message Crafter A little about how I came to be writing about writing a book Just so we’re clear. In all my years of providing writing, editing and writing coach services in the corporate world and now as The Message Crafter, I’ve never actually…
Emails That Talk to (not down to) Your Circle of Influence
By Sue Stoney, the Message Crafter If you are a business owner, as I am, your email lists consist of a variety of contacts. My own lists revealed these types of email contacts: Clients (some do what I do; some don’t) Prospective clients Other business communicators…