My latest look through the book on my desk, Your Attention Please, led me to another gem.

The authors encourage us to browse the magazine rack for a model of writing that will get our audience’s attention and get them to take action.

It’s true, whether it’s a Cosmo quiz or a compelling story in Reader’s Digest, the sole purpose of these magazines is to serve their readers with entertainment, information and suggestions for improving their lives.

Writing prompt: Grab a popular “service” magazine from your coffee table or your corner store and choose an article to use as a template for the next article you write.

During today’s radio interview with Katherine Reschke of Passions That Pay, we were discussing the fine line between perfectionism-induced paralysis (no writing at all) and going overboard with your corrections until you don’t sound like yourself anymore.

Then, an analogy popped into my head.

If you were to leave your house today while you’re still wearing your pyjamas, slippers and curlers (ok, I’m not sure if anyone wears curlers, but you know what I mean), you’re probably not going to make a very good impression.

On the other hand, you certainly don’t have to pour yourself into an evening gown or tuxedo to take a stroll around the block. You won’t be comfortable, people won’t know how to relate to you and your message will be lost in the distraction of how you’re dressed.

It’s the same thing when you try to sound too smart in your writing, which is an issue I cover in the free report, Readability Secrets for Coaches Who Write.

Instead, take the time to clean yourself up and deal with any glaring errors so that you can make the best impression you can. But don’t try to be someone you’re not. You’ll risk intimidating your readers so they can’t relate to you.

Writing Prompts: Use this 5-point readability checklist as a systematic way to “run a comb” through your writing before you send it out into the world.

A friend of mine is pregnant and she’s having some physical challenges as a result. An alternative health clinic in her neighborhood put out a newsletter and one of the practitioners, who specializes in pregnancy, wrote an article about some of the issues he treats successfully in his practice.

She saw herself and her own symptoms in the article, called him up to make an appointment and now he has a new client!

Writing prompt: What problems or symptoms do you solve for your clients? How can you describe them in the same language your clients use, so that they see themselves in your writing and are drawn in?

One of the Top 5 Writing Mistakes that I identified in last Friday's "From Ideas to Income" teleclass was trying to cram too many points into the same article (or other piece of writing). I called it the "Article of a Lifetime" mistake.

When we're excited and passionate about the ideas we have to share, and when we're genuinely concerned with helping other people find solutions, we want to SAY IT ALL.

However, trying to bring together all of those ideas at once can make it very overwhelming for your reader. That means they might abandon your article before they get to the end. And that's where your most precious real estate lies – the "call to action" and invitation back to your website to join your mailing list in exchange for a free gift (a "pink spoon").

Instead, stick to one main point (with two or three sub-headings) in each article, and then celebrate the fact that you've got content for more articles!

So don't try to write the article of a lifetime. Remember, you have a lifetime to write articles!

Quick Writing Prompt: Look through a recent article that you've written and consider whether it can be divided into two (or even three) articles. Make sure each article has ONE clear main point.

Update (January 2, 2011): I wrote a new post on this topic in January 2011, called How to Focus Your Mind, Your Topic and Your Writing.