David G. Allen's Blog, page 5

How to Forge High-Impact Ideas – And Why T-Rex Is the Master of PR

Hey buddy…Next time someone offers you an asteroid…Say no.
photo by mayize at sxc.hu

Before I get into this post, there’s something you should know: I just got a profile on Goodreads – the social network for readers. Want to know what I’m reading, and share some great book finds of your own?Connect with me on Goodreads. Every time someone does, I do a moonwalk in my kitchen. Now to the good stuff…

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I’m going to tell you how to make a high impact idea that will spread by word of mouth. But first,...

Overcoming False Stories – PLUS: The Christian Author’s Guide to Telling a Lie

Balance by darktaco on sxc.hu

Have you ever caught yourself believing in an idea about yourself that wasn’t true?

Usually this happens right after you’ve suffered from the results of that lie:

Low self esteem
Feelings of being trapped
Seeing yourself as invulnerable to temptation, greed, or deception, etc.
The loss of a key relationship, job, friendship, opportunity

After several days/weeks/months of slogging through emotional mud, we gain enough distance to see that – yep, we’ve been duped. Sold a...

Research Study – How the “F-Shaped Pattern” Can Help People ‘See’ Your Message

yard gate by jmoconnor at sxc.hu

Where should you put the most important stuff?

In this post, you’ll learn how most people read websites – so your message has the greatest possible impact.

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What People Do When They Get YOUR Message

You worked hard writing a message for someone. The least they could do is pay attention to what you created FOR them, right?

Instead, what happens?

If people have to click, most don’t get to your content in the first place.


If they get there, they read the first line and...

Top Secret: 3 Free Screenwriting Resources (that I probably shouldn’t show you)

image by spekulator on sxc.hu

Psst.

You want to write a great book?

Think like a movie writer.

You want to write a great movie?

Keep your voice down.

Check out these free resources. But don’t tell anyone else.

1. The “Go Into the Story” blog on the blacklist website.

If you’re even a few months behind me, you’ll be shocked to learn how many of your favorite movies first showed up as scripts on the blacklist. This blog is extremely useful advice for writers, and the blogroll (left side) has links to s...

2 Simple Things You Can Do to Reduce Your Fear

splatter question by bessarro at sxc.hu

Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itselfnameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. – Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address – March 4, 1933

Fear is a trigger that pulls you right into a victim mentality. It is such a strong trigger that you may find it difficult to get back out again. Here, I share my own experience dealing with fear. By getting o...

5 things I wished I knew when I started writing fiction

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image from anitab0000 at sxc.hu;
“Whoops, wrong building!”

Here are some takeaways from spending way too much time writing stories.

Hopefully they will help you to be more productive as you spend too much time writing or reading stories on your own.

1. How you describe something can amplify or undo a reader’s view of what happens.

A terrifying monster is never ‘frazzled’, unless you want to laugh at him.
The lumberjack rarely prances, unless he’s in a Monty Python song.
And the Lorax never rampag...

How a Four Minute Song From Les Miserables Can Help You Write a Great Plot

Image courtesy of soulfire82 at sxc.hu
- Notre Dame, site of another Victor Hugo story. No, not ‘Rudy’.

There is a part of storytelling that all the greats know. Get this right, and you will overwhelm your audience with emotion. Tears will be shed.

People will love your characters more than their own family.

Okay, I embellished a bit. Still, the lesson is important to any great novel, movie, or series.

And I learned it from a musical.

One Day More

Last year I saw Les Miserables

Well, I saw it in Engl...

Is the Internet Evil or Good?

Is the internet evil? Or is it good? This is not an easy answer. By exploring how a technology is used, can you use it more responsibly? To express your opinion and consider the thoughts below, read on and let me know what you think in the comments.

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image courtesy of chidsey at sxc.hu “ICU”

One day the devil was doing some administrative work. On his desk, the red telephone rang. He picked it up and sighed with a smoky breath.

“Devil here.”

“Yes, Mr. Devil. This is Phil. I realized I could ma...

DeLoreans are for Chumps – How To Examine the Worst of Your Past to Create Your Best Future.

photo courtesy of cmx82 on sxc.hu

You don’t need a car from the 80′s to make your future a better place. The toughest, coolest people on earth can do it by asking a few simple questions. Get ready, you’re about to go on a small journey back in time.

In this journey you will visit three places. Each place corresponds to one of the three worst experiences of your life.

Where did you go?

What are the 3 worst times of your life?

Can you answer for yourself what happened, how you felt, and how it affec...

Note Taking 2.0: Without a Pen or Paper – Part Two

image courtesy of davdibiase on sxc.hu

In the last post, I showed how you can use an audio recorder to get all your ideas down. This is useful for coming up with story ideas, monitoring your thoughts, answering big questions that you need several days to answer, and remembering action steps that can change your life. Here, You’ll learn how to synthesize those notes into a simple system for finding them later.

This will work if you physically write down items as well, though you’ll need a file c...