Badassery Magazine February 2018 Issue 21

to write about? Write about that. Describe the blank page in detail - the texture, the glint of light off the paper, the way it makes you feel. Remember: writer's block is en- tirely a self inflicted malady. Never break the rules - except when you do. I never break rules. I bend them, circumvent them, reinterpret them and sometimes ignore them, but I never break them. When I first be- gan my blog, I was told about the "rules" of blogging. Some made sense: don't use click-bait titles, format posts so they are easy to read, etc. Others seemed ridicu- lous: randomly bolding so-called "key sentences," keeping para- graphs to maximum width of 80 characters, and of course, mak- ing posts short because, "no one reads anymore." Utter piffle all of them. Humans skim because they've grown up on a diet of vac- uous drivel that currently festoons much of the world-wide-inter- web-net. A self fulfilling prophecy if I ever saw one, but that's another tale, for another time. Write about things that inspire you. When I first began as a scribbler, I restricted my subject matter to advertising and marketing, tech- nology and business - all sub- jects that I found interesting, but not in the least inspiring. Realizing that only writing about such sub- jects was about as interesting as a Museum of Ketchup, I began to explore subjects that lit me up. I wrote about things I was passion- ate about, and that passion came through in my work. Passion will attract more readers than dry facts ever will on their own. My daily habit began as an exper- iment - one that I am happy to say has been a rousing success. I've seen an increase in traffic to my site, I feel much more confident - not to mention competent - as a writer, and I've learned a lot about my style, and the subjects that in- spire me. While I'm not suggesting that every writer should be posting essays on a daily basis, I do sug- gest, in fact I'd go so far as to im- plore you to write every single day, even if no one sees it. My dear and long suffering read- ers, I'm not a legendary writer, nor am I anyone's personal hero (or anyone's public hero now that I think on it), but since you didn't ask, this is my sure-fire, can't miss, 100% guaranteed or your money back advice for becoming a writer: Write. Edit. Write some more. Edit some more. Repeat. Follow that formula and you'll gradually become a better writer, and you'll learn more about your- self. In the end, it's much the same thing.  Mackenzie Clench is an author, creative instigator, internet talk show host, agent provocateur and silhouette model for Men-at-Work signs. He's also the CEO, Scribbler and Fuss Maker in Chief of Mackenzie Clench Creative, helping entrepreneur-shaped humans refine their messaging to draw a through-line from the heart of their business to the heart of the clients. Mackenzie Clench 43 Mackenzie regularly kicks over the apple cart of "that's-the-way-it's-always- been-done" and gives the copywriting cognoscente aneurysms on a nearly daily basis. He believes that 1 + 1 = 3, women are the future and that the coolest dinosaur is the thesaurus. He's currently on a mission to show that every single human-shaped human on this big blue marble is a walking, talking, latte-sip- ping engine of creation. He does not know who let the dogs out, but thinks they deserve a stern talking to. mackenzieclench.com   

Badassery Magazine February 2018 Issue 21 | Page 44