One year ago, I promised myself that I wouldn’t write this post. One year ago Incognito Money Scribe launched, and I vowed then not to write one of those posts about the “lessons learned after X years of blogging.” Not that there is anything wrong with them. I just never wanted this blog to focusContinue reading “Why We ____ : I.M.S. 1-Year Anniversary”
Tag Archives: financial writing
Financial Writing with Empathy
If you want your writing to be more engaging, answer one question: Who am I writing for? Berkshire Hathaway has legions of devoted shareholders, some of whom are quite famous — LeBron James, George Lucas and Bill Gates, among them. But when writing the annual shareholder letter, chairman and CEO Warren Buffett has only twoContinue reading “Financial Writing with Empathy”
7 Habits of Successful Financial Writers That Will Improve Your Writing
A bottle of whisky within arm’s reach may make you a great writer. It is not what made Jack London a great writer. London had a reputation for drinking heavily, as did many famous writers. But what allowed him to write classic books such as The Call of the Wild and White Fang was notContinue reading “7 Habits of Successful Financial Writers That Will Improve Your Writing”
Journaling for Financial Independence
I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn. THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK The Financial Independence Retire Early movement may not be for everyone. But if there’s one thing it can teach all of us, it’s the art of journaling. Many FIRE bloggers write from a personal space,Continue reading “Journaling for Financial Independence”
Are We Suffering from TMS (Too Much Storytelling)?
This is the part where I’m supposed to regale you with an enlightening, insightful or thought-provoking tale about an ancient Stoic philosopher, or some little known World War II general, or an apocryphal business anecdote featuring Steve Jobs, or my own personal reflection of what I learned running my first marathon. In other words, thisContinue reading “Are We Suffering from TMS (Too Much Storytelling)?”
Writing Costs What It Costs
The fashion of creativity is sentimentally visualized as berets and professorial attire against the backdrop of a bar. For those creating, it is every earned bit of hard hats and stained overalls and calloused hands carrying the fragments of ideas. Writing is an act of endurance. No wonder why so many people quit — orContinue reading “Writing Costs What It Costs”
Financial Writing Rules: What Not to Do
Writing for the most part is a liberating exercise (editing is a whole different animal). Lessons come from making mistakes rather than obeying any set of rules. You learn rules to know when or when not to break them. But here are some financial writing blunders that I see often and suggest avoiding: 1. OverwritingContinue reading “Financial Writing Rules: What Not to Do”
First Principles Writing
It’s late at night. The words on the screen swirl before your heavy eyes. With each pass, what you wrote sounds worse and worse. A clumsy passage or sentence takes on the appearance of a Gordian Knot. What should be simple and clear is a tangled mess. It doesn’t convey your meaning at all. Suddenly,Continue reading “First Principles Writing”
Lessons of an Anonymous Financial Writer
Broke, jobless, with a child on the way — I became a financial writer out of desperation. Some people start writing about money in hopes of becoming a kind of finance guru; some do it in hopes of attracting new clients to their advisory business. I just wanted a paycheck. What I earned though wasContinue reading “Lessons of an Anonymous Financial Writer”
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