Periodically at Lyden’s Lab, we’re going to touch on strategies that equip you to write faster, turn projects quicker, and get paid sooner – without skimping on quality or substance. You may have ideas that help you write faster, too. Please share them in the comments below. We all benefit by learning new strategies that boost our productivity!
Today’s faster writing strategy: The Q&A Technique…
If you ever get stuck while writing a rough draft, the Question and Answer (Q&A) Technique is an effective tool to break the mental log jam and get creative thoughts flowing again.
What is the Q&A Technique?
It’s real simple. Use questions to stimulate creative answers.
Here’s an example of what the process looks like.
When I was struggling with writing the lead for a feature article on “How to Spec Dump Bodies for Light- and Medium-Duty Trucks” for Work Truck Magazine, I crafted these questions to help me focus my thinking and get ideas flowing again. I allowed myself to “riff” off of these questions, without trying to analyze or edit, till I thought I had enough material to work with.
- What exactly does a dump body do?
- What are the benefits to the user?
- Create tension: What are the risks to the wrong selection?
Here are the answers I came up with.
What exactly does a dump body do?
A dump body hauls loose granular materials, like topsoil or sand, or large chunks of construction debris, equipping your crew to unload cargo quickly, with little effort, and move on to the next job.
What are the benefits to the user?
The dump functionality eliminates the need to manually unload the truck, reducing labor time (and costs), which preserves more profit for each job. With a simple push of a button, the dump body tilts either toward the rear or side of the truck, leveraging gravity (instead of manual labor) to pour the payload directly into a dumpster or onto the ground.
Create tension: What are the risks to the wrong selection?
Despite all the benefits, if either the chassis or dump body is not properly equipped to handle the load, the cost-savings will be nullified with premature maintenance issues and greater risks to employee safety. And when you consider that light and medium duty dump trucks cost as much $40,000-$70,000 per unit to purchase, the stakes are high for fleet managers to get the spec right.
Tying It All Together
Once I had the raw material, I began the editing process – to shape my answers and tie them together into a cohesive lead.
Whether you haul loose granular materials, like topsoil or sand, or large chunks of construction debris, dump body trucks equip your crew to unload cargo quickly, with little effort, and move on to the next job.
The dump functionality eliminates the need to manually unload the truck, reducing labor time (and costs), which preserves more profit for each job. With a simple push of a button, the dump body tilts either toward the rear or side of the truck, leveraging gravity (instead of manual labor) to pour the payload directly into a dumpster or onto the ground.
However, despite all the promise for increased productivity, if either the chassis or dump body is not properly equipped to handle the load, the cost-savings will be nullified with premature maintenance issues and greater risks to employee safety. And when you consider that light and medium duty dump trucks (up to class 7) cost as much $40,000-$70,000 per unit to purchase (depending on dump body type, material and capabilities), the stakes are high for fleet managers to get the spec right.
So, how do you spec dump bodies to tackle the job? Here are seven questions to guide you through the process.
3 Ways the Q&A Technique Equips You to Write Faster
1. When you’re stuck, you start to feel anxiety, which stifles your creativity. Asking yourself questions takes your mind off your fear so you can tackle the task at hand, allowing fresh ideas to flow freely and effortlessly.
2. Your mind might be overwhelmed by the project as a whole. But when you focus on answering one question at a time, before you know it, you’ve produced quality content for the entire draft.
3. The Q&A approach also helps you reduce research time. This is because each question requires an answer that narrows your research focus, keeping you from chasing after material that might be interesting, but not pertinent for the project.
What About You?
Have you tried this approach (or something similar) before? How has it worked?
About the Author: Sean M. Lyden is a nationally recognized feature writer and columnist on sales, marketing, automotive and technology topics. As a ghostwriter and copywriter, Sean has served clients such as General Motors, SunTrust Service Corporation, Morgan Stanley, Embedded Linux Consortium and Shaw Industries. He’s also co-author of the book How to Succeed and Make Money on Your First Rental House (Wiley, 2003). Follow Sean on Twitter.
© Sean M. Lyden, 2011, All Rights Reserved
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