Key Business Partners, LLC

This week I asked one of my online colleagues to share with us about her writing programs:

Please let us know more about you—where are you from and do you have siblings?
Well, one thing to know about me is that it’s very difficult for me to give a short answer to any question. And that includes where I’m from. It sounds better when I do it out loud, but we’ll see if you get a flavor recounting it with words. I was born in the back seat of a car in Mississippi, moved to Virginia, moved to Pennsylvania, moved to Oregon, moved to Texas (where I lived for fourteen years), and then moved to Maryland. Right now, I’m happily ensconced in beautiful Maryland, where I can find trees (green!!!!), mountains (the part of nature that feeds my soul), farmland, and oceans.
I have two younger brothers who are 31 and 29, although they’d be horrified to know that in my mind’s eye, they’ll always look like their kindergarten pictures (I’m 8 and 10 years older than they). It’s always a shock when I see them in person. “Wait. You grew up?”

When you are not writing, what can you be found doing with your time?
I’m never bored. ? I have a lot going on in my life and business, so I always have something to do. I do try to listen to my body and my inner self, so I will take quiet time and read, cross-stitch, or watch old movies on Turner Classic Movies.

Why did you decide to start Write Well U?
I had been a virtual assistant for several years, and, as a writer and a former English teacher, I wrote a lot for my clients. I saw that what I could do easily – not everyone could. I thought I’d just create this writing program and teach it on the side, but then the passion overthrew me (isn’t that a song lyric?), and I was hooked. I adore writing, and I love connecting with people in order to help them write well.

Please share with us what programs you offer at Write Well U.
The Writing Essentials Program – this is the big momma of them all. I think of it as a writing intensive program, which, in reality, that’s what it is. After teaching a session, *I* become a better writer. It’s all about changing your filters or adding new ones. With the Writing Essentials Program, you start looking at everything (advertisements, license plates, conversations you overhear on the bus) with a writer’s point of view – and then how to make it better.

Ready, Set, Write

– Something else I’ve found as I help people with writing is that they get stuck that there’s only way to do it – or one way that they *should* do it – or the one way that “real” writers do it. There are so many ways to create and inspire ideas. We touch on 43 of them. ?

Writing Your Voice Alive

– What makes any writing really pop is a great voice, and that’s true whether we’re talking about fiction or nonfiction. Great writing connects with the reader and the one way to do that is for the author to reach out and touch the reader, be a little vulnerable, show a bit of what makes him tick. In Writing Your Voice Alive, we look at voice (personality in writing), other writers’ voices, our own writing voice, and work on strengthening it.

Can you give writers a few of your top tips about writing?
That means I have to pick my top tips.
1. Know that writing is a process. You don’t just sit down, crank out brilliance, and then be done. You need to create, write, edit and revise. And they’re all separate stages and should be done separately, not all mashed together.
2. There is no “right” way to write. There is no one, overarching picture of a successful writer, but we do have myths! These include getting started (not everyone outlines), writing habits (not everyone has them), and extreme self-confidence (EVERY writer has doubts).
3. Let your writing sit for a few days and then go back to it. This is not negotiable. Your writing (and your readers) will thank you.
4. Writing is a creative pursuit, and there are many ways to be creative, even as it pertains to writing. Part of the problem I see is that people think that they only way to write is the way they were taught in school: outlines, five-paragraph essay, conclusions that just restate and don’t powerfully conclude… Writing can look like anything.

Do you have a few resources you would recommend to writers?
My favorite writing book of all is Roy Peter Clark’s Writing Tips: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer. I also love, love, love Daphne Gray-Grant’s Power Writing Tips: http://www.publicationcoach.com/.

You are also the COO at Assist U – please tell us more about Assist U.
AssistU is the premier training, coaching, and referring organization for virtual assistants. I stumbled upon AssistU back in 2001 after reading about virtual assistants in Cheryl Richardson’s Take Time For Your Life. I applied and started my own virtual assistance practice.

What I didn’t realize was that this program, which on the outside looks like a program to help you start and maintain a successful virtual assistance business, would change my life forever. I learned that relationships, which are key to me anyway, could play the biggest part in my business. That I could have sustaining work partnerships with clients *I* chose. That I would be valued for my considerable skills, experience, and even who I was. That who I was was more important than what I could do. And that I could build a business on top of all of this.

So I was already in love with AssistU, and imagine my delight when I got a call out of the blue from Stacy Brice, owner and Chief Visionary Officer, asking me to be Chief Operating Officer.

What do you have coming up in 2009 for Write Well U and Assist U?
Oh my, that is a BIG question!!! I’ve recently acquired AuthorSmart, provider of programs on writing and publishing, and on May 1, we’ll be unveiling a robust program schedule with an amazing list of faculty. I’m really able to expand Write Well U’s reach as well as offer more robust services to my clients and customers. Because if you want to write, you probably want to publish. So I’m combining writing well with being a smart author.

And with AssistU, Stacy and I will be presenting at this year’s Forum on Virtual Assistance in Canada. We’re constantly revamping our course materials to keep up with changes in technology, marketing, strategy, social media, and more. We’re always talking to people about how smart it is to work with a virtual assistant as well as how being a business owner is really the only job security you can be assured of.

How can people get in contact with you regarding your programs?
You can email me at dawn at write well u dot com
You can phone me at 301-482-2690
If you think I’m clever, you can follow me on twitter ( http://twitter.com/dawngoldberg) or keep up with me on my blog, www.writewellme.com.

Thank you for the opportunity to talk more about what I really love, words and connecting with people!

If you have any more questions for Dawn, please leave them in the comment section and she will visit and answer them.