When I have the chance to trade letters—okay, fine emails—with writers from around the globe, I’m always fascinated by the tiny differences in communications, and I’m always inspired to remember that no matter where we are, the writing craft presents the same challenges to each of us.
Pete Mosley, a true professional who knows he’s writing to a largely American audience, didn’t let any of his Scottish turns of phrase trickle out into his answers of my questions, but the editor in me did have fun pausing at his placement of punctuation outside quotation marks, a rule that differs depending on what side of the Atlantic one calls home. (Though admittedly, his original usage—changed below—is the more logical form.)
A freelancer for over 30 years, Pete Mosley writes, speaks, and delivers workshops around doing business creatively, how to find and build relationships with customers, and how to tell a great story about your work—drawing on his wide-ranging experience of working in the space where creativity, business, and personal development meet. His first book, Make Your Creativity Pay, was published in July 2011, and his second, The Art of Shouting Quietly: a Guide to Self-promotion for Introverts and Other Quiet Souls, was published April 2015. Pete is the lead business trainer on Crafts Council UK’s prestigious Hothouse & Injection programmes, delivering business development sessions across the UK; he is Business Editor of craft&design magazine, and a regular contributor to The Design Trust UK webinars and Cape Craft & Design magazine (Cape Town, South Africa) website, among many other pursuits.
Pete is kindly offering a free giveaway of his ebook, The Art of Shouting Quietly, to readers of this blog, so I encourage all of you to take advantage of his generosity!
Q & A with Business Coach and Writer Pete Mosley
Kris: Does writing for audiences of different nationalities impact your editing process?
Pete: Yes! I’ve found it matters a lot. Being Scottish, a lot of my natural choice of words and dialect simply don’t connect with some international audiences. Also, as an introvert, my work connects more to cultures where introversion and quietness prevail.
Kris: That’s fascinating. I know that you do a lot of work with business professionals. What is your favorite tip to give leaders looking to make the most of their communications?
Pete: That’s easy—speak less, listen more.
Kris: There’s certainly an art to being succinct, and you managed it even in your answer!
Pete: Finding one’s comfort level with writing sometimes takes time, but once a writer has committed their ideas to the page, how would you recommend that they revise themselves to make the most of their own creative voice?
Pete: I record a lot of my material for audiobooks and podcasts. I find listening rather than reading often gives me a different perspective. It’s very valuable to me to listen back.
Kris: Speaking written words aloud does allow for your ear to catch the rhythm that’s off or the lack of clarity that you’re your eyes might miss. That’s great advice. There are so many details that writers focus on in the editing stage of a project. Which is the most interesting for you? Or which is the most painful?
Pete: The first stage is often the most interesting to me. I tend not to start at the beginning. I collect ideas and assemble them. The sequencing of material I find to be really fascinating. I often go through lots of revisions before I’m happy that the flow is right.
Kris: Absolutely. There’s a difference between a killer concept and a killer execution of that concept. When you have your first draft of a project written, what comes next?
Pete: Over the years, I have built up a group of people that I call “critical friends.” They get to see my first drafts and comment upon them. The addition of this stage is the most useful thing I have ever done to ensure my material connects with the audience, and I benefit from the honest feedback I get. I then re-write and pass to my editor.
Kris: Oh, I know those critical friends are important. I have a few of my own. I’ll have to tell them of their new title!
And speaking of titles, I love both the title of your most recent book, “The Art of Shouting Quietly,” as well as your subtitle, “A Guide to Self-Promotion for Introverts and Other Quiet Souls.” Titles are so hard sometimes. How do you finesse a title—be it of a book or a magazine article—to make the most of every word?
Pete: Again, I test book titles thoroughly with a sample of my readership. With blog articles, I tend to test variations on Twitter and use the analytics to see which gets the best response. In the case of magazine articles, I discuss options with the journalist or editor in question.
Kris: Writers don’t always think about analytics. That’s a great system. Since you do take on different types of writing, how is editing an article different from editing a book? Is either more intimidating to you?
Pete: I edit my own articles. I employ others to edit my books. I find the latter a lot more painful as I sometimes have to let go of ideas or figures of speech that I like, but are actually inappropriate for the context.
Kris: Right. That classic “kill your darlings” advice really applies to every genre and style of writing! Knowing your audience is obviously an essential part of any writing project, how do you keep this in mind with your final revisions?
Pete: Once more, my critical friends come into play. When a book is at its final stage, I send it out to key people to gather final layers of feedback—and to gather the comments that will be incorporated on the covers of the book.
Kris: Do you have any writing pet peeves that you often catch in other people’s work?
Pete: Over-intellectualization for the sake of it. I like ideas presented simply and without embellishment.
Kris: And one last question for you: what is your favorite word, and why?
Pete: Discombobulation. I often feel that way!
What writer doesn’t feel that way between all the pieces of the puzzle that we juggle? The research, the structure, the opening, the voice, the fine-tuning, the proofreading, not to mention the publication journey—yes, “discombobulation” is a fine word. I like that choice.
Thank you again, Pete Mosley, for taking the time to chat about your creative process with me and for so many great pieces of advice. Happy writing everyone!
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