avatarAnnie Wegner

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Abstract

ow would things sound if I stopped thinking?</li></ul><h2 id="9fa8">Somatic Field</h2><ul><li>Which part of my body is the least comfortable?</li><li>Which parts of my body are hardest to detect?</li><li>What happens when I concentrate on two body parts at once?</li><li>Do any bad emotions arise during the body scan?</li><li>How would my body change if I stopped thinking about it?</li></ul><h2 id="778a">Taste Field</h2><ul><li>Does the taste change as I roll it around my tongue?</li><li>How does the intensity compare with other things I have tasted?</li><li>How would it taste if I had never smelled it?</li><li>Does my feeling about the taste change between first contact and swallow?</li><li>How would it taste if I were asleep right now?</li></ul><h2 id="a87c">Olfactory Field</h2><ul><li>Would I recognize the smell if I had not seen it?</li><li>What adjectives are suitable? (Smooth? Bold? Sweet? Floral?)</li><li>How close must it come to me before my nose can detect it?</li><li>Does it improve my mood or worsen it?</li><li>What memories does it bring to mind?</li></ul><h2 id="5631">Cognitive Field</h2><ul><li>If my thoughts were rabbits in a yard, how crowded would the yard be?</li><li>If my attention was a dog, which rabbits would it chase?</li><li>How much of my focus three seconds ago was on the past?</li><li>How does a little circle make me feel?</li><li>What would I be dreaming now if I were not awake?</

Options

li></ul><h2 id="9690">Emotional Field</h2><ul><li>How easy or hard is it to turn each feeling on and off?</li><li>What changes will happen when I start to pray?</li><li>If I were the prow of a ship would my sea be bright under the sun?</li><li>Who have I shared this suffering with?</li><li>How deeply do I love you?</li></ul><figure id="ef74"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*31vXTbzWPAdDxN72iuu31w.jpeg"><figcaption>Photo by Author | Dancing with the Goddess</figcaption></figure><h2 id="1f17">Questions After the Scans are All Finished</h2><ul><li>Did I close my eyes for most of the scans?</li><li>In what ways are mental fields like maps?</li><li>If I were only allowed to keep one field, which one would I choose?</li></ul><h1 id="010c">Note</h1><p id="4022">To the best of my recollection, all the questions are in my own words. If I copied anybody from unconscious memory it was probably my first remote meditation teacher, <a href="https://www.thegreatcourses.com/professors/mark-w-muesse/">Mark Muesse</a>, a Therevada practitioner from Texas.</p><h1 id="d3c3">About the Author</h1><p id="f104">Tom spends his workdays asking people in a big store if they would like any information about heating and cooling. He often wears an Indiana Jones hat. A grapevine in his front yard convinced him to let her live and to even provide her with a little support. That’s all. :)</p></article></body>

I’ve Studied 936 Articles That Went Viral Without Clickbait Headlines (What Worked)

Holding the attention, you catch.

Photo by Stephany Lorena on Unsplash

Templates are deceptive shortcuts to audience frustration.

There I said it.

Templates send out party invites. But such guides don’t teach you how to entertain the guests who arrive. If I apply shiny crystals to rubbish, I’m 150% confident 100s would look. It’s like a Coke can in a trash heap. Or red lips on a mega billboard. Your mind can’t help but pause for a second glimpse.

If your article delivers, it will vibe like you’re Pennywise. You’ll be a clown in a sewer who shocks readers, as they can’t believe you got them to your article’s juicy round bottom (aka conclusion).

After all, don’t statistics say people don’t read?

Here’s how you can have readers open your posts. Get halfway in without feeling like you’ve whiplashed them with a clickbait headline. And read to the end.

Follow me into the sewer.

Salt your lemonade.

Consider what you think, wonder about, realize, or struggle with daily. When you lie in bed, what random thought keeps you up? What does your 2 pm scroll say about you? That’s your lemonade. It’s the drink you’ve grown used to having whenever you entertain content.

What am I saying?

You know this material, like your name or work driving route:

  • Being one step ahead of others soothes imposter syndrome.
  • Writing what you know turns a blank page into a game.

Now, you’ve cut writing fears. Add salt.

Let’s frame your hooker line. If you are to get someone intrigued by your passion, teach. How? In a format that makes readers feel they could apply the knowledge the next second. Each of the examples below has potent double-edged swords. For the readers, each promises a clear delivery. For the writer, the pledge is easy to honor due to a lack of absolutes (like every, must-have, or life-changing).

  • 12 productivity-powering tools creators need in 2023.
  • Forests won’t exist in the next 10 years.
  • Where did the birdie-flu virus go?
  • So…didn’t Netflix win?

Lay giant eggs as if you’re an ostrich.

Getting attention is like wearing a t-shirt to a black-tie event. It feels odd. Your brain is on fire. You’ll be the first to say it. 97% of new writers bury these drafts with a tsunami of copycat spins.

  • I don’t want to research this unproven topic when Brian-The-Viral scored mega bucks with x title.
  • I don’t want to wrestle with opposers in my comment section.
  • I don’t want to be an oddball.

Writers are curators.

You’re the tour leader. Take a trip down Twitter, Google Trends, or Yahoo.

Package your new finds for readers. I falsely believed tech was the only industry with unlimited info. It’s easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy to tap into reservoirs of new knowledge if you join newsletters.

Two primary headline formats spring from your reservoir.

  • Fresh perspective

— — → Example: 99% of people use ChatGPT wrong. Or Remote work ruined America.

  • “I” statements only you can write.

— — — -> Example: I wrote for 2 hours for 1,095 days, here’s how. Or I studied Apple for 1,000 hours, learn sales in 8 minutes.

Heart of a Golden Retriever

Linda Caroll. If viral articles were Grammy awards, trophies would be her wallpaper. I get to the juicy butt end of her articles in record time. Her essays feel like I sat across from her in a mall food court.

I like the warmth Linda wraps in as I read her work. What grounds me into her pieces even as my rice boils over on the stove?

Empathy.

I’ve been a new writer. I couldn’t comprehend if there would ever be a day my articles would feature storytelling. After reading the work of Linda, I have hope. People read to find other humans like themselves.

I’m a writer. My hope for more reads does not align with readers’ needs. Readers want to feel. If not, a distraction drags away their attention.

If you write headlines with emotion-backing, your titles show compassion or tough love. And go against the overplayed tracks of echo-chamber industry experts.

Examples:

  • Empathy: You’re not a procrastinator. You’re just bored.
  • Tough Love: You’ll be broke if you save.
  • Empathy: ChatGPT told me how to make $10K/month, and it was hilarious
  • Empathy: Can we focus on women’s side of depression and singlehood for a change?
  • Tough Love: Men don’t want American women.

Quick wins

  • Swipe file inspiration > Templates.
  • Write to transfer emotions > Value. (see below)

“Reader reactions you want:

“That’s funny” “That’s relatable” “I need to try that” “That’s inspirational” “That’s deeply valuable” “What an amazing story” “I agree/disagree with that” “That shifts my perspective” “I needed to hear this today” “That’s immediately valuable” “That teaches me about them” “That makes me like them better” “That shows me a different side of them” “That’s a unique way of looking at things” “That reminds me of some important lesson”

Rookie writers just write what’s on their mind.

9/10 times, that’s not particularly interesting.

Pro writers think about reader reaction before they publish.

They think, “what will this make my readers feel?”

Be a pro.”— Charles Miller

Please check our new submission guidelines for more information.

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