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sineala · 7 years

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Hi Sine! I recently re-read your Star Trek AU--which is BRILLIANT--and I noticed that it's got a pretty complex plot. Then I thought about it, and a lot of your fics have multiple things going on in them at once. I think Living On Your Breath has something like four plots: Steve's personal, Tony's personal, the villains, and then Carol&Wanda's. Plot complexity is something I'm trying to get better at, so I thought I'd ask how you come up with and manage everything! Thanks for writing!

Thanks for asking! I had to think about this for a bit, but I came up with a few rough guidelines for how I handle plot. I’m putting this under a read more because (1) I am wordy, and (2) I don’t want to spoil either of those stories for anyone who hasn’t read them.

A disclaimer: I am entirely self-taught in that I have never had a writing class in my life and I don’t really do well with those writing help books. So basically what I have learned has been picked up by reading a lot of books, reading a lot of fanfic, and writing a lot.

This is not so much a plot tip as General Writing Advice, but there’s an Ira Glass quotation that circulates Tumblr every so often that I really like:

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

I’ve certainly had this problem; I’ve spent years not writing because I’ve come up with ideas I knew I couldn’t execute to my own standards. And then I did it anyway, and eventually I got better and now I’m at a point where if I have an idea for a story it is probably something that I feel like I would enjoy if I wrote it (as opposed to “God, I can’t pull that one off, I hope someone else writes it”). It does make leaving exchange prompts kind of tricky because I think one up and then NO I WANT TO WRITE IT MYSELF. (The Jar is a Cap-IM Holiday Exchange prompt I nearly left before deciding I wanted to write it myself.)

Anyway. Plotting long stories. The big difference between a long story and a shorter story is that you need to be conscious of the overall structure and where you are going. You know all those rising action/climax/falling action plot outlines? Take a novel you like and think about it like that. Break it down. If you want a long story that feels cohesive, you’re probably going to want to adhere to that basic structure. You don’t necessarily need to make an outline of that form – I don’t bother – but you should have in your mind the idea that three-quarters of the way through (or so) is the Big Important Scene that your story has been building towards, and then the rest is cleanup.

I am generally writing romance stories, and the tropes of the genre are such that there are often a lot of shortcuts I can take when I am trying to work out what’s going to happen, especially if these are first-time stories – the big moment is the characters declaring their love, finally getting together, and so on and so forth. So you ask yourself, okay, what are the obstacles to their love? Why didn’t they get together before? Maybe they have to learn to love each other. Maybe Steve doesn’t know Tony is Iron Man. Throw the obstacles in their path! Make them get over them!

But the reason these stories get so long on me is that that’s not usually the only plot. The other plot can be personal to the characters (say, Tony’s drinking problem) or involving the personal lives of the other characters, or, heck, maybe they even have to save the world. Basically I just… intersperse the development of both plots, and I try to make sure that every scene is furthering something: either plot or characterization. (When I am outlining the story itself, I try to keep tabs on this.)

Because these are generally romance stories, the A-plot, the one I give the most weight to, is probably going to be the romance plot, and the B-plot is going to be whatever else happens in the story. The absolute best way to join these plots together is to make them both build together and then hit their respective plot climaxes at as close to the same time as you can manage. If the B-plot is saving the world, Tony is tragically injured in the fight with supervillains, and that’s when Steve tells him he loves him. If the B-plot is personal discovery, Tony gets sober and decides he can be with Steve. Something like that.

How do I keep track of this? I used to do it in my head. I don’t recommend that part. I know some people can handle writing novels by the seat of their pants, but I work a lot better with outlines; I have a lot of abandoned novels where I basically didn’t remember what was going to happen next, and… whoops. I actually do all my outlining and writing (of long stories, anyway) in Scrivener (which is the best program I have ever spent money on). I like Scrivener because it’s set up to handle stories with a lot of ancillary research material, and furthermore it’s organized by scene, which makes a lot of sense to me.

First is the brainstorming. I like to bounce my ideas off other people when I am still in the thinking stage (like “hey, would you read a story about X?”) and then I spend a while mulling over The Scenes That It Makes My Brain Really Happy To Think About, which are usually (for me) probably the climax of the story. (This might be Steve And Tony Finally Get Together or Steve Finds Out Tony Is Iron Man or Steve Cradles Tony’s Broken Body In His Arms.) In my current WIP, it’s probably Steve Realizes He Loves Tony After All.

And then eventually I make an outline. The outline is basically a complete synopsis, scene by scene, of everything I want to happen in the story, with as much detail as I need. Sometimes there will be bits of dialogue, sometimes it will be OH FUCK SOMETHING PLOTTY HAS TO HAPPEN HERE, FIGURE OUT WHAT IT IS. Because generally I will know that the non-relationship plot must advance before I know exactly how. (I revise it as I go.) The outline for the Trek AU is about 1500 words. (The outline for its sequel is 3000 but it uses more complete sentences as it was intended for other people to read.) I stick this all in the Research pane of Scrivener along with my canon notes and whatever else I need to refer to while writing. This is a good time to stop and make sure that the outline feels like a story – all the emotional beats are in the right place, there’s a good mix of A-plot and B-plot. and so on and so forth. I just squint at it and wing it but I’m sure there are various exercises you can do if you like that sort of thing.

Then I do the actual scene breakdown. Because I’m using Scrivener, it has this very cool functionality whereby every scene has an associated “notecard.” You can give each card a title, organize them in folders by chapter, reorder them, and write up whatever you want on the notecard; I fill it with a description (expanded from the outline) of what’s going to be in each scene. Sometimes if I have multiple POVs I will color-code each scene.

As for specific complex plots, let me tell you about how I came with the stories you asked about.

Living On Your Breath was easier because it was for a RBB, and the artist (Phoenix) had a few suggestions about canon, and from there I let canon help guide me to filling out the plot. The art that went with it was Tony in leather and fishnets, choking Steve out. Which is, you know, evocative. Phoenix had suggested that the plot involve mind-control (which seemed reasonable as Tony looked pretty evil in the picture) and also she wanted to know if I could write a story set in Avengers v3, which I had never read, but I was game.

So, I thought, okay, this was going to be a story where a mind-controlled Tony had somehow captured Steve and decided to choke him. How could I get a plot out of that? Well, I thought, what if the drama of the story isn’t just about Tony being villainous? What if it’s a story about kink and consent? What if maybe Steve would have wanted Tony to choke him out when he wasn’t evil? What if Tony secretly wanted that too and Steve had no idea? Well, that seemed like a decent amount of angst to me.

And that right there suggested a basic plot structure. Steve and Tony would get together at the beginning, and we would establish that Steve had these unfulfilled kinky desires, and they would be happy together but not A+ perfect because they are not talking about all their unmet needs because, let’s face it, they have communications problems. Then Tony gets kidnapped and mind-controlled, and kidnaps and tortures Steve, and he does everything Steve wants except it’s fucking terrible because, well, Steve didn’t so much want Tony the supervillain to whip him. Just regular Tony. And so the rest of the story was going to be about them healing and putting themselves back together (although getting worse before they get better) and reclaiming everything they did and admitting their secret kinky desires and having Tony choke Steve out in a truly wholesome and loving way.

I knew that there was going to have to be some kind of plot involving villains – I mean, someone had to do the kidnapping and mind control – so I went looking for obscure villains (since I’d had enough of AIM and Hydra) with a grudge against Steve and ended up, unfortunately, with the Secret Empire. They were so obscure, I told myself! Surely Marvel wasn’t ever going to use the name for something big! Ahahaha. *sobs quietly to self*

I also decided that it might be nice to have the events of canon going on as a backdrop to the story, and as soon as I read v3 I knew exactly what I was going to do because, see, I fell in love with Carol’s drinking arc. Avengers v3 starts out so sweet and the team loves each other and then… it kind of starts to fall apart. Not that they don’t love each other, but it’s apparent that several of them have Problems, and Carol’s drinking is the definition of a Problem. So I wanted to have the team start to go along perfectly and then break apart as Carol does, with Steve and Tony’s post-mind-control relationship along for the ride at the same time. Suppose it all comes to a head with Steve and Tony on the same mission that gets Carol kicked off the team? And then, well, we know Tony goes up to Seattle in canon for recovery from a fight in canon – what if, in this version, he brings Steve with him? And later on, when Carol drop-kicks Tony through a jet and finally sobers up, what if Steve is there too? So that way both Tony and Carol get to get better at the same time. Recovery arc for EVERYBODY.

Honestly I added Wanda because I figured that Carol needed SOMEBODY to be there for her (it really irritated me that the team basically just kicked her out on her own, in canon) and she and Wanda clearly like each other a lot. Having said that, about 50% of Carol’s plot is straight out of canon, dialogue included, although I played with the timing, added Wanda, put Carol in the Blue Area mission, and gave Steve and Tony a massive breakup in the middle of the mission.

The structure of this one was pretty simple – before, during, and after Steve’s captivity. Every scene in the During section was one of Steve’s days. During the After scenes I was basically trading off Steve/Tony and Carol & Wanda plot development.

Straight on till Morning was trickier to plot. For most of its imaginary life, it didn’t have a plot; it was me sitting around and thinking, “Gosh, I like the Avengers and I like Star Trek and I want to imagine the Avengers in spaaaaace.” But that wasn’t a plot. That wasn’t even anything close to an idea for a story. So it just kind of sat there for a couple years rattling around my brain. And, really, the backstory all came first, and the plot kind of sprung out of everything there had to be in order to put the backstory in play.

One day I was sitting there thinking about what the Avengers would be in the Star Trek universe, and I thought, “Well, obviously Steve is a starship captain and OH MY GOD STEVE IS A GENETICALLY-ENGINEERED SUPERHUMAN FROM THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.” I had been thinking of the story as a complete fusion, where no one existed with their regular Marvel identities, but suddenly it occurred to me that if Steve existed in the Star Trek universe and had still been Captain America in World War II, things could get really interesting – because the Federation, bastion of diversity and tolerance, is fully prepared to hate the fuck out of you if you are genetically-engineered. Especially, and I am just guessing here, especially if you are from the twentieth century. Steve would predate Khan and the other supermen, but, well… maybe Steve was the first Augment. So that’s an interesting idea! The one universe where being Captain America would actually be reviled!

So that’s not a plot, either, really, but that’s part of a plot: Steve has a Terrible Secret. He is an Augment. What’s going to happen when Tony learns his terrible secret? Well, he’s probably going to take it pretty badly.

Steve’s backstory was pretty much a direct port of the Cap stuff plus making him frozen twice so that (1) he could have prior starship command experience and (2) I would throw off everyone who assumed that him being frozen once was the way I was translating his comics backstory. At least until the scene where Tony gets out his Cap poster, anyway.

Tony’s backstory was a little more complicated. Because the thing about an AU is, you have to ask yourself which elements of a character and their backstory are 100% essential. And the weird thing about Tony is that a lot of the things that are key components of his superhero life don’t really translate to Star Trek. Like, take Tony’s famous MCU line, “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.” Welcome to the post-scarcity economy, Tony; there’s NO MONEY. That knocks out “billionaire” and “philanthropist.” “Playboy” is, let’s face it, probably also linked to “billionaire,” and for 616 Tony it gets use as basically part of his intricate layers of personal masks where he doesn’t sleep with nearly as many people as he wants you to think he does. That leaves “genius.” And we’re gonna make him a Starfleet engineer! Everyone’s a genius there!

The Iron Man suit, likewise also out. Because, yes, it’s cool, but it’s not Star Trek cool. A flying suit? Try a starship. Maybe he designs starships, I said to myself.

So what are the key qualities of Tony? His genius, his engineering aptitude, his general personality, let’s throw in his former alcoholism, and of course his Vietghanistan trauma leading to heart injury. So something happened to him on Planet Vietghanistan, obviously, and whatever it was hurt him, but it didn’t lead him to make Iron Man. But he still needed to do something heroic, but it had to be Trek-style heroic. What if he saved a bunch of his shipmates? What if he saved a bunch of his shipmates and built a ship to rescue them and Captain Yinsen died tragically in his arms? And what if Tony was so fucked up by all of this that he decided to quit Starfleet? Until, of course, he meets Steve.

This suggests an arc for Tony’s character, the same way Steve’s backstory suggested an arc for him: Tony learns to love himself, Starfleet, and Steve. Maybe not in that exact order.

And remember, Steve has A Secret. Well, that’s going to interfere with Tony learning to love him. Obviously Tony will eventually come around. So from there you can see where the major obstacle to Steve and Tony’s happiness is going to be.

The first third-to-half of this story was therefore pretty easy to write, because it was just a matter of introductions and shoving in all the backstory. Meet Tony. Meet the ship. Meet Steve. Let’s go to Starfleet Academy and learn a bit about the Prime Directive and Tony’s tragic backstory. Meet the crew. Set off on a maiden voyage. Tell Steve about Augments, watch him freak out, and watch Tony have no clue why.

And then, of course, there had to be A Plot. Every scene basically advances the worldbuilding, Steve’s character, Tony’s character, or the plot. This was also pretty easy to come up with, because it’s Star Trek, and if you want to make your Star Trek story feel like Star Trek, steal a Trek plot. Of course they beam down to a planet and meet some aliens. Then something goes terribly wrong, something bad happens to the ship, but it is all fixed just in time and they sail on. You know how it goes. There is a pre-existing structure. I had actually been joking that if I couldn’t think of anything I’d just sex pollen Steve and Tony and well… I couldn’t think of anything else. Sex pollen it was!

I think sex pollen actually works well, because it is a very Star Trek trope (quick, count all the sex pollen episodes; you might need more than one hand) and also because the absolute worst time to find out that your captain is an Augment is after you’ve been forced to sleep with him to stay alive. I figured that scene was going to be one of the super important plot moments.

I debated using a Trek alien race or a made-up race but decided to go with Skrulls, on the grounds that evil shapeshifters are also very Star Trek and also I thought maybe I could fool people into thinking I made them up as long as I didn’t bring in Veranke until after the Skrull reveal.

And then, well, the ship is in danger, Tony nearly dies (you can tell that Star Trek II is one of my favorites) sacrificing himself to save the ship, gets his heart injured again, decides while he’s dying that he was being an idiot about Steve, and lets himself actually love Steve.

Basically, it is literally several actual Star Trek plots mashed together with Captain America’s backstory and a lot of infodumping. It is honestly way simpler than it looks; there were plenty of existing models for How To Tell A Star Trek Story and I pretty much just stole them.

I hope that helps.

#chibisquirt #replies

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leonarsleman94 · 4 years

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myfinancialguideme-blog · 6 years

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Clinton vs. Trump vs. your money: A personal-finance guide to the debate

New Post has been published on https://financeguideto.com/must-see/clinton-vs-trump-vs-your-money-a-personal-finance-guide-to-the-debate/

Clinton vs. Trump vs. your money: A personal-finance guide to the debate

KANSAS CITY, MO – SEPTEMBER 25: Kansas City Chiefs fans wear Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump masks during the game bethween the Chiefs and the New York Jets at Arrowhead Stadium on September 25, 2016 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Image: Getty Images

Listen closely tonight. It’s your money and your life.

At 9 p.m. ET, in the first presidential debate of the season, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be pressed, to a degree, for details of their various proposals. Jobs, wages, taxes, student debt, child care, Social Security … any or all of these could come up. And many of the vows, threats, visions, and hallucinations flying around the studio will eventually settlein the dustbin of history.

But some of these things will actually happen, in one form or another, so it’s a good idea to watch the proceedingswith an eye, and ear, to your personal finances.Where do the candidates stick to their stated policies, and where do they diverge, or contradict themselves on issues that could affect you financially? What are they saying, and signaling? And whatcan you do about it?

Here, then, is your personal-finance cheat sheet for the debate. At the very least, you’ll come away from the back-and-forth with a clearer sense of its potential impact on you, your working life, and your retirement.

Jobs and wages

Clinton

The Democratic candidate vows to narrow the income gap. Her campaign promises “the largest investment in good-paying jobs since World War II,” including a $275 billion plan to rebuild U.S. infrastructure, the creation of jobs in alternative energy, and support for small manufacturers and startups.

Clinton would pursue “smarter, fairer, tougher trade policies that put U.S. job creation first,” work with organizedlabor, gradually raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $12 an hour, and supportefforts by cities and states to raise that minimum further, citing the “Fight for $15.”

Trump

Trump also talks of raising the standard of living and says his policies will make America “the best place in the world to get a job” but stressesgetting out of the way of economic growth. That means rolling backregulations on energy and other industries, reworking trade agreements that “create a smaller economy for everyone,”overhauling the tax code, andraising barriers to immigration.

Trump wants tospend more than$500 billionon infrastructure. He has said the minimum wage should be up to the statesbut has also talked about a $10-an-hour federal floor.

You and your money

Raising the minimum wage couldcost us jobs, some argue.The Congressional Budget Office, in a2014 analysis, notedthat “business owners would see reductions in real (inflation-adjusted) income, as would consumers, who would face higher prices as a result of the minimum-wage increase.”

The article “Minimum Wage Mythbusters,”on the U.S. Department of Labor’s website, says raising the minimum has”little to no effect on employment as shown in independent studies from economists across the country,” citing research showing that “higher wages sharply reduce turnover which can reduce employment and training costs.”

Moody’s Analytics concluded ina macroeconomic analysis(pdf) of Clinton’s economic proposals that the “negative employment affect” of a higher minimum wage would be modest, since the floor would be phased in over five years.

Whether or not you are directly affected by the minimum wage, its role in the economy and the candidates’ broader prescriptions for wage and job growth have implications for your working life and your retirement.

What you can do

Guard against lifestyle inflation that can easilycreep into your spending. Tamping itdown early on, to add to your savings, can pay off handsomely in the long term, since most big raises come earlier in your career.

Gains slow in your40s and 50s, and in your 50s income growth, adjusted for inflation,generallyturns negative, according to financial planner Michael Kitces. With less earning power ahead of you and your options to deal with savings shortfalls narrowing, you may have to make painful spending cuts or reduce your expectations for retirement.So if economic growth picks up, and with it your pay, try to keep your spending the same.

Kitces suggests setting a lifestyle spending targethow much you want to beableto spend per year in retirementrather than framing it as saving 10 percent or 20 percent of current income. Because he aims to save the equivalent of his annual spending times 30, he looks at everything he thinks about buying as costing 30times as much as it does.

Social Security

Clinton

Clinton would seek tomodestly expandSocial Security, increasing benefits for widowsand giving credits to workers who take a job leave to care for family members. To raise funds for the program, she would increasethe level of annual wages subject to payroll taxes; in 2016, wages arent taxed after $118,500.

According to a 2014 analysis(pdf) by the Center for Economic &Policy Research, the wealthiest6.1 percent of workers would pay more if the cap were removed.Clinton opposes reducing cost-of-living adjustments toSocial Security benefits, attempts at privatization,an increase in the retirement age, and any attempts “to close the long-term shortfall on the backs of the middle class.”

She has vowed to oppose any Republican plans to privatize or phase out Medicare as we know it and has said she would work to drive down drug prescription costs.

Trump

Trumptweeted in May of last year that he was “the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid.”

Growth from implementation of his economic policies would shore up our entitlement plans for the time being, he has said.Yet hehas also noted that as our demography changes, a prudent administration would begin to examine what changes might be necessary for future generations.”

You and your money

With defined-benefit pension plans fast receding and many workers without defined-contribution plans such as 401(k)s, Social Security income is more important than ever for more peopleeven as it isn’t nearly enough for most of us to realize our retirement plans.

Clintons plan for payroll taxes would mean a pay cut for anyone making over $118,500; right now, anyone making $237,000 a year, or twice the cap, stopped paying payroll taxes onearnings onJuly 1.

But if changes aren’t made to shore up the program’s finances before 2034, automatic reductions in benefits will kick in, with claimants getting just75 percent or so of their scheduledbenefits.

What you can do

Regardless of how the Social Security program evolves, many people aren’t clear onhow to get the biggest benefit out of it.Thats why “Get What’s Yours,” a guide to maxing out Social Security benefits by the economistLaurence Kotlikoff, becamea bestseller.

One of his co-authors, Philip Moeller, has the same sortof book coming out in early October, ongetting the most out ofMedicare.Studying the rules can ensure a more comfortable retirement. For example, if you were born after 1943 and wait to claim benefits after the full retirement age (67 for anyone born in 1960 or later), benefits rise8 percent a yearuntil age 70. Try finding a safe 8 percent return anywhere else.

One of the smartest moves to prepare for the cost of retirement, even if you can’t save much now, is something many younger savers are already doingsimply staying fit and healthy. Unexpected health-care costs can derail the best-laid retirement plans. (And, though it’s just a correlation, men who worked out three or more times a week made about 6 percent more than men who didn’t, according to a2011 studyfrom Cleveland State University. The gap was about10 percent for women.)

Taxes

Clinton

Clinton isn’t fiddlingwith the marginal tax brackets but would raise taxes on high earners in a variety of ways.

Her plans includea minimum rate of30 percent for anyone with income of more than $1 million, a 4 percent surcharge on gross adjusted income over $5 million, a $1 million limit on the lifetime gift exemption, and a new tax schedule on capital gains rates.Acap on the amount of savingsfrom itemized tax deductions would limit them to 28 percent of the value of the deduction.

So those in higher tax brackets wouldn’t get a greater benefit from, say, taking the mortgage interest deduction, the Tax Foundation notes.Clintonwould lower the starting point at which estates are taxed to $3.5 million ($7 million for married couples) and raise the top estate tax rate to 45 percent from 40 percent.She’dalso seek to limit the ability to pass on appreciated assets to heirs free of capital-gains taxes before death, though she’d protect “small and closely held businesses, farms and homes, and personal property and family heirlooms.

Trump

Trump’stax planwould cut the number of income-tax brackets from seven to three12 percent on income up to $75,000, 25 percent for $75,000 to $225,000, and 33 percent on income over that.

That means top earners would no longer face a 39.6 percent tax bracket.The standard deduction for single filers would be $15,000, and $30,000 for joint filers. Itemized deductions would becapped at $100,000 for single filers and $200,000 for married couples filing jointly. Trumpwould kill the estate taxand keep the popular mortgage interest deduction.

You and your money

Clinton’s approach would costwealthyfamilies the most, while they would appear to benefit under Trump. Whatever happens in the end, the debate over taxes is a goodreminder to pay attention to the tax treatment of yourinvestments.

Vigilance can boost your income in whatcould be a low-return environment if the economy continues on its current path.

What you can do

Start thinking aboutyear-end movesto lessen the pain next April. For the longer term, calculate what your total annual income from Social Security and other sources would be in retirement, and what the federal and state taxes on that income could be.

The first of the baby boomers just hit 70 and a half, when they have to start taking required minimumdistributions from IRAs. These annual withdrawals can push people into a higher tax bracket.Financial planners suggest strategies using a varietyof retirement accounts to try tominimize the tax bite.To use that strategyeffectively, you have to explore it well ahead of time.

By shifting money between traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs and other accounts, and paying tax on some accounts at opportune times, you canlessen the tax bite and add years of retirement income.

Child-care costs

Clinton

Clinton would capthe cost of a familys child care at 10 percent of household income using tax credits and subsidized child care.

She has talked about anational system for paid family leave of up to 12 weeks as well as universal preschool for four-year-olds.Child-care workers would be paid better. (“In many places, dog trainers are paid more than child-care workers,” she has said.) Child care is part of Clinton’s “New College Compact,” which proposes significantimprovements for child care on campus and up to $1,500 a year in scholarships to college students who are parents.

Trump

Trump has promised a mandatory six-week paid family leave and would let parents deduct the costs of raising a child up toage 13, for up to four kids.

To help lower-income taxpayers who may not pay income tax, the Earned Income Tax Credit would be raisedto “half of the payroll taxes paid by the lower-earning parent, with an income limit of $31,200 for single taxpayers and $62,400 for joint filers.

Trump’s plan would let parents createdependent-care savings accounts. Contributions would max out at $2,000 a year, and earnings would accumulatetax-deferred. Balances could be rolled over and used for higher education when a child turns 18. The annual cap on the business tax credit for child care that employers offer on site would rise from $150,000 to $500,000.

You and your money

The cost of child caretops college tuitionin many states,according to a 2015 report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a liberal think tank, as well as monthly rent.

Corporate day-care centers would be ideal for many parentsbut are far and few between, so any relief would be a big help.Some employees already have access todependent care flexible savings accounts(FSAs). The Tax Policy Center has said Trumps proposal would mostly benefit high-income families who need government child care subsidies the least and that for those who need it the most, such as low-income married couples with a single earner, there ismuch less to Trumps planthan meets the eye.

What you can do

This is a tough one. If you want to gather support among other working parents at your company and raise theprospectof on-site day care, you can show your employerthis article about thepositive experience that suchcompanies asPatagonia and Goldman Sachs have had with such arrangements.

Creative solutions are cropping up for some parents, such as the Workaround, in Brooklyn, N.Y., a co-working space where people earn credits forwatching one another’s kids, which they can use when they need child care.Your cheat sheet on life, in one weekly email.Get our weekly Game Plan newsletter.

If your company offersa dependent care FSA, try to fund it fully. Itlets you pay for child care out ofpretax pay, which makes it stretchfurther while lowering yourtaxable income. In 2016, the limit on what you could contribute tax-deferred was $5,000 for a married couple filing a joint return. Also, take advantage of anydiscounted group legal services offered through your benefit plan to make a will, if you haven’t already, and of any elder care programs offered.And with that, enjoy the debate.

Hooper: Trump Has Shifted Republicans on Trade

Will Trump, Clinton Debate Have Any Impact on Fed?

Poole: Fed Will Raise Rates Very Slowly

How the Trump, Clinton Debate Impacted Markets

This article originally published at Bloomberg here

More on analytics in a bit…

3. Get high on content or find someone who can

People are looking for verifiable information delivered in an original way. This is not fast food.

You won’t retain customers by delivering the same information the same way every time.

Knowing what makes your services or products tick to your audience is a growth hack made up of several parts.

Among these are the use of SEO tools like Moz’s Open Site Explorer, backlinks, infographics, videos, and effective CTAs.

Backlinks matter

Think of backlinks as portals into various parts of your industry’s multiverse.

Except instead of Rick’s portal gun (Rick and Morty reference; yes I am a dork), you’re wielding what we will call the “reputable gun.”

Backlinks show that you’re not just blowing smoke to get the sale (like the Shamwow guy… whatever happened to that dude anyway?)

You’re informed, you’re the expert on the product or service, and you’re taking the time to educate your potential customer/client base to make an empowered decision.

This speaks volumes. It’s no surprise that 73% of advanced SEOs build 1 to 20 links per month. You need to do the same.

The longer the content, the more backlink portals you can include to open your readership to the wondrous world of high-absorbency washrags.

Or whatever product or service you’re selling.

Add calls to action (CTAs)

“The eagle has landed,” some guy said once somewhere…

Make sure your eaglet lands on an invitation to engage further with your company.

This applies to downloading a free guide, signing up for the company newsletter, leading them to an exciting case study, or even an invitation to a networking event.

The point is diversification.

Targeted variety is the spice of content creation.

Let’s take a pretty easy example to understand.

If you are selling essential oils, your audience might include clients who are interested in natural healing for themselves or natural healing for their loved ones.

They might even be interested in learning how to become a certified aromatherapist themselves.

Create a variety of landing pages to cater to these needs through more content along with corresponding CTAs.

The type of landing page you need will depend on your industry.

A good rule of thumb is to add high-quality images, an eye-catching CTA, and some kind of contact form.

Run A/B tests on a few different versions to see which ones perform best.

4. Make analytics your best friend

Analytics can be scary.

It feels like waiting to find out how you did on that dreaded Statistics test in college.

Okay, so maybe you weren’t a Statistics apasionado, but I would be willing to bet that the subjects you did enjoy, you pursued in greater depth.

It works the same way with potential leads who need to learn more about your product before taking the leap.

You can think of analytics as the barometer for what to pursue in greater depth, through longer content.

It delineates the need for businesses to actually invest in an in-depth analytics solution.

It proves that analytics point to what people want more.

It suggests that more thorough analytics can result in a greater amount of “clicks.”

Companies like Kissmetrics or CrazyEgg provide the tools you need to measure ROIs for you so you can finally throw out your great-grandma’s abacus.

You might not be able to count your chickens before they hatch, but with the right tool, you can more accurately predict which eggs have better chances of hatching over others.

For example, compile several short articles you’ve already written and create an e-book, like HubSpot.

Combine content to get from this…

To this:

Once you’ve written these other pieces of content, include hyperlinks in the text to your main content piece.

This shows search engines that all your content is interrelated.

Hubspot also offers a perfect analogy of this games.

It dubs the website’s main subject content as the Pillar of your entire content enterprize and other related content as the Clusters.

Your pillar is like the sun around which fun and educational planet clusters of content rotate, linked by gravity.

Gravity attracts and keeps things together.

Similarly, your hyperlinks let search engines like Google find your cluster content and related back to your pillar, so you’re more easily found in web searches.

5. Get friendly with the competition

If only MMA champion Conor McGregor could have been a fly on the wall during Floyd Mayweather’s training!

But if you want to be the best at what you do, it helps to leverage what already exists and works while keeping watch for any gaps you may be able to uniquely fill with your service.

Competitor analysis tools like SimilarWeb allow you to compare the traffic analytics for businesses like yours so you can find that edge.

Let’s say you own a burger shop, and a competing business has set up shop right across the street.

They have a much cooler logo than yours, and their approach is young and hip.

This competition can seriously hinder your sales; everyone is looking for the fresh and new.

If you’re not careful, you’ll end up with a cash register full of tears and not dollars.

See the issue here? How are you going to stand out against your way cooler competitor?

Well, imagine that after you’re done crying about it, you take a peek and see what’s on their menu.

To your utter surprise, you notice that their mustard comes in packets, while yours is homemade…

…see where I’m going with this?

Run back to your store and put out a big neon sign immediately! Market the living seeds out of that mustard!

You just found your leverage.

(Ex: The only burger in town serving REAL mustard!” or “Farm-to-Table Mustard. It’s just how Momma made it” or “Buy Local, not imported,” etc… You get the gist.)

So how does this translate into the online marketing content scene?

Blogging, interviews, guides, and case studies are just a few of the ways to deliver meaningful content.

Here are some other ways to jump-start your content creation process, courtesy of Hubspot:

Since longer content is on the rise, it benefits to find trending topics in your industry and expand on them in a way that highlights what your business can provide over other similar businesses.

Once you have a hook on the right topic, it’s time to write, write, write and promote it like there’s no tomorrow. And if neon signs help, go for it.

6. Try and try, again

Creating effective content is not just a one-time thing.

The attention attracted by your long-form blog or article will likely diminish in a few weeks, if not days (as I addresses in this article).

Additionally, there will always be changes or simple variations in trends to take advantage of.

So based on these oscillations and the knowledge you derive from your analytical platform, your content will continue to grow and build on itself until you attract those 361,494 visitors.

Does writing drawn-out content sound daunting?

Well, there is good news! You can keep that content fresh by updating it!

Fear not, padawan! There are so many guides on how to make that long-form content effective to yield greater ROIs through promotion and social media.

That person-oriented analytics strategy will ensure you remain relevant.

Remember that you’re writing to help people stay informed on the aspects of your industry that benefits them on a personal level.

Another great benefit of person-oriented analytics is the opportunity to send out targeted surveys based on user activity (or inactivity).

Basically, if you notice that a user has not been engaging in your posts and activities, ask them why.

Find out what’s working for them and what isn’t. Based on the results, tailor content to optimize what is working while making sure to address what isn’t.

Who doesn’t love surveys, right?

Conclusion

Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Let’s wrap a lasso around all this.

First, take a look at your landing pages and find out what is and what isn’t getting the attention it deserves.

Several companies provide in-depth step-by-step guides to creating more effective landing pages, content, and promotional strategies.

If you are not already attracting those 361,494 visitors, it is probably going to take a little extra work.

Ask yourself, what is it that my website visitors clearly want to learn more about?

Armed with the results of your new analytics tool, you can empower your potential customers and clients with the educated information they need to make a leap into what your company offers.

And don’t forget to have fun!

What content creation shortcuts do you use to attract visitors?

About the Author: Neil Patel is the cofounder of Neil Patel Digital.

Longer is Better: A 6 Step Cheat Sheet to Creating Content that Attracts 361,494 Visitors

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martechadvisor-blog · 7 years

Text

Should your B2B have its own YouTube Channel?

Since the time of Television, brands have been using video formats to enthrall their audiences.

But for B2Bs, video marketing surprisingly still remains a relatively unfamiliar area even though creating and sharing videos online has existed for a decade or more.

YouTube’s burgeoning prominence and the rise of ‘YouTube’ personalities and increasing video consumption by users has turned it into an industry of its own.

B2Bs and Videos

Videos can help build better relationships with online audiences. Maybe this is why a 2014 report by Demand Metric found that 1 in 3 large companies produce over 100 videos a year.

Must-know for B2Bs: According to Google research 72% of B2B buyers and researchers watch videos to help make buying decisions. This doesn’t mean that they watch just a few snippets and clips, nearly half watch at least 30 minutes of video content.

Further, Forrester once estimated that one-minute of video is equal to 1.8 million words! This is especially a useful statistic for B2B marketers whose target audiences are busy executives with limited time.

With the growing popularity of online channels like YouTube, Vine, and Vimeo, as well as video marketing strategies taking a prominent place in digital media planning, video is becoming an increasingly effective marketing format.

But - is it right for B2Bs?

According to Forbes Insight, 59 is the percentage of senior executives who’d rather watch a video than read text. About 65% of those who view a video click through to visit the vendor website, 50% look for more information and 45% report that they contacted a vendor after seeing an online video ad. Furthermore, about 50% of those who viewed an online marketing video went on to make a purchase for their business.

So basically, given these interesting figures, this does make for a great form of content for B2Bs to exploit more.

How Video Marketing can improve B2B Sales

Brands that use video marketing grow their year-over-year revenue 49% faster than brands that don’t – Aberdeen

Including a video on your company homepage can increase conversion rates by 20% or more – Reel SEO

Founder of Vidyard, Michael Litt was once quoted in a Convince and Convert blog as saying, “Video is the next best thing to being in person, and that’s because it provides us with the feeling of being there and experiencing something first hand – even if, in this case, it’s actually a virtual experience.”

Linking video to your ABM and buyer journey optimization

With ABM the new order of the day for B2Bs, personalization is the name of the game. A hyper-targeted video content strategy that helps cater to every potential customer, with content that caters to their specific need at the given stage of their buyers’ journey could work wonders in B2B. It is important for B2Bs to remember that B2B customers do a lot of research online before zoning in on potential vendors, so any content (and not just video) should always be created with the aim of helping to widen and deepen their knowledge about the category in general, and helping them move forward in their journey and make more informed decisions.

At the top of the funnel, the purpose of communication is to inform and make aware. Videos that talk about the company, brand and values, products, solutions help prospects gather relevant information about all the solutions available.

Mid-funnel, prospects are seeking data to back up their decisions, and opportunities to engage with the brands that have caught their eye.

Typically, in these cases, how-to videos, product selection guides, quick explainer videos and user guides may be best suited.

At the bottom of the Sales funnel, the talk is more about potentially converting the prospect by getting them to share details, and express intent. In this case, recordings of webinars, actual use-cases or testimonials can be useful.

Post the sale, explainer, tutorial and refresher guide video content can really help with common customer service related issues. It can save B2Bs time and resources to create a series of self-service videos and share with users rather than focus on running smooth call centers or on-site visits.

3 Typical Stages and Tips for Video Marketing

Stage 1: Including Video Marketing as part of an overall strategy Weaving Video Marketing into your brand’s overall interactive content plan and cross- pollinating content

Stage 2: Production Stage Small to mid-sized companies shy away from Video Marketing because they think it’s ‘expensive’. However, with the easy availability and extensive choice of tools and softwares including translation and transcription software, most B2Bs can implement cost-effective video production solutions with ease. Some of the top video editing tools include Adobe Premier Pro, Animoto, DaVinci Resolve, iMovie, VEGAS Pro.

Stage 3: Distribution Stage B2Bs don’t necessarily have to leave the task of Video distribution to agencies. A great distribution strategy covers all major channels of the present-day i.e: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Company Websites, Landing Pages, etc. Regular email campaigns in the form of newsletters can make direct-to-customer marketing using videos more engaging too. Cross- channel distribution would mean plugging into different networks. Paid promotions on popular channels can also effectively help B2Bs with correct targeting. Paid promotions through Facebook Ads and LinkedIn Sponsored Content is how you can optimize the performance of well-planned and rich videos. There are also a multitude of platforms that help drive the right traffic to your site or blog. Some of these include Taboola, Outbrain, Zemanta, Adblade, Nativo and more.

This video that showcases how MasterCard transforms its corporate website with partner VML using Adobe Experience Manager and Adobe Analytics within Adobe Marketing Cloud is a shining example of how a B2B has used a product demonstration video to create more awareness.

youtube

B2B-specific pointers to make video work

Repurpose: Most B2Bs have spent years creating textual content. Considering that videos are now quite the trending format, repurposing some of your old textual content into multiple videos addressing various challenges and points of the buyer’s journey as well as specific pain points of the potential buyer could be a productive way of keeping up with the current trends of your readers without affecting your resources, time and effort.

Reuse: Videos don’t necessarily have to have a short shelf-life, the way written content may. For instance, once you have created a great video on a new product launch, you can embed the video onto other content formats like downloadable ebooks, pdfs and more using Slideshare or Uberflip, as well as in email newsletters.

Leverage social media: Video testimonials, besides hosting them on your own businesses website, go up on a range of social media channels to broadcast ‘how great your product actually is’, without needing prospects to come to your websites. Pre-event teasers or pre-product launch teasers can be a great way to enhance social media presence and engagement and create the right kind of desired buzz.

Leverage events: B2Bs either participate in or host events on a regular basis. Using footage from an event to create relevant highlights and embedding it in blogs or using them for social media promotions could keep the momentum going.

Tips for first-time B2B video marketers

How can first-time B2B marketers ensure that their videos are a hit with viewers? Just creating video content is not enough. Focusing on creating video content that works is more important.

Assessing the kind of videos that are trending on popular channels like YouTube can be a great starting point. Especially checking out what your competitors or market leaders in similar industries are doing could help.

When planning your video content, try not to fit too much into one video. With attention spans reducing and more brands competing for the same target’s attention, the key lies in creating innovative, crisp content. Share your core message within the first couple of minutes to create an impact. Ensure each video addresses different pain points or challenges along the buyers’ journey- don’t try to go through the entire journey in one video.

When covering more complicated B2B topics especially when dealing with how to use complicated machinery or equipment, how to use a particular software or solution, breaking down videos into a series could be a great solution. Getting an expert in the field to demo how it’s done would help too

To create better brand recall, it helps to be consistent. Posting one video and then having a long gap of several months before the next one goes live might not be the best way to capitalize on videos as a content medium. Also, be consistent across channels and platforms - be everywhere your prospects may possibly look for video content about your category.

Tell a story: no matter what the objective of the video, telling your audience an interesting story always helps to build relevance and connect. In B2B marketing, it is not as important to extol the virtues of your own solution as it is about helping the prospect solve their problems and learn about new ways of addressing challenges. The content needs to be directed towards that rather than just promoting your own brand. If readers find the content useful and credible, chances are they will come to you for more anyway.

Try adding some humor to retain your audience’s attention. But also focus on creating value with every bit of content that goes out, just as you would with every phone call or in-person meeting.

Besides this, depending on the type of platform you shortlist to host your B2B video content on, understanding the platform-specific dos and don’ts could help extract maximum value from your efforts.

Get your videos found more easily. Try to implement video SEO rules when creating and marketing content online. Nowadays, voice search is also critical to video and content marketing.

Video Marketing Metrics that Matter to B2Bs

According to Vidyard, the most four most important metrics for video marketing are: Watch Time, Subscribers, Engagement, Audience Retention

Watch time estimates how long viewers are engaged with your video. The Subscribers report contains details on gained and lost subscribers across different content, locations and dates. Engagement metrics for a particular video would include numbers of ‘Likes, Comments, Shares’. Audience retention measures the overall ability of the particular video to retain its audience.

In Buffer’s last State of Social Media report, eighty-three percent of marketers had said that they’d like to create more video content in 2017.

In most cases, 3 seconds and more count as a ‘view’ across popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat

Depending on the platform the video is being shared on, viz, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter: there are different metric breakdowns available in the back-end or control panel

Will Voice Assistant Technology Improve the Retailer-Consumer Relationship? Read more about it here.

While creating and marketing videos, capitalizing on the best of Google Adwords for your Video Ads could create an additional impact and better traction online. Here’s a quick video tutorial just for you!

youtube

A few B2B examples that created the right kind of noise

In a Convince and Convert blog, Oakley digital marketing director, Scott Alexander, spoke about customer-centric marketing where he explored why certain marketing sells and other marketing doesn’t. Oftentimes, the pieces of marketing that make a difference are the ones that offer a solution to a problem. S what has actually worked in the b2B space?

Cisco

With a back-catalogue in excess of three thousand videos, and a production rate of a thousand videos per year, Cisco has invested big into video marketing. Whilst there are only a handful of B2B businesses with Cisco-level resources, all businesses can learn a lesson from their approach—using video marketing to create an invaluable archive of problem-solving, sales funnel-targeted content. (source)

This recent video from the Cisco learning network garnered over 20k views within 10 days of upload.

youtube

Intel Then there’s Intel who played the innovation card quite impressively. This tech giant also sports a rich bank of video content. However, unlike the typical B2B communiques, Intel went the extra mile to include the brand’s involvement in everything from wildlife photography to amateur rocketry

See how Intel used award-winning photographer and author of “The Handbook of Drone Photography” Chase Guttman’s expertise to explain how drones bring a new perspective on life.

youtube

So now, should your B2B have its own YouTube channel?

Videos can be a valuable ally for B2Bs.

But do you really need a YouTube Channel?

Depends on how much video content you have, whether you want to build an online community, whether you want your videos to go viral or just have a convenient, easy-to-access, consolidated place where customers can watch all your videos.

Having a YouTube channel for a B2B is by no means mandatory - there are other ways to distribute your video content (see box) but you can use YouTube for its many other benefits like:

-Showcasing product demonstrations and testimonials -Creating an online community or fan following of your services -Sharing your core expertise -Put spotlight on the brand’s core personality

This article was first appeared on MarTech Advisor

#martech #marketing #technology #business #cmo

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artsdevco-blog · 8 years

Video

vimeo

A great video of Samantha Gillingham who has continued to work for Activate after her internship! Fantastic! We met up with Sammy last week and asked her a few more questions about her career journey.

Name: Sammy Gillingham

Age: 25

Job: Projects and Promotions Assistant for Activate Performing Arts and Freelance Dance Practitioner

Where do you live: Christchurch, Dorset

Education: First Class Ba Hons Dance Studies at Middlesex University. (Graduated in 2013)

Interests / hobbies: Reading, yoga, running, baking (actually, food in general), photography, human anatomy, tea.

Job Roles:

My position at Activate encompasses three different roles. I am the Project Manager for both Dorset Youth Dance and the Activate Youth Board as well as the Project Assistant for Life Cycles and Landscapes.

My role with Dorset Youth Dance involves all the organisation and administration for Dorset Youth Dance Company and Feeder Class, and other projects under Dorset Youth Dance.

As the Project Manager for Activate Youth Board I coordinate our group of young people (aged 16-25) for monthly meetings & group discussions, centred around Activate’s work. This engaged group advises Activate, with the aim of ensuring the work of the organisation is relevant to the young people of Dorset. Activate also aims to support this group with their personal and professional development with opportunities for skills development and cultural trips.

Lastly, my job as Project Assistant for Life Cycles and Landscapes sees me assisting the project manager in all organisation for the project, which incorporates a private and public scheme of CPD residencies and performances inspired by the ancient Icknield Way, that stretches between Dorset and Norfolk. Activate is working in partnership with artists And Now:, the National Association of AONBs, Norfolk and Norwich Festival and Oerol Festival to bring this project to life.

I also work as a Freelance Dance Practitioner - I currently teach Dance for Parkinson’s, which is a movement therapy based class. These classes are becoming more widely recognised as a beneficial activity for people with Parkinson's, which is really encouraging to see. Pavilion Dance South West are one of the organisations really forging a path for Dance for Parkinson’s and I co-teach their model, created by dance practitioner Aimee Hobbs and Neuro Physiotherapist Dr Sophia Hulbert. Alongside this I am also trying to figure out my voice as a choreographer - to be continued!

Professional Journey:

I guess, like most people, my professional journey began at school. I made my GCSE choices and then A-Levels, making the leap to college rather than 6th Form so that I could study Dance (& Performance Studies, English Literature and Biology) and then on to University. Looking back, I always knew that going to Uni is what I would do - the opportunity to continue dance training was the dream. So I researched courses and listened to advice from lecturers, applied to various universities, auditioned and then finally made the decision to attend Middlesex University in North London. Whilst at Uni, I tried to make the most of my time there. I was surrounded by my peers who were all passionate about the world of dance, by lecturers who were knowledgable, talented, compassionate and giving and London itself, which I love with all its culture and landmarks. I took classes and volunteered, for festivals such as Dance Umbrella, and as an assistant teacher for Chisenhale Dance Space, and I tried to take in as much as I could.

Once I graduated, I moved back to Dorset and continued trying to soak up dance experiences whilst applying for jobs in the arts sector. My aim was to try and gain experience working for an arts organisation - I felt as though I needed to plug a gap in my education, that “real life” work, especially in administration and project management; in order to successfully create my own projects in the future, this is something I really needed experience in. After a couple of, rather angst filled, frustrating and challenging, years I finally got a job at Activate as Projects and Promotions Assistant.

A year and a half later, I’m still at Activate - although my job is slightly different, as well as also exploring my freehand career. I would say that my choices are probably based on what feels right at the time. The aim of the game is to gain as much knowledge and experience as I can, for as long as I feel enthused by dance and the arts.

Tell us a little bit more about the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursary:

The Weston Jerwood Creative Bursary scheme is a programme that aims to get young, talented graduates from low income backgrounds into jobs in the arts sector, which are traditionally unpaid opportunities. My initial job role with Activate was supported by the WJCB scheme and in order to qualify for an interview, I had to complete a survey which included passing a set of criteria: I had to have graduated between 2010-2013, have gained a 2:2 or above and had to have received a full maintenance grant for my full time at university.

Alongside my paid role, the WJCB scheme also provided Activate with support to provide me with a mentor, plus training and networking days with the other 39 WJBC recipients. This scheme was a truly fantastic opportunity and one I am very grateful for.

Why did you move back home?

I would have loved to have stayed living in London, where I studied, but I very quickly came to the realisation that I couldn’t afford to live in the city and continue take up dance opportunities, which were mostly unpaid. For a while, I felt like moving home was a failure (another one of those social pressures that we give too much importance to) but now I’m glad I did - I have fallen back in love with my home county. Although I would never say ‘never’ to moving away again, it would have to be for the most amazing opportunity.

Where do you see yourself professionally in 5 years’ time?

Honestly - I don’t know. Yep - fully uninspiring, but I’m coming to realise that my career path is twisty and winding and so I can’t always see where I’m headed. I know that I’ll still be working in the arts, and a really hope I’ll be just as passionate about my work, if not more.

What do think are the main obstacles you see getting in the way of you achieving your goals?

The competitive nature of the sector - there are a large amount of hugely talented people continuously graduating from college or university or changing career, who are applying for a limited number of jobs in the arts sector. Plus, as we all know, it’s not only what you know, it’s who you know. I strongly believe that achieving career goals and being successful (whatever that means to you) is a combination of tireless hard work, passion and the aforementioned ‘who you know’. Having a strong and growing network of people is very important.

What were the most useful opportunities that have arisen during your journey?

Every single one - each experience and opportunity that comes my way shapes me, both personally and professionally. Take time to reflect on each opportunity, even if it wasn’t what you expected, it could still have a good outcome.

Top tips for getting a job in the arts:

Perseverance - If I’d given up in the hundred times I’d thought about it, I’d always have wondered ‘what if’ - now I don’t have to.

Networking - the dreaded word. There aren’t many people I know or have met that really enjoy networking, but it’s really important to get out there, get your face seen and meet people. The more you do it, the more you feel comfortable doing it.

Passion - I don’t know a single person who works in the arts sector who isn’t passionate about it. What’s the point if you don't love it, if you’re not inspired by it and if it doesn’t drive you?

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