Persuasion

“The hardest part about writing is knowing what to say”.  That quote was in a book I read years ago.  I can’t remember anything else from it such as the name of the author or the title.  At least I was able to remember something from that book.  I can’t even remember anything from the pages I skimmed in my recycled business books.  That quote always escapes the maze and bursts into my consciousness each time I sit down in front of a blank page.  I have always known what I wanted to say, but have found the hard part to be discovering the best way to say it.

That skill separates successful con artists, aka politicians, from one-term wonders in my opinion.  I mean those who are able to disguise garbage initiatives that are illogical and aren’t good for anyone but the politician’s cronies as something you want and need to have to continue your blissful, protected existence.  I suppose snake oil salespeople had to evolve to stay ahead of the consumer, so they became politicians.  Or did politicians become snake oil salespeople only to evolve into more effective politicians?  That is quite the conundrum.

Another quote that often follows the first is that, “You can’t fix a blank page”.  An author I met who has published at least 6 books said that to me.  I countered with the concept that running a blank page through the shredder fixes it without question.  This also works with pages full of nonsense.  She was unwilling to engage in a debate on the matter.  Based on her horrified look and the fact that she excused herself from our conversation by running, I’d say I won that round.  I have learned that the shredder is the ultimate page fixer.  However, there are times when the shredder isn’t going to get the job done.  That’s when the author must face the truth and start making up stories to explain the lack of usable material.  I know that seems counterintuitive because if cover stories to explain missed deadlines can be made up so easily, then the original objective shouldn’t be so hard to complete.  Some people have suggested that I tend to over think things.  I don’t think that’s true, but then how do I determine the appropriate amount of thought to devote to an idea?  Is there a sliding scale based on importance or likelihood of completion?  Perhaps there are guidelines listing appropriate time allocations for specific thoughts.  I have to think about a way to discover if those guidelines exist.

A persuasive text is designed to fool the reader into believing the author’s argument, no matter how ludicrous it might be.  Readers can intuit an author who fails to put maximum effort into dropping the words onto the page and will subconsciously reduce belief and credibility levels as a result.  Perhaps it’s a tenth sense.  I do everything in my power to circumvent that ability by placing overt and sometimes subliminal messages throughout the text so that everyone reading it will arrive at the correct conclusion that the Ferrari F40 is a better car than the 288 GTO.  Even if you don’t know or care about the difference between them (what kind of person doesn’t know that though?) you still know that I’m right.  Use your tenth sense to feel it.

A persuasive argument is difficult.  Some people let facts, logic, and reason interfere with the quality level of the discussion.  That always leads to broken dreams and national news interviews.  I’m not one of those people.  I NEVER allow facts to interfere with my argument.  AcMo would not be able to grow to the extent it already has if facts were allowed to rain on the organization’s growth strategy.

I have a busy day today as I have many pending initiatives to think about before activating them in 2015.  I am confident that this coming year will be the time we send a bird to space and back and finally get our rail gun targeting system online.  The motorsport landscape will fall apart when the Scuderia AcMo CFB+G car is unveiled.  Everything those know-it-all engineers thought they knew will be revealed as garbage.  The Scuderia AcMo F-One team will also claim at least two race wins on its way to making history as the most brilliant creation in the history of racecars.

I know a guy who knows a guy who has a computer that talks.  The computer told him all of the above, which was then relayed to me, and I am continuing the chain by relaying it to you.  The details may have shifted a bit in transport, but the essence of the message is identical to what I was given.  Pass it on if you want the inside line on a sure thing.  Don’t wait too long or think too hard on it because there is an expiration date on this valuable information.