Hello,

Thank you so much for agreeing to be a part of The Writing Desk Blog.

Imagine I’m about to introduce you to an auditorium, filled with the smiling faces of folks fuelled by caffeine and an eagerness to learn. What would I say?

“Hello everyone, I’d like to introduce… Joanne Dolezal, Marketing Strategist, Teacher and…”

Here’s the part where we’d sit down and try and look comfortable next to the microphones. Are you sitting comfortably? Then let’s begin…

Can you name the business book that’s always on your desk? (I’m talking about the one that’s covered in pencil marks, coffee stains and has turned down corners…)

Malcolm Gladwell: “The Tipping Point” and “Outliers”.

What’s your all-time favourite advertising campaign?

It’s a toss up between Guinness: White Horses and SpecSavers: Kid with remote control car… and garage door

“Everyone has a book in them…” Or so the saying goes. What do you think/know/believe is the secret to good writing?

Discipline yourself, make time and space for creativity and find your muse.

If you were just starting out, what advice would you give yourself? Which book or books would you read first?

Don’t be so hard on yourself. Any good quality feminist literature – it’s important to know about the fight for equal rights and to honour those that fought it. The opportunities I’ve had in life have been possible only because of those who struggled to change attitudes towards women’s roles in society and the value of educating us.

Silence? Radio? Or music while you work?

Depends on the piece I’m writing. If I need to overcome my inertia, music always helps. Melodie Gardot hits the spot, but if I’m totally blocked, The Archers Omnibus on podcast is my dirty secret.

What are your top three novels of all time – and why?

• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – John Le Carre
• Crime and Punishment – Vladimir Dostoevsky
• Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

All deal with the frailties of human nature and the power of the individual, for good or evil.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever written? Why did it rock your world?

Top 21 Marketing Tips – a free e-guide on my website – because it’s my truth: this is what I actually think and what I tell clients. It’s the stuff I know matters and that if you work at it, works for you.

What’s the last thing you bought? And yes, that packet of chewing gum counts.

Digital print for my new workshops to present at a Trade Show.

Who was your teenage crush?

Sting. Sting. Sting. Sting. Sting. Especially after the video of “Don’t Stand so Close (to me)”

Describe the best meal you have ever eaten.

Just leave me alone in a room with a bowl of Moutabal with warm pitta bread. And don’t try and take it off me.

What’s your favourite tipple?

Gin & Tonic – summer. Whiskey & Ginger – winter.

If I were to give you a private jet, David Attenborough as a tour guide and a month off work – all expenses paid – where would you go and what or who would you write about – and why?

Australia – Great Barrier Reef.

What’s in your pockets?

Poo bags (for the dog!) and tissues (for me).

Pen and ink, pencil and paper or keyboard and screen? What’s your writing style?

Pencil & paper, turned landscape to open up my thinking.

Do you read any blogs or magazines about writing? (And I mean read, not just subscribe to and delete/leave on your desk and recycle?)

No, but lots about blogging and content creation. They’re very repetitive!

Tea or coffee?

Coffee.

Do you have a favourite cup or mug? Can you describe it?

It’s white porcelain with a folk version of a bird on it (that looks a bit like Twitter). It’s part of a pair of mugs given to me by a friend.

What was your most adored children’s book? And character?

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe: Aslan.

Your favourite word?

Fabulous.

Your most loathed word? (You know, the one that makes you shudder and say “Ew!”?

The “C” word.

Where can we find you? – Browsing online or lost in the aisles of a bookstore?

Bookstore.

Favourite song lyric of all time? And why?

Bob Dylan, “You’re a big girl now”: “A change in the weather is known to be extreme, but what’s the sense in changing horses in midstream” because it’s about love, loss and valuing what you already have.

Name the artist who is guaranteed to get you up on the dance floor.

Shalimar. Or early Michael Jackson.

Do you have any strange writing rituals you’d like to share with us?

Tidy the office, write my to do list (so it’s not buzzing in my head), then kid my conscious brain that I’m actually there to do something else, but that I’ll just write a couple of lines… Works every time. Even for a 19,000 word MA Dissertation.

What are you working on today? What’s in the pipeline?

Too much! A series of online learning tools for busy people who just want to know how to do stuff, right now. Keep the theory, just show me now.

Describe the last photograph you took.

My little girl dressed as King Kong, for Halloween.

What piece of advice really changed you as a writer?

My MA Dissertation Supervisor observed that I was a “holistic thinker” so now I try to visualise the themes and ideas first, ideally in a diagram or mind-map, then just dive in somewhere in the middle.

What was the last thing you wrote that had nothing to do with your job?

Pass. It’s all-consuming.

What’s your favourite quote about the process of writing?

“I’m sorry I wrote such a long letter. I did not have the time to write a short one.” Abe Lincoln

Who is your favourite Mad Man – or Woman?

Pass. I never got into it.

Name your favourite film.

When Harry Met Sally.

Which book or books is/are by your bed today?

• Content Chemistry – Andy Crestodina.
• South from Granada – Gerald Brennan.
• A History of the Middle East – Peter Mansfield.

Who was or is your greatest teacher?

Miss Grainger, ‘O’ Level Music who saw beyond the bad haircut and unfashionable school uniform and gave me an insight into my strengths and who I might become.

Who is your favourite artist?

Probably Cezanne, closely followed by Van Gogh.

Where do you like to work best – is it at a desk, in an office or in a coffee shop? And would you send us a picture of where the magic happens?

At my desk.

And finally, where can this caffeine-fuelled audience find you?

My website is the hub for all my content and activities: dolezalconsulting.com and you can download my FREE eBook, Top 21 Marketing Essentials here

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