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How Great Books and Great Advertising can Show Us How to Think and Write Better

Do you suffer from the Blank Page Syndrome? Do you have trouble thinking up what you want to say when you’re called on to write or to speak? Not being able to find the right words can get in the way of romance and success!

Retired advertising man Malachy Walsh had to write on demand for 30 years. In Socratic Scribbling, he reveals secrets he learned from Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintillion, Shakespeare, and other Great Writers and Thinkers that helped him make his mark in advertising.

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Conquering Blank Page Syndrome

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ou have probably heard that more people are afraid of speaking in public than they are of dying. It is the terror of seeing audience reactions when they learn the awful truth about us: we are bumbling idiots who cannot put two words together, much less two thoughts. When it comes to writing, at least we are spared the embarrassment of being in the same room with our audience, so we do not have to hear them giggle and snark.

So when I say the phrase Blank Page Syndrome, most people know what I am talking about. No matter how much grammar you have mastered, no matter how many A’s in English classes you may have earned, you can still make a total fool of yourself in less than a paragraph. Now, many of us avoid Blank Page Syndrome by shunning circumstances and occupations that demand any kind of substantial writing.

We stay away from the Law, we never consider Journalism, and we try to limit ourselves to occupations where grammatical mistakes are expected, easily forgiven, or relatively easy to hide, like engineering, accounting, and medicine. Still, not overcoming Blank Page Syndrome can hold us back in life and livelihood.

The Blank Page Syndrome is not just a writing problem—it is a life issue.

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People who have had a chance to read this book say it’s a mix of intelligent frivolity and good old-fashioned fun— like having a Manhattan with Malachy in the Pump Room. Malachy would prefer to be a drinking partner than a teacher.

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About the author

Malachy Walsh is one of the original Mad Men. He spent some 25 years at J. Walter Thompson Chicago office serving as Senior Partner, Director of Strategy and Head of the Account Planning Department, working directly with some of the world’s favorite brands: HP, Ford, ComScore, Master Card, Northern Trust, Northwestern Mutual, Harley-Davidson, Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Burger King, MacDonald’s, Nestle, Stouffer’s, Miller, Heineken, Kellogg’s, Chips Ahoy, and Philadelphia Cream Cheese to name a few. It is impossible to walk through a supermarket aisle or a business office without bumping into his work. 

 

Malachy worked on some of the most memorable marketing campaigns in modern history like the Marines “The Few, The Proud, The Marines,” Kellogg’s Tony The Tiger, Burger King’s “Have It Your Way,”  Sprint’s “Pin Drop” the Oreo “Milk Dip,” 7-Eleven “Brain freeze,”  Nutragrain’s “Iron Man,” and the “I Wish I Were An Oscar Meyer Wiener” Song Competition. 

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Audio version
available

Order from Online Great Books and receive 15% off the Socratic Scribbling book.

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You Can Conquer The Blank Page Too

I took several writing classes in high school and college which, in retrospect, did not improve my writing much. This book is the real deal. It tackles the meat of writing head-on: how to dig out the ideas that are already present in your mind, how to develop these ideas, and how to persuade honestly and effectively. It also tackles the lost art of writing beautifully, uncovering techniques that were first developed by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and later studied and applied to astonishing effect by orators such as Kennedy, Malcolm X, and Lincoln.

Socratic Scribbling helped me turn my prep for speaking engagements into an enjoyable activity. I learned how to easily structure and organize my speeches so I say what I want to say in a way the audience can engage with and remember. This book also gave me the framework for how to write and the tools to question why I write. His notecard system fundamentally changed how I approach the craft of writing as well as my personal process of self-reflection.

Before reading this book, I didn't realize that my issues with writing weren't in turning ideas into sentences, but in generating the ideas themselves. This simple revelation would have made the book worth it, but Malachy continues by expounding the wisdom of the likes of Aristotle and Cicero. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, Malachy interprets their ideas through his illustrious advertising career, which fabulously demonstrates how one can implement these ideas into their own writing.

Sal A.

Financial Advisor

Jarrad M.

Marketing Entrepreneur

Connor O.

Mathemetician
test

I took several writing classes in high school and college which, in retrospect, did not improve my writing much. This book is the real deal. It tackles the meat of writing head-on: how to dig out the ideas that are already present in your mind, how to develop these ideas, and how to persuade honestly and effectively. It also tackles the lost art of writing beautifully, uncovering techniques that were first developed by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and later studied and applied to astonishing effect by orators such as Kennedy, Malcolm X, and Lincoln.

Sal A.

Financial Advisor

Socratic Scribbling helped me turn my prep for speaking engagements into an enjoyable activity. I learned how to easily structure and organize my speeches so I say what I want to say in a way the audience can engage with and remember.

Jarrad M.

Marketing Entrepreneur

Before reading this book, I didn't realize that my issues with writing weren't in turning ideas into sentences, but in generating the ideas themselves. This simple revelation would have made the book worth it, but Malachy continues by expounding the wisdom of the likes of Aristotle and Cicero. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, Malachy interprets their ideas through his illustrious advertising career, which fabulously demonstrates how one can implement these ideas into their own writing.

Connor O.

Mathemetician