“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”
~ Michaelangelo ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
Fae Rown has a good post at Writers in the Storm that will help you refine your word choices.
Creating characters is a lot of fun, but creating interesting, realistic characters can be hard. Here is a post from Writing Forward by Melissa Donovan that has 20 Fun and Inspiring Character Writing Ideas.
Have you been dangling modifiers lately? The post here on Just Publishing Advice will remind you what they are and how to fix them.
I promised you my picks for the Oscars. Please remember, these are just my humble opinions. I am no expert nor do I have any secret knowledge. I have seen all the films nominated for Best Picture and two more, Can You Ever Forgive Me, for which Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant were nominated for acting awards and At Eternity’s Gate for which Willem Dafoe was nominated for Best Actor. I honestly cannot figure out why Roma was nominated for Best Picture. I also don’t think Vice, A Star is Born, The Favourite, or Black Panther rise to that lofty prize. I really liked BlakkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Green Book. If I ruled the world, I would probably choose Green Book as the winner, but I would not be disappointed if any of the three win. They were all terrific. I haven’t seen all the performances that were nominated for acting awards, but of those I’ve seen I would choose Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) as Best Actor, Olivia Colman (The Favourite) as Best Actress, Mahershala Ali (Green Book) as Supporting Actor, and Amy Adams (Vice) as Supporting Actress. All those performances were spectacular. That’s my two cents. I hope you have seen some of these and that you enjoy the Oscars tonight…
who knows how it is if you are about to start a new project but cannot yet deliver the material? Nevertheless, I want to share with you my thoughts about the plan with you.
As I want to develop my fashion skills and the year is still, in the beginning, it is best to get started!
If you read the articles about tailoring you may know I was handcrafting a costume which will be the basis of the collection I am about to consider…
This is the phase of collecting ideas and research the proper material to get forward. I like historical costumes very much so that the idea came alive to bring them into something modern and wearable.
You can tell. Just after reading the first few sentences, you know. Reading that blog post is going to change you.
In fact, you are so affected by its message you can’t help but share it.
We’ve all experienced content like this. But the question remains: how to create it?
If you’re serious about blogging, your goal is to create content that makes people pay attention, think, and feel.
And I believe that we should keep in mind these very elements as we do our best to craft an experience that will have a profound effect on our readers.
1. The Visual Element
Your reader notices the overall presentation of your information before they read a single word.
If you get this part right, your readers will move on to the next step in the journey, and they’ll begin to read.
If you get it wrong, the journey will end right there. They’ll click away, or turn the page.
From the theme you select, to the widgets that adorn your sidebar, to the fonts, the text size, and how long your paragraphs are, all of these elements matter a lot.
So use high-quality design to invite your readers in, and to convince them to spend time on your blog.
The essentials must be emphasizes with block quotes. Incorporate images that add to the meaning of your words.
Pay attention to both your content and the way you break it down, polish it up, and present it to the reader for this will ensure that your blog post gets read. For real.
Not skimmed through. Read. Word for word.
But there’s still another, often forgotten about, element.
Your reader’s heart.
3. Feelings. And stuff.
The most brilliant content presents information in a way that touches emotions, too.
Great blogging tells a story. A story about human nature, a story that makes us feel less alone.
We all know what it feels like to fail or to be looked down on. We’ve all felt insecure from time to time. And we’ve all had the experience of working hard and achieving a long-term goal.
When you knit together experiences we can all relate to, your content will go straight from the eyes, to the mind, to the heart. And it will stay there, and be remembered.
Content that make people feel something is content that gets shared. It gets people talking. It’s the definition of remarkable.
Writing a brilliant blog post is simple, but not easy:
Use everything you know about design to invite your reader to interact with your content.
Strong headlines, subheads, and solid content will hold their interest.
Incorporate common human experiences that will touch your reader and make them remember what they’ve read, and want to share it.
Back when Franco Marchio was a little boy growing up in the Italian state of Calabria, he lived like a typical kid – playing beneath sunny skies and getting into adventures among the quaint old villages that make the “toe” of the country’s boot-shaped peninsula one of the most charming places in the world. Lucky for him, he had a mother who watched out for her young son, teaching him the value of work as well.
His parents being the owners and operators of a popular bed and breakfast, young Franco felt destined to take over the family business one day. His parents saw this for their son as well, but mom was one step ahead.
As Franco recalls, “When I was in school at 12-13 years old, my mother said, ‘When you get out of school, you have to go to the maestro tailor to learn.’ I said, ‘Mom, I don’t want to learn to be a tailor. I’m going to take over your business.’ She said, ‘Never mind. Learn an art then put it aside. Learn something.”
It wasn’t long before he realized that this was the best advice he ever got. Turned out that Franco met the love of his life, Rosetta, when they both were 19 years old. She was in Italy from Tacoma visiting her family, so soon after the couple married (1962), Franco headed off for his new life in America with Rosetta by his side and his tailoring skills at the ready.
“I hardly spoke English but I knew my trade,” Franco said. “Six months after I came here, I opened my business in Tacoma.”
For 25 years Franco plied his trade at his downtown shop at Commerce and 9th then he moved to the Stadium District, where he has been for the past 30 years. About 20 yeas ago he purchased the building that houses Franco the Tailor, a fitting chapter in Franco’s distinguished entrepreneurial history.
Today, Franco and son Giovanni together carry on the business and the art of tailoring, which, Franco laments, is dying in this 21st century.
“Nobody wants to learn it anymore,” he said. “Even in Italy my age group was the last people that learned this trade.” Why? Because the training is extensive and apprentice tailors don’t make a lot of money right away. “Today, people don’t want to go for years learning a trade and earning no money. They can just go to a factory, or something like that, and from the first day they get paid.”
Son Giovanni (who also goes by John), however, is the exception to this trend and that makes his father very proud. After Giovanni spent a few years in college, “He said, ‘I want to come work for you,’ and 25 years later he’s still here,” Franco said. “He is the next generation to carry on Franco the Tailor.” Franco’s other son, Perry, is enjoying a successful career as a supervisor at Comcast.
Over the years, Franco the Tailor grew to be an institution in Tacoma, where it is the only shop of its kind. Providing alteration services for men’s dress and casual attire – from suits to blue jeans – Franco also welcomes women who need tailoring for their suits, jeans and coats (lighter fabrics, for dresses and such, are too delicate for Franco’s equipment).
“We are a tailor for men and women,” Franco says proudly, and from the looks of customer traffic at any time of day, his work certainly appeals to both genders. In fact, Franco says that he has never had to advertise his business – word of mouth from satisfied customers has proven to be the best advertisement there is. “All the years that we’ve been in business, I’ve never spent a dime to advertise. We take pride in whatever we do. We do the job right the first time. My advertisement is I do a good job for you and you tell people about it.”
The bottom line is that if it doesn’t fit right, it’s not going to look right. “I could sell you the best suit in the world and if the sleeves are too long, if it’s too tight or too big, it spoils the look,” as Franco explained. “That’s where we come in. And you don’t have to buy a suit from me. Bring me one from anyplace and we’ll alter it for you. The secret is the fit.”
Franco doesn’t charge extra for necessary rush jobs either, say, for weddings or funerals. “That is how you build a good business and people do appreciate it. If you need it in a hurry, I’m not going to put an overcharge because of that.”
Franco carries a handsome line of men’s imported Italian suits, featuring brands Gianni Manzoni and Hart, Schaffner and Marx, the number one clothier in the United States. Franco’s line of men’s ties all come from Italy, and no two are alike. “You go to Nordstrom and you see 50 ties all displayed in the same color. Mine, they are unique,” as Franco states. His collection of men’s dress shirts is also made up of exclusive Italian imports, and the expert workmanship is obvious.
And, of course, custom-made men’s suits and shirts are a specialty at Franco the Tailor.
“People say, ‘Who are your clients?’ And I say, ‘Everybody,’” from attorneys and doctors to longshoremen and beyond. Among his more famous customers, actor Kevin Kline is a standout, as the actor worked with Franco to learn a convincing Italian accent and gestures for the 1990 film “I Love You to Death,” which was filmed in Tacoma and around the Puget Sound.
In all honesty, everyone in town seems to know Franco but that’s what happens when you’re a friendly, helpful guy who runs an honest business.
After 55 years in the workforce, the 76-year-old Franco has no plans for retirement soon.
“I enjoy what I’m doing. I enjoy coming to work, talking to people… The days go by so fast. If I stay home, number one I’m going to argue with my wife,” he said with a chuckle, kidding around in his good-natured sense of humor. “And number two, I would get bored. What would I do?
“As long as I am in good health, I’ll come here every day.”
Franco the Tailor is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (except for Saturdays in July and August). Visit Franco the Tailor at 16 N. Tacoma Ave., or call (253) 627-2336.
T Daniels tailoring blog 