Writing Tips Guide

What Employers Look For In A Freelance Writer

2009-11-02T16:45:00.000-08:00

by: Amber McNaught

Freelance writing is as much about selling yourself as it is about writing. With this in mind, we asked some of the employers who use our site, and others like it, just what it is that they look for in a freelance writer. Here's what they told us:

1. Employers won't go looking for the information they need

"A lot of the freelancers who replied to my advert just sent me their quote and nothing else," says Angel, who advertised for a freelancer in July. "There was absolutely nothing to set them apart from all of the other writers who responded, and I'd have had to contact them with questions to try and get the information I needed out of them. Needless to say, I didn't bother. I employed one of the writers who took the time to tell me a bit about herself, and why she was right for the job."

2. Employers won't ask the same question twice

If an employer asks a specific question: "what’s your writing experience?" say, or "who have you worked for before?" they expect an answer. Strangely, not all freelancers give them that answer.

"I advertised for a proofreader," says Jason. "One freelancer responded with a huge spiel telling me what a wonderful writer he was. That's great, but I wanted a proofreader. Rather than emailing him back and asking about his proofreading qualifications, I chose one of the people who'd answered my question the first time."

3. Employers appreciate courtesy

"A few weeks ago I was looking for a freelance writer," says Samantha. "I posted an advert on a number of different writing sites, and said that I would send a written brief to anyone interested in the project, to allow them to give me a quote. I was shocked by the responses I got, particularly the number of people who just emailed one line saying 'send me the brief'. I mean, is it really so much effort to write a proper email, giving your name and addressing me with mine? Does 'please' take too long to type? Apparently so. Needless to say, those kind of emails didn't get a response. I wasn't just looking for someone who could write well: I wanted to hire someone who'd be easy to work with. I don't want to work with someone with no manners."

4. Your writing matters – even in a query letter

"One freelancer proofreader asked me a question via email," says Jason. "She ended the question with four question marks. She didn't get the job."

5. Employers aren't always looking for the cheapest possible quote

"Some of the quotes I received were really shockingly low," admits Angel. "I just thought that if someone is willing to write an article for $10, they must really be struggling for work. And if they're really struggling for work, they must not be very good. I went with someone who charged what seemed to be a reasonable rate: she wasn't the cheapest I found, but quality was important to me."

About The Author

Amber McNaught is the owner of www.WritingWorld.org, a community for freelance writers, editors and proofreaders.

Join the WritingWorld.org forum: http://www.writingworld.org/forum

Amber also offers an article writing and distribution service through her business, Hot Igloo Productions

hotigloo.co.uk

How To Get A Job Writing Speeches

2009-11-02T16:44:00.000-08:00

by: Niall Cinneide

Jobs in speech writing are amongst the most difficult to find, but are much sought after. In many cases, the subjects that will deliver them will want to find expert advice on what to say, how to say it, and how to make themselves look good through it. You will not start out with a job in speech writing for the President, though. You will start at a much lower level and work your way up. While many people do not like to give speeches, even fewer people like to write their own. That means that there are some great opportunities out there for those looking. But, where do you look and how do you find them? What qualifications are needed anyway?

Well, the qualifications for speech writing jobs are fairly basic. You will need to be able to write in the right tone or in the right style. For some this will be a in sales pitch type style. Others will be providing a lot of information. In any case, you’ll need a variety of skills in different arenas. You will also need to have a good working knowledge of the field in which you plan to write. In some cases, this might be challenging. You’ll need to be able to research what is needed as well. Not only will you write for these jobs, but you will need to sell the person involved. You will need to be able to give the person the right words and the right information in order to get the message across, in one way or another.

Freelance employment in this field is probably sought after. People prefer to work with an individual rather than a large company. To find job vacancies in the field, you can present yourself directly to the people you want to write for. Jobs will be available online as well, but rarely will they be the big catch. Go directly to the individuals that you think you can benefit in your specialized areas.

You’ll get speech writing jobs when you establish yourself as an expert in the field and a good writer.

About The Author

Niall Cinneide

Visit http://www.FreelanceWritingResource.com for more Articles, Resources, News and Advice about Freelance Writing Jobs.

Blogs Like All Forms Of Writing Are An Art Form That Takes Knowledge And Practice To Do Well

2009-10-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

by: M6.net

Writing…Blogs…Blogs are on-line journals where people express themselves through writing. Writing…Writing is the process where one puts down words of a language on a format that others can read. This process has not been around very long, to use one of my writing teacher’s favorite sayings, “Writing has only existed for one day in the one year that humanity has existed.” Speaking and thinking come much easier than writing. These processes just flow out naturally like a river of consciousness; sometimes we hardly have to think about doing them. Anyone and everyone can write words down on paper but that doesn’t mean it’s ‘good writing’, myself included. Like most things in life, our society already takes writing for granted which is proving to expose more of our ignorance. Writing is a new form of expression, and if we want to do it in a way that the masses can connect with our ideas, we have to think much more simply and clearly about this art.

Now that was quite a big paragraph, you’ve got to wonder if I really needed to say as much as I just did to introduce this article on the best way to write your blogs on the Web. I didn’t even mention this main idea, and that’s what an introduction paragraph is meant to be for. This is a common mistake in many blogs out there. We try to get too many ideas across in one paragraph, sometimes even in one sentence! The key, as in all things in life-is to keep it simple. Simplicity means that readers won’t get confused about what your journal entry is actually about. Introduce your main general topic at the start, and use the subsequent paragraphs to discuss separate ideas that relate to this topic. Try to tie everything up in the concluding paragraph, your main argument and the reason why you’ve written in the first place.

Grammar and sentence construction are not easy systems to master, especially if you come from a school system that spent more time telling you about historical battles and quadratic equations than on how to read and write. This is a real problem. When we speak we can get messages across to others easily, but if we put these words down on paper, the writing just isn’t interesting and doesn’t connect with people’s curiosities and fascination. When you write you are not talking to a close friend. You can’t use slang and colloquialisms that only your local community can understand. The aim is to connect with all the people in the world, so let’s make it crystal clear and enjoyable to read.

Your computer has spelling and grammar checks, as well as access to a thesaurus. Use them, but remember that the machine can’t decipher all the intricacies of language. Language is a world in itself, and much of its territories are undiscovered by the masses. So, again keep it simple. Short, precise sentences with single ideas are great. Many words in the English language have the same meanings (synonyms). Use the thesaurus so you don’t repeat the same word over and over throughout the text. It keeps the story fresh and doesn’t turn the reader off. There’s nothing more boring than repetition. Using different words can be a lot of fun and a learning experience, just make sure you use a dictionary (also on the computer/Internet) to make absolute sure of the word’s definition.

Readability…Simplicity…Make your blog accessible by all people. You can even take into consideration that many readers will have learned English as a second language. As I’ve said in previous articles, keep to the point-don’t go on tangents. Stick with the article’s topic, and definitely stay within the realms of your blog’s main area. If your blog is entitled “Jazz music”, people who go there don’t want to hear about how your football team won on the weekend! Please be consistent. How irritating is it to visit a blog that hasn’t been written on in months or years?

I hope these little tips will help you on your quest to producing ‘good’ writing that brings new friends and acquaintances of similar outlooks into your world. If you want people to read, the aim is to produce an emotional reaction in your reader. Pretend you are writing to another form of yourself, if it were not readable, interesting and fun…would you stick around?

About The Author

By Jesse S. Somer
M6.Net http://www.m6.net
Jesse S. Somer is a ‘grasshopper’ writer attempting to inform other beginner writers on how they might one day become masters or ‘sensei’s’.
priyankaa@m6.net

Top 10 Tips to Complete a Creative Writing Project Without Losing Your Creativity

2009-10-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

by: Ginger Blanchette

Have you ever started a creative writing project with great excitement, only to have your interest dwindle as the process, itself, interfere with your creativity? How do you keep the momentum going and continue to enjoy the creative process? Follow these tips for high creativity, fun and success!

1. Create a writing environment that inspires you.

Create a place in your home or outdoors that calls you to write. Consider light, color, sound, scent, taste, writing materials.

2. Follow The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron.

I highly recommend this book. It keeps you focused, observant, playful, and creative - and it keeps you believing in yourself as a writer!

3. Choose your writing project in a joyful way.

When choosing a writing project, come from your heart - not your head. Be playful. Be creative about how you choose your project.

4. Make a creative representation of the project’s ideal end.

Draw, paint - use a creative medium other than writing to represent the completed project. Consider, especially, how you will feel when it’s done. Put your model in a prominent place. Use this to trigger the desired feeling, before the completion - every day!

5. Make a timeline with celebration points.

Make it visually appealing. Have a step-by-step outline and celebrate creatively as you complete each step.

6. Create an R&D Team for your project.

Contact a number of your friends, colleagues, and readers. Invite them to join your R&D Team. Send them snippets of what you write, questions you have about the process, or anything else you want input on - on a regular basis. Their input will keep you going.

7. Keep Creating & Editing times separate.

If you edit while you write, the process can become boring. Clearly block a specific amount of time for editing into your schedule. Don’t let it interfere with your creative writing time!

8. If blocked, shake things up!

Do something fun, unusual, active! Get your mind somewhere else and move your body. Your creative side will work in your subconscious while you’re at play. Read the tips in The Artist’s Way. There are also many resources on the internet for handling writers’ block. Check some of these links: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_block.html

http://www.sff.net/people/LisaRC/

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/block.html

9. Have a Fan Club.

Critics and editors are fine, but have a few friends or family members who you can ask to cheer you on or cheer you up, no matter what you write. Hire a Creativity Coach to keep you focused and to be an unbiased supporter of your creative success!

10. Celebrate in a big way!

When you reach the big finish, give it a big finish! Do something you’ve always wanted to do, but have never done before. Make the finish so memorable that you’ll be eager to begin your next creative writing project!

About The Author

Ginger Blanchette is a Life and Business Coach who supports her clients to share their creativity. She works with professionals and business people who are ready to complete big projects involving writing and/or public speaking and to be recognized for what they do! Contact her at www.lanterncoach.com or by email to ginger@lanterncoach.com for a free sample coaching session.

7 Ways In Which You Can Overcome Excuses for Not Marketing Your Website by Writing Articles

2009-10-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

by: Laurie Meade

Wannabe writers, are full of excuses as to why they aren’t writing yet. Many of these excuses can be changed to proactive statements with a mere switch in attitude and perspective.

How many times have you read an article, and said to yourself, “I could have written this.” Well, why don’t you?

It took me a long time to discover that my passion in life was writing. Even though, as a teenager, I filled a whole blank book with poetry, which I wrote while trying to recover from the “first love’s” broken heart type of feelings.

It wasn’t until I made it a habit to start writing in my journal every morning, that I found out just how easy it was to get the writing juices flowing. Below is a list of some common excuses writer wannabe’s make for not writing. You will find suggestions along with each excuse on how to counteract those excuses and move forward to success.

1. EXCUSE #1 I don’t know where to start, or what to write about.

---Just get up each morning a few minutes earlier than the rest of the household, and start writing in a journal. Write about anything and everything that pops into your mind. Try to write at least 3 or 4 pages. Devote at least 10 minutes each morning to this ritual.

Do it with a pen and notebook, rather than the computer. There is a physical connection between the brain and your fingers on the paper.

Keep your statements positive. Try to eliminate words like, “I need to” or “I should” or “I have to” replacing them with more affirming phrases. Using “I am” and “I can” changes your whole focus. I find just replacing the three phrases above makes the writing process much more positve and results oriented.

You will be amazed at the material that you can pull from this journal that can be used in your daily projects.

2. EXCUSE #2 I don’t have any experience or formal schooling in writing.

----With the internet, and all the writing books available today, it is easy to teach yourself what it takes to write successfully. Just jump in and get your feet wet, give it a try.

Have someone you trust read over your writing, and then give you their opinion. But don’t stop with one person’s point of view.

Some of the best feedback I have received, has come from people wanting to use my “free to reprint” articles. I remember one lady email me saying, “I really enjoyed reading the passionate article you wrote on this subject.” Up to that point, I had never looked at my writing as passionate.

3. EXCUSE #3 I don’t have enough confidence in my writing abilities, I can’t measure up to what is already out there.

----Following the same advice as above, as you jump in and do it, your confidence will grow. Publish some free content articles, to promote a website, and discover just what people like and don’t like. With feedback comes confidence. It is hard not be be confident in your writing abilities when you get showered with requests to use your articles in others ezine’s and on their websites. :o)

4. EXCUSE #4 Writing will take too much time away from my family and other responsibilities.

----On the contrary. Writing can actually benefit and help you with your other responsibilities. By establishing a morning routine of writing in your journal, you will get to know yourself better, and grow both in professional and personal development. These positive changes to you will affect everyone you come into contact during the rest of your day. This includes members of your family.

5. EXCUSE #5 I am not very creative.

----Everyone has creativity in them. Some people have a harder time tapping into it than others. By creating a time and space for writing in your life, you are giving yourself permission to tap into your own creative subconscious resources and intelligence. You may be surprised and amazed at your own creative results.

6. EXCUSE #6 What I know has already been written.

----Did you know, you could give 5 writers an assignment on the same subject and each one of them will come back with an article with a very unique and different focus. It is because we all look at things from different perspectives. Our perspectives are developed by our own individual life experiences and the lessons we have learned. You can take what is out there and put your own unique slant on it.

7. EXCUSE #7 I am scared, not sure I can handle criticism and rejection.

----As mentioned already, by just doing it, jumping in and giving it a try, you will gain confidence and grow. Rejection is just someone’s opinion. Get another opinion, and then another.

Some of the best books published in history were rejected dozen’s of times before some one took a chance on them and would eventually hit the New York Times bestseller’s list.

So there you have it. Stop making excuses and jump in the water and get wet. It will be more fun, rewarding and maybe even profitable for you once you actually take some daily action steps. Who knows, you might even make a big splash upon entrance to the pool of what's floating around. . :o)

As you begin getting your work out there, ideas will come to you so quickly it may be overwhelming at times. Just remember to write down your ideas, keeping notes on topic ideas, titles, and themes to research. The list will be endless.

Use these intuitive thoughts to spark your thought process when you actually sit down with pen to paper. You will find many stories, experiences, and lessons learned that can easily be incororated into a promotional article. “So start writing now, may the force of your creativity be with you!”

About The Author

Laurie Meade is the admistrator of the Articles 411 Information Content Directory.She has an AA, majored in journalism in college. An online researcher, reviewer and writer, you will find her articles spread into the deep recesses of the Internet. Put your free content article at her article directory, at: http://articles411.com. Also visit http://lauriemeade.com.

How To Find A Job Writing Grant Applications

2009-10-08T00:42:00.000-07:00

by: Niall Cinneide

Do you have what it takes to land a job doing grant writing? Many people are looking for ways to develop a freelance business, but unless you know what it takes to do so, you might as well stop trying. There are several fields in which you can learn and have many jobs waiting for you. But, in others, you will need to properly be prepared for them before they pass you by. Here, we will talk a little about how to find jobs in grant writing.

First, we would like to touch on what you need to do to get those freelance grant writing jobs. You will need to provide your future employment offers with samples of your work. If this is your first assignment, you may need to create a few samples to provide. In any case, you may also need quite a bit of training in the areas in which you will write. For example, if you plan to write on technical subjects you will need to know about these as well as learning how to write.

Once you have the required knowledge, you can begin your search for jobs. There are many businesses that use these specific skills to help generate the money they need to fund the business, research, or study they plan to do. In your specialized area, like that of technical fields, you will need to find businesses that do these things. You can find a wide range of options available online to you in your field. In any case, you will need to present yourself as a worthy candidate by providing good skills and good work ethics. Job vacancies are out there, in great numbers in certain fields. Employment with them will be based on your skills and attitude.

Opportunities in your field are waiting for you to open their door.

About The Author

Niall Cinneide

Visit http://www.FreelanceWritingResource.com for more Articles, Resources, News and Advice about Freelance Writing.

How to Write Words Worth a Thousand Pictures

2009-10-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

by: Glenn White

Our Image-Driven Society

We live in a new image-driven society. It can be hard on writers unless they learn to connect with today’s readers. Writing that connects is easy when you keep a few basic writing principles in mind. Let’s face it, as a writer, you are competing with the greatest influence in our image-driven society, the film and television industry. So, let’s take three well-known words in film making as cues for effective writing. Ready? Lights! Camera! Action!

Lights!

Catch the reader's attention. You catch your reader's attention when you know who they are and what holds their interest. Yes, write what you know but also write for who you know. For example, avoid using abstract words and concepts when writing for children. Kids won't understand and you won't grab their attention.

The effective writer writes about what interests the reader using words the reader relates to and understands. When you write fiction or even creative non-fiction; develop catchy titles, contemporary themes, strong heroes, good plots, intense conflict, and create interesting characters. When you do, lights go on for your reader.

Camera!

Describe, describe, describe! Use specific, concrete, and concise words. Write to describe but avoid using too many adjectives. Mark Twain said: "When you catch an adjective, kill it." Strong words from Mr. Twain but when you cut out adjectives and use descriptive nouns, your writing comes to life. Instead of writing "big, beautiful house," try writing "mansion," "villa," "castle," "palace," or "chateau." Use a thesaurus and find image-driven nouns to replace superfluous adjectives. Sorry, I couldn't find a noun to replace "superfluous adjectives." But you get the idea.

The contemporary writing advice, "show don't tell," echoes in the ears of most writers. And for good reasons. The writer must "show" readers rather than "tell" to grab their image-driven attention. For example, use vivid detail instead of vague generalizations when describing emotions. Write, "sweat dripped from his forehead," not "he was nervous." Let the images come alive in your story.

Action!

Use action verbs, avoid "to be" verbs. Put your reader in the middle of the action in your story. Describe the action with the senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and feel by using action verbs. Use moving images and carry your reader along, don't let your story become a study in still-life. Don't sprinkle your story on your readers; dunk ‘em in over their heads! Go ahead, get 'em soaking wet with the action in your story. They will love you for it.

Lights! Camera! Action! will connect your story with your readers. Go ahead, give ‘em pictures they’ll never forget!

About The Author

Glenn White is a freelance writer, editor and content manager at his web site for Inspirational and Christian writers at: http://www.WriteToInspire.com
editor@writetoinspire.com

Quick Strategies For Writing Your Essay Under Pressure

2009-10-02T22:34:00.000-07:00

by: Linda Correli

Hidden pitfalls are on watch for your paper success in every paragraph of the essay you write. They are notorious misprints, insidious misspellings and numerous stylistic, syntax and format errors. Indeed they are your restless essay writing enemies, which are always on the alert, putting obstacles on your way to excellent grades for your writing assignments.

The drastic truth is that even slight mistakes make you freak out and lose the train of your thoughts. They evoke a fear of losing the main thread, give rise to uncertainty in your strengths and potential, dissipate your motivation to write and give the way to other distractions. Ultimately, make it challenging for you to complete your task at hand.

These minutiae seem to be minor for the inexperienced writer, but in fact they obscure an overall picture of your essay and occur to be crucial for the estimation of your work by professors, reflecting on your poor grades. Hence, essay writing pitfalls must be eradicated by all possible means.

Take these helpful hints to avoid crafty writing traps and forget about poor grades for your writing assignments once and all the time.

# Say No to poor thesis statement

Everything you write should develop around a clear central thesis statement. Good thesis statement zeroes in one main idea and states it clearly, avoiding ambiguous and vague phrases.

It should be specific, analytic and has to evaluate the significant insights of your essay. Strong thesis statement usually introduces the original approach to the traditional view on the problem.

# Avoid weak introduction and open-ended conclusion

Focus on one primary function of the introduction - to introduce your thesis statement clearly and precisely so that to grab the attention of the audience. The success strategy of writing your introduction is to start with the broad statement of your main idea and to close it with the actual thesis of your essay.

Don’t leave the unfinished and open-ended feeling at the end of your essay. Always remember that your paper must make its point clear right from the beginning and up to the logical ending.

Make your conclusion coherent and smooth and be sure to stress the significance of your work in the concluding part of your essay, pointing the ways in which your invaluable contributions can be applied.

# Beware of undeveloped essay

This problem is particularly common and results from not understanding clearly the essence of the chosen topic. Selecting your essay topic make sure to familiar with it completely and to ask yourself what you really feel passionate about and don’t forget to research it preliminary very thoroughly.

Your paper won’t produce an undeveloped impression if you provide your work with a solid argumentative ground, explaining clearly your view on the researched topic and elucidate the past attempts of the solution of this problem. So that to show the professor that you’ve got the core of the chosen topic at your finger tips.

# Never use slang language

Bear in mind that slang language and curse words are absolutely inappropriate in your work. Always remember that your targeted audience is educated professors. More over that college writing commonly implies the utilization of the formal style, which has definite frameworks.

# Don’t just recollect the events in your paper

Simple recollecting of the events is boring and unrecognizable to the reader and can become an absolute failure to the writer. “A good essay is one with imaginary appealing to the five senses.” Try to harness this strategy in your essay writing. Make your audience feel, taste, smell and hear everything you are narrating about.

Hope that these useful hints will help you gain the upper hand over your restless essay writing enemies, strengthen your writing skills and ultimately help you get excellent grades for your writing assignments.

About The Author

Linda Correli is a staff writer of http://www.Customresearchpapers.us She helps students write college research papers, term books, admission essays, book report and many other types of writing assignments: from personal statements to professional case studies. Article sponsored by http://www.go2essay.com.

The Myths Of Writing: Have You Bought Into These?

2009-09-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

by: David B. Silva

There is an image most people carry of the artist (think Van Gough's self-portrait, the one with his ear bandaged), working in solitude in a barren garret in a dark corner of the city. Everyday is a struggle. He continually walks between moments of brilliance and moments of insanity. It's a romantic image, I suppose. Built around the belief that an artist must suffer for his art.

This applies not only to the painter, mind you, but also to the actor, the dancer, the photographer, the writer. We all must suffer for our art.

But image and reality are often two different things. Writing, for example, does NOT have to be a torturous process of endurance and pain. In fact, it should be exactly the opposite. Liberating. Joyous. Enlightening. Why else would you want to invest so much of yourself in it?

So let's take a closer look at a few common writing myths.

This first one actually applies in all areas of a person's life. Simply stated: Having a big ego is a bad thing. It's unbecoming. It's boastful. It puts you in a negative light.

The truth is … if you want to be a success at anything, you need an ego. It motivates you, keeps you moving, pushes you to do your best. It's not your enemy. It's your ally.

The key to making it work for you is to keep it directed inward. Pump yourself up silently. Let it fill you with pride and a sense of possibilities. That's what the ego does best. Used wisely, it will move you toward your writing goals, not away from them.

Our next common writing myth is one you hear all the time: you have to write something original.

What is originality?

There's only one thing in the world that can make your work original. That's you. Because that's all you have to bring to the table as a writer. Who you are. Your history. Your experiences. Your family. Your beliefs.

When a publisher says he wants something original, he's saying he wants something fresh, something that reflects you the writer. He wants your voice, your honesty. The world already has a Stephen King and a Mary Higgins Clark and a John Grisham. It doesn't need more of them.

Our final common writing myth (though there is no shortage of such myths, we are limited by space): the slower you write, the more time you spend with each and every word, the better your writing will be.

The catch to this one is simple: there's a time and place for writing, and there's a time and place for editing.

When you mix the two activities (which are very different in their requirements and purpose), you rarely do either one justice. If anything will suffer, it will be your writing. Because suddenly you'll be under the constraints of the editor sitting on your shoulder. You'll be fretting over the words while losing perspective on the more important elements of the story. Does the scene work? Are your characters being true to their nature? Does this move the story forward?

The truth is this: your writing will ALWAYS be better when you write in the moment. Remember when you were a child? When you could spend hours building a sand castle or playing catch or flying a kite? Those were moments when nothing else in the world existed because you were completely absorbed in the activity. Write with that same captivation, as if each scene were unfolding right before your eyes, and you'll find your writing will not only be vivid and powerful, it will flow faster than you ever imagined possible.

Writing does not have to be a torturous, exacting process.

Allow yourself to have fun with it, and you'll be a better writer for the effort.

About The Author

Copyright 2003. All rights reserved. David B. Silva is a professional writer, editor and publisher. For a FREE mini-course on the best way to make writing that novel faster and easier, Click Here ==> mailto:easyway@thesuccessfulwriter.com?subject=TRAArticle
dbsilva@thesuccessfulwriter.com

Avoid Crafty Traps in Essay Writing

2009-09-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

by: Linda Correli

Take these helpful hints to avoid crafty writing traps and forget about poor grades for your writing assignments once and all the time.

# Say No to poor thesis statement

Everything you write should develop around a clear central thesis statement. Good thesis statement zeroes in one main idea and states it clearly, avoiding ambiguous and vague phrases.

It should be specific, analytic and has to evaluate the significant insights of your essay. Strong thesis statement usually introduces the original approach to the traditional view on the problem.

# Avoid weak introduction and open-ended conclusion

Don’t leave the unfinished and open-ended feeling at the end of your essay. Always remember that your paper must make its point clear right from the beginning and up to the logical ending.

# Beware of undeveloped essay

# Never use slang language

# Don’t just recollect the events in your paper

About The Author

Have You Tested Your Theme Against Your Plot?

2009-09-28T17:57:00.000-07:00

by: Nick Vernon

Creative Writing Tips –

How we usually begin the preparation stage in the writing process is…

We think of an idea for a story
We think of a suitable theme
We plot

Once we come up with a theme and we begin plotting, we have to see how the theme and the plot match up. Sometimes as we plot we find that the theme we had initially chosen won’t do.

For example…

‘Winning The Lottery Makes Your Life Easier’

Plotting with this theme in mind, we have our characters pay off all their debts, go on endless shopping sprees, go on holidays, etc. We find though that this won’t make a very interesting story. So we spice it up, adding to the theme or coming up with a different one.

“Winning The Lottery Makes Your Life Easier But Everything Has Its Price.”

We can show the characters living the life of the rich for a while before they realize that being wealthy has its problems too...

They now fear for their safety
Their friends and relatives are constantly harping at their door asking for assistance
Etc

This second scenario creates more problems for the characters, so it’s more interesting for us readers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The preparation stage is there to prepare before you write. It’s our workbench where we figure everything out. We test our theme, we test our plot and once everything passes the test, then we begin writing.

You can change the theme as many times as you feel it needs changing, while you are in the preparation stage.

The main thing is to make your story interesting.

It’s not a good idea to keep changing the theme when writing the story because then you will have to keep changing the story. This means rewriting.

Figure everything out then write.

Have you tested your theme against your plot?

About The Author

Besides his passion for writing, Nick Vernon runs an online gift site where you will find gift information, articles and readers’ funny stories. Visit http://www.we-recommend.com
mail@we-recommend.com

How You Can Take Advantage of the Increasing Demand for Freelance Online Writers

2009-09-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

by: Niall Cinneide

The freelance writing market is a growing market to be in. There are many jobs available, but sometimes, it can be hard to find the work that you want, and available at the time you want it to be. All opportunities will help you to develop a career in the field in which you want to, though.

While not all freelance work is glamorous, it is still quite a profitable market. There are careers in proofreading as well as in copy writing. In proof reading, the client will want you to proof a piece of their work. You will have to ensure there are no mistakes in spelling and punctuation but you will also be looking for grammatical errors as well as those where the flow of the piece is thrown off. In copy writing, there is a large market for those able to write copy for websites and e-books.

In all of the opportunities that are available, education and skill are necessary. Online work means that you work for yourself, but that also means that all of your education, training, and jobs have to be provided by you, not someone else. Vacancies are available to those who strive to meet the demands of those looking for writers.

Providing a good service to a customer once can make or break your career. Many of these people will talk about how well you did and offer you more referrals than you can imagine. But, if you do a bad job, employment may become tough to find. Work wisely in order to succeed.

When you get your foot in the door you are likely to find a great future writing online.

About The Author

Niall Cinneide

Visit http://www.FreelanceWritingResource.com for more Articles, Resources, News and Advice about Proofreading Jobs.

Write Science Right

2009-09-26T02:37:00.000-07:00

by: Ann E. Power, Ph.D.

Write Science Right "www.writescienceright.com" is a group of native English-speaking professional scientists with experience conducting scientific research as well as reading, writing and publishing scientific articles. It is our mission to provide affordable scientific editing services of the highest quality to our colleagues around the world. All scientific editors associated with Write Science Right have earned PhDs in their areas of specialty. Each client is matched with the scientific editor that is most familiar with that client's specialty. Within forty-eight hours of submitting an express order, you will be contacted by your scientific editor.

For your convenience, your scientific documents may be submitted directly online via the express order form, electronically as email attachments, or sent by mail on CD, diskette, or zip disk. It normally takes 4 to 6 business days for this scientific editing process to be completed. But if you are in a hurry, for a 20% premium you may request a rush order for editing of your research articles or other scientific language documents. We provide 100% confidential science writing editing. For more information about issues of confidentiality, please read our privacy statement.

Your Write Science Right editor will begin working on your order at his or her soonest convenience. Before any changes are recommended, our editorial process begins with several careful readings and a close study your writing. Your editor's recommendations are guided by your central arguments throughout the editing process. This editor will be in direct contact with you throughout the editing process. If there is any ambiguity in your writing, your editor will email you with questions. This communication ensures that your ideas are always faithfully maintained. Your documents will continue to be read and revised, and read and revised, and read and revised further until your editor is fully satisfied with the quality of the writing.

Your documents will be returned to you as an email attachment with all suggested changes tracked. You may elect to accept or reject each editing suggestion individually in your edited documents. Reviewing these editorial suggestions can greatly improve your future scientific writing in English… and save you money in future editing hours! As clients generally choose to accept all recommended revisions, for your convenience you will also receive a version of your edited documents with all recommended editorial changes already accepted.

Write Science Right has the highest standards of scientific writing quality and provides superb scientific English revision services. Great care is taken to present your ideas clearly, concisely and effectively so that you will be able to present your findings and ideas with confidence. We provide scientific English revision for all kinds of scientific writing including original research articles, scientific review articles, poster presentations, slide presentation, theses, dissertations, manuals etc. Native English-speakers who struggle with the writing process are welcome to employ this service.

About The Author

www.writescienceright.com We are a professional online scientific editing service by native English-speaking scientists enabling effective communication of findings and ideas.
ann@writescienceright.com

Career Advice On Freelance Writing Jobs

2009-09-24T23:23:00.000-07:00

by: Niall Cinneide

Sometimes the freelance writing jobs available are those that no one wants. Or, they are those that new businesses are looking to fill. You will not find postings for the best jobs and employment because many of those jobs go to individuals who already have an established career or a good working relationship with those businesses. For those looking for career advice to find the best freelance writing jobs available, they can find a few things here that will help them get the experience they need or at least get a foot in the door.

The most important aspect of getting the jobs that you want is to present a well written portfolio. Any writer can create pieces of work to show to individuals who want a sample. You do not have to be commissioned to write, you can write just for the sake of filling your portfolio. Just remember to put the best of the best work you have in there.

Secondly, there are many types of freelance writing jobs available. Yes, it is not just the book or prized article that you should look for. Look for vacancies in smaller areas as well. This will help you to develop relationships in the field.

Strive to meet the client’s needs. This will mean that you meet deadlines. It will mean that you offer the best material you can. But, it needs to meet the client's specified requirements, not necessarily what you think they should be.

Be professional, and build a website. Most businesses these days are centered around their websites. Being professional means presenting yourself in the most appropriate way.

In any case, there can be be many freelance writing jobs available to you once you are in the know. When you learn how to write to your clients needs and meet those needs properly with each and every assignment that you do, employment will be available to you. To find the assignments to start with, you may have to present yourself outright. Simply always do so in a positive, professional manner.

About The Author

Niall Cinneide

Visit http://www.FreelanceWritingResource.com for more Articles, Resources, News and Advice about Freelance Writing Jobs.

Travel Writer Jobs, What Are They And How To Find Them

2009-09-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

by: Niall Cinneide

Travel writing jobs are few and far between. Getting into this field is hard to do and requires a lot of training and experience. But, there are many benefits to them. There are many individuals who would love to get employment opportunities in this field. And, because the world is faster and faster becoming accessible to more people, increasing employment availability can be found for travel jobs as well. But, how does a person get in and how do they do their job?

Travel writer jobs belong mainly to freelance authors, travelling far and wide. They learn about the amusements, the attractions, and the little secrets of the towns, cities, and countries they visit. Then, they provide this knowledge to the general public in the form of articles, books, or even transcriptions. It is amazing that many people go from location to location by simply learning about different areas and using this knowledge to write. But, this work is far from easy. It may be costly to afford to do this type of traveling. It often does not pan out as a worthwhile adventure anyway. It is often difficult to find publishers or employment vacancies in this area as well.

To get these types of jobs, it will often take experience in the writing field and the researching field. Freelance opportunities, in which the author will visit locations at his own expense, are necessary. In other, simpler cases, a breakthrough into the business can be done by working for the local newspaper or through a magazine. In any case, though, it will require time to develop the necessary knowledge.

When looking for vacancies like these, it would be wise to realize that it will take time to build up the reputation needed to get these opportunities. Perhaps working on less glamorous writing jobs will have to be taken in order to have stepping stones out into the travel writing world. If you have the funds and the talent it is easy to go out and find locations to write about without being commissioned to do so. But, there is no guarantee of any of this type of work paying off. Patience may be the only way to get into and maintain a career in this field of writing.

Interviewing Your Characters

2009-09-21T17:40:00.000-07:00

by: Sarah Playle

One of my favorite techniques for getting into the head of my characters is, interviewing them. This relies heavily on rapid writing, so be sure you fully understand that concept first. If you don't, you can read my article "Rapid Writing" on my den. Interviewing characters is exactly how it sounds. You sit down with your characters and interview them, just like you would if you were a reporter.

To start, take out a blank piece of paper or start and new word file. Decide where you are going to meet them; in their house, coffee shop, or somewhere else. Now rapid write about it. Go in and meet them. Say hi. Record what he looks like, how he acts etc. Now the fun part. Ask questions. Ask your characters about themselves, and about the story you're trying to tell. Get them to tell you their story, in their own words. Let them tell you what happened and how it affected them. You may gain new insights into your story. The important part is to not think or judge what you're writing - just rapid write. Don't worry, you're mind will fill in the blanks. Write until you think you know enough about your characters or stories. If you run out of questions, write about there being a lull of silence in the interview. If you get past the 'wall' something else will come. Just don't stop writing until you feel you have enough new insights to go back to writing.

This technique also works If you get stuck in the middle of writing or plotting your story. You can go back and talk to your character about the section you're stuck on. Let him/her tell you what happened.

To help with this exercise, I have included some sample question that you can ask. You can use these, but also allow space for your mind to come up with questions on it's own.

1. Tell me about the story I'm writing. In your words, what happened?

2. How did the events affect you?

3. Are there any details or events in the story that I've forgotten?

4. Describe yourself. What are your hobbies, dreams, hopes etc?

5. What was the most important thing that happened to you during the events I'm writing about? How did that change you?

About The Author

Sarah Playle is the author of "The Distance Between Us," the gripping, emotional tale of family, friendship, and the coming of age in a dangerous world. To order, or to view more of her work visit www.authorsden.com/sarahaplayle.

How Anyone Who Knows How to Type Can Write an Article in 30 Minutes or Less

2009-09-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

by: Rodney Boettger

It seems that one of the fastest growing recommendations
flying around the net these days is about writing articles.

Of course as something starts to pick up momentum it brings
forth a myriad of products, all wanting your hard earned
cash.

Recently I picked up a product by Melanie Mendelson called
"The 30 Minute Article Writing System."

In The 30 Minute Article Writing System Melanie teaches a
step by step system for creating articles on virtually any
topic in 30 minutes or less. Instead of just giving you
more content you are given a clearly defined set of steps
and a time limit for each one's completion.

Although the system is straight forward the largest obstacle
would be the system assumes you have some knowledge of the
topic you are writing about.

This is easily overcome with some quick search engine
research on your topic, however if your not very versed in
your topic it will take you more than 30 minutes factoring
in research time.

Melanie Mendelson, although she has only been working online
for a little more than 3 years has been able to create a
full time income for herself.

Creating her own products, Melanie uses article writing as
her top strategy for attracting customers.

In "The 30 Minute Article Writing System" I found the
simplicity of the system to be it's most powerful quality.
Knowing the exact step to take and having a pre-determined
time limit for its completion keeps your article writing on
track.

The system is powerful enough to have you create very well
written articles even though you may have very limited
knowledge on the subject of your article.

Using the program definitely eliminates any type of writer's
block.

There is also a huge list of sites included in the book for
submitting your articles to for massive exposure.

Although the information is not new the way Melanie presents
it in a clearly defined system is rare and very refreshing
even for someone who has never written an article in their
life.

I must admit I was a little skeptical about the following
sentence from Melanie's sales letter:

"If you are a complete novice, you will be churning out
articles like you've been doing it all your life."

However after going through the system I can see where she
has the proof to back this statement.

Understanding that "The 30 Minute Article Writing System" is
designed to be a quick system for writing articles, I do
wish Melanie would have maybe touched somewhat on the
subject of quick research for topics you might not be
familiar with.

After purchasing the product and using it I believe that
everything stated in the original sales letter was true and
I was left with no unanswered questions or concerns.

If you are at all interested in attracting more search
engine traffic or publicity to your business or affiliate
programs, then this article system should prove very
helpful.

An informative article can draw huge amounts of traffic to
your website and business and I would give this product a 7
out of 10 recommendation to help you with your article
writing.

For more information on "The 30 Minute Article Writing
System", please visit Melanie's site at

http://www.ArticlesIn30Minutes.com

In the future I sincerely hope that Melanie Mendelson
follows up on this product with something discussing related
topics. A few examples may be quick research for your
article writing or the ins and outs of article submissions.

About the Author:

Mr. Boettger’s consulting firm helps business market
effectively without spending more money on advertising
through a growth performance guaranteed system. An extensive
DIY small business action plan is available free on their
website at

http://www.7StepConsulting.com

Freelance Writing Markets, Poetry Markets - Highly Paid -v- Unpaid

2009-09-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

by: Consulting Editors, AskProfessors.com

Amazing as it may sound, there is a real shortage of good writers and poets. Try telling that to the thousands of writers and poets who get daily rejection slips.

As far as they are concerned, writing is virtually impossible to break into no matter how hard they seem to try.

There may be a number of reasons why they don't succeed:

Their writing is not up to standard - as far as the particular publishers or editors are concerned;

They don't bother polishing their writing before submission;

They knock on the wrong doors - sending materials on a random basis;

They have failed to do basic research;

The list goes on.

1000s of publishers

There are of course thousands of publishers, especially online, who are willing to publish your work without payment. Such publishers can't or won't pay writers or poets.

Professional writers on the other hand command handsome fees. They make a good living out of writing.

Anyone can become a professional writer. You just need the determination to succeed. If you don't have a natural gift, you can learn to write well. This can be by self-study, online, or at a college or school near you.

High quality professional writers demand anything from $1000 to $5000 per project - and the best earn substantially more. A project may involve just one page or a few poems.

Why do most aspiring writers and aspiring poets fail?

In a recent survey conducted on behalf of http://www.WritingHolidays.com, it became apparent that most writers and poets were not willing to invest time or effort in training or acquiring the necessary skills.

The survey revealed that most writers and poets were happy to plod along by trial and error rather than investing in a decent course. They accordingly fail to reap the rewards that are there for the taking.

They remain amateur writers and poets whilst their professional colleagues cream off the best paid writing markets.

The survey compared writers and poets to other professions. Lawyers, Accountants, Doctors, etc., are all highly paid. They all undergo training before the rewards are forthcoming. Yet, most writers and poets believe that the riches will come to them without spending $1 on training or developing skills.

One per cent. of writers or poets may get lucky. They may have been "born writers or poets" - they succeed without any training. The rest slog away - hoping that one day they may make some money from writing.

The good news

The good news is that there are 1000s of paid writing markets that are waiting to be exploited. There are more assignments than writers or poets.

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Writing Tips For Novice Authors

2009-09-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

by: Patty Apostolides

If you are reading this article then you probably have asked yourself at some point in your life, "Do I have what it takes to become an author?"

I believe that successful authors, those who actually write and finish that novel, or book of poetry, or even that book of short stories, and see it all the way to publication, have certain characteristics.

Characteristics of Authors

1. They like to sit for hours in front of a computer screen (or with pen and paper), typing (writing) away.

2. They think about their book, even when they're not writing.

3. They are motivated to finish their book.

4. They are motivated to proofread, edit and revise their finished book until it is the best it can be.

5. They are motivated to publish their book.

6. Once they publish the first book, they are already working on the next one.

If you answered yes to anyone of the above, then you have a good chance of attaining your dreams of becoming an author. Don't listen to those people who say it's a competitive market out there. Don't listen to those people who say they've written five books and haven't had one published yet. And don't listen to those people who send you back your manuscripts! Listen to yourself. Listen to that inner voice, the one that is whispering now. But wait until you get started. Once your book is written and published, that inner voice will be roaring! And the whole world will hear about it.

I know, I know. I tend to be the optimist. But we have so many pessimists in the book business, we sure need some more optimists around!

For you, the novice writer who would like to start writing that first book, the best way to begin is to start writing. Yes, just sit down and do it. Stop the other activities, the television, the reading, the shopping, the chatting on the telephone, and find the time to devote at least one hour a day to writing.

What’s one hour a day in the scheme of things? It comes and goes like this, poof! What do you have to show after an hour of television? A lazy yawn? If that same hour were spent on writing, then there would be a product in your hands, something that will be shared, hopefully, one day with others.

So, go ahead, shut the door to the rest of the world for one hour (or more) and make yourself comfortable in front of the computer screen (or pen and paper). Let’s take the first step to becoming an author.

How To Begin

Foundation

Just like a construction company which builds a foundation to a home, you also need to prepare a foundation for your career in writing. Don't skip this step, it's important.

Your "foundation" will consist of basic writing skills. Remember those English courses you took in high school and college? If you don't remember anything from those courses, then it wouldn't be a bad idea if you found your old English textbooks, dusted them off a bit, and looked through their pages to refresh your memory.

If you haven't taken any courses in creative writing, you might consider signing up for one. Check with your local community college. They often offer weekend and evening classes, and sometimes even online classes. If you're on a budget, then visit the public library and sign out books relevant to writing.

In addition, it would be very useful to join a writing group (online or in your local area) that critiques your work and gives you the opportunity to critique also. The group provides wonderful support and an avenue to sharpen your skills as you gain experience in writing, as well as exposure to other people's writing. For example, Writing.com is a good example of an online resource that provides many opportunities to share your writing, and get your work rated and reviewed. If you want to join a critique or review group, it offers that also.

The second step to becoming an author, is to have the right tools.

Tools Needed

Besides a comfortable chair, plenty of lighting, and a quiet room, you will need a computer with a word processing program (e.g., Microsoft Word), a printer, and plenty of paper.

Why a computer? First of all, publishers typically will request a copy of your files sent to them on a floppy disk. More importantly, working with a word processing program will aid you in many ways towards becoming a published author. It will provide the opportunity to save your work as a Word file, without having to use up tons of paper (as with a typewriter). This greatly aids you in keeping your work organized. It also gives you the flexibility to edit and re-edit large sections of your work quickly by allowing you to utilize the copy and paste functions.

Other advantages of using a computer word processing program is that it provides spell check capabilities, and also helps you count the number of words per page. In addition, when you want to spice up your vocabulary (For example, if you like to use the word "walk" often, and are getting tired of that word), place your cursor on the word "walk", hit shift F7. It will give you a list of synonyms you can choose from - like stroll, amble, etc.).

The time saved by using a computer is very valuable. It gives you more time available to write! Of course, if you don’t have the above materials, don’t let that stop you from writing that book! Using a pen and paper is perfectly fine. Books were written with these two basic tools for centuries.

Let’s assume you are using a computer and a Word processing software. First of all, before you begin writing, form a subdirectory that you can add all your chapters to. Maybe you know the title of your book already. Fine, then form a subdirectory using the name of the title. After you finish writing that first chapter (oh joy!), just save it as Chapter 1 under the subdirectory. If you are writing a book of poetry, then you might want to save each poem as a separate file.

When I write my chapters for my novel, I format them in double space mode, with a Times New Roman 11 font. All the margins are at least one inch. This way it will be ready for manuscript submission.

Try not to add your page numbers until the very last revision. Page numbers constantly change when you’re revising, so wait until the end.

Finally, another reason for having a computer is for Internet access. As a writer, you will have opportunities to submit your fiction online, such as http://www.Writing.com, or even your articles online for e-zines, such as http://www.articlecity.com. Any chance you can get to write online, do it. As long as it doesn't take too much time away from your book. It's also a free way of promoting yourself before the book is even published.

So you need to balance your time in writing that book, honing your writing skills, submitting your work along the way for others to critique, and promoting yourself. Can you do it? Of course you can!

The third step to becoming an author is:

What to Write

If you are planning to write a novel, it would help to know what general category your book is going to be in. Will it be in the romance, mystery, or science fiction category? If you don’t know, take some time and think about it. Read some books in those genres. Which books seem to attract you the most? It’s highly likely that you’ll be writing in the category that you like to read. My preference is romance because I read those types of books the most. Once you decide the category, then you are closer to writing that novel!

For poetry, you might start by writing a poem and submitting it to a poetry journal, or a poetry contest. Gain exposure for your poetry. Join a critique group so you can sharpen your poetry skills. A chapbook usually consists of about 25-35 poems. For a poetry book, you'll need at least 60 pages of poetry, if not more.

Types of Novelists

I have found over time, that there are two types of novelists. The first type is the writer who prefers drawing up a proposal or plan of what they will write about. The second type prefers to write whatever comes into their mind at that moment.

You decide which writer you will be.

Type 1 Novelist

They begin by describing the characters, their names, personalities, and sometimes their motives. Then they decide when and where the setting will take place. When will it take place? If it takes place before the 1900’s, then it will be considered historical. Also, will the setting be in the country, in a city (which city?), in a house (whose house), on a cruise ship? That needs to be defined also.

Once those decisions are made, they write brief sketches of each chapter. It could be a page or two long. Once all this is done, then the real writing begins. If this method works for you, then feel free to use it. It may take some time, but you will become more confident about what you’ll write once you go through this initial process.

Type 2 Novelist

What if you’re the type of person who doesn’t want to spend all that time writing proposals and character sketches? What if you’re like me, who prefers to just write whatever comes into your head? Then do it! Sit down and start writing. Write anything.

As the story develops, something wonderful begins brewing in your mind. Something called creativity. I’ve caught myself hours after I finished writing a chapter, and I’ll be preparing dinner, or walking somewhere, and a scene from my novel will begin to unfold. It’s called creative problem solving. My mind is working to solve the problem that the writing presents it, even though I’m not actively writing. When I get those urges, I immediately stop what I’m doing and jot down my thoughts. It’s helped me many times, particularly when everything clicks together.

How Long Will It Take?

It took me almost two years to write and find a publisher for my first novel, Lipsi’s Daughter. For other people, it may take longer or shorter, depending on the amount of time they allow for writing and how many pages they are writing. I know of authors that took six, seven, up to twelve years to write their first book. I also know of a famous author who writes two novels a year!

So unless you begin writing that first page of your book, you'll nev

About The Author

Patty Apostolides is an author and poet. She has written several articles as well as published the novel "Lipsi's Daughter." More information can be found on her website: http://www.geocities.com/10500bc/index.html
Liendou@Writing.com

5 Benefits of Keeping a Personal Journal

2009-09-14T01:39:00.001-07:00

by: Patti Testerman

Everyone who has kept a personal journal knows that writing is a therapeutic process that helps integrate seemingly unconnected life events. Some believe the process works because the physical act of writing (using your hand-eye coordination) occupies your left brain, leaving your right brain free to access emotions, intuit connections, and create new insights.

How else can journaling help?

1. Journaling reduces stress by getting “monkey mind” thoughts out of your head. Mind chatter is a powerful stressor, stressor is a powerful health-buster, and journaling the chatter is a proven chatter-buster.

2. Writing about problems gives your right brain food for creative problem-solving. It’s amazing what happens when the creative part of your nature starts working on a problem—you’ll soon find solutions bubbling up from your subconscious.

3. Keeping a daily diary is one of the best techniques for discovering patterns, particularly those that are self-defeating. For example, a diary kept over the course of several months will clearly show any reoccurring difficulties like overeating, stress eating, poor (but similar) choices in relationships.

4. Want to better know yourself? Journal. Writing can help clarify your thoughts, your emotions, and your reactions to certain people or situations. In addition, as you read back through past journals, you’ll have ample evidence of the things that make you happy and those that are distressful.

5. Journaling can help clarify events, problems, or options. When you’re beset with a mind full of fuzzy, disconnected thoughts flitting here and there, writing about the event or issue will help bring focus and clarity. It will also help you decide on which action to take, or option to choose.

About The Author

Patti Testerman is content manager at JournalGenie.com, the only online site that analyzes your writing and then gives you instant feedback. Want to discover self-defeating patterns, or find better ways to communicate in a relationship? Check out our site.
patti@journalgenie.com

Writing for Local Veterinary Hospitals

2009-09-14T01:37:00.000-07:00

by: Brian Konradt

Freelance writer STANLEY BURKHARDT has a passion for animals. He loves animals so much, he crafted himself a new career. For the last eight years, Stanley has made a career out of writing for local veterinary hospitals -- and getting paid for it.

Burkhardt admits, "I am probably the first writer you have met who has written for veterinary hospitals. My opinion is that many writers don’t see the profit or work potential in writing for vet hospitals, and don’t attempt to secure work from this industry. The other reason is that writers try many approaches to secure work in this industry and fail."

Burkhardt has overcome these obstacles, and many more. Now he's ready to spill his secrets. He has penned an ebook, "Profiting on Puppy Love & Cat Care: A Freelance Writer's Guide to Writing for Local Veterinary Hospitals & Practices," in which he shows writers how they can craft a career out of writing for local veterinary hospitals, just like he has done.

Burkhardt says, "I think it’s important to know that I had no experience or knowledge writing for the vet industry, when I first started out." If you harbor a deep love for animals and enjoy writing and researching, Burkhardt says you are already “halfway there to breaking into this industry.”

The other skill is selling. “Selling is considered by many beginning freelance writers to be the ‘curse’ of commercial writing because it usually requires you to spend more than half of your time selling yourself to prospective clients — and swallowing many rejections — than spending time writing.” In time, selling becomes easier. “Most of my work now comes from referrals and word-of-mouth,” says Burkhardt.

Burkhardt has perfected the way he secures first-time clients in this industry; he advises to “use locality in your favor.” He says, “Take a trip to your local hospital and see if it presently uses any types of print materials. If not, what kinds of print materials do you think this hospital can benefit from? If it has print materials, how can you improve these existing print materials, or what types of print materials would work better in place of these existing print materials?”

Burkhardt always attempts to arrange a meeting with the owner of the hospital. “I tell the prospective owner I’d like to meet with him for 20 to 30 minutes to discuss, in detail, how I’d be able to boost his profits and productivity, and how he and his clients will both benefit. I’ve never met an owner who’d refused to spend some time to find out how I’d be able to boost his profits.”

After the first meeting, Burkhardt gives himself a few days to work on a proposal in which he outlines how he is going to meet the owner’s needs -- whether it’s solving a problem, boosting sales, or increasing productivity -- through various writing projects. Burkhardt will either mail his proposal to the owner or arrange a second meeting. Nine times out of ten, Burkhardt’s proposal usually nabs him a first assignment from a first-time client. “I always pitch a newsletter as the first project. Once the owner sees how a newsletter contributes to the success of his hospital, I am usually given more writing assignments.”

As a writer for five local veterinary hospitals -- two small in size and three big in size -- Burkhardt prefers to sell his services to the larger veterinary hospitals. “Larger veterinary hospitals have more needs to be fulfilled and more problems for you to solve...They’re more likely to need internal and external materials that will help boost their sales and increase their productivity.”

Burkhardt writes all sorts of copy for vet hospitals, but his favorite and most lucrative is writing newsletters. “Every vet hospital needs them. A newsletter can increase the hospital’s sales by pushing products and services, create rapport and build trustworthiness with pet owners by showcasing the exceptional pet care and treatment the hospital offers, and constantly remind pet owners of the hospital’s existence by writing information that is so useful and timely that pet owners take the newsletter home with them.” Burkhardt charges between $300 and $1,500 per newsletter, depending on its complexity and size.

Burkhardt admits that writing for veterinary hospitals is not a top-paying industry, compared to writing for other industries. But he was never in it for the money. “I often wonder if copywriters who write for tar manufacturers, bottling companies, packaging plants, chip manufacturers, cancer-causing cigarette companies, or shady politicians have any interest in the stuff they write or they do it just for the money. I can’t find interest in any of those things and have stayed away from such manufacturers and industries. I think the same is true if one is to write for vet hospitals. You must have an interest — at least to write for the long term. If you love animals, have a curiosity as to how hospitals treat and care for pets, and a sensitive spot to help people, then you can break into this industry and make a good living.”

Burkhardt’s ebook, "Profiting on Puppy Love & Cat Care: A Freelance Writer's Guide to Writing for Local Veterinary Hospitals & Practices" is a primer to break into this industry. His ebook sells for $9.95 at WritingCareer.com, an online ebook store, found at http://www.writingcareer.com/sbk001.shtml

Ten Tips For Budding Authors

2009-09-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

by: Kevin Hart

1. For me the most important tip is to write, write every day, 365 days a year. Remember practice makes perfect.

2. Very few authors are published on their first attempt; it’s a hard slog and you’ll often want to pact the whole writing business in. It’s then you’ve got to remember patience and perseverance.

3. If you are serious about writing as a career then treat it as such. If you wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, plumber, chef then you’d expect to have to learn the trade. Why should writing be any different? It will pay you to visit workshops and listen to what successful authors have to say. Learn from the masters.

4. I’m a member of a writers group and for me it is essential it helps feed me. Also visit sites like www.abcwritersnetwork.co.uk where you will learn about current creative writing contests. Use these contests to help hone your skills. If you are involved in promoting creative writing locally let them know they will advertise the event for you free of charge.

5. In my early days of writing one of my main faults was my failure to accept criticism. This was one of the problems my writers group helped me overcome.

6. Be cautious of loved ones who tell you that your writing is ‘marvelous,’ quite often they don’t want to offend. I’ve found it best to avoid showing my work to close family until I’ve had it tested elsewhere.

7. Don’t become a writer because you think it is an easy option. It is not. It is hard work. To become successful you have to work 365 days a year. There are very few other jobs that demand that sort of commitment. Maybe after you’ve hit the big time you can drop that down to six months in the year – maybe.

8 Carry a note book. If you get a sudden idea write it down. Ideas are like dreams they are very soon forgotten, but ideas are also like oak trees they can grow mighty big.

9. Believe in yourself, if you have what it takes to be successful then you will succeed. If you haven’t then you’ll soon know.

10. Finally Maeve Binchy gives this advice ‘write as you talk.’ Also write about what you know. I know that’s old hat but its true nevertheless.

Good luck

About The Author

Kevin Hart is a published author and chair of Armagh Creative Writers. He created and maintains the hightly successful web site http://www.abcwritersnetwork.co.uk

The website offers invaluable information to creative writing. In particular it holds a large data base of creative writing contests and competitions.

What Is Persuasive Copywriting And How Can It Help Your Business?

2009-09-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

by: Niall Cinneide

Persuasive copywriting is what draws the attention of prospective customers. They see your product and are drawn it. But what makes this happen? What words can win a customer over without having them laugh at overstatements and hype? Persuasive copywriting is the style of writing that every business needs in order to get customers to purchase something.

Online, there is a large market for individuals who can write in a persuasive style. Sure, everyone has their own specific style, but the only thing that truly matters is sales. Unless the words draw the customer in and help them to make a purchase, the words are wasted. If the customer has a dollar to spend, he will spend it on your website or on another. The words that are on that page are what will make the ultimate decision as to whether the customer stays or goes. It is that simple.

But what makes the sale to the potential buyer? This information changes with the specific product. And, in all cases, it is up to the writer to determine the best method for getting the attention and securing the sale. It is not up to the business owner to do this, but up to their writer to know the right words to use.

For those who are looking for a career in copywriting, they will need to prove themselves time and time again. Just because it sounds good does not mean that it is the most beneficial to the website. The freelance position is often the most sought after since many businesses like to have a one on one relationship with their writers. This helps them to establish the text that they feel is most beneficial.

The good news is that those who are effective at what they do will likely have business come back to them time and time again. Once a comfortable relationship is established, freelance workers can count on having more business come their way. The power of the word is the most important qualification to these individuals.

For those looking to begin their career, they will need to possess truly powerful words - persuasive copywriting words.

About The Author

Niall Cinneide

Visit http://www.FreelanceWritingResource.com for more Articles, Resources, News and Advice about Freelance Writing.

Becoming a Writer

2009-09-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

by: robparnell

The urge to write fiction seems God given for some, a learned skill for others.

One thing is certain – it requires practice and a particular mindset. But, if you’re a beginner, where do you start?

The following 10 tips will help kick-start your writing habit, whether you’re a complete novice, or perhaps a pro who has lost their way!

1. Step Away From the Car, Sir.

Slightly detach yourself from your surroundings. Stop participating and begin observing. In social situations, watch people, see how they act and – more importantly - interact.

Don’t pass judgment. Take it all in – and draw on it later when you write.

2. Look Harder, Homer

Stop and look around you. Consciously notice the buildings, what’s underfoot, overhead, and what’s right in front of you.

At home, look at something you take for granted. An iron, for instance. Find yours and study it.

3. Write Thinking Will Be Rewarded.

A simple technique. Your mother is making tea and you are chatting to her. Take a mental step back and describe the scene.

Similarly, when you’re outside, describe your environment as though you were writing it down.

4. What Reasons Do You Need?

Don’t wait for inspiration – just write!

Force yourself to write anything at all. A shopping list. An overheard conversation. Describe your bedroom.

It doesn’t matter how personal it is, or how trivial, just get it down!

5. Wakey Wakey!

Set your alarm clock for an hour earlier than normal.

When the alarm goes off, get up. Don’t dress, bathe or eat. Don’t even make coffee. Just stagger to your writing space and write the first thing that comes into your head for five minutes.

6. Oh God – Not That!

Think of the most awful and embarrassing thing you’ve ever done - the more cringe-worthy the better. Now write about it. All of it, in all its gory, horrible detail.

Then hide it away for a year or so before you read it again!

7. Like Your Style, Baby.

Don’t limit yourself. Write poems, songs, dialogue, fact, fiction, even practice writing advertising copy or horoscopes.

Your expertise improves in all areas – an improvement in one area can reap benefits in another.

8. The Sincerest Flattery

Take out a classic book from your bookcase. Copy out a paragraph. Think about the words as you write them. Don’t get intimidated!

9. Wanna See My Invention?

When you’re not writing, string together stories in your mind. Think of plots, characters, settings, dénouements.

Ask yourself what you should do next to improve your writing.

Develop this technique into a habit.

10. It’s A Goal!

When you start writing regularly, set yourself small goals. Anything from 200 words a day, or just a commitment to writing in your diary.

Later extend to finishing a short story, or an article or a poem. Perhaps one in a week.

The trick is to set goals you can achieve easily.

That way you’ll get the writing habit - and you won’t forget to enjoy it!

About The Author

robparnell is founder of the Easy Way to Write, a young Internet company committed to giving excellent writing resources to novice and seasoned writers. For free writing lessons and much more visit: http://easywaytowrite.com
rob@easywaytowrite.com

The Secret to Good Writing

2009-09-08T18:01:00.000-07:00

by: Marie-Claire Ross

Skilful business writing involves getting your message across simply and quickly. This often means writing in a style that is easily read and understood by a broad audience.

Yet, writing simply is often difficult for most of us.

Why? The answer lies in our school education. We learnt that if we used big words and complex sentences, we were more likely to get an ‘A’ by our English teacher or University lecturer. The education system taught us that people who use a broad range of vocabulary are more intelligent that the rest of us.

There is nothing wrong with writing beautifully pieces of prose that feature a stunning range of vocabulary knowledge. However, such writing is unsuitable for a business market.

No business manager has the time to wade through material that meanders and weaves before a point is made. They are even less likely to have time to grab a dictionary to work out what the writer is trying to say.

When I used to work as a market research consultant, I had the impossible task of trying to write market research reports that seemed interesting. My immediate response was to write a report that would make my University lecturer’s proud. Sadly, my colleagues all felt the same way.

It wasn’t until we had a business writing consultant come in to train us about how to write at the level of a Year 8 student that we realised the folly of our ways.

Using my newly found skills of writing a report using simple English, I proudly produced my ‘easy on the brain’ report to my manager (who missed the writing class). He told me ‘You write like you talk’. To this day, I still don’t know if he was criticising my talking or writing ability, but I gathered either way he wasn’t happy.

However, from a communication point of view, this style of writing is perfect for getting your message across quickly.

Later on in my career, I worked at a company that prided itself on its easy to read reports. While this was true (to some degree), one of the directors loved to throw in a difficult word in every report he wrote to make the marketing manager reach for his dictionary. He thought this was really clever and that his clients would be in awe of his knowledge. I’m guessing his clients thought he was a tosser (interestingly, I met an ex-client years later who told me that when their company received one of his reports they would quickly scan it to find the unusual word and then erupt into hysterical laughter).

Articles that are written to impress your audience about how clever you are, do nothing more than distance them. No matter how learned your market is, they still prefer to read information that is easy to digest.

A great way to test whether your writing is easy to comprehend is to read it out loud. If someone spoke to you, using those words, could you instantly understand what they were getting at or would you have to really concentrate?

Scripts for marketing videos are no different. In fact, they need to be extremely simple in order to quickly grab the attention of people walking past at a trade show, for example.

Writing that is heavy on technical terms and jargon can be a real turn off. The beauty of a marketing video is that it uses both pictures and words. The saying “A picture tells a thousand words” is a powerful concept with corporate movies. It means you can actually get away with saying less, but easily get your message across, because the pictures do all of the talking.

Surprisingly, clear writing can be quite a difficult writing style to master, but the effort is well rewarded. And look at the bright side, at least people won’t burst into fits of laughter when they read your masterpiece.

About The Author

Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast. Digicast works with organisations who are not satisfied that their marketing and training materials are helping their business grow. She can be contacted on 0500 800 234 (Australia wide) or at mc@digicast.com.au. The website is at www.digicast.com.au.

Write A Picture!

2009-09-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

by: Nick Smith

It can take quite a leap to get from the written word to a movie screen.

A screenplay, for all its clear descriptions of where characters are and what they say, has to work hard to meet the dramatic immediacy that we expect from films.

1. Stick To The Present Tense

Writing in the present tense helps, keeping the text direct and different from the prose you’ll find in most novels or short stories.

2. Add Sound Effects

Sound effects can be effectively replicated on the page, using onomatopoeia such as BANGS for gunshots and SCREAMS of characters in danger.

3. Keep It Tight

Keeping the whole script tight is one of the best ways to capture the in-your-face nature of a modern movie. Concise dialogue and snappy scene descriptions will help you to avoid a novel’s tone.

4. Write Pictures

Thinking visually is the most important part of the process. Writers are not always inclined to ‘talk in pictures’, creating images on the page.

By cultivating a visual eye, you can create a script that’s written to be SEEN, not just read.

Just as in any form of writing, those images will jump out at the readers and stay in their minds. Screenplays just happen to be the most image-driven of all forms of writing.

Start looking, recording dreams, taking notes.

Get hold of a camera - still, video, film, whatever you can get your hands on - and look through the viewfinder.

You don’t have to stop loving words to start thinking in pictures, so get in the habit of finding appropriate pictures.

When you’re writing your script, take every opportunity you can to tell your story using those kind of images, ones that resonate with you and your characters. If they’re relevant and contain an element that hasn’t been seen before, they’ll resonate with your readers.

After all, movies aren’t referred to as "Pictures" for nothing.

Write Strategy: Think, Believe, Attack

2009-08-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

by: Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ

Think of writing like karate...it's about DISCIPLINE.

Writing, like other forms of art, work or talent, requires discipline. It won't ever be enough that you say to yourself that you are a writer. Only when you write and write with discipline can you call yourself one. Before you can earn a black belt in karate, you have to dedicate yourself, practice and instill discipline in yourself to learn the moves and techniques.

The same goes for writing. Don't just read books. Devour them. Ray Bradbury, author of Zen in the Art of Writing, suggests books of essays, poetry, short stories, novels and even comic strips. Not only does he suggest that you read authors who write the way you hope to write, but "also read those who do not think as you think or write as you want to write, and so be stimulated in directions you might not take for many years." He continues, "don't let the snobbery of others prevent you from reading Kipling, say, while no one else is reading him."

Learn to differentiate between good writing and bad writing. Make time to write. Write even though you're in a bad mood. Put yourself in a routine. Integrate writing into your life. The goal is not to make writing dominate your life, but to make it fit in your life. Julia Cameron, in her book The Right to Write, sums it best: "Rather than being a private affair cordoned off from life as the rest of the world lives it, writing might profitably be seen as an activity best embedded in life, not divorced from it."

Believe that EVERYONE HAS A STORY -- including you.

Extraordinary things happen to ordinary people. As a writer, your job is to capture as many of these things and write them down, weave stories, and create characters that jump out of the pages of your notebook. Don't let anything escape your writer's eye, not even the way the old man tries to subtly pick his nose or the way an old lady fluffs her hair in a diner. What you can't use today, you can use tomorrow. Store these in your memory or jot them down in your notebook.

Jump in the middle of the fray. Be in the circle, not outside it. Don't be content being a mere spectator. Take a bite of everything life dishes out. Ray Bradbury wrote, "Tom Wolfe ate the world and vomited lava. Dickens dined at a different table every hour of his life. Moliere, tasting society, turned to pick up his scalpel, as did Pope and Shaw. Everywhere you look in the literary cosmos, the great ones are busy loving and hating. Have you given up this primary business as obsolete in your own writing? What fun you are missing, then. The fun of anger and disillusion, the fun of loving and being loved, of moving and being moved by this masked ball which dances us from cradle to churchyard. Life is short, misery sure, mortality certain. But on the way, in your work, why not carry those two inflated pig-bladders labeled Zest and Gusto."

Attack writing with PASSION.

The kind of writing you produce will oftentimes reflect the current state of your emotions. Be indifferent and your writing will be indifferent. Be cheerful and watch the words dance across your page.

Whenever you sit down to write, put your heart and soul in it. Write with passion. Write as if you won't live tomorrow. In her book, Writing the Wave, Elizabeth Ayres wrote: "There's one thing your writing must have to be any good at all. It must have you. Your soul, your self, your heart, your guts, your voice -- you must be on that page. In the end, you can't make the magic happen for your reader. You can only allow the miracle of 'being one with' to take place. So dare to be you. Dare to reveal yourself. Be honest, be open, be true...If you are, everything else will fall into place."

About The Author

Shery is the creator of WriteSparks! - a software that generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks! Lite for free - http://writesparks.com

How To Find Freelance Jobs - Writing About Food

2009-08-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

by: Niall Cinneide

Did you know that jobs writing about food are available? These opportunities are available in a variety of areas. Employment in these fields is an exciting concept. For many, getting their foot in the door is the most important and most challenging first step. In order to succeed, a wide range of knowledge is needed as well as a good base of experience.

These jobs are available in all sorts of media. The internet is full of postings for good quality writers in a variety of fields. Some in this field write for magazines, newspapers, or even books. Others work right online. There are several avenues a prospective writer can take.

The first step in getting into any of these, though, is getting a good base of knowledge. There are courses that can be taken to give a good base of knowledge for the food aspect of the business. But, for the writing, grammar, and compiling of the articles and pieces, you will need at least a few years of schooling. Writing is the foundation of the work you will do, after all.

To start out in freelance writing though, you need to know how to get experience.

You can take your career to the next level by expanding your knowledge, getting your experience into a portfolio, and presenting yourself to the prospective employers. Try small, local newspapers to start. Or, submit an article to a magazine asking them to review it for consideration. Present yourself to the companies you want to start with, but always keep striving for other levels of opportunity. There are hundreds of companies that are looking for a new, fresh face in writing. You’ll find them throughout the internet posting on message boards and websites. Or, you can contact all of the organizations that you would like to get your start in by sending resumes and samples of your work.

You will enjoy a career with the freelance food writer jobs that you do get. You certainly will love the opportunities that are available!

About The Author

Niall Cinneide

Visit http://www.FreelanceWritingResource.com for more Articles, Resources, News and Views about Freelance Copywriting Opportunities. Copyright © FreelanceWritingResource.com. All rights reserved. This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact.

For Beginners: 10 Ways To Prepare To Get Published

2009-08-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

by: Jill Nagle

(Skip directly to ten for the fastest shortcut!)

Like any field, excellent writing requires study, practice and mentorship. Very few successful authors ever published their first draft of their first work. Nearly all had to expend considerable effort to improve their craft. Here are some ways to prepare for that moment of publication. These tips also help keep you on your toes after publication for better and better writing results as your career develops.

1) Read, read, read in your field. You can never read too much when you’re trying to excel as a writer. Reading in your field helps you develop a discerning eye. You need this discerning eye for when you step back and look at your own work.

2) Cultivate role models. Know who the top-selling authors are in your field. Find out more about them. How did they get to where they are? Do searches in the Internet (available in most libraries-ask your librarian how to use a search engine) for information about particular authors whose careers you admire. Let your role models inspire rather than daunt you. There is no competition, only inspiration, potential teachers and opportunities for cooperation. That author you envy this year may be writing a blurb for your first novel next year.

3) Research your markets. If you want to publish in periodicals, whether literary fiction, journalistic writing, or anything else, realize publication standards serve a purpose other than to frustrate new authors.

4) Take classes. Many cities offer writing classes through community colleges or local writing groups. Online writing classes are popping up everywhere. If possible, choose a writing teacher who has published in a field you’d like to enter. Even better, find someone you already consider a mentor. Not every published author has what it takes to offer beginning writers what they need, but many do.

5) Join or start a writer’s group in your area. We teach best what we most need to learn. There is no better way to improve your own writing than to help others with theirs.

6) Find a writing buddy with whom to check in on a regular basis. The two of you can be each others’ inspiration, accountability market, guidepost and reality check. Having structure and someone to check in with may help you look forward to your otherwise lonely writing sessions.

7) Play with changing voices. Copy other writers you admire. How does that feel? Pretend you suddenly got an injection of creativity serum or I.Q. booster, then write like mad for ten minutes. What happens to the quality of your words? Is this a possible new direction for you? As creative and intelligent beings, we have so much more within us than we could ever dream.

8) Accept the reality of rewriting. Unlike other professions who get to rest on their milestones, for writers, a completed manuscript often represents a beginning. The best writing comes after lots of rewriting, even for seasoned authors. You needn’t throw any of it away, but not every sentence belongs in every work. Save the scraps, but don’t get attached to where they go, or the integrity of your project will suffer.

9) Get clear on what you want out of getting published. Many writers move forward without knowing where they want to wind up. As a teacher once told me, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” The answer to what you want out of getting published will help you determine the best route to take. And in publishing, those routes are many and varied. You can use our Twenty Questions as a self-help guide.

10) If what you want is to get published in the least amount of time, considering hiring a ghostwriter. An extremely common but rarely discussed practice, many successful authors talk to ghostwriters, who put their skills to work on an author’s behalf. Although some such ghostwriters get a cover credit, many do not, hence the “ghost” terminology. If you have more money than time or inclination to toil, ghostwriting may be the option for you. To learn more about ghostwriting, send an email to information@getpublished.com.

About The Author

You are welcome to reprint this article any time, anywhere with no further permission, and no payment, provided the following is included at the end or beginning:

Author Jill Nagle is founder and principal of GetPublished, http://www.GetPublished.com, which provides coaching, consulting, ghostwriting, classes and do-it-yourself products to emerging and published authors. Her most recent book is How to Find An Agent Who Can Sell Your Book for Top Dollar http://www.FindTheRightAgent.com.

Jill@getpublished.com

Wake Up Your Writing Spirit

2009-08-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

by: Shelley Wake

The Blogfest 2005 Writing Contest has only been running for two weeks and already the results are overwhelming. And not because we’re getting far more entries than we expected. It’s because along with entries, we’re also getting heartfelt messages from writers all over the world. I’ve run a few contests before and received quite a few entries, but I’ve never been personally emailed and thanked by so many writers.

What’s the difference with this contest? I think the main reason is that the idea actually came from writers. Even though the writers at our company work in publishing, they find it a little sad that there’s so much focus on writing what can sell instead of writing what truly matters to you. They wanted a contest that would allow people to write whatever they wanted to write.

From that idea came Blogfest, a contest designed to encourage all writers to get the project of their dreams done. Unlike most contests, we decided not to offer publication and not to pay the prize for a completed work. Instead, we decided to offer the prizes based on how much the writing project means to the writer. This is one contest that isn’t about whether or not your work can sell or about what your writing will mean to someone else. It’s about what it means to you.

To enter, we asked writers to tell us about the one thing they’ve always wanted to write and to tell us what it would mean to them to write it. Now, after only two weeks, we have an inbox full of emails from people. Entries so far have included grandparents wanting to write their life story for their grandchildren, aspiring novelists, professional writers looking for the chance to write something for themselves and not for money, and a young woman wanting to capture and preserve her mother’s family recipes.

These people have entered and then sent us an extra email just to thank us for the opportunity. They’ve told us how just writing about the project has made them so excited and full of joy. They have enthusiasm and feel delight just for thinking about finally writing. And we’ve started reading the entries and the joy is there too. As a publisher, I’m used to reading submissions and contest entries. It’s often a joy but there’s rarely as much life as there is in these submissions. Reading them, I can feel that people have that spark of excitement that is only motivated by something much greater than money or even publication. It’s the joy of doing what your heart’s always wanted to do.

There is more to writing than publication and money and this competition is bringing out the real spirit of writing.

My message to all writers is to think about what matters to them. Think about that one thing you’ve always dreamed of writing. I challenge you to write down what completing that project would mean to you. If you feel that spark, I challenge you to commit to your project and get it written. Not because you can make money from it, but because it means something to you.

This contest has made me see more clearly than ever that there is far more to writing than making money. There will only be a few winners to Blogfest, and choosing them is going to be the toughest job we do all year. But I hope this idea can reach further than that. I hope all writers will listen to their hearts and complete their projects. I hope that just thinking about actually doing it will wake up that writing spirit that is in so many people.

About The Author

Shelley Wake is one of the organizers of Blogfest 2005 and the manager and editor of Writing Stuff. http://www.writingstuff.com.

Succeeding in the Business of Freelance Writing

2009-08-13T02:35:00.000-07:00

by: Amber McNaught

Something that's always surprised me about the freelance writing business is just how many writers there are out there who don't seem to realize that they're running a business.

Succeeding in the Business of Freelance Writing

Of the freelance writers who send quotes to prospective employers through my website, http://www.WritingWorld.org, it never fails to surprise me just how many make no effort whatsoever to try and "sell" themselves. Some simply post a quote and nothing else: no information about themselves, no indication about their skills and experience, nothing. Others post a quote with a short message saying, "I don't know what a 'search engine optimized article' is, but please pick me anyway", or "I have no experience in this, but hopefully I'll be able to do it."

Needless to say, the writers who don't bother to sell themselves never get the gigs. So why don't they make the effort? Because they fail to realize that they're running a business.

Some – not all, but some – of the freelance writers we encounter seem to have somehow picked up the idea that all they have to do to succeed is to be good at writing. Unfortunately, it's not quite as simple as that: to really succeed as a freelance writer, you have to be good at selling yourself. And you have to be aware that you're running a business.

Marketing Your Freelance Writing Business Online

If you really want to run a successful freelance writing business, think about getting a website. Most businesses these days have websites: they're the ideal way for customers to find you, read more about your services and get in touch.

This is another area, however, where a lot of freelance writers fail. Because not just any old website will do. Sure, there are some very professional looking websites out there, run by freelance writers – but there are just as many sites which seem designed to frighten away clients rather than attract them. Amateurish design, tacky animations, clashing colors and even, God-forbid, music, are all the sign of the amateur freelance site.

Getting Your Freelance Writing Website Up and Running

While it's tempting to try and put together a website yourself, unless you have a really sound grasp of website design, this tactic can really backfire. An amateurish website tells your visitors that you're an amateur business, and that you don't have enough faith in the viability of your business to invest in a professional website. All of these things are red flags to clients, who'll go elsewhere in a heartbeat.

Get yourself a professionally designed website – and if your budget can't stretch to an entire website, consider signing up for a personal profile at WritingWorld.org, where for only $25 per year you get your own page, complete with downloadable resume, writing samples and client testimonials.

Your WritingWorld.org profile also gives you your own WritingWorld URL, which you can give to prospective clients, or even market in the same way you would promote your own website, using pay per click ads or other methods.

About The Author

Amber McNaught is the owner of http://www.WritingWorld.org, where a one-page personal profile costs only $25 per year.

Amber also runs Hot Igloo Productions Ltd, which offers affordable website design: visit http://www.hotigloo.co.uk.

amber@hotigloo.co.uk

How To Make Real Money From Writing?

2009-08-13T02:30:00.000-07:00

by: Linda Correli

The significance of writing skills is emphasized far and wide over and over again. Writing skills are called mandatory, indispensable, crucial and drastic ability, a ticket to the thriving future of the person.

The overwhelming majority of instructors and employers which were surveyed recently stressed that writing skills are critical both for academic and career success. The survey carried by Lin Grensing revealed that 79 percent of respondent executives cited writing as one of the most neglected skills in the business world, yet one of the most important to productivity. They also admitted that approximately 80 percent of their employees at all levels need to improve their writing skills.

To master good writing skills means not only to become well-educated and competent person, but as well taps you into the wealth of lucrative opportunities. It exactly means that you can turn your gift of eloquence into sideline and perhaps steady income. The money earned from writing can become a good support for you, so you can spend them on different insignificant trinkets, which will significantly reduce your general outcome.

Practically anyone can make fortune writing and selling simple information. The only question is how to market your skills for profit-making results. The best advice for those who are willing to earn extra money and have the ability to express their ideas coherently is turning their writing skills into regular decent income and enjoining the independence and freedom everyone can earn in addition to the tidy sums of money.

Here are some easy-to-follow techniques and tested principles, which will reveal you how to make money from writing immediately and on regular basis. So let’s single out top 7 winning principles of how to make money from writing.

P1. Become a freelance writer. Perhaps someone thinks that making money from freelance writing is a lottery and he’ll never enter the game without having a famous name. Indeed when you take the risks of freelance writing you don’t jeopardy really. If it is your subsidiary income you can afford yourself to try making some extra money. First, you work at home and spend very little time to get started. In any case you can indemnify yourself from the unrequited labor by specifying all the details with the client preliminary, checking up the reliability of the company or client you are dealing with or solicit for the prepaid part of compensation for your work.

P2. Figure out the markets that pay and might be interesting in something you are willing and able to write. Always remember that whether you have yen writing about evolution and reproduction of mollusks or about data communications there is an audience hungry for your articles. Thus, the best thing the newcomers can do is to search for the topics which enjoy the popularity of the audience. Hence, you should try to swim with the current and write the articles which are in demand.

P3. You can start selling your services through the service agency, so that to leave your resume and wait for the call. Large and even small companies often apply to such agencies looking for the writers. It can be a good chance for you to start and develop a circle of potential clients.

P4. When you build up a vast network of clients, you can cut out the agencies and offer your services to the clients before the agencies do.

P5. You can query the editors and offer them an interesting article idea you think you can write for them. Also you can suggest the editors articles which you have already written and which are related to the subject-matter of their journal, magazine or bulletin, so that to have a chance that your article will be published. Compose press-releases, short stories or reviews and submit them to the targeted publications.

P6. You can write postcards both humor and verse for sure if you feel you can do it and suggest them for card publishers. One more winning and quick strategy is slogan writing. It takes minimum time, but brings good awards. So you can offer your slogans to the advertising agencies and become their permanent slogan writer in case if your slogans really work.

P7. Writing and selling jokes is not only money making, but pleasant and fun strategy of earning extra cash. You can compose short comedy material, radio comedy sketches and scripts for comedians, radio or TV.

With these tested principles you will make big dividends from your part-time writing. As well as making money you’ll be having fun, socializing, meeting new people and boosting your self-confidence and self-esteem. And if you wish, you’ll be well on your way to a full-time career as a well-paid freelance writer.

Technical Writing in India

2009-08-13T02:23:00.000-07:00

by: Nithya K

Technical Writing in India: Is it as good as anywhere else?

Technical Writing generally translates to a piece of writing that conjures up an image in the mind of a layman about any device or software application.

In other words, the job profile of a technical writer involves writing and designing user guides, brochures and white papers for a plethora of products.

Though these procedures are not new, their categorisation under the term “Technical Writing” is quite recent. The latest entrant in the software field is not a whiz kid from IIT, but might be a journalist or an English literature graduate. This option is here to stay, what with India slowly accepting the prospect of technical writing as a full-fledged career at par with more popular contenders.

Now, the Indian technical writing scenario would seem very bleak for an onlooker who doesn’t delve deeper into the layers. This field was practically unknown till the 1990s. Tata Consultancy Services was a pioneer in creating a need for the current crop of technical wordsmiths.

Over a decade old, this profession does not have many takers, but does boast of a strong following in the various metros. In Bangalore the number is believed to be 500-600. Even by an optimistic view, the number of technical writers across the nation would be approximately 6000. These statistics prove that, corporate bosses and the software industry as a whole recognized the need for a specialized documentation team very lately.

The technical writing job has long come out of the confines of being a strict documentation-related activity. In some organisations, technical writers are asked to pitch in for test case development, product testing, creating API code, creating java documentation etc.

More recently, a technical writer has grown to don the garb of a graphic designer, web-content developer etc. Since a technical background is not a prerequisite for a technical writer, many writers foray into the field even with a Humanities background.

The one and only criterion, going by the current Indian standards, would be a firm grasp over the Queen’s language and a strong analytical mind. The prevalent need, is however to meet International standards in English usage. US companies recognise the need for a trained technical writer and that adds to the hiring and training impetus for technical documentators.

The US provides a lot of scope and opportunities for training and specialized study of the subject. In comparison, Indian universities shy away from offering unconventional and lesser-known courses aka Technical writing. The technical writers, who already exist in the industry having created a golden niche, are fast emerging as the “trainers” for this career option. Some of the Indian universities like the Calicut University and the Mumbai University have woken up to this profession and have included the subject in their curricula.

This trend, may give the Technical Writing profession the impetus it requires. The final recruiters, Corporates, MNCs need to step in boldly to hire and provide customized training to fresh technical writers.

This might beckon the golden dawn for Technical Writing in India!

About The Author

Nithya K is a India-based writer who specializes in writing fiction and has tremendous interest in writing non-fiction related to science, technology and other genre. She is also experienced in creating technical documentation. Basically a BE graduate with an MBA degree, her main focus is still writing. Nithya is also interested in Ghost writing of books and articles in the areas of business writing, technical writing, science and technology writing and fiction.

The author can be contacted at tutor19us@yahoo.com and also invites readers to visit her webpage at www.geocities.com/tutor19us/index.html
nithyakalyani_303@yahoo.com

Seven Secrets Of Highly Creative Writers

2009-08-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

by: Steven Barnes

The Lifewriting™ approach to your writing career demands a relatively high creative output. It isn’t designed to coddle people who nurse a single story for years before sending it out.

But students often protest that they simply don’t come up with many good ideas, and that the ideas they do generate are appropriate for novels.

In my opinion, basic ideas have no intrinsic length. The TREATMENT of an idea has an intrinsic length. The Civil War can be treated in a one-page story, on in a library of books. It all depends on the skill and intent of the writer.

Let me tell you a story:

When I was in college, I knew a woman who wanted to be a writer. She told me that she was working on a short story, and I said “great.” A few weeks later, I asked her how the story was going. She said “It’s getting a little long—I think it’s a novella.”

“Great!” I said.

A couple of months later, I asked her how the novella was going. “Well, it’s getting a little long, I think it’s a novel!”

“Wow!” I said, although a warning bell was tinkling at the back of my mind. A couple of years later, I asked her how the novel was going.

“Well, it seems to be turning into a trilogy,” she said.

Hmm. I made optimistic sounds, and left it at that.

A decade later, I was traveling on the East Coast, and knew I’d be passing the town where this lady lived. My wife and I stopped in to visit. Just because I have a masochistic streak, I asked how the trilogy was going.

There was a pause. Then, sheepishly she said, “I got tired of it, and put it away. But just a couple of months ago I started working on a new story. It’s good! But” she said, as I knew she would, “it seems to be getting a little long…”

That is so sad. My friend had encountered one of the stealthiest forms of writer’s block: to be able to write, but not be able to finish and submit. It serves the same purpose to an insecure subconscious: it prevents you from suffering rejection.

After all, the idea is so bright and appealing when it enters your mind! The process of actually slogging your way through multiple drafts can be a joy-killer.

Short stories are a perfect means to combat this. A short piece employs all the same basic tools that will be used in a novel, with a crucial difference. In the time it takes you to write a hundred thousand word novel, you can write twenty to forty short stories, and you’ll learn vastly more about your craft in the process.

Also, because you are going through the complete arc of generating story, planning, researching, writing rough draft, polishing, and submitting, you find out where your technical and psychological weaknesses lie.

And yet another advantage: if you write a story a week, or every other week, you don’t need to cling desperately to an idea, thinking it is the only good idea you’ll ever have.

But how to generate ideas? Here are some suggestions:

1) Keep a dream diary. A little digital or tape recorder at the bedside works great for this. Just tell yourself before sleep that you will briefly awaken after a dream and dictate the essence. In the morning, transcribe.

2) Search the newspaper. Make an exercise of looking through the various sections of the paper, looking for odd or interesting stories. Imagine how it would be to be the people caught up in these situations. What story would capture the essence of their lives?

3) Read books and watch movies. Imagine grafting the end of one film to the beginning of another. When a book falls apart, come up with a better ending—and write it.

4) Create modern versions of favorite old fairy tales. Have fun with this—remember, it’s just practice!

5) At the next family reunion or gathering, get the old folks to talk about their youthful days.

6) Go to a playground and watch children playing. Really notice the power games, the sharing, the crying, the laughter, the struggles and triumphs. Every single child, every day, has a story to tell.

7) Mine your own life. Learning to walk, to talk, to drive, to win, to lose. Your first fight, your first kiss, your first job, the first time you got fired.

There is really no end to the possibility. All you need is a belief in your goals, and the recognition that any individual story is just a step along the way—not some soul-searing win-or-lose proposition.

Have fun!

About The Author

NY Times bestselling writer Steven Barnes has lectured on storytelling and human consciousness at UCLA, Seattle University, the Maui Writer's Conference, and Mensa. He created the Lifewriting™ high-performance system for writers and readers. Learn more at http://www.lifewriting.biz and http://www.lifewrite.com.

My Favorite Expert Advice on Writing the Stories of Our Lives, Gleaned From My Favorite Books on the Subject

2009-08-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

by: Lisa J. Lehr

This outline is adapted from a handout I give to my lifewriting students. The points made here apply to writing in general as well as to writing our life stories in particular.

I. Why should we write?

A. Frank McCourt in Writer’s Digest, Feb. ’99, p. 19: “But now I realize that everyone has a story. Nothing is significant until you make it significant. It’s not what happens to you, but how you look at it.”

B. Frank P. Thomas, How to Write the Story of Your Life: “God created people because He loves stories.” “Humans are happiest when we are creating.” There is a revival of activity today in search of our roots and family history.

C. Strunk & White, The Elements of Style: Writing is a way to go about thinking.

D. Rick DeMarinis, The Art and Craft of the Short Story: Storytelling is how we make sense of the world.

E. Robin Hemley, Turning Life Into Fiction: Writing is a discovery process. Part of the fun is learning why you wrote what you wrote.

F. Writer’s Digest, Aug. ’00, pp. 20-21: You might find that the greatest rewards of writing…evolve during the process of bringing your ideas to the page. As you reveal more of yourself on the page, you might notice patterns in the way you think, behave, react to people and situations. This self-awareness can help you make better decisions, understand difficult situations, sort through feelings. It is a powerful way to find answers to some of your most difficult questions. And it can remind you that there are no easy answers—this is the root of wisdom. Life becomes richer, observations and senses sharper.

G. DeMarinis: Anyone will tell you his or her life story, given a little encouragement. It’s the human thing to do.

II. Why should we write well?

A. DeMarinis: Poor writing can falsify experience.

B. Various sources: Writing is rewriting. Craft moves from the back of the mind to the front during rewriting. Allow the first draft to be crude and ill formed.

C. DeMarinis: Say everything that needs to be said in as few words as possible.

D. Aristotle: “the proper and special name of a thing.”

E. Hemley: Words shape the way we view an event.

F. DeMarinis: Be conscious of word selection. Develop an ear for language. The sounds in a sentence can produce three-dimensional images in the mind.

III. Regarding truth, and the accuracy of our memories

A. P.D. James, in Reader’s Digest: “Memory is a device for forgetting as well as remembering. To that extent, every autobiography is a work of fiction, and every work of fiction is an autobiography.”

B. Robert Olmstead, Elements of the Writing Craft: Memoir is a narrative composed from personal experience. It depends on memory, which is somewhere between truth and how the writer sees the truth. Setting in a memoir is intensely personal and emotional.

C. DeMarinis: Story is always biased. Hidden in the fiction is need, and need is always truthful. We need sympathy and approval, and want to be understood.

D. The Write Stuff (a compilation): Memory is what people are made of. What’s remembered is never the event. Memory is faulty.

E. Hemley: What you have chosen to tell, and how, and what you have chosen not to tell reveal what kind of writer you are.

F. Hemley: Memory plays tricks. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. It’s more important for an event to work than to be true.

G. Tom Chiarella, Writing Dialog: Stating what literally happened is less important than interpretation of those events.

H. Olmstead: What makes an experience important?

I. Marcia Golub, I’d Rather Be Writing: Old memories are mysterious. A lot of what gives them narrative drive is trying to figure them out. Of everything that happened during childhood, why do we remember these things?

J. Dwight V. Swain, Creating Characters: How to Build Story People: It’s not the experience that creates the trauma, but the way the character reacts to it. (If you’re writing your life story, that’s you.)

K. Hemley: What’s most powerful is often what you most want to hide.

L. Hemley: Dig deeper—try to understand why a particular event stands out.

M. Hemley: Distance from a place enables us to see it more clearly. What you remember is what’s most important to you…the feeling it gave you. Description of a place should be anchored in the character’s consciousness; it says as much about the character as about the place.

N. Stephen Wilbers, Keys to Great Writing: “Given that all writing is to a degree fictitious—…it can only represent reality…use the elements of artifice to your advantage.”

O. Pablo Picasso: “Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.”

IV. Getting started

A. William Zinsser, On Writing Well: Believe in the validity of your life!

B. DeMarinis: The very act of writing sentences produces more sentences. This sometimes leads to inspiration.

C. Hemley: ordering real life takes a lot of imagination and understanding.

D. Writer’s Digest, Feb. ’99: Avoid chronology as an organizing principle. Instead, free-list key images.

E. Opening should be “crisp and economical” to grab the reader.

V. See my related article, “My Favorite Errors to Correct (Don’t make these mistakes, and your writing will rise above most other writing).” Happy writing!

About The Author

Lisa J. Lehr is a freelance writer and editor with a specialty in business and marketing communications. She holds a biology degree and has worked in a variety of fields, including the pharmaceutical industry and teaching, and has a related interest in personal history. She is also a graduate of American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI), America’s leading course on copywriting. Contact Lisa J. Lehr Copywriting www.ljlcopywriting.com, Lisa@ljlcopywriting.com for help with your writing needs.

The Write Habit: How to Strengthen Your Writing Muscle

2009-08-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

by: Katey Coffing, Ph.D.

Writing is a muscle that needs exercise to stay in shape.

I realized how true that saying is when I took what I called "a well-earned break" after I finished my first novel. The last few days of writing that novel felt as sweet as whipped cream--I was in a writing groove, humming along. I figured I'd take a little hiatus for a few days, then start my second book. No problem.

Those few days stretched into a week. Soon two more weeks wandered by and thumbed their noses at me. I felt guilty every time I passed my PowerBook. Then I began to avoid the computer altogether, a beautifully self-defeating habit.

Finally, twitching with dread after more than a month away, I sat down at the screen and began my next novel. Trying to write after that time away was torture. My neglected writing muscle had become flabby and whiny. It protested my sudden demands and resented being drafted to work.

For many people, the key to productivity is making writing a habit. Consistent writing breeds easier writing. If that's true for you, create a new habit.

Make a commitment to a certain amount of writing every day--a length of time or a number of words or pages to reach before you lift your butt off your chair. Each day when you've reached your goal, do something nice for yourself.

One of my published clients who loves email has chosen to write five pages each weekday before she can log in. She made getting her email a reward for completing her writing goals, and every time she slows down with her writing she remembers how much she wants to read her newsgroups and see her friends' replies. That spurs her to complete her pages, and she feels doubly triumphant when she hears "you've got mail!"

Is email not a good enough carrot for you? Find one that is, then earn it. Setting goals and rewards that make you want to keep writing create a great habit that's win/win.

Write away!

About The Author

Katey Coffing, Ph.D. is a novelist and book coach who helps women delight in writing (and finishing!) their books. Visit her at http://www.Women-Ink.com/.

To receive additional articles and tips for women writers, subscribe to Katey's ezine, The Write Calling, at http://www.Women-Ink.com/the-write-calling.htm.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? Please do, as long as you include the above short bio and blurb with it. (A short note to Katey to let her know would be appreciated! Contact her at https://www.hform.com/form.cgi?1717945)

How To Write A Research Paper

2009-07-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

by: Fawad Imam

Introduction

Writing skills are essential for succeeding in high school, college, and at a job. Writing is not just an end result, but also a process that helps us develop our ideas and think logically. Begin by brainstorming topics, collecting information, taking a lot of notes, and asking a lot of questions. Keep your notes and sources organized as you go.

When developing a topic,one should look for patterns and relationships, try to draw conclusions, try discussing one's ideas with classmates, teachers and parents. A new os diffrent perspective can help shake up ones thinking.

How to get Started

The first step towards writing a quality research paper is to organize what is to be written. It is always nice to develop an outline to help to stay on track as we write, identifying the main points and what is to be the conclusion. The introduction should give your reader an idea of the essay's intent, including a basic statement of what the essay will discuss. One should always keep the basic outline of a simple easy first and follow it , further changes can be made as required but the basic layout is followed always. The following are the parts of the basic layout of an essay or a research paper:

The Introduction
The Body
The Conclusion

The introduction should give the reader an idea of the essay's or papers intent, including a basic statement of what the essay will discuss. The body presents the evidence that supports the writers idea. Here concrete examples should be used and generalities should be avoided as much as possible. The conclusion should summarize and make sense of the evidence presented by the writer in the body (The Keys to Effective Writing, 2005).

These are the steps to be followed before writing any kind of paper or essay. After these basic guidelines are followed ammendments can be made according to the nature of the research paper and according to the different writing styles. Writing College research papers

College courses demand many different kinds of writing that employ a variety of strategies for different audiences. During college, it may be required to write long essays or short answers in response to examination questions or one may be asked to keep a journal, write a lab report, and document the process one uses to perform research. College writing or writing college research papers, also called academic writing, is assigned to teach the critical thinking and writing skills needed to communicate in classes and in the workplace. The quality of one's writing depends on the quality of the thinking one does about his topic or his assignment.

The whole writing process is divided into three steps namely prewriting, writing, and rewriting or revising phases.

Prewriting: In the prewriting phase one ponders over the questions like what he has to write about, what are his feelings about the topic to be written, how is the topic to be approached, how to organize the materials and the audience who will be reading the paper.
Writing: In this phase the plan is implemented by working out the details and fine-tuning thoughts.
Rewriting: In the phase of rewriting or revising, the material or paper written is reviewed and techniques to for improving it are applied.

During these steps, there are some phases, which also take place before the final draft of the research paper is ready. The first phase would be understanding the assignment or research topic, which has been explained as prewriting earlier. Understanding the assignment or the research topic includes thinking over the fact that what kind of research topic it is and what is the main purpose of the research topic. Then in this context comes the issue of using systematic techniques such as the use of classic strategies, these strategies are ways to develop or organize a research paper, these include definition, division and classification, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, and process analysis.

Another important factor is looking at the topic from a multiple perspective, when a topic is viewed from multiple points of view; relationships which have not occurred before are visible. This approach invites the writer to look at the topic as an entity, as a process or a part of a process, and as a system or part of a system (The Writing Process, 2005).

Doing exploratory research is included here with the prewriting techniques because library research often is a way to generate ideas. As we review the literature on a subject or read in a particular area, we may note ideas that will help us get started with the writing. Analysis, the basis of many other strategies, is the process of breaking something into its parts and putting the parts back together so that one can better understand the whole. When we focus on understanding something better by comparing and contrasting it to something else, we identify and analyze the similarities and differences. Synthesizing information, all the opinions and research in support of the thesis or research paper are incorporated together. The relevant facts, statistics, expert opinion, and whatever can directly be observed with your own opinion and conclusions to persuade the audience that the thesis is correct is integrated. Synthesis is used in supporting the thesis and assembling the paper. In applying the strategy of evaluation after synthesis, first, the criteria to be used to evaluate the subject will be established and then applied to the specific parts of the subject that is being judged, and conclusions would be drawn that whether it meets the criteria.

The final draft is what we hand in as the completed paper. Before turning in the final draft, we should read what we have written all the way through at least once more. a black pen on the final paper. Choppy sentences, poor or nonexistent transitions between paragraphs, grammar and spelling errors, and other characteristics of a first draft should all disappear

About The Author

Fawad Imam works as a staff writer for Term Papers Corner http://www.termpaperscorner.com They Provide high quality custom term paper http://www.termpaperscorner.com/custom_term_paper.html, custom research paper http://www.termpaperscorner.com/college-term-paper.html, custom essay and thesis writing service to students and professionals.

Article Writing Mistakes - 3 Traps For Writers to Avoid

2009-03-05T22:03:00.000-08:00

By Fabian Tan

Most article writing experts encourage you to avoid being general by picking up a topic that is wide in scope. Marketing strategy is a wide subject on which tomes have been written. If the subject you are writing is highly conceptual, display its practical validity by applying the concept or showing cases where the concept has been put to use.

1. Specificity

You need to touch on a specific aspect of a subject and exploring its use in the real world. Lack of specificity makes the article appear pedantic and unrelated to the realistic aspects of the subject. Even people who are interested in reading conceptual information will lose interest if the article is long winded and does not home in on a subject.

2. Anecdote usage

The use of anecdotes can be tricky. Article writing tips bring up the need to carefully gauge whether the anecdote is related to the body of the article. Anecdotes are a useful way to garner interest in an article but if it does not lead the reader to continue reading what is written, the reader's interest is lost.

3. Lack of examples

Use live examples that display the practical use of the concept. The absence of live examples gives the reader an impression that the writer is either not aware of where the concept is in use or that the concept is of little practical value. Even if the article is about a concept that has yet to see the light of day, it should tell the reader about the anticipated uses and likely constraints in its use.

Fabian Tan is a well-known Internet Marketing expert and the author of the popular 59-page Report:

"Murder Your Job: How To Build Cash Sucking Autopilot Businesses In 30 Days Or Less!"

Head over to http://www.MurderYourJob.com to get your FREE copy now!

Also, quickly download his FREE "Explosive Traffic System" report that shows you how to generate 10,000+ unique visitors per month at no cost! => http://www.ExplosiveTrafficSystem.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fabian_Tan

Article Writing - 4 Easy Tips to Help You to Write Well

2009-03-05T21:56:00.000-08:00

By Angela Booth

Writing articles is a great way to make money online, and it can be very profitable. But how do you write well, so that your articles get read? Here are four tips to help you to write well.

1. Use Mind Maps

Mind maps are a powerful tool to help you to improve your writing. When you create a mind map before you start writing, you'll ensure that your articles flow logically. All writing tends to morph as you write. Glancing at your mind map occasionally ensures that you stay on track.

2. Your First Draft Is Your "Anything" Draft

Professional writers never worry about their writing. They know that anything they write can be fixed. They know that it's just a matter of writing, and shaping that writing, until the writing does what they want it to do. Your confidence in writing articles will grow with every article you write, and so will your ability.

Therefore, accept whatever comes for your first draft. It's only a draft, so write quickly, and refuse to edit until you've completed the draft.

3. Consider Your Audience and the Response You Want

Before you start to write, consider your reader. What do you want him or her to do as a result of reading your article?

If you're using an article for article marketing for example, you want your readers to click the links in the resource box. The more relevant your article is to those readers, the more clicks you will get. In addition, if you've targeted your audience carefully, the readers will do what you want them to do when they get to the landing page that they clicked to from the resource box.

4. Separate Writing and Editing

Writing and editing your writing require two completely different mind states. Writing is creative, while editing is logical. Writing articles in batches, and then editing them on another day, ensures maximum productivity. Try it.

Discover how easy it is to make money writing articles with Angela Booth's "Sell Your Writing Online NOW" Training Program at http://sellwritingnow.com/Home/training.html The program is fun and profitable too. There's a full year of lessons and assignments:"Sell Your Writing Online NOW" helps you to earn while you learn, even as a brand new writer.

For free weekly writing tips sent to your Inbox, subscribe to Angela's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine at http://www.freelancewritingezine.com/ and receive "Write And Sell Your Writing: The Power-Write Report" immediately.

How You Can Improve Your Songwriting Skill

2009-02-28T01:05:00.000-08:00

by: Mantius Cazaubon

Are you a beginning songwriter who strives towards writing songs that become hits? Do you need to know how you can improve your songwriting skill?

It's not too complicated. Don't try to re-invent the wheel. As far as I'm concerned the best way to improve your songwriting is to study what hit songwriters do. Forget about the mediocre stuff and learn from the leaders in the songwriting and music industry. Study what works.

As a songwriter who has written quite a few number one songs in my country, one thing that has helped me and continues to help me is the radio. I listen to the radio all the time so I know what type of song is happening. I know what people like, what they want to hear, and what is current. This gives me a good idea of what kind of song I should write to target a particular market.

When you listen to the radio, take notes on what hit songs have in common. Study the structure of these songs. What tempo seems to work? Are the chord progressions complicated or are the songs based mainly on riffs? What kind of chords are used? That way you can write songs that appeal to today's audience. No matter how good your song is, if it sounds like something that would be better suited to ten or twenty years ago, you can forget it.

It is a shame how some songwriters treat the songwriting craft. I'm sorry, but if you do not spend time at developing your craft you are bound to fail. I don't care if it's baseball or dancing, those people who come out and top are the very same ones who practice everyday. Those who spend years at perfecting their craft. So learn form those who were there before you. Study and write songs everyday. Lay hold of songwriting books, get songwriting software, do anything to take you to the next level.

To improve, a songwriter needs to become more knowledgeable everyday. The more things you know about, and the more you can relate to different aspects of everyday life, the better for you. I never heard of a novelist who didn't read constantly. The same applies to songwriting and great songwriters. You must put in a lot of work if you want to excel.

Nothing comes easy in life. Work, work, and work some more. Pattern your writing after what has been proven to work, but never copy. Do it everyday and reap the rewards.

About The Author

Mantius Cazaubon offers lots of valuable songwriting tips, techniques, suggestions and advice on his site www.ultimatesongwriting.com. Visit www.ultimatesongwriting.com for the ultimate truth about lyric writing and songwriting.

Make Money as a Ghost Food Writer

2009-02-23T19:01:00.000-08:00

by: Pamela White

Like high pay? Have self-confidence? Know food; write well? Ghostwriting may be a career move for motivated writers who are willing to write for high pay but no credit or byline.

Simply put, a ghostwriter is someone who writes a book, speech, article or editorial that will be published under someone else’s name. Celebrity autobiographies are usually written by ghostwriters and established novelists have been known to supply the plot and outline to a ghostwriter who takes the book the rest of the way to publication.

People who need ghostwriters are those who have a recognizable name or business and either cannot write well enough for publication, or do not have the time to write for publication. In a ghostwriting foodie’s dream, a celebrity chef will give the idea, notes, outlines and rough drafts to the writer who will write, rewrite, research, interview and edit the manuscript heading to a publisher.

The celebrity chef’s name and photo will grace the book cover. Her recipes and tips, and the ability to get her book in bookstores everywhere as well as the cachet to get booked on Oprah will get the book published and marketed.

What’s in it for the ghost writer? Anywhere from $100 per finished page to a split of the royalties.

Ghostwriters need to keep their connection with their work confidential, and have a willingness to work around the client’s travel and work schedules. As in every writing assignment food writers win, strong writing and editing skills are essential. Most ghostwritten books are promoted as written by the client, so a strong ego able to withstand reading the praise of the client’s writing is also a must.

When looking for ghost food writing work, be cautious with the auction sites. Neophytes bid low for jobs; you don’t want to bid a book that nets you only $1 a page. Instead, visit sites that list jobs – writersweekly.com, writing-world.com, craigslist.com – or find an editorial firm that does ghost writing and see if they are hiring out any work.

Break into ghost food writing by contacting trade magazines with your writing samples. Dazzle them with your writing and the editors are likely to match you with an executive chef or restaurateur who can’t write but will bring prestige to the magazine.

Food writers can turn their culinary knowledge into ghost writing by looking for jobs ghostwriting cookbooks for famous chefs, penning speeches for food executives, writing trade articles for food research scientists, blogging for a local culinary artist, and creating “autobiographies” for owners of food manufacturing firms and Food Network hosts. Keep working behind the scenes and you can build up a lucrative career as a ghost food writer.

About The Author

Pamela White is the publisher of Food Writing, an online ezine and the author of Fabjob.com's Guide to Becoming a Food Writer . She teaches an 8-week online food writing class to novices through published authors . Visit her at http://www.food-writing.com.

Writing Help

2009-02-19T17:19:00.000-08:00

by: Jack Thompson

Whether you are working for a small business, large corporation, or are a student, there are numerous sources that you can turn to for help with writing. Businesses need to be able to effectively communicate with their customers, their employees and their potential customers. Effective verbal communication is equally important, but nonverbal communication in the form of copy writing, article writing, press release writing, and more requires a certain level of expertise and experience. The typical small business wants to focus their efforts on their core business activities without spending too much time on projects that can easily be outsourced to consultants or freelance professionals. Many small businesses turn to freelancers to help them save time and money. For example, a certified public accountant opened his own accounting practice after working in another accounting firm for the last ten years. One of the ways he decided to search for new clients was to embark on an advertising and promotional campaign. Although some of his previous clients followed him to his new practice, he wanted to increase the number of accounts he currently handled. These accounts included various individuals and small businesses from around the town. Rather than hire new employees or handle the projects himself, he decided to hire a consultant through a freelance web site to work on copy writing for a local newspaper ad campaign as well as to help with press releases and company news distribution. By outsourcing these non-core business activities to an independent consultant, he is able to save himself time and money and also gets the expertise of an established professional who specializes in the types of writing that he needs assistance with. He decides to list his writing projects in a freelance marketplace and receives bids from independent consultants and freelance writers. He was able to choose a service provider based on factors related to cost, the service provider’s experience, references, and previous feedback from clients. All small businesses have a decision to make about whether to outsource certain projects or to complete the work in house. Using economics as a deciding factor, it makes sense economically for businesses to outsource writing projects when the projects are non-core business activities that do not contribute to the company’s bottom line.

Small businesses also need to be able to effectively communicate with their current customers. Some of the more effective ways to get help writing effective communication for current customers involve using tools such as newsletters, email lists, and articles written by outsourced consultants. Newsletters are very effective ways to keep customers informed of current events and happenings within the company. They also offer you the opportunity to gain new clients as the newsletter gets passed around and is often seen by more than one person during its life cycle. It makes sense and is a smart move to outsource corporate communications instead of keeping it in-house. Hiring a separate professional will save your business money and time. For less than the cost of hiring a full time employee, and because it will contribute to allowing more concentration on the activities that will earn your business money, contracting with a consultant or freelancer for your corporate communications (writing of press releases to distribute company news, getting publicity through pieces in newspapers and magazines, and getting help writing newsletters or articles) simply makes sense. An expert in the field who has amassed many years of experience with business writing, persuasive writing, and copy writing in addition to having experience writing press releases, articles, essays, and possibly academic or technical research and term papers will have a lot to offer you and your business.

Large corporations use writing to effectively communicate on all levels of business. Business writing and corporate communications are essential elements that keep the public informed and give companies their corporate image. A company’s image, or its publicly perceived notion of credibility and reliability is extremely important to its bottom line. For example, upon its introduction many years ago an American car company introduced a car known as the “Nova”. After some time, it was discovered that the car was not selling well in many Spanish speaking countries. Because in Spanish, “No va” translates to “doesn’t go”, the car sales in these countries were dismal. Effective corporate communication can have far reaching effect. Ineffective corporate communication can result in lower sales as shown in the car sales example. Large corporations also need to be effective communicators with their current employees. Internal corporate communications are equally important and keep your employees abreast of company accomplishments, events and human resource issues.

Finally, students also need to be able to write effectively as well. Writing assignments can include writing essays, writing term papers, report writing, and thesis writing not to mention having to demonstrate writing ability in other subjects outside of English class. For example, law students need to be able to write not only persuasive but argumentative writing as well. Foreign language students need to be able to translate into their native language and then back again. Science and technology students need to be able to demonstrate scientific writing ability. Taking writing tips from college professors that teach correct formatting and usage, including APA style, and improving your proofreading and editing skills will result in quality writing assignments. For the student that is looking for writing help and homework assistance for their assignments, freelance marketplaces that allow you to hire a consultant or tutor could be a productive and time saving solution.

From a freelance or independent consultant’s standpoint, marketing writing skills to potential service buyers is important to keeping any consulting business thriving. Registering with freelance marketplaces will enable you to showcase your writing skills, talents and abilities. Previous experience with all kinds of writing ranging from grant writing, fiction writing and interactive writing to writing short stories, articles and ebooks or even technical pieces, in addition to all forms of business writing will enable you to prove your varied background and skills. All of which can be showcased in your freelance marketplace profile. Creating and managing a profile is important to make you stand out from the crowd of freelance writers competing for new writing projects. All in all, those looking for writing help can find a vast array of resources in the form of consultants who are more than willing to lend a helping hand.

About The Author

Jack Thompson is a freelance writer, business consultant and entrepreneur. He has helped thousands of individuals and businesses across the world realize the benefits of outsourcing. Independent consultants, freelance service providers, and companies looking to outsource service projects can post or bid on projects at www.smartylance.com.

Where to Find Writing Jobs Online

2009-02-19T17:16:00.000-08:00

by: Abdallah Khamis Abdallah

A freelance writer’s best resource of finding jobs online are Job boards or sites. While some boards are geared specifically to the freelancer, many others also list other type of jobs.

Some job boards allow freelancers to register their profiles and credentials for prospective employers to peruse, others allow resumes and classified ads to be posted. Other sites such as www.elance.com enable employers to post jobs and freelancers to bid fees for the jobs. The site earns a place for any jobs awarded. There are other sites similar to www.elance.com such as www.contractedwork.com.

There are many writing job boards online and it is not that difficult to discover them. Some Jobs boards provide links to other job sites and the list could be a bit long.

Searching through the major search engines can also provide an exhaustive list of writing jobs. Use key words such as:

Freelance writing Jobs boards
Writers Wanted
Writing Jobs
Copywriting Jobs
Technical writing Jobs
Submission guidelines.

To make your task of searching for writing jobs online, we have provided you with the following list of sites. We hope you will find what you want.

If you have checked the above sites a number of times in two or three months and you have not got any job. I suggest you assess your skills and consider taking some relevant writing courses. You may also supplement these with a college degree in a relevant field to enhance your marketability. While doing so do some writing exercises and write articles on a wide variety of topics and post them on to articles submission sites online.

About The Author

Abdallah Khamis Abdallah is a freelance copywriter and ghostwriter. To learn more about how you and your business can benefit from viral and credibility marketing solutions visit his website at: http://www.qualitywritingsolutions.com.
quantumpro@lycos.com

Benefits of Journal Writing

2009-02-18T21:39:00.002-08:00

by: Richard Chapo

The benefits of journal writing are fairly well established due to the long history of journal writing. From Anne Frank to Di Vinci, journal writing has proven itself.

Benefits of Journal Writing

When considering the benefits of journal writing, it is important to set a few parameters. First, there is no age limit to using journals. There are distinct benefits for children of all ages, but journal writing is equally valuable to adults. The reason for this is journal writing is an act of personal reflection. Whether it is a teenager reflecting on the social nightmare of high school or an overworked parent taking twenty minutes a night to write is irrelevant. The point is, all age groups benefit from stepping back from their life for a few moments and reflecting on things.

Whether you recognize it or not, journal writing provides you with an anchor in your daily life. In the journal, you are free to write what you want without restrictions, to truly address the issues in your life without fear of criticism. Put another way, one of the benefits of journal writing is it acts as a self-help psychiatrist, but for MUCH cheaper!

As you write in your journal over time, you’ll also start to ascertain a second benefit to doing so. This benefit is one of self-criticism. Inevitably, you’ll read through past entries and review your life. Doing so will lead you to self-reflection as well as thoughts on how you might act differently should certain situations rise again.

Of equal importance, journal writing has health benefits. Before you click away from this article, consider a time in your life when you were extremely frustrated. Hopefully, you spoke to a friend to “get things off your chest.” Didn’t you feel a lot better afterwards? Getting things off your chest helps relieve stress, one of the biggest killers in our modern society. Journal writing acts in much the same way since you are able to write your thoughts without fear of criticism.

There are other benefits to journal writing, but all boil down to one simple fact. Writing in a journal allows you to express yourself without being judged. With the lack of privacy in our modern, digital world, that is hardly a small benefit.

Rick Chapo is with Nomad Journals - makers of writing journals.

This article is free for republishing

Rick Chapo is with Nomad Travel Journals - makers of writing journals and BusinessTaxRecovery.com - recoverying overpaid business taxes for small businesses.

Writer’s Web Resources

2009-02-18T21:39:00.001-08:00

by: Janet K. Ilacqua

The Internet has truly revolutionized the careers of writers worldwide. Now you can work for publishers, corporations and a whole range of other clients on a truly global scale. Whether you are in the heart of a big city, or in a remote mountain village, all you need is an Internet connection to run your writing business.

The opportunity is fantastic, and so is the writer's life that you could enjoy. But where can you find the jobs you need to establish a full-time writing career?

One way to start is through working the Internet job boards. Here aAlso included and listed separately are resources for business and technical writers, editors, journalists, and translators.

Writers’ Resources--General

Absolute Write - freelance writing, screenwriting, playwriting, writing novels, nonfiction, comic book writing, greeting cards, poetry, songwriting. One stop shop

Emily's Writing for the Web Emily A. Vander Veer gives professional writers the tools needed to promote, publish, and sell work to the largest and fastest-growing market in the world: the Web.

e-Writer's Place For writing inspirations, motivations and prescriptions.

Freelance Writers is a searchable database of writers from all around the world.

Freelance Writing This is the ultimate job board for freelance writers.

Freelance Writing Organization - Int'l This site hosts one of the largest free writing resource links databases in the world! It offers education, daily news, a writer's store, creativity advice and forums, to name a few of the resources. Over 2,000 free writing resources in 40+ categories of writing

FundsForWriters - A plethora of sources where freelance writers can find paying jobs

Momwriters A community of professional and new writers ... who face the unique challenges of writing with children underfoot.

National Writer's Union 'The only U.S. trade union for freelance and contract writers.' We offer contract advice, grievance resolution, health & dental plans, member education, Job Hotline, and networking. See also: Writers Union Job Hotline

Published! Articles and resources...from Marcia Yudkin, author of eleven books and hundreds of magazine articles, syndicated columnist, public radio commentator, writing coach

Published - The Directory of Independent Writers & Artists. searchable directory of independent Writers & Artists

SharpWriter Grammar. Complete writing resources. Lot of good stuff here but not geared expressly for freelancers

Suite101 This is an online community for writers. Not only is this a great site for work-at-home resources. You can apply to become an editor for them and get paid for your work.

Sunoasis Jobs for Writers, Editors, and Copywriters Employment opportunities for writers, journalists, new-media types on-line off-line in reporting feature writing reviewing editing free-lancing editorial content providing etc. ... Recently submitted job offers: Copywriter, Freelance. Monarch Design, a design and advertising agency,

The Burry Man Writers Center freelance job links, resources for fiction and nonfiction writers, working professionals and beginners

with particular support for writing about Scotland

The New Writer - the monthly magazine with the best in fact, fiction and poetry. aimed at all writers: the short story writer, the novelist, the poet, feature writer, anyone with a serious intent to develop their writing to meet the expectations of today's editors.

The Writers Home A Web Site For Writers, Editors And Lovers Of The Written Word.

TrAce Online Writing Community trAce connects writers and readers around the world ... with the focus on creativity, collaboration and training. New media writing, web development

Worldwide Freelance Writer How to sell your writing overseas. Find out where to sell your freelance work. Detailed guidelines for paying writing markets all over the world.

WriteCraft Writers Resource Center Companion to the WriteCraft Critique Group - where writers learn the trade.

writejobs Job Title. Company. Location. Proofreader/editor. Bioedit Ltd. Freelance. Digital Photography Writers ...

Writers Unbound Writing resources, Internet resources related to writing, writers, publishing, epublishing, authors and more. Articles and resources related to creative writing.

Writer’s Software SuperCenter Writer's Software SuperCenter has software for writing books, articles, novels, and screenplays, including Writer's Blocks software, StyleWriter editing software, StoryCraft, and more!

Writing World - Moira Allen provides writing tips, markets, news, contests and more.

The Writer’s Gazette Writing resource site for writers on freelance and publishing, including articles, job board, contests . Nice, comprehensive list of writers’ job boards.

Business and Technical

Copywriter world Freelance writers bid for writing projects such as resume writing, documents in APA style or MLA style writing, poems, sonnets, research papers, business plans, your biography, free e-books, your business proposal, essays, marketing plans, web content, ghost writing, ad copy, catalogs... virtually any form of writing.

Freelance Online - a professional online service for freelancers in the publishing and advertising fields. Free for employers; freelancers pay $15.00/year for membership.

Freelance Success Freelance Success is a community of professional, nonfiction writers who subscribe to a newsletter that guides them toward well-paying markets and editors. There is not a job board located on this site.

Techwriters Employs technical writers on and off site. The pay is excellent, but you must have a lot of experience with the topics

writingassist.com Provides local freelance technical writers for projects such as manuals, policies, software documentation, and work flow integration.

Children’s Literature

Institute of Children's Literature offered the premiere writing course, books, and a newsletter to adults interested in learning how to write and be published for children and teens.

Editing

Manuscript Editing Fiction and Non-fiction; Serving writers, literary agents, and publishers since 1976.

Fiction

Fiction Factor - The Online Magazine for Fiction Writers. NEW!

International markets

Australian Writer's Marketplace The essential resource for getting published in Australia and New Zealand.

Author Network - resources for writers including links, articles, monthly columns and ePublishing services.

Canadian Writer's Journal Canada's Independent Writer's Magazine.

Freelance Spain - the online Spanish resource for editors and journalists.

FreelanceJournalist.co.uk Helping journalists build a presence on the web. The web directory for UK freelance journalists.

Freelancers.co.uk offers you the complete guide to freelancing for publishers as a copyeditor or proofreader.

New Zealand Writers Website Writing Resources for New Zealand writers

writelinkpro.co.uk WritelinkPRO is the content provider for top UK monthly newsletter and website. We pay on acceptance for writing articles, fiction, poetry, reviews. We offer free e-book workshops, free e-book on travel writing, exclusive Members Area.

Journalism

International Federation of Journalists - The world's largest organization of journalists, representing around 450,000 members in more than 100 countries.

News Jobs Network Journalisms resources and News jobs in US, Canada and Utah.

UK Links 4 Journalists the most useful sites on the web. This is the journalist's section.

Translation

ProZ: Freelance translators, translation services, agencies, jobs and directory ...

Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia Fostering creative writing and the profession of writing in Nova Scotia.

Writerfind New Zealand Linking New Zealand writers with local and global markets.

Playwriters

writernetwork. We provide dramatic writers with the tools they need to build better careers and redefine the

SEO Article Writing 101

2009-02-18T21:37:00.000-08:00

by: Marsha Maung

SEO writing is very different from content writing, article writing, story writing and news writing. When I first realized my innate talent for writing stuff and putting thoughts into words, I was still reading Mills and Boons, and it was during this time that my romance storybooks were confiscated by my classroom teacher because I was reading in class.

Writing is a very personal thing, I discovered. Some people have the talent for writing creative stuff. Some people have the talent for writing ads. Some write excellent factual stuff. Well, I fall into the factual stuff category. The boring-writing-technical-mumbo-jumbo writing stuff. How I fit into this category, I don’t know.

Well, SEO article writing is very much like that. First, you decide what topic or keyword that you want. For instance, you’re selling decorative lamps, right? in the SEO article writing process, list down ‘decorative’ and ‘lamps’. Then think about other words that relates to ‘decorative’ and ‘lamps’…words that people use all the time to describe them. This is a very important part of SEO article writing because these are common words that your potential site visitors will use to find you.

How about ‘light’, ‘bright’, ‘pretty’, ‘lighting’?

Ok, now your SEO article writing keywords are:- decorative, lamps, light, bright, pretty and lighting, right? So, on to the SEO article writing process. First you write everything that you need to write down first. Beef up the article. As a general rule of thumb, SEO articles should be no less than 300 words and no more than 500 words. Any more than that, you’re wasting your writing a novel for your SEO article. Read through the SEO article now and replace words and reword sentences to fit in those keywords. Yes, you’ll have to restructure some the SEO keywords here and there, but do it anyway.

Make sure the sentences make sense, ok? Because although the search engines won’t know bad grammar from good grammar, your site visitors will. And most of them, site visitors who visit your website based on those SEO keywords DO mind the bad grammar. And once you turn them away, it’s almost impossible to bring them back!

The final step to SEO article writing is…..proofread your SEO article and make sure they flow. The problem with SEO writing is that your thoughts might come in buckets….a splash here and a splash there. So, during the SEO article proofreading process, you’ll have to make sure one paragraph flows on to the next.

Good luck!

About The Author

Marsha Maung is a freelance graphic designer and copy writer who works from home. She designs apparel and premium items at http://www.allmomstuff.com and is the author of "Raising little magicians", and the popular "The Lance in freelancing". More information can be found at http://www.marshamaung.com.

How To Overcome The Lyric Writing Hurdles That Are Keeping You Behind

2009-02-18T16:51:00.000-08:00

by: Mantius Cazaubon

The lyric writing side of songwriting is known to create an enormous number of problems for some folks. No matter how hard they try, they are unable to write a single line that they can be pleased with.

In many cases these very same people make phenomenal advancements in writing music and melodies. However they just can't seem to figure out how to come up with suitable lyrics to match them.

If you are facing such a situation, there's probably no need to worry. By taking certain appropriate steps you should be able to overcome lyric writing hurdles and write songs that deliver.

(1) Here are some essential ideas for overcoming these hurdles.

1. Collaboration

If you're very good at writing melodies but can't seem to write a single line, one solution might be collaboration. Instead of beating your head against the wall for ideas, find someone who is very good at writing lyrics and work together. You may be surprised at the wonders that can emanate from a combination of his excellence at writing lyrics and your brilliance at writing melodies.

2. Lyric writing tools

Perhaps you may be hoping for some other solution. While you don't mind the idea of collaboration, you want to allow yourself to get better at writing lyrics, instead of leaving it to someone else.

As far as I'm concerned, the importance of laying hold on good songwriting "tools" should never be underestimated. Educate yourself as much as you can. Make use of songwriting books, programs, courses, software, articles or whatever valuable resources that you have at your disposal.

3. Motivation

You've probably heard it said a thousand times ... Without motivation, you won't go very far. This also applies to your lyric writing. While the songwriting "tools" outlined above can help you improve, without adequate motivation failure is inevitable.

(2) Here are a few tips to help you generate lyric writing ideas.

1. Use different lyrics to bring the same message across.

Choose a theme which is known to have made a few hits. What message does this theme bring across? Write different lyrics that bring the same message across. A typical example of this is John Denver's "I'm Leaving on a Jetplane" and Wyclef Jean's "Gone till November". These songs made hits in different eras. Their basic message was similar ... Baby, you don't need to cry because I'll return.

2. Add a unique twist to a cliche.

Turn on your radio and you will hear cliches being repeated over and over. Using these very same cliches is simply a futile exercise. My suggestion is to add a unique twist to these cliches. This is something I am focusing on more and more.

A typical example of adding a unique twist to a cliche is found in Dianne Warren's "Unbreak my Heart" made popular by Toni Braxton. The ever popular cliche, "break my heart", was twisted.

(3) Here are three lyric writing suggestions.

1. Write a song about a particular incident. Your song should tell a story.

2. Write lyrics that have absolutely nothing to do with anything you've actually experienced.

3. Get lyric writing ideas from newspapers, magazines, movies, TV and so on.

Overcoming lyric writing hurdles involves a lot of determination, hard work and perseverance on your part. Implement the suggestions presented above and move one step closer to lyric writing success.

About The Author

Mantius Cazaubon offers lots of valuable songwriting tips, techniques, suggestions and advice on his site http://www.ultimatesongwriting.com. Visit http://www.ultimatesongwriting.com for the ultimate truth about lyric writing and songwriting.
mantius@ultimatesongwriting.com

The Written Word

2009-02-18T16:48:00.000-08:00

by: Iscrizione Disimbol

The Art of Writing

Very few people can avoid writing on a daily basis. Of course, some people really enjoy writing, others do it out of necessity. Writing, essentially, involves placing a series of words together to convey a certain message or meaning. To write in its basic form is not a difficult task. Some people are natural writers, others find it a lot harder and have to work at the process in order to convey what they are trying to say. Writing is normally done by an individual.

For certain individuals, writing their feelings down is a choice form of self-expression. The mere process of keeping a written record of one's daily trials and tribulations, in the form of a personal journal or blog (in electronic form) has a healing effect. Blogging is now big, in our electronically-driven society. Some people write for a living such as journalists, advertising and commercial copywriters and ghostwriters for publishing houses, as well as novelists. Careers in writing range from producing page-turning style pulp fiction to works of great literary significance. The bottom line is that writing as a career can be lucrative for those with talent, as well as those in the right place, at the right time.

Not everyone finds writing easy. Generally speaking, practice makes perfect, so keep trying and your writing style is likely to improve. Writing requires the use of your brain and as such the brain must be trained to produce written work.

There's no getting away from it

Are Writing Exercises Effective?

2009-02-17T22:58:00.000-08:00

by: Lana Hampton

It was reported that the great American author Sinclair Lewis was once asked to give a lecture on writing to a group of college students: "Looking out at this gathering," he said to the assembled students, "makes me want to know how many of you really and truly wish to become writers?" Every hand in the room went up. Lewis looked at them for a moment and then folded his notes and put them away. "If that's true," he said, "then the best advice I can give you is to go home and start writing." He then turned and left the room.

If the first secret of writing is to write and if you've set up some sort of writing schedule, the next step is to figure out what to write.

Opening a brand new file and looking at a blank screen often results in a kind of brain-freeze; we feel as idea-less as the empty screen we're staring at. Writing exercises can help us thaw our idea bank. The goal of a writing exercise is to open your mind and allow you to hone your skills and experiment. The joy of such an exercise is it's not 'for real.' That is, there's no thought of pleasing an editor or finding a publisher or meeting a deadline or getting paid. You're just writing, with your internal editor turned off.

Some freelancers find writing exercises so effective and freeing they actually begin every writing session with a 10 or 15-minute exercise. Others use them more sporadically. But however you do it, writing exercises will help you with your writing. Use writing exercises in your writing schedule, as a natural part of your writing discipline; use the exercises often and watch your writing improve.

Ideally, a writing exercise is short, requiring you to spend no more than 10 or 15 minutes writing, thinking and feeling about something that's unrelated to the rest of your writing work. In a way, they are like mini-meditations and mini-vacations because they clear out the cobwebs and give you a new view.

It's that new view, that different way of seeing, of expressing, that's the key to a good writing exercise. Naturally, not every exercise blows your mind every time. Sometimes you are just not ready for the challenge presented, but even then, the seed is planted. Sometimes you are simply not up for doing a writing exercise, which is okay too. Again, simply reading can set some new thoughts in motion.

About The Author

Lana Hampton makes it easy to improve your writing skills. Visit http://www.yowswriting.com today for the latest writing tips and information.

Writing Help for College Students

2009-02-17T22:54:00.000-08:00

by: Tamara Owen

Your literature professor has asked you to write a 7-page essay comparing Medieval and Renaissance poetry; your economics professor wants 15 pages on how globalization is affecting the economy in three different countries; and your mathematics professor has forgotten this is a mathematics class, and wants 5 pages on the quadratic formula. And you have been staring at the computer screen for over an hour wondering how on earth you are going to do all of this in the next four days.

This is an all-too-familiar scene to many students. Many students learn of these large assignments at the beginning of the semester when they receive their class syllabi, and immediately forget about them because November seems like years away. Other students are busy with extracurricular sports, trying to adjust to being away from home for the first time, and other events and issues. Still other students are quite frankly terrified of the writing process, believing the blank page to be worse than their worst nightmare, and so these assignments get shoved aside to remain untouched until the last minute.

It is an interesting fact of college life that all students, regardless of major or discipline, are asked to write about their subject matter -- often quite extensively. While it is certainly important that all individuals be literate, and know how to read and write in a variety of capacities, styles, and genres, it is also the case that not everyone has to be a professional academic writer (www.korepetycje.com/join_us.html). Engineers need to know how to design bridges or better towel racks; pilots need to be able to take off and land safely and smoothly; and physicians need to be able to diagnose illnesses and injuries and to prescribe the correct medical interventions. None of these people needs to know how to write a term paper.

What, then, are the options for the poor student struggling in the first paragraph? What will happen to the student who is a prodigy on the piano but is facing failure because she cannot write 10 pages on Beethoven? What will happen to the next Frank Lloyd Wright who is stuck in his psychology seminar, unable to write a series of vignettes portraying various mental illnesses?

There are a few options. Most college campuses have writing labs, where many students are helped with researching and writing their papers. Many students form study groups, where they help each other through the tough assignments. Some students write their custom essays and term papers (see: http://www.korepetycje.com/indexam.html) and then pay an editor to polish them. Still others turn to professional writing services for assistance with their assignments. This is where services such as CustomPapers.com come in. We have a large staff of professional writers who specialize in writing papers about a wide variety of disciplines ranging from economics to ecology, marketing to Mozart, Hemingway to heart murmurs. We can also assist students with related projects, such as PowerPoint Presentations. In the many years of our existence, we have found tremendous success helping students with assignments of all sizes, all levels of difficulty, and all subjects.

Regardless of what type of help you choose, the important thing is that you get through college as quickly and effectively as possible. College is a step leading up to the rest of your life -- don't let a term paper be the skateboard in your path.