Power Writer™ is the first of a new breed of program for the creative writer, one which takes you from first idea through to final manuscript as one continuous act of creation.™

It erases the line between story development and story writing by fully integrating the outlining and development tools directly into the word processor. What this means to you is that your outline and story development data always remains up to date and useful, even through the most grueling rewrite.

Power Writer's unique work environment allows you to jump from outline to manuscript, from research to character development then back to your manuscript again all without ever losing a beat.

>> Download a Power Writer™ DEMO version

Read More..

Novelists, Screenwriters, and Fiction Writers of all kinds...

Dramatica is both a series of software products for writers and a relatively unique perspective of how stories work. This site is the home of hundreds of pages of materials and tools for anyone interested in creating, critiquing, analyzing, writing, or otherwise working with stories.
Got a story in mind? How about an idea for a story? Either way, Dramatica Pro is a great place to start. As your creative writing partner, it takes you to a special place- a story development environment where together you'll solve the plot and character problems that prevent many good stories from becoming great enough to sell.

Dramatica Pro asks you all the questions about your story that you should be asking but probably forget to.

Dramatica's StoryGuide handholds you from initial idea all the way through to completed narrative treatment, inspiring you and supporting you along the way. It's like having a successful author as your writing partner, sitting by your side and mentoring you!

Read More..

By Andrea Waggener

Writing a novel can’t be done without first establishing the novel’s plot. What is the plot? The structure of the story. You must know this structure before writing a novel.

There are three main elements to plot:

1. CONFLICT—A lot of beginning novelists make a huge mistake in their writing. They think that things happening, people doing stuff, characters interacting, is plot.

This isn’t plot. This is just stuff happening. A story is more than stuff happening. A story, for the purposes of writing a novel, has conflict.

Conflict is the process of a need or want meeting face to face with an obstacle. Conflict is the core of good story telling.

To figure out the conflicts in your novel, you need to know two things:

--What does your character need or want?

--What is in the way of your character getting what he or she needs or wants?

To create a powerful plot, be sure you give your character many obstacles. Those obstacles can come in three forms. They can be other characters. They can be situations. They can be the character him or herself.

Putting together a series of wants that butt up against challenges is the core of a good plot. You must know your story’s conflicts before writing an novel.

2. STORY QUESTION—The second element of a great plot is creating story questions. Story questions are the questions you raise in your reader’s mind. Every novel needs to raise questions that keep the reader turning pages.

A good novel raises questions on the first page and keeps asking questions (or doesn’t answer the questions already raised) until the last page of the novel.

3. THEME—The last main element of plot is theme. The theme of your novel is some sort of statement about human nature or about life. It’s your message.

What is the point of writing a novel? To tell an entertaining story, of course. But that’s not all you’re doing, right? Don’t you have a message in your idea? Isn’t there something you’re trying to say about the human condition or the world?

Some plots will raise theme naturally. Some plots don’t raise much theme, and you’ll have to think about the message you want to share with your readers and work it into your story. Remember that theme is subtle. Don’t beat your readers over the head with it. Just let the story suggest the theme.

So these are the elements of plot—conflict, story question, theme. Be sure you keep these elements in mind when you create your plot before writing a novel.

Andrea Rains Waggener, author and writing coach, is the author of Novel Writing Made Easy--How To Plan A Novel That Practically Writes Itself and How To Become A Writer Extraordinaire--The Beginning Writer's Roadmap To Writing Success. Get FREE special reports on how to avoid common fiction writing mistakes and sign up for free weekly writing tips at her writing help sites, http://www.novelwritingmadeeasy.com and http://www.howtobecomeawriterextraordinaire.com.

Read More..

By Mark Gonney

When it comes to screenplay software each screenwriter needs to determine what they need from the program they purchase and pick one that fits their specific needs. Screenwriting software doesn't write the screenplay for you. Why do I say this? I don't want you to be under the impression one software application is "better" or the "best" script writing software. No script writing software should be chosen based on it helping you complete your screenplay "better" or "faster" than another.

What makes a screenplay "better" is the skill and execution of the writer. What determines how fast a screenplay is completed is how fast the writer is with their skill and execution. Thinking particular screenplay software helps you write a better screenplay is like thinking a fancy gun helps you shoot on target. You are the writer and you are the creative force behind your idea or concept. Picking the proper tools to help you complete this idea or concept are choices only you can determine based on your particular writing needs.

For me, the program I utilize is Final Draft. Why? For my needs Final Draft acts like a word processing program on steroids. Its user face is similar to Microsoft Word with the only difference being it is specific to industry standard screenplay format. In other words, unlike writing a screenplay in a word processing program like MS Word, Once you put a character's name in the first time you don't have to type it again. What happens is when it gets to the section of the screenplay where you type in the character it will either punch it in for you once you type the first letter or a pop up pull down menu will come up so you can pick from the list of characters you've introduced if two characters have the same first initial!

For sections where you would input setting, action & dialogue the program automatically tabs to the proper position just allowing you to just write your screenplay. This is all I need from screen writing software. I don't utilize all of the tools of Final Draft that exist, but they have some cool ones like the double dialogue feature and the notes feature that act like index cards amongst other things.

Final Draft

Movie Magic Screenwriter

Dramatica Pro 4

Power Structure

Dr. Format Screenwriting Software

Write Brothers StoryView 2.0

The Hollywood Screenplay® Screenwriting Software Suite

Hollywood Screenwriter

Sophocles Screenwriting software

and

Scriptware

provide something for every writer. Each of these screenplay writing software programs is a powerful, stand-alone tool. It is up to you to decide which is more comfortable for you and which fits your writing needs, but remember...all these programs can be are tools to help you complete your screenplay. They do not create characters or ideas or give logic to your story. Only you, the screenwriter, can do this. So read the reviews from users who have tried these programs and see which one works best for you.

Mr. Mark S. Gonney is a former script reader for The Urbanworld Film Festival and an article writer for screenwriting-resources.com.

Screenwriting, Screenplay, and Movie Script Resources for Writers: The online resource directory geared towards helping writers overcome the peaks and valleys of the creative process and complete their final draft!

http://www.screenwriting-resources.com

Read More..

By Yulin Peng

If you are feeling as though you have a serious case of resume writer's block, don't feel alone. This is the case for many people, especially those who are re-entering the workforce or who are new at job searching. Fortunately, free resume writing software can help to relieve a significant amount of your stress and make it possible for you to create an effective resume and have it in the hands of prospective employers in no time.

Free resume writing software services vary in terms of what is offered and how the information you create can be accessed. Therefore, it is extremely important that you research these factors when considering the use of any free resume writing software. For example, some free resume writing software services are very basic in nature. This type of free resume writing software provides only a basic template in which you must fill in all the information and provides no help on wording, etc.

More advanced forms of free resume writing software go a step beyond and also offers suggestions and tips on wording. In addition, some types of free resume writing software may only offer one format. Depending on your personal situation, that format may not be the most suitable to highlight your unique skills and abilities and detract from anything that could hinder your chances at gaining employment. Whenever possible, look for free resume writing software that offers you a choice in format.

For more options, consider buying a professional resume software or hiring a resume writer to do the work for you.

Yulin Peng is a recruiting researcher and the founder of http://www.job-employment-guide.com The website provides employment guide to job seekers and recruiting research services to recruiters.

Read More..

Writing software allows you to develop aspects of your story individually before bringing them together for the final product.
Creative writing software can help you improve your writing in the comfort of your own home, without the cost of expensive writing courses.
Creative writing software manages plot, character, settings and conflicts so all you have to do is—create.

Here a complete list of creative writing software

Fiction Writing Software
Wide Selection - Beat Any Price Free Bonuses with Any Order
storymind.com

Creative Writing Software
Download the Free Trial software. Visualize, Organize, Outline, Write
Writers Block

Novel Writing Software
Amazing Creative Writing Software. Plans& Structures Your Novel Fully
New Novelist

Creative Writing Software
Write Pro, Movie Magic, Dramatica Low prices. Fast shipping.
www.MasterFreelancer.com

Read More..

By Jeff Lakie

As the magazine industry proliferates, so does the need for writers. And as is the case in many industries, employers often prefer to use freelance or independent contractor help, instead of having fulltime employees for whom they have to provide benefits, workspace, and other support. And with computer and Internet technology what it is today, freelance writers can create their articles from anywhere, email them to their editors, and never even have to meet the magazine production staff in person. But as the task of freelancing and its logistics become easier, so does the competition between freelancers.

Here are four tips to help freelancers who want to write for magazines:

1) Be professional.

Many writers are willing to work for less money, in exchange for the status of being published. And some do it just as a hobby, because they have other sources of primary income. While this creates competition, it also means that many writers – or those aspiring to be writers – lack professionalism or talent. The more you can stick to deadlines, present yourself in an organized way, and write copy that is free of mistakes, the more successful you will be as a freelancer.

2) Be unique.

If you have a background in a particular profession, hobby, or other interest, you may be able to parlay that into a writing job for a specialty magazine. Some magazines look for woodworkers, some need writers who know about cars or photography, and others need writers who understand wine or home decorating. If you happen to have some knowledge and experience, you can market yourself to magazines that follow the things you know and enjoy.

3) Communicate with your editor.

Good writers always stay in touch with their editors, without overwhelming them with unnecessary questions. If you have a problem with a deadline, tell your editor right away. If you have a question about editorial guidelines, ask an editor. The better you communicate, the more you will get hired.

4) Focus on what you do best.

If you are really good at interviews but no so good at doing research, then try to write for magazines that favor interviews over investigative reporting. And if you are a fiction writer who stumbles when it comes to non-fiction, then seek jobs in the fiction category. Doing what you do best not only makes your job easier, but it allows you to concentrate your energy on jobs that will probably pay you more in the long run.

Freelancing for magazines is not for everyone, but if you have a knack for writing and for managing your own time, then it can afford you great job satisfaction and a chance to work your own hours, from home. And along the way you’ll learn more about the writing craft, so that you can continue to build on your talents and marketable skills.

Jeff Lakie has helped many internet surfers since launching his website aeroplane monthly which details many aspects of the Plastic Surgery industry. Jeff also prides himself on over-delivering, why not stop by today and see why.

Read More..

By Andrea

Creativity isn't just about waxing eloquent about the beauty of a woodland stream or a rugged seashore. In fact, the most difficult creativity is often the most rewarding: being creative with the everyday aspects of life. That means being observant about everything -- and I mean everything -- around you.

Start with this exercise:

Sit down on in a park, the mall, Starbucks -- wherever there are a lot of sights, smells, sounds. Use all five senses to take in your surroundings. Do you hear the scraping of dry leaves or the hiss of the espresso machine? Do you smell the richness of damp earth or the aroma of coffee, or are you overwhelmed by the cologne of the man sitting next to you? What does the bench or chair or ground feel like under you? Take it all in. Then write!

Search for the best word to describe every single sight, smell, gesture, feeling, sound, and anything else you can think of. If your writing is missing any of the five senses -- sight, smell, sound, touch, and even taste -- go back and rework it.

Creativity through observation is a lot of work, but once you've mastered it, your writing will be all the richer and more rewarding for the addition.

Andrea's writing background includes features, editorials, reviews, profiles, poetry and fiction. She was the winner of the MOTA short story contest in 2002 and received honorable mentions for fiction from Writer’s Journal magazine in 2002 and 2004. Check out her blog at http://creativewithwriting.blogspot.com

Read More..

By Sean Mize

One of the easiest ways to make your articles more readable is to write them with the same language and tone of voice you would use if you were chatting with a friend over a cup of coffee. Your articles should not read like legal briefs or treatises; instead they should be very easy to read and should flow comfortably.

There is no reason online to try to use a huge vocabulary or long sentences. In fact, the opposite is true. The computer screen is hard enough to read on its own, there is no good reason to use a big vocabulary or long, hard-to-decipher sentences.

I like to think that I am explaining a concept or idea to a friend of mine over a glass of iced tea in a rocking chair on my back porch, watching the sun go down in the evening. How is that for a picture? Give yourself that kind of feel when you are writing, and your articles should become much more natural and easy to read.

Also, when you are writing – just write, don’t edit as you go. Write down what comes naturally to your mind, without regard for how it sounds, and then you can edit it later. Generally if you write naturally, as you think the thoughts, they will tend to be more comfortable and easy to read.

So there you have it - now go out and write articles that are ultra-readable! It will be well worth the effort!

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide‘

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion


Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 400 articles in print and 8 published ebooks.

Read More..

by: Ruth Barringham

Your first question after reading the title of this article is probably, ‘what does it mean to brand yourself?’

Well, it means exactly what it says. When we go to the supermarket we tend to trust brands we know. We look at the name of the manufacturer on the label – Heinz, HP, Nescafe, etc – and we instinctively trust these names. Why? Because they’re known brands.

This is exactly what you need to do to yourself if you want to be a successful writer. Brand yourself. Get your name ‘out there’ and get it known to as many different people as you possibly can.

Using articles on the internet is a great way to brand yourself, because your name can become known all over the world in an instant, or as long as it takes for someone to read your article.

There are plenty of ezines and web sites looking for articles with good, well-written content.

But how do you go about writing an article and getting it known?

First, you need to pick a subject to write about, a subject that people are interested in. It also needs to be a subject that you are knowledgeable in or, preferably, be related to a book you’ve recently written or a product you’re trying to sell. This way, even though the articles are written for free, they can result in sales.

Everyone has a subject that they’re knowledgeable in. Writers usually write about writing, artists about painting, chefs about cooking and housewives about cleaning, chores, children, etc.

Even if you feel you’re not knowledgeable about anything, think of a subject that you’re interested in, and that others might be interested in too. Research the subject (children’s books at the library are usually the easiest to understand on any subject) and make copious notes.

Make sure though, that your article is only about one subject without going off on a tangent about something only related to it. For instance, if your subject is about writing a novel, don’t suddenly veer off and start talking about short stories.

Readers are only interested in one subject at a time, and if your article doesn’t stick to its promise of the content it originally promised, your readers will quickly lose interest, stop reading and be dubious about any other article written by you.

Remember; if you’re going to brand yourself, make sure it’s a brand people can trust.

Every article should have a beginning, middle and an end. I know that sounds pretty obvious but it’s a point that quite often gets missed.

Your beginning needs to state a problem. The middle should discuss this problem and offer examples, if possible. The end needs to offer solutions and then sum up. And your bio should be included at the end of the article.

Your title should in some way explain what the article is about.

The word count should be no more than 1,000. You can go to 1,500 at a push but just remember that it’s much harder to read from computer screen and readers get tired of reading if the article is too long.

Make good use of white spaces and keep paragraphs short to make the article easier to read.

Make sure your article isn’t an obvious sales pitch or your reader won’t even bother to finish reading it.

Make sure your article is full of facts and be sure that they are correct.
Keep your writing tight and avoid flowery prose which has no place in a non-fiction article.

Be sure that your articles are available for reprint to anyone who wants to use them.

Use free article sites that can quickly and efficiently upload your articles ready for publication across the whole World Wide Web.

Manually submit your articles to web sites or ezines looking for content, but make sure your article is appropriate for their needs.

But above all else, make sure your articles are informative. If they don’t offer information to the reader, then you come across looking like an amateur who doesn’t know anything about their subject or how to write.

Here are some article sites that you can submit your articles to for free:

http://EzineArticles.com/

http://www.articledashboard.com

http://www.aboveallcontent.com

http://www.writeaholic.co.uk/article.html

Just make sure you check out all guidelines before you submit to these sites.

So, all that’s left to do now is get writing, get your articles out there and BRAND yourself.

Good luck

About The Author
Ruth Barringham is a freelance writer and runs a web site at http://www.writeaholic.co.uk.

Read More..

by: Steve Manning

Here's a string of tips on writing a book. They're brief, succinct and very useful. These tips on writing a book have been designed to get you up and writing your book as quickly as possible.

They'll help you start writing, continue writing and finish writing your book. Your manuscript will be ready for the agent, or the publisher, or on its way to self publishing success.

Here are your tips on writing a book:

You can't start writing your book and continue writing until the book has been written. It's too big a job. It's going to take you a few days. Probably a couple of weeks.

People take years to write their book because they go at the task sporadically. You've got to write every day. If you don't, you find yourself having written nothing for months at a time.

Your book writing success or failure depends largely on the outlining process. Create an outstanding outline for your book and you're writing task becomes easy. You should know exactly what happens on every page before you start writing your first word.

If you think you can write your book by being spontaneously creative as you write, you're wrong. You're welcome to try, just about every novice author does. But I'd bet money it won't work for you. Create the exhaustive outline.

Your outline should consist of a series of questions: What does the library look like, how is she dressed, why does he feel so angry, what does she do when she reaches the house. It's simply easier to write in response to a question than it is to write in response to a statement.

Spend a short time writing to answer each question. Just a few minutes. You don't want this to become a protracted bunch of puff. You want real story.

Don't stop until the book is finished. There's a real tendency to stop and edit the work that you've just completed. After all, editing is a lot easier to do than the actual writing. So you can feel that you're still working, but it won't be as difficult. Don't do it! Keep writing until the book is finished.

Give yourself a period for writing and stick to that amount of time come hell or high water. Even if it's just 15 minutes a day. Initially you're just going for the discipline. Eventually you'll get the writing quality as well, but the discipline is most important factor for the completion of your work in the shortest amount of time possible.

Doing research for your book writing can be fun. But don't do it until after the book is written. If you come to a point where you've got to get a piece of information that you don't have in you head, just put down an asterisk and keep the flow of the book going. After the manuscript is finished, you can look back for all those asterisks and get just the information you need.

About The Author
Steve Manning is a master writer showing thousands of people how they can write their book faster than they ever thought possible. Here's your free Special Report, http://www.WriteABookNow.com/main.html

Read More..

by: Arielle Ford

It was the first time I overheard someone whisper "she’s the author", as I walked into a book signing, that I suddenly realized that I had achieved something very special. Not only had I managed to get my book published, I now received respect and admiration from total strangers. Being an author even it today’s digitized world, is still an awe-inspiring accomplishment.

In 2005 USA TODAY reported eighty-two percent of Americans say they plan to write a book someday. I think the critical word here is 'plan'. If you want to be someone who really does write a book, you can begin right now by understanding how being an author will improve your life.

Here is my top ten list why you should become an author today, especially if you are a spirituality, self help or personal growth expert:

1. Authors are recognized as experts by virtue of having a book with their name on the cover.

2. The media loves authors (i.e. experts) and uses them often, on all levels.

3. Being an author improves your chances of getting paid speaking engagements.

4. While you may not become a millionaire from writing a book, you can certainly improve your chances of increasing your income.

5. When you go to your high school reunion, you can finally shove your book under the noses of all who snubbed you in your teenage years.

6. If you ever felt that you weren’t 'smart enough', writing a book will certainly go a long way in curing that.

7. Being an author gives you a stronger sense of self-esteem.

8. Your book will open doors and create business opportunities you wouldn't have received without it.

9. Having a book gives you a platform for teaching workshops and seminars.

10. Being an author is a great icebreaker at cocktail parties. (Hint: authors are often considered VIPs or celebrities! It’s true!)

When I started writing my first book, it wasn’t because I was sure I wanted Bill O’Reilly’s producer to have my name in his Rolodex to call whenever he needed a 'mystical' New Age expert. (In fact I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted that at all!) I didn’t devote hundreds of hours to stories of couples finding one another through magical, mystical ways just to impress strangers at a cocktail party. And I can definitely tell you I didn’t write six books just to tell my old high school classmates about it.

I wrote because I had to. I had a story inside of me that wouldn’t rest until I put it onto the page. The benefits of actually finishing the book and becoming a bona fide author and the other "reasons" were simply an afterthought.

I can do everything short of putting a cattle prod under you to get you started on writing your self help book, but, at the end of the day, writing has to be something you want to do. Sure, it’s hard to sit down day after day and stare at a blank computer screen. I know how hard it is to tell your mom or your husband that you only typed two pages in an entire day. I can tell you hundreds of great things about being an author, but not a single one will really get you to the finish line.

What will get you down the home stretch is the satisfaction of knowing that you’re being true to yourself. You dreamt of becoming an author because you had to. You envisioned title ideas and chapter outlines because they came to you and wouldn’t go away. You told your friends you wanted to write a book because you could and you will.

You are an author, and you always have been. All you need to do now is make it happen. It might not be scintillating cocktail banter that puts a finished manuscript in your hands, but keeping your eyes on the prize can’t hurt.

About The Author

Arielle Ford is a world renowned publicist credited with launching the careers of Deepak Chopra and more than a dozen other New York Times best selling authors in the field of self help, spirituality and personal growth. To learn more, go to http://www.EverythingYouShouldKnow.com to sign up for Arielle's "Best Seller Strategies" newsletter and get a free copy of Arielle's guide, "Everything You Should Know About Marketing Yourself Positively & Powerfully On a Budget" free of charge.

Read More..

by: Donna Monday

I was browsing online the other day and discovered the news about a first time novelist who had recently published a book telling the story of an African tribe suffering the loss of land and identity. Her story is based on her true-life experiences and research. She’s even donating a portion of the book’s profits to a charity that helps the displaced people. Her whole story sounded intriguing. However, when I looked for her web site--I couldn’t find it.

What a shame, I thought.

While her book is featured on Amazon.com and other online bookseller sites, and there’s a couple of press releases announcing her book signings, there is no obvious web presence for this wonderful book and its author. My immediate thought was that she was leaving book awareness and sales on the table.

Maybe she feels she doesn’t need a web site because she has the charity and her publisher assisting with publicity, or because there is some expressed interest in movie rights. Even so, I feel that a simple web site featuring her telling her story of how she researched and wrote her book, with photos of her on location, would do wonders for her novel.

In today’s fast-paced world, where attention spans can last a nanosecond, an author can’t afford NOT to have a web site. Even if people aren’t lining up to buy your book today, they can visit your web site and browse. If they like your site, there’s a good chance they’ll be back in the future, or tell friends about it. I think this point is especially true for us first-time novelists. In my opinion, a fiction novel is the hardest type of book to promote and sell online or offline. There are literally thousands of fiction novels published each year, due to how easy it is to get a POD published book on the market.

Authors have tons of competition to get noticed. While the amount of readers are declining, the amount of books being published is going up. New authors have to compete with each other, as well as, established authors, movies, TV, blogs, video games, and other entertainment offerings. From a reader’s perspective, why should they read your book over someone else’s?

Your web site gives you a fighting chance to capture someone’s attention and introduce them to you and your brand of storytelling. Plus, you have the creative freedom to make your site look however you wish. It’s all about colors, graphics and words—especially words.

HELLO WORLD, I’M HERE!

CHECK OUT THIS GREAT BOOK!

HERE’S A SAMPLE OF MY STORYTELLING!

Because most authors have to do their own promotion, your web site is your own personal promotion booth sitting amidst a vast sea of similar booths inside a virtual flea market. Remember, people are online 24-7 looking up information on all sorts of things.

While you’re sleeping, someone could be visiting your web site.

While you’re out shopping, someone could be visiting your web site.

While you’re busy at work, someone could be visiting your web site.

Of course, if you don’t have a web site promoting your book, then potential readers will just have to wait until they stumble across your book while reading about your book signing somewhere, or maybe browsing the online bookstores, or maybe hearing about your book from a friend of a friend . . . you get the idea.

Why leave it up to chance?

Web sites are easy to get up and running these days, so there’s no excuse not to have at least a page featuring your book. Believe me, people will be looking for it, and if you don’t have a web presence, they’ll move on to the next author that does.

About The Author
© Donna Monday
Love, desire, power and immortality are in the mix when mortal and immortal worlds collide in an upstate New York town. You’ll love the characters in my new novel - The Best Black Vampire Story You’ve Ever Read. Check it out for yourself. Warning: Once you start reading, there‘s a strong possibility you‘ll be sucked into this mesmerizing drama until the very end. http://www.donnamonday.com/Best_Black_Vampire_Story.html.

Read More..

by: Ann Roscopf Allen

Whether you are fictionalizing historical events or making up your own story, attention to detail can determine whether your novel is credible to history buffs or if they’ll give it a pass.

1. Read about the general history of the locale where your story is set, so you have some context for your story.

2. If at all possible, visit the locale. Carefully observe details: types of foliage, local seasonal changes, weather conditions, architecture, perspectives. You may see interesting and important details that you wouldn’t know to make up. Also, make note of what’s not there; sometimes this is as important as what is there.

3. Visit local museums. They can be a wealth of information about the daily life of an era.

4. Explore old cemeteries, especially those where the models for your characters are buried. Take note of common names used in that area and era.

5. Research old newspapers. If you don’t live in the area, you can usually hire a researcher through the local public library or use inter-library loan. In addition to basic information about your story, you can get a sense of the language used at the time, other contemporaneous events, even products that were available.

6. Seek out and talk to knowledgeable people. The local librarian can help you find historical societies or amateur historians. Networking can be an essential part of your research strategy since not everything is written down somewhere, especially legends, myths, anecdotes, even the location of other written sources, such as letters and diaries.

7. Consider searching for any legal documents related to your story. Old deeds, contracts, and wills are likely to be filled with more unusual information than current boilerplate legal forms. Legal research can be tricky, but historically minded lawyers may be willing to help you out.

8. Take a look at the fiction written at the time your story is set. Often this proves to be a good source of details about the time period and even the locale.

9. Don’t ignore the footnotes. If you find a book related to your subject, don’t limit your reading to the body of the book. Endnotes, epilogues, indexes, and other appendices can contain a great deal of useful information.

10. Consider specialized data bases and sources. War records, genealogical information, and the census can reveal worthwhile information. This type of resource is often available through university libraries or research centers.

11. Buy some good reference books: a dictionary of slang or phrase origins to make sure you don’t use anachronistic language; a writer’s encyclopedia or other general reference of historical lists, dates of inventions, timelines; an unabridged dictionary; a thesaurus. Building your own reference library is a smart idea for any writer.

12. Use the Internet to its full advantage. Although reference books are often a quicker way to find information, the Internet can be more thorough, if you have the time to search. If you need to know something truly esoteric, place a post on the message board of a relevant website. But if you limit your research to the Internet alone, you are truly limiting yourself. Old newspaper archives, photographs, details of a particular locale may not be readily available online.

Because you’ll use probably only a fraction of the information you uncover in your research, you have to decide which details are worth the time to research and which are not. Regardless, the more you know, the more comfortable you’ll feel writing about a different time. Your novel will be more engaging and credible with artfully placed and historically accurate information.

About The Author

Ann Roscopf Allen is a college writing instructor and the author of the historical novel A Serpent Cherished, based on the true story of an 1891 Memphis murder. Visit her website at http://www.aserpentcherished.com/pages/1/index.htm.

Read More..

by: Steven Barnes

During a recent telephone conversation, I mentioned having sent off the last revisions for my twentieth novel, “Great Sky Woman.” There was a silence on the other side of the phone, followed by the question “How in the world do you do that? Twenty novels!”

The truth is that I know many writers who have written far more than twenty novels. It is not that unusual. In fact, if you are a working writer, the “perfect” output is very close to a book a year. Less often than this, and the readers stop anticipating your next book, and wander to another writer’s literary pasture.

There is a commonality to the behavior patterns of successful writers, and a commonality to the behavior patterns of writers who just can’t get started, can’t get finished, or stall out at their first or third book.

Successful, prolific writers:

1) Write every day. That’s EVERY day. They sit down, open their veins, and bleed into their computers. Yes, it can be painful, but if you don’t maintain this kind of regularity, rust creeps in. The connection between heart, mind and fingers is broken. And we mistake the struggle for our natural state.

2) Read every day. Reading is priming the pump. It is modeling successful behavior. It is increasing vocabulary, studying plot and characterization, and entertaining the little subconscious demons and angels who actually do the deep work. Never neglect this.

3) Set deadlines and quotas. There is a certain amount of work to be done, on a daily basis. It need not be some huge amount—a page a day will create a book a year!

4) Create a writing space, a place that feels comfortable to them. This is both a physical space (a desk) and a psychological space (created with music, posters, familiar objects, etc.) It may also be a temporal space—a specific time of day or night that they write.

5) Have specific goals. They have committed to being professional writers. This is how they define themselves, and they never forget it. If you accept this definition, then you MUST behave as a professional writer, on a daily basis, or it causes emotional discomfort. They are willing to accept this friendly prod.

6) Don't listen to the negative voices in their heads. Everyone has them. The voices tell you you can’t, you mustn’t, it isn’t good enough. You must find a way to tell the voices to shut up, to ignore them, or to quiet them. Any flow-based activity will help here: meditation, Tai Chi, yoga, running, Sufi breathing exercises, martial arts…the list is endless. Find one.

7) Are committed to the long-term. They know that if they spend an hour or three a day, every day, for a decade, they will build their career.

8) Expose themselves to criticism and rejection. In other words, they FINISH their projects, and then SUBMIT those finished projects to editors and agents.

9) Involve other people in their “master mind” group. Successful writers know other writers. And readers. And editors. And agents. They befriend them, recruit them, get feedback from them, and listen to the feedback. This is their “brain trust.” Unsuccessful writers hide in their offices, never finish their work, never send it out to risk rejection.

10) Have W.I.T.---they will do Whatever It Takes to ethically reach their dreams, to become the best they can be. They never quit. They know that success is based less on talent or “who you know” than persistence, hard work, and honesty.

There are more distinctions, but I’m out of time—got to start working on book twenty-one!

About The Author

Steven Barnes

NY Times Bestselling writer Steven Barnes has lectured on storytelling and creativity at USC, UCLA, Seattle University, and the Smithsonian Institute. Creator of the first whole-mind high performance system for writers, he can be reached at: http://www.lifewrite.com and http://www.lifewriting.biz.

Read More..

by: Lisa Silverman

I’m about to tell you to read the most useful book of essays I’ve ever read about fiction--a book that dates from 1927 and refers to works by such authors as Dostoyevsky, Melville, Thomas Hardy, and D. H. Lawrence. The good news: even if you haven’t read a single work by those authors, you’ll still find "Aspects of the Novel" engrossing, relevant, and helpful in your own work. I promise--whether you’re writing commercial sci-fi mysteries or literary character studies.

E. M. Forster, novelist and frequent beneficiary (or victim, depending on your point of view) of Merchant-Ivory film adaptations, gave a series of lectures at Cambridge in 1927, which were then published as "Aspects of the Novel." The book’s chapters are titled “The Story,” “People,” “The Plot,” “Fantasy,” “Prophecy,” and “Pattern and Rhythm.” That’s it. These are Forster’s topics, and he covers them in few words--the book totals only about 175 pages.

Can Forster, a novelist from another era, say anything you haven’t heard before, especially when he covers a subject as complex as story in a mere seventeen pages? I defy you to find a more concise explanation of the difference between story and plot than this:

“'The king died and then the queen died'” is a story. 'The king died, and then the queen died of grief' is a plot."

Of course, Forster elaborates on his point, but that’s not a bad start, is it? Even if your fiction is loaded with story, it may be in need of plot, as Forster defines it. A lot of the unpublished fiction I read is loaded with story but in need of plot--even if that’s the case in only one scene or in only one paragraph. This book will help you understand how to change that. (Hint: it has a lot to do with the word why.)

You may look at the list of chapters and think, What the $%*# is prophecy? Two pages in, you’ll begin to understand. I can’t quite do it justice here, but it’s a quality Forster sees in the truly great novelists, and not in the truly good ones. It’s about creating characters who are both real and part of something greater than themselves. Our author makes no secret of his opinions on who fits into which category, but I’ll let you find those opinions out for yourself. Whether your favorites are his favorites isn’t the point, anyway. The point is that his insights can help you bring your own writing closer to that transcendent level.

Forster uses examples from wide-ranging works to make his points, from "War and Peace" and "Wuthering Heights" to--well, to some obscure novels from his own period that none of us have heard of or will hear of again. But it doesn’t matter: he provides the perfect examples from each book to bolster his arguments and explain his points. And he might just inspire you to go out and peruse a few classics: after finishing "Aspects of the Novel," I finally decided to read "War and Peace" (let’s just say he likes that one).

He begins the book by emphatically refusing to discuss fiction in chronological order, or within the context of “influences and schools,” stuff he considers “pseudo-scholarship.” Instead, he presents the following image:

"Time, all the way through, is to be our enemy. We are to visualize the . . . novelists not as floating down that stream which bears all its sons away unless they are careful, but as seated together in a room, a circular room . . . all writing their novels simultaneously."

Who wouldn’t want to be a fly on the wall and hear the conversation in that room? And he further draws us into that room by providing a series of couplets: pairs of excerpts from (at first) unidentified novels, which he compares and then contrasts, perfectly illuminating the subtle but profound ways two writers can be both the same and different.

Forster begins with the most basic and necessary element, story, gradually takes us to the more esoteric and subjective topics of the fantastical and the prophetic in fiction, and rounds out his discussion back at the fundamentals: pattern and rhythm. His thoughts on each are opinionated, witty, and still very much relevant almost a century later. Which may help explain why Forster’s own novels are still so popular and relevant a century after their own publication.

About The Author
Lisa Silverman is a freelance book editor and works in the copyediting department at one of New York's most prestigious literary publishing houses. She has also worked as a ghostwriter and a literary agent representing both book authors and screenwriters. She founded http://www.BeYourOwnEditor.com in order to provide writers with free advice on both writing and the publishing business.

Read More..

So you've heard that writing an article can be a great way to promote yourself, your website and your products, but you have no clue how to get started. You see hundreds of article directories that you are just dying to submit an article to, but you just have even one article to submit. Where do you start?

First, lets understand what parts of an article are needed before submitting to article directories. Your article should usually have five sections:

1. Title. Your title should indicate to the reader what the article is about. Try using a catchy title to make the reader curious to find out more about your topic. Look through various article directories and make note of the headlines that capture your attention. Try to model your own headlines after those that you found interesting and made you want to hurry and click to read the article.

2. Introduction. You should dedicate one paragraph for the introduction. Use the introduction to build upon the headline and explain the content of the article without giving it all away. Try to use your introduction as a roadmap through your article so the read will know what to expect. Also, use the introduction to build rapport with your reader - use it let them know you understand their problem and that you are about to offer them a solution.

3. Main Content. Your main content should breakdown and elaborate upon your introduction. Instead of giving an overview as you did in the introduction, begin developing each of your points. Support your points with examples, anecdotes and resources to create variety for the reader.

4. Conclusion. The conclusion of your article should be one or two paragraphs that sum up information presented in the main content. Learn to create a conclusion that sticks in the mind of the reader. For example, in how-to articles, point out the benefits of following your directions and let them know how to proceed next.

5. Author Resource Box - Always give yourself credit for being the author of the article. Use the author resource box as you business card. Include your name, your expertise and your website address. Double-check that your website address is properly linked and try to keep track of where you post articles so you can update your links if your website address changes.

Now let's look a simple article that anyone can write. One of the easiest articles to write is a "Top 10 Tips..." type article.

1. You will start off with a catchy title to gain attention such as "The Top Ten Tips for Making Extra Cash".

2. Next will be your introduction perhaps explaining to the reader that you understand their need for extra cash, and how you plan to help them.

3. The ten tips with their detailed explanations will form the main content.

4. The brief summary recaps the information and gives them an action item - tell them to immediately apply these ten tips so they can start earning extra cash!

5. Include your author resource box information. At the minimum include your name and website address.

So now you understand how you can jumpstart your way into article writing for self-promotion. Now go and start writing!
About the Author

Gwen Tanner is the owner of HaveInfo, a directory of informative and educational articles. For more training on internet marketing, writing and computer skills visit MyTrainingCenter.

Read More..

1) Eliminate hyperbole - people want concise information not an artistic story

2) Start every paragraph with a different word to enhance sentence creativity

3) Use popular keyword and key phrases for your target market in your article

4) Edit unnecessary prepositions and phrases to make sentences more powerful

5) Sparingly add adjectives to make your words more colorful and descriptive

6) Try to stay neutral and don't get your emotions involved in your article

7) Write your article and sleep on it and edit it the next day with a fresh view

8) Make your article title longer and more enticing to gather more readers

9) Tell your reader something new they haven't heard before in a different way

10) Proof and read every article aloud to improve readability and create flow

11) Continue your research to jam pack important information into every article

12) Be in the habit of having both a Dictionary and Thesaurus handy for reference

13) Use plain ole easy to understand words so your reader doesn't get cross-eyed

14) The word "that" refers to things and the word "which" refers to people

15) Insert words that you have trouble spelling to increase your writing ability
About the Author

Dale Adams of Majestic Publishers is the author and self publisher of the new book, "Care Giving Made Easy - How to be an Awesome Caregiver" and the soon to be released, "How to Make Your Home Sell - Even In A Slow Market" His many experiences include being a Security Consultant, General Contractor and Energy Conservation Specialist. To learn more valuable information visit: http://www.majesticpublishers.com

Read More..

Online article titles have to do more than those in the print world. In a print magazine, you just need to catch the attention of the reader. The title doesn't really even have to tell the reader what the article is about, since the magazine it is in will be on a specific subject area. Readers know that if it is in a fishing magazine it about a fishing-related topic.

In an online article, on the other hand, the title has to tell the potential reader what the article is about. He may see nothing but the title in the search engine results, and if he doesn't know what it's about, he's likely to just click on the next link. Online article titles have to be found in the search engines as well, meaning they have to have keywords in them that people are looking for. Of course, just like print articles, they should also catch the reader's attention.

My Best Article Titles

Sometimes you can do all three of these things pretty well in one article. An example is my article titled "Cheap Homes In Nice Towns." You know what the article is about, it is okay as an attention grabber (not great), and "cheap homes" is a keyword that many people search for each month. At one of the article directories I have submitted it to, it has been read over 17,000 times - more than double the traffic of any of the other 550 articles I have there (many have been read only a couple hundred times).

However, in checking the number of times my various articles have been viewed at this directory, I have often been surprised - enough so to remind me that "rules" are only guidelines. For example, two of the most-read articles I have there are "Remove Permanent Marker From Carpet," and "How To Get Candle Wax Out Of Carpet" (about 6,000 times each).

These are not attention-grabbing titles, but they are also not topics covered well on the internet. Obviously there is something to be said for utilitarian articles with good keywords that are not too competitive. Add easy-to-compete-for keywords to the list of things to try for in an article title.

In the top five for visits are the article titles, "Really Cheap Plane Tickets," (6,400) and "Cheap International Plane Tickets" (10,050). A promise of a way to save money seems to be a good bet. My article "Worry - Five Ways To Eliminate It," has been viewed 3,300 times, but it is fairly new, making it the most views per month by far. I suppose worry is a common enough problem that people need a solution to.

Article titles that promise to help with a problem work, then. So do those that promise to teach the reader something new, and those that are directly targeting the keywords they are searching. What else can make for a good article title?

- Ask a question: "Do You Make This Writing Mistake?"

- Tell them they can do something: "You Can Write A Better Title Today"

- Promise some value: "Ten Ways You Can Make More Money"

- Use the words "how to": "How To Overcome Writer's Block"

- Involve them with a story: "You Quit Your Job - Now What?"

Watch the reports (at the article directories and on your web sites) and try to learn from them. Of course those statistics for "views" I mention above only tell me how many times people started to read my articles. Did they finish the articles? Did they then click through to my web sites? There is more to good online writing than good article titles.


About the Author

Copyright Steve Gillman. He lost money on his websites until he discovered the power of articles. Six months later he was making a good living online. To learn how you can do the same, get your free online writing course at: http://www.999articles.com

Read More..

It happens - you're hurtling through traffic on a collision course with a speeding deadline, or slouching on the sofa as "reality" parades across the face of a 32-inch-box, or quietly sipping a cup of tea and... lightening strikes. Something, a sound or smell or sight, grabs you by the collar, jolts you from your sensory slumber and leaves you whispering an astonished, "Wow." As writers we live for these moments in life because, when cared for properly, a fleeting insight can be transformed into a full-grown essay, article or story. Consider asking yourself these questions to help fully develop your revelatory moments:

1. What, specifically, struck you? Was it something physical - the aforementioned sight or sound or smell? Was it a concept unrelated to the physical senses? A memory that raced through the attic of your mind, sweeping away the years? Identifying the source of your inspiration will help bring focus to your piece.

2. Why is it important to you? What emotion is tied to your insight? Were you amazed, awestruck, frightened, angry, puzzled, inspired, enlightened or confused? Once you understand your own emotional response you can start to establish the feel of your piece, from lighthearted or whimsical to judiciously serious.

3. How does this apply to others? This answer determines whether your writing resonates with your readers. So, go slowly. Ask each of the first two questions again, now from the perspective of your intended audience: What will strike my readers? Why will it be important to their lives? This is the last big hurdle - once you're comfortable with this part, the tell-a-tale-train picks up speed.

4. Is the piece personal, factual or sheer fantasy? This is the nuts and bolts phase of your project. If the piece is personal, or fantasy, here is where you jot down your notes and establish a basic outline. If your piece is nonfiction, here is where you set out the additional steps you will take to establish a sense of substance and authority, including online research and additional self-education.

5. Where's my pencil? Ah... Yes, you are now at the point where it is necessary to take up paper and pencil, of the physical or keyboard variety, and begin. Begin. Don't worry about completing the piece at this point, just start. Concentrate on the first sentence and before you know it...

The rush of life often overwhelms. But sometimes, briefly, we catch the lilt of a lullaby dancing with the wind and - life speaks to us. When life next speaks to you in a strong and quiet voice, or smacks you upside the head in an onslaught of insight, share your experience with the rest of us. Take a bit of time to ask yourself the questions above and, with a little nurturing, you'll turn your "Wows" into words.
About the Author

Tim Anderson is a freelance writer who has a special interest in medical topics. Visit his blog at http://medicalmigrant.blogspot.com/

Read More..

How to write a simple article? Most likely there are as many different opinions about this as there are authors, but it is enough to say that with the everlasting popularity of publications on the internet, it is safe to begin with learning how to write an online article. How to write a simple article

As there are hundreds of strict rules and strategies for writing an article full of keywords, I'd like to save you some time and effort and a possible headache too, and to teach you how to write a simple piece for online publication, an article which is included in an online database. For instance, this might be a database that accepts as well as offers its readers free articles. Furthermore, I'd like to concentrate mainly on the style or type of publication which is easiest to reach and most interesting and enjoyable to read. It is important to know that the great majority of websites have a general topic or concern. Suppose you are going to write an article for a firm which is specialized in designing kitchen cabinets. The above-mentioned firm required ten publications to start. (Keep in mind that this is only a hypothetical situation; most sites have a database of more than 300 articles). I suppose many of us have previous experience in writing assignments in their college classes, for example a paper which is supposed to be 10 pages long on anything related to California history. It is almost the same as far as writing online articles in concerned; the web master will require ten articles about kitchen cabinets. And then you have to leave your imagination and invention work.

Go to your kitchen and carefully examine the cupboards. How many synonyms of cabinet can you think of? How these cupboards are made, what are they made of and how many parts do they have? Do you know all the kinds of materials that are used in building a cupboard? When was the oldest cabinet you've seen built? ( few days ago I came across one which was used in a pharmacy and was made of steel and glass, it was from the early 1920's ). Thus, if you are a beginner at writing articles about cabinets, you could think about the types, styles, designs and materials. Here are some pieces of advice you can follow and write a couple of paragraphs choosing your own approach from one of the mentioned below.

* Define all the terms and specialized words used in cabinetry. The best way to help a potential buyer, a user or even apprentice carpenter is to include a glossary in your article. * Make an easily readable bulleted list covering all the facts and details related to the topic *Do a Survey - write an article about the history of the topic you've chosen, whether it would be a person, a place, an event or a concept * Be sensitive about the format - using different style and font variations will help the reader distinguish the different parts of the article

Further, knowing how to write a piece of publication includes setting the right purposes: show the readers how to select, build, buy, clean, install, etc. the item you write about Some of the popular formats that you might want to use are listed below:

The Q and A - put some questions and then finds the best answers

The Narrative - people love stories, especially well-written ones

Try Quotes and Trivia - if you find it appropriate you can put some quotes in your article because quotes are as exciting as tales and discussions of trials and tribulations and success--with the item you are describing.

This should be a good base on which you build your article. It is a good idea to start with a website of your own, that way you would see how good is your work. Else, you could write publications for a friend of yours. What really matters in writing simple articles is to be experienced, so just get down to practicing. While working, try to enjoy it.
About the Author

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning information. Learn more at Write A Simple Article

Read More..

by: Patrick Dent

When writing fiction, the author must rely upon his/her instincts and experiences to create a story. This article will provide an overview of 7 of the major elements of writing fiction in good form, i.e., the form editors expect.

Plotting

Plotting and characterization carry the other elements of the book. The plotting must be believable, plausible, and interesting. It is a sequence of events connected in a cause-and-effect manner. Generally the plot consists of a series of increasingly more intense conflicts, a climax (the most intense part of the book), and a final resolution. The plot must advance as the book unfolds. Usually the closer to the end of the book the climax is placed the better.

Long works like novels can have many subplots and secondary climaxes and resolutions. Avoid using subplots in order to have cliché characters. Avoid too many coincidences. Flashbacks have been overused. A book is stronger when it runs chronologically.

Characterization

The reader should be able to identify with and care about the characters in the sense that the characters seem real to the reader. The characters must do something, and what they do must seem reasonable for them to have done it.

Characters should be introduced early in the book. The more often a character is mentioned or appears, the more significance the reader will attach to the character. Also, the main character should be introduced before setting, so that the setting can be introduced from the point of view of the character.

The nature of characters can be brought out through minimal description and the actions, thoughts, and dialogue of the characters. The author should allow the reader to make judgments about the characters; the author should avoid making the judgments for the reader. The feelings of the character should be demonstrated rather than told by the narrator.

Yet, there are some very good books in which much of the narrative voice is about a character's feelings and thoughts or in which the narration goes into great detail and analysis of a character's feelings and thoughts at some point. So one rule about writing fiction is that there are no rules, or maybe: If it works, it works.

Scene

Scene includes the place and time in which the book takes place. The scene should be described in specifics to make the book seem real, to set the atmosphere and mood of the book, to place limitations on the characters, or to help establish the basic conflict of the book. Weather can be an important part of a scene.

The scene can be used for contrast, having something taking place in an unexpected place. Also, the more unfamiliar the reader is with the setting, the more interesting the scene.

Dialogue

Dialogue makes fiction seem real. However, dialogue that copies reality may actually slow down a book. Avoid unnecessary or repetitive dialogue.

Dialect in dialogue can be difficult to read. A small amount of it can be used to establish the nature of a character, but overuse will intrude on the book. The level of use of language by the characters- pronunciation, diction, grammar, etc.- is often used to characterize people in a book. Most often the main characters use the best English.

Profanity and vulgarisms can be used where they seem appropriate. Overuse amounts to author intrusion and can interrupt the reader's belief in the book.

Too much exposition through dialogue can slow down a book. Characters should not repeat in dialogue events which have already happened in the book.

Also, one character should not tell another character what the second character should already know just so the author can convey information to the reader.

The form of dialogue should be varied to keep the reader interested. However, don't try to find too many different ways to say "said."

Interior dialogue is what a character is thinking. Dramatic dialogue is a character thinking out loud, without response from other characters. Indirect dialogue is the narrator telling what a character said.

Dialogue should be used to develop character or to advance the book. It should not be used just to hear characters talk.

Point of View

First person point of view has the main character telling the story or a secondary character telling the main character's story. Everything that happens in the book must be seen or experienced by the character doing the narration. The reader's judgment of other characters in the book will be heavily influenced by the narrator. This can be very limiting. Also, a book written in first person usually means that the main character won't die in the plot. However, first person point of view gives a sense of intimacy to the book.

Third person point of view can be objective or omniscient. An objective narrator describes actions but not the inner thoughts or feelings of the characters. An omniscient narrator can describe all the actions of all of the characters but also all of their inner thoughts and feelings as well.

Genre

Genre is the main category into which a book fits. Most stories meet the criteria for multiple genres, but you should have some focus, identifying a market before you begin writing fiction.

Narrative Voice

Narrative voice is the way the author uses language. The longer the work the less important language becomes. Above all, the author's work must tell a story. The author should not be more concerned with the words used than with the tale the author is trying to tell. Don't be a fanatic about words. The language is less important than characterization and plotting. However, a combination of a good story and good narrative voice will be a delight to read. Mistakes in English amount to author intrusion and detract greatly from the book. The most effective writing uses the active voice, and nouns and verbs so specific that they require no modifiers. The choice of words can help set the tone of the book.

Beginning authors often miss one critical fact about writing fiction. It is up to the author to please the reader, not the other way around.

About The Author

Patrick Dent
Author of Execution of Justice, available at:http://www.lulu.com/EOJ
Founder of Creative Writing - Fiction, the online resource to help new authors refine their writing skills.

http://www.creativewritingfiction.com

Read More..

by: Sarah Playle

Visualization is one of the best techniques to use when plotting a story. It's like watching a movie in your mind, only the movie is your story. You can see all the scenes and events playing out, from beginning to end.

To start, find a quiet spot and relax. Concentrate on your breathing. Let your mind wander and don't focus on anything. If you start worrying or thinking, just let the thoughts float out of your head. Now, when you're relaxed, imagine yourself walking down a city street. Fill it in with all the details - imagining the sound of cars or of people talking. Feel the cement under your feet and the sun on your body. Walk along this street for a bit until you are fully immersed in your visualization. Now imagine that you come a theater. You buy the ticket and go in. Now you are in the lobby, but there is no one else around. You have the whole theater yourself. Buy yourself some snacks or not. Now go into the theater and take a seat. You are the only one in there so you can sit wherever you want. The curtain goes back and the movie starts - and the movie is *your* novel. Just relax and watch it play out, as if you were viewing a real movie. Don't force anything. Just let your mind fill in the story events on its own. When you feel like you've seen enough, wake up and immediately write down what you saw so you don't forget it. Use this technique whenever you are stuck for where to go with the plot or what to write in a scene.

Another way of using visualization is using it to meet your characters. Relax the same way you did before, but instead of imagining a theater, imagine that you are meeting your main character for coffee or lunch. Go into the restaurant or coffee stop and find your character. Really see him. What does he look like? What she wear? How does he smile, etc. Sit down and talk to your character. Let your mind fill in the questions and answers. Don't force anything. Do this with all of your characters if need be until you really know them.

[ Submitted with ArticleSubmitter Pro - http://www.articlecity.com/article_submitter_pro.shtml ]

About The Author

Sarah Playle is the author of "The Distance Between Us," the gripping tale of family, friendship, and the ties that bind the lives of four people together. She considers her writing cross-genre, or 'dark' young adult. To read her work visit www.authorsden.com/sarahaplayle.

Read More..

by: Nick Vernon

In the beginning of your story you have to grab your readers’ interest and sustain it till the end. Our hook is our character. Readers keep on reading to find out more about the character. To see what he’ll do in the story; how he’ll solve his problems. What his goals are and whether he’ll achieve them.

And because our character is the reason readers become hooked on our stories, establishing him at the start is a must in a short story. And it is essential to establish him at the start because we don’t have the capacity in our limited word length to introduce him at our leisure.

The bond between readers and character has to be developed almost immediately.

You might have a few characters though. How do you decide who your main character will be? A main character is one that drives the story.

Think of it this way… If we were to take him away, there will be no story because it’s his story we are telling. The story will unfold by what is happening or what has happened to him.

When you establish who your main character will be, the next thing to do is to find which of your characters is in the best position to tell the story. Will your main character tell his story or will you give that role to another character?

This is what we call Viewpoint and what we’ll see in more detail in proceeding chapters.

Your main character isn’t necessarily the one who is telling the story; he might not even appear in our story ‘physically’ but will be there through the thoughts of others. So the viewpoint character might be a secondary character.

Whoever is telling the story is the viewpoint character.

The viewpoint character gives the coloring of the story. Whatever this characters says, we will believe. It may or may not be true, according to the main character, but because he isn’t there ‘physically’ to voice his opinions, we will have to take the viewpoint character’s word for it.

In a novel you can play around with viewpoint. You can have several viewpoint characters. In a short story it works best with one.

So your main character, whether he’ll be telling his own story or someone else will be doing it for him, has to be established at the start of your story.

Having said that, let’s see the reasons why the main character may not be telling his own story...

* Perhaps our main character is one that readers won’t sympathize or empathize with.
* Or the main character will not view highly with our readers
* Or the viewpoint character knows all the facts and can tell the story better
* Etc.

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

Let me give you an example of a secondary character telling the story of a main character…

Let’s say your secondary character is a psychiatrist and the main character is the patient. Depending on what’s going to go on in the story, we’ll have to choose who’s in a better position to tell it. In this case, I will choose the psychiatrist.

I’ve done this because the patient is confused, being the one with the problems. The psychiatrist knows all the facts and his opinions will make things clearer to readers.

So, as the secondary character (the psychiatrist) unravels the story, we’ll become involved in the main character because it’s the main character’s story that is been told.

This may get a little confusing to the beginner writer. As they write they will have to keep in mind that the secondary character, although he’s telling the story, is NOT our main character.

The secondary character is there to do perform a task. He’s only the voice. It’s the main character we’ll become involved with.

A secondary character doesn’t play such an important role as a main character does. Therefore, information about secondary characters should be kept to a minimum. It’s not his story – it’s the main character’s story and the spotlight must, most times, be kept on the main character.

Take the above example for instance. It’s no relevance to the story how the psychiatrist started his career or where he received his diploma – what’s important, is what he has to say about the main character, his patient.

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

Introduce your main character straight away, as close to the beginning of the story that’s possible. Enable your readers to form a bond and that will keep them hooked.

Is your main character established at the start of your story?

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

Read More..

by: Nick Vernon

How do you choose a name? Do you put down the first name that pops into your mind? Initially that’s what I used to do, until someone pointed out to me that there are a few things to take into consideration when choosing a name…

1. You Have To Be Comfortable With It

We associate names with people we know. If you like a certain name but know and dislike a person who bears it, will you feel comfortable using that name in your story?

Will you mentally shut that person out or will you be reminded of them each time you type that name?

Our characters have to be likable to us before they can become likeable to our readers. Will your dislike for that person transfer to your character?

2. It Must Be Easy To Pronounce

The English language can be, at times, misleading. How many words, and even names we spell one way and pronounce another? If the name you have chosen falls into this category, will your readers know how to pronounce it?

For years I use to pronounce the beautiful name ‘Sean’ exactly how it’s written ‘Seen,’ when it’s pronounced by the much nicer sounding ‘Shorn.’ Will the name you choose bear the same problem?

If you choose a difficult pronouncing name for your character and worse, one that’s not widely known, you stand to lose the effect of that name. A beautiful sounding name can be utterly destroyed if your reader doesn’t know how to pronounce it.

Your story has to flow. If the name you’ve chosen is not easy to pronounce, the readers will constantly stop each time they come across it. This will disrupt the flow of your story.

3. Foreign Sounding Names

The same as the above applies to foreign sounding names. They must be easy to pronounce. Consider the following:

* Yahiya
* Indihar
* Gschu
* Lyudmila

These names sound exotic but they don’t exactly roll off the tongue. Should you compromise the flow of the story for the sake of a name?

4. Does The Name Suit Your Character?

Not all names suit all people and not all names will suit all characters. Like clothing and hairstyles, names go out of fashion too.

For example...

Let’s say your heroine is a lively, upbeat, modern lady. Will it suit her type of personality if we choose the name ‘Mabel’? ‘Mabel’ we usually associate with an elderly aunt or grandmother.

What about your hero? Let’s say he’s a young man who possesses a powerful personality. Will the name ‘Hubert?’ suit him? ‘Hubert’ would suit an elderly character or perhaps a ‘quiet’ character.

5. They Shouldn’t Start With The Same Letter

If you’re going to have two main characters in your story and their names start with the same letter, it will read a little awkwardly.

Example…

* David and Debra
* Sam and Sue
* George and Gina

6. Surnames

Like we carefully choose the first name for our characters, we have to be careful when selecting their surnames. Just like first names, there are certain surnames, which sound better than others.

When selecting a surname, make sure it has a pleasant ring, when used with the first name. Using names, which rhyme like, Jeff Jefferson, sound amusing. If this is the effect you wish to create then using it is fine.

7. Stereotype Names

Are you thinking of naming your character Adolph or Judas? There’s nothing wrong with these names, except for the fact that we tend to associate them with that single person in history who bore them. Will your reader trust your hero if you name him Judas?

8. Famous Names

I recall a quote I once read which went something like this…

“Nothing grows under the shade of a tree.”

If you name your character Elvis, Madonna etc.. Will your character be able to outshine the ultra famous person of whom the world knows? I doubt it.

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

When naming characters there are also a few other points to consider…

Naming them will not only depend on what kind of people they are, but who their parents or guardians were (if the parents or guardians play some sort of role in your story). After all, we don’t name ourselves, do we? So take into consideration the following…

1) What kind of people are the parents?

a) Free spirited?

Unusual names will rank highly amongst people like this.

For example,

* The seasons of the year
* Or perhaps a month in the year
* Or an object
* Etc

b) Conservative?

These types of people tend to use the full name rather than an abbreviated version of it.

For example,

* Kathleen instead of Kat
* Michael instead of Mike
* Etc

2) What Is The Parents/Guardians Nationality?

If they’re traditional, they will choose a name, which is popular in their country. Also traditional parents/guardians tend to give their children the names of their own parents or other relatives.

Look at the name you chose for your main characters. Does the name suit them?

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

Read More..

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.

Read More..