by: Jesse Dawson

Writing is not really an art. It is a craft – and you can learn a craft. Follow these four techniques to improve the quality of your writing, no matter what type of writing you do. Writing Tip #1: After you run your spell checking software, go back and re-read your writing. Few people are good spellers, which is why so many of us rely on spell checking software. Unfortunately, spell checkers have their own flaws and sometimes flag silly errors. For example, the words "form" and "from" are both good, legitimate words. But if you wrote a business letter that said, "We took $200 form your checking account to cover the payment," most spell checkers won't catch that oversight. Yet this simple typo changed the meaning of the sentence. Spell checkers are a convenience; they are neither authoritative nor foolproof, so don’t rely on them. Always read through your writing at least once after you spell check -- and keep a dictionary handy. Writing Tip #2: Use that famous "KISS" principle for your punctuation. You know the rule, don't you? "Keep It Simple, Stupid." Apply this rule to punctuation. If you don't know how or when to use a semicolon, then avoid semicolons; you'll only display ignorance if you get it wrong. In keeping with that KISS principle, limit your use of commas. Far too many people use far too many commas. Just because a sentence is long does not mean it needs a comma. Well-placed commas make reading easier. Commas thrown in simply to break up words are incorrect and distracting. Another important rule of punctuation is to avoid using exclamation marks, almost always. If your choice of words, sentence structure, and overall prose don't convey the sense of excitement you are seeking, then using an exclamation mark won't do it. If your writing conveys your sense of excitement, an exclamation point is, well, pointless. Writing Tip #3: Make sure your writing is grammatically correct. You don't need the skills of an English teacher to use correct grammar. You simply need to learn the basics -- verbs and subjects agree in number, for example. That is, "he was" is correct; "they were" is correct. To say "they was" is incorrect. If you are not sure about using grammar, especially if English isn't your "first" language, go to some good reference sites for fundamental English grammar and usage. (If you are writing in another language, the same advice holds true for that language.) Invest in a good, basic grammar book or style manual. Check with any bookstore, online or offline, and you can find one. 4. When you finish some writing, put it aside for a couple of hours or days (if possible), then re-read it before you let go of it. Of course, if you're writing or dictating a business letter or other "time-sensitive" document, this may not be possible. If you set your article or story aside for a day, then re-read it, you may notice glaring errors or want to make significant changes. And you thought before you had finished. Many writers and teachers have commented that all true writing is done in the rewriting. Take that advice to heart and you will significantly improve your writing. These four steps, rechecking your spelling, taking care with punctuation, watching for fundamental grammar errors, and rewriting, will improve your writing. They are proven tools used by every wordsmith.
About The Author
Jesse Dawson recommends using http://www.whitesmokesoftware.com/ to improve your writing and fix embarrassing grammar mistakes. Dawson is the author of "Can YOU Read Me Now?," a free e-book on using readability formulas to write better, available at http://www.readabilityformulas.com/.

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When you write articles, be sure to keep readers in mind. Studies have shown that most Internet readers tend to scan a page to find the information they are looking for, rather than to read the full page. This means to have good titles, many subtitles, and make use of bullet points to help readers to scan the page. Viewers prefer a site like this that are easy to use and will be more willing to come back to your website time and time again. The more that your readers back, the more opportunities you have to get them to click on each of your affiliate links. Failing to write your articles in this way, or to get them written in this way, can make the visitor away before they even have a chance to see what you have to say or know what your affiliate links are all about. Holder articles organized as recommended will keep the visitors back and make it possible for it to continue to make money for you.

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When you select an article for your site, ensure that there is a length that is optimal for search engine optimization efforts. Articles that are as short as 200 words or as long as 500 words should fit into this category. Although the search engine optimization is not your goal, it is still a good idea to keep your articles in this length of your reader's sake. They are unlikely to be finished with your side if it is longer. This could leave them Kith only half of the information you want them to have or to leave them with the impression that your site is too "wordy". Most Internet readers do not read a Web page that they would make a book, so the shorter the better. Even if it means to divide up a long idea to 4 or 5 pages. Be sure to label them so that the reader can pick and choose which parts they want to read or so they know what will be next to help them decide whether they want to continue reading.

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Where Do I Get Ideas?

That's the most common question I get from fellow writers looking to break into article marketing. The truth? Steal them.

Yes, you literally steal ideas and twist them a bit to make them fresh – make them yours.

That leads to another question, how do you make old ideas yours so that they're fresh, new and – dare I say – revolutionary?

Actually, it's not as tough as you may think. Here's a quick and easy formula I use for turning old content into something new:

1.Find an old text. Dust off articles, books and home-study courses from your industry and find content that may be useful to your audience. I know what you're thinking. “What about copyrights, Lisa?” Good question. Unless you plan to republish entire blocks of text from the source material, you won't run into any problems. See the following points to find out why.

2.Pull out key points. Look at the information and pull out the salient points that really jump out to you. I usually highlight the points that are exciting to me, and then I re-phrase those points by putting them into my own words.

3.Add your expertise. Under the key points, you'll want to share a bit of advice and expand on the main idea. The best way to do that is to share some of your experience. Tell an anecdote or story from when you handled a similar situation. For instance, when I was an editor at a large business-to-business newsletter publishing company, I often took several articles, pulled out the main ideas and combined the information to create one short, coherent article. You can do the same.

4.Raise your voice. To make sure you're using the source material as a point of reference only, consider reading your final article aloud. If it doesn't sound like something you'd say to a friend or colleague in the industry, re-write it. In my experience, that's the only way the article will ring true with your readers. Plus, you'll steer very clear of the copyright police – who, frankly, aren't really watching anyway. It's your audience you want to please.

Bottom line: Maybe they have heard this information before, but they haven't heard it from YOU – a battle-tested, shooting straight-from-the-hip expert.

It really is that simple. But it does take some practice. Find two long articles from your industry and boil them down to four or five key points. Then simply expand on those points by sharing stories and anecdotes from your experiences.

Try it and let me know how you make out. This is the best way to find so-called “fresh ideas.” When you look at it this way, new ideas are everywhere.

About The Author
Lisa Sparks, marketing expert, is finally revealing every article writing trick, tip, idea, strategy and tactic she's learned over her 16-year career as an editor and marketing geek. More free advice at: http://www.ArticleSecretsRevealed.com.

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For years, writers were not even recognized. Now, the writers are not only recognized but celebs go the extra mile to praise the writer associated with your project. This change in attitude towards scriptwriters -- along with the Internet -- highlights the value of bringing the perpetrators of the project.

Now, a professional copywriter is in high demand. The Internet is all about copy. Whether for web pages, email marketing, pay-per-click advertising, banner ads or autoresponders, the words you publish make or break the entire investment. Big companies with inhouse marketing departments and agencies know when and why to call on the copy writer. But, here's the cause that no one talks about driving small business people to the professional writer. Everyone and anyone sees the words on your website. The world knows if the words on your home page are junk! How embarrassing is that.

It's mean You need a copywriter for your team!

I have some tips on how to hire a copywriter.

a. If you want a writer working in a software manual, look for a technical writer. If you want a press release, find a writer who specializes in public relations. If you want to sell, hire the services of a commercial advertising copywriter or a screenwriter.

b. Review writing samples, but keep in mind that the copy is sometimes subjective. What is good for one may not adapt to another, but the project is still a huge success.

c. Find out who they have done the job. Reviewing a list of customers. Ask about previous employment if the writer is independent. Where did the writer get the experience.

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by: Francisco J Parra


Owning, running and maintaining an internet based business or a site needs articles. Plain and simple, everyone who has a site knows this. Even those who don’t have sites but are frequent internet users knows this as well. Articles quench the thirst for information and knowledge of the people. Plus, the articles provides many other benefits for the site.

The benefits that articles provide are putting a site high in the ranking in search results of keywords and keyword phrases that pertains or are relevant to his or her site. They also provide attraction to website visitors when they are appreciated and is linked to your site from another site or newsletter. Articles provide for the increase of the confidence and trust levels of customers to your site and company.

Many articles are also beneficial to both company and its traffic. When the readers like the articles, they would tell more of their friends, family and peers and recommend your site to them, providing for a larger volume of traffic. You get bigger sales if your traffic trusts and believes in you. Your product or services would be much easier to sell when they know you know what you are doing and talking about.

So ok, we have established that articles are very important to a site and to business. Articles are crucial and to keep ahead in the game, a site must have an article, it is imperative. There is one dilemma though, not many people like writing articles.

Many website owners would rather spend their time on something else, and unless you’re a big time company, you don’t have the necessary resources to use on a pool of article writers. Plagiarism or copying of other articles is frowned upon and could easily get you into trouble, worst case scenario; a hefty fine and jail time.

So what are the other options?

Well, for starters if you hate writing articles and you can’t afford to hire people to write for you then don’t. Get free articles. The first place to look at for free articles is the public domain. Here you won’t have problems with copyright infringement and the following penalties and fines if you get caught for plagiarism.

Public domain articles are articles freely given to the public for public use. You can do whatever you want with it. You can place it on your site, name it as yours, put it in a newsletter its you decision. Always remember though that you will have to choose articles that is very relevant to your site.

The downside to public domain articles is that since it is free for everybody, many of your competitors may have access to them as well. Since every site needs to be original and unique even though you have the same niche, this could be a predicament. You may also have to edit them a bit to place more keywords and keyword phrases to make them better.

Another way to get free articles is to allow other sites which has the same subject or topic as yours to submit articles to your site. This would be only to augment your existing content or else all your articles would be leading to other sites since these articles would have resource boxes with them that could link or direct the readers to their site. That’s why it is important to have your own articles; you cold use them to link your site to other sites as well.

But, to truly feel the impact of what a good article to you, go for original ones. There are many article writers who do part time and freelance article writing jobs that charges only minimal fees. You can get good articles that have all the keywords and keyword phrases you need and people are looking for.

The investment you made for these articles would be worthwhile because you could use them for all the benefits you could offer. You hold copyrights to them and you will be able to use them anyway you want. As your articles help you in building your business and your site, you will have more articles to write and maybe then you wont be having second thoughts about articles.

We have tried our best to resolve all the doubts that might be in the minds of the readers about Articles. We hope that you have obtained some benefit from all this discussion.

Francisco J Parra is an Internet marketing expert, writer, publisher and entrepreneur. Questions? Comments? Francisco can be reached at: http://usaincmx.tripod.com/

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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