Archive for December, 2008

‘I Can Write A Book In A Weekend,’ And Five Other Annoying Things Beginners Say

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

Since every literate person can write, most people think they can be writers. Interestingly enough, we all can speak quite well, but few of us would deem ourselves ‘speakers.’ However, this prevalent belief encourages beginners to say the oddest things that make professional writers want to cringe (or preferably strangle them with a thin wire). If you find yourself saying the following, please stop:

1. “I can write a book in a weekend.”

I’m certain you can mutilate a couple hundred pages with words; however, that doesn’t mean that anyone will want to read them. Yes, I know there are prolific writers who can write a book in two weeks (Voltaire supposedly wrote Candide in three days). Usually they are professionals who have mastered a style and understand the craft of writing. Have you?

2. “I can write those ‘trashy’ books and make tons of money.”

Bwahaha! I love this one.

Many new writers see a 200-page romance or mystery and scoff. These things are so easy, they tell themselves. I can write this in a day. I doubt it, but maybe you can. If you do, will anyone pay you to read it? That is the difference. Those who sell in these genres usually have a passion for the craft that translates onto the page. Hate romance? Think mysteries are ridiculous? Believe sci-fi is for loonies? Then don’t write it, editors and especially readers can tell.

3. “If this crap gets published, I bet I could get a contract in six months.”

Define crap. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Don’t be arrogant and think the world should concede to your every taste (that’s what critics are for). Every writer is not meant for every reader. Just because you don’t like a book doesn’t mean it’s not good. It’s just not good for you. I don’t like okra; however, that doesn’t mean I need to start an anti-okra campaign. Diversity is what makes life interesting.

Okay, okay you’re not talking about taste. You’re talking about horrible, poorly written books. Yes, I know there are some truly bad books out there. Here’s the hard truth. Some bad books (poor grammar, poor structure and poor execution of a plot simpler than a fairy tale) get published. I have plenty of dents in my wall from an effective toss. However, these books are probably ‘placement’ books to fill a hole in a publishing list. Usually, these books sink and their authors are rarely heard from again.

Unfortunately, the existence of these books convinces people that getting their book published should be a breeze. Sure, and every person with a dream to sing will become the next International Idol. Is it fair? No. Do they care? No.

4. “I can write better than that.”

If you can, shut up and write. Nobody wants to hear about it. It’s as annoying as listening to someone explain what they would do if they ruled the world&ndashwell you don’t. Next!

5. “I’d write, if I had more time.”

You’ll never get more time; steal it. That’s what the rest of us do.

6. “I have the perfect book already written in my head.”

Sure, and I have the secrets to the universe taped to the bottom of my shoe. People who say this remind me of the naked emperor walking down the street trying to convince his kingdom that he’s clothed. You’re fooling no one except yourself and you look ridiculous.

Writing is work. Writers make it look effortless because that’s our job (imagine the disappointment you would feel seeing a dancer straining to leap off the ground).

I encourage anyone with a desire and passion to write fiction to do so. Write with meaning; write with truth and skill. Write because you must, not as a path to riches and stardom. It may come; it may not.

The real writers (beginner and pro) don’t talk about it; they do it. Be one of those.

A Bad Literary Agent Can Be Worse Than No Agent At All.

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

Types of things to watch out for with agents:

* Charging the author a fee up front, to be accepted as a client. Can be called a reading fee, or a monthly “office expenses” charge. The best agents, and most successful ones, only charge a percentage fee of royalties the author earns, typically 15%. Suppose a realtor charged you a fee to come over and tour your house before getting the listing? How quickly would you show that realtor the door. . .

* Charging back unusually large “postage and copying fees” to send out an authors’ work. One crooked agency accepts almost every client that contacts them, but in the fine print of the contract they charge “postage and handling” of up to $10 per submission they send out on your behalf. It doesn’t cost $10 to send a letter and a sample chapter of a book to a publisher. This company makes a fortune from these fees whether or not they actually successfully market any of their clients work.

* Directing authors toward specific editing services or giving authors’ names to these services. Sometimes they even own the editing service. Some agents make a significant portion of their income from referral fees from these services.

* Terms in Agency contracts with writers vary widely. Must be read carefully. Not standard at all.

* The agent contacts publishers pretty much at random. The agent’s value to you is in the relationships they have with publishers, so that if the publisher hears from them, they know the book is worth taking a look at. Ask to see copies of rejection letters that come back from publishers. If it looks like just a form letter response, rather than a letter you would send to an acquaintance, you can bet the agent may be just picking names out of a directory of publishers.

* Puts forth a weak effort or gives up on the client’s project after a few months. You have a right to ask how active the agent is going to be. How many publishers are they going to contact, how will they follow up? You also have a right to periodic reports as to whom they have contacted and the results. You must determine how much time and attention they are really going to give you.

Another reason it is imperative to have a reputable agent is that the publishing house typically pays the agent, who deducts their “cut” and sends the remainder it to the author. It’s a frightening thought that a less than honest person gets their hands on the money you’ve earned from sweat, blood, and even tears.

Find out more about agents

“Don’t Polish The Turd,” And Other Oddball Writing Advice That Works

Monday, December 29th, 2008

Even with a dozen published books to my name, I sometimes need a dose of inspiration when I sit down to write. Above my desk, I’ve posted a paper with various pieces of fiction-writing wisdom I’ve collected over the years. Some of the advice may sound odd, but I’ve found it all helpful. Here it is:

1. Write as if no one’s reading. If you always imagine a reader perched on your shoulder, you’ll be afraid to take chances. At least for the first draft, ignore that imaginary reader and free yourself to write whatever crazy, impossible, lousy things occur to you. You can always fix it later - in fact, you SHOULD fix it later. But you’ll have nothing to rewrite if you’re too intimidated to write in the first place.

2. Show up at the page. Writers write. They sit down - ideally every day but at least as regularly as possible - and write.

3. Don’t polish the turd. If you find yourself spending a lot of time trying to save an idea, a chapter or even a sentence, it usually means it’s time to move on. You’re wasting your time trying to beautify something that, well, just plain stinks.

4. Make bad things happen to good people. Novels are driven by conflict, and that means bad things have to happen to your characters - these people that you’ve created and have grown to love over the course of your novel. Your main character can have a happy ending, but along the way, he or she has to deal with sorrow, disappointments and possibly even danger.

5. Murder your darlings. That sentence you LOVE? The sex scene that you’re sure will win you the Pulitzer? The pages that moved you to tears? Be prepared to kill them. In a novel, it’s the piece as a whole that matters - not so much the individual parts. Sometimes your best writing will have to see the sharp end of your editing blade to make things work.

6. Let Sean Connery write your sentences. As James Bond, he’s a man of action: things are not done to him, he does them. That’s how you should structure your sentences. Jason did not get stabbed by Susan - rather, Susan stabbed Jason. The weapon was not found by police - the police found the weapon. Writing in the active voice keeps things moving…and your readers reading.

7. When in doubt, pick one, any one. At some point in your story, you’re likely to face a fork in the road. Should Marianne get in the car? Or should she take off running down the road? Should she slap the guy? Kiss him? Reveal that she’s always secretly loved him? When you’re faced with a decision you can’t seem to make, just make it. Pick one, start writing, and see where it goes. If it doesn’t work out, you can always cut it and try again (see #5).

8. Keep your friends close and your reviewers closer. It can be helpful to get feedback as you go, but choose your readers carefully. Giving your precious pages to someone who is frustrated at their own inability to write a novel is like handing them a loaded gun … pointed right at you.

9. Rewriting is writing. You may have heard the old saw that “writing is rewriting,” but I like to flip it. Rewriting is just as valid a form of creativity as your first draft. Sometimes it takes more than a polish - it takes reaching into your gut and daring to make whatever changes need to be made, no matter how extensive they may be.

10. Skip and go naked. Be free. Have fun. Through the hard and often lonely work that is writing, remember to feel the joy. Unlike money, fame or even publication, it’s the one payoff that’s guaranteed.

???…About Article Submitters

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

(Article Submitter)… It’s an amazing time saver. Also it will help you stay organized. Let’s look at article marketing or submission in general.

Article directories allow you as the author to store your work and take advantage of the traffic that visits them. So Instead of directly searching for other sites to publish your articles, you can submit your articles to article directories.

There are hundreds if not thousands of article directories where you can submit your articles. It can take days or weeks to contact all these directories and fill out each submission form.

For the time you spend submitting to these directories, you could have spent it writing more articles.

When you don’t have the extra hours in a day to contact each directory and submit them by hand, you can use article submitters to automate in part or in full, the article submission process.

The Article Submitter allows you to automatically submit your articles to hundreds of article directories with a few mouse clicks.

Basically all I You to do is input an article criteria into the software, ONCE! Then, the program would automatically fill in all of the required data at each of the submission websites. Pretty AmazingUuseful and ….WHAT a TIME SAVER.

You simply click the submit button and your article is instantly submitted to the directory. Then, you can move to the next directory, go through the list, and by the time you’re finished you’ll have a hundred one way links pointing to your website.

“Do I Have Writing Talent?” It

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

Over the years, many people have asked me to look at their writing. “I need to know, do I have talent or not,” they say. “Then I’ll know if I should pursue writing or stick to accounting.”

Their request is seriously flawed, I’d reply. Anyone can become a better writer. When I taught English Composition at various colleges, I saw irrefutable proof of this. Students who submitted hackneyed, half-dead writing to start with turned in lively, well-written essays by the end of the semester. Likewise, I’ve seen plenty of writers whose work seems plain and unimaginative get assignment upon assignment from magazines while others with dazzling wordcraft skills can’t get published anywhere.

According to Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck, I was right to question the query about talent. Dweck’s book, Mind-set: The New Psychology of Success, reports research showing that in education, the arts and business, people who believe talent is fixed and inborn do not fully develop their potential and do not recover easily from setbacks.

Those who believe talent can be developed, regardless of apparent starting point, not only achieve more but also prompt greater achievement in their children and staff.

Her best news: You can change your mind-set about talent or intelligence. In only two months, kids who were taught that the brain, like a muscle, improves with exercise saw

their math scores rocket from F’s to B’s.

Toss out the belief that you either have writing talent or you don’t. Instead, approach getting published as requiring a set of skills that you can deliberately learn. These skills include:

1. Being sensitive to the differences between words. A good dictionary can help with this, if you consult it to learn, for example, whether a “cauldron” is the same as a “kettle” or when a gang member would be said to have “bravery” and when “bravado.”

2. Recognizing that getting your message across has less to do with what you meant and more to do with how readers understand the words you put together. If no one “gets it,” you must write it differently. Often this lesson is harder for those who feel desperately called to write than for those with a more matter-of-fact attitude toward writing.

3. Being willing to put a piece of writing aside, look at again in the cold light of the morning and rearrange, replace and revise the elements of the piece to tell the story more clearly and more artfully.

4. Having the discipline to learn and apply the rules of spelling, grammar and usage. Yes, when your work is accepted for publication you’ll usually have an editor who’ll save you from major mistakes. But editors prefer working with those who know and follow the standards of professional writing.

5. Being able to bounce back from disappointment. In the writing business, the possibility of rejection never goes away. Successful writers learn not to take it personally for more than an hour or so, then they simply go on to the next publication outlet or the next writing project.

From what I’ve observed, these five skills and attitudes matter much more for success as a writer than anything we’d generally label as talent. Resolve to develop yourself along those lines and you’re certain to get somewhere as a writer. Really!

25 Ways To Fail As A Freelance Writer

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

1. Don’t set yourself a writing routine or stick to it.

2. Always make sure that doing your writing is at the bottom of your list of priorities, and even when you are writing, if something else you have to do that day springs to mind, then go and do that instead.

3. If one of your friends comes round to invite you out for coffee, just go, no matter how busy you are with your writing.

4. Whenever you’re writing, answer the phone every time it rings and answer the door every time someone knocks.

5. Always feel guilty for doing your writing instead of doing what other people want you to do.

6. Don’t read any articles about writing, especially if it’s written by an expert.

7. If anyone ever tells you of a simple and profitable way to make money from your writing, don’t believe them and never try it.

8. Never take a writing course to hone your skills.

9. Don’t visit any writing sites on the internet, and never subscribe to their newsletters.

10. Don’t join any writer’s forums or participate in any online discussions.

11. Don’t get your own website to showcase your writing ability and writing services to the whole world.

12. Do everything you possibly can not to get your name known in the writing world.

13. Keep your work secret. Always put your writing away in a draw when you’ve finished and never show it to anyone &ndash especially editors and publishers.

14. Don’t enter writing competitions.

15. Don’t submit articles to paying websites.

16. Never even think about writing a book.

17. Especially don’t consider writing a profitable e-book.

18. They say you should write at least 5 article proposals or short stories every week. If you do write them, don’t mail them.

19. If a magazine or publisher offers specific guidelines for submissions, don’t follow them.

20. If an editor likes your work and publishes it, never offer to write for them again.

21. If you send in a query to an editor and don’t hear anything for a couple of weeks, start ringing them and don’t stop until they make a decision about whether or not to publish your work.

22. If one publication rejects your work, assume that it’s worthless and unsuitable for every other publication and don’t send it anywhere else.

23. Whenever you receive a rejection letter, take it personally and throw your work in the bin.

24. Never ever consider the possibility that, if your work’s written from a different angle, it could be suitable for another market and sold again.

25. And if all that doesn’t make you fail, you can always just give up writing.

12 Tips For Generating Bright Ideas For Writing

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

Are you running short of ideas for your blogs or articles? Is generating fresh ideas for writing becoming difficult? By following the techniques discussed in this article, you will be a writing power house.

1. Subscribe to a dozen RSS feeds on various subjects you are most interested in. Scan through the feeds every morning or at night and select a few articles for thorough reading. After reading the articles, tag them using your own classification system.

Classifying articles in different categories helps locate them quickly. Use Google’s RSS reader for reading and tagging the RSS feeds. You will have access to your categorized articles from any computers connected to the Internet.

2. Subscribe to a few print magazines and read them regularly. After you finish reading an article, record the main points of the article in a Google note. You will have access to these notes anywhere in the World.

3. Use a PDA and carry it with you wherever you go. Better yet, get a PDA with a camera and cell phone. You will only carry one gadget for all your communication, organization, and content generation needs.

Take pictures of interesting places, events, and moments you come across in your daily life. Use the voice recorder of the PDA to record whenever an idea hits you. Every night, transfer the ideas from your PDA to Google notes and upload your pictures to flickr.

4. Scan through the comments posted by others on the online articles you read regularly. Record interesting ideas, pros and cons of an issue, and strong opinions posted by others in your Google notes. Leverage the wisdom of the crowd.

5. Have lunch with friends at least once a week. Bounce ideas off them on any topic. Mix ideas from divergent topics to create new ideas in you own subjects.

6. Use the time like driving, watching TV while exercising in a treadmill, etc. to think about your favorite topics and try to relate to things you observe on the road and on the TV. When you get an idea, record it in your PDA.

7. Go through all the ideas and articles you have recorded in Google notes and your RSS reader to create new ideas by giving new twists to the old ideas. Combine two or more ideas and change or improve an existing idea to come up with your own idea.

8. Use a variety of online tools like Technorati, Digg, Delicious, etc. for writing inspiration. Every hour, hundreds of new articles and news stories are posted in these sites. Check Yahoo’s buzz log to find out what people are talking about and searching for. Quickly scan them to hit a few gold nuggets that can serve as springboards for new ideas.

9. Using on-line tools discussed earlier, select an issue and jot down all the pros and cons. Search Google to enhance the idea by adding more pros and cons. Once you have collected a dozen diverse opinions, you will be able to write an article based on those facts in a pro-con format.

10. If you are good at using data for analysis and comfortable in the use of a spreadsheet, draw charts in the spreadsheet and look for patterns in the data. Provide you own interpretation to the data. Illustrate your articles with charts and graphs.

11. To generate topics for your article, use overture keyword selector. Select a single keyword and run it through the overture. You will see a dozen or more keywords based on the search popularity. Copy a few selected keywords to a notepad. Now, take each keyword and do a search in online sites like Digg, Technorati, etc. You will see a number of articles. Read them to generate ideas.

12. Ask yourself what if, what else, and why not questions on an issue and search the Internet to find answers from different sources. Create new ideas generated from existing materials, provide step-by-step guide for somebody to practice an obvious idea, or offer benefits of practicing an old idea.

10 Tips for Tech-Writers

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

Tech-writing is a tricky business. It’s not a very high profile industry, so there’s not much support around. Follow these 10 quick tips, and you’ll be well on your way to a satisfying tech-writing career.

1) Follow a sensible career path…

STEP 1: Start in a team

STEP 2: Stay only just long enough

STEP 3: Manage yourself

STEP 4: Manage a team

STEP 5: Go contracting (depends on the market)

2) Knowledge is your lifeblood &ndash learn the politics of your company. Know who knows what. Find someone who consistently gives you timely, reliable, technically accurate answers, and get their name tattooed on your shoulder! Every company has at least one. And they may not be in the project manager/product manager/customer/programmer roles. They are generally the people who’ve used the product in the real world, and dealt with real world customers.

3) Communicate WITH, not AT. Tech-writers don’t have enough power to get away with communicating at.

4) Track stuff (take spreadsheet printout and write it up on the board).

5) Develop good product and domain knowledge &ndash The more you can figure out for yourself, the better off you’ll be (and the more respect you’ll get from the techies).

6) Find out who your users are, what they are trying to do, what they are having trouble doing, and how they want to be helped. Then provide this assistance. Help the user do what they are trying to do. Don’t just tell them what the product can do… a help system is only helpful if it addresses the users’ needs.

7) Treat everyone as a customer. Then manage their expectations and your commitments. Always ensure they know what you’re doing. Tell them when you’ll be finished. And pull out all stops to meet your deadline.

8) Provide a surrogate user testing mechanism for the development team &ndash providing usability feedback.

9) Work as hard as required to get good quality doco finished on time and to budget &ndash this is how you’ll get the satisfaction out of work that you need.

10) Have fun with it.

Don’t become jaded and cynical by the high-tech, harsh, uncaring IT world. Use your smarts, and make the most of the resources provided. Most importantly of all, make work satisfaction your number 1 goal. It’s the best way to stay happy and get ahead.

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