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5 Questions To Ask Before Purchasing A Book Online
--> What is it you want to order?Have a clear idea of what you want to order. Do you want to browse through a category, or do you want to read a particular author or do you know the name of the book itself.Most online bookstores let you to browse through them by any of the above topics. When you are searching through a category, type in the most relevant ...

A Guide To Creative Writing That Sells
It's unbelievable that with all the creative writing courses out there, that no one teaches the neces...

About Writing
In this free email course, I'll tell you everything I know about improving your writing, publishi...

Article Writing: How To Use Your Chakra Energy To Write
The seven Chakras are the hidden energy centres in your body through which you receive, process and transmit life energies. They act as "energy transformers" and influencers of change.Your thoughts,...

Beginnings
Just about everyone is familiar with this beginning: “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep . . .” (Genesis 1: 1-2 RSV) In a sense we’re playing God when we write a story. We create the characters, plot, and setting, turning a blank page—nothingness—into a compelling story. Not only is your first scene the first impression of a story, it is the doorway that invites your reader on a journey. First scenes are what determine whether or not your reader is going to follow your characters to the end.Your beginning must accomplish several things:Introduce your characters Establish the place and time the story occurs Introduce the conflict or point at which change begins. Your opening sets the tone, mood, situation...

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

Benefits of Journal Writing

When considering the benefits of journal writing, it...

Can Your Theme Be Proved In Your Story?
Creative Writing Tips –Your theme has to be something you can prove in your story - It doesn’t have to be...

Discover What Good Writing Is All About
Writing is a form of preserved talk, talk that has been pinned down on paper so the words can be heard again. The basic principles of good writing, apart, f...

Do You Know What A Plot Is?
Creative Writing Tips –What a plot is and what a story is can be sometimes confusing. If you think they are the same… They are not. A plot is the outline of your story. The story is everything included. I will illustrate the difference by asking you to visualize two pictures…1. Visualize a skeleton.Then2. Visualize a body.The skeleton is your plot. It’s the outline of your story. It won’t be visible when we flesh it out but it will still be there, holding your story together. The body is your story. It’s everything, which our story will contain, including the plot. The story is the plot fleshed out.What does it mean to ‘flesh it out?’Let me show you.I’ll take a brief plot…A man meets a woman and they fall in love....

Do You Plot With Your Character In Mind?
Creative Writing Tips –You are plotting the story. You write down what will happen, what problems will arise, what obstacles you will place so the character won’t reach his goals immediately, what he’s going to do to overcome these problems ...

Documenting Everything: Your Journal Is Your Logbook
Sailors had it for years. Great explorers had it as well. If you go on an expedition to an ancient Aztec mound, more than likely the archaeologist will have one too - so,...

Does Each Element Of Your Story Further The Theme?
Creative Writing Tips –Whichever theme you choose, all the elements, which make up your story, dialogue, conflict, scenes, etc should be written with the theme in mind. Your theme should progress the story. If you find that anything in your story doesn’t progress it, it should be cut when you are in the editing stage.Before we see an example of elements written with a theme in mind, let’s think of a theme and a story….The theme is…‘Arrogance Leads To Humiliation’Very briefly, this story is about a chara...

Does Your Plot Suit Your Characters And Vice-versa?
Creative Writing Tips –When an idea comes to us for a short story, we either think of a story line first or a character first. Whichever we think of first, and later on build, we have to make sure the plot and the character suit each other.Example one – We think of a story line first.Your story is set in a rural area. A company opens a factory and employs workers from that small town. The residents welcome this, as there aren’t many jobs going around. The management takes advantage of that fact and exploit the workers. Using a technicality in the system,...

Does Your Story Have A Theme?
Creative Writing Tips –It should. A theme is a one-line explanation of your story.. Every story should have one because our stories are about something. When I say should, I mean that this isn’t always the case. Especially so for beginner writers, who may not know, th...

Does Your Theme Contain Character, Conflict, Resolution?
Creative Writing Tips –For a theme to work and the story, which will revolve around the theme, it has to contain three things…
  1. Character
  2. Conflict
  3. Resolution
What’s the reason for this? If your them...

English As A Medium For Indian-writer
In a paper at Regional Conference of the Association of Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies Held at India International Centre ,New Delhi on February23-6,1975,R.Parthasarathy , while exposing the position of Indian writers in English reffered to the comments of American poets Allen Ginsberg ,Gary Snycler and Peter Onlovsky: "If we were gangster poets we would shoot you"(1), his threat was direct against the Indian writers’ failure to take risk with the English language. To explain the reason behind this R.Parthasarathy says that there at least two problems which prevent Indian writers to take the risk.First is related to the kind of experience he would like to express in English .Indian who use the Emglish languag...

Essay Reveals A Writer In You
During your study at college, many eyes will evaluate your essay, many heads will be thinking about its content. And your aim is not to disappoint them, not to hand in just another ordinary essay. There are some fundamentals common for all the essays we want to share with you. Though it may appear too obvious to you, but please DO read the ...

Field Notes On Country Linguistics
As Suzy stammered, my ears perked up. For distraction I called out, “Hey Kathy, put on another pot of coffee.” Suzy spoke again. The fact is, gouging my own eyes out with a ketchup bottle would not have distracted me. A linguistic calamity was eminent.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up, then it ran from the room. I knew where Suzy was headed. Her speech was like watching a car accident. It all moved in slow motion. Every instinct in me said tear the phone from her hand before it's too late. But she had to learn to properly communicate with customers. Please Lord, I begged, don't let her say it. Then it happened. Suzy uttered the words, “We'll mam, I ain't fer sures on that.”

Across America, English professors collectively wept. My mind locked. How could she have said it again? She had been wit...

Five Ways A Writer Can Make More Money With A Personal Website
These are really exciting times for writers. This is mainly because the World Wide Web has opened up opportunities that did not exist previously. There are amazing new opportunities that are capable of helping any writer market and sell their work very efficiently and successfully.1. Sell More By Giving Out Information On Your BookOne of the greatest obstacles potential buyers of books have always had in making a decision on whether or not to purchase a title, is getting enough information about It. Detailed summaries and synopsis as well as comments by others who have read the book can be very useful. This is the reason behind the phenomenal success of the legendary

Four Useful Lies About Writing
Most writing “experts” favor a particular way of looking at plot, and will adhere to it for years or an entire career. That’s all well and good, but its important to realize that any way of modeling story is just that—a model, not the depths and living essence of story itself.Problems arise when young (or experienced!) writers mistake a simplified structure for ...

Guidelines For Reviewing Writing
Writing detailed reviews is time well spent.Reviewing itself is a writing exercise. At Writing.Com, creating detailed feedback for a fellow writer is one of the best tools available for improving your own writing. That said, if you're going to spend the time to do it, helping the author is important. There is a better ch...

Have You Completed A Character Questionnaire?
Creative Writing Tips –Complete a character questionnaire for each of your main characters or even secondary characters that play a vital role in your story. This way you will know your character(s) well before you start writing about them.Fill in as much information about them as possible. Don’t only answer what you will need in your story. The objective here is to get to know your character till he becomes a ‘live’ person in your mind.So let’s begin…
  1. In a few sentences write down a summary of the plot
  2. Character’s personal details
    1. First name
    2. Surname
    3. Age
  3. In a few sentences write down...

Have You Plotted Your Story Before Writing It?
Creative Writing Tips –The writer, who doesn’t have the time to plot, always finds the time to rewrite. Sound familiar? I’ve been guilty of this too, back in the early days of my writing apprenticeship. I was so eager...

Have You Tested Your Plot?
Creative Writing Tips –Our plotting stage is our testing area. Everything in the plot should be tested for its effectiveness before we put in into our stories. If you believe something in your plot could be better, make it better. Figuring everything out in y...

Have You Tested Your Theme Against Your Plot?
Creative Writing Tips –How we usually begin the preparation stage in the writing process is…
  • We think of an idea for a story
  • We think of a suitable theme
  • We plot
Once we come up with a theme and we begin plotting, we have to see how the theme and the plot match up. Sometimes as we plot we find that the theme we had initially chosen won’t do.For example…‘Winning The Lottery Makes Your Life Easier’Plotting with this theme in mind, we have our characters pay off all their debts, go on endless shopping sprees, go on holidays, etc. We find though that this won’t make a very interesting story. So ...

Hooks, Lines & Sinkers
Hands up if the title to this article made you think that you'd strayed into a fishing feature?Perhaps you didn't quite go that far, but hopefully you were puzzled or curious enough to wonder what on earth those three angling associated words have to do with writing. The answer of course is nothing at all if you are thinking of metal barbs, yards of tangled nylon and blobs of lead weights.Think, however, of the good opening lines used to begin most successful short stories, novels and articles then the "hook" in our title takes on a whole new range of meanings and equates very well with the world of creative writing.What m...

How Are You Plotting?
Creative Writing Tips –Writing is a creative process and how every writer chooses to create, is individual to them. Likewise, with plotting, every writer plots at a level they are comfortable with.Some just plot the bare essentials. They have a firm idea of the story they want to write and have a good memory to be able to memorize everything.Others go into more detail. These writers prefer to figure everything out before they write the story. How you plot will also depend on your level of experience. For the beginner, it’s recommended to plot thoroughly. Before writing, think of every possible situation. Plot events thoroughly, plot scenes to the last detail and generally leave no questions unasked or unanswered. This way you will always know where you’re going._____________Are Yo...

How The Writer Survives
So it’s your dream to write novels? Be a freelance writer and make a living off of your articles? Or maybe you nurture an ambition to write and sell enough short fiction to put bread on the tab...

How To Have An Effective Reading Group
Writing leads to reading. Therefore, it’s only fair to supply my readers with sufficient information on creating an effective reading group, since the last article was based on writing groups. You’ll notice that some of the information is quite repetitive from the “How to Have an Effective Writing Group” article simply for the fact that when you work with peer groups, there are similarities in the guidelines to which we must adhere to make the group truly successful. Moreover, if Oprah could have a book club, so can you, right? It may not be as glamorous a...

How To Have An Effective Writing Group
The works you’ve written are numerous, ranging from short stories to even the novel, hidden in a storage bin (under the bed) collecting dust. But there comes a time when you must wipe away that dust, regain your pride, and prepare your babies for publication! But, how do you get such a critical, unbiased eye to analyze your works, offering both praise and criticism? It’s simple—start a writing group!Creating a writing group is the easy part, but creating a functioning and beneficial writing group can be quite a task.Wri...

How To Jumpstart Your Next Writing Session
I have always enjoyed writing. Sometimes it’s a problem for me to just sit down and write something. There are days when I choose “procrastinating” over “proactive.” Putting things off is common with everyone. I am very gifted in this area....

How To Select A Great Topic For Your Book Or Ebook Part 5 Of 5
These are fiery hot topics that are sure to be on the rise. You can pull any one of these to use for your first ebook. Then come back and pull another topic for your next ebook. Using the latest electronics. We are a society obsessed with having the latest and greatest technology. Do an ebook on iPods, email/camera cell phones, wireless Internet, digital TV, or any combination of these items. Home improvement. There's so much of a craze in this area that do-it-yourself (DIY) stores are on every corner of major cities. If you haven't been to a Home Depot or Lowe's lately, then you are one of the few. Sure, apartment dwellers and young students aren't in this market, but people with homes and money to af...

How To Select A Great Topic For Your Book Or Ebook Part 4 Of 5
For part four of this discussion, we'll be taking a look at some specific topics you may wish to explore...Looking youngPerhaps sixteen year old girls don't want to look younger, but from that point on, and for most of the population in Western society, looking young is a common desire. Everybody wants to find the fountain of youth, whether it be in a pill bottle, a special diet, surgery, or an ebook. An ebook about staying or appearing young in the face of growing old will have a solid future. Here are some title ideas, and I'm sure you can come up with a truckload more. - "Drop ten years and ten pounds in ten days"- "How to look 28 forever" - "100 ways to look younger"- "Grocery store products that will help you look younger" - "Look 30 a...

How To Write Bad Poetry
So you’ve decided to crown yourself with a title that a million other people (just like you (yes, just like you!)) give themselves every day. Some people believe giving yourself such a title is equivalent to, and just as beneficia...

"i Am An Author" - Is This The Next Big Fad?
Write an article, get the traffic. Well sort of! Since the birth of writing articles, our industry has caught on to the phenomena of increasing your website’s traffic by becoming the professional in your field. The only problem with this is that for every serious professional in one field, there are a thousand other writers who are jumping on the "band wagon".This ...

If The Viewpoint Character Is A Secondary Character, Have You Established Who He Is?
Creative Writing Tips –I have said above that if a secondary character tells the story of the main character, then the spotlight should be kept on the main character. This should...

Interviewing An Author: Don't Be Left Speechless
Edited by Jenny Wilson Joyce Carol Oates. Langston Hughes. Anne Sexton. F. Scott Fitzgerald. Nikki Giovanni. The names of authors (dead and alive) ca...

Is The Theme Reinforced In The Ending?
Creative Writing Tips –By now you should have an idea that your theme has to reach its conclusion just as your story does. But our theme has to do more than reach its conclusion – it has to be reinforced in the end and by doing this, it will strengthen all that we have said in our story.So if we took a theme…‘Persist and in the end you will succeed’And I showed my character working hard to achieve his goals, persisting, even if at times those goals seemed unreachable, then I would’ve showed that all his hard work did pay off in the end. By having him succeed, it would reinforce the theme that had been running throughout the story...

Is The Theme Running Throughout The Story?
Creative Writing Tips –It’s no use coming up with a theme and not using it. Short stories are about a character or characters and about one situation or happen...



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Article Writing: How To Use Your Chakra Energy To Write
The seven Chakras are the hidden energy centres in your body through which you receive, process and transmit life energies. They act as "energy transformers" and influencers of change.Your thoughts,...

Do You Know What A Plot Is?
Creative Writing Tips –What a plot is and what a story is can be sometimes confusing. If you think they are the same… They are not. A plot is the outline of your story. The story is everything included. I will illustrate the difference by asking you to visualize two pictures…1. Visualize a skeleton.Then2. Visualize a body.The skeleton is your plot. It’s the outline of your story. It won’t be visible when we flesh it out but it will still be there, holding your story together. The body is your story. It’s everything, which our story will contain, including the plot. The story is the plot fleshed out.What does it mean to ‘flesh it out?’Let me show you.I’ll take a brief plot…A man meets a woman and they fall in love....

How To Jumpstart Your Next Writing Session
I have always enjoyed writing. Sometimes it’s a problem for me to just sit down and write something. There are days when I choose “procrastinating” over “proactive.” Putting things off is common with everyone. I am very gifted in this area....