By Lea Schizas
(Lea Schizas is an award-winning author/editor and founder of 2 Writer's Digest top writing sites since 2004. She is the author of the YA fantasy "The Rock of Realm" and the paranormal suspense/thriller "Doorman's Creek")
What exactly is conflict in a story? Simple...a problem/obstacle your main character needs to overcome by the end of the story. Think of it as your engine that drives your car forward. Without one your car remains idle, collecting dust in the driveway. Give your car a super booster engine and you'll be coasting the streets with no worries. Well, until the police stop you.
No, not conflict of interest...not conflict within your being...but conflict found in a story.
What exactly is conflict in a story?
Simple...a problem/obstacle your main character needs to overcome by the end of the story. Think of it as your engine that drives your car forward. Without one your car remains idle, collecting dust in the driveway. Give your car a super booster engine and you'll be coasting the streets with no worries. Well, until the police stop you.
In a story conflict moves your character through various situations he must overcome. This intrigues and pulls your reader deeper into the story, connecting with your character's predicament. A character needs to have a hurdle tossed at them, makes for an intriguing situation to find out the outcome. Without an outcome, there is no magnetic charge with your reader.
Before writing your story and making up your character profile, ask yourself these questions:
1- What will be the main goal my character will face and need to overcome? 2- Who will be my target audience?
The second question is important because it will help to focus your words and subject matter to suit the appropriate audience. For stories aimed at children, your focus will need to adapt to a child's view of the world around them. Most of the time the story is told through the character's point of view aged a few years older than the intended audience. For example, if you aim your story for the 8 - 10 age group then setting a story for a twelve year old character would be best since kids always like to read and associate with kids a bit older than them.
What subject matter can you write about for this age group? Middle grade readers love mysteries, soft spooky tales ( no knife-wielding maniacs, head chopping, blood and core etc, more suspenseful and 'goose-bumping tales like in the "Goosebumps" books), magical tales (Harry Potter), even teeny bopper stories like "The Babysitters Club" or "Sweet Valley High". These latter ones are suitable for the Young Adult market, too.
TYPES OF CONFLICTS:
Here are some examples of conflicts in some books:
- the almighty tried and successful 'good against evil' Think Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs...yes, these fairy tales were using the 'good against evil' method if you sit down and think about it. The wolves in both fairy tales were intent on overcoming their 'so-they-thought' weaker counterparts.
In the above examples, something stood in the protagonist's way:
Harry tries to defeat Voldemort but problems and other antagonists along the way makes this quest difficult for him.
The Lord of the Rings finds Frodo's quest to destroy the Ring but evil and dark forces stand in his way, too.
Luke Skywalker in Star Wars needs to defeat the new order of evil, and he, too, faces many obstacles and characters along the way.
In each of these examples, these obstacles (new smaller conflicts against the bigger goal they are after) causes a reader to continue reading to find out if he'll be successful, how he will outsmart them, and what change will this cause in the main character. Along with these obstacles, throwing in some inner conflicts alongside the outer emotions helps to cast them more as three-dimensional beings, for example:
Luke Skywalker deals with the knowledge he has a sister somewhere out there. His inner being and emotions help to make him more sympathetic, which eventually bonds the reader to him. The same with Frodo; his world has been thrown for a loop when he takes on the quest of the Ring...along the way he begins to doubt if he, indeed, is the best man for this job. Also, he questions his will power to avoid succumbing to the dark forces once he has tasted the Ring's power.
Another example to show you what 'inner conflict' means:
Let's assume your book is based on a police officer who mistakenly shoots a young child while pursuing a suspect. It's dark in the building and the kid jumped out of nowhere with a toy gun. The police officer is suspended while the case is being investigated.
INNER EMOTIONS:
How he deals and is dealt by his immediate peers His struggle to remove the visions of the killing The emotional turmoil as he waits for the investigation to conclude. His dealings with the parents of the child he accidentally killed.
Throughout all of these emotions the one factor that will bind your reader to continue will be: How will he fare at the end of this book. The way you first portray this particular character in the beginning will be totally different by the end because of the various upsets he's had to deal with. Show him as upbeat, nonchalant, no change at the end and you will lose your reader's interest in the book and in you as an author.
Think of real life: if you had to go through a trauma as the officer in the example above, how would it change you? A writer needs to wear his character's shoes and get inside his head to fully understand him. Write a story with a stick person and you get stale material. Write a story with powerful emotions and you have one interesting read.
THE ALMIGHTY ENDING
By the end of your book all inner and outer conflicts need to have reached a conclusion. Whether your character overcame or failed is not as important as making sure he tried to meet them head on. You cannot place a conflict (or foreshadow) without making sure by the end of the story some sort of a resolution was made. This is cheating a reader and they WILL notice, especially if one of those conflicts was the one he's been hoping to see the outcome to.
Showing posts with label writing tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing tips. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
How to Fast-Write a Book and Get Rich Doing It!
By Roice Krueger
Are you ready to become the writer you want to be, the writer you were born to be, the writer you need to be if others are ever to know what you know? It is our hope that you will become inspired by the strategies we have shared and start writing a book that only you can write.
So how can you fast-write a book? The answer is that there are multiple ways. You can write it yourself. You can have it ghostwritten. You can coauthor it. You can dictate it. You can interview your way to a book.
Writing Yourself
Before you write a book, have a soul-storming session with yourself, friends or Mastermind group and write out as many titles as you can. Include areas of interest you’d like to write about. Plan to review and add to this list regularly.
Write what you know. Surely you have a signature story that you frequently tell to the delight of listeners. Use that to get your mental juices flowing. Don’t try to be perfect. Remember, nobody ever publishes their first draft!
You don’t have to sit down and write a book today or tomorrow. Take it one step, or sentence, at a time. Write a little each day and watch your book develop.
Hiring a Ghostwriter
Almost all celebrities and people of fame have ghostwriters who interview them and do the “heavy lifting” for them in writing their books. Inexpensive ghostwriters can be found in a multitude of places. For instance, ask other authors if they know great ghostwriters, every English department head will cheerfully tell you who the students are with great talent and promise, and, in Hollywood, the Screen Writers Guild is loaded and overflowing with talented writers who are hungry for work.
Sample their work before you sign a contract. Many are superb, we are told. You dictate what you want written; and they write it, research it, and finish it for you.
Co-Authorship is Wonderfully Beneficial
Co-authorship is another way to get your book out of you and do it fast! It keeps you dedicated to your writing, publishing, and marketing assignments, because you don’t want to let down your colleagues, friends, co-authors and future readers. As a result of our co-authorship partnership, we wrote 100 books in 95 days, a feat that has never been achieved in the publishing industry anywhere on earth, and we had a tremendous amount of fund doing it!
Dictate Your Book
Many would-be great writers don’t have the desire to physically write, type, or compute, yet they could master the fine art of dictation. Again, you can hire a great assistant to transcribe and perfect your dictation.
The software from Nuance is called Dragon NaturallySpeaking and claims to have 99% accuracy after training. Alternatively, you could use http://www.idictate.com/ (very inexpensive); and send your dictated files from your computer to theirs in India. Or call your dictation in daily by phone over Skype.com for free.
The possibilities for how to do it obviously keep expanding as an increasingly literate world becomes hungry for information, insight, and wisdom.
You Could Interview Experts and Put Their Thinking into Your Books
Interviewing experts is another way to fast-write a book. This is what Napoleon Hill did to write a book called Think and Grow Rich. It has sold over 100 million copies worldwide. (It is becoming a major motion picture directed by Martin Dunkerton, and it will feature Mark Victor Hansen.)
You can interview the leaders of any field and turn it instantly into money-making books, CDs, videos, movies, documentaries, or whatever. As Hill’s title says, “Think! And grow rich!”
Are you ready to become the writer you want to be, the writer you were born to be, the writer you need to be if others are ever to know what you know? It is our hope that you will become inspired by the strategies we have shared and start writing a book that only you can write.
So how can you fast-write a book? The answer is that there are multiple ways. You can write it yourself. You can have it ghostwritten. You can coauthor it. You can dictate it. You can interview your way to a book.
Writing Yourself
Before you write a book, have a soul-storming session with yourself, friends or Mastermind group and write out as many titles as you can. Include areas of interest you’d like to write about. Plan to review and add to this list regularly.
Write what you know. Surely you have a signature story that you frequently tell to the delight of listeners. Use that to get your mental juices flowing. Don’t try to be perfect. Remember, nobody ever publishes their first draft!
You don’t have to sit down and write a book today or tomorrow. Take it one step, or sentence, at a time. Write a little each day and watch your book develop.
Hiring a Ghostwriter
Almost all celebrities and people of fame have ghostwriters who interview them and do the “heavy lifting” for them in writing their books. Inexpensive ghostwriters can be found in a multitude of places. For instance, ask other authors if they know great ghostwriters, every English department head will cheerfully tell you who the students are with great talent and promise, and, in Hollywood, the Screen Writers Guild is loaded and overflowing with talented writers who are hungry for work.
Sample their work before you sign a contract. Many are superb, we are told. You dictate what you want written; and they write it, research it, and finish it for you.
Co-Authorship is Wonderfully Beneficial
Co-authorship is another way to get your book out of you and do it fast! It keeps you dedicated to your writing, publishing, and marketing assignments, because you don’t want to let down your colleagues, friends, co-authors and future readers. As a result of our co-authorship partnership, we wrote 100 books in 95 days, a feat that has never been achieved in the publishing industry anywhere on earth, and we had a tremendous amount of fund doing it!
Dictate Your Book
Many would-be great writers don’t have the desire to physically write, type, or compute, yet they could master the fine art of dictation. Again, you can hire a great assistant to transcribe and perfect your dictation.
The software from Nuance is called Dragon NaturallySpeaking and claims to have 99% accuracy after training. Alternatively, you could use http://www.idictate.com/ (very inexpensive); and send your dictated files from your computer to theirs in India. Or call your dictation in daily by phone over Skype.com for free.
The possibilities for how to do it obviously keep expanding as an increasingly literate world becomes hungry for information, insight, and wisdom.
You Could Interview Experts and Put Their Thinking into Your Books
Interviewing experts is another way to fast-write a book. This is what Napoleon Hill did to write a book called Think and Grow Rich. It has sold over 100 million copies worldwide. (It is becoming a major motion picture directed by Martin Dunkerton, and it will feature Mark Victor Hansen.)
You can interview the leaders of any field and turn it instantly into money-making books, CDs, videos, movies, documentaries, or whatever. As Hill’s title says, “Think! And grow rich!”
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
An Interview with Bestselling Novelist Michael Connelly
By Jennifer Minar-Jaynes
Bestselling author of several mystery/thriller novels, including Blood Work, City of Bones, and The Narrows, Michael Connelly has enthralled millions of readers for over a decade.
Originally a journalist for several Florida markets, Connelly was one of three reporters short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1986 after covering a major airline crash. Soon thereafter, he packed up and moved to L.A. to work as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times. After three years of working the crime beat for the Times, Connelly began writing his first L.A.-based crime novel, The Black Echo, which won the Edgar Award for best first novel, and introduced the world to his internationally-adored protagonist, LAPD detective Harry Bosch.
In this interview, Connelly discusses his approach to writing, his latest Harry Bosch novel--The Closers (which hit bookstores in May 2005)--how being an outsider as a teen affected his writing, and why he waited thirty years to begin writing fiction.
You didn’t start writing fiction until you were thirty years old. Instead, you worked as a journalist covering police beats and the courts—and used this experience as research, knowing that one day you would be ready to write fiction. How did you decide it was finally time?
It was sort of a natural progression. I just sort of instinctively knew it was time to try it. It was still another four years before I sent anything out into the world and another two before anything was published, but I just hit this point—maybe it was turning 30—where I told myself if I didn’t try soon I never would. I also think that by that point I had accumulated enough images and experiences as a person and as [a] cop reporter that I was thinking I had the ingredients and it was time to try to make a cake. Lastly, the summer I turned 30 was the same summer I spent a lot of time with a homicide squad. I had full access on three separate investigations. I knew I would never get a better look at that world than that, so the only thing left to do was write about it in fiction.
You’ve stated that the single best piece of writing advice you’ve ever gotten was to write every day—and that this advice came to you from writer Harry Crews during a lecture at the University of Florida. You said that this is advice that you still live by. However, do you ever have days when you sit down to write and the story won’t come to you? Or days when you just don’t feel like writing? If so, how often, and how do you deal with these times?
I’ve been doing this for a long time now and it is hard to write every day. In the beginning I did—365 days a year. Now what I try to do, and most times accomplish, is to write every day once I begin a draft. So I have periods where I am not writing. These are usually between drafts and between books. The greater message he [Crews] was sending was, I think, that you need to always be thinking about your story. The best way to do that is to write every day. I believe that I am always thinking about my story, but I don’t need to write every single day of my life to keep it churning in my mind.
You said that during your years of being a journalist, you knew detectives who couldn’t put the job away when they went home. As a novelist today, can you say that you, in fact, can? Or do your stories oftentimes awaken inside your mind when you’re busy doing other things?
I really don’t want them to go away. I think the key thing to writing is to keep it churning in your mind. This to me is more important than actually sitting down at the computer. It’s the interior activity. So when I do get away from my writing I start to get uncomfortable. I don’t like going on vacations without taking my work with me.
I read in a past interview that you were a bit of an outsider as a kid. Do you feel that the emotions you experienced as a result of being an outsider helped cultivate your interest in becoming a writer?
As a teenager I went to four schools in four years and that sort of gave me outsider status. I think it made me more of an observer than someone who is in the middle of things. This is a good attribute to have as a writer. At the time I didn’t know that. I didn’t think that I should become a writer. That decision came later and it is only after many years [that I] can look back and see how my writing skills may have been honed back then without me realizing it.
Please describe your writing environment.
I like changing things so my writing environment changes from year to year, book to book. At the moment I write in a windowless room without a desk. I sit on a couch and write on a laptop. Last year, I had a room with a nice water view and a desk that weighed a ton. I had two big Apple screens on my desk and could spread four pages across them. Usually when I start a new project I shake things up in some way. Sometimes it's just changing computers but sometimes it is completely changing the environment. For me change is good. The only constant is change.
In the essay, “Characterization,” that you wrote for Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America (Writer’s Digest Books, 2002), you said that a good plot is empty unless filled with the blood of character. Why, in your opinion, is strong characterization such a critical part of a good story?
I think it probably comes out of my instincts and interests as a reader. As a reader I like to delve deep down into people and see how they react in different situations. I have found that I am the same way as a writer. I am more interested in interior rather than exterior circumstances. I think it plugs the reader into the world a lot better than plot aspects do. Of course, this is not to say plot is not important. You run the risk of slighting one thing when you talk at length about another. Plot and character are both two big plates that you have to keep spinning through a book. It’s not much of an act if only one plate is spinning.
Did you experience much rejection from agents and publishers before your first book, The Black Echo (Little Brown & Co., 1992) was published? Please describe your experience.
Technically, I didn’t get a lot of rejection. While I sent out a blanket letter to more than a dozen agents, I ended up getting the first agent on my list. It just took him a while to respond and in the meantime I was rejected by a half dozen or so agents who were further down my list. My agent then sold my book to the third publisher he gave it to. This sounds like it was all very quick and easy. Only at the end. As I said before, it was at least 6 years from the point I decided to try to write a novel to the point that my agent called and said he had sold The Black Echo.
Do you have a favorite quote?
I like what Kurt Vonnegut Jr. said about the best advice he could give a writer. He said something along the lines of; “Make sure that on every page everybody wants something, even if it is only a glass of water.” I think what he was saying is that it’s all about character and character is delineated by wants and needs and how they are filled or lived with unfulfilled.
Besides writing every day, what other advice would you like to give aspiring novelists?
I think you have to experience the world to write about it. That’s not to say you must write what you know—I don’t believe in rules like that. I am just talking about experiencing the world. Living in order to write about living. Your mind should be a blender. Everything you do, see and experience gets thrown in. Throw in what you learn and what you hear. Throw in what you read in good books and see in movie theaters. Throw in what you see on your travels. Throw in the good and bad things in the world. When the time is right you flick on the blender, mix everything together and hopefully pour out a smoothie that is all yours.
Read more about Michael Connelly and his work at http://www.michaelconnelly.com/ .
Jennifer Minar-Jaynes is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the editor-in-chief of http://www.writersbreak.com/ . Subscribe to her monthly ezine by sending an email to subscribe@writersbreak.com. Minar-Jaynes can also be contacted at jminar@writersbreak.com.
Bestselling author of several mystery/thriller novels, including Blood Work, City of Bones, and The Narrows, Michael Connelly has enthralled millions of readers for over a decade.
Originally a journalist for several Florida markets, Connelly was one of three reporters short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1986 after covering a major airline crash. Soon thereafter, he packed up and moved to L.A. to work as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times. After three years of working the crime beat for the Times, Connelly began writing his first L.A.-based crime novel, The Black Echo, which won the Edgar Award for best first novel, and introduced the world to his internationally-adored protagonist, LAPD detective Harry Bosch.
In this interview, Connelly discusses his approach to writing, his latest Harry Bosch novel--The Closers (which hit bookstores in May 2005)--how being an outsider as a teen affected his writing, and why he waited thirty years to begin writing fiction.
You didn’t start writing fiction until you were thirty years old. Instead, you worked as a journalist covering police beats and the courts—and used this experience as research, knowing that one day you would be ready to write fiction. How did you decide it was finally time?
It was sort of a natural progression. I just sort of instinctively knew it was time to try it. It was still another four years before I sent anything out into the world and another two before anything was published, but I just hit this point—maybe it was turning 30—where I told myself if I didn’t try soon I never would. I also think that by that point I had accumulated enough images and experiences as a person and as [a] cop reporter that I was thinking I had the ingredients and it was time to try to make a cake. Lastly, the summer I turned 30 was the same summer I spent a lot of time with a homicide squad. I had full access on three separate investigations. I knew I would never get a better look at that world than that, so the only thing left to do was write about it in fiction.
You’ve stated that the single best piece of writing advice you’ve ever gotten was to write every day—and that this advice came to you from writer Harry Crews during a lecture at the University of Florida. You said that this is advice that you still live by. However, do you ever have days when you sit down to write and the story won’t come to you? Or days when you just don’t feel like writing? If so, how often, and how do you deal with these times?
I’ve been doing this for a long time now and it is hard to write every day. In the beginning I did—365 days a year. Now what I try to do, and most times accomplish, is to write every day once I begin a draft. So I have periods where I am not writing. These are usually between drafts and between books. The greater message he [Crews] was sending was, I think, that you need to always be thinking about your story. The best way to do that is to write every day. I believe that I am always thinking about my story, but I don’t need to write every single day of my life to keep it churning in my mind.
You said that during your years of being a journalist, you knew detectives who couldn’t put the job away when they went home. As a novelist today, can you say that you, in fact, can? Or do your stories oftentimes awaken inside your mind when you’re busy doing other things?
I really don’t want them to go away. I think the key thing to writing is to keep it churning in your mind. This to me is more important than actually sitting down at the computer. It’s the interior activity. So when I do get away from my writing I start to get uncomfortable. I don’t like going on vacations without taking my work with me.
I read in a past interview that you were a bit of an outsider as a kid. Do you feel that the emotions you experienced as a result of being an outsider helped cultivate your interest in becoming a writer?
As a teenager I went to four schools in four years and that sort of gave me outsider status. I think it made me more of an observer than someone who is in the middle of things. This is a good attribute to have as a writer. At the time I didn’t know that. I didn’t think that I should become a writer. That decision came later and it is only after many years [that I] can look back and see how my writing skills may have been honed back then without me realizing it.
Please describe your writing environment.
I like changing things so my writing environment changes from year to year, book to book. At the moment I write in a windowless room without a desk. I sit on a couch and write on a laptop. Last year, I had a room with a nice water view and a desk that weighed a ton. I had two big Apple screens on my desk and could spread four pages across them. Usually when I start a new project I shake things up in some way. Sometimes it's just changing computers but sometimes it is completely changing the environment. For me change is good. The only constant is change.
In the essay, “Characterization,” that you wrote for Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America (Writer’s Digest Books, 2002), you said that a good plot is empty unless filled with the blood of character. Why, in your opinion, is strong characterization such a critical part of a good story?
I think it probably comes out of my instincts and interests as a reader. As a reader I like to delve deep down into people and see how they react in different situations. I have found that I am the same way as a writer. I am more interested in interior rather than exterior circumstances. I think it plugs the reader into the world a lot better than plot aspects do. Of course, this is not to say plot is not important. You run the risk of slighting one thing when you talk at length about another. Plot and character are both two big plates that you have to keep spinning through a book. It’s not much of an act if only one plate is spinning.
Did you experience much rejection from agents and publishers before your first book, The Black Echo (Little Brown & Co., 1992) was published? Please describe your experience.
Technically, I didn’t get a lot of rejection. While I sent out a blanket letter to more than a dozen agents, I ended up getting the first agent on my list. It just took him a while to respond and in the meantime I was rejected by a half dozen or so agents who were further down my list. My agent then sold my book to the third publisher he gave it to. This sounds like it was all very quick and easy. Only at the end. As I said before, it was at least 6 years from the point I decided to try to write a novel to the point that my agent called and said he had sold The Black Echo.
Do you have a favorite quote?
I like what Kurt Vonnegut Jr. said about the best advice he could give a writer. He said something along the lines of; “Make sure that on every page everybody wants something, even if it is only a glass of water.” I think what he was saying is that it’s all about character and character is delineated by wants and needs and how they are filled or lived with unfulfilled.
Besides writing every day, what other advice would you like to give aspiring novelists?
I think you have to experience the world to write about it. That’s not to say you must write what you know—I don’t believe in rules like that. I am just talking about experiencing the world. Living in order to write about living. Your mind should be a blender. Everything you do, see and experience gets thrown in. Throw in what you learn and what you hear. Throw in what you read in good books and see in movie theaters. Throw in what you see on your travels. Throw in the good and bad things in the world. When the time is right you flick on the blender, mix everything together and hopefully pour out a smoothie that is all yours.
Read more about Michael Connelly and his work at http://www.michaelconnelly.com/ .
Jennifer Minar-Jaynes is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the editor-in-chief of http://www.writersbreak.com/ . Subscribe to her monthly ezine by sending an email to subscribe@writersbreak.com. Minar-Jaynes can also be contacted at jminar@writersbreak.com.
Seven Tips for Contest Entries
By Lea Schizas
*Unless it's edited, perfected, and the best you can offer, don't hand in something half done and not up to your standards.
*Research the contest. Make sure no warnings are out there before you fork over any entry fees.
*Check and see what rights they are asking you for and if you agree with them. Unless they pay you a nice sum for ALL RIGHTS, I wouldn't hand over my stuff.
*Define your entry to suit the best genre category if the contest offers several. Submitting a juvenile mystery to an adult mystery judge may eliminate you if there's a children's judge waiting for your manuscript to come to them.
*Please follow the guidelines. Such an easy task yet many believe their "great" story will more than make up for not following some of the guidelines. Wrong! It may never be read if you went over the allotted word count, if you formatted the way they asked you NOT to, or if you send an attachment where they stated NO ATTACHMENTS WILL BE OPENED.
*If they request a payment entry make sure to include it with your submission. And follow tip #2.
*Before your tongue approaches the seal to close the envelope, go over your manuscript just one more time. Make sure all the guidelines were followed. Check and see if the word count is within their limits. And make sure you have the right mailing address. How sad if it ends up anywhere but its projected destination. Oh, please make sure to check again for any typos.
*Unless it's edited, perfected, and the best you can offer, don't hand in something half done and not up to your standards.
*Research the contest. Make sure no warnings are out there before you fork over any entry fees.
*Check and see what rights they are asking you for and if you agree with them. Unless they pay you a nice sum for ALL RIGHTS, I wouldn't hand over my stuff.
*Define your entry to suit the best genre category if the contest offers several. Submitting a juvenile mystery to an adult mystery judge may eliminate you if there's a children's judge waiting for your manuscript to come to them.
*Please follow the guidelines. Such an easy task yet many believe their "great" story will more than make up for not following some of the guidelines. Wrong! It may never be read if you went over the allotted word count, if you formatted the way they asked you NOT to, or if you send an attachment where they stated NO ATTACHMENTS WILL BE OPENED.
*If they request a payment entry make sure to include it with your submission. And follow tip #2.
*Before your tongue approaches the seal to close the envelope, go over your manuscript just one more time. Make sure all the guidelines were followed. Check and see if the word count is within their limits. And make sure you have the right mailing address. How sad if it ends up anywhere but its projected destination. Oh, please make sure to check again for any typos.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
How To Become A Great Writer
Daniel Millions
There are numerous ways to improve your writing skills. Whether your final goal is to write simply for enjoyment, or to become a big-time newspaper columnist, by practicing these tips, you'll be sure to progress.
You can start your quest to good writing by good reading. Immerse yourself in novels, plays, poems as well as articles. Pick out the differences between what you think is a great piece of writing, and identify what could use editing, or more time spent on perfecting it. Reading is a critical step in this process because not only does it give you an idea on how to write a plethora of pieces, but it also gives you a more extended vocabulary, and can give you ideas for your own writing.
Buy a notebook. Without a notebook, there's no organized place to keep your ideas. Bring this prized possession everywhere with you, because you never know when you'll feel inspired. It's also a very effective way to get used to writing daily. By always having a notebook by your side, it's not only easily accessible, but it's always there to grab if you find an amazing story. Just make sure you don't forget a pen!
Join a writing group, either in your community, or on the internet. By communicating with aspiring writers such as yourself, you can network with one another. Ask for advice if you're stuck, or for tips that they use to get the ball rolling. Talking with other writers can only help you, so why not give it a try?
No matter what it's about, or even if it doesn't make sense, just write. If you have writers block, clear your mind, and let the words flow. Take a break from the writing, and go back to it a few hours, or even a few days later. Your writing will becomes clearer, and you'll be able to add onto the writing after having thought about it for a while.
Make sure your thoughts are organized, and not all over the place. Keep your ideas relatable, and don't mix them all together. The reader will get confused if you jump from topic to topic without any explanation in between. Make sure your ideas are well developed, and don't jump around too much. If you do stray from the main topic, just be sure you can bring it back to the topic at the end. Find some reason they were put together in the first place.
Make time to write. If you're too busy to dedicate yourself to writing, even for ten minutes a day, then you won't improve. As they say, practice makes perfect, and without practice, your writing will become monotonous. Settle yourself down in a quiet, comfortable setting and just let the words flow. The more you write, the easier it becomes to think of attention-grabbing openings and witty endings.
Check your spelling and grammatical errors. Even though it sounds tedious, it's imperative to make a good impression. If you were to show anyone your work, and there were mistakes throughout the entire piece, no one would be able to concentrate on the content of your writing, only the blunders. For this reason, make sure your writing is as perfected as it can be.
These tips are just a few ideas that will get you on your way to becoming a good writer. Believe in your writing, and don't be afraid to persevere and take it to the next level. Follow these examples, and you'll be sure to not only advance, but become more confident in your work.
There are numerous ways to improve your writing skills. Whether your final goal is to write simply for enjoyment, or to become a big-time newspaper columnist, by practicing these tips, you'll be sure to progress.
You can start your quest to good writing by good reading. Immerse yourself in novels, plays, poems as well as articles. Pick out the differences between what you think is a great piece of writing, and identify what could use editing, or more time spent on perfecting it. Reading is a critical step in this process because not only does it give you an idea on how to write a plethora of pieces, but it also gives you a more extended vocabulary, and can give you ideas for your own writing.
Buy a notebook. Without a notebook, there's no organized place to keep your ideas. Bring this prized possession everywhere with you, because you never know when you'll feel inspired. It's also a very effective way to get used to writing daily. By always having a notebook by your side, it's not only easily accessible, but it's always there to grab if you find an amazing story. Just make sure you don't forget a pen!
Join a writing group, either in your community, or on the internet. By communicating with aspiring writers such as yourself, you can network with one another. Ask for advice if you're stuck, or for tips that they use to get the ball rolling. Talking with other writers can only help you, so why not give it a try?
No matter what it's about, or even if it doesn't make sense, just write. If you have writers block, clear your mind, and let the words flow. Take a break from the writing, and go back to it a few hours, or even a few days later. Your writing will becomes clearer, and you'll be able to add onto the writing after having thought about it for a while.
Make sure your thoughts are organized, and not all over the place. Keep your ideas relatable, and don't mix them all together. The reader will get confused if you jump from topic to topic without any explanation in between. Make sure your ideas are well developed, and don't jump around too much. If you do stray from the main topic, just be sure you can bring it back to the topic at the end. Find some reason they were put together in the first place.
Make time to write. If you're too busy to dedicate yourself to writing, even for ten minutes a day, then you won't improve. As they say, practice makes perfect, and without practice, your writing will become monotonous. Settle yourself down in a quiet, comfortable setting and just let the words flow. The more you write, the easier it becomes to think of attention-grabbing openings and witty endings.
Check your spelling and grammatical errors. Even though it sounds tedious, it's imperative to make a good impression. If you were to show anyone your work, and there were mistakes throughout the entire piece, no one would be able to concentrate on the content of your writing, only the blunders. For this reason, make sure your writing is as perfected as it can be.
These tips are just a few ideas that will get you on your way to becoming a good writer. Believe in your writing, and don't be afraid to persevere and take it to the next level. Follow these examples, and you'll be sure to not only advance, but become more confident in your work.
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