One does not have to have a masters degree in English writing to publish your own article on the internet. You do have to have some sense of grammar and spelling if you want people to read it and respond to the article if there is some sort of call to action.
The topics are many and varied, really anything that you may be interested in or perhaps something that you morally agree or disagree with. If you have a look at all the blogs and article publishing forums, you are guaranteed to find anything from shopping for replica Rolex watches, to picnicking ideas in the woods.
Due to the information age dawning upon us, people are hungry for that information, especially if it adds value to their lives or even makes their life a bit easier. An example would be an article about Chardonnay wine, for instance. You are a great wine drinker and your favorite wine is Chardonnay, you decide to write an article about Chardonnay wine. Your article starts with the general description of the chardonnay grape, what regions produce chardonnay wine, a comparative analysis between old world and new world winemaking techniques specific to the chardonnay wine making process. Your published article then goes on to describe the process of malolactic fermentation, and then the aging process; why does the winemaker use French oak instead of American oak, what is the purpose of using stainless steel barrels instead of the wood barrels. This leads to a description in the differences of a wooded and an un-wooded chardonnay. The point is here that one has an idea based upon one's passion for a specific wine type and you can practically write a book about this wine and you don't realize the effort you are putting into sharing your knowledge because it is pure enjoyment for you.
One doesn't even really have to look for examples, because they surround us. Current political situations, current events, viewpoints and the like, it really is limitless. It has become almost an art form, as people devote their lives to publishing articles and sharing information around the world. It make an ideal outlet for your latent writing creativity that you know has always been there and just waiting for an opportunity to surface.
This may be the very calling you were waiting for, the nudge that will push you closer to the computer keyboard or even the pen and paper. Start writing and publishing your articles, there are many options of blogging or even selling your articles, dependant on what your ultimate goal is with regards to your written work. It is well worth it as it will be an enjoyable and creative exercise.
If writing an article has always been intriguing to you, go ahead get started, look for an article submission site, submit your article and in all likeliness it will get published; provided you have adhered to the general grammar and spelling rules of the English language.
About the Author:
If writing an article has always been intriguing to you, go ahead get started, look for an article submission site, submit your article. http://www.talkinmince.com
Keyword tags: article writing, article submission, article submissions, submt article
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Make it or Break it With Headlines
Anyone who has experienced trying to read the front page of a daily paper that measures 13 by 22 inches knows how headlines wrestle for a reader's attention. Although the page layout has a lot to do with which piece is read first, the way a headline is worded can also make or break a story. Let's put it this way: a so-so story with an extremely catchy headline might prove to be disappointing, but it will still be read. The same story with a humdrum headline will be dismissed in a split-second.
While writing headlines for journalistic articles and for web copies are different in terms of their target audience, the principles under which they work are basically the same: to capture the essence of a piece and, hopefully, catch attention.
The need for brilliant headlines
In a nutshell, a headline can determine whether a user will click through to a copy or not. Writers for an online audience always have this in mind. The possible downside of this thinking is sacrificing accuracy. Some opt to misguide intentionally just to get hits. Remember that clicks alone will not translate to business automatically. Hence, it's not worth trying to misguide prospective customers through deceptive headlines.
A headline, in journalism parlance, is the gist of the gist of a story. When writing copy for the web, this can be overly simplistic. There are more things to consider than just condensing a piece into several words. For instance, remember to be creative and inspired when thinking of your headlines. The World Wide Web is astronomically bigger than any single newspaper. And even with the help of a search engine to narrow down results, the webpages and headlines competing for a user's attention is unimaginably voluminous. This is where a good headline edges out a mediocre one.
The writing itself
When writing headlines, it is best to strike a balance between accuracy and creativity. The first part means saying what you want to say, no complication, no catch. Trying to impress via headlines is not only needless and arrogant, it can also backfire in the long run. Thinking about it, writing for the sake of trying to impress often works to one's disadvantage.
After figuring out what you need to say, figure out the most effective, creative, catchy, clever way of saying it. While you tirelessly try to excite and reel people in through your headlines, remember that your headline is the bait, and your copy is the fishing rod that reels people in.
As with writing for journalism, headlines of web copies vary depending on the purpose they will serve. The tone of your headline usually sets the mood for the rest of the article. Reserve funny headlines for comic pieces, satirical ones for parodies, academic ones for research papers. You get the picture.
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Copyright (c) Althea Marie Tan - The Content Annex is a content development company that offers comprehensive writing solutions for busy entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.thecontentannex.com for more information.
About the Author:
Copyright (c) Althea Marie Tan - The Content Annex is a content development company that offers comprehensive writing solutions for busy entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.thecontentannex.com for more information.
Keyword tags: Effective headlines, tips, writing tips, writing headlines
While writing headlines for journalistic articles and for web copies are different in terms of their target audience, the principles under which they work are basically the same: to capture the essence of a piece and, hopefully, catch attention.
The need for brilliant headlines
In a nutshell, a headline can determine whether a user will click through to a copy or not. Writers for an online audience always have this in mind. The possible downside of this thinking is sacrificing accuracy. Some opt to misguide intentionally just to get hits. Remember that clicks alone will not translate to business automatically. Hence, it's not worth trying to misguide prospective customers through deceptive headlines.
A headline, in journalism parlance, is the gist of the gist of a story. When writing copy for the web, this can be overly simplistic. There are more things to consider than just condensing a piece into several words. For instance, remember to be creative and inspired when thinking of your headlines. The World Wide Web is astronomically bigger than any single newspaper. And even with the help of a search engine to narrow down results, the webpages and headlines competing for a user's attention is unimaginably voluminous. This is where a good headline edges out a mediocre one.
The writing itself
When writing headlines, it is best to strike a balance between accuracy and creativity. The first part means saying what you want to say, no complication, no catch. Trying to impress via headlines is not only needless and arrogant, it can also backfire in the long run. Thinking about it, writing for the sake of trying to impress often works to one's disadvantage.
After figuring out what you need to say, figure out the most effective, creative, catchy, clever way of saying it. While you tirelessly try to excite and reel people in through your headlines, remember that your headline is the bait, and your copy is the fishing rod that reels people in.
As with writing for journalism, headlines of web copies vary depending on the purpose they will serve. The tone of your headline usually sets the mood for the rest of the article. Reserve funny headlines for comic pieces, satirical ones for parodies, academic ones for research papers. You get the picture.
---
Copyright (c) Althea Marie Tan - The Content Annex is a content development company that offers comprehensive writing solutions for busy entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.thecontentannex.com for more information.
About the Author:
Copyright (c) Althea Marie Tan - The Content Annex is a content development company that offers comprehensive writing solutions for busy entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.thecontentannex.com for more information.
Keyword tags: Effective headlines, tips, writing tips, writing headlines
Why I Like Things Short Online
I did not believe Shakespeare when he said that brevity is the soul of wit. It is, I believed, simply not my style. Going forward, though, reading a wide variety of works changed my mind. The challenge to any writer is to make the article clear, concise, and readable. After all, the purpose of writing is to express. The simpler the language, the more people understand and appreciate what I write. The wider my audience, the more effective my writing becomes.
Brevity in writing copy
While this principle applies to practically all types of writing, I've realized that its importance is amplified when I write copies for the web. As a typical web user who relies on search engines, I can attest to the effectivity of short copies versus longer ones. Sure, an attractive, catchy title may lure me into a site, but a huge block of text, not to mention unsightly design and obtrusive advertisements, usually discourages me. Normally, I just read the first few lines and click close. In doing so, I realize that that particularly copy has just failed.
This isn't saying that the quality of the writing is bad per se. As a user pressed for time, however, I don't even get the chance to scan through the whole thing just because of the text-heavy impression it gives. I've always said this: in the harsh competition for clicks on the web, you only have a second or two to make it work.
Brevity = simplicity
Aside from creating an impression, keeping web copy short increases its readability. Note that brevity doesn't equate to being boring or dull. On the other hand, I realize that the real test for an excellent writer is achieving the most powerful effect in using as few words as possible. On some occasions, I alternate short- and medium-length sentences. This increases the impact of the copies I write.
More often than not, though, a short copy not only pleases the eye, it gives the impression that I know what I am talking about because I am able to keep everything tight.
When long copies are needed
Long copies aren't always evil though. I've encountered complicated topics that required longer explanations. What do I do during these instances? I try to keep my article neat, organized and simple. It is possible to do this by grouping ideas accordingly. In these cases, the page's design and layout go hand-in-hand with the writing style. A long copy can appear short and condensed if ideas are grouped suitably into topics. And if a copy is simply too long to appear on a single webpage, no one's stopping me from providing a link to another page.
Another device I use when writing longer copies are subheads. They're a great tool in guiding visitors to the bits of information they need. I also make sure that the gist of a paragraph or a series of paragraphs is found on the initial part. That way, a user will stay and possibly bookmark my page for future reference. If customers find the site content useful and relevant, they will come back.
About the Author:
Copyright (c) Althea Marie Tan - The Content Annex is a content development company that offers comprehensive writing solutions for busy entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.thecontentannex.com for more information.
Keyword tags: short copy, copy writing , writing tips for the web
Brevity in writing copy
While this principle applies to practically all types of writing, I've realized that its importance is amplified when I write copies for the web. As a typical web user who relies on search engines, I can attest to the effectivity of short copies versus longer ones. Sure, an attractive, catchy title may lure me into a site, but a huge block of text, not to mention unsightly design and obtrusive advertisements, usually discourages me. Normally, I just read the first few lines and click close. In doing so, I realize that that particularly copy has just failed.
This isn't saying that the quality of the writing is bad per se. As a user pressed for time, however, I don't even get the chance to scan through the whole thing just because of the text-heavy impression it gives. I've always said this: in the harsh competition for clicks on the web, you only have a second or two to make it work.
Brevity = simplicity
Aside from creating an impression, keeping web copy short increases its readability. Note that brevity doesn't equate to being boring or dull. On the other hand, I realize that the real test for an excellent writer is achieving the most powerful effect in using as few words as possible. On some occasions, I alternate short- and medium-length sentences. This increases the impact of the copies I write.
More often than not, though, a short copy not only pleases the eye, it gives the impression that I know what I am talking about because I am able to keep everything tight.
When long copies are needed
Long copies aren't always evil though. I've encountered complicated topics that required longer explanations. What do I do during these instances? I try to keep my article neat, organized and simple. It is possible to do this by grouping ideas accordingly. In these cases, the page's design and layout go hand-in-hand with the writing style. A long copy can appear short and condensed if ideas are grouped suitably into topics. And if a copy is simply too long to appear on a single webpage, no one's stopping me from providing a link to another page.
Another device I use when writing longer copies are subheads. They're a great tool in guiding visitors to the bits of information they need. I also make sure that the gist of a paragraph or a series of paragraphs is found on the initial part. That way, a user will stay and possibly bookmark my page for future reference. If customers find the site content useful and relevant, they will come back.
About the Author:
Copyright (c) Althea Marie Tan - The Content Annex is a content development company that offers comprehensive writing solutions for busy entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.thecontentannex.com for more information.
Keyword tags: short copy, copy writing , writing tips for the web
Why Writing for the Web is Different
Every day, we are deluged by all kinds of copies (that is, advertising in print, radio, television or online). Often we are not conscious of them, but I guess in our little ways we subconsciously filter which copies work and which don't. Personally, the ultimate test whether a copy succeeds or not is if I am persuaded to buy a product, try a service, or even inquire about something that has caught my interest.
There is something different, though, about writing copies meant to be published online. When I write copies for the web, I try putting myself on the shoes of a prospective customer. This is not hard, considering that I shop online. I am one of those who rely almost automatically on the Internet to get quick solutions. Empathizing or pretending that I'm at the other end of the copywriting process makes writing copy easier and ultimately more effective for me.
Everybody wants your mouse click
Picture this. When you wake up and read the morning paper, advertisements try to fight for your interest via catch phrases. Turn on your television and in between your favorite shows, you hear lines from commercials that try to do the same thing.
Now when I go online and try to search for a particular product, at the back of my mind, I know what I want, and I know that webpages compete for my precious mouse click after I perform a search on Google or Yahoo! With the wide array of options staring at my face, however, I know my choice is crucial, and I have the power. I usually just skim through the results, quickly reading the descriptions of webpages. It tells me that these web copies, granted the titles succeed in reeling me in, have at most a minute or two of my time to give me the answers I am looking for.
With this mindset, I'd like to think I know what it takes to write good copy for the web. Essentially, I try to make it catchy, effective, and useful. As a prospective customer shopping for products, services, or information online, I want constant and immediate reassurance that I have come to the right place and am not wasting my time.
Search engines are the key
How exactly do I get to these sites in the first place? Through search engines. As such, it is a primary concern to rank high in the results of search engines. This is where coming up with an exquisitely perfect title and description for my copy counts the most. Because in the end, I may have a Pulitzer-winning piece on my hand, but it faces a lot of competition from other online sources. It will ultimately go to waste if it doesn't attract a lot of attention. And of course, clicks.
---
Copyright (c) Althea Marie Tan - The Content Annex is a content development company that offers comprehensive writing solutions for busy entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.thecontentannex.com for more information.
About the Author:
Copyright (c) Althea Marie Tan - The Content Annex is a content development company that offers comprehensive writing solutions for busy entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.thecontentannex.com for more information.
Keyword tags: web writing, writing tips for the web, writing, SEO, search engine
There is something different, though, about writing copies meant to be published online. When I write copies for the web, I try putting myself on the shoes of a prospective customer. This is not hard, considering that I shop online. I am one of those who rely almost automatically on the Internet to get quick solutions. Empathizing or pretending that I'm at the other end of the copywriting process makes writing copy easier and ultimately more effective for me.
Everybody wants your mouse click
Picture this. When you wake up and read the morning paper, advertisements try to fight for your interest via catch phrases. Turn on your television and in between your favorite shows, you hear lines from commercials that try to do the same thing.
Now when I go online and try to search for a particular product, at the back of my mind, I know what I want, and I know that webpages compete for my precious mouse click after I perform a search on Google or Yahoo! With the wide array of options staring at my face, however, I know my choice is crucial, and I have the power. I usually just skim through the results, quickly reading the descriptions of webpages. It tells me that these web copies, granted the titles succeed in reeling me in, have at most a minute or two of my time to give me the answers I am looking for.
With this mindset, I'd like to think I know what it takes to write good copy for the web. Essentially, I try to make it catchy, effective, and useful. As a prospective customer shopping for products, services, or information online, I want constant and immediate reassurance that I have come to the right place and am not wasting my time.
Search engines are the key
How exactly do I get to these sites in the first place? Through search engines. As such, it is a primary concern to rank high in the results of search engines. This is where coming up with an exquisitely perfect title and description for my copy counts the most. Because in the end, I may have a Pulitzer-winning piece on my hand, but it faces a lot of competition from other online sources. It will ultimately go to waste if it doesn't attract a lot of attention. And of course, clicks.
---
Copyright (c) Althea Marie Tan - The Content Annex is a content development company that offers comprehensive writing solutions for busy entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.thecontentannex.com for more information.
About the Author:
Copyright (c) Althea Marie Tan - The Content Annex is a content development company that offers comprehensive writing solutions for busy entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.thecontentannex.com for more information.
Keyword tags: web writing, writing tips for the web, writing, SEO, search engine
2 Steps in Writing an Effective Web Copy
Most online instructions on how to write effective copy for the web revolve around details and tips regarding keywords, page titles, META descriptions, and other similarly technical things. These materials will tell you, for instance, to mind your page title or soak up your copy with keywords, all in an effort to jack up the chances of your site landing on the top results of search engines.
These pointers, of course, are grounded on the assumption that people who go online to perform searches on engines hardly have any time to spare to click where the links go. They think that people are so pressed for time that they just look at the list of results and pick the links that appear to suit their inquiry best.
It's true, but there's more.
Get people in…
Over the years, search engines have become the single most important tool to answer people's needs online. On the surface, their appeal lies in the simplicity of the interface of most search engines. This appeals to both to the tech-savvy who is looking for clarity and the technophobe who is after convenience. Because of their sheer usefulness, businesses and other profit-oriented entities have relied on search engines to lure customers in.
Given the current generation's diminutive attention span, plus the sheer volume of sites competing for users' attention, catching—and sustaining—the attention of prospective customers is vital to the success of a search engine–driven Internet campaign. Most information available online will point to technicalities that enhance the chances of getting someone's attention. And for good reason. Most often a split-second glance is all you get. If you blow it, there goes your business prospect up in smoke.
As such, emphasize on the basics. A good page title reels people in. If possible, you want your title to not only capture the essence of their inquiry, but capture it verbatim. To online users, there is nothing more satisfying than finding a webpage that tackles exactly what they want in its title alone. A click, in this case, is almost automatic.
For the more discerning user or on a topic that is so popular that several webpages capture it verbatim, the next level of competition is in the META description. In Google, for instance, the META description appears to describe the link. Often, these are the only two chances you get in terms of attracting visitors and hits.
…and get them to stay
The second part of writing effective copy for the web is the need for the piece or page to be ultimately convenient, clear, and useful. For this to be possible, a copy should be short and sweet and apt, always complete, never superfluous and flowery, and always engaging. Remember, getting the bite is one thing, reeling them in is another.
Also, web copywriters need to understand the peculiarities of the online audience vis-à-vis the broader audience in general. It does not end in carefully selecting keywords and phrases; it is enticing an audience but not failing them and keeping true to your promise.
About the Author:
Copyright (c) Althea Marie Tan - The Content Annex is a content development company that offers comprehensive writing solutions for busy entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.thecontentannex.com for more information.
Keyword tags: Effective web copy, web copy tips, writing tips, writing effective web copy
These pointers, of course, are grounded on the assumption that people who go online to perform searches on engines hardly have any time to spare to click where the links go. They think that people are so pressed for time that they just look at the list of results and pick the links that appear to suit their inquiry best.
It's true, but there's more.
Get people in…
Over the years, search engines have become the single most important tool to answer people's needs online. On the surface, their appeal lies in the simplicity of the interface of most search engines. This appeals to both to the tech-savvy who is looking for clarity and the technophobe who is after convenience. Because of their sheer usefulness, businesses and other profit-oriented entities have relied on search engines to lure customers in.
Given the current generation's diminutive attention span, plus the sheer volume of sites competing for users' attention, catching—and sustaining—the attention of prospective customers is vital to the success of a search engine–driven Internet campaign. Most information available online will point to technicalities that enhance the chances of getting someone's attention. And for good reason. Most often a split-second glance is all you get. If you blow it, there goes your business prospect up in smoke.
As such, emphasize on the basics. A good page title reels people in. If possible, you want your title to not only capture the essence of their inquiry, but capture it verbatim. To online users, there is nothing more satisfying than finding a webpage that tackles exactly what they want in its title alone. A click, in this case, is almost automatic.
For the more discerning user or on a topic that is so popular that several webpages capture it verbatim, the next level of competition is in the META description. In Google, for instance, the META description appears to describe the link. Often, these are the only two chances you get in terms of attracting visitors and hits.
…and get them to stay
The second part of writing effective copy for the web is the need for the piece or page to be ultimately convenient, clear, and useful. For this to be possible, a copy should be short and sweet and apt, always complete, never superfluous and flowery, and always engaging. Remember, getting the bite is one thing, reeling them in is another.
Also, web copywriters need to understand the peculiarities of the online audience vis-à-vis the broader audience in general. It does not end in carefully selecting keywords and phrases; it is enticing an audience but not failing them and keeping true to your promise.
About the Author:
Copyright (c) Althea Marie Tan - The Content Annex is a content development company that offers comprehensive writing solutions for busy entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.thecontentannex.com for more information.
Keyword tags: Effective web copy, web copy tips, writing tips, writing effective web copy
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Book Review: Their Way Home - My Adventures As a Ghost Guide by Melissa Van Rossum
I flicked through the first few pages of this book, and decided to run a very unscientific poll. I asked several people that I know "Do you believe in ghosts". Pretty much this unscientific method revealed that about 1/3 do, 1/3 don't, and the other 1/3 could not care less.
Do I believe in them? I honestly don't know. Ghosts are like many things in our mythic based culture. Some might argue that man created them to satisfy a need to understand, accept, and pigeon hole a problem that was not readily explainable, 'What happens in death'. Indeed there is something darkly romantic in the concept of someone's spirit remaining on earth following an untimely demise. Not usually to seek revenge, just understanding, and very occasionally justice.
Ghosts are fickle entities to say the least, few of us have ever encountered them. In my case, the things that go bump in the night is usually a stray cat tipping the garbage over. But that is not to cast doubt on their existence, maybe I do not have the unique psychic equipment to sense them.
Author Melissa Van Rossum on the other hand seems to have a very acute sense of ethereal energy, and Their Way Home takes us on an exploration of some of her encounters, and advises us on what we should do.
Ghosts in her estimation are spirits that for one reason or another, do not, or do not think they can, or want to, move on to the other side. This has nothing to do with heaven or hell, it is just indecision. Some stay as a way of atonement to loved ones they have left, some stay feeling cheated by circumstances, and some stay because they don't know how to cross over to the other side.
Yes, I remain skeptical, books like this are long on narrative, high on inconsequential facts, and very short on hard facts. However, my skepticism has been tempered somewhat, because unless I am very mistaken, someone that I know is mentioned in this book.
Their Way Home breaks down into three very distinct parts. It begins with stories of Melissa Van Rossum's experiences in showing ghosts the way to cross over to the other side and her own self discovery of her abilities. Part two explores how others have encountered ethereal loved ones, and her own experience with dealing with the death of a near relative. Finally part three is 'how to' and explanation of the process.
Their Way Home, makes for an entertaining read, that's for sure. Do I buy into it? That part I am not convinced about. I do know that there are many things that even with our advanced technology still are unexplained. While the Gypsy fortune teller at the fairground is likely a con, what about Nostradamus? In that same vein, cold fusion is pooh-poohed by the scientific community, yet creating mass out of nothing 'the big bang theory' is all the rage. We as humans have much to learn.
You can get your copy of Their Way Home from Amazon.
(Originally published at Blogger News Network and reprinted with permission of the author, Simon Barrett).
About the Author:
Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. With the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot of books! He is also a contributing editor for http://www.bloggernews.net and maintains a personal blog at http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com.
Keyword tags: ghosts, spirits, psychic, empath, Divine Guidance, Ghost Whisperer, Other Side, books
Do I believe in them? I honestly don't know. Ghosts are like many things in our mythic based culture. Some might argue that man created them to satisfy a need to understand, accept, and pigeon hole a problem that was not readily explainable, 'What happens in death'. Indeed there is something darkly romantic in the concept of someone's spirit remaining on earth following an untimely demise. Not usually to seek revenge, just understanding, and very occasionally justice.
Ghosts are fickle entities to say the least, few of us have ever encountered them. In my case, the things that go bump in the night is usually a stray cat tipping the garbage over. But that is not to cast doubt on their existence, maybe I do not have the unique psychic equipment to sense them.
Author Melissa Van Rossum on the other hand seems to have a very acute sense of ethereal energy, and Their Way Home takes us on an exploration of some of her encounters, and advises us on what we should do.
Ghosts in her estimation are spirits that for one reason or another, do not, or do not think they can, or want to, move on to the other side. This has nothing to do with heaven or hell, it is just indecision. Some stay as a way of atonement to loved ones they have left, some stay feeling cheated by circumstances, and some stay because they don't know how to cross over to the other side.
Yes, I remain skeptical, books like this are long on narrative, high on inconsequential facts, and very short on hard facts. However, my skepticism has been tempered somewhat, because unless I am very mistaken, someone that I know is mentioned in this book.
Their Way Home breaks down into three very distinct parts. It begins with stories of Melissa Van Rossum's experiences in showing ghosts the way to cross over to the other side and her own self discovery of her abilities. Part two explores how others have encountered ethereal loved ones, and her own experience with dealing with the death of a near relative. Finally part three is 'how to' and explanation of the process.
Their Way Home, makes for an entertaining read, that's for sure. Do I buy into it? That part I am not convinced about. I do know that there are many things that even with our advanced technology still are unexplained. While the Gypsy fortune teller at the fairground is likely a con, what about Nostradamus? In that same vein, cold fusion is pooh-poohed by the scientific community, yet creating mass out of nothing 'the big bang theory' is all the rage. We as humans have much to learn.
You can get your copy of Their Way Home from Amazon.
(Originally published at Blogger News Network and reprinted with permission of the author, Simon Barrett).
About the Author:
Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. With the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot of books! He is also a contributing editor for http://www.bloggernews.net and maintains a personal blog at http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com.
Keyword tags: ghosts, spirits, psychic, empath, Divine Guidance, Ghost Whisperer, Other Side, books
Monday, October 27, 2008
The Traumas of War
An individual's life experiences often influence their character, personality, and behavior. Traumas in a person's life, at any age, can often have a much deeper impact. This is even more significant, when the trauma relates to war time experiences.
In BEAR ANY BURDEN, my Cold War Espionage Thriller set in Poland at the height of the Cold War in the 1980's, I have tried to show how the traumas of World War II affected the personality and behavior of the three main characters.
Sir Alex Campbell had grown up knowing of his grandparent's emigration to Scotland from Poland to get away from the Pogroms, persecution, and poverty. He'd been aware of anti-Semitism and even had casual experiences of this during his school days. In April 1945 at the age of nineteen as an officer in the British Intelligence Corps Army, he was at the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp and saw for himself the horrors of the brutal Nazi death camps. A few weeks later while interrogating a captured German officer, he was attacked and wounded and then watched the officer, a Nazi fanatic, commit suicide before his eyes.
These traumatic events stayed with him over four decades, regularly causing him to wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, as he relived those experiences.
As Sir Alex Campbell matured, he became a cool, calm, unemotional businessman who kept his inner feelings and fears to himself, an ideal personality to carry out "little jobs" for the British Secret Intelligence Services
Anna Kaluza was born in a Russian labor camp in 1940. The daughter of an aristocratic landowning family, she never knew her father, who joined his regiment as the Germans were invading Poland at the start of the Second World War and was never seen again. Although her mother loved her and made considerable sacrifices for her and her brother, Jan, she was not capable of showing warmth and affection to Anna, and continually reminded her of her aristocratic background and her expected behavior.
Anna grew up with a deep affection for her brother, three years her senior, who was her hero and role model. When she blossomed into a beautiful young woman, she found she was not attracted to her brother's friends, but sought the company of much older men, who filled the role unbeknownst to her of a father figure. Falling into a relationship with a man who was nearly twice her age, did not blossom into a full-blown affair but led her to her future husband, a handsome, womanizing airline captain, fourteen years her senior.
Despite warnings from her close friends, she threw herself into a wild love affair, which eventually led to marriage, which unfortunately, her husband could not sustain. Three years later, they divorced.
Naturally, she was wary of getting involved in similar relationships, but realized she could use her beauty and charms, to her personal benefit when need arose.
Anna was a beautiful, strong woman with an aristocratic bearing inherited from her mother, who found herself ideally suited to the challenges and excitement of the British Secret Service.
Eric Keller was a teenager when the Nazis marched into his hometown of Tarnow in September 1939. Over the next three years, he lived through the ever-increasing brutal occupation – murder, mass killings, persecution, starvation, death and living in perpetual fear. When he escaped from Tarnow and joined the Resistance in the surrounding forest, he became adept at silently killing Germans with weapons, knives, or even his bear hands.
Having lost all of his family in the Holocaust, he moved to Warsaw at the end of the Second World War, and started a new life, studying at the University of Warsaw, hiding his Jewish background, and eventually marrying the daughter of prominent Catholic family. It was only after his two children were murdered by the Polish Government for their involvement in the Solidarity Movement, that he decided to to defect to the West with his wife. Having lost his wife during their escape, it was only then that he was able to reveal his true background and, for the first time in forty years, talk about his wartime experiences.
These three characters were thrown together as part of a British Secret Service plan to help Professor Eric Keller defect from Poland. They were, however, inexorably tied together through their wartime traumas, which shaped and dramatically influenced their characters and personalities.
About the Author:
Ellis M. Goodman is a Chicago based businessman who came to the U.S. in 1982 from London England. He is the author of CORONA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA'S #1 IMPORTED BEER, and has recently completed his Cold War Espionage Thriller Novel – BEAR ANY BURDEN. To learn more about Ellis M. Goodman and BEAR ANY BURDEN, visit http://www.bearanyburden.com.
Keyword tags: thriller, WWII, espionage, Poland, Cold War, authors, books
In BEAR ANY BURDEN, my Cold War Espionage Thriller set in Poland at the height of the Cold War in the 1980's, I have tried to show how the traumas of World War II affected the personality and behavior of the three main characters.
Sir Alex Campbell had grown up knowing of his grandparent's emigration to Scotland from Poland to get away from the Pogroms, persecution, and poverty. He'd been aware of anti-Semitism and even had casual experiences of this during his school days. In April 1945 at the age of nineteen as an officer in the British Intelligence Corps Army, he was at the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp and saw for himself the horrors of the brutal Nazi death camps. A few weeks later while interrogating a captured German officer, he was attacked and wounded and then watched the officer, a Nazi fanatic, commit suicide before his eyes.
These traumatic events stayed with him over four decades, regularly causing him to wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, as he relived those experiences.
As Sir Alex Campbell matured, he became a cool, calm, unemotional businessman who kept his inner feelings and fears to himself, an ideal personality to carry out "little jobs" for the British Secret Intelligence Services
Anna Kaluza was born in a Russian labor camp in 1940. The daughter of an aristocratic landowning family, she never knew her father, who joined his regiment as the Germans were invading Poland at the start of the Second World War and was never seen again. Although her mother loved her and made considerable sacrifices for her and her brother, Jan, she was not capable of showing warmth and affection to Anna, and continually reminded her of her aristocratic background and her expected behavior.
Anna grew up with a deep affection for her brother, three years her senior, who was her hero and role model. When she blossomed into a beautiful young woman, she found she was not attracted to her brother's friends, but sought the company of much older men, who filled the role unbeknownst to her of a father figure. Falling into a relationship with a man who was nearly twice her age, did not blossom into a full-blown affair but led her to her future husband, a handsome, womanizing airline captain, fourteen years her senior.
Despite warnings from her close friends, she threw herself into a wild love affair, which eventually led to marriage, which unfortunately, her husband could not sustain. Three years later, they divorced.
Naturally, she was wary of getting involved in similar relationships, but realized she could use her beauty and charms, to her personal benefit when need arose.
Anna was a beautiful, strong woman with an aristocratic bearing inherited from her mother, who found herself ideally suited to the challenges and excitement of the British Secret Service.
Eric Keller was a teenager when the Nazis marched into his hometown of Tarnow in September 1939. Over the next three years, he lived through the ever-increasing brutal occupation – murder, mass killings, persecution, starvation, death and living in perpetual fear. When he escaped from Tarnow and joined the Resistance in the surrounding forest, he became adept at silently killing Germans with weapons, knives, or even his bear hands.
Having lost all of his family in the Holocaust, he moved to Warsaw at the end of the Second World War, and started a new life, studying at the University of Warsaw, hiding his Jewish background, and eventually marrying the daughter of prominent Catholic family. It was only after his two children were murdered by the Polish Government for their involvement in the Solidarity Movement, that he decided to to defect to the West with his wife. Having lost his wife during their escape, it was only then that he was able to reveal his true background and, for the first time in forty years, talk about his wartime experiences.
These three characters were thrown together as part of a British Secret Service plan to help Professor Eric Keller defect from Poland. They were, however, inexorably tied together through their wartime traumas, which shaped and dramatically influenced their characters and personalities.
About the Author:
Ellis M. Goodman is a Chicago based businessman who came to the U.S. in 1982 from London England. He is the author of CORONA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA'S #1 IMPORTED BEER, and has recently completed his Cold War Espionage Thriller Novel – BEAR ANY BURDEN. To learn more about Ellis M. Goodman and BEAR ANY BURDEN, visit http://www.bearanyburden.com.
Keyword tags: thriller, WWII, espionage, Poland, Cold War, authors, books
The Fog of Alzheimer\s as Character
"Linda, Linda, LEENDA," Mother would scream out to small groups of strangers strolling by while we sipped tea together on the patio of a local coffee house. This was to be a happy weekly outing—a short walking distance from the assisted living facility that was now her home, yet she'd spend most of it calling out my name to others. I tried to shush her, insisting that I, that Linda, was right there in front of her, but she'd just turn and look back at me and say, "Huh . . . oh," and stare.
Then after a bit of silence the outburst would begin all over again.
At first, Mother had enjoyed these little excursions because we'd stop to window shop among the assortment of boutiques along the way. Mother would walk with my help and that of her walker while smiling at various families with small children in hand. She never tired of admiring the little ones and often reached out to caress a chubby baby cheek or sweet little downy head, exclaiming, "Hay, que preciosa." But as the weeks and the months progressed her degenerating memory removed her ability to know me any longer and I, in turn, felt as if my past, my childhood, and part of my life had been erased.
I was her only daughter, one she had named after the Spanish word for pretty because, she'd said, I was so pretty and perfect at birth. Of course, I often had to remind her that being delivered via C-section just maybe was the reason for the perfect part. No molded head from a trip down the birth canal. I was scooped out of her belly by Dr. Hilton, a relation of the eponymous hotel chain owners. But that's another story and it's one she had long forgotten.
Often, prior to moving Mother out of her home, and into assisted living, she would call me twice or three times a day chastising me in a mix of Spanish and English for being a bad daughter. I was trying to put her in jail, she proclaimed. Funny, that was also how she referred to her lovely home with a large backyard pool in a clean and quiet suburb of Los Angeles. This labeling of her house as a place of incarceration began shortly after she lost her driver's license and I sold her car. Macular degeneration had already robbed her of her passion for spending uninterrupted hours reading her beloved books. The addition of a paid companion didn't help as Mother referred to the poor beleaguered caretaker as her a jailer. Mother's only connection with the rest of the world was via the loud booming audio from CNN, Animal Planet or anything on Telemundo from her TV, which ran all day and into the night.
Like the mother character in my epistolary novel Letters Between Us, Mother also suffered from Alzheimer's. And like the protagonist, Laura, in the novel, I too couldn't take the intensity of the incessant phone calls filled with harangue, harassment and name-calling. While I worked on revising Letters, Mom was still very much alive at 95 years of age. However, she was growing more paranoid, angrier, and more intractable every day. I was growing sadder, more frustrated, and more desperate every day. What do I do to keep her safe? How do I not rob her of her freedom to come and go? These questions of creating limits in her life at the expense of her individual rights plagued me. I knew that soon her live-in attendant would not be able to control Mother's outbursts and odd behavior. She would walk out to her backyard and wander around the pool at 2 a.m. and refuse to come back inside. She rebuffed attempts to get her dressed or to bathe. One afternoon, after a particularly difficult call from her, I wrote the following exchange:
"You just want to send me to hell."
"No, Mom, you're doing that all by yourself." My hand starts to strangle the receiver.
"What have I done to you that you hate me so much?"
Truth is the dialogue is almost verbatim. The circumstances I describe in my novel are fiction. But these kinds of conversations went on and on for the better part of a couple of years and I thought rather than try to ignore this most difficult period in my writing life, I chose to incorporate the pain and agony of coping with an elderly parent ridden with Alzheimer's by making that part of her a character in my novel.
Giving myself permission to do so freed me to write passages about Mother that worked well in the narrative. The narrator of Letters is trying hard to balance complex issues in her life and having a parent force herself into the mix fueled by the fog that Alzheimer's creates in the brain cells gives Laura, yet, one more issue to contend with while showing her as a compassionate person. We can all relate to our daily balancing acts while juggling many balls in the air. That is how life is and it's not going to slow down anytime soon.
After a very painful phone call with Mom shrieking at me about why I was an uncaring and nasty daughter and then a follow up phone call where Mom wanted to know how I was as if she'd never made the previous call, I wrote the following paragraph and just saved it in my computer, forgetting about it:
Her remembering depends upon where she is in the caverns of her
mind on a particular day at a particular hour, moment, or second. It's as
if she is walking on a street, lost, but then an alley pops up, and she has
a vague recollection from twenty years before of a painted red doorway
halfway down that alley she spies, and she thinks she might have even
walked through that door, but then again, maybe she just passed by it,
or perhaps someone she knew walked out of it and embraced her, and
they might have even stood in front of that red door and talked for a
time, but about what she is not sure, but again maybe they didn't, and
she has confused that red door from the one on the street with another
just around the corner and maybe she just needs to take a quick run
over there and see if that red doorway is really there, but then she
forgets where she is, and why she is there suddenly, and on and on.
Later, I was struggling as to how elaborate on the mother character's confusion about situations in Laura's life and found this passage again and thought wow, why not use it, and so I rewrote it again with a very slight modification and inserted it into a chapter of the novel. And it works. Perhaps I shouldn't admit this, but I wonder why not? The advice I have heard given to many aspiring writers is write what you know and in this instance I did. I don't know if I will again, but I could not ignore the big white elephant in the room, in my brain. Alzheimer's, on second thought, isn't a white elephant at all, it's a dark, big, black cloud that storms leaving many drenched with an aftermath of despair.
The thing too about Alzheimer's is that it takes time, sometimes years, to confirm as a diagnosis. Meanwhile, if one has an elderly parent who suffers from a memory lapse now and then, we, in society, accept such acts as typical. We say: Oh, you know Mom is getting a bit forgetful. We accept this because it is an easy way to excuse strange, different, or eccentric behavior in an older person. Even as younger persons, we'll often excuse our own forgetfulness and say: Oh, I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning so if Mom, at 95, can't, so be it. It's okay.
Well, actually it's not. It's not okay to have to spend thousands of dollars a month in care for such a person (and believe me to hire any type of care does cost that much), or if thousands aren't available then the need to move a parent into his/her child's home and be a burden to them that can be overwhelming is even more not okay, (I write this as I just finish reading an article in the newspaper about a daughter arrested for elder abuse for leaving her 85 year-old mother covered in her own feces and urine who died later for extended periods of time). Skilled nursing homes are not always okay, but sometimes are a necessity, and cross your fingers on finding a good one.
My experience was that Mother's affliction and my anguish in dealing with it created a platform for me to write about it by venting, which then enabled me to use those characteristics in my novel. Maybe that too is not okay. Mother was not the person who died at 96 from Alzheimer's robbing her of her memory, her speech, her life and leaving an empty shadow of a woman. She was a woman who adored her grandchildren, adored me, adored meeting me for coffee or tea and hanging on my every word and who never faltered in insisting that her advice on child rearing was better than mine. If she called my name it was in love and kindness not in anger. Alzheimer's destroyed that part of her and part of me is still destroyed by it. And that is just not okay.
About the Author:
Linda Rader Overman is a Professor of English at California State University, Northridge. Her work encompasses fiction, and nonfiction consisting of multifaceted elements including photographs, narrative portraits, images, texts, personal and social history, poetry, letters, and diaries. Her epistolary novel Letters Between Us is published by Plain View Press. To learn more about her, and to receive her newsletter, visit http://lindaraderoverman.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, writing tips, characters, plot, story development, publishing, novels, Alzheimers
Then after a bit of silence the outburst would begin all over again.
At first, Mother had enjoyed these little excursions because we'd stop to window shop among the assortment of boutiques along the way. Mother would walk with my help and that of her walker while smiling at various families with small children in hand. She never tired of admiring the little ones and often reached out to caress a chubby baby cheek or sweet little downy head, exclaiming, "Hay, que preciosa." But as the weeks and the months progressed her degenerating memory removed her ability to know me any longer and I, in turn, felt as if my past, my childhood, and part of my life had been erased.
I was her only daughter, one she had named after the Spanish word for pretty because, she'd said, I was so pretty and perfect at birth. Of course, I often had to remind her that being delivered via C-section just maybe was the reason for the perfect part. No molded head from a trip down the birth canal. I was scooped out of her belly by Dr. Hilton, a relation of the eponymous hotel chain owners. But that's another story and it's one she had long forgotten.
Often, prior to moving Mother out of her home, and into assisted living, she would call me twice or three times a day chastising me in a mix of Spanish and English for being a bad daughter. I was trying to put her in jail, she proclaimed. Funny, that was also how she referred to her lovely home with a large backyard pool in a clean and quiet suburb of Los Angeles. This labeling of her house as a place of incarceration began shortly after she lost her driver's license and I sold her car. Macular degeneration had already robbed her of her passion for spending uninterrupted hours reading her beloved books. The addition of a paid companion didn't help as Mother referred to the poor beleaguered caretaker as her a jailer. Mother's only connection with the rest of the world was via the loud booming audio from CNN, Animal Planet or anything on Telemundo from her TV, which ran all day and into the night.
Like the mother character in my epistolary novel Letters Between Us, Mother also suffered from Alzheimer's. And like the protagonist, Laura, in the novel, I too couldn't take the intensity of the incessant phone calls filled with harangue, harassment and name-calling. While I worked on revising Letters, Mom was still very much alive at 95 years of age. However, she was growing more paranoid, angrier, and more intractable every day. I was growing sadder, more frustrated, and more desperate every day. What do I do to keep her safe? How do I not rob her of her freedom to come and go? These questions of creating limits in her life at the expense of her individual rights plagued me. I knew that soon her live-in attendant would not be able to control Mother's outbursts and odd behavior. She would walk out to her backyard and wander around the pool at 2 a.m. and refuse to come back inside. She rebuffed attempts to get her dressed or to bathe. One afternoon, after a particularly difficult call from her, I wrote the following exchange:
"You just want to send me to hell."
"No, Mom, you're doing that all by yourself." My hand starts to strangle the receiver.
"What have I done to you that you hate me so much?"
Truth is the dialogue is almost verbatim. The circumstances I describe in my novel are fiction. But these kinds of conversations went on and on for the better part of a couple of years and I thought rather than try to ignore this most difficult period in my writing life, I chose to incorporate the pain and agony of coping with an elderly parent ridden with Alzheimer's by making that part of her a character in my novel.
Giving myself permission to do so freed me to write passages about Mother that worked well in the narrative. The narrator of Letters is trying hard to balance complex issues in her life and having a parent force herself into the mix fueled by the fog that Alzheimer's creates in the brain cells gives Laura, yet, one more issue to contend with while showing her as a compassionate person. We can all relate to our daily balancing acts while juggling many balls in the air. That is how life is and it's not going to slow down anytime soon.
After a very painful phone call with Mom shrieking at me about why I was an uncaring and nasty daughter and then a follow up phone call where Mom wanted to know how I was as if she'd never made the previous call, I wrote the following paragraph and just saved it in my computer, forgetting about it:
Her remembering depends upon where she is in the caverns of her
mind on a particular day at a particular hour, moment, or second. It's as
if she is walking on a street, lost, but then an alley pops up, and she has
a vague recollection from twenty years before of a painted red doorway
halfway down that alley she spies, and she thinks she might have even
walked through that door, but then again, maybe she just passed by it,
or perhaps someone she knew walked out of it and embraced her, and
they might have even stood in front of that red door and talked for a
time, but about what she is not sure, but again maybe they didn't, and
she has confused that red door from the one on the street with another
just around the corner and maybe she just needs to take a quick run
over there and see if that red doorway is really there, but then she
forgets where she is, and why she is there suddenly, and on and on.
Later, I was struggling as to how elaborate on the mother character's confusion about situations in Laura's life and found this passage again and thought wow, why not use it, and so I rewrote it again with a very slight modification and inserted it into a chapter of the novel. And it works. Perhaps I shouldn't admit this, but I wonder why not? The advice I have heard given to many aspiring writers is write what you know and in this instance I did. I don't know if I will again, but I could not ignore the big white elephant in the room, in my brain. Alzheimer's, on second thought, isn't a white elephant at all, it's a dark, big, black cloud that storms leaving many drenched with an aftermath of despair.
The thing too about Alzheimer's is that it takes time, sometimes years, to confirm as a diagnosis. Meanwhile, if one has an elderly parent who suffers from a memory lapse now and then, we, in society, accept such acts as typical. We say: Oh, you know Mom is getting a bit forgetful. We accept this because it is an easy way to excuse strange, different, or eccentric behavior in an older person. Even as younger persons, we'll often excuse our own forgetfulness and say: Oh, I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning so if Mom, at 95, can't, so be it. It's okay.
Well, actually it's not. It's not okay to have to spend thousands of dollars a month in care for such a person (and believe me to hire any type of care does cost that much), or if thousands aren't available then the need to move a parent into his/her child's home and be a burden to them that can be overwhelming is even more not okay, (I write this as I just finish reading an article in the newspaper about a daughter arrested for elder abuse for leaving her 85 year-old mother covered in her own feces and urine who died later for extended periods of time). Skilled nursing homes are not always okay, but sometimes are a necessity, and cross your fingers on finding a good one.
My experience was that Mother's affliction and my anguish in dealing with it created a platform for me to write about it by venting, which then enabled me to use those characteristics in my novel. Maybe that too is not okay. Mother was not the person who died at 96 from Alzheimer's robbing her of her memory, her speech, her life and leaving an empty shadow of a woman. She was a woman who adored her grandchildren, adored me, adored meeting me for coffee or tea and hanging on my every word and who never faltered in insisting that her advice on child rearing was better than mine. If she called my name it was in love and kindness not in anger. Alzheimer's destroyed that part of her and part of me is still destroyed by it. And that is just not okay.
About the Author:
Linda Rader Overman is a Professor of English at California State University, Northridge. Her work encompasses fiction, and nonfiction consisting of multifaceted elements including photographs, narrative portraits, images, texts, personal and social history, poetry, letters, and diaries. Her epistolary novel Letters Between Us is published by Plain View Press. To learn more about her, and to receive her newsletter, visit http://lindaraderoverman.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, writing tips, characters, plot, story development, publishing, novels, Alzheimers
Monday, October 20, 2008
Birth of a Civil War Era Novel
From Mark Grisham: I never was what you might call a model student in high school. My focus was not where it should have been, as is the case with most teenage boys. History was the only subject that came close to appealing to me. I have always had a passion for the Civil War especially. Not so much the politics or the causes, but the armies and soldiers that fought bravely for those four horrible years.
When I settled down, after thoroughly enjoying my college years, I began reading more and more about the war. Not just about the armies though, but about the civilians that endured the hardships back home coupled with the loss of so many loved ones. The horrors of a battle and its aftermath really hit home when I began to read the soldiers' diaries and letters sent back home to their families. I tried to imagine what it would be like to live in that era. To have to leave a wife and children alone on a farm, while I marched off, not sure if I would ever see them again.
I tried to understand why so many southern boys, most of whom never owned a slave, would fight to protect the institution of slavery. Were they brainwashed by unscrupulous southern politicians who convinced them that the Federal government wanted to free the slaves so they could live as equals with the white folks? Were they really so racist that they thought the black race to be inferior to them? It seems hard to comprehend that so many young men would leave everything they had and risk their lives to protect slavery. What was it then? What made these men give the ultimate sacrifice for the Confederacy?
Not being alive in that time frame makes this question difficult to answer. I can only speculate from what I have read. My opinion is that many of these young men were convinced that they were fighting in the second American Revolutionary War. To them, the Federal government in Washington had assumed the role that King George of England did in the first Revolutionary War. That they were defending their homeland from the dreaded Yankee invaders, who were coming to take over the southland. When Abraham Lincoln called for seventy five thousand volunteers to put down the rebellion, after Fort Sumter was bombed, this belief became more prevalent. Maybe that is where the answer lies.
Many believed that the Constitution was worded with the phrase "sovereign states" for a reason. That each state had its own legislative, judicial and executive branches as a way to govern themselves. Whatever their reason to fight was, they fought and died with the belief that they were protecting their families and possessions. The odd reality was, that even if they were fighting for "state's rights," they were fighting to preserve slavery. Many southerners will tell you that the war was fought over "state's rights," but these rights meant slavery would have continued if the south had won the war. Who knows how long it would have lasted? One would hope that the Confederacy would have eventually freed the slaves, but no one will ever know what would have happened. Just my opinion, that's all.
About the Author:
Mark Grisham, an aspiring author, and David Donaldson, CEO/President of Impact Missions, co-wrote Bedlam South. A portion of all book sales will be donated to Impact Missions, a faith-based ministry dedicated to providing care to abused children, hurting families and impoverished people. To learn more about the book and the charity, visit http://www.bedlamsouth.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishers, publishing, history, Civil War, slavery, historical fiction
When I settled down, after thoroughly enjoying my college years, I began reading more and more about the war. Not just about the armies though, but about the civilians that endured the hardships back home coupled with the loss of so many loved ones. The horrors of a battle and its aftermath really hit home when I began to read the soldiers' diaries and letters sent back home to their families. I tried to imagine what it would be like to live in that era. To have to leave a wife and children alone on a farm, while I marched off, not sure if I would ever see them again.
I tried to understand why so many southern boys, most of whom never owned a slave, would fight to protect the institution of slavery. Were they brainwashed by unscrupulous southern politicians who convinced them that the Federal government wanted to free the slaves so they could live as equals with the white folks? Were they really so racist that they thought the black race to be inferior to them? It seems hard to comprehend that so many young men would leave everything they had and risk their lives to protect slavery. What was it then? What made these men give the ultimate sacrifice for the Confederacy?
Not being alive in that time frame makes this question difficult to answer. I can only speculate from what I have read. My opinion is that many of these young men were convinced that they were fighting in the second American Revolutionary War. To them, the Federal government in Washington had assumed the role that King George of England did in the first Revolutionary War. That they were defending their homeland from the dreaded Yankee invaders, who were coming to take over the southland. When Abraham Lincoln called for seventy five thousand volunteers to put down the rebellion, after Fort Sumter was bombed, this belief became more prevalent. Maybe that is where the answer lies.
Many believed that the Constitution was worded with the phrase "sovereign states" for a reason. That each state had its own legislative, judicial and executive branches as a way to govern themselves. Whatever their reason to fight was, they fought and died with the belief that they were protecting their families and possessions. The odd reality was, that even if they were fighting for "state's rights," they were fighting to preserve slavery. Many southerners will tell you that the war was fought over "state's rights," but these rights meant slavery would have continued if the south had won the war. Who knows how long it would have lasted? One would hope that the Confederacy would have eventually freed the slaves, but no one will ever know what would have happened. Just my opinion, that's all.
About the Author:
Mark Grisham, an aspiring author, and David Donaldson, CEO/President of Impact Missions, co-wrote Bedlam South. A portion of all book sales will be donated to Impact Missions, a faith-based ministry dedicated to providing care to abused children, hurting families and impoverished people. To learn more about the book and the charity, visit http://www.bedlamsouth.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishers, publishing, history, Civil War, slavery, historical fiction
Getting Published
From Mark Grisham: The best advice I could ever give to anyone attempting to get a book published is to have faith in your abilities and never give up. I have yet to hear of an author who had an easy time getting published. (except for celebrities who do very little of their own writing) David and I were rejected by several publishers before we signed with Borders, and we almost gave up hope ourselves.
The process of hiring an agent and submitting manuscripts is a slow and painful procedure. Unfortunately, because of the sheer number of submissions made to publishers each year, some good books do fall through the cracks. Even my brother John, was rejected almost thirty times before he found a publisher for A Time To Kill, and things worked out pretty well for him.
If you are serious about being an author, you must continue forward no matter how difficult that may seem. You must also be able to handle criticism of your work. Another bit of advice I can share is to be patient when you are submitting queries to potential agents. I would guess that a lot of writers sign with the first agent that contacted them. Unfortunately, we did. This can be a mistake if you rush into it.
If it is at all possible, try to arrange to meet your agent and spend some time getting to know them, before you sign an agency agreement with them. There are many sources on the internet where you can look at an agents' track record to see how many books they have had published in the recent past and how well these books sold. Search the internet for other authors that your potential agent may have represented, and contact them if you so desire. The agent that you hire will determine in a large part, how successful of an author you will be. I cannot emphasize how important a decision this is. Once you do hire an agent, be patient, because the slow process of finding a publisher can be hard to deal with.
John once told me, "Leave your agent alone and keep writing." That was sage advice. It is very hard to do, but you must. The easiest way to handle your frustration with the slow process is to bury yourself into another book or project. Even after you sign with a publisher, you still need to be patient. Hopefully, your advance will make that easier to do.
Publishers do not get in a hurry though, and the average book takes around eighteen months to from the time you sign your contract with them until your book is published. That can seem like a very long time, so don't quit your day job. Just keep busy writing your next book and maybe by the time your first book is published, you will already be finished with your second book. If you are lucky, then maybe your dream of becoming a published author can come true. I know mine has.
About the Author:
Mark Grisham, an aspiring author, and David Donaldson, CEO/President of Impact Missions, co-wrote Bedlam South. A portion of all book sales will be donated to Impact Missions, a faith-based ministry dedicated to providing care to abused children, hurting families and impoverished people. To learn more about the book and the charity, visit http://www.bedlamsouth.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishers, publishing, history, Civil War, slavery, historical fiction
The process of hiring an agent and submitting manuscripts is a slow and painful procedure. Unfortunately, because of the sheer number of submissions made to publishers each year, some good books do fall through the cracks. Even my brother John, was rejected almost thirty times before he found a publisher for A Time To Kill, and things worked out pretty well for him.
If you are serious about being an author, you must continue forward no matter how difficult that may seem. You must also be able to handle criticism of your work. Another bit of advice I can share is to be patient when you are submitting queries to potential agents. I would guess that a lot of writers sign with the first agent that contacted them. Unfortunately, we did. This can be a mistake if you rush into it.
If it is at all possible, try to arrange to meet your agent and spend some time getting to know them, before you sign an agency agreement with them. There are many sources on the internet where you can look at an agents' track record to see how many books they have had published in the recent past and how well these books sold. Search the internet for other authors that your potential agent may have represented, and contact them if you so desire. The agent that you hire will determine in a large part, how successful of an author you will be. I cannot emphasize how important a decision this is. Once you do hire an agent, be patient, because the slow process of finding a publisher can be hard to deal with.
John once told me, "Leave your agent alone and keep writing." That was sage advice. It is very hard to do, but you must. The easiest way to handle your frustration with the slow process is to bury yourself into another book or project. Even after you sign with a publisher, you still need to be patient. Hopefully, your advance will make that easier to do.
Publishers do not get in a hurry though, and the average book takes around eighteen months to from the time you sign your contract with them until your book is published. That can seem like a very long time, so don't quit your day job. Just keep busy writing your next book and maybe by the time your first book is published, you will already be finished with your second book. If you are lucky, then maybe your dream of becoming a published author can come true. I know mine has.
About the Author:
Mark Grisham, an aspiring author, and David Donaldson, CEO/President of Impact Missions, co-wrote Bedlam South. A portion of all book sales will be donated to Impact Missions, a faith-based ministry dedicated to providing care to abused children, hurting families and impoverished people. To learn more about the book and the charity, visit http://www.bedlamsouth.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishers, publishing, history, Civil War, slavery, historical fiction
Never Underestimate the Power of Your Own Words
The comments I get when I tell friends, family, or even strangers that I have published Letters Between Us, my debut novel, usually skip and hop from "Whaddya mean . . . like a real book?" to "What's the title?"; from "That's great, and what's it about?" to "Hmm, I have always wanted to write a novel"; from "Oh really, that's nice, pass me the Perrier" to "I am writing one too."
Make no mistake, people are generally happy for me, and I truly appreciate it, but often the facial expressions I see staring at me are the same ones I used to give other published authors I would travel to a book store to hear read, or while attending a writing workshop they were teaching, and usually those looks encompassed staring at them like they were aliens, or super beings. I knew I was certainly not a member of either group. But I wanted to be. My favorite question was: How did you do it? And the response given would range from a vague description of some daily writing work ethic to the often repeated "by sweating blood onto the page." Afterwards, while I drove back home I'd think: Why can't I do that? I mean sweat blood on the page, come on, it can't be that hard. Right?!
The funny thing is that writer's block got me into writing. I had been a closet writer for years. I kept journals without telling anyone, except my husband. He'd typically say, "Oh, you're writing, that's nice," and change TV channels compulsively on the remote control while I lay next to him jotting down my life as it played itself out. But I never thought of myself as writing — as a writer. I was merely recording events as they occurred. Like a note taker, I filled journals with accounts of my life and that of my two children along with my husband. Others who played a role in my life were also included, family, friends, events, even strangers. This was not "writing" in the authorial sense, in the writerly sense. No. This was secretarial documentation. I thought.
When I tried to sit and write an actual short story, the words jammed up in my head refusing to come forth onto the page no matter how hard I summoned them. I blamed it on the fact that I didn't have a typewriter. When I got a typewriter, I blamed it on the fact that I didn't have a computer. Of course, with a computer, I told myself I would have more time for writing because I wouldn't have to spend all that extra time correcting typos and re-typing pages as I had on the typewriter.
Well, with the purchase of a computer the words were still in a holding pattern in my brain. I tried hanging around friends who were also aspiring writers. Most of them were attempting the romance genre. Something I knew nothing about and never read. I followed them to a writer's conference. The editors from the various publishing houses were half my age, better educated than I was and successful in this genre that I knew wasn't right for me. The more my friends wrote category romance, the more I journaled about how unhappy I was. Prose floated around in my head. These floating "gems" however never came down to earth and were not in the romance genre. Soon I stopped trailing about with these women, so devoted to their formula style of writing. I wanted to write mainstream. When they started getting published, I became depressed. My journal entries had rivers of pages of consonants and vowels but not cohesive stories. Every time I tried to transcribe these bits of sentences, or phrases the river ran even drier. So I just kept on with my journaling.
But the truth is — I was writing. I was writing my life as it occurred in its daily moments. And I was more than just recording the day's events; I was working them out in a way that did not always reflect the actual daily happenings of my life as lived. Something began to change the more I wrote on a regular basis. And I am not talking about sitting and writing uninterrupted for hours — that doesn't happen with two little kids in the house. I mean just sticking to this act for 15-20 minutes a day, every day. The words and rhythms took on a different life…I was in fact creating stories. The act of record keeping took on the life of another…and then a short story was born inspired by an event I had experienced, I had heard about, I had recalled from my childhood, or even read about. This was not intentional it just flowed from my pen.
And on a good day, I did not let my inner self critic prevent this fictive reality from taking over my words. Gail Godwin calls it "The Watcher at the Gate" and about her watcher she writes: "I first realized I was not the only writer who had a restraining critic who lived inside me and sapped the juice from green inspirations." And he is one who, Godwin claims, she allowed to "reject too soon and discriminate too severely." It is only when we refuse to listen to that watcher, he who must not be obeyed, who wishes to silence our creative inner voice that presses for life to be heard. I didn't and you shouldn't either.
About the Author:
Linda Rader Overman is a Professor of English at California State University, Northridge. Her work encompasses fiction, and nonfiction consisting of multifaceted elements including photographs, narrative portraits, images, texts, personal and social history, poetry, letters, and diaries. Her epistolary novel Letters Between Us is published by Plain View Press. To learn more about her, and to receive her newsletter, visit http://lindaraderoverman.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishing, writers, writing advice, fiction, nonfiction, agents
Make no mistake, people are generally happy for me, and I truly appreciate it, but often the facial expressions I see staring at me are the same ones I used to give other published authors I would travel to a book store to hear read, or while attending a writing workshop they were teaching, and usually those looks encompassed staring at them like they were aliens, or super beings. I knew I was certainly not a member of either group. But I wanted to be. My favorite question was: How did you do it? And the response given would range from a vague description of some daily writing work ethic to the often repeated "by sweating blood onto the page." Afterwards, while I drove back home I'd think: Why can't I do that? I mean sweat blood on the page, come on, it can't be that hard. Right?!
The funny thing is that writer's block got me into writing. I had been a closet writer for years. I kept journals without telling anyone, except my husband. He'd typically say, "Oh, you're writing, that's nice," and change TV channels compulsively on the remote control while I lay next to him jotting down my life as it played itself out. But I never thought of myself as writing — as a writer. I was merely recording events as they occurred. Like a note taker, I filled journals with accounts of my life and that of my two children along with my husband. Others who played a role in my life were also included, family, friends, events, even strangers. This was not "writing" in the authorial sense, in the writerly sense. No. This was secretarial documentation. I thought.
When I tried to sit and write an actual short story, the words jammed up in my head refusing to come forth onto the page no matter how hard I summoned them. I blamed it on the fact that I didn't have a typewriter. When I got a typewriter, I blamed it on the fact that I didn't have a computer. Of course, with a computer, I told myself I would have more time for writing because I wouldn't have to spend all that extra time correcting typos and re-typing pages as I had on the typewriter.
Well, with the purchase of a computer the words were still in a holding pattern in my brain. I tried hanging around friends who were also aspiring writers. Most of them were attempting the romance genre. Something I knew nothing about and never read. I followed them to a writer's conference. The editors from the various publishing houses were half my age, better educated than I was and successful in this genre that I knew wasn't right for me. The more my friends wrote category romance, the more I journaled about how unhappy I was. Prose floated around in my head. These floating "gems" however never came down to earth and were not in the romance genre. Soon I stopped trailing about with these women, so devoted to their formula style of writing. I wanted to write mainstream. When they started getting published, I became depressed. My journal entries had rivers of pages of consonants and vowels but not cohesive stories. Every time I tried to transcribe these bits of sentences, or phrases the river ran even drier. So I just kept on with my journaling.
But the truth is — I was writing. I was writing my life as it occurred in its daily moments. And I was more than just recording the day's events; I was working them out in a way that did not always reflect the actual daily happenings of my life as lived. Something began to change the more I wrote on a regular basis. And I am not talking about sitting and writing uninterrupted for hours — that doesn't happen with two little kids in the house. I mean just sticking to this act for 15-20 minutes a day, every day. The words and rhythms took on a different life…I was in fact creating stories. The act of record keeping took on the life of another…and then a short story was born inspired by an event I had experienced, I had heard about, I had recalled from my childhood, or even read about. This was not intentional it just flowed from my pen.
And on a good day, I did not let my inner self critic prevent this fictive reality from taking over my words. Gail Godwin calls it "The Watcher at the Gate" and about her watcher she writes: "I first realized I was not the only writer who had a restraining critic who lived inside me and sapped the juice from green inspirations." And he is one who, Godwin claims, she allowed to "reject too soon and discriminate too severely." It is only when we refuse to listen to that watcher, he who must not be obeyed, who wishes to silence our creative inner voice that presses for life to be heard. I didn't and you shouldn't either.
About the Author:
Linda Rader Overman is a Professor of English at California State University, Northridge. Her work encompasses fiction, and nonfiction consisting of multifaceted elements including photographs, narrative portraits, images, texts, personal and social history, poetry, letters, and diaries. Her epistolary novel Letters Between Us is published by Plain View Press. To learn more about her, and to receive her newsletter, visit http://lindaraderoverman.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishing, writers, writing advice, fiction, nonfiction, agents
The Disappearing Act of Writing a Letter
I take out a sheet of paper and smooth its curled edges with my hands as I lay it on my writing desk. The paper is not white, rather more of a beige or splash-of-cream color, really. It contains no lines, just the minimal echo of the tree it once was part of. I take a whiff and it smells of ink and pencil and the perfume I'd dripped on the desk a bit earlier. There are no spots on the page fortunately, yet the scent is of lemon and salt and the sea. My favorite fountain pen, an old Waterman, the color of malachite, given to me years earlier still feels able-bodied and ready in my hand. I think a moment and then put pen to paper.
Truth is the sheer act of writing a letter in just this way to a person, placing it in an envelope, licking a stamp to it and mailing it, sadly, appears to be a dying art. And partly why I chose to write Letters Between Us as an epistolary novel, to recapture that art, just a little.
Now we have email, blogs, Skype, Webcams, instant messaging, and texting — so much faster, quicker, and more efficient. There is something to be said, however, about the act of holding a pen in your hand and writing to friend or family member, even if only to share a brief hello, a thoughtful remembrance, a declaration of love, or something more. It is embedded with the careful process of cogitative thought, let alone leaves a palpable imprint of the writer's energy. One day it might even be a treasure to be discovered amongst the long forgotten possessions of another. In addition, writing a letter in such a way brings to light a voice distinctively different from other genres of writing. Imperfect, unedited it is a reflection of the times in the raw.
What would we have done without the letters exchanged between loved ones during war time: the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, for example? From such letters we have the voices of a private history from long dead family members and/or friends in their own hand-writing importing a tone that we may never have actually heard them speak during their life time.
This happened after my mother-in-law died. We found love letters written to her on V-Mail (or Victory mail, which was the microfilming of specially designed letter sheets. So as not to waste cargo ship space with large bulks of shipped mail overseas, microfilmed copies were sent instead and then enlarge" at an overseas destination before being delivered to military personnel). My husband's mother, Martha, was affectionately addressed as "Toni" by her husband away fighting in the Pacific theatre during World War II. No one in the family understood why Marvyn Overman called Martha Overman — Toni? But there it was in the salutation in a facsimile of a letter-sheet reproduced to about one-quarter the original size: Dear Toni, My beautiful Toni, Beloved Toni. Toni. Toni — she will always be Martha to me — was back home in Hollywood, California raising her toddler son: my husband.
This little bit of information called to mind a young couple, they were 25 at the time, deeply in love and suffering from separation. The loving voice of this couple is one I never heard either of them use in the decades that I spent in their presence. Basically, they communicated by fighting, yelling and forgiving and then doing it all over again. Family dinners at their home were usually: eat fast, hold our breaths, talk a little, and hope Marvyn and Martha didn't do their Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf routine on that particular night. Once they began, all we could do was wait for a break in the action, and cut and run. And yet, they once talked of love and nicknames no doubt written and whispered to one another in days gone by. To this day neither my husband, nor his two brothers know the origin of this pet name for their mother.
Being separated by war is nothing new to this generation of 18-34 year olds. Computers and their full complement of audio/video software enable close circuit communication over many miles and multiple time zones. Families separated by the current wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere can talk to and see each other as if they were sitting in the same room. These conversations over thousands of miles have meaning and impact, don't get me wrong. But as far as leaving a written record as the letter I am completing to my unborn great grandchild (who exists only in my imagination and that of her potential parents: my son or my daughter) I can't help but wonder if she or he will prefer to benefit more from this piece of myself on paper, which wears my perfume and is embossed with traces of my own hand writing — or from popping in a portable drive that shows me moving and talking. There's no perfume in that.
About the Author:
Linda Rader Overman is a Professor of English at California State University, Northridge. Her work encompasses fiction, and nonfiction consisting of multifaceted elements including photographs, narrative portraits, images, texts, personal and social history, poetry, letters, and diaries. Her epistolary novel Letters Between Us is published by Plain View Press. To learn more about her, and to receive her newsletter, visit http://lindaraderoverman.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishing, writers, writing advice, fiction, nonfiction, letter writing, WWII
Truth is the sheer act of writing a letter in just this way to a person, placing it in an envelope, licking a stamp to it and mailing it, sadly, appears to be a dying art. And partly why I chose to write Letters Between Us as an epistolary novel, to recapture that art, just a little.
Now we have email, blogs, Skype, Webcams, instant messaging, and texting — so much faster, quicker, and more efficient. There is something to be said, however, about the act of holding a pen in your hand and writing to friend or family member, even if only to share a brief hello, a thoughtful remembrance, a declaration of love, or something more. It is embedded with the careful process of cogitative thought, let alone leaves a palpable imprint of the writer's energy. One day it might even be a treasure to be discovered amongst the long forgotten possessions of another. In addition, writing a letter in such a way brings to light a voice distinctively different from other genres of writing. Imperfect, unedited it is a reflection of the times in the raw.
What would we have done without the letters exchanged between loved ones during war time: the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, for example? From such letters we have the voices of a private history from long dead family members and/or friends in their own hand-writing importing a tone that we may never have actually heard them speak during their life time.
This happened after my mother-in-law died. We found love letters written to her on V-Mail (or Victory mail, which was the microfilming of specially designed letter sheets. So as not to waste cargo ship space with large bulks of shipped mail overseas, microfilmed copies were sent instead and then enlarge" at an overseas destination before being delivered to military personnel). My husband's mother, Martha, was affectionately addressed as "Toni" by her husband away fighting in the Pacific theatre during World War II. No one in the family understood why Marvyn Overman called Martha Overman — Toni? But there it was in the salutation in a facsimile of a letter-sheet reproduced to about one-quarter the original size: Dear Toni, My beautiful Toni, Beloved Toni. Toni. Toni — she will always be Martha to me — was back home in Hollywood, California raising her toddler son: my husband.
This little bit of information called to mind a young couple, they were 25 at the time, deeply in love and suffering from separation. The loving voice of this couple is one I never heard either of them use in the decades that I spent in their presence. Basically, they communicated by fighting, yelling and forgiving and then doing it all over again. Family dinners at their home were usually: eat fast, hold our breaths, talk a little, and hope Marvyn and Martha didn't do their Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf routine on that particular night. Once they began, all we could do was wait for a break in the action, and cut and run. And yet, they once talked of love and nicknames no doubt written and whispered to one another in days gone by. To this day neither my husband, nor his two brothers know the origin of this pet name for their mother.
Being separated by war is nothing new to this generation of 18-34 year olds. Computers and their full complement of audio/video software enable close circuit communication over many miles and multiple time zones. Families separated by the current wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere can talk to and see each other as if they were sitting in the same room. These conversations over thousands of miles have meaning and impact, don't get me wrong. But as far as leaving a written record as the letter I am completing to my unborn great grandchild (who exists only in my imagination and that of her potential parents: my son or my daughter) I can't help but wonder if she or he will prefer to benefit more from this piece of myself on paper, which wears my perfume and is embossed with traces of my own hand writing — or from popping in a portable drive that shows me moving and talking. There's no perfume in that.
About the Author:
Linda Rader Overman is a Professor of English at California State University, Northridge. Her work encompasses fiction, and nonfiction consisting of multifaceted elements including photographs, narrative portraits, images, texts, personal and social history, poetry, letters, and diaries. Her epistolary novel Letters Between Us is published by Plain View Press. To learn more about her, and to receive her newsletter, visit http://lindaraderoverman.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishing, writers, writing advice, fiction, nonfiction, letter writing, WWII
Retirees and the \"Write\" Stuff
Although my comments in this article are primarily directed toward senior citizens sixty-five and above, they could also apply to virtually anyone over fifty-five who is retired or semi-retired and has a lot of extra time on their hands.
The music business began to dry up for me when I was in my mid-fifties and over ten years away from full retirement age. Fortunately, my business included a couple of music publishing companies from which I continue to earn a good living to this day without having to put in long hours.
Once it became abundantly clear that my music career was behind me, I was faced with a new challenge: what am I going to do with all this free time? Well, I considered starting another business and actually looked into a few possibilities…but nothing seemed to interest me. So, in my spare time (and believe me, there was plenty of it), I became a pretty doggone good gardener and eventually dubbed myself "Chauncey" (you know, like in the movie "Being There"). However, my yard isn't that big and gardening wasn't something I could do every day of the week.
Having been a recreational poker player for several year, I soon discovered online poker. If you've ever played online poker, you know how addictive it can be. I must point out, however, that I wasn't playing for real money. In no time at all, I racked up over 200K worthless credits. Even though I was having a moderate amount of fun, I was never tempted to plop down the entrance fee and play in the World Series of Poker, nor was I interested in going out on the Worldwide Poker Tour. What I realized was that I needed something more productive to do with my time.
And then last year, at the age of sixty, I discovered the joy of writing. It all started with an article I wrote and had published in the San Diego Union-Tribune. I then began writing my first novel, Pinch Hitter, which was just recently published. I'm now working on my second book, which I hope to publish in early 2009. Whether or not I'm any good at it is a matter of opinion. However, while maintaining the discipline of writing every day, I stay out of trouble and keep my mind sharp.
So, here's what I want to say to the retirees who are constantly looking for something to do: even if you're able to keep yourself fairly busy, why not at least consider sharing some of the knowledge you've accumulated throughout your lifetime with others? Whether it be of a personal or business nature or a combination of both, everybody's life experiences are unique. Perhaps you have an idea for a work of fiction or just want to publish a book that features your all-time favorite recipes. Or, maybe you would simply like to write your memoirs. Several years ago, my sister and I encouraged our mother to do just that. Her life was filled with many interesting experiences, and we begged her to write it from her perspective. What better way to preserve your life story for your children, grandchildren, and all future generations. Unfortunately, she never got around to it. And when she left us three years ago, she took with her all of those unique experiences.
While I can think of many legitimate reasons for retirees to write, I cannot think of any reasons NOT to write. And it doesn't necessarily have to involve money; in other words, don't worry about selling it. The process alone will give you great satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. Remember, like virtually everything else, the more you do it, the better you will become.
So, how does one get started, you ask. Well, if you don't already have one, I would recommend getting a computer and becoming familiar with a good word processing program. I use Word 07 and love its features. And then you need to do a ton of research on two things: writing in general and the subject on which you have chosen to write. Here's a good tip: the internet has all the resources you will ever need (just Google it, already). Of course, you'll also find some terrific books about writing in your local bookstore.
My older brother -- a retiree who was undoubtedly inspired by my book -- recently mentioned that he had a great idea for a novel. Being that he has a tendency to get bored easily, I encouraged him to at least start the process by putting his idea down on paper. He hasn't taken that first step yet, but I'll continue to encourage him as I do everyone with the time and the willingness to try their hand at writing.
About the Author:
Dean Whitney, a semi-retired music producer & publisher and avid baseball fan, recently self-published his debut novel, Pinch Hitter, through http://BookLocker.com. Dean also writes a baseball blog, which can be found at http://deansbaseballblog.mlblogs.com/. To learn more about Dean and his baseball novel, visit http://www.deanrwhitney.com/
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishing, retirees, writing tips, novels, writing advice
The music business began to dry up for me when I was in my mid-fifties and over ten years away from full retirement age. Fortunately, my business included a couple of music publishing companies from which I continue to earn a good living to this day without having to put in long hours.
Once it became abundantly clear that my music career was behind me, I was faced with a new challenge: what am I going to do with all this free time? Well, I considered starting another business and actually looked into a few possibilities…but nothing seemed to interest me. So, in my spare time (and believe me, there was plenty of it), I became a pretty doggone good gardener and eventually dubbed myself "Chauncey" (you know, like in the movie "Being There"). However, my yard isn't that big and gardening wasn't something I could do every day of the week.
Having been a recreational poker player for several year, I soon discovered online poker. If you've ever played online poker, you know how addictive it can be. I must point out, however, that I wasn't playing for real money. In no time at all, I racked up over 200K worthless credits. Even though I was having a moderate amount of fun, I was never tempted to plop down the entrance fee and play in the World Series of Poker, nor was I interested in going out on the Worldwide Poker Tour. What I realized was that I needed something more productive to do with my time.
And then last year, at the age of sixty, I discovered the joy of writing. It all started with an article I wrote and had published in the San Diego Union-Tribune. I then began writing my first novel, Pinch Hitter, which was just recently published. I'm now working on my second book, which I hope to publish in early 2009. Whether or not I'm any good at it is a matter of opinion. However, while maintaining the discipline of writing every day, I stay out of trouble and keep my mind sharp.
So, here's what I want to say to the retirees who are constantly looking for something to do: even if you're able to keep yourself fairly busy, why not at least consider sharing some of the knowledge you've accumulated throughout your lifetime with others? Whether it be of a personal or business nature or a combination of both, everybody's life experiences are unique. Perhaps you have an idea for a work of fiction or just want to publish a book that features your all-time favorite recipes. Or, maybe you would simply like to write your memoirs. Several years ago, my sister and I encouraged our mother to do just that. Her life was filled with many interesting experiences, and we begged her to write it from her perspective. What better way to preserve your life story for your children, grandchildren, and all future generations. Unfortunately, she never got around to it. And when she left us three years ago, she took with her all of those unique experiences.
While I can think of many legitimate reasons for retirees to write, I cannot think of any reasons NOT to write. And it doesn't necessarily have to involve money; in other words, don't worry about selling it. The process alone will give you great satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. Remember, like virtually everything else, the more you do it, the better you will become.
So, how does one get started, you ask. Well, if you don't already have one, I would recommend getting a computer and becoming familiar with a good word processing program. I use Word 07 and love its features. And then you need to do a ton of research on two things: writing in general and the subject on which you have chosen to write. Here's a good tip: the internet has all the resources you will ever need (just Google it, already). Of course, you'll also find some terrific books about writing in your local bookstore.
My older brother -- a retiree who was undoubtedly inspired by my book -- recently mentioned that he had a great idea for a novel. Being that he has a tendency to get bored easily, I encouraged him to at least start the process by putting his idea down on paper. He hasn't taken that first step yet, but I'll continue to encourage him as I do everyone with the time and the willingness to try their hand at writing.
About the Author:
Dean Whitney, a semi-retired music producer & publisher and avid baseball fan, recently self-published his debut novel, Pinch Hitter, through http://BookLocker.com. Dean also writes a baseball blog, which can be found at http://deansbaseballblog.mlblogs.com/. To learn more about Dean and his baseball novel, visit http://www.deanrwhitney.com/
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishing, retirees, writing tips, novels, writing advice
Saturday, October 18, 2008
How to Type Your Characters
Have you ever read a story with a good plot, but you went away feeling that something was incomplete? In all probability, the author failed to type his characters adequately and the result was a pack of shallow basket cases. This is probably the most common flaw in 90% of the stories that never make it to print.
You can type characters in a number of ways: by their education, their conversation, family background, associations with other people, by showing their passions, their needs, gifts, the plot of the story, by their conversation—or by giving them warts.
* Giving Your Character "Warts"
It has been said that every character 'should have a wart'. That means every character should bear something that is noteworthy in the reader's mind – something that will make them recognizable and memorable.
Let's say one of your characters has a crossed eye, one has a mole on her cheek, another has a scar, and another has a limp. These are "warts", i.e., noteworthy details that will help your audience separate the many characters in a long story. A wart may or may not contribute to character typing.
*Imagery in character typing
What would you think of a male character described as having manicured nails and spit-polished spectator shoes? Now compare that mental image to another man who is described as having halitosis and an unevenly buttoned shirt hanging on the outside. Do you see the difference between these two people in your mind? If you read those descriptions in a book, you would know that character # 1 was very likely a business man, very detailed, clean to a fault, probably very punctual, and quite responsible. Character # 2 would be altogether different. He would be a man who doesn't care about himself or anyone else. He may be a drinker, has no personal pride, and couldn't care less about what people think of him. But notice how little I said about them. This is character typing, also known as Show, Don't Tell, and Imagery.
If you say a man has a "toothless smile" you've said a mouthful. *smile* Insinuate things about people's teeth and jewelry to help typify the character. Think about a girl who wears no earrings- as compared to one who wears small earrings - or huge hoops. Can you see how this helps type a character in the reader's mind? You can do the same thing with dirty nails, acrylic nails done in French tips, or nails chewed to the nub. You can do it with bleached hair, mini-skirts, torn tennis shoes, a woman wearing a dress shirt with a tie, etc. All of these things paint a picture of your character for your reader.
* Using Dialog to Type Characters
How your character treats others and is treated by others will make indelible footprints in your reader's mind. Think how easily you can portray a sassy-mouthed teenager, a nagging wife, an unfaithful husband, a nasty store clerk, or the innocence of a child with sheer dialog. There is no trick to it. Get into your characters heads and say what a real character in his/her circumstances would say.
When you learn the skills of typecasting, your sales will sky rocket. See below for further information.
About the Author:
Click here to see the first fully mentored writing school on the Internet! Find more writing tips there. http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com If you would like a free writing analysis, write to Ms. Deb, CEO & Founder at deborahowen@cwinst.com to ask for details.
Keyword tags: writing,lessons,classes,courses,creative,study
You can type characters in a number of ways: by their education, their conversation, family background, associations with other people, by showing their passions, their needs, gifts, the plot of the story, by their conversation—or by giving them warts.
* Giving Your Character "Warts"
It has been said that every character 'should have a wart'. That means every character should bear something that is noteworthy in the reader's mind – something that will make them recognizable and memorable.
Let's say one of your characters has a crossed eye, one has a mole on her cheek, another has a scar, and another has a limp. These are "warts", i.e., noteworthy details that will help your audience separate the many characters in a long story. A wart may or may not contribute to character typing.
*Imagery in character typing
What would you think of a male character described as having manicured nails and spit-polished spectator shoes? Now compare that mental image to another man who is described as having halitosis and an unevenly buttoned shirt hanging on the outside. Do you see the difference between these two people in your mind? If you read those descriptions in a book, you would know that character # 1 was very likely a business man, very detailed, clean to a fault, probably very punctual, and quite responsible. Character # 2 would be altogether different. He would be a man who doesn't care about himself or anyone else. He may be a drinker, has no personal pride, and couldn't care less about what people think of him. But notice how little I said about them. This is character typing, also known as Show, Don't Tell, and Imagery.
If you say a man has a "toothless smile" you've said a mouthful. *smile* Insinuate things about people's teeth and jewelry to help typify the character. Think about a girl who wears no earrings- as compared to one who wears small earrings - or huge hoops. Can you see how this helps type a character in the reader's mind? You can do the same thing with dirty nails, acrylic nails done in French tips, or nails chewed to the nub. You can do it with bleached hair, mini-skirts, torn tennis shoes, a woman wearing a dress shirt with a tie, etc. All of these things paint a picture of your character for your reader.
* Using Dialog to Type Characters
How your character treats others and is treated by others will make indelible footprints in your reader's mind. Think how easily you can portray a sassy-mouthed teenager, a nagging wife, an unfaithful husband, a nasty store clerk, or the innocence of a child with sheer dialog. There is no trick to it. Get into your characters heads and say what a real character in his/her circumstances would say.
When you learn the skills of typecasting, your sales will sky rocket. See below for further information.
About the Author:
Click here to see the first fully mentored writing school on the Internet! Find more writing tips there. http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com If you would like a free writing analysis, write to Ms. Deb, CEO & Founder at deborahowen@cwinst.com to ask for details.
Keyword tags: writing,lessons,classes,courses,creative,study
Writing Tips - Why You Must Use Words On Your Website
If you watch your TV, read the daily newspapers, or even look in your favourite magazine, you will almost certainly find a story about the latest advancement in technology today. Most people will tell you that Technology Rules or that Image Sells. Now while these statements are true to a certain degree, there is something that you should never forget. Which is that nothing beats the power of words.
Just imagine for a moment that you have a offline business. It could be a Hair Saloon or a butchers shop. What is the first thing that you say to all customers who enter your shop? Saying hello would be a good idea to start with before moving on with a little small talk.
As a offline business owner you will quickly begin to realise that your success or failure is linked to the relationship that you have with all people who enter your shop. If you really do own an offline business, then all of what I have been saying thus far will seem obvious.
Relationship building is the only way to go in a offline business, but here's something that may suprise you. Relationship building is the only way to go in a online business. Please read this paragraph again slowly so that you can take in what I have just written because 90% of all online businesses do not get this. There are thousands if not millions of websites which are brilliant in design ,have great graphics logo's the whole nine yards, but there is one important thing missing WORDS
You must use words on your website because it builds trust and respect over time. Try to remember what most people are looking for when they access the internet, information. Your job is to provide it. Do this correctly and you will see a vast improvement in your online profit margins. Don't try to be to clever with the words that you use on your website because it will just confuse the person reading it. Mix up the length of each sentence and paragraphs in your ad -copy, and remember that you don't have to be an expert in your chosen subject matter, you just have to know more that the person you are writing for.
Use your words to give web surfers more than what they were expecting upon arriving at your website. Be personal in your writing individuality will set you apart from the rest of the herd on the internet. All of this may seem like hard work to you, and I'm not going to lie to you, because it is going to be hard work unless you find your inner passion. My passion is online marketing. Actually this is not entirely true my true passion is Affiliate Marketing. I enjoy writing about all things related to this subject, which makes all of the hard work seem a lot easier and far more enjoyable.
This is what you must strive for before even thinking about starting a online business, find a topic that really interests you do the proper research and then follow your dream.
About the Author:
Article by Paul Profitt- visit his website for a choice of over 11,000 digital products from the clickbank marketplace and learn how you can get started in Affiliate Marketing today. There is also a Free List Building eCourse availiable http://www.my-1st-promotion.com
Keyword tags: Ad Copy,Sales Page,Website Conversion,Copy Writing,affiliate marketing,online marketing,make money
Just imagine for a moment that you have a offline business. It could be a Hair Saloon or a butchers shop. What is the first thing that you say to all customers who enter your shop? Saying hello would be a good idea to start with before moving on with a little small talk.
As a offline business owner you will quickly begin to realise that your success or failure is linked to the relationship that you have with all people who enter your shop. If you really do own an offline business, then all of what I have been saying thus far will seem obvious.
Relationship building is the only way to go in a offline business, but here's something that may suprise you. Relationship building is the only way to go in a online business. Please read this paragraph again slowly so that you can take in what I have just written because 90% of all online businesses do not get this. There are thousands if not millions of websites which are brilliant in design ,have great graphics logo's the whole nine yards, but there is one important thing missing WORDS
You must use words on your website because it builds trust and respect over time. Try to remember what most people are looking for when they access the internet, information. Your job is to provide it. Do this correctly and you will see a vast improvement in your online profit margins. Don't try to be to clever with the words that you use on your website because it will just confuse the person reading it. Mix up the length of each sentence and paragraphs in your ad -copy, and remember that you don't have to be an expert in your chosen subject matter, you just have to know more that the person you are writing for.
Use your words to give web surfers more than what they were expecting upon arriving at your website. Be personal in your writing individuality will set you apart from the rest of the herd on the internet. All of this may seem like hard work to you, and I'm not going to lie to you, because it is going to be hard work unless you find your inner passion. My passion is online marketing. Actually this is not entirely true my true passion is Affiliate Marketing. I enjoy writing about all things related to this subject, which makes all of the hard work seem a lot easier and far more enjoyable.
This is what you must strive for before even thinking about starting a online business, find a topic that really interests you do the proper research and then follow your dream.
About the Author:
Article by Paul Profitt- visit his website for a choice of over 11,000 digital products from the clickbank marketplace and learn how you can get started in Affiliate Marketing today. There is also a Free List Building eCourse availiable http://www.my-1st-promotion.com
Keyword tags: Ad Copy,Sales Page,Website Conversion,Copy Writing,affiliate marketing,online marketing,make money
Book Review: Conspirator\s Odyssey - The Evolution of the Patron Saint by A. K. Kuykendall
I have to admit that while science fiction was a genre that I greatly enjoyed as a teenager, it is a genre that I read only on rare occasions these days. Conspiracy theories on the other hand is a world I can not resist. There is something hugely moreish about them, the wilder the better. I have no idea how many whacked out books on the JFK story I have read!
Author Kuykendall joins together Sci-Fi and New World Order ideas in Conspirator's Odyssey. From UFO's to Roswell and area 51, the Kennedy assassinations, Watergate, Ronald Reagan's slide into dementia, Vietnam, even the Bay of Pigs fiasco gets a mention in this novel. These seemingly unrelated events were all connected to one common theme, a shadow government, all along manipulating events to their own ends. This multi decade black government operation is known as the Aneman Project. Simply put, the quest is produce a super army, men, who through genetic manipulation are invincible. The key to this magic elixir comes from the use of alien DNA recovered from the Roswell UFO incident in 1947.
At under 230 pages this is a lot of ground to cover, and maybe too much ground to adequately flesh out the characters and the real plot. I think that had I read this book at the galley stage I would have suggested that the author narrow his scope and spend more time on the plot development.
Print On Demand is both a blessing and a curse in the publishing world. It was born out of frustration, authors were frustrated by uninterested agents and uninterested publishers. If you were not already a NYT bestselling author no one would even talk to you, never mind publish your book. POD fixed that, anyone can get a book published today, just submit your manuscript, whip out the VISA card and away you go. Unfortunately this has also created a pathway that while removes the road blocks, also removes many of the useful checks and balances. A good editor is worth their weight in gold. Editors do much more that check spelling and grammar, they look at the shape of the story and its flow.
Kuykendall has a great story line, and one that in my opinion is very workable. It does however need some tweaks, for example, for the first 40 pages or so, I had no clue what was going on, who the people were, or what their goal was. All became clear a little later, but for a book to be successful you have to have the reader hooked in the first 20 pages or they will move on to other, greener pastures..
Conspirator's Odyssey is a good first attempt, and I suspect that Kuykendall has probably found it to be a very worthwhile learning experience. I look forward to seeing what his next book is like.
You can pick up your own copy from Amazon.
About the Author:
Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. With the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot of books! He is also a contributing editor for http://www.bloggernews.net and maintains a personal blog at http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, book reviews, sci fi, conspiracy, JFK assassination, shadow government, publishing
Author Kuykendall joins together Sci-Fi and New World Order ideas in Conspirator's Odyssey. From UFO's to Roswell and area 51, the Kennedy assassinations, Watergate, Ronald Reagan's slide into dementia, Vietnam, even the Bay of Pigs fiasco gets a mention in this novel. These seemingly unrelated events were all connected to one common theme, a shadow government, all along manipulating events to their own ends. This multi decade black government operation is known as the Aneman Project. Simply put, the quest is produce a super army, men, who through genetic manipulation are invincible. The key to this magic elixir comes from the use of alien DNA recovered from the Roswell UFO incident in 1947.
At under 230 pages this is a lot of ground to cover, and maybe too much ground to adequately flesh out the characters and the real plot. I think that had I read this book at the galley stage I would have suggested that the author narrow his scope and spend more time on the plot development.
Print On Demand is both a blessing and a curse in the publishing world. It was born out of frustration, authors were frustrated by uninterested agents and uninterested publishers. If you were not already a NYT bestselling author no one would even talk to you, never mind publish your book. POD fixed that, anyone can get a book published today, just submit your manuscript, whip out the VISA card and away you go. Unfortunately this has also created a pathway that while removes the road blocks, also removes many of the useful checks and balances. A good editor is worth their weight in gold. Editors do much more that check spelling and grammar, they look at the shape of the story and its flow.
Kuykendall has a great story line, and one that in my opinion is very workable. It does however need some tweaks, for example, for the first 40 pages or so, I had no clue what was going on, who the people were, or what their goal was. All became clear a little later, but for a book to be successful you have to have the reader hooked in the first 20 pages or they will move on to other, greener pastures..
Conspirator's Odyssey is a good first attempt, and I suspect that Kuykendall has probably found it to be a very worthwhile learning experience. I look forward to seeing what his next book is like.
You can pick up your own copy from Amazon.
About the Author:
Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. With the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot of books! He is also a contributing editor for http://www.bloggernews.net and maintains a personal blog at http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, book reviews, sci fi, conspiracy, JFK assassination, shadow government, publishing
How to Get an Agent or Publisher For Your (Self-Published) Book
I get this question a lot: "Now that I've self-published I need to find an agent, how do I do that?" Well, it might seem to be a simple and easy transition. I mean you're already published so it shouldn't be that hard, right? Not so fast. There are a number of things you need to know before you run headlong into an effort to get a publishing contract.
First off, publishers like what other people like. Well, generally they do. If you're building success for your book, getting great reviews, building your audience and online presence this is a good thing and will often be viewed favorably by publishers. While there are agents and publishers that won't even consider a self-published book, there are a number of them who will. The key is to find those agents and publishers and get to know what they specialize in. Since there are a million articles and books on how to craft a query letter and submission packet I'll skip that. For the purposes of this article, though, we're going to focus on personal branding and industry positioning.
The first question authors will ask me is how do they know they're "ready" to submit? Ok, so you've got a dozen or so great reviews, you've been blogging regularly and you are a regular at author events. Sales, however, are still slumping. You've sold 1,000 copies at best and struggled to even make that meager number. Is that a bad thing? Not always, but it depends on how your book was published. If, let's say, your book was published through a print-on-demand company, a thousand copies is a fairly high number (the average print-on-demand book sells 75 copies).
Also print-on-demand is limited in its distribution, meaning that even if you've gotten great media interviews, reviews, and buzz for your book, the reason you're not selling a ton of copies is the broken distribution systems these books often wrestle with. Bookstores won't stock them because of the non-returnable factor. (Note to the savvy author, avoid, at all costs, the "returns program" POD publishers offer, bookstores don't care if you've paid to have your book returnable. Don't believe me? Sign up for it, pay your $500 and then do some calling around to find out).
Here's the deal: print-on-demand has for years been the red-headed stepchild of publishing. Are there good books published through POD publishers? You bet. But for most of these authors it's like pushing a boulder uphill. Now don't get me wrong, all of my first books were published via POD and still they've been successful despite the biases and all the other things New York publishing likes to heap on this form of publishing. But the point being: knowing your market and understanding how the market works will go a long way to giving you the insight you need to be successful. Distribution is not defined as a place on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, because anyone with an ISBN can get this type of placement.
Distribution is defined as a distribution company actively marketing your book to bookstores and other sales channels. This doesn't happen in POD and the New York publishers know this. So, if your book is still selling well despite these obstacles then you've got a winner on your hands, and it might be time to seek a bigger publisher for your work. On the flip side, if you have self-published and you do have a distributor in place, then consider trying to pitch your work after you've sold over 3,000 copies of your book. But there's a small catch: you don't want to sell out of your market. Generally speaking this won't happen, but in certain cases it could.
Let's consider, for example, that you wrote a regionally-focused book about the history of a town or state and you've focused all of your marketing efforts in that region. It's likely that if you've sold 5,000 copies a publisher or agent could view this as sold out of the majority of the market. You might counter that you could sell this in other markets but unless there's some tourism angle, it's not likely and even then, the appeal needs to be really strong. Most books based on towns or cities are sold in the city and generally not outside of that area unless they are big tourism draws, in which case the market becomes much more competitive. Also note that if you're thinking of trying to cheat the system you should know there's a little thing called Nielsen BookScan that logs all sales by book and author, so no fair counting your author purchases as sales - BookScan notes sales through commercial sales channels only (major market retailers and bookstores).
All right, so you're ready to pitch your book. You meet the sales criteria and you know you haven't sold out of your market. What's next? Next, ask yourself what your platform is. Platform is one of those words that agents and publishers love to toss out to unsuspecting authors. So what does platform mean? Well, it's a bit tricky because it varies depending on what you're writing. Platform isn't who you know but who knows you. It's your area of influence. For fiction writers it could be your e-mail list, the subscribers to your blog, conventions you speak at, conferences you attend (as a participant, not just an attendee). For non-fiction authors, defining your platform is a bit easier. Often non-fiction books are tied to speaking, coaching, or some other business model. These are all part of your platform.
When I sold Red Hot Internet Publicity to Sourcebooks, one of the first things I listed on my marketing/book outline was my platform: subscribers to the Book Marketing Expert Newsletter, business revenue, speaking events I am booked on, average client base - everything. All of this is your platform and all of it lends itself to having a built-in audience. This is what publishers look for. Regardless of how you publish you still have to market your own book, and publishers know it'll be easier to market a book that has a following than one that doesn't.
After you define your platform the next thing is to define your hook. Especially with self-published books, agents and publishers expect you to have a hook. Since the book is published, if you don't have a hook this is a tell-tale sign that you haven't been marketing this book correctly, if at all. (There are additional platform-building tips that appear later on in this issue).
How can you find the right agent or publisher for your book? The traditional ways certainly work: getting books and guides designed to give you agent and publisher contact info, but there might be a better way. Try going to some writers' conferences that allow you to schedule editor and agent appointments. This is a great way to get some immediate feedback on your book, pitch, and the possibility of selling your work. There are a number of conferences around the country, just be sure to look for ones that offer one-on-ones with publishing professionals.
And finally, it's sometimes tempting to switch genres to get published. But unless there's some compelling reason for you to genre-hop, like a changing focus in your business, I recommend sticking with what's been successful for you. Don't one day write on true crime and the next day start offering dieting advice unless that's where you want your ultimate focus to be. Also remember that if you've been writing true crime for years, and have built an audience and following, you've now lost that base by jumping ship.
The truth is that the odds aren't always in our favor. With eight hundred books published each day in the US the market is narrow, to say the least, but if you know your market, have a platform and are selling books, you're already 90% of the way there - the rest is just finding the right match for your book and maybe a little bit of literary luck.
About the Author:
Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a book marketing and media relations expert whose company has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. Visit http://www.amarketingexpert.com.
Keyword tags: self publishing, print on demand, books, authors, publishing, agents, publisher
First off, publishers like what other people like. Well, generally they do. If you're building success for your book, getting great reviews, building your audience and online presence this is a good thing and will often be viewed favorably by publishers. While there are agents and publishers that won't even consider a self-published book, there are a number of them who will. The key is to find those agents and publishers and get to know what they specialize in. Since there are a million articles and books on how to craft a query letter and submission packet I'll skip that. For the purposes of this article, though, we're going to focus on personal branding and industry positioning.
The first question authors will ask me is how do they know they're "ready" to submit? Ok, so you've got a dozen or so great reviews, you've been blogging regularly and you are a regular at author events. Sales, however, are still slumping. You've sold 1,000 copies at best and struggled to even make that meager number. Is that a bad thing? Not always, but it depends on how your book was published. If, let's say, your book was published through a print-on-demand company, a thousand copies is a fairly high number (the average print-on-demand book sells 75 copies).
Also print-on-demand is limited in its distribution, meaning that even if you've gotten great media interviews, reviews, and buzz for your book, the reason you're not selling a ton of copies is the broken distribution systems these books often wrestle with. Bookstores won't stock them because of the non-returnable factor. (Note to the savvy author, avoid, at all costs, the "returns program" POD publishers offer, bookstores don't care if you've paid to have your book returnable. Don't believe me? Sign up for it, pay your $500 and then do some calling around to find out).
Here's the deal: print-on-demand has for years been the red-headed stepchild of publishing. Are there good books published through POD publishers? You bet. But for most of these authors it's like pushing a boulder uphill. Now don't get me wrong, all of my first books were published via POD and still they've been successful despite the biases and all the other things New York publishing likes to heap on this form of publishing. But the point being: knowing your market and understanding how the market works will go a long way to giving you the insight you need to be successful. Distribution is not defined as a place on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, because anyone with an ISBN can get this type of placement.
Distribution is defined as a distribution company actively marketing your book to bookstores and other sales channels. This doesn't happen in POD and the New York publishers know this. So, if your book is still selling well despite these obstacles then you've got a winner on your hands, and it might be time to seek a bigger publisher for your work. On the flip side, if you have self-published and you do have a distributor in place, then consider trying to pitch your work after you've sold over 3,000 copies of your book. But there's a small catch: you don't want to sell out of your market. Generally speaking this won't happen, but in certain cases it could.
Let's consider, for example, that you wrote a regionally-focused book about the history of a town or state and you've focused all of your marketing efforts in that region. It's likely that if you've sold 5,000 copies a publisher or agent could view this as sold out of the majority of the market. You might counter that you could sell this in other markets but unless there's some tourism angle, it's not likely and even then, the appeal needs to be really strong. Most books based on towns or cities are sold in the city and generally not outside of that area unless they are big tourism draws, in which case the market becomes much more competitive. Also note that if you're thinking of trying to cheat the system you should know there's a little thing called Nielsen BookScan that logs all sales by book and author, so no fair counting your author purchases as sales - BookScan notes sales through commercial sales channels only (major market retailers and bookstores).
All right, so you're ready to pitch your book. You meet the sales criteria and you know you haven't sold out of your market. What's next? Next, ask yourself what your platform is. Platform is one of those words that agents and publishers love to toss out to unsuspecting authors. So what does platform mean? Well, it's a bit tricky because it varies depending on what you're writing. Platform isn't who you know but who knows you. It's your area of influence. For fiction writers it could be your e-mail list, the subscribers to your blog, conventions you speak at, conferences you attend (as a participant, not just an attendee). For non-fiction authors, defining your platform is a bit easier. Often non-fiction books are tied to speaking, coaching, or some other business model. These are all part of your platform.
When I sold Red Hot Internet Publicity to Sourcebooks, one of the first things I listed on my marketing/book outline was my platform: subscribers to the Book Marketing Expert Newsletter, business revenue, speaking events I am booked on, average client base - everything. All of this is your platform and all of it lends itself to having a built-in audience. This is what publishers look for. Regardless of how you publish you still have to market your own book, and publishers know it'll be easier to market a book that has a following than one that doesn't.
After you define your platform the next thing is to define your hook. Especially with self-published books, agents and publishers expect you to have a hook. Since the book is published, if you don't have a hook this is a tell-tale sign that you haven't been marketing this book correctly, if at all. (There are additional platform-building tips that appear later on in this issue).
How can you find the right agent or publisher for your book? The traditional ways certainly work: getting books and guides designed to give you agent and publisher contact info, but there might be a better way. Try going to some writers' conferences that allow you to schedule editor and agent appointments. This is a great way to get some immediate feedback on your book, pitch, and the possibility of selling your work. There are a number of conferences around the country, just be sure to look for ones that offer one-on-ones with publishing professionals.
And finally, it's sometimes tempting to switch genres to get published. But unless there's some compelling reason for you to genre-hop, like a changing focus in your business, I recommend sticking with what's been successful for you. Don't one day write on true crime and the next day start offering dieting advice unless that's where you want your ultimate focus to be. Also remember that if you've been writing true crime for years, and have built an audience and following, you've now lost that base by jumping ship.
The truth is that the odds aren't always in our favor. With eight hundred books published each day in the US the market is narrow, to say the least, but if you know your market, have a platform and are selling books, you're already 90% of the way there - the rest is just finding the right match for your book and maybe a little bit of literary luck.
About the Author:
Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a book marketing and media relations expert whose company has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. Visit http://www.amarketingexpert.com.
Keyword tags: self publishing, print on demand, books, authors, publishing, agents, publisher
The End of the Story
Fashion and changing perceptions over time, have influenced the endings of many a great story. From ancient time, the storyteller has always striven to enrapture, with tales of horror, intrigue, romance, and mystery.
Romantic novels – where boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back again, love blooms, and they live happily ever after – still have a large audience. Love and desire have always been at the heart of human reactions. These stories are of course variations of the theme. In Shakespeare, we see many a boy meeting a girl, who may or may not be disguised as another boy, and through much intrigue, parental disapproval, and devious friendships, we could see the girl at the end of the story appearing to die from an overdose, and the boy committing suicide, desperate and distraught. Shakespeare's brilliant story telling is often as relevant today as it was in the middle ages.
In Victorian melodramas, dark deeds, polite and formal relationships, the heavy influence of the Church, and sexually repressed characters, often led to misunderstandings and miscommunications. Novels of this era often ended with disappointments or at best enlightenment through a religious experience.
Detective novels and mysteries of the first half of the 20th Century had complicated plots, twists and turns, class war differences, and brilliant minds in an age of little technology. These stories often ended with a long, detailed explanation in the last chapter, revealing the guilty party and why everyone else was eliminated. All the pieces of the jigsaw fell into place. And, sometimes the "butler did it!" As the 20th Century progressed, we saw the hard hitting, hard drinking, and no nonsense detective stories with strong sexual overtones. The language was tough, smart and clipped. The "good guys" usually won out in the end.
As a novel evolves, the story, characters, beginning and ending can change many times. The author strives to keep the reader interested and uncertain of the outcome.
Today's novels could incorporate all or any of these past endings, but I believe the more modern approach has been to ask the audience to think. This means that many of today's plays, movies, and books do not have neat, tidy endings. To some audiences, this can be infuriating. However, others enjoy the experience of putting their own interpretation and ending to a story.
In my novel, "Bear Any Burden," I have gone for the more modern approach. While circulating my manuscript to many literary agents and receiving many rejections, I realized that some adjustments needed to be made. One particularly well-established New York literary agent called the ending of my manuscript "serendipitous." Only a literary agent would use such a delightful word, so I set about making some changes.
Accordingly, the end of my book now leaves many questions unanswered. Some say this should lead to a sequel. Maybe so. But the objective is to make the audience think about various possible outcomes for the characters, and not have a "cheesy" ending in which all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.
What do you think?
About the Author:
Ellis M. Goodman is a Chicago based businessman who came to the U.S. in 1982 from London England. He is the author of CORONA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA'S #1 IMPORTED BEER, and has recently completed his Cold War Espionage Thriller Novel – BEAR ANY BURDEN. To learn more about Ellis M. Goodman and BEAR ANY BURDEN, visit http://www.bearanyburden.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishing, story, storylines, timelines, writing tips, writing advice
Romantic novels – where boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back again, love blooms, and they live happily ever after – still have a large audience. Love and desire have always been at the heart of human reactions. These stories are of course variations of the theme. In Shakespeare, we see many a boy meeting a girl, who may or may not be disguised as another boy, and through much intrigue, parental disapproval, and devious friendships, we could see the girl at the end of the story appearing to die from an overdose, and the boy committing suicide, desperate and distraught. Shakespeare's brilliant story telling is often as relevant today as it was in the middle ages.
In Victorian melodramas, dark deeds, polite and formal relationships, the heavy influence of the Church, and sexually repressed characters, often led to misunderstandings and miscommunications. Novels of this era often ended with disappointments or at best enlightenment through a religious experience.
Detective novels and mysteries of the first half of the 20th Century had complicated plots, twists and turns, class war differences, and brilliant minds in an age of little technology. These stories often ended with a long, detailed explanation in the last chapter, revealing the guilty party and why everyone else was eliminated. All the pieces of the jigsaw fell into place. And, sometimes the "butler did it!" As the 20th Century progressed, we saw the hard hitting, hard drinking, and no nonsense detective stories with strong sexual overtones. The language was tough, smart and clipped. The "good guys" usually won out in the end.
As a novel evolves, the story, characters, beginning and ending can change many times. The author strives to keep the reader interested and uncertain of the outcome.
Today's novels could incorporate all or any of these past endings, but I believe the more modern approach has been to ask the audience to think. This means that many of today's plays, movies, and books do not have neat, tidy endings. To some audiences, this can be infuriating. However, others enjoy the experience of putting their own interpretation and ending to a story.
In my novel, "Bear Any Burden," I have gone for the more modern approach. While circulating my manuscript to many literary agents and receiving many rejections, I realized that some adjustments needed to be made. One particularly well-established New York literary agent called the ending of my manuscript "serendipitous." Only a literary agent would use such a delightful word, so I set about making some changes.
Accordingly, the end of my book now leaves many questions unanswered. Some say this should lead to a sequel. Maybe so. But the objective is to make the audience think about various possible outcomes for the characters, and not have a "cheesy" ending in which all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.
What do you think?
About the Author:
Ellis M. Goodman is a Chicago based businessman who came to the U.S. in 1982 from London England. He is the author of CORONA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA'S #1 IMPORTED BEER, and has recently completed his Cold War Espionage Thriller Novel – BEAR ANY BURDEN. To learn more about Ellis M. Goodman and BEAR ANY BURDEN, visit http://www.bearanyburden.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishing, story, storylines, timelines, writing tips, writing advice
Thursday, October 16, 2008
English Writing Software© - 3 Benefits You Can Use Now!
Until recently, the idea that computers could correct your grammar was not thinkable. Today, we have English writing software that does just that. Essay Punctuation & Grammar Software is designed to help correct common mistakes writers make when writing articles, term papers, books and other documents. This software is surprisingly intelligent and versatile. It contains a large database of correct English usage enabling it to compare what you have written with this information. It can then suggest alternatives to your usage.
For people who must write a great deal, whether for school or work, English writing software has the potential to be an invaluable tool. Writing skills, often not taught well in modern schools, are nonetheless essential in many areas of life. There are three main areas where this kind of software can help people.
1. In your everyday work environment you may have to frequently send out emails and write reports. Improving your writing can enhance your reputation and credibility with coworkers and managers.
2. If you are in any kind of technical field where you have to convey information to others in your field, or the public, you must communicate in written form. This material should be as clear and grammatical as possible.
3. If English is not your native language, but you are learning it, you would like to communicate as clearly as possible in English. For this, English writing software can provide a quick solution.
These are only a few of the situations where this innovative software can be useful. The point is, we live in a world of communication, and anything that improves your ability to do this will enhance your life.
If you...
* Speak English as a second language and want to impress everyone with perfect essays, emails or letters – every single time
* Need an easy way to generate rich and interesting content for your website - quickly and without any worry
* Want to take your writing to the next level – and even discover a few little-know tricks along the way
* Need to boost conversions on your website (or enrich your letters and reports) with mere minutes and a few clicks of the mouse
* Want to write fresh articles(and renew old articles) in record time
Just imagine being able to...
* Sit down at your computer and write without ever worrying about mistakes, boring text or duplicate content!
* Save time gain the respect hat you deserve. All you have to do is to hit the F2 button and know that everything you compose is perfect and compelling!
Use it for:
Business Writing, Letter Writing, Essay Writing, Article Writing, Creative Writing, Email, Instant Messaging, Social Media, Blogging, Legal writing, Medical writing and much, much more.
Instantly you will sound more professional and you will ensure that your message gets across the way you intend.
Simple spell check will never be able make you a better writer, and it will never help you master the English language – but with the right tool the possibilities are endless.
This software is so easy to use that all you need to do is press a button and let it do all of the work for you!
You will receive options to change the spelling, improve your sentence wording and replace boring words with exciting and enticing ones!
Just think of the respect that you will earn and the great first impressions that you will be able to make.
It's going to skyrocket your ability to write perfect English – and it's going to do it quickly and easily.
And what is all that worth to you? If you took writing courses you would be looking at hundreds if not thousands of dollars. And you would have to buy at least 3 other software programs to equal the power of it.
You can instantly download your package after purchase and begin to craft impressive and influential emails, letters, reports and proposals today
You will be amazed when you read your very own writing! You will have the confidence to tackle even the most difficult writing tasks!
About the Author:
Watch how advanced English writing software instantly puts your writing on an expert level and learn how innovative NLP writing technology can help you to write persuasive copy. Visit here: http://www.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: English Writing Software, writing software, english writing, english software, grammar software
For people who must write a great deal, whether for school or work, English writing software has the potential to be an invaluable tool. Writing skills, often not taught well in modern schools, are nonetheless essential in many areas of life. There are three main areas where this kind of software can help people.
1. In your everyday work environment you may have to frequently send out emails and write reports. Improving your writing can enhance your reputation and credibility with coworkers and managers.
2. If you are in any kind of technical field where you have to convey information to others in your field, or the public, you must communicate in written form. This material should be as clear and grammatical as possible.
3. If English is not your native language, but you are learning it, you would like to communicate as clearly as possible in English. For this, English writing software can provide a quick solution.
These are only a few of the situations where this innovative software can be useful. The point is, we live in a world of communication, and anything that improves your ability to do this will enhance your life.
If you...
* Speak English as a second language and want to impress everyone with perfect essays, emails or letters – every single time
* Need an easy way to generate rich and interesting content for your website - quickly and without any worry
* Want to take your writing to the next level – and even discover a few little-know tricks along the way
* Need to boost conversions on your website (or enrich your letters and reports) with mere minutes and a few clicks of the mouse
* Want to write fresh articles(and renew old articles) in record time
Just imagine being able to...
* Sit down at your computer and write without ever worrying about mistakes, boring text or duplicate content!
* Save time gain the respect hat you deserve. All you have to do is to hit the F2 button and know that everything you compose is perfect and compelling!
Use it for:
Business Writing, Letter Writing, Essay Writing, Article Writing, Creative Writing, Email, Instant Messaging, Social Media, Blogging, Legal writing, Medical writing and much, much more.
Instantly you will sound more professional and you will ensure that your message gets across the way you intend.
Simple spell check will never be able make you a better writer, and it will never help you master the English language – but with the right tool the possibilities are endless.
This software is so easy to use that all you need to do is press a button and let it do all of the work for you!
You will receive options to change the spelling, improve your sentence wording and replace boring words with exciting and enticing ones!
Just think of the respect that you will earn and the great first impressions that you will be able to make.
It's going to skyrocket your ability to write perfect English – and it's going to do it quickly and easily.
And what is all that worth to you? If you took writing courses you would be looking at hundreds if not thousands of dollars. And you would have to buy at least 3 other software programs to equal the power of it.
You can instantly download your package after purchase and begin to craft impressive and influential emails, letters, reports and proposals today
You will be amazed when you read your very own writing! You will have the confidence to tackle even the most difficult writing tasks!
About the Author:
Watch how advanced English writing software instantly puts your writing on an expert level and learn how innovative NLP writing technology can help you to write persuasive copy. Visit here: http://www.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: English Writing Software, writing software, english writing, english software, grammar software
3 Ways to Control Your Reader\s Mind
Writers have an awesome power over the reader. A skilled writer can create good or bad attitudes, love and hate, passion, fear, depression, regret, joy, sorrow, and the list goes on. If you read much, you have found this to be true. That is but one way the author controls the reader.
Another way he controls the reader is through the speed of reading. Have you noticed that you read faster in some places and slower in others? Have you noticed that one story makes you tired to read it, while another seems restful? That's because the writer is using clever wordsmithing.
In essence, the author has you in the palm of his hand. He wants you to read faster during action scenes to get you involved – to make you feel the presence of danger, fear or love. In other areas, the reading will slow down to allow your mind to rest and digest the action. As a reader, you become ensnared both emotionally and psychologically. If the action didn't slow down, it would wear you out.
Here are two sentences from two different scenes in my story, There's the Somebody I will Kill. The first sentence is fast, the second is slow. Analyze them and determine what speeds up one sentence and what slows down another – then read on.
"We bounced up the stairs two at a time, slipped into my bedroom unnoticed, and closed the door without making a sound."
"Katy wrinkled her nose."
The first sentence is fast because it has alliteration, and also because of the action "bounced up the stairs two at a time". Alliteration usually makes a sentence flow faster. (Alliteration is the succeeding sound of the same letter, or sounds that appear to be the same letter): Note the words "bounced", "stairs", "slipped", "unnoticed", "closed" and "sound". All have the S sound. Also notice the T alliteration in "stairs", "two", "at", "time", "into", and "unnoticed". (Note: The words "bounced" and "slipped" have a T sound in the -ed, but no T is there.) This is double alliteration, and it increases the speed even more.
The second sentence, "Katy wrinkled her nose," is slow because it is a non-action sentence and it has no alliteration, no assonance and no consonance. (Assonance and consonance is a separate study.) That short sentence does three things: it allows the reader's mind to rest, it expresses attitude, and it expresses imagery.
Another way to speed up a scene is with action verbs, such as: "The roller coaster zipped and whirled at lightening speed." A good way to slow sentences down is by combining the use of Ws and Ls. Example: (I'll capitalize the letters in the "slow" words.) "A Little Lady Watched from the croWd, and gLanced momentariLy at her Watch." Note the four Ls in that sentence and the three Ws. Note: Another interesting thing about that sentence is that it carries double alliteration, but notice that the Ws and Ls slow the Sentence.
A third way to slow the action of a scene is by your choice of words:
(1) Marilyn lingered at the well, slowly twisting the ring on her finger.
(2) The sun sank slowly beneath golden blankets of clouds.
Sentence one is a droopy sentence – very, very slow. Sentence two has alliteration in it, but the speed is overcome by the L sounds and the choice of words. Remember this: Even alliteration will not speed up slow words. Start analyzing sentences and note their structure and speed.
Remember the days of horror movies when your heart beat out of your chest? There's another instance where the writer controlled you, and he's still doing it. For instance, compare Little House on the Prairie to the Terminator. One program is soothing and warm. The other takes you into the realm of fantasy.
Whatever your pleasure is, you like it because the content stirs your inner soul. When you write your own blogs, articles or stories, this is the skill you must learn.
Part I of your assignment, should you choose to do it (for your own practice): Write a 500 word article or story and use what you have learned about speeding or slowing the reader. Part II of your assignment: let one person read it.
About the Author:
Click here to see the first fully mentored writing school on the Internet: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com. If you would like to receive The Writer's Choice newsletter, or a FREE analysis of your short story or article, write to deborahowen@cwinst.com for details.
Keyword tags: writing,course,class,study,school,online,fiction
Another way he controls the reader is through the speed of reading. Have you noticed that you read faster in some places and slower in others? Have you noticed that one story makes you tired to read it, while another seems restful? That's because the writer is using clever wordsmithing.
In essence, the author has you in the palm of his hand. He wants you to read faster during action scenes to get you involved – to make you feel the presence of danger, fear or love. In other areas, the reading will slow down to allow your mind to rest and digest the action. As a reader, you become ensnared both emotionally and psychologically. If the action didn't slow down, it would wear you out.
Here are two sentences from two different scenes in my story, There's the Somebody I will Kill. The first sentence is fast, the second is slow. Analyze them and determine what speeds up one sentence and what slows down another – then read on.
"We bounced up the stairs two at a time, slipped into my bedroom unnoticed, and closed the door without making a sound."
"Katy wrinkled her nose."
The first sentence is fast because it has alliteration, and also because of the action "bounced up the stairs two at a time". Alliteration usually makes a sentence flow faster. (Alliteration is the succeeding sound of the same letter, or sounds that appear to be the same letter): Note the words "bounced", "stairs", "slipped", "unnoticed", "closed" and "sound". All have the S sound. Also notice the T alliteration in "stairs", "two", "at", "time", "into", and "unnoticed". (Note: The words "bounced" and "slipped" have a T sound in the -ed, but no T is there.) This is double alliteration, and it increases the speed even more.
The second sentence, "Katy wrinkled her nose," is slow because it is a non-action sentence and it has no alliteration, no assonance and no consonance. (Assonance and consonance is a separate study.) That short sentence does three things: it allows the reader's mind to rest, it expresses attitude, and it expresses imagery.
Another way to speed up a scene is with action verbs, such as: "The roller coaster zipped and whirled at lightening speed." A good way to slow sentences down is by combining the use of Ws and Ls. Example: (I'll capitalize the letters in the "slow" words.) "A Little Lady Watched from the croWd, and gLanced momentariLy at her Watch." Note the four Ls in that sentence and the three Ws. Note: Another interesting thing about that sentence is that it carries double alliteration, but notice that the Ws and Ls slow the Sentence.
A third way to slow the action of a scene is by your choice of words:
(1) Marilyn lingered at the well, slowly twisting the ring on her finger.
(2) The sun sank slowly beneath golden blankets of clouds.
Sentence one is a droopy sentence – very, very slow. Sentence two has alliteration in it, but the speed is overcome by the L sounds and the choice of words. Remember this: Even alliteration will not speed up slow words. Start analyzing sentences and note their structure and speed.
Remember the days of horror movies when your heart beat out of your chest? There's another instance where the writer controlled you, and he's still doing it. For instance, compare Little House on the Prairie to the Terminator. One program is soothing and warm. The other takes you into the realm of fantasy.
Whatever your pleasure is, you like it because the content stirs your inner soul. When you write your own blogs, articles or stories, this is the skill you must learn.
Part I of your assignment, should you choose to do it (for your own practice): Write a 500 word article or story and use what you have learned about speeding or slowing the reader. Part II of your assignment: let one person read it.
About the Author:
Click here to see the first fully mentored writing school on the Internet: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com. If you would like to receive The Writer's Choice newsletter, or a FREE analysis of your short story or article, write to deborahowen@cwinst.com for details.
Keyword tags: writing,course,class,study,school,online,fiction
Pester Them to Death
Remember this phrase, "It's a win-win proposition." Editors love that term. It means it is a deal whereby both ends wind up happy. I remember the first time I used that term.
I had learned that the American Legion's upcoming 75th Anniversary Edition was in preparation, and their national office was only a few miles from me. However, when I went to apply for the job, the editor told me he had no positions available.
Somewhere on the path of life, I had heard not to take no for an answer, so I called him again the next day and again asked for a job. He said, "As I told you yesterday, I have no positions available. Thank you for calling." *dial tone*
I had no idea where to go from there. I laid in bed all night devising a plan whereby he would have to hire me. By morning, I was ready with my new approach. I called him yet a third time and said, "This is Deborah Owen again. I understand you don't have any openings available, but I have a win-win proposition that is sure to interest you." (He asked what my proposition was.) "It's too complex to talk about over the phone," I replied, "but I would be happy to take you out for lunch one day this week and we can discuss it then."
The man tried everything in his power to niggle my proposition out of me, but I knew if I told him on the phone, my boat would be sunk, so I repeatedly offered to buy his lunch. Finally, he gave in. We met on Friday and we walked two blocks to the restaurant. Even as we walked, he tried to get me to tell him my proposition. For once in my life, I knew when to be quiet, and I repeated that I would tell him when we were eating."
At lunch, he asked me about this great proposition again. I could tell he was intensely curious. I said, "It's a fantastic win-win deal for both of us. I know you said you don't have any openings, but your 75th edition is a huge undertaking and I'm sure you can use all the help you can get. I happen to live close by and I'm thirsty for knowledge. This is a great opportunity for both of us. I'm a hard working perfectionist with both writing and office experience. I will work for The American Legion free of charge if you will only give me the opportunity to learn. That's a win-win proposition."
About that time, he finished eating, and he said, "I'll see you Monday morning at 8 am, and, Mrs. Owen – never offer your services free of charge. It makes your employer think your services aren't worth much – and everyone is worth something. I'm going to mentor you myself – and – I will pay you a salary. Do you know why I came to meet you today, Deborah? Because of your persistence. That's a good quality."
I ended up ghost writing 37 articles for that landmark edition. Writers, when the doors don't open easily, sometimes you have to pry them open any way you can. Just know what you are going to say, practice saying it out loud (alone), and then go for it. What do you have to lose?
About the Author:
Click here to see the first fully mentored writing school on the net: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com. If you would like to receive The Writer's Choice newsletter, or a FREE analysis of your short story or article, write to deborahowen@cwinst.com.
Keyword tags: writing,school,class,course,online,fiction
I had learned that the American Legion's upcoming 75th Anniversary Edition was in preparation, and their national office was only a few miles from me. However, when I went to apply for the job, the editor told me he had no positions available.
Somewhere on the path of life, I had heard not to take no for an answer, so I called him again the next day and again asked for a job. He said, "As I told you yesterday, I have no positions available. Thank you for calling." *dial tone*
I had no idea where to go from there. I laid in bed all night devising a plan whereby he would have to hire me. By morning, I was ready with my new approach. I called him yet a third time and said, "This is Deborah Owen again. I understand you don't have any openings available, but I have a win-win proposition that is sure to interest you." (He asked what my proposition was.) "It's too complex to talk about over the phone," I replied, "but I would be happy to take you out for lunch one day this week and we can discuss it then."
The man tried everything in his power to niggle my proposition out of me, but I knew if I told him on the phone, my boat would be sunk, so I repeatedly offered to buy his lunch. Finally, he gave in. We met on Friday and we walked two blocks to the restaurant. Even as we walked, he tried to get me to tell him my proposition. For once in my life, I knew when to be quiet, and I repeated that I would tell him when we were eating."
At lunch, he asked me about this great proposition again. I could tell he was intensely curious. I said, "It's a fantastic win-win deal for both of us. I know you said you don't have any openings, but your 75th edition is a huge undertaking and I'm sure you can use all the help you can get. I happen to live close by and I'm thirsty for knowledge. This is a great opportunity for both of us. I'm a hard working perfectionist with both writing and office experience. I will work for The American Legion free of charge if you will only give me the opportunity to learn. That's a win-win proposition."
About that time, he finished eating, and he said, "I'll see you Monday morning at 8 am, and, Mrs. Owen – never offer your services free of charge. It makes your employer think your services aren't worth much – and everyone is worth something. I'm going to mentor you myself – and – I will pay you a salary. Do you know why I came to meet you today, Deborah? Because of your persistence. That's a good quality."
I ended up ghost writing 37 articles for that landmark edition. Writers, when the doors don't open easily, sometimes you have to pry them open any way you can. Just know what you are going to say, practice saying it out loud (alone), and then go for it. What do you have to lose?
About the Author:
Click here to see the first fully mentored writing school on the net: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com. If you would like to receive The Writer's Choice newsletter, or a FREE analysis of your short story or article, write to deborahowen@cwinst.com.
Keyword tags: writing,school,class,course,online,fiction
Becoming a Reporter is Easy
Writers seem to think that finding a job as a reporter is hard. Granted, it may be in some areas, but reporter jobs are more abundant than you may think. Maybe you're just setting your sights too high.
When some people hear the word "reporter", they picture someone trotting in and out of a major news conglomerate and spilling the beans on an adulterous President, unveiling "Watergate", or changing into Superman in a phone booth. Reporting is not a glorious job. In fact, it's hard work. A reporter is defined as "a person who investigates and reports or edits news stories." That title brings it down to the common person doing a mundane job – that will someday get them somewhere.
If you live in the city or suburbs, the chances are good that there is a reporter's job waiting on you less than 20 miles from your house.
Almost every local newspaper is hard up to find a sports reporter, and/or someone to cover PTA or political meetings, as they pertain to the local government. And if, by chance, there are no openings there, you can make your way into print by covering traffic accidents in the area and finding odd news.
For example, I once saw a man skiing. What made it a newsy article was that his skis had wheels on them, and he was skiing on dry pavement in the middle of town! On another occasion I saw road equipment sitting in front of someone's bedroom window, bulldozer tracks across the yard, and a broken fence where it had entered. That was a story! On a third occasion, I saw a sheriff's car flip upside down as it tried to round a corner too fast. All of these things were news items that no newspaper would turn down.
In addition, there is always a place for articles on unusual hobbies and crafts. For example, while on vacation in the Rocky Mountains, I saw awesome statues that were made out of iron and wood. It blew my mind to think of a genius who lived in the boonies and sold intricate merchandise to tourists in his spare time. What a story that would have made. (Hubby wouldn't wait on me and it was a long walk home.)
The main thing you need to know about being a reporter is that most reporting is time-sensitive. If you report on a car accident, or PTA meetings, you have to work the story up that night and have it at the news office in the morning. (And, btw, call the newspaper ahead of time and ask them how they want pictures submitted. Digital pictures taken on a 35 mm camera are usually acceptable. Always submit pictures. The newspaper will pay you at least $5 per picture, and more often than not, a picture will get your story on the front page.) No, you won't get rich selling to small town newspapers, but that's how most people break into print their first time.
When you write for a newspaper, always have a notepad, pen, camera, and tape recorder in the back seat. Finding a reporter's job isn't that hard, but living up to the expectations of a reporter is.
About the Author:
Click here to see the first fully mentored writing school on the Internet: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com. If you would like to receive The Writer's Choice newsletter, or a FREE analysis of your short story or article, write to deborahowen@cwinst.com for details.
Keyword tags:
When some people hear the word "reporter", they picture someone trotting in and out of a major news conglomerate and spilling the beans on an adulterous President, unveiling "Watergate", or changing into Superman in a phone booth. Reporting is not a glorious job. In fact, it's hard work. A reporter is defined as "a person who investigates and reports or edits news stories." That title brings it down to the common person doing a mundane job – that will someday get them somewhere.
If you live in the city or suburbs, the chances are good that there is a reporter's job waiting on you less than 20 miles from your house.
Almost every local newspaper is hard up to find a sports reporter, and/or someone to cover PTA or political meetings, as they pertain to the local government. And if, by chance, there are no openings there, you can make your way into print by covering traffic accidents in the area and finding odd news.
For example, I once saw a man skiing. What made it a newsy article was that his skis had wheels on them, and he was skiing on dry pavement in the middle of town! On another occasion I saw road equipment sitting in front of someone's bedroom window, bulldozer tracks across the yard, and a broken fence where it had entered. That was a story! On a third occasion, I saw a sheriff's car flip upside down as it tried to round a corner too fast. All of these things were news items that no newspaper would turn down.
In addition, there is always a place for articles on unusual hobbies and crafts. For example, while on vacation in the Rocky Mountains, I saw awesome statues that were made out of iron and wood. It blew my mind to think of a genius who lived in the boonies and sold intricate merchandise to tourists in his spare time. What a story that would have made. (Hubby wouldn't wait on me and it was a long walk home.)
The main thing you need to know about being a reporter is that most reporting is time-sensitive. If you report on a car accident, or PTA meetings, you have to work the story up that night and have it at the news office in the morning. (And, btw, call the newspaper ahead of time and ask them how they want pictures submitted. Digital pictures taken on a 35 mm camera are usually acceptable. Always submit pictures. The newspaper will pay you at least $5 per picture, and more often than not, a picture will get your story on the front page.) No, you won't get rich selling to small town newspapers, but that's how most people break into print their first time.
When you write for a newspaper, always have a notepad, pen, camera, and tape recorder in the back seat. Finding a reporter's job isn't that hard, but living up to the expectations of a reporter is.
About the Author:
Click here to see the first fully mentored writing school on the Internet: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com. If you would like to receive The Writer's Choice newsletter, or a FREE analysis of your short story or article, write to deborahowen@cwinst.com for details.
Keyword tags:
Web Writing Tips - A Writing Tip For Every Occasion
Every webmaster--even those who have been writing for the web for awhile--can benefit from a good writing tip. The following 10 tips are guaranteed to improve your copy and make writing for the web easier. Although most of the tips are geared toward the average webmaster, they can be implemented by anyone who is writing for the web.
Webmaster Writing Tip #1: Write What You Know
Although every webmaster has already heard this writing tip, it is worth mentioning. Writing what you know is always the best policy when writing for the web. There's a lot of bad info online already--no sense in adding more.
Webmaster Writing Tip #2: Research What You Write
Since writing what you know isn't always practical when you're writing for the web, you should at least research what you write. This will help you turn fuzzy knowledge into viable facts.
Webmaster Writing Tip #3: Use Correct Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation
Using correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation is really important when you're writing for the web. When in doubt, look it up.
Webmaster Writing Tip #4: Try to Answer Questions
Writing for the web is a lot like writing for a newspaper. You need to answer all of the essential questions that a user might have. Think who, what, when, where, and why.
Webmaster Writing Tip #5: Pick a Keyword
When you're writing for the web, you should pick at least one keyword or key phrase to stick with from the beginning of the article to the end. This tells search engines and human readers what your article is about.
Webmaster Writing Tip #6: Use Lots of White Space
Writing for the web is not like writing a book or a column. You should have lots of white space in between text. It makes your article appear cleaner and more appealing to readers who like to scan information.
Webmaster Writing Tip #7: Keep It Short
When it comes to writing for the web, shorter is better. Internet users have limited time and short attention spans--they don't want to sift through lengthy text. The ideal word count for a web article is between 250 and 500 words.
Webmaster Writing Tip #8: Choose a Good Title
A good title is important when you're writing for the web. Titles tell readers and search engines what articles are about. The best titles pique curiosity or give readers something they want.
Webmaster Writing Tip #9: Edit What You Write
It is easy to fall in love with what you have written, but you need to learn how to cut the fluff. This is especially true when you are writing for the web. As stated earlier, Internet users have limited time and short attention spans. In other words, they have no patience for a chatty webmaster.
Webmaster Writing Tip #10: Proofread What You Write
Writing for the web is no different than writing for any other media. You must proofread what you write. If you forget every writing tip you heard today, remember that one. It is probably the best writing tip you will ever get.
About the Author:
Cliff Posey, owner of CRP Marketing, owns and operates http://www.webbusinesstoolsonline.com Cliff has also operated several other successful web businesses including Love Song Cards and Radio Career Consultants. The content in this article was developed from his experience in these businesses and his continual research into further business improvements.
Keyword tags: writing tip, writing for the web, webmaster
Webmaster Writing Tip #1: Write What You Know
Although every webmaster has already heard this writing tip, it is worth mentioning. Writing what you know is always the best policy when writing for the web. There's a lot of bad info online already--no sense in adding more.
Webmaster Writing Tip #2: Research What You Write
Since writing what you know isn't always practical when you're writing for the web, you should at least research what you write. This will help you turn fuzzy knowledge into viable facts.
Webmaster Writing Tip #3: Use Correct Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation
Using correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation is really important when you're writing for the web. When in doubt, look it up.
Webmaster Writing Tip #4: Try to Answer Questions
Writing for the web is a lot like writing for a newspaper. You need to answer all of the essential questions that a user might have. Think who, what, when, where, and why.
Webmaster Writing Tip #5: Pick a Keyword
When you're writing for the web, you should pick at least one keyword or key phrase to stick with from the beginning of the article to the end. This tells search engines and human readers what your article is about.
Webmaster Writing Tip #6: Use Lots of White Space
Writing for the web is not like writing a book or a column. You should have lots of white space in between text. It makes your article appear cleaner and more appealing to readers who like to scan information.
Webmaster Writing Tip #7: Keep It Short
When it comes to writing for the web, shorter is better. Internet users have limited time and short attention spans--they don't want to sift through lengthy text. The ideal word count for a web article is between 250 and 500 words.
Webmaster Writing Tip #8: Choose a Good Title
A good title is important when you're writing for the web. Titles tell readers and search engines what articles are about. The best titles pique curiosity or give readers something they want.
Webmaster Writing Tip #9: Edit What You Write
It is easy to fall in love with what you have written, but you need to learn how to cut the fluff. This is especially true when you are writing for the web. As stated earlier, Internet users have limited time and short attention spans. In other words, they have no patience for a chatty webmaster.
Webmaster Writing Tip #10: Proofread What You Write
Writing for the web is no different than writing for any other media. You must proofread what you write. If you forget every writing tip you heard today, remember that one. It is probably the best writing tip you will ever get.
About the Author:
Cliff Posey, owner of CRP Marketing, owns and operates http://www.webbusinesstoolsonline.com Cliff has also operated several other successful web businesses including Love Song Cards and Radio Career Consultants. The content in this article was developed from his experience in these businesses and his continual research into further business improvements.
Keyword tags: writing tip, writing for the web, webmaster
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Memoir
I wanted to write my story. It was that simple. I felt driven by this desire for a very long time. It wasn't until I was twenty eight that I bought me a computer and a typing tutorial and began the task of putting my words to paper. (Journals don't count.)This turned out to be much more difficult than I realized when the notion of a book struck my mind. Aside from learning to type and taking a few online grammar courses I took up reading memoirs. I read waiting to be inspired; to read a book that was similar to the one I needed to tell, but I ended up disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I read some fantastic memoirs along the way, including Angela's Ashes, Blackbird and Finding Fish but I was left wanting. Ultimately it was another person's story and I was no closer to my own than before.
About this time someone recommended a book by Margaret Atwood titled A Handmaid's Tale. Before I finished this book, (a piece of compelling fiction by the way) I began writing my own book, the first sheepish attempt. It was fiction that freed me to write my story. Novels were so bold, taking risks and telling stories that demanded the reader to sit up straight and pay attention. While memoirs were bogged down with the passage of time, one event unfolding after another in linear fashion. I could almost hear the clock ticking in the background as I read to reach the finish line. The only exception was Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. He performed some magic that I could not discover by mere reading, therefore a magic I could not duplicate.
When writing my memoir I asked myself continuously, what is the truth? I don't believe I ever discovered that answer wholly but the book itself became the journey to uncover truth that was inside of me; truths that I had hidden from myself. The events in the book all indeed happened. I wouldn't fictionalize an event to portray a truth but the truth must be in the event. I needed a theme, something that would corral my memories and force them to be sorted and arranged.
Throughout my book the concept of running away presents itself in many forms most obviously in the preface and in the epilogue. Why do we run from pain? What are different ways in which people run away? Does running away ever produce the desired result? Sometimes we run toward something and other times we are running away from something. All these questions were asked and never answered, for who wants the answer when the question is enough?
I did not know in advance which stories would surface, I didn't know how I was going to end it or what climactic experience would emerge from the dusty pages of the past, I only knew that it would. I was surprised at every turn. I was delighted with the humor that arose out of the pain; humor that I didn't know was there until I began the excavation. I laughed spontaneously and cried unexpectedly at the smallest provocation. I hoped the reader would also be surprised and laugh or cry when it was least expected.
The book was written in the present tense. I wanted to convey a sense of immediacy and timelessness. The passage of time contained within the moment, so that the moments unfolded in the here and now. I hoped the reader would grow up right along with the little girl making their own unique discoveries along the way and the child separated from others by a pane of glass would finally know she was not alone.
When the book was completed it had been six long years. My story was written. Except it wasn't and never would be. Memories cannot truly be known, written or documented but only hinted at, viewed through the fuzzy lens of time. But I had told a story and I could continue telling stories tilled from the soil of my past and my experiences and all of them sprinkled with equal amounts of truth and fiction. And perhaps somehow someway my story is known through all the words that have been written and all the words that will be written.
Perhaps not.
About the Author:
Susanna Barlow is the 23rd child of 46 children, the quintessential middle child. Her fundamentalist religious upbringing shaped her life, her values, and her views on literally everything. Though no longer affiliated with polygamous groups on a religious level, she is surrounded by family & friends who practice polygamy. For more information, visit: http://www.susannabarlow.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishing, memoir, timelines, writing tips, writing advice, Handmaiden\\\'s Tale
About this time someone recommended a book by Margaret Atwood titled A Handmaid's Tale. Before I finished this book, (a piece of compelling fiction by the way) I began writing my own book, the first sheepish attempt. It was fiction that freed me to write my story. Novels were so bold, taking risks and telling stories that demanded the reader to sit up straight and pay attention. While memoirs were bogged down with the passage of time, one event unfolding after another in linear fashion. I could almost hear the clock ticking in the background as I read to reach the finish line. The only exception was Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. He performed some magic that I could not discover by mere reading, therefore a magic I could not duplicate.
When writing my memoir I asked myself continuously, what is the truth? I don't believe I ever discovered that answer wholly but the book itself became the journey to uncover truth that was inside of me; truths that I had hidden from myself. The events in the book all indeed happened. I wouldn't fictionalize an event to portray a truth but the truth must be in the event. I needed a theme, something that would corral my memories and force them to be sorted and arranged.
Throughout my book the concept of running away presents itself in many forms most obviously in the preface and in the epilogue. Why do we run from pain? What are different ways in which people run away? Does running away ever produce the desired result? Sometimes we run toward something and other times we are running away from something. All these questions were asked and never answered, for who wants the answer when the question is enough?
I did not know in advance which stories would surface, I didn't know how I was going to end it or what climactic experience would emerge from the dusty pages of the past, I only knew that it would. I was surprised at every turn. I was delighted with the humor that arose out of the pain; humor that I didn't know was there until I began the excavation. I laughed spontaneously and cried unexpectedly at the smallest provocation. I hoped the reader would also be surprised and laugh or cry when it was least expected.
The book was written in the present tense. I wanted to convey a sense of immediacy and timelessness. The passage of time contained within the moment, so that the moments unfolded in the here and now. I hoped the reader would grow up right along with the little girl making their own unique discoveries along the way and the child separated from others by a pane of glass would finally know she was not alone.
When the book was completed it had been six long years. My story was written. Except it wasn't and never would be. Memories cannot truly be known, written or documented but only hinted at, viewed through the fuzzy lens of time. But I had told a story and I could continue telling stories tilled from the soil of my past and my experiences and all of them sprinkled with equal amounts of truth and fiction. And perhaps somehow someway my story is known through all the words that have been written and all the words that will be written.
Perhaps not.
About the Author:
Susanna Barlow is the 23rd child of 46 children, the quintessential middle child. Her fundamentalist religious upbringing shaped her life, her values, and her views on literally everything. Though no longer affiliated with polygamous groups on a religious level, she is surrounded by family & friends who practice polygamy. For more information, visit: http://www.susannabarlow.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, publishing, memoir, timelines, writing tips, writing advice, Handmaiden\\\'s Tale
Bear Any Burden - Chapter 12 Excerpt
They entered a sparsely-furnished office with a window overlooking the border crossing plaza, two wooden benches along one wall, an iron heating stove in one corner and a Polish flag on a stand in the other corner. An official in a Border Security Officer's uniform was seated behind the desk at right angles to the window. A long bench seat faced the desk. He had their three passports open in front of them. The officer was a large man with crew-cut gray hair, piercing gray eyes and a seamed and rugged face. The collar of his uniform was undone and he peered at them through wire-rimmed glasses.
Hmm, he said to himself. Definitely "Fish," but are they "Little Fish" or "Big Fish?"
He looked at the passports again. Professor Gustav Bauer from Vienna. A dog-eared passport with lots of entries, including a stamp three days ago crossing this very border. He didn't remember seeing them, but maybe he was off duty at that time. Mrs. Vera Bauer. Hmm, she's a good-looking lady He admiringly looked at Anna's face and blue eyes peering out from under the scarf swathed around her head and over her shoulders. Doesn't look much like her passport photo, he said to himself. The woman in the photo looks older. Although I suppose it could be her at a pinch. Passport photos are renowned for not making people look their best. How about this one? Sir Alex Campbell – British. Came in through Warsaw International Airport two days ago.
Okay, let's see if they are "Big Fish" or "Little Fish." He looked up and said in German to no one in particular. "Well, what is your destination?" Anna couldn't speak German and was shocked that they were not being addressed in Polish. Keller was about to answer, but Alex jumped in first.
"We are going to Vienna," he said, his throat dry and stomach knotted. "We've just come from Krakow, the Polish Academy of Sciences Meeting," he went on quickly
"Really?" said the official. "I see. And why sir, are you going to Vienna?" he asked Alex politely.
"Professor Bauer has invited me to be his guest for a few days before I return to England."
"Ah," said the official. He looked at Bauer and his wife. They don't look Austrian. Their clothes aren't Austrian. Their manner is not Austrian. They're not confident like the Westerners always are. These two look like Poles through and through. Well if they're not Austrian but they're Polish, then why are they here?, he thought to himself. And why is this Britisher with them?
Viktor Taussig had seen many "Fish" pass through his hands over the past 30 years. He was nearing retirement – only 16 months to go now, and he had built up quite a nice nest egg of bribe money. He knew the cigarette smugglers who regularly passed his way. And for a couple of thousand Szlotys, they were allowed to take their Marlboros and their Camels with them. He also knew the smugglers of Levis, Scotch Whisky and Cognac, western books and magazines, and long-playing records. He'd taken bribes from all of them. They weren't doing any harm, and there was a ready market in Poland for all of those products. But he wouldn't take bribes from the drug smugglers, and whenever they were found, he always handed them over to the police. He also wouldn't deal with those pimps, who handled human traffic – those lowlifes who wanted to smuggle young Polish women across the border. He took great pleasure in arresting those flesh merchants.
But with these "Fish," the question was, were they important? He seemed to recognize Bauer's face from somewhere, but couldn't put a name to it. He was intrigued to know why the three of them were traveling together, and if "Bauer" and the woman were Polish.
Alex, Keller, and Anna were standing nervously in front of him. "Please sit down," he said in German. They sat down on the bench seat. He carefully looked through the three passports lying in front of him on the desk. He was deciding whether to take the matter further or not; after all the passports were in order. He had reason to doubt that these were not the people that they said they were. But who the hell cared!
At that moment, the telephone rang. He picked it up. "Taussig," he said over the phone.
"Ah Yes, Colonel," he said into the mouthpiece. That prick, Wojek, the Regional Commander of the Southern Border area, Taussig thought to himself. What the hell does he want? Even from where Alex was sitting, he could hear an excited, loud voice shouting through the phone. Taussig was listening intently. Wojek was in a panic and sounded like he was about to have his balls cut off, from above. Serves him right, thought Tassig.
"I see," said Taussig, looking intently at Keller, Anna, and Alex. "Yes, Colonel, I did. Yes," he continued. "Let me see." He took a moment and then looked at the passports again. "Gustav Bauer and Vera Bauer," he said into the phone. Another moment passed. "Vienna," he continued.
Alex's heart sank. My God they're on to us. How the hell did they do that so quickly?
"ORBIS" Taussig said. "No, Colonel." Another long silence and then, "Yes, Sir," Taussig continued. "A Zil Sedan, I think. About 30 minutes. O.K., Yes Sir," were the final words he said to his superior. He put the phone down, looked at the three of them, and then focused on Keller. With a slight knowing smile he said slowly in Polish, "So, you're Professor Keller."
About the Author:
Ellis M. Goodman is a Chicago based businessman who came to the U.S. in 1982 from London England. He is the author of CORONA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA'S #1 IMPORTED BEER, and has recently completed his Cold War Espionage Thriller Novel – BEAR ANY BURDEN. To learn more about Ellis M. Goodman and BEAR ANY BURDEN, visit http://www.bearanyburden.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, thriller, mystery, suspense, WWII, espionage, Cold War
Hmm, he said to himself. Definitely "Fish," but are they "Little Fish" or "Big Fish?"
He looked at the passports again. Professor Gustav Bauer from Vienna. A dog-eared passport with lots of entries, including a stamp three days ago crossing this very border. He didn't remember seeing them, but maybe he was off duty at that time. Mrs. Vera Bauer. Hmm, she's a good-looking lady He admiringly looked at Anna's face and blue eyes peering out from under the scarf swathed around her head and over her shoulders. Doesn't look much like her passport photo, he said to himself. The woman in the photo looks older. Although I suppose it could be her at a pinch. Passport photos are renowned for not making people look their best. How about this one? Sir Alex Campbell – British. Came in through Warsaw International Airport two days ago.
Okay, let's see if they are "Big Fish" or "Little Fish." He looked up and said in German to no one in particular. "Well, what is your destination?" Anna couldn't speak German and was shocked that they were not being addressed in Polish. Keller was about to answer, but Alex jumped in first.
"We are going to Vienna," he said, his throat dry and stomach knotted. "We've just come from Krakow, the Polish Academy of Sciences Meeting," he went on quickly
"Really?" said the official. "I see. And why sir, are you going to Vienna?" he asked Alex politely.
"Professor Bauer has invited me to be his guest for a few days before I return to England."
"Ah," said the official. He looked at Bauer and his wife. They don't look Austrian. Their clothes aren't Austrian. Their manner is not Austrian. They're not confident like the Westerners always are. These two look like Poles through and through. Well if they're not Austrian but they're Polish, then why are they here?, he thought to himself. And why is this Britisher with them?
Viktor Taussig had seen many "Fish" pass through his hands over the past 30 years. He was nearing retirement – only 16 months to go now, and he had built up quite a nice nest egg of bribe money. He knew the cigarette smugglers who regularly passed his way. And for a couple of thousand Szlotys, they were allowed to take their Marlboros and their Camels with them. He also knew the smugglers of Levis, Scotch Whisky and Cognac, western books and magazines, and long-playing records. He'd taken bribes from all of them. They weren't doing any harm, and there was a ready market in Poland for all of those products. But he wouldn't take bribes from the drug smugglers, and whenever they were found, he always handed them over to the police. He also wouldn't deal with those pimps, who handled human traffic – those lowlifes who wanted to smuggle young Polish women across the border. He took great pleasure in arresting those flesh merchants.
But with these "Fish," the question was, were they important? He seemed to recognize Bauer's face from somewhere, but couldn't put a name to it. He was intrigued to know why the three of them were traveling together, and if "Bauer" and the woman were Polish.
Alex, Keller, and Anna were standing nervously in front of him. "Please sit down," he said in German. They sat down on the bench seat. He carefully looked through the three passports lying in front of him on the desk. He was deciding whether to take the matter further or not; after all the passports were in order. He had reason to doubt that these were not the people that they said they were. But who the hell cared!
At that moment, the telephone rang. He picked it up. "Taussig," he said over the phone.
"Ah Yes, Colonel," he said into the mouthpiece. That prick, Wojek, the Regional Commander of the Southern Border area, Taussig thought to himself. What the hell does he want? Even from where Alex was sitting, he could hear an excited, loud voice shouting through the phone. Taussig was listening intently. Wojek was in a panic and sounded like he was about to have his balls cut off, from above. Serves him right, thought Tassig.
"I see," said Taussig, looking intently at Keller, Anna, and Alex. "Yes, Colonel, I did. Yes," he continued. "Let me see." He took a moment and then looked at the passports again. "Gustav Bauer and Vera Bauer," he said into the phone. Another moment passed. "Vienna," he continued.
Alex's heart sank. My God they're on to us. How the hell did they do that so quickly?
"ORBIS" Taussig said. "No, Colonel." Another long silence and then, "Yes, Sir," Taussig continued. "A Zil Sedan, I think. About 30 minutes. O.K., Yes Sir," were the final words he said to his superior. He put the phone down, looked at the three of them, and then focused on Keller. With a slight knowing smile he said slowly in Polish, "So, you're Professor Keller."
About the Author:
Ellis M. Goodman is a Chicago based businessman who came to the U.S. in 1982 from London England. He is the author of CORONA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA'S #1 IMPORTED BEER, and has recently completed his Cold War Espionage Thriller Novel – BEAR ANY BURDEN. To learn more about Ellis M. Goodman and BEAR ANY BURDEN, visit http://www.bearanyburden.com.
Keyword tags: books, authors, thriller, mystery, suspense, WWII, espionage, Cold War
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Big Winds Can Be Big Killers
A hurricane-driven storm surge can be as destructive and deadly as a major tsunami started by an undersea earthquake or exploding volcano. In fact, tropical cyclones -- called hurricanes in the Atlantic, typhoons in the eastern Pacific, and cyclones in Australia, Bangladesh, and India -- have done far more damage in the past 100 years than tsunamis. Over one million people have died in hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones since 1900. And the majority of hurricane deaths have been attributed to the storm surge component of the storm.
In doing research for my adventure novel TSUNAMI, I started out studying undersea earthquakes, volcanoes, and submarine landslides, the main initiators of tsunamis. In the process, I became interested in all natural disasters, including hurricanes, and did additional research in that wider area.
When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August, 2005, a storm surge up to 20-ft. and higher struck many coastal cities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and breached New Orleans's levees, flooding the city. Over 1000 people died, most from the flood. The same storm brought a 12-ft. surge to Mobile Bay and flooded downtown Mobile, Alabama.
Storm surge is created by the hurricane's high wind piling the ocean's surface higher than ordinary sea level. Low pressure at the center of the weather system has a secondary effect in the buildup of the sea and the energy of the surge. A category 4 hurricane tends to build an 18-ft. surge, but during Katrina, 20-to-25 ft. waves were reported along parts of the Gulf Coast.
Hurricanes and all tropical cyclones start as a cluster of thunderstorms moving over warm ocean water (80F and greater). Thunderstorms form in areas of wind convergence. Off the west coast of Africa, the northern and southern equatorial winds collide and force warm moist air to rise and condense and form storm cluster formations called tropical disturbances. As a tropical disturbance grows and organizes, more water vapor condenses in rising air, causing the surface air pressure to drop.
As more warm moist air rises and condenses, the storm system increases in size, the surface pressure drops further, and the storm becomes a tropical depression. The earth's rotation can impart a spin to the storm clouds at this point, causing even more warm moist air inside the spiral to rise and condense, enlarging the storm area, and increasing the storm's wind speed. Between 39 mph and 73 mph, the formation becomes a tropical storm. If wind strengthens to 74 mph to 95 mph, it is a category 1 hurricane. Here are the hurricane categories:
Category......Wind Speed Mph...........Storm Surge Ft.
1..................74 to 95..........................5
2..................96 to 110.........................8
3..................111 to 130.....................12
4..................131-155.........................18
5..................155+..............................18+
Unlike a tsunami initiated by a deep water earthquake, a storm surge has a comparatively short wavelength, and its destructive power is usually limited to the local storm area. Tsunamis with long wavelengths can travel thousands of miles across open ocean without significant loss of energy.
Even though Florida and the Gulf Coast have experienced many highly destructive hurricanes, tropical cyclones with even more devastating consequences have occurred in the Bay of Bengal, where much of Bangladesh and parts of India are low- lying wetlands and wide open to storm surge damage. The northern end of the bay is funnel shaped, and storm surges become tidal bores that sweep many miles inland. The Bhola cyclone in 1970 had sustained winds of 140 mph and a storm surge of 35 feet. 500,000 died. In April, 1991, a similar storm in the same area killed 150,000. The biggest storm surges recorded occurred in India in 1839 when a 40-ft. surge killed 300,000; and in Bathurst Bay in Queensland, Australia in 1899 when a 42-ft. surge killed 400. It was reported at the time that dolphins and fish were found atop cliffs surrounding Bathurst Bay.
One of the most notorious typhoons in American military history hit Okinawa in October, 1945, two months after the end of World War II. A large segment of the U.S. naval task force that had been assembled for the invasion of Japan was still anchored in Buckner Bay on the east coast of Okinawa. A typhoon that had developed south of Guam took a sudden unexpected turn and headed straight for Okinawa, giving the fleet no advance warning and no time to put to sea. The typhoon struck with sustained winds of 100 mph, gusting to 120 mph. Waves in the bay rose to 35 feet. The fleet task force was devastated. 12 ships were lost, over 200 went aground, and more than 30 were badly damaged. 83 sailors were dead or missing, and another 100 badly injured. It is a good thing the surrender had already been signed. The crippled task force would not have been able to carry out its mission had it been called upon to do so.
Typhoons changed the course of history in 13th century Asia. The Mongolian leader Kublai Khan ruled all of mainland Asia, including Mongolia, China, and what is now Korea. The only Asian nation he hadn't conquered was Japan. In 1274, Khan assembled a fleet of hundreds of ships and thousands of soldiers and set out to invade the Japanese islands. Off the coast of Japan a typhoon struck the invading force. Most of the wooden ships were demolished and the rest retreated to the mainland. The Japanese called the typhoon Kamikaze, or divine wind. In 1281, Kublai Khan tried again, this time with thousands of ships and a hundred thousand soldiers. Once again, a typhoon intervened, wrecking the invading fleet. Kublai Khan made no further attempt to conquer Japan. Twice, the Kamikaze divine wind had saved the Japanese empire. The Kamikaze pilots of World War II were named after the wind that saved Japan.
About the Author:
Gordon Gumpertz, author of TSUNAMI, is a working novelist who writes suspense-packed adventure novels featuring believable characters caught up in the dynamic forces of natural and man-made disasters. His books achieve a sense of immediacy and realism through extensive background research. For more, visit http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com.
Keyword tags: novels, authors, books, publishing, tsunami, weather, natural disasters, adventure, suspense
In doing research for my adventure novel TSUNAMI, I started out studying undersea earthquakes, volcanoes, and submarine landslides, the main initiators of tsunamis. In the process, I became interested in all natural disasters, including hurricanes, and did additional research in that wider area.
When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August, 2005, a storm surge up to 20-ft. and higher struck many coastal cities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and breached New Orleans's levees, flooding the city. Over 1000 people died, most from the flood. The same storm brought a 12-ft. surge to Mobile Bay and flooded downtown Mobile, Alabama.
Storm surge is created by the hurricane's high wind piling the ocean's surface higher than ordinary sea level. Low pressure at the center of the weather system has a secondary effect in the buildup of the sea and the energy of the surge. A category 4 hurricane tends to build an 18-ft. surge, but during Katrina, 20-to-25 ft. waves were reported along parts of the Gulf Coast.
Hurricanes and all tropical cyclones start as a cluster of thunderstorms moving over warm ocean water (80F and greater). Thunderstorms form in areas of wind convergence. Off the west coast of Africa, the northern and southern equatorial winds collide and force warm moist air to rise and condense and form storm cluster formations called tropical disturbances. As a tropical disturbance grows and organizes, more water vapor condenses in rising air, causing the surface air pressure to drop.
As more warm moist air rises and condenses, the storm system increases in size, the surface pressure drops further, and the storm becomes a tropical depression. The earth's rotation can impart a spin to the storm clouds at this point, causing even more warm moist air inside the spiral to rise and condense, enlarging the storm area, and increasing the storm's wind speed. Between 39 mph and 73 mph, the formation becomes a tropical storm. If wind strengthens to 74 mph to 95 mph, it is a category 1 hurricane. Here are the hurricane categories:
Category......Wind Speed Mph...........Storm Surge Ft.
1..................74 to 95..........................5
2..................96 to 110.........................8
3..................111 to 130.....................12
4..................131-155.........................18
5..................155+..............................18+
Unlike a tsunami initiated by a deep water earthquake, a storm surge has a comparatively short wavelength, and its destructive power is usually limited to the local storm area. Tsunamis with long wavelengths can travel thousands of miles across open ocean without significant loss of energy.
Even though Florida and the Gulf Coast have experienced many highly destructive hurricanes, tropical cyclones with even more devastating consequences have occurred in the Bay of Bengal, where much of Bangladesh and parts of India are low- lying wetlands and wide open to storm surge damage. The northern end of the bay is funnel shaped, and storm surges become tidal bores that sweep many miles inland. The Bhola cyclone in 1970 had sustained winds of 140 mph and a storm surge of 35 feet. 500,000 died. In April, 1991, a similar storm in the same area killed 150,000. The biggest storm surges recorded occurred in India in 1839 when a 40-ft. surge killed 300,000; and in Bathurst Bay in Queensland, Australia in 1899 when a 42-ft. surge killed 400. It was reported at the time that dolphins and fish were found atop cliffs surrounding Bathurst Bay.
One of the most notorious typhoons in American military history hit Okinawa in October, 1945, two months after the end of World War II. A large segment of the U.S. naval task force that had been assembled for the invasion of Japan was still anchored in Buckner Bay on the east coast of Okinawa. A typhoon that had developed south of Guam took a sudden unexpected turn and headed straight for Okinawa, giving the fleet no advance warning and no time to put to sea. The typhoon struck with sustained winds of 100 mph, gusting to 120 mph. Waves in the bay rose to 35 feet. The fleet task force was devastated. 12 ships were lost, over 200 went aground, and more than 30 were badly damaged. 83 sailors were dead or missing, and another 100 badly injured. It is a good thing the surrender had already been signed. The crippled task force would not have been able to carry out its mission had it been called upon to do so.
Typhoons changed the course of history in 13th century Asia. The Mongolian leader Kublai Khan ruled all of mainland Asia, including Mongolia, China, and what is now Korea. The only Asian nation he hadn't conquered was Japan. In 1274, Khan assembled a fleet of hundreds of ships and thousands of soldiers and set out to invade the Japanese islands. Off the coast of Japan a typhoon struck the invading force. Most of the wooden ships were demolished and the rest retreated to the mainland. The Japanese called the typhoon Kamikaze, or divine wind. In 1281, Kublai Khan tried again, this time with thousands of ships and a hundred thousand soldiers. Once again, a typhoon intervened, wrecking the invading fleet. Kublai Khan made no further attempt to conquer Japan. Twice, the Kamikaze divine wind had saved the Japanese empire. The Kamikaze pilots of World War II were named after the wind that saved Japan.
About the Author:
Gordon Gumpertz, author of TSUNAMI, is a working novelist who writes suspense-packed adventure novels featuring believable characters caught up in the dynamic forces of natural and man-made disasters. His books achieve a sense of immediacy and realism through extensive background research. For more, visit http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com.
Keyword tags: novels, authors, books, publishing, tsunami, weather, natural disasters, adventure, suspense
Book Review: Death in Small Doses by Bernard Steele
Books with terrorism as a plot line seem to be the favored genre of the 00's. Certainly much has been made by the press of the concept that terrorists could attempt to detonate a dirty bomb in some densely populated place like New York. The consequences of such an action would be unthinkable.
Bernard Steele's Jihadists in Death In Small Doses have radiation as their central weapon, but it is not for a bomb, their plot is much more insidious, to put it into a vapor and expose rush hour subway commuters. The effects would not start to be seen for days. The number of deaths might only be in the hundreds, but the destabilizing effect on the government would be incalculable.
Of course a major problem is how to smuggle radioactive material into the country? You can hardly stroll though customs with a tub of it in your carry on luggage. Who are the most effective smugglers? Well the drug trade clearly are the experts. While we watch CNN reporting about law enforcement intercepting a $10 million drug cache at the border, how many of those $10 million loads do make it to the market? The answer unfortunately is most of them.
Bernard Steele has created a very intricate plot in this book. He needed to create a segway whereby the authorities could discover the terrorists scheme, sure he could have had the NSA discovering some covert phone call, or email conversation, but this has been done to death in other novels. Instead he takes us into an interesting sub-plot, indeed it is drug smugglers that import the radioactive material, albeit probably unknowingly, and in the process they inadvertently contaminate a load of cocaine. When users and dealers start dieing the game is revealed.
One of the facets that I enjoyed was Steele's Jihadists, yes they were as dedicated as the animals that pulled off 911, but they were also long term US residents who have become an accepted and mostly respected part of the local community. These are no AK47 toting thugs, but well dressed and well educated business men. There is also an interesting twist at the end of the book that certainly leaves Bernard Steele the option to reuse some of his characters in a future work. If he does take that road I hope that in book two he fleshes out the characters a little. I liked what I saw and think that someone like 'Sammy the butcher' (as in meat!) could become a great focal point for a future story.
I enjoyed this book, it is fast paced and written from several viewpoints. The different viewpoint style though, is one that has to be managed carefully in order not to confuse the reader. There are two aspects in particular, length of time spent with a character, if you hop from character to character every couple of pages, the book becomes choppy. Conversely if you spend too much time with a single character the reader loses the thread of what is going on elsewhere.
The second issue is how and when you segway into the change.
I think Death In Small Doses could have withstood a slightly heavier handed editor to smooth out the ride for the reader. But please do not be put off by that comment, it is still a very fine book, and for a first time effort Bernard Steele deserves kudos.
There is a web site that has more information about the book and the author, you can also order it through Amazon.
About the Author:
Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. With the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot of books! He is also a contributing editor for http://www.bloggernews.net and maintains a personal blog at http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com.
Keyword tags: books, reviews, suspense, terrorism, Jihadists, book reviews, authors, publishing
Bernard Steele's Jihadists in Death In Small Doses have radiation as their central weapon, but it is not for a bomb, their plot is much more insidious, to put it into a vapor and expose rush hour subway commuters. The effects would not start to be seen for days. The number of deaths might only be in the hundreds, but the destabilizing effect on the government would be incalculable.
Of course a major problem is how to smuggle radioactive material into the country? You can hardly stroll though customs with a tub of it in your carry on luggage. Who are the most effective smugglers? Well the drug trade clearly are the experts. While we watch CNN reporting about law enforcement intercepting a $10 million drug cache at the border, how many of those $10 million loads do make it to the market? The answer unfortunately is most of them.
Bernard Steele has created a very intricate plot in this book. He needed to create a segway whereby the authorities could discover the terrorists scheme, sure he could have had the NSA discovering some covert phone call, or email conversation, but this has been done to death in other novels. Instead he takes us into an interesting sub-plot, indeed it is drug smugglers that import the radioactive material, albeit probably unknowingly, and in the process they inadvertently contaminate a load of cocaine. When users and dealers start dieing the game is revealed.
One of the facets that I enjoyed was Steele's Jihadists, yes they were as dedicated as the animals that pulled off 911, but they were also long term US residents who have become an accepted and mostly respected part of the local community. These are no AK47 toting thugs, but well dressed and well educated business men. There is also an interesting twist at the end of the book that certainly leaves Bernard Steele the option to reuse some of his characters in a future work. If he does take that road I hope that in book two he fleshes out the characters a little. I liked what I saw and think that someone like 'Sammy the butcher' (as in meat!) could become a great focal point for a future story.
I enjoyed this book, it is fast paced and written from several viewpoints. The different viewpoint style though, is one that has to be managed carefully in order not to confuse the reader. There are two aspects in particular, length of time spent with a character, if you hop from character to character every couple of pages, the book becomes choppy. Conversely if you spend too much time with a single character the reader loses the thread of what is going on elsewhere.
The second issue is how and when you segway into the change.
I think Death In Small Doses could have withstood a slightly heavier handed editor to smooth out the ride for the reader. But please do not be put off by that comment, it is still a very fine book, and for a first time effort Bernard Steele deserves kudos.
There is a web site that has more information about the book and the author, you can also order it through Amazon.
About the Author:
Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. With the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot of books! He is also a contributing editor for http://www.bloggernews.net and maintains a personal blog at http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com.
Keyword tags: books, reviews, suspense, terrorism, Jihadists, book reviews, authors, publishing
Looking Death in the Face
Have you every thought what your feelings would be if you found yourself in a life and death situation and saw somebody shot to death before your eyes?
Would you freeze and be transfixed to the spot? Would the whole scene flash before your eyes? Or would you see this horror as if in slow motion? What does it feel like to lift up a lifeless body? What does it feel like to see a human being's life ebbing away, with blood oozing from a wound?
In Bear Any Burden, I tried to imagine these feelings as these traumatic events unfolded.
___________________________________
The officer, clearly surprised that Keller had spoken in Polish, turned his gun towards him.
Alex, looked on in horror. His shoulder was throbbing. Was it the cold or just tension? He turned to Anna, thinking she would respond. But then, Anna pulled out her pistol with silencer attached, from inside her overcoat, and shot the officer in the chest. The shot made a "plop" noise. He crumpled into the snow and didn't move. Blood from the wound started to stain the snow. Alex was completely transfixed. Christ, he thought. What the hell's going on!
The Kellers had wide-eyed looks of terror on their faces. Suddenly Alex was aware that the other soldier was taking his Kalashnikov off his shoulder and pointing it in Anna's direction. As if in slow motion, he instinctively sprang forward, trying to grab the barrel of the rifle. At the same time, Keller lunged at the officer's back and had his arms around his neck. The weight of Keller's assault pushed the soldier towards the ground. A shot went off, and the bullet whizzed by Alex's shoulder as he fell in the snow, with the wind knocked out of him. He saw Keller had his left hand on the soldier's left side of his face, and his right arm round the front and back of his head. There was a muffled crack as Keller twisted the soldier's head forcefully, as he fell to the ground in a heap. But as they both started to pick themselves up, Alex saw a look of complete horror on Keller's face.
He looked to his right, to see Krystyna Keller lying face down, shot by the stray bullet, in her right temple. A small trickle of blood was oozing into the snow.
"Oh, my God, oh my God," said Keller, as he jumped to his feet. "Krysta! Krysta!" They all ran over to her, but Alex instantly recognized that she was dead. Keller dropped to his knees, by his wife. Anna was standing over her, with her pistol at her side. She looked at Alex, her eyes glazed and unseeing, as she started to shake from the shock of what she had done. Alex was just as traumatized, looking from Anna to Keller to the two dead soldiers in the snow, and for a moment or two, totally paralyzed. Keller started sobbing uncontrollably. Alex leaned down and gently said, "Come on Professor. There's nothing we can do."
Anna, still shaking, at last found her voice. "I'm so sorry… I had to shoot," she said, defensively, with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Keller wasn't listening. He was sobbing, and holding Krystyna's body to his. After a moment or two, Alex took Keller gently by the arm, helped him up and led him back to the car.
"No, no, no," said Keller. "No, I can't leave her.""
"I'm sorry, Professor," Alex responded, slowly recovering from the trauma. "But there's nothing to be done here. If we are to save our lives, we've got to get away immediately."
He left Keller sobbing in the car while he returned to Anna. Three bodies lay on the ground.
Alex looked around, his head starting to clear. "We need to get the bodies behind that structure, and cover them with snow," he said to Anna, who nodded. "C'mon, give me a hand," Alex continued. They picked up the officer first. They both staggered under the weight of the lifeless body. Alex noted that the officer's hands were still warm, and his dead eyes seemed to be staring right at him.
Fortunately, I've never had death stare me in the face, nor have I ever seen somebody shot and killed before my very eyes. It would be interesting to know how near to the truth is my description of these events.
About the Author:
Ellis M. Goodman is a Chicago based businessman who came to the U.S. in 1982 from London England. He is the author of CORONA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA'S #1 IMPORTED BEER, and has recently completed his Cold War Espionage Thriller Novel – BEAR ANY BURDEN. To learn more about Ellis M. Goodman and BEAR ANY BURDEN, visit http://www.bearanyburden.com.
Keyword tags: fiction, thriller, character development, writing tips, novels, authors, books
Would you freeze and be transfixed to the spot? Would the whole scene flash before your eyes? Or would you see this horror as if in slow motion? What does it feel like to lift up a lifeless body? What does it feel like to see a human being's life ebbing away, with blood oozing from a wound?
In Bear Any Burden, I tried to imagine these feelings as these traumatic events unfolded.
___________________________________
The officer, clearly surprised that Keller had spoken in Polish, turned his gun towards him.
Alex, looked on in horror. His shoulder was throbbing. Was it the cold or just tension? He turned to Anna, thinking she would respond. But then, Anna pulled out her pistol with silencer attached, from inside her overcoat, and shot the officer in the chest. The shot made a "plop" noise. He crumpled into the snow and didn't move. Blood from the wound started to stain the snow. Alex was completely transfixed. Christ, he thought. What the hell's going on!
The Kellers had wide-eyed looks of terror on their faces. Suddenly Alex was aware that the other soldier was taking his Kalashnikov off his shoulder and pointing it in Anna's direction. As if in slow motion, he instinctively sprang forward, trying to grab the barrel of the rifle. At the same time, Keller lunged at the officer's back and had his arms around his neck. The weight of Keller's assault pushed the soldier towards the ground. A shot went off, and the bullet whizzed by Alex's shoulder as he fell in the snow, with the wind knocked out of him. He saw Keller had his left hand on the soldier's left side of his face, and his right arm round the front and back of his head. There was a muffled crack as Keller twisted the soldier's head forcefully, as he fell to the ground in a heap. But as they both started to pick themselves up, Alex saw a look of complete horror on Keller's face.
He looked to his right, to see Krystyna Keller lying face down, shot by the stray bullet, in her right temple. A small trickle of blood was oozing into the snow.
"Oh, my God, oh my God," said Keller, as he jumped to his feet. "Krysta! Krysta!" They all ran over to her, but Alex instantly recognized that she was dead. Keller dropped to his knees, by his wife. Anna was standing over her, with her pistol at her side. She looked at Alex, her eyes glazed and unseeing, as she started to shake from the shock of what she had done. Alex was just as traumatized, looking from Anna to Keller to the two dead soldiers in the snow, and for a moment or two, totally paralyzed. Keller started sobbing uncontrollably. Alex leaned down and gently said, "Come on Professor. There's nothing we can do."
Anna, still shaking, at last found her voice. "I'm so sorry… I had to shoot," she said, defensively, with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Keller wasn't listening. He was sobbing, and holding Krystyna's body to his. After a moment or two, Alex took Keller gently by the arm, helped him up and led him back to the car.
"No, no, no," said Keller. "No, I can't leave her.""
"I'm sorry, Professor," Alex responded, slowly recovering from the trauma. "But there's nothing to be done here. If we are to save our lives, we've got to get away immediately."
He left Keller sobbing in the car while he returned to Anna. Three bodies lay on the ground.
Alex looked around, his head starting to clear. "We need to get the bodies behind that structure, and cover them with snow," he said to Anna, who nodded. "C'mon, give me a hand," Alex continued. They picked up the officer first. They both staggered under the weight of the lifeless body. Alex noted that the officer's hands were still warm, and his dead eyes seemed to be staring right at him.
Fortunately, I've never had death stare me in the face, nor have I ever seen somebody shot and killed before my very eyes. It would be interesting to know how near to the truth is my description of these events.
About the Author:
Ellis M. Goodman is a Chicago based businessman who came to the U.S. in 1982 from London England. He is the author of CORONA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA'S #1 IMPORTED BEER, and has recently completed his Cold War Espionage Thriller Novel – BEAR ANY BURDEN. To learn more about Ellis M. Goodman and BEAR ANY BURDEN, visit http://www.bearanyburden.com.
Keyword tags: fiction, thriller, character development, writing tips, novels, authors, books
Bear Any Burden - Chapter 13 Excerpt
A minute or two later, however, the traffic slowed to a crawl. "This is unusual," said Karol. "Maybe there's been an accident." Anna didn't respond. But her stomach was knotting up. She was certain she knew what was happening. A hundred meters further on, they came across a roadblock set up by an armored personnel carrier with police and armed soldiers directing traffic into a single file. A police officer with a mega horn was shouting, "Keep to the right, keep to the right," forcing all the vehicles into a single lane as they eased their way past the roadblock. There were cones in the middle of the road to ensure that they stayed in lane, and they crawled on towards the border. Within a couple of minutes, they were brought to a total stop by another armored personnel carrier with armed guards standing either side of the road, and police directing vehicles in batches of ten to pull over to the border plaza and park diagonally. Instructions were being shouted, "Pull over and park for inspection."
"Christ," Karol exclaimed. "What the hell's going on here! It's nothing to do with you lot, is it?" he looked at Anna quizzically.
"You just make sure you keep to your end of the bargain," Anna said coldly. Suddenly, Karol felt something pushing into the side of his jacket. He looked down at the pistol in Anna's hand.
"Holy shit, who are you?" he said, fearful and wide-eyed.
"Now, Karol," Anna said calmly, "There's nothing for you to worry about. Just follow the plan, and you won't get hurt, and you will be 80,000 Szlotys richer." Karol did not look nearly as confident as he'd been a few minutes earlier. When their turn came, they took up their position in a diagonal parking space. Karol lowered the window as a border guard came towards them.
"What the hell is going on, Hans?" he said, clearly familiar with the guard.
"Ah, there's a big flap on at the moment," Hans responded. "We're going to have to work double shift," he complained. "Nobody's been allowed to go. They're looking for a husband and wife traveling under Austrian passports," he continued. "I think they're Polish or Hungarian or something. Anyway, apparently, all the border crossings have been sealed, and every vehicle's got to be inspected." With that, Hans suddenly noticed Anna. "Hello, Karol," he said, clearly impressed with this beautiful woman. "Who do we have here?"
"This is my little Fraulein from Vienna," Karol responded, calmer now. "She's been with me the last few days in Katowice," he said. "I've been fixing her up with some work."
"Really?" replied Hans. "What does she do?" giving a toothy smile.
"Oh, she was a well known singer with a jazz band in Vienna, but she ran into some problems."
Anna was impressed. Karol was going along with the plan, and doing very well.
"Really?"
"Yeah, she snorted a little too much coke," replied Karol, "and got busted. Hasn't been able to find any work since, although she's clean right now. So she's been performing for me," he said lewdly. "Isn't that so, Vera?" he said, leaning in towards her and stroking her hair and face.
Anna smiled and blew Karol a little kiss.
"It's all right for some," said Hans, looking at this beautiful blonde's smiling face.
"Hey, Hans, I've got some good news for you," Karol said.
"What's that, then?"
"Vera's got a sister in Vienna, Claudia. She looks like Vera," he went on, "but even sexier."
"You're kidding," responded Hans.
"Nope, and she wants to come to Poland with me. So maybe I'll bring her back next time, Hans, and we can have a night out together again."
This wouldn't be the first time that Karol had arranged some young, fresh meat for the border guards to smooth the way for his smuggling.
"She's got tits like large ripe melons," Karol went on enthusiastically. "You'd love her."
"I love the taste of melon," responded Hans with a laugh. "When are you coming back?"
"Tuesday," replied Karol.
"What time?"
"About six. Is that any good for you?" Karol went on.
"Yeah, I get off at five on Tuesday. So I'll hang around, and we'll have a good time. We'll go into Znojmo."
"All right, that's a date," Karol said.
"Okay," Hans said, getting more serious. "Now, let's see your passports." Karol handed them over. He took two seconds to look at Karol's passport and then looked at the Austrian passport. "This is a bit of a mess," he said out loud.
"I know," responded Karol. "She dropped coffee on it." Hans leafed through the contents. "Wow, this girl's been around," he said.
"I told you, she's was a well-known singer."
"What was the name of the jazz band?" Hans asked suddenly.
Karol hesitated. "Um, Tremblekids, I think," he said.
"Oh," replied Hans disinterestedly. "She came into Czechoslovakia with you on Tuesday?" noting the border stamp in the passport.
"Yup," responded Karol. "That's right."
Hans then studied the photograph inside the passport. "This doesn't look much like her," he said aloud.
"I know," said Karol. "That's when she was strung out."
"Christ, that dope can certainly make you look old," responded Hans.
"Well, she looks good now that she's off it, doesn't she?" replied Karol.
Throughout this conversation, Anna sat and smiled, occasionally holding Karol by the arm and cuddling up to him a bit, not really understanding the conversation, which was in Czech. Both Alex and Keller could hear the exchange going on and knew that the truck was being delayed for some reason. Alex felt himself starting to get cold and clammy again as he thought they might be discovered.
"Okay," said Hans, handing back the passports. "I've got to check the back."
"Fine," said Karol, opening the door and jumping down from the cab. "Be my guest, but don't pee in the pots," he said with a laugh. He brought down the tailgate and ran up the shutter. He climbed into the rear interior of the truck and hauled Hans up behind him. Hans looked around and started to kick a few of the crates. "Sorry, Karol, I know it's a pisser, but I'm going to have to inspect."
"Not a problem," said Karol nonchalantly.
Alex could hear this and, even though he couldn't understand Czech, he just knew that the crates were going to have to be opened. "Open up this one," Hans said to Karol - kicking the one that Alex was in. He jumped with the thud of the boot hitting the crate not more than three inches from his face.
"Okay," said Karol, getting his hammer and chisel and starting to bang at the crate right next to Alex's ear. "This one's a real bastard," he said to Hans after a moment. "It's bunged real tight." How about that one?" He pointed to the crate lying next to Alex.
"Yeah, okay that'll do," replied Hans. Karol started pounding away at the crate, prying the top open for Hans to look inside. He moved a bit of the straw to look at the shell of the two baths sitting in the crate and then said, "Okay, Karol," who then battened down the crate again. Hans was satisfied. They climbed down from the truck. Karol pulled the shutter down and banged up the tailgate just as an officer came walking along. "Anything?" he queried Hans.
"No, Sir, not yet."
"Okay," said the officer walking onto the next van being inspected.
"Right," said Hans, handing over a white card to Karol with a figure 8 stenciled in black on it. "Put this in your windscreen. The border guard will wave you through, and hand it over to the Austrians down the road when you go through their immigration."
"Thanks," responded Karol.
With that, Karol got back into his cab, and Hans signaled for him to reverse back onto the plaza.
They gave each other a wave, and Hans shouted, "Looking forward to Tuesday," as the truck moved off towards the border crossing.
Anna put her gun back into her purse as they were waved through the border crossing and moved slowly towards the Austrian officials.
(Excerpt from the novel Bear Any Burden and reprinted with permission of the author, Ellis M. Goodman).
About the Author:
Ellis M. Goodman is a Chicago based businessman who came to the U.S. in 1982 from London England. He is the author of CORONA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA'S #1 IMPORTED BEER, and has recently completed his Cold War Espionage Thriller Novel – BEAR ANY BURDEN. To learn more about Ellis M. Goodman and BEAR ANY BURDEN, visit http://www.bearanyburden.com.
Keyword tags: fiction, thriller, character development, writing tips, novels, authors, book excerpts
"Christ," Karol exclaimed. "What the hell's going on here! It's nothing to do with you lot, is it?" he looked at Anna quizzically.
"You just make sure you keep to your end of the bargain," Anna said coldly. Suddenly, Karol felt something pushing into the side of his jacket. He looked down at the pistol in Anna's hand.
"Holy shit, who are you?" he said, fearful and wide-eyed.
"Now, Karol," Anna said calmly, "There's nothing for you to worry about. Just follow the plan, and you won't get hurt, and you will be 80,000 Szlotys richer." Karol did not look nearly as confident as he'd been a few minutes earlier. When their turn came, they took up their position in a diagonal parking space. Karol lowered the window as a border guard came towards them.
"What the hell is going on, Hans?" he said, clearly familiar with the guard.
"Ah, there's a big flap on at the moment," Hans responded. "We're going to have to work double shift," he complained. "Nobody's been allowed to go. They're looking for a husband and wife traveling under Austrian passports," he continued. "I think they're Polish or Hungarian or something. Anyway, apparently, all the border crossings have been sealed, and every vehicle's got to be inspected." With that, Hans suddenly noticed Anna. "Hello, Karol," he said, clearly impressed with this beautiful woman. "Who do we have here?"
"This is my little Fraulein from Vienna," Karol responded, calmer now. "She's been with me the last few days in Katowice," he said. "I've been fixing her up with some work."
"Really?" replied Hans. "What does she do?" giving a toothy smile.
"Oh, she was a well known singer with a jazz band in Vienna, but she ran into some problems."
Anna was impressed. Karol was going along with the plan, and doing very well.
"Really?"
"Yeah, she snorted a little too much coke," replied Karol, "and got busted. Hasn't been able to find any work since, although she's clean right now. So she's been performing for me," he said lewdly. "Isn't that so, Vera?" he said, leaning in towards her and stroking her hair and face.
Anna smiled and blew Karol a little kiss.
"It's all right for some," said Hans, looking at this beautiful blonde's smiling face.
"Hey, Hans, I've got some good news for you," Karol said.
"What's that, then?"
"Vera's got a sister in Vienna, Claudia. She looks like Vera," he went on, "but even sexier."
"You're kidding," responded Hans.
"Nope, and she wants to come to Poland with me. So maybe I'll bring her back next time, Hans, and we can have a night out together again."
This wouldn't be the first time that Karol had arranged some young, fresh meat for the border guards to smooth the way for his smuggling.
"She's got tits like large ripe melons," Karol went on enthusiastically. "You'd love her."
"I love the taste of melon," responded Hans with a laugh. "When are you coming back?"
"Tuesday," replied Karol.
"What time?"
"About six. Is that any good for you?" Karol went on.
"Yeah, I get off at five on Tuesday. So I'll hang around, and we'll have a good time. We'll go into Znojmo."
"All right, that's a date," Karol said.
"Okay," Hans said, getting more serious. "Now, let's see your passports." Karol handed them over. He took two seconds to look at Karol's passport and then looked at the Austrian passport. "This is a bit of a mess," he said out loud.
"I know," responded Karol. "She dropped coffee on it." Hans leafed through the contents. "Wow, this girl's been around," he said.
"I told you, she's was a well-known singer."
"What was the name of the jazz band?" Hans asked suddenly.
Karol hesitated. "Um, Tremblekids, I think," he said.
"Oh," replied Hans disinterestedly. "She came into Czechoslovakia with you on Tuesday?" noting the border stamp in the passport.
"Yup," responded Karol. "That's right."
Hans then studied the photograph inside the passport. "This doesn't look much like her," he said aloud.
"I know," said Karol. "That's when she was strung out."
"Christ, that dope can certainly make you look old," responded Hans.
"Well, she looks good now that she's off it, doesn't she?" replied Karol.
Throughout this conversation, Anna sat and smiled, occasionally holding Karol by the arm and cuddling up to him a bit, not really understanding the conversation, which was in Czech. Both Alex and Keller could hear the exchange going on and knew that the truck was being delayed for some reason. Alex felt himself starting to get cold and clammy again as he thought they might be discovered.
"Okay," said Hans, handing back the passports. "I've got to check the back."
"Fine," said Karol, opening the door and jumping down from the cab. "Be my guest, but don't pee in the pots," he said with a laugh. He brought down the tailgate and ran up the shutter. He climbed into the rear interior of the truck and hauled Hans up behind him. Hans looked around and started to kick a few of the crates. "Sorry, Karol, I know it's a pisser, but I'm going to have to inspect."
"Not a problem," said Karol nonchalantly.
Alex could hear this and, even though he couldn't understand Czech, he just knew that the crates were going to have to be opened. "Open up this one," Hans said to Karol - kicking the one that Alex was in. He jumped with the thud of the boot hitting the crate not more than three inches from his face.
"Okay," said Karol, getting his hammer and chisel and starting to bang at the crate right next to Alex's ear. "This one's a real bastard," he said to Hans after a moment. "It's bunged real tight." How about that one?" He pointed to the crate lying next to Alex.
"Yeah, okay that'll do," replied Hans. Karol started pounding away at the crate, prying the top open for Hans to look inside. He moved a bit of the straw to look at the shell of the two baths sitting in the crate and then said, "Okay, Karol," who then battened down the crate again. Hans was satisfied. They climbed down from the truck. Karol pulled the shutter down and banged up the tailgate just as an officer came walking along. "Anything?" he queried Hans.
"No, Sir, not yet."
"Okay," said the officer walking onto the next van being inspected.
"Right," said Hans, handing over a white card to Karol with a figure 8 stenciled in black on it. "Put this in your windscreen. The border guard will wave you through, and hand it over to the Austrians down the road when you go through their immigration."
"Thanks," responded Karol.
With that, Karol got back into his cab, and Hans signaled for him to reverse back onto the plaza.
They gave each other a wave, and Hans shouted, "Looking forward to Tuesday," as the truck moved off towards the border crossing.
Anna put her gun back into her purse as they were waved through the border crossing and moved slowly towards the Austrian officials.
(Excerpt from the novel Bear Any Burden and reprinted with permission of the author, Ellis M. Goodman).
About the Author:
Ellis M. Goodman is a Chicago based businessman who came to the U.S. in 1982 from London England. He is the author of CORONA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA'S #1 IMPORTED BEER, and has recently completed his Cold War Espionage Thriller Novel – BEAR ANY BURDEN. To learn more about Ellis M. Goodman and BEAR ANY BURDEN, visit http://www.bearanyburden.com.
Keyword tags: fiction, thriller, character development, writing tips, novels, authors, book excerpts
Can a Tsunami Strike the Atlantic Coast?
Can a tsunami strike the coast of New Jersey, North Carolina, or Florida? The question crossed my mind as I was doing research for my action/adventure novel TSUNAMI, even though the book is set in the Pacific.
The answer is yes, a tsunami hitting the Atlantic Coast is possible, but much less likely than one striking Alaska, Hawaii, or the Pacific Northwest. When it comes to the kinds of natural events that start tsunamis -- undersea earthquakes, submarine landslides, and volcano eruptions -- the Atlantic is a much tamer ocean than the Pacific. The Pacific basin is encircled by the notorious Ring of Fire with its hundreds of active volcanoes and dozens of dangerous, earthquake-prone subduction zones. The Atlantic has far fewer geological areas capable of posing a genuine tsunami threat. But there are some, and they should be taken seriously.
The one most talked about is the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands, 3000 miles from Boston and 3700 miles from Miami. In 1949, a flank of the volcano split off, creating a 3-ft. rift, the flank sliding down 3 feet toward the ocean before it stabilized. Earthquakes and a buildup of pressure inside the volcano were associated with the event. The concern is that another earthquake or eruption could dislodge the entire flank and send as much as 300 cubic miles of debris plunging into the ocean. One school of thought suggests that such a monster landslide would start a tsunami capable of reaching the eastern seaboard of the United States 5 or 6 hours later.
Even if such an event were to happen, many geologists dispute the notion that it would send a killer tsunami smashing into the East Coast of the U.S. The height of the initial wave would be enormous, but the length between waves would be relatively short, meaning its ability to maintain its energy while travelling long distances would be minimized. Undersea earthquake-generated tsunamis typically have long wavelengths, or distance between waves in the train, and can travel long distances without significant loss of energy. In contrast, landslide-initiated tsunamis tend to have short wavelengths and are usually confined to local areas where they can be highly destructive. In 1883, the Krakatau eruption dumped millions of tons of debris into the ocean and started a 135-ft. tsunami that did incredible damage to Sumatra and neighboring islands but did not affect other areas.
To sum it up, there are two points of view. One maintains the collapse of a chunk of Cumbre Vieja into the ocean could endanger the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. with a major tsunami, while the other view holds that the dynamics of wave formation make such a result unlikely.
The only true subduction zone close to the East Coast is the Puerto Rico Trench, which runs for 1000 miles from Puerto Rico eastward past the Lesser Antilles and out into the Atlantic Ocean. The deepest point in the Atlantic at 28,200 feet lies in The Puerto Rico Trench. Along this trench, the Caribbean tectonic plate is subducting, or sliding under, the North American Plate. This is not as large or active a subduction zone as most of those in the Pacific, but undersea earthquakes have occurred there, resulting in tsunamis that affected the islands in the Caribbean. The last tsunami in the area happened in 1918 when 32 people died in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Mt. Pelee on Martinique is one of several active volcanoes in the Lesser Antilles arc. The 1902 eruption of Mt. Pelee is one of the largest on record. It is possible that volcanic debris from future eruptions could crash into the ocean and start a localized tsunami.
Submarine landslides at the edge of the continental shelf along the Atlantic Seaboard might also start tsunamis that could impact coastal cities. In 1929, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake off Newfoundland started an undersea landslide down the continental shelf. The resulting tsunami swept ashore and killed 8 people.
The Atlantic Tsunami Warning System was installed in 2006, comprising five Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (acronym DART) buoy stations. Single stations are located off Charleston, Miami, and New Orleans. Two are positioned off Puerto Rico near the Puerto Rico Trench. All provide real time detection of undersea disturbances capable of starting tsunamis that could impact the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf Coasts. Plans call for the addition of at least two more DART stations.
If you live in a low-lying area on the Atlantic Coast, be aware that a tsunami is always a possibility, and be prepared to evacuate on a moment's notice as directed by local authorities.
About the Author:
Gordon Gumpertz, author of TSUNAMI, is a working novelist who writes suspense-packed adventure novels featuring believable characters caught up in the dynamic forces of natural and man-made disasters. His books achieve a sense of immediacy and realism through extensive background research. For more, visit http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com.
Keyword tags: novels, authors, books, publishing, tsunami, weather, natural disasters, adventure, suspense
The answer is yes, a tsunami hitting the Atlantic Coast is possible, but much less likely than one striking Alaska, Hawaii, or the Pacific Northwest. When it comes to the kinds of natural events that start tsunamis -- undersea earthquakes, submarine landslides, and volcano eruptions -- the Atlantic is a much tamer ocean than the Pacific. The Pacific basin is encircled by the notorious Ring of Fire with its hundreds of active volcanoes and dozens of dangerous, earthquake-prone subduction zones. The Atlantic has far fewer geological areas capable of posing a genuine tsunami threat. But there are some, and they should be taken seriously.
The one most talked about is the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands, 3000 miles from Boston and 3700 miles from Miami. In 1949, a flank of the volcano split off, creating a 3-ft. rift, the flank sliding down 3 feet toward the ocean before it stabilized. Earthquakes and a buildup of pressure inside the volcano were associated with the event. The concern is that another earthquake or eruption could dislodge the entire flank and send as much as 300 cubic miles of debris plunging into the ocean. One school of thought suggests that such a monster landslide would start a tsunami capable of reaching the eastern seaboard of the United States 5 or 6 hours later.
Even if such an event were to happen, many geologists dispute the notion that it would send a killer tsunami smashing into the East Coast of the U.S. The height of the initial wave would be enormous, but the length between waves would be relatively short, meaning its ability to maintain its energy while travelling long distances would be minimized. Undersea earthquake-generated tsunamis typically have long wavelengths, or distance between waves in the train, and can travel long distances without significant loss of energy. In contrast, landslide-initiated tsunamis tend to have short wavelengths and are usually confined to local areas where they can be highly destructive. In 1883, the Krakatau eruption dumped millions of tons of debris into the ocean and started a 135-ft. tsunami that did incredible damage to Sumatra and neighboring islands but did not affect other areas.
To sum it up, there are two points of view. One maintains the collapse of a chunk of Cumbre Vieja into the ocean could endanger the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. with a major tsunami, while the other view holds that the dynamics of wave formation make such a result unlikely.
The only true subduction zone close to the East Coast is the Puerto Rico Trench, which runs for 1000 miles from Puerto Rico eastward past the Lesser Antilles and out into the Atlantic Ocean. The deepest point in the Atlantic at 28,200 feet lies in The Puerto Rico Trench. Along this trench, the Caribbean tectonic plate is subducting, or sliding under, the North American Plate. This is not as large or active a subduction zone as most of those in the Pacific, but undersea earthquakes have occurred there, resulting in tsunamis that affected the islands in the Caribbean. The last tsunami in the area happened in 1918 when 32 people died in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Mt. Pelee on Martinique is one of several active volcanoes in the Lesser Antilles arc. The 1902 eruption of Mt. Pelee is one of the largest on record. It is possible that volcanic debris from future eruptions could crash into the ocean and start a localized tsunami.
Submarine landslides at the edge of the continental shelf along the Atlantic Seaboard might also start tsunamis that could impact coastal cities. In 1929, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake off Newfoundland started an undersea landslide down the continental shelf. The resulting tsunami swept ashore and killed 8 people.
The Atlantic Tsunami Warning System was installed in 2006, comprising five Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (acronym DART) buoy stations. Single stations are located off Charleston, Miami, and New Orleans. Two are positioned off Puerto Rico near the Puerto Rico Trench. All provide real time detection of undersea disturbances capable of starting tsunamis that could impact the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf Coasts. Plans call for the addition of at least two more DART stations.
If you live in a low-lying area on the Atlantic Coast, be aware that a tsunami is always a possibility, and be prepared to evacuate on a moment's notice as directed by local authorities.
About the Author:
Gordon Gumpertz, author of TSUNAMI, is a working novelist who writes suspense-packed adventure novels featuring believable characters caught up in the dynamic forces of natural and man-made disasters. His books achieve a sense of immediacy and realism through extensive background research. For more, visit http://www.tsunaminaturaldisaster.com.
Keyword tags: novels, authors, books, publishing, tsunami, weather, natural disasters, adventure, suspense
Writing With True Grit
Many people remember the Western Movie starring John Wayne, TRUE GRIT. This article explores Writing with True Grit. Am I talking genre, language, characters? The truth is the gentlest, emotional story, even one with a religious theme, can be written with grit. Though many of you equate this to the suspense and horror genres. The word grit in my mind equals strength. That can mean character, language and plot. Genre is a moot point where this is concerned. Sometimes even the title can contain grit. How about THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY? In that famous Clint Eastwood movie the characters, the title and the plot all had the quality of grit. Even my own new book, which I hope to see released soon, is called PERDITION, meaning Eternal Hell. Gritty? You bet. Or how about my thriller, NIGHT FREEZE?
In THE PLIGHT OF MATTIE GORDON by Jeanne Marie Leach, the female character must face learning her son is a wanted outlaw. To save her son's soul, she is faced with throwing in her lot with the bounty hunter bent on catching her son to make sure he gets punished. This lady has true grit in big way.
But enough said about that. Let's first explore some characterization comparisons.
Strong female character: This woman perseveres despite every possible effort by persons or circumstances to reach her goal. She is not often given to tears, though sometimes, especially in private circumstances, she will let go with the water works. She wouldn't be human, if she didn't. (I especially dislike female characters who are veritable watering pots; they bore the liver out of me.) On the other hand, I hate a shrew. That's not strength; it's a weakness.
The strong female is intelligent, full of determination and is independent (sometimes to a fault). She is clever and resourceful, rarely leaning on anyone for help unless her situation is hopeless and life threatening. In religious works, she is allowed to rely on her Higher Power, but rarely other human beings. We humans are desperately flawed, you see.
This woman often toils to the point of exhaustion for whatever her cause. She possesses larger than life integrity and morality, at least by the end of the story. When faced with a fork in the road as to whether or not to do what is right as opposed to what her dark side urges her to do, she will always opt on the side of right.
A strong woman will be able to overcome the worst situations life has to offer, instead of wallowing in self-pity and becoming nauseously neurotic over it all, clinging to the negative instead of creating ways to turn her life around to the positive. There are endless examples of such things. Here are just a couple. In Sally Hickey's book, EMPTY SHOES, a ballet dancer ends up in a wheelchair. The female character must overcome this devastation and turn her life toward the positive. In my thriller, NIGHT FREEZE, my medical examiner must endure tragedy after tragedy and loss. What she does in the end to turn her life around might surprise you, but it makes logical sense. The point is the female character will have a choice of sinking or swimming in the end. And her decision must come from inner strength and revelation, not from another character telling her this is how it has to be.
A weak female character: She can't make a mature decision, she can't do this and she can't do that. She sits on her pity pot and agonizes over her lot in life or her losses. This woman often slides into hypochondria or severe depression that never goes away. Instead, she wallows in this depression until it becomes her comfort zone and there's no other place in her situation to be comfortable. Often she will turn to drugs (prescribed or not) or alcohol to ease her pain and thereby make matters worse for herself.
Often a weak female is so passive as to become seriously irksome to a reader. You want to scream at her, "Get a life, lady!" She allows herself to be abused; she is convinced there is no way out. Thus she becomes as sick and as cowardly as the abuser.
Strong male character: By this I don't mean some guy who looks like Hercules on steroids. Nor do I mean a guy who uses filthy profanity every other word. That just shows how stupid he is and lacking in vocabulary. A strong male character is many things, and a number of the same items mentioned in the female character apply. Remember, though, real life men operate from a different plane of thought and emotions than women, so subsequently there must be some major differences. Remember the MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS books.
This guy often exhibits leadership skills, is able to call a spade a spade, and is not afraid to dish out discipline or punishment when the situation requires it. This does not equate to abuse. Understand that completely. They are not the same things.
A strong character never makes inappropriate jokes that tend to put others down. This is neither funny nor heroic. He never abuses anyone, but neither does he mollycoddle them. Mostly these characters who consider themselves strong and who indulge in the aforementioned jokes, often hide a very weak character or terrible insecurity underneath all that muscle and bluster.
Consider this example. Could be our big strong guy is only five foot seven inches tall and suffers from a dread disease, but he will demonstrate his perseverance to overcome the odds, his integrity shines; his behavior toward others is not fraught with taking out his problems on everyone else. He does not self destruct via drugs and alcohol.
The ideal or larger than life male respects women and their abilities. He will be willing to work with them to solve a problem or reach a goal. He will take charge when the situation calls for it, and will give no quarter in that area. He acts like a man, not a pussycat. Consequently, his ego may be a bit larger than we ladies like, but through trial and error, he learns enough humility to appear heroic in the eyes of others.
Here again the character, whether male or female, often reaches a point where he/she must decide between right and wrong or desire versus what is right and moral.
A man who says things jokingly to others is often hurtful to the recipient. In other words, they're not funny. If your male character does this in the beginning of your story, you'd better make sure he shows a good deal of growth by the end of the story. Again, he must arrive at the knowledge his former behavior was akin to being a jerk, a bully or whatever, on his own. The decision to change and strengthen his character must come from inside him.
A strong man has lots of emotions and inner thoughts. He does not often exhibit them to his male friends or his female counterparts. There are exceptions, of course, but to be true to the male character he does not often indulge this practice.
Can a strong man cry? You bet he can, and it's unrealistic to think a man shouldn't if he's deeply hurt by a loss of someone he loves. He can't be a watering pot, either, and his tears are often, though not always, private. Tears for joy or pain come to most strong male characters rarely, but don't discount this when the situation calls for it. It is appropriate to their character.
Exercise (Use any name you choose.)
Sarah
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
John
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
List as many as you can in each category, just enough to make them real to the reader, not super-human. When done, make a list of those same strengths and weaknesses at the end of your story. Are they the same? They probably shouldn't be. Not entirely. What I mean is there should be a few add-on strengths by the end of the book. Caution. Make sure these characters have not become perfect by the end or they won't seem real. Some personality traits are there to stay with the character for life. The point is they can improve. Show their new strength through their actions and deeds. Don't tell us.
Make us all sigh with satisfaction by the time we read THE END.
Lee Emory will be teaching a workshop on this subject, WRITING WITH TRUE GRIT, at the 22nd annual Florida Christian Writers Conference February 28 - March 1, 2009.
About the Author:
Lee Emory is an author of ten novels, numerous short stories and articles, who is also a professional editor for 40 years. She is the owner of/Senior Editor for Treble Heart Books Publishing. Lee teaches writing workshops and speaks at numerous writers' conferences. Visit http://www.trebleheartbooks.com or email leeemory@earthlink.net to learn more.
Keyword tags: writing, character development, books, publishing, authors, novels, writing tips, story development
In THE PLIGHT OF MATTIE GORDON by Jeanne Marie Leach, the female character must face learning her son is a wanted outlaw. To save her son's soul, she is faced with throwing in her lot with the bounty hunter bent on catching her son to make sure he gets punished. This lady has true grit in big way.
But enough said about that. Let's first explore some characterization comparisons.
Strong female character: This woman perseveres despite every possible effort by persons or circumstances to reach her goal. She is not often given to tears, though sometimes, especially in private circumstances, she will let go with the water works. She wouldn't be human, if she didn't. (I especially dislike female characters who are veritable watering pots; they bore the liver out of me.) On the other hand, I hate a shrew. That's not strength; it's a weakness.
The strong female is intelligent, full of determination and is independent (sometimes to a fault). She is clever and resourceful, rarely leaning on anyone for help unless her situation is hopeless and life threatening. In religious works, she is allowed to rely on her Higher Power, but rarely other human beings. We humans are desperately flawed, you see.
This woman often toils to the point of exhaustion for whatever her cause. She possesses larger than life integrity and morality, at least by the end of the story. When faced with a fork in the road as to whether or not to do what is right as opposed to what her dark side urges her to do, she will always opt on the side of right.
A strong woman will be able to overcome the worst situations life has to offer, instead of wallowing in self-pity and becoming nauseously neurotic over it all, clinging to the negative instead of creating ways to turn her life around to the positive. There are endless examples of such things. Here are just a couple. In Sally Hickey's book, EMPTY SHOES, a ballet dancer ends up in a wheelchair. The female character must overcome this devastation and turn her life toward the positive. In my thriller, NIGHT FREEZE, my medical examiner must endure tragedy after tragedy and loss. What she does in the end to turn her life around might surprise you, but it makes logical sense. The point is the female character will have a choice of sinking or swimming in the end. And her decision must come from inner strength and revelation, not from another character telling her this is how it has to be.
A weak female character: She can't make a mature decision, she can't do this and she can't do that. She sits on her pity pot and agonizes over her lot in life or her losses. This woman often slides into hypochondria or severe depression that never goes away. Instead, she wallows in this depression until it becomes her comfort zone and there's no other place in her situation to be comfortable. Often she will turn to drugs (prescribed or not) or alcohol to ease her pain and thereby make matters worse for herself.
Often a weak female is so passive as to become seriously irksome to a reader. You want to scream at her, "Get a life, lady!" She allows herself to be abused; she is convinced there is no way out. Thus she becomes as sick and as cowardly as the abuser.
Strong male character: By this I don't mean some guy who looks like Hercules on steroids. Nor do I mean a guy who uses filthy profanity every other word. That just shows how stupid he is and lacking in vocabulary. A strong male character is many things, and a number of the same items mentioned in the female character apply. Remember, though, real life men operate from a different plane of thought and emotions than women, so subsequently there must be some major differences. Remember the MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS books.
This guy often exhibits leadership skills, is able to call a spade a spade, and is not afraid to dish out discipline or punishment when the situation requires it. This does not equate to abuse. Understand that completely. They are not the same things.
A strong character never makes inappropriate jokes that tend to put others down. This is neither funny nor heroic. He never abuses anyone, but neither does he mollycoddle them. Mostly these characters who consider themselves strong and who indulge in the aforementioned jokes, often hide a very weak character or terrible insecurity underneath all that muscle and bluster.
Consider this example. Could be our big strong guy is only five foot seven inches tall and suffers from a dread disease, but he will demonstrate his perseverance to overcome the odds, his integrity shines; his behavior toward others is not fraught with taking out his problems on everyone else. He does not self destruct via drugs and alcohol.
The ideal or larger than life male respects women and their abilities. He will be willing to work with them to solve a problem or reach a goal. He will take charge when the situation calls for it, and will give no quarter in that area. He acts like a man, not a pussycat. Consequently, his ego may be a bit larger than we ladies like, but through trial and error, he learns enough humility to appear heroic in the eyes of others.
Here again the character, whether male or female, often reaches a point where he/she must decide between right and wrong or desire versus what is right and moral.
A man who says things jokingly to others is often hurtful to the recipient. In other words, they're not funny. If your male character does this in the beginning of your story, you'd better make sure he shows a good deal of growth by the end of the story. Again, he must arrive at the knowledge his former behavior was akin to being a jerk, a bully or whatever, on his own. The decision to change and strengthen his character must come from inside him.
A strong man has lots of emotions and inner thoughts. He does not often exhibit them to his male friends or his female counterparts. There are exceptions, of course, but to be true to the male character he does not often indulge this practice.
Can a strong man cry? You bet he can, and it's unrealistic to think a man shouldn't if he's deeply hurt by a loss of someone he loves. He can't be a watering pot, either, and his tears are often, though not always, private. Tears for joy or pain come to most strong male characters rarely, but don't discount this when the situation calls for it. It is appropriate to their character.
Exercise (Use any name you choose.)
Sarah
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
John
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
List as many as you can in each category, just enough to make them real to the reader, not super-human. When done, make a list of those same strengths and weaknesses at the end of your story. Are they the same? They probably shouldn't be. Not entirely. What I mean is there should be a few add-on strengths by the end of the book. Caution. Make sure these characters have not become perfect by the end or they won't seem real. Some personality traits are there to stay with the character for life. The point is they can improve. Show their new strength through their actions and deeds. Don't tell us.
Make us all sigh with satisfaction by the time we read THE END.
Lee Emory will be teaching a workshop on this subject, WRITING WITH TRUE GRIT, at the 22nd annual Florida Christian Writers Conference February 28 - March 1, 2009.
About the Author:
Lee Emory is an author of ten novels, numerous short stories and articles, who is also a professional editor for 40 years. She is the owner of/Senior Editor for Treble Heart Books Publishing. Lee teaches writing workshops and speaks at numerous writers' conferences. Visit http://www.trebleheartbooks.com or email leeemory@earthlink.net to learn more.
Keyword tags: writing, character development, books, publishing, authors, novels, writing tips, story development
Book Review: 3 Aces by Richard Ide
One of the great joys of being a book reviewer is that you never know what is going to turn up in your mail box. There are so many great new writers out there. In fact I have a confession to make, did you know that you could take me to a bookstore and I can pretty much guarantee that I would not be able to find a book that I wanted to read! Book stores sell the NYT best sellers and little else. Well I don't like the Clancy's and Stephen King's of the world, I like new authors, ones that have some heart in what they write.
Which brings me to Richard Ide and his new book 3 Aces. I read the synopsis, and I have to admit that I was not sure that as a plot line it would work. Ex Vietnam vet with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) turned long distance truck driver meets a depressed alcoholic poker playing young lady and they attempt to rehabilitate each other with the help of a three legged dog!
Well I was wrong! The plot line works splendidly. Richard Ide pulls it off with aplomb.
Abner Weaver is a man who has lost his ambition, a truck driver who has become fed up with the world and who is little by little heading down a very dark path. His trucks are becoming less appealing as are the loads he hauls. But does he care? No, the solace of the cab is all that matters. Abner has found his nirvana behind a bug covered windshield and an old and tired diesel engine thumping beneath him.
A chance encounter with what Abner at first thinks of as a 'lot lizard' begins to change his opinions. Dawn Carlisle is no hooker, she is just a rather sad young lady, running from a failed marriage, and an ugly custody battle. A battle that she cannot find a way to win, with no job she stands no chance of getting her young daughter back. She has no skills, other than a natural penchant of math, but her only use for that is in playing Poker. That will hardly endear her to any judge.
So with this as the backdrop Richard Ide takes us on an interesting voyage of discovery. I have to admit that the one person that I do feel sorry for having read this book is the editor. He or she must have had some sleepless nights with the trucking and poker lingo! It took me a little while to pick it up. I certainly learned a few new terms, I really like 'lot lizard' - what a great description of the low-end hookers that hang out at truck stops.
I was also impressed with the research that Richard Ide has done both in his use of locations and also the historical vignettes that he inserts from time to time. 3 Aces covers a lot of ground, literally and metaphorically.The book ends with the best synopsis of the Vietnam war I think I have ever read. Short and to the point.
Great book, I loved it, and you can get your copy from Amazon.
About the Author:
Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. With the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot of books! He is also a contributing editor for http://www.bloggernews.net and maintains a personal blog at http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com.
Keyword tags: books, reviews, truck driving, Vegas, poker, fiction, novels, authors, publishing
Which brings me to Richard Ide and his new book 3 Aces. I read the synopsis, and I have to admit that I was not sure that as a plot line it would work. Ex Vietnam vet with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) turned long distance truck driver meets a depressed alcoholic poker playing young lady and they attempt to rehabilitate each other with the help of a three legged dog!
Well I was wrong! The plot line works splendidly. Richard Ide pulls it off with aplomb.
Abner Weaver is a man who has lost his ambition, a truck driver who has become fed up with the world and who is little by little heading down a very dark path. His trucks are becoming less appealing as are the loads he hauls. But does he care? No, the solace of the cab is all that matters. Abner has found his nirvana behind a bug covered windshield and an old and tired diesel engine thumping beneath him.
A chance encounter with what Abner at first thinks of as a 'lot lizard' begins to change his opinions. Dawn Carlisle is no hooker, she is just a rather sad young lady, running from a failed marriage, and an ugly custody battle. A battle that she cannot find a way to win, with no job she stands no chance of getting her young daughter back. She has no skills, other than a natural penchant of math, but her only use for that is in playing Poker. That will hardly endear her to any judge.
So with this as the backdrop Richard Ide takes us on an interesting voyage of discovery. I have to admit that the one person that I do feel sorry for having read this book is the editor. He or she must have had some sleepless nights with the trucking and poker lingo! It took me a little while to pick it up. I certainly learned a few new terms, I really like 'lot lizard' - what a great description of the low-end hookers that hang out at truck stops.
I was also impressed with the research that Richard Ide has done both in his use of locations and also the historical vignettes that he inserts from time to time. 3 Aces covers a lot of ground, literally and metaphorically.The book ends with the best synopsis of the Vietnam war I think I have ever read. Short and to the point.
Great book, I loved it, and you can get your copy from Amazon.
About the Author:
Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. With the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot of books! He is also a contributing editor for http://www.bloggernews.net and maintains a personal blog at http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com.
Keyword tags: books, reviews, truck driving, Vegas, poker, fiction, novels, authors, publishing
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Write For The Money
Some purists will try and tell you that writing is an art form and that all artists should work only for the love and fulfilment that their talent brings them.
But I say that's rubbish. If you want to be a successful and wealthy writer, then you need to write for money. You can pursue a dream of becoming a starving writer living in a garret if you want to, but it's much better to earn a large salary for your work and live comfortably.
This doesn't mean that you shouldn't enjoy writing. On the contrary, writing should be your passion in life. Your writing should be what gets up early in the morning and keeps you up late at night. But you should also be earning a respectable living from your writing.
Being a successful and wealthy writer sounds great but how and where should you begin?
If you don't know what kind of writer you want to be then you can start by trying out all the different kinds of writing. You can try writing short stories, poetry, comedy, scripts, articles, books, novels, copy writing, ghost writing and more.
And you can send your work out to many different magazines, web sites, publishers and other markets. You'll probably receive back a huge avalanche of rejections, but in amongst them all you'll have a few successes.
From these successes you'll be able to see what pays the best and what you enjoy writing.
From this you can figure out your hourly rate.
For instance, say you were paid a fee of $100 for writing a 1,000-word article. Now that $100 may seem like a lot, but if it took you 4 hours to research and write the article, then your hourly rate is only $25.
Now you could improve that rate by rewriting the article from anther angle and submitting it to other markets. So if you get paid another $100 and it only took you 1 hour to rewrite it, that means that altogether you've been paid $200 for 5 hours work which brings your rate up to $40 an hour.
But on the other hand, you may love writing fiction and find that you can write a 1,000-word short story in only an hour. So if your story is published and you're paid $100, your hourly rate has now more than doubled to $100 an hour.
But it's not always as simple as adding up the figures. What you can write and get paid for also depends on the needs of the market. Or you may want to write novels but you need to write articles as well to keep the money coming in while you finish your first book.
You may also decide to write for less money to get your foot in the door of a prestigeous magazine or because you have developed a good relationship with an editor and you don't want to jeapodise it. Or you write for less money because you're trying to notch up an impressive credit for your port folio.
So while money isn't always everything, it's important to keep your eye on the bottom line. That way you'll always be aware of the most lucrative path for your writing career. Because without the money, you won't have a writing career. You'll just be a person who writes in their spare time.
About the Author:
If you want to be a successful and wealthy writer but don't know where to begin, take a look at http://writeaholics.net/quickcash.html. You can also go to http://writeaholics.net, sign up for the free monthly newsletter and receive a free copy of "Become a Freelance Writing Success".
Keyword tags: successful, wealthy, writer, writing, money, earn, magazines, articles, short stories, novel, write
But I say that's rubbish. If you want to be a successful and wealthy writer, then you need to write for money. You can pursue a dream of becoming a starving writer living in a garret if you want to, but it's much better to earn a large salary for your work and live comfortably.
This doesn't mean that you shouldn't enjoy writing. On the contrary, writing should be your passion in life. Your writing should be what gets up early in the morning and keeps you up late at night. But you should also be earning a respectable living from your writing.
Being a successful and wealthy writer sounds great but how and where should you begin?
If you don't know what kind of writer you want to be then you can start by trying out all the different kinds of writing. You can try writing short stories, poetry, comedy, scripts, articles, books, novels, copy writing, ghost writing and more.
And you can send your work out to many different magazines, web sites, publishers and other markets. You'll probably receive back a huge avalanche of rejections, but in amongst them all you'll have a few successes.
From these successes you'll be able to see what pays the best and what you enjoy writing.
From this you can figure out your hourly rate.
For instance, say you were paid a fee of $100 for writing a 1,000-word article. Now that $100 may seem like a lot, but if it took you 4 hours to research and write the article, then your hourly rate is only $25.
Now you could improve that rate by rewriting the article from anther angle and submitting it to other markets. So if you get paid another $100 and it only took you 1 hour to rewrite it, that means that altogether you've been paid $200 for 5 hours work which brings your rate up to $40 an hour.
But on the other hand, you may love writing fiction and find that you can write a 1,000-word short story in only an hour. So if your story is published and you're paid $100, your hourly rate has now more than doubled to $100 an hour.
But it's not always as simple as adding up the figures. What you can write and get paid for also depends on the needs of the market. Or you may want to write novels but you need to write articles as well to keep the money coming in while you finish your first book.
You may also decide to write for less money to get your foot in the door of a prestigeous magazine or because you have developed a good relationship with an editor and you don't want to jeapodise it. Or you write for less money because you're trying to notch up an impressive credit for your port folio.
So while money isn't always everything, it's important to keep your eye on the bottom line. That way you'll always be aware of the most lucrative path for your writing career. Because without the money, you won't have a writing career. You'll just be a person who writes in their spare time.
About the Author:
If you want to be a successful and wealthy writer but don't know where to begin, take a look at http://writeaholics.net/quickcash.html. You can also go to http://writeaholics.net, sign up for the free monthly newsletter and receive a free copy of "Become a Freelance Writing Success".
Keyword tags: successful, wealthy, writer, writing, money, earn, magazines, articles, short stories, novel, write
Developing Your Style
Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I was very eager to develop my style. Not that I understood what style was, but everybody else had one, so I wanted one, too.
Style is defined in several ways: it is a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period; it is how something is done or how it happens; it is the popular taste at a given time.
If those definitions are a little unclear, it's because style is unique to each individual.
One of my old writing teachers wisely said, "Don't worry about your style. It will come in time and it will be your own." She was right. But if you're wondering if you can influence your style as it develops, or even change it, the answer is yes, depending on how hard you try.
It has been said that you will write like your favorite author if you read enough of his work. That was the part that scared me. I wanted to have a new, different voice. I didn't want to sound like anyone. I didn't realize that my own style would come through strong enough that I would still be me, even if I patterned myself after Hemmingway.
You will always be you. You will pick up a little from this author, and a little from that, but you develop a unique blend that is all your own. Your voice will come through loud and clear. You will always be you.
Do you want to change your style? That's hard, but it can be done.
If you have a favorite author and you want to sound more like him, read everything he has written, over and over. That will put you into his thinking pattern. Analyze his best sentences. Did he use snappy verbs? Alliteration? Assonance, consonance, irony, polysyndeton? What makes him so special? Figure it out. Read a paragraph of his writing, and then set down to your typewriter and (without looking), phrase it in your own words. Compare the two writings and look at the difference. Some of the differences may lie in techniques you haven't learned yet, and that could be an indicator that taking writing classes would highly benefit you. The particular class that would aid you in this kind of evaluation would be Wordsmithing.
If I could recommend only one class for an intermediate writer, it would be that class. Reading the book that we use in the course took my writing to another level. After you become a wordsmith, you can quickly identify what makes one author better or worse than another.
When you get familiar with the techniques of the masters, you will look over your own writing and think, "I need to speed up this sentence. It drags. I'll use a little alliteration there." Or, "This ending isn't just right. I'll put a twist in it with irony." These are only two of dozens of techniques.
Take your writing to the next level by signing up for Wordsmithing!
About the Author:
Deborah Owen wrote her first story at the age of 13, and entered it in the school contest. The contest was for 7th through 12th grades, and Deborah took third prize. Marrying young, raising children and teaching piano nudged out the lighted muse within, but in later years, she has blossomed. http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com.
Keyword tags: writing,creative,mentor,lessons,classes,courses,study
Style is defined in several ways: it is a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period; it is how something is done or how it happens; it is the popular taste at a given time.
If those definitions are a little unclear, it's because style is unique to each individual.
One of my old writing teachers wisely said, "Don't worry about your style. It will come in time and it will be your own." She was right. But if you're wondering if you can influence your style as it develops, or even change it, the answer is yes, depending on how hard you try.
It has been said that you will write like your favorite author if you read enough of his work. That was the part that scared me. I wanted to have a new, different voice. I didn't want to sound like anyone. I didn't realize that my own style would come through strong enough that I would still be me, even if I patterned myself after Hemmingway.
You will always be you. You will pick up a little from this author, and a little from that, but you develop a unique blend that is all your own. Your voice will come through loud and clear. You will always be you.
Do you want to change your style? That's hard, but it can be done.
If you have a favorite author and you want to sound more like him, read everything he has written, over and over. That will put you into his thinking pattern. Analyze his best sentences. Did he use snappy verbs? Alliteration? Assonance, consonance, irony, polysyndeton? What makes him so special? Figure it out. Read a paragraph of his writing, and then set down to your typewriter and (without looking), phrase it in your own words. Compare the two writings and look at the difference. Some of the differences may lie in techniques you haven't learned yet, and that could be an indicator that taking writing classes would highly benefit you. The particular class that would aid you in this kind of evaluation would be Wordsmithing.
If I could recommend only one class for an intermediate writer, it would be that class. Reading the book that we use in the course took my writing to another level. After you become a wordsmith, you can quickly identify what makes one author better or worse than another.
When you get familiar with the techniques of the masters, you will look over your own writing and think, "I need to speed up this sentence. It drags. I'll use a little alliteration there." Or, "This ending isn't just right. I'll put a twist in it with irony." These are only two of dozens of techniques.
Take your writing to the next level by signing up for Wordsmithing!
About the Author:
Deborah Owen wrote her first story at the age of 13, and entered it in the school contest. The contest was for 7th through 12th grades, and Deborah took third prize. Marrying young, raising children and teaching piano nudged out the lighted muse within, but in later years, she has blossomed. http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com.
Keyword tags: writing,creative,mentor,lessons,classes,courses,study
Why You Should Write For Free
While it is true that a few people can skip protocol and begin writing for large markets without writing credits, the ordinary person cannot. Be prepared, because every publication will want to know where you have been published before, and you should have a list of publications as long as your arm.
Write for ezines that pay in subscriptions, (some will pay $5). Write for your church bulletin and bulletins at work. Go to your local newspaper and ask if they need someone to cover sports and/or political meetings. (These are hard jobs to fill, and almost every paper needs someone in these positions.)
You may be asking yourself, "But if I give writing references in ezines, bulletins, and local papers, won't the editor know I've been working for nothing?" Yes, they will, but they won't care. They will admire you for your tenacity. They will know you've been out working and learning the market, and they'll know that you must be some kind of a decent writer, or no one would have published you.
There is yet another way that you can get experience, and that is writing for Associated Content and other such places. You can also write for article distribution centers. Everything counts.
When you send your first piece into a magazine, don't make the mistake of saying, "My teacher said she liked this piece," "I've never been published before, but I'll be a hard worker," or "I belong to a writer's club and they voted this article as the best of the month." These are amateur remarks, and any editor will recognize them as such.
If you don't have any publication credits, avoid the subject altogether. Give the short story on how you got into writing and what your goals are. And always thank the editor for his time in reading your submission.
Many years ago, I wanted to write for the American Legion's 75th Anniversary Edition, as their national office was only a few miles from me. However, when I went to apply for a job, the Editor told me he was full up and had no positions available. I called him the next day, and he repeated his statement.
I was totally desperate and I laid in bed all night devising a plan whereby he would have to hire me. By morning, I was ready with my new approach. I called him yet a third time and said, "This is Deborah Owen again. I realize you don't have any openings, but I have a proposition that is sure to interest you." (He asked what my proposition was.) "It is too complex to talk about over the phone, but if you'll let me take you out to lunch one day this week, I'll tell you then."
The man tried everything in his power to niggle my proposition out of me, but I stuck to my guns, offering to buy his lunch. Finally, he gave in. Even as we walked to the restaurant, he tried to get me to tell him my proposition. For once in my life, I was wise, and I wouldn't tell him until we were eating."
At lunch, he asked me about this great proposition again. I could tell he was intensely curious. I said, "Well, it's a win-win deal for both of us. I know you said you don't have any openings, but I live close by and I'm thirsty for knowledge. This is a great opportunity for both of us. I'm a hard working perfectionist with both writing and office experience. I will work for The American Legion free of charge if you will only give me the opportunity to learn. That's a win-win proposition."
About that time, he finished eating, and he said, "Show up for work at 8 am, Monday morning, and, Mrs. Owen – never offer your services free of charge. It makes your employer think your services aren't worth much, and everyone is worth something. I'm going to mentor you myself – and – I will pay you a salary. Do you know why I came to meet you today, Deborah? Because of your persistence."
I ended up ghost writing 37 articles for that landmark edition. Writers, when the doors don't open easily, sometimes you have to pry them open any way you can. Just know what you are going to say, practice saying it out loud (alone), and then go for it.
In conclusion: write articles free of charge to get publishing credits (and keep dated clippings from each one); don't offer to work for nothing, go where angels fear to tread, and have the audacity of a Rockefeller. Remember, you're selling yourself. Most of the time, you'll get the chance you're looking for, if you bluff your way through it.
About the Author:
Deborah Owen has been writing off and on for decades. She began as a reporter for a small town newspaper and worked her way up to having 37 profiles published in The American Legion's 75th Anniversary Edition. Her most recent accomplishment is http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com.
Keyword tags: writing,creative,mentor,lessons,classes,courses,study
Write for ezines that pay in subscriptions, (some will pay $5). Write for your church bulletin and bulletins at work. Go to your local newspaper and ask if they need someone to cover sports and/or political meetings. (These are hard jobs to fill, and almost every paper needs someone in these positions.)
You may be asking yourself, "But if I give writing references in ezines, bulletins, and local papers, won't the editor know I've been working for nothing?" Yes, they will, but they won't care. They will admire you for your tenacity. They will know you've been out working and learning the market, and they'll know that you must be some kind of a decent writer, or no one would have published you.
There is yet another way that you can get experience, and that is writing for Associated Content and other such places. You can also write for article distribution centers. Everything counts.
When you send your first piece into a magazine, don't make the mistake of saying, "My teacher said she liked this piece," "I've never been published before, but I'll be a hard worker," or "I belong to a writer's club and they voted this article as the best of the month." These are amateur remarks, and any editor will recognize them as such.
If you don't have any publication credits, avoid the subject altogether. Give the short story on how you got into writing and what your goals are. And always thank the editor for his time in reading your submission.
Many years ago, I wanted to write for the American Legion's 75th Anniversary Edition, as their national office was only a few miles from me. However, when I went to apply for a job, the Editor told me he was full up and had no positions available. I called him the next day, and he repeated his statement.
I was totally desperate and I laid in bed all night devising a plan whereby he would have to hire me. By morning, I was ready with my new approach. I called him yet a third time and said, "This is Deborah Owen again. I realize you don't have any openings, but I have a proposition that is sure to interest you." (He asked what my proposition was.) "It is too complex to talk about over the phone, but if you'll let me take you out to lunch one day this week, I'll tell you then."
The man tried everything in his power to niggle my proposition out of me, but I stuck to my guns, offering to buy his lunch. Finally, he gave in. Even as we walked to the restaurant, he tried to get me to tell him my proposition. For once in my life, I was wise, and I wouldn't tell him until we were eating."
At lunch, he asked me about this great proposition again. I could tell he was intensely curious. I said, "Well, it's a win-win deal for both of us. I know you said you don't have any openings, but I live close by and I'm thirsty for knowledge. This is a great opportunity for both of us. I'm a hard working perfectionist with both writing and office experience. I will work for The American Legion free of charge if you will only give me the opportunity to learn. That's a win-win proposition."
About that time, he finished eating, and he said, "Show up for work at 8 am, Monday morning, and, Mrs. Owen – never offer your services free of charge. It makes your employer think your services aren't worth much, and everyone is worth something. I'm going to mentor you myself – and – I will pay you a salary. Do you know why I came to meet you today, Deborah? Because of your persistence."
I ended up ghost writing 37 articles for that landmark edition. Writers, when the doors don't open easily, sometimes you have to pry them open any way you can. Just know what you are going to say, practice saying it out loud (alone), and then go for it.
In conclusion: write articles free of charge to get publishing credits (and keep dated clippings from each one); don't offer to work for nothing, go where angels fear to tread, and have the audacity of a Rockefeller. Remember, you're selling yourself. Most of the time, you'll get the chance you're looking for, if you bluff your way through it.
About the Author:
Deborah Owen has been writing off and on for decades. She began as a reporter for a small town newspaper and worked her way up to having 37 profiles published in The American Legion's 75th Anniversary Edition. Her most recent accomplishment is http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com.
Keyword tags: writing,creative,mentor,lessons,classes,courses,study
Why You Should Enter Contests
I'll never forget my first contest. It was the Writer's Digest contest. I was very naïve at the time, not understanding that there would be thousands upon thousands of entries. I had grossly underestimated what I was up against. But truth be known, if I had seen a contest advertised that would only accept 100 fiction entries, I would still have felt I had no chance of winning. So, entering the Writer's Digest contest was an act of futility – a dash for the pot at the end of the rainbow – a quest for the Irish shamrock. The only reason I took the chance was because I knew I had a unique story about visiting a brothel, and I had developed a cool angle, so I invested $15 for my entry.
Months later, I received a letter congratulating me for taking Honorable Mention. And there before me was the most beautiful, memorable, framable, coveted certificate, confirming that I had beaten out 16,000 other entries to capture that spot. I couldn't believe it. MY story was better than thousands and thousands of other stories! I sat dumbfounded, staring at the Certificate of Honorable Mention, which had suddenly taken on new dimensions of highlighted achievements.
I learned a lot that day. I learned that it's worth investing a few bucks to take a chance, and that taking chances leads to new and exciting adventures. I learned that no matter how the deck is stacked, I still have a chance of coming out on top. I learned that I would have never had that wonderful moment in my life if I hadn't thrown caution to the wind and taken the silly plunge. And I have since learned that investing in myself increases my faith in my own writing abilities. Entering that one contest gave me the courage to enter others. And from that contest, I also learned how to find unique angles that light up a story.
When you realize you have a unique story, or a unique angle to a common story, save that story for a contest. Don't waste it on a magazine submission.
If you haven't been entering contests, you're missing a lot of fun. There are multiplied dozens of writer's groups on the net, and most if not all of them have writing contests. Or you can search the word "writing contests" and come up with zillions of contests to enter. Always search out these three things: reading fee, entry fee, deadline.
There are few things that will give you the confidence that winning a contest will. Dig out the best story you have, swap in a few edits, and see for yourself what entering contests will do for you.
Be aware that most contests have reading fees and entry fees. They can run up to a total of $50 each, but are usually in the area of $20 - $35 total. This is how the organization funds it prizes. You're worth it. Go ahead. Take a chance. Jump into adventure.
About the Author:
http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com
Keyword tags:
Months later, I received a letter congratulating me for taking Honorable Mention. And there before me was the most beautiful, memorable, framable, coveted certificate, confirming that I had beaten out 16,000 other entries to capture that spot. I couldn't believe it. MY story was better than thousands and thousands of other stories! I sat dumbfounded, staring at the Certificate of Honorable Mention, which had suddenly taken on new dimensions of highlighted achievements.
I learned a lot that day. I learned that it's worth investing a few bucks to take a chance, and that taking chances leads to new and exciting adventures. I learned that no matter how the deck is stacked, I still have a chance of coming out on top. I learned that I would have never had that wonderful moment in my life if I hadn't thrown caution to the wind and taken the silly plunge. And I have since learned that investing in myself increases my faith in my own writing abilities. Entering that one contest gave me the courage to enter others. And from that contest, I also learned how to find unique angles that light up a story.
When you realize you have a unique story, or a unique angle to a common story, save that story for a contest. Don't waste it on a magazine submission.
If you haven't been entering contests, you're missing a lot of fun. There are multiplied dozens of writer's groups on the net, and most if not all of them have writing contests. Or you can search the word "writing contests" and come up with zillions of contests to enter. Always search out these three things: reading fee, entry fee, deadline.
There are few things that will give you the confidence that winning a contest will. Dig out the best story you have, swap in a few edits, and see for yourself what entering contests will do for you.
Be aware that most contests have reading fees and entry fees. They can run up to a total of $50 each, but are usually in the area of $20 - $35 total. This is how the organization funds it prizes. You're worth it. Go ahead. Take a chance. Jump into adventure.
About the Author:
http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com
Keyword tags:
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
How to Score Big With Term Papers
The term paper can be a picky assignment that will sting you if you do not get it right. You should be concerned about the important elements of the assignment such as deadline, thesis statement, outline, style and information resources. When you get the right blend of these basic elements, you are on your way to scoring a decent grade for your paper.
The deadline for your term paper is so essential to receive the highest grade possible for your work. Pay attention to the deadline and create a schedule for working on your term paper regularly. You have to make the schedule livable and constant otherwise you will run into a time crunch with any other assignments
that may be due at the same time.
You will need to work short stretches every day on and off, if your schedule allows you enough time to do so. You can schedule longer periods for those times when you know that you will be devoting your time to something else. As long as you create and keep a regular schedule for term paper work, you should be able to meet your paper's deadline.
Your thesis statement and outline are integrals parts of one whole package, which can be compared to a rooted tree with leaves. The thesis statement provides the root (subject) and trunk (opinion) of a tree and the supporting topic sentences of each paragraph provide the branches. The foliage is represented by the order of the information (cover page, introduction, body text, conclusion and citations). The coloring of the foliage is provided by the style and text format.
Choose a subject for the term paper with which you are familiar. Otherwise, you will have a more difficult time drawing up your outline. For your outline, you will brainstorm as many words about your subject as you possibly can. The purpose of this exercise is to consider these different aspects and then once you have them all in mind, choose the ones that will truly support your thesis statement perfectly, while keeping in mind that you will need to look through many resources to find supporting evidence for your statement.
Ample resources on a given subject are crucial to meeting your deadline easily. If you pick an obscure topic, you may not find all the resources necessary to be provide a persuasive term paper. If necessary, widen your scope when choosing a subject for your term paper.
If you do not understand any aspect of the assignment, ask your instructor for further information. Ask your questions as soon as possible after you have been handed the assignment. If you have the teacher's email address, use it. Anything you can do to avoid stalling on the project will allow you the time that you need to finish the project on schedule.
With the right thesis statement, regular effort and attention to the details, you will hand in a paper that will be readily approved by your instructor. Expressing your opinion through a thesis statement is easier than it sounds if you break it down into manageable bits and continue to work steadily until it is completed.
About the Author:
http://www.essaytown.com
Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
The deadline for your term paper is so essential to receive the highest grade possible for your work. Pay attention to the deadline and create a schedule for working on your term paper regularly. You have to make the schedule livable and constant otherwise you will run into a time crunch with any other assignments
that may be due at the same time.
You will need to work short stretches every day on and off, if your schedule allows you enough time to do so. You can schedule longer periods for those times when you know that you will be devoting your time to something else. As long as you create and keep a regular schedule for term paper work, you should be able to meet your paper's deadline.
Your thesis statement and outline are integrals parts of one whole package, which can be compared to a rooted tree with leaves. The thesis statement provides the root (subject) and trunk (opinion) of a tree and the supporting topic sentences of each paragraph provide the branches. The foliage is represented by the order of the information (cover page, introduction, body text, conclusion and citations). The coloring of the foliage is provided by the style and text format.
Choose a subject for the term paper with which you are familiar. Otherwise, you will have a more difficult time drawing up your outline. For your outline, you will brainstorm as many words about your subject as you possibly can. The purpose of this exercise is to consider these different aspects and then once you have them all in mind, choose the ones that will truly support your thesis statement perfectly, while keeping in mind that you will need to look through many resources to find supporting evidence for your statement.
Ample resources on a given subject are crucial to meeting your deadline easily. If you pick an obscure topic, you may not find all the resources necessary to be provide a persuasive term paper. If necessary, widen your scope when choosing a subject for your term paper.
If you do not understand any aspect of the assignment, ask your instructor for further information. Ask your questions as soon as possible after you have been handed the assignment. If you have the teacher's email address, use it. Anything you can do to avoid stalling on the project will allow you the time that you need to finish the project on schedule.
With the right thesis statement, regular effort and attention to the details, you will hand in a paper that will be readily approved by your instructor. Expressing your opinion through a thesis statement is easier than it sounds if you break it down into manageable bits and continue to work steadily until it is completed.
About the Author:
http://www.essaytown.com
Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
How to Use the Five Paragraph Essay Writing Format
Persuasive essay writing is all about expressing an opinion on a particular topic. The topic can be anything that the author desires with the only rule being that it must be about a specific topic. An easy format for essay writing is the five paragraph essay. If you can get the grasp of the five paragraph essay, you will be prepared to write an essay of any size.
The five paragraph essay explores a subject by providing three persuasive points that support the main opinion of the essay. The order of the outline is as follows: introduction, persuasive point one, persuasive point two, persuasive point three and closing. This outline follows a logical order for presenting an opinion, backing it up with supporting ideas and forming the final overall opinion.
When choosing the subject of your essay, choose a topic with which you are familiar. When you do this, it will be easier for you to identify a strong opinion that you already have about the subject. Your chosen opinion about the topic will be called the topic sentence.
For an example of a topic sentence, using "apples" as the subject, a suitable topic sentence states that "apples make an excellent ingredient in dessert recipes". Once the topic sentence is determined, develop three general reasons why the topic sentence is true. For the "apples" topic sentence, examples of three supporting sentences are "apples have a naturally sweet taste", "apples can be used in a variety of dessert types" and "apples are healthy".
Once you have developed your topic sentence and supporting sentences, you will have important elements for developing the essay outline. You can proceed to write the introduction paragraph followed by a paragraph for each supporting sentence. Your closing paragraph will repeat the ideas of the introduction paragraph with a logical expansion of the idea that would naturally result when the topic sentence and supporting sentences are considered as a whole concept.
You want to use precise and punchy language when writing your essay. Use the most powerful statement as the first sentence in each paragraph, especially the introduction paragraph. Doing so will allow you to instantly grab and retain the reader's attention.
Your introductory paragraph will make a blanket statement that covers your basic opinion about the subject. The next sentence will briefly mention the three supporting ideas. The third sentence will lead into the subjects. The closing paragraph will follow the same order as the introduction paragraph.
As for the supporting idea paragraphs, you will start each paragraph with a supporting sentence. The supporting sentence is followed by an explanation. You can use between three to five sentences in each paragraph to explain the supporting sentence.
The last sentence of each paragraph should relate to the first sentence of the next paragraph. Leading the reader through your essay this way will give the reader a seamless reading experience in which topics do not jump out at the reader.
Using the five paragraph format for persuasive essay writing is a simple structure to follow when expressing an opinion. It provides a natural logical order for presenting an opinion in an effective way. Learning to use the five paragraph format will allow the writer to write a persuasive essay on any subject.
About the Author:
http://www.essaytown.com
Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
The five paragraph essay explores a subject by providing three persuasive points that support the main opinion of the essay. The order of the outline is as follows: introduction, persuasive point one, persuasive point two, persuasive point three and closing. This outline follows a logical order for presenting an opinion, backing it up with supporting ideas and forming the final overall opinion.
When choosing the subject of your essay, choose a topic with which you are familiar. When you do this, it will be easier for you to identify a strong opinion that you already have about the subject. Your chosen opinion about the topic will be called the topic sentence.
For an example of a topic sentence, using "apples" as the subject, a suitable topic sentence states that "apples make an excellent ingredient in dessert recipes". Once the topic sentence is determined, develop three general reasons why the topic sentence is true. For the "apples" topic sentence, examples of three supporting sentences are "apples have a naturally sweet taste", "apples can be used in a variety of dessert types" and "apples are healthy".
Once you have developed your topic sentence and supporting sentences, you will have important elements for developing the essay outline. You can proceed to write the introduction paragraph followed by a paragraph for each supporting sentence. Your closing paragraph will repeat the ideas of the introduction paragraph with a logical expansion of the idea that would naturally result when the topic sentence and supporting sentences are considered as a whole concept.
You want to use precise and punchy language when writing your essay. Use the most powerful statement as the first sentence in each paragraph, especially the introduction paragraph. Doing so will allow you to instantly grab and retain the reader's attention.
Your introductory paragraph will make a blanket statement that covers your basic opinion about the subject. The next sentence will briefly mention the three supporting ideas. The third sentence will lead into the subjects. The closing paragraph will follow the same order as the introduction paragraph.
As for the supporting idea paragraphs, you will start each paragraph with a supporting sentence. The supporting sentence is followed by an explanation. You can use between three to five sentences in each paragraph to explain the supporting sentence.
The last sentence of each paragraph should relate to the first sentence of the next paragraph. Leading the reader through your essay this way will give the reader a seamless reading experience in which topics do not jump out at the reader.
Using the five paragraph format for persuasive essay writing is a simple structure to follow when expressing an opinion. It provides a natural logical order for presenting an opinion in an effective way. Learning to use the five paragraph format will allow the writer to write a persuasive essay on any subject.
About the Author:
http://www.essaytown.com
Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
Tips to Improve Your Dissertation Writing Skills
Dissertation writing is a cumbersome task that can be accomplished with determination and strategy including a schedule for regular writing sessions. Readers will stay interested throughout the text when you have a good thesis statement supporting the entire work. With time management and regular editing, you will have greater ease with the large task of final editing.
Be determined and develop a regular schedule that you can live with and which will allow you to develop your dissertation on time. You can in short bursts every day, if that method works better than scheduling regular longer sessions. The best schedule includes both lengths of sessions.
Daily writing will keep the topic lively for you. With frequent writing, your ideas will flow easily. Another benefit is that you will not have as many episodes of writer's block when you write more often. If you do have writer's block with an aspect, pretend that you are introducing your best friend to the subject. This exercise can help you capture the essence of a subject in an easy to explain fashion and jog you past the writer's block.
You can do a few more exercises to help you to expand on a outline topic. The first task is to sort the topic into smaller components. The second tip is to ask yourself questions and then develop the answers as a way of expanding a topic.
Start writing wherever you feel comfortable as long as you begin the task. Although, brainstorming a topic as a way to create an outline is very useful, if you have not already developed a thesis statement, you may find it easier to develop your basic opinion on the subject by tackling an aspect that is the most interesting to you.
The thesis statement of the dissertation will serve as the backbone of the paper. You will need a thesis statement that is not so restrictive that you will have difficulty finding enough resources to support that statement. For greater ease, choose a topic on which you will have many resources. If you choose an obscure subject, you will find it harder to get through any difficult periods of the writing task. Dissertation writing is at its best when you can expand on the subject by introducing many aspects of it.
When you are writing your dissertation, you are not only displaying your familiarity with the subject, you are trying to hold the reader's interest. You can educate your reader while letting them know the motivations behind your own interest in the subject. Your thesis statement and writing should be valuable to the reader. Droning on will make it difficult for the reader to feel motivated in finishing the tome in a highly appreciative way.
Editing is a big job however you do it. As some writers do when they have developed their thesis statement, you may find greater ease later with final editing, if you edit and re-edit your work as you go along. Although sometimes, this is not the right method when brainstorming is the order of the day or week.
For some subjects, a strong thesis statement may color the rest of the dissertation to a greater extent than other topics. Developing a topic sentence early in your writing will allow your writing to have greater precision with each draft. Despite editing during each draft process, you will find it necessary to have a few drafts when writing a dissertation.
Dissertation writing can be accomplished successfully with patience and right subject choice. Millions of students accomplish dissertations every year. With determination, any student can do it.
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Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
Be determined and develop a regular schedule that you can live with and which will allow you to develop your dissertation on time. You can in short bursts every day, if that method works better than scheduling regular longer sessions. The best schedule includes both lengths of sessions.
Daily writing will keep the topic lively for you. With frequent writing, your ideas will flow easily. Another benefit is that you will not have as many episodes of writer's block when you write more often. If you do have writer's block with an aspect, pretend that you are introducing your best friend to the subject. This exercise can help you capture the essence of a subject in an easy to explain fashion and jog you past the writer's block.
You can do a few more exercises to help you to expand on a outline topic. The first task is to sort the topic into smaller components. The second tip is to ask yourself questions and then develop the answers as a way of expanding a topic.
Start writing wherever you feel comfortable as long as you begin the task. Although, brainstorming a topic as a way to create an outline is very useful, if you have not already developed a thesis statement, you may find it easier to develop your basic opinion on the subject by tackling an aspect that is the most interesting to you.
The thesis statement of the dissertation will serve as the backbone of the paper. You will need a thesis statement that is not so restrictive that you will have difficulty finding enough resources to support that statement. For greater ease, choose a topic on which you will have many resources. If you choose an obscure subject, you will find it harder to get through any difficult periods of the writing task. Dissertation writing is at its best when you can expand on the subject by introducing many aspects of it.
When you are writing your dissertation, you are not only displaying your familiarity with the subject, you are trying to hold the reader's interest. You can educate your reader while letting them know the motivations behind your own interest in the subject. Your thesis statement and writing should be valuable to the reader. Droning on will make it difficult for the reader to feel motivated in finishing the tome in a highly appreciative way.
Editing is a big job however you do it. As some writers do when they have developed their thesis statement, you may find greater ease later with final editing, if you edit and re-edit your work as you go along. Although sometimes, this is not the right method when brainstorming is the order of the day or week.
For some subjects, a strong thesis statement may color the rest of the dissertation to a greater extent than other topics. Developing a topic sentence early in your writing will allow your writing to have greater precision with each draft. Despite editing during each draft process, you will find it necessary to have a few drafts when writing a dissertation.
Dissertation writing can be accomplished successfully with patience and right subject choice. Millions of students accomplish dissertations every year. With determination, any student can do it.
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Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
How to Develop Strong Thesis Writing Skills
You cannot execute great thesis writing without writing an appropriate thesis statement. The thesis statement will form the mold for the rest of the material that you present in your thesis. With the right thesis statement, you will have a strong guide for your entire paper.
Ultimately, thesis writing revolves around writing a formal opinion piece. The stronger thesis statement expresses an opinion rather than just providing a statement about the subject. A good thesis statement makes the entire work much better.
It is important that you develop your thesis statement early on in the writing process. A strong thesis statement will give form to your paper and dictate what the rest of the material contains.You may have to gather enough information about your subject before you can develop a great thesis statement.
To help you find a thesis statement faster, it may help to ask yourself a few questions about the subject. You can finish questions that start with phrases such as "What is the best way to..." or "How is it possible to accomplish this when...". Ask any question that seems appropriate to the subject and you will eventually find an answer will be suitable to use as a thesis statement.
You can consider the right thesis statement to be all the material of the entire paper boiled down into one sentence. At the most, you can use two sentences. If you need more sentences than that, you probably have not reached that bullseye of a thesis statement yet. When you can explain the basic idea behind your intended paper briefly, you are ready to tackle the rest of your research and writing with greater focus.
While the thesis statement should be general enough to have a variety of resources available to provide supporting evidence, it should not be so general that it makes a weak statement. Weak statements are more difficult to expand. Consider the weak statement "Birds fly" in comparison with the stronger thesis statement "Bird song is affected by noise pollution".
The stronger statement practically leads the writer to an outline that is easier to write. When you have a working thesis statement, break it down into components that will allow you to expand on the concept in the rest of the paper. This task will allow you to organize the material logically in an easy to understand way.
You may find that as you develop your thesis paper, you change the thesis statement to reflect the new information that you are learning. The evolution of your information base and thesis statement can occur even while editing and these changes will be reflected in the different drafts of your final paper.
Thesis writing, as persuasive writing goes, involves a collection of facts that support a single opinion. You will find that your thesis statement will be more effective if you choose an opinion upon which people already disagree. Your paper will be interesting and informative when you can attain this quality in your thesis statement for any thesis writing task.
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Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
Ultimately, thesis writing revolves around writing a formal opinion piece. The stronger thesis statement expresses an opinion rather than just providing a statement about the subject. A good thesis statement makes the entire work much better.
It is important that you develop your thesis statement early on in the writing process. A strong thesis statement will give form to your paper and dictate what the rest of the material contains.You may have to gather enough information about your subject before you can develop a great thesis statement.
To help you find a thesis statement faster, it may help to ask yourself a few questions about the subject. You can finish questions that start with phrases such as "What is the best way to..." or "How is it possible to accomplish this when...". Ask any question that seems appropriate to the subject and you will eventually find an answer will be suitable to use as a thesis statement.
You can consider the right thesis statement to be all the material of the entire paper boiled down into one sentence. At the most, you can use two sentences. If you need more sentences than that, you probably have not reached that bullseye of a thesis statement yet. When you can explain the basic idea behind your intended paper briefly, you are ready to tackle the rest of your research and writing with greater focus.
While the thesis statement should be general enough to have a variety of resources available to provide supporting evidence, it should not be so general that it makes a weak statement. Weak statements are more difficult to expand. Consider the weak statement "Birds fly" in comparison with the stronger thesis statement "Bird song is affected by noise pollution".
The stronger statement practically leads the writer to an outline that is easier to write. When you have a working thesis statement, break it down into components that will allow you to expand on the concept in the rest of the paper. This task will allow you to organize the material logically in an easy to understand way.
You may find that as you develop your thesis paper, you change the thesis statement to reflect the new information that you are learning. The evolution of your information base and thesis statement can occur even while editing and these changes will be reflected in the different drafts of your final paper.
Thesis writing, as persuasive writing goes, involves a collection of facts that support a single opinion. You will find that your thesis statement will be more effective if you choose an opinion upon which people already disagree. Your paper will be interesting and informative when you can attain this quality in your thesis statement for any thesis writing task.
About the Author:
http://www.essaytown.com
Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
Different Styles of Term Paper Writing
When a term paper is assigned, the instructor will inform the students of the citation style that is preferred for the term paper writing assignment. Failure to produce a paper in the requested style can cause a final rejection of the paper. When a term paper has the power to determine a student's success in a course, it is important for a student to become familiarized with the different styles used in term paper writing.
The different style formats concern the proper citation of digital sources of information. A citation for electronic sources is meant to give as much information as possible about the source. This is important because web pages can be impermanent and the Internet source that was once there, can disappear overnight. The more information that can be detailed about an Internet source, the easier it will be later to verify the previous existence if that becomes necessary.
The main styles that are used for term papers citations are the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), Chicago and Turabian styles. The MLA and APA are used at many colleges. It is the instructor's preferences that will determine the required style for the term paper.
If the instructor does not assign a certain style for the term paper, you can use a general guideline for choosing the style which suggests that the MLA style is suitable for social science term papers and that the APA is good for humanities, literature and arts programs. The Turabian is versatile and can be used for most, if not all term papers.
As for the the Chicago style, it is used for consumer products such as magazines, books, new stories and published material that is not generally used for graded papers, although some teachers will allow its use. You should check with your instructor before using the Chicago style. Other educational institutions use their own styles such as the Harvard style, the Council of Biology Editors style and the Columbia Guide To Online Style.
The different styles concern the placement and formatting of the various elements of the citation. You will be inserting information into each citation that concerns the author's name, title of the work, bibliographic data, publishing information, date of retrieval of the source, date of the copyright, url and any other information that will identify the electronic
source.
As you conduct your research, keep an up to date log of your research with accurate citations that are taken the day that you access the source. This will prevent the loss of information if the page is removed before you have collected the information. Without the proper citation, you cannot properly use a source of information in your term paper.
By carefully adhering to the citation rules that are set by any style, you can produce a correctly formatted list of your information sources. For many instructors, the style of the term paper is just as important the sources used in the background research for term paper writing. You can pass your term paper with flying colors when you can use a citation style that will keep your instructor happy.
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Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
The different style formats concern the proper citation of digital sources of information. A citation for electronic sources is meant to give as much information as possible about the source. This is important because web pages can be impermanent and the Internet source that was once there, can disappear overnight. The more information that can be detailed about an Internet source, the easier it will be later to verify the previous existence if that becomes necessary.
The main styles that are used for term papers citations are the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), Chicago and Turabian styles. The MLA and APA are used at many colleges. It is the instructor's preferences that will determine the required style for the term paper.
If the instructor does not assign a certain style for the term paper, you can use a general guideline for choosing the style which suggests that the MLA style is suitable for social science term papers and that the APA is good for humanities, literature and arts programs. The Turabian is versatile and can be used for most, if not all term papers.
As for the the Chicago style, it is used for consumer products such as magazines, books, new stories and published material that is not generally used for graded papers, although some teachers will allow its use. You should check with your instructor before using the Chicago style. Other educational institutions use their own styles such as the Harvard style, the Council of Biology Editors style and the Columbia Guide To Online Style.
The different styles concern the placement and formatting of the various elements of the citation. You will be inserting information into each citation that concerns the author's name, title of the work, bibliographic data, publishing information, date of retrieval of the source, date of the copyright, url and any other information that will identify the electronic
source.
As you conduct your research, keep an up to date log of your research with accurate citations that are taken the day that you access the source. This will prevent the loss of information if the page is removed before you have collected the information. Without the proper citation, you cannot properly use a source of information in your term paper.
By carefully adhering to the citation rules that are set by any style, you can produce a correctly formatted list of your information sources. For many instructors, the style of the term paper is just as important the sources used in the background research for term paper writing. You can pass your term paper with flying colors when you can use a citation style that will keep your instructor happy.
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Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
The Key to Writing Outstanding College Essays
Writing an exceptional essay is a critical part of college success. Most colleges ask for an essay in the admissions process, and the writing continues from then on. The essay is one of the most popularly-assigned pieces of work, and not just in English classes.
The busy, often poorly-planned college lifestyle can sometimes making writing an essay difficult. Some students get desperate, copying and pasting another students online. Other students pay a friend to write an essay for them. A variety of websites offer to sell custom-written essays to students.
However, few people consider the above methods to be even remotely ethical. While college essays definitely require a lot of hard work, writing papers is a valuable skill that assists in learning the material. Students should think twice before delegating their work to another resource. Not only is it against school policies, but is a bad habit to get into, giving the student an easy out from claiming accountability for their school success.
One of the best ways to get on the right path for a great college essay is to get an early start. Instead of waiting for the night before to get started, students ought to try to make some initial progress on the day that the essay is assigned. Starting early ensures that the essay will at least be in the back of your mind if any relevant information or opportunities arise. Even if you don't crank out several pages of your essay right now, identifying critical ideas and seeking relevant resources are two important steps that should be done early in the process.
Starting early provides another great advantage: additional time to share and review your essay with others. Once you've reached your level of satisfaction, ask a friend or professor to read over your college essay and provide suggestions. It's likely they can find something that you overlooked. Keep an open mind when it comes to critical comments about your paper; additional perspectives may provide new ideas and commentary to enhance and improve your writing.
How can you make your essay stand out in comparison to other students'? Be bold. Take a stand on the essay topic. Don't sit on the fence. While it's important to acknowledge opposing points of view, professors want to hear your personal opinion and unique ideas. If your essay sounds like all of the other students', you'll find your grade stuck in the middle of the bell curve. The most effective essays write themselves, and that typically requires a strong argument that supports itself.
After you've completed writing your essay, read it over. Then share it with a friend or colleague, and ask them to read it. After that, give it a final look. Typos and redundancies are commonly overlooked, especially in lengthy papers. One of the most effective ways to ensure that no typos sneak through is to read your paper out loud. It's easy to overlook mistakes when you skim over your paper, but vocalizing forces you to pay attention and listen for errors.
Exceptional college essays require a lot of critical thinking and focused effort, but it doesn't have to overshadow the other aspects of college. By applying the three suggestions listed above: starting early, writing boldly, and proofreading an extra time around, college essays can be a pain-free assignment that doesn't need to conflict with the other opportunities provided during a student's college years.
About the Author:
http://www.essaytown.com
Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
The busy, often poorly-planned college lifestyle can sometimes making writing an essay difficult. Some students get desperate, copying and pasting another students online. Other students pay a friend to write an essay for them. A variety of websites offer to sell custom-written essays to students.
However, few people consider the above methods to be even remotely ethical. While college essays definitely require a lot of hard work, writing papers is a valuable skill that assists in learning the material. Students should think twice before delegating their work to another resource. Not only is it against school policies, but is a bad habit to get into, giving the student an easy out from claiming accountability for their school success.
One of the best ways to get on the right path for a great college essay is to get an early start. Instead of waiting for the night before to get started, students ought to try to make some initial progress on the day that the essay is assigned. Starting early ensures that the essay will at least be in the back of your mind if any relevant information or opportunities arise. Even if you don't crank out several pages of your essay right now, identifying critical ideas and seeking relevant resources are two important steps that should be done early in the process.
Starting early provides another great advantage: additional time to share and review your essay with others. Once you've reached your level of satisfaction, ask a friend or professor to read over your college essay and provide suggestions. It's likely they can find something that you overlooked. Keep an open mind when it comes to critical comments about your paper; additional perspectives may provide new ideas and commentary to enhance and improve your writing.
How can you make your essay stand out in comparison to other students'? Be bold. Take a stand on the essay topic. Don't sit on the fence. While it's important to acknowledge opposing points of view, professors want to hear your personal opinion and unique ideas. If your essay sounds like all of the other students', you'll find your grade stuck in the middle of the bell curve. The most effective essays write themselves, and that typically requires a strong argument that supports itself.
After you've completed writing your essay, read it over. Then share it with a friend or colleague, and ask them to read it. After that, give it a final look. Typos and redundancies are commonly overlooked, especially in lengthy papers. One of the most effective ways to ensure that no typos sneak through is to read your paper out loud. It's easy to overlook mistakes when you skim over your paper, but vocalizing forces you to pay attention and listen for errors.
Exceptional college essays require a lot of critical thinking and focused effort, but it doesn't have to overshadow the other aspects of college. By applying the three suggestions listed above: starting early, writing boldly, and proofreading an extra time around, college essays can be a pain-free assignment that doesn't need to conflict with the other opportunities provided during a student's college years.
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http://www.essaytown.com
Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
Six Step Term Paper Writing Guide
There are a few steps to take in order to write a proper term paper. In this article the steps and other tips will be discussed in depth. First, let's take a look at these steps that should be followed for term paper writing.
Step One: Choosing a subject
Step Two: Finding sources
Step Three: Gathering information
Step Four: Outlining the paper
Step Five: Rough draft
Step Six: Writing and editing
These six steps provide a good template for research paper writing and should be strictly followed. Depending on the level of schooling the research paper is for, this guide can be used from the high school to the college level in most cases.
Choosing a subject
Although coming up with a subject to write about may seem simple, often times students have trouble in this area. The topic needs to fit into the writing assignment, should be something that has many research references, is a subject you are familiar with along with something you are interested in and something very specific. Other things that need to be taken into consideration when choosing a research topic are; overall value of the subject and overall interest of the subject.
Finding sources
Doing all of the necessary research that will be added to your term paper is one of the most import steps. Places where research information can be found are the library, the internet, scholarly and peer review journals, magazines, newspaper articles and even the television can be useful. One of the most overlooked options available to students during research is the one on one interview with people knowledgeable in the writing subject. What better way to gain information could there be aside from talking with someone who knows the subject?
Gathering information
Once all of the research has been done, everything you have obtained needs to be complied. These sources need to be evaluated to determine whether or not they can be used. All information that appears sketchy and/or lacking references needs to be removed. Everything that goes into your research paper needs to contain verifiable sources.
Outlining the paper
This is a simple step by which you create a structure for your research paper. Each section needs to be broken up into specific areas of important points. These points should be thought out and based on the research sources you have gathered.
Rough draft
Once all of the above mentioned steps have been finished, it's time to begin the actual writing process. A good rule of thumb for writing the rough draft is to create paragraphs based on your brainstorming. Simply by writing down your thoughts based on your research will likely make the final research paper easy to create. If you write your rough draft in a manner that is coherent the last process will go by very quickly.
Writing and editing
The final stage to your research paper is editing and re-writing your rough draft. Spelling, grammatical errors, sources and punctuation all need to be checked and double checked. Make sure ever "t" is crossed and every "i" dotted before you turn your research paper in. No matter how well the other areas of your paper are written, you could still fail to reach your desired results if it isn't edited properly.
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Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
Step One: Choosing a subject
Step Two: Finding sources
Step Three: Gathering information
Step Four: Outlining the paper
Step Five: Rough draft
Step Six: Writing and editing
These six steps provide a good template for research paper writing and should be strictly followed. Depending on the level of schooling the research paper is for, this guide can be used from the high school to the college level in most cases.
Choosing a subject
Although coming up with a subject to write about may seem simple, often times students have trouble in this area. The topic needs to fit into the writing assignment, should be something that has many research references, is a subject you are familiar with along with something you are interested in and something very specific. Other things that need to be taken into consideration when choosing a research topic are; overall value of the subject and overall interest of the subject.
Finding sources
Doing all of the necessary research that will be added to your term paper is one of the most import steps. Places where research information can be found are the library, the internet, scholarly and peer review journals, magazines, newspaper articles and even the television can be useful. One of the most overlooked options available to students during research is the one on one interview with people knowledgeable in the writing subject. What better way to gain information could there be aside from talking with someone who knows the subject?
Gathering information
Once all of the research has been done, everything you have obtained needs to be complied. These sources need to be evaluated to determine whether or not they can be used. All information that appears sketchy and/or lacking references needs to be removed. Everything that goes into your research paper needs to contain verifiable sources.
Outlining the paper
This is a simple step by which you create a structure for your research paper. Each section needs to be broken up into specific areas of important points. These points should be thought out and based on the research sources you have gathered.
Rough draft
Once all of the above mentioned steps have been finished, it's time to begin the actual writing process. A good rule of thumb for writing the rough draft is to create paragraphs based on your brainstorming. Simply by writing down your thoughts based on your research will likely make the final research paper easy to create. If you write your rough draft in a manner that is coherent the last process will go by very quickly.
Writing and editing
The final stage to your research paper is editing and re-writing your rough draft. Spelling, grammatical errors, sources and punctuation all need to be checked and double checked. Make sure ever "t" is crossed and every "i" dotted before you turn your research paper in. No matter how well the other areas of your paper are written, you could still fail to reach your desired results if it isn't edited properly.
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Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
Step by Step How to Write Research Papers
Research papers are meant to propose a certain opinion to their readers. To support the thesis statement, which reduces the paper's main opinion down to one or two sentences, research is done to find supporting evidence that has been published in print and online resources. Typical research papers must provide evidence from a variety of sources. When many sources provide ample evidence to support the thesis statement, the research paper becomes very persuasive.
There are different collections of information that can be used as resource portals. You can find research material at archives, private collections, government offices, libraries and many churches. Your school library is just one portal to the resources that will prove your thesis statement. Reliable resources come in a variety of forms including book, magazine, CD, website page, audio files, micro film, micro fiche, VHS tapes, DVDs and other
mediums.
The Internet can provide different types of publications including online magazines, journals, interviews, videos, electronic books, articles, reviews, essays and more. You have to be sure of the reliability of the information that you retrieve from the Internet. Remember that com addresses can indicate that the address is being used for a commercial website. It is easy to find voices of authority for any particular subject on the Internet that are suitable for citation in a research paper.
The sources of information, when provided by reliable publishers, are either primary or secondary sources. Primary sources concern evidence that is given from a first hand perspective. You may find this type of evidence in testimony, study results, survey results, biographies, observations and other analysis that has been documented in a published form and can provide you with the necessary citations. Secondary sources do not have this first person perspective and instead, are a published treatment that gives information about the primary evidence from a second hand point of view. Examples of secondary sources are encyclopedias, government publications, articles, reviews and commentaries.
Before you give up on a topic because you do not think that there is enough supporting evidence, you should check out all the types of resources that you have available to you. You might discover that you have a winning and unique opinion that can be supported after all. When you have enough evidence, your writing task will become more manageable so that you can meet the paper's deadline.
Depending on the instructor or course, you may be allowed to use both primary and secondary sources of information. This ensures the instructor that the evidence that you are using to support your thesis statement is reliable. Sometimes, secondary sources can get the facts wrong or a crucial point may be missed that will help your paper.
Research papers take patience when it comes to searching for the right information. When you can match enough resources to your thesis statement and research paper, you will be able to write a successful research paper. Research papers depend on excellent resources so use all the resources that you have available for your research work.
About the Author:
http://www.essaytown.com
Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
There are different collections of information that can be used as resource portals. You can find research material at archives, private collections, government offices, libraries and many churches. Your school library is just one portal to the resources that will prove your thesis statement. Reliable resources come in a variety of forms including book, magazine, CD, website page, audio files, micro film, micro fiche, VHS tapes, DVDs and other
mediums.
The Internet can provide different types of publications including online magazines, journals, interviews, videos, electronic books, articles, reviews, essays and more. You have to be sure of the reliability of the information that you retrieve from the Internet. Remember that com addresses can indicate that the address is being used for a commercial website. It is easy to find voices of authority for any particular subject on the Internet that are suitable for citation in a research paper.
The sources of information, when provided by reliable publishers, are either primary or secondary sources. Primary sources concern evidence that is given from a first hand perspective. You may find this type of evidence in testimony, study results, survey results, biographies, observations and other analysis that has been documented in a published form and can provide you with the necessary citations. Secondary sources do not have this first person perspective and instead, are a published treatment that gives information about the primary evidence from a second hand point of view. Examples of secondary sources are encyclopedias, government publications, articles, reviews and commentaries.
Before you give up on a topic because you do not think that there is enough supporting evidence, you should check out all the types of resources that you have available to you. You might discover that you have a winning and unique opinion that can be supported after all. When you have enough evidence, your writing task will become more manageable so that you can meet the paper's deadline.
Depending on the instructor or course, you may be allowed to use both primary and secondary sources of information. This ensures the instructor that the evidence that you are using to support your thesis statement is reliable. Sometimes, secondary sources can get the facts wrong or a crucial point may be missed that will help your paper.
Research papers take patience when it comes to searching for the right information. When you can match enough resources to your thesis statement and research paper, you will be able to write a successful research paper. Research papers depend on excellent resources so use all the resources that you have available for your research work.
About the Author:
http://www.essaytown.com
Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
How to Write Successful College Term Papers
College term papers are an integral part of many college grading systems. It is the rare college program that does not require the student to produce a good college term paper in order to pass their course. Some college term papers are so important to a student's grades, that one bad college term paper can seriously affect the students final mark and ability to pass the course.
With the importance of the college term paper in mind, you can see why it is a good habit to start working on a term paper as soon as it has been assigned. Waiting until the last minute to start and finish the term paper can result in a lower mark than that which could have been achieved if the paper had been started earlier.
When you are developing the college term paper, it is important to follow any guidelines as set out by the instructor. Failure to do so is another factor that can lower your grade on the term paper. Be certain that you understand all of a teacher's style requirements from the assignment.
Developing a schedule that will give you adequate time to write and edit your term paper will get you into the habit of working on the assignment regularly. Your term paper will become more polished as you spend more time perfecting it. When you devote time to your term paper regularly, it offers you the the necessary time to find the necessary resources to cover your subject well and develop strong ideas to support the thesis statement of the paper.
When you are designing the structure of your term paper, a great thesis statement will provide a backbone for the outline. Just like any other formal document, you will need an introduction, main body and conclusion to your term paper. The right thesis statement will be branched out and developed in the main body of your term paper.
The sources of information that you choose for your term paper must be very reliable. Some instructors require that you get their approval on any sources, primary or secondary, that you will use in your research. You will have to keep precise citations of all resources that you use including print and on-line sources.
A well done college term paper will prove to the instructor that you have a firm grasp on the subject that is being taught. The term paper gives you a chance to show off any unique ideas that you may have about your chosen subject and to develop your ideas in such a way that any new ideas can be critiqued.
College term papers can hold the keys to your future so be sure to spend much time and effort on the paper regularly to make the best of the assignment. If you spend half an hour every day working on your college term paper once the assignment is given, you will be saved from the near impossible task of producing an excellent term paper in a short and stress filled period.
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Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
With the importance of the college term paper in mind, you can see why it is a good habit to start working on a term paper as soon as it has been assigned. Waiting until the last minute to start and finish the term paper can result in a lower mark than that which could have been achieved if the paper had been started earlier.
When you are developing the college term paper, it is important to follow any guidelines as set out by the instructor. Failure to do so is another factor that can lower your grade on the term paper. Be certain that you understand all of a teacher's style requirements from the assignment.
Developing a schedule that will give you adequate time to write and edit your term paper will get you into the habit of working on the assignment regularly. Your term paper will become more polished as you spend more time perfecting it. When you devote time to your term paper regularly, it offers you the the necessary time to find the necessary resources to cover your subject well and develop strong ideas to support the thesis statement of the paper.
When you are designing the structure of your term paper, a great thesis statement will provide a backbone for the outline. Just like any other formal document, you will need an introduction, main body and conclusion to your term paper. The right thesis statement will be branched out and developed in the main body of your term paper.
The sources of information that you choose for your term paper must be very reliable. Some instructors require that you get their approval on any sources, primary or secondary, that you will use in your research. You will have to keep precise citations of all resources that you use including print and on-line sources.
A well done college term paper will prove to the instructor that you have a firm grasp on the subject that is being taught. The term paper gives you a chance to show off any unique ideas that you may have about your chosen subject and to develop your ideas in such a way that any new ideas can be critiqued.
College term papers can hold the keys to your future so be sure to spend much time and effort on the paper regularly to make the best of the assignment. If you spend half an hour every day working on your college term paper once the assignment is given, you will be saved from the near impossible task of producing an excellent term paper in a short and stress filled period.
About the Author:
http://www.essaytown.com
Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
How to Write an Essay Paper
If you have been asked to write an essay paper for a high school or college assignment then no doubt you are keen to give yourself the best possibility opportunity to getting a high grade. With this in mind you probably have lots of questions on how to properly research the topic, how to structure the essay and what you need to check before finally submitting the finished piece. Read on to discover exactly what you need to do in order to produce a high grade essay that you will be proud of.
The very first thing that you need to do before anything else is to decide upon the topic or question that you want to write the essay on. This sounds straight forward but just because something sounds interesting does not necessarily make it a straight forward question to tackle. You should look into what resources there are available in order to fully investigate the topic. As you engage with the research you should begin to formulate the relevant issues and arguments that relate to the question and ultimately the conclusions that you will finish the essay on.
This is a crucial stage because if you do not properly do the above you may find yourself at the eleventh hour with an essay that lacks a coherent argument and no depth to the discussion. So before you go any further, be sure to fully understand from the start to the finish what it is you intend to write about.
Once you have gathered the research, you now need to develop a plan or structure for the essay. This is important so that the writing is organized and flows naturally as you write. Consequently the reader will be able to follow the arguments that you make and the direct conclusions that you draw from the research.
Once you begin writing the essay, you need to make sure that you follow the plan that you have constructed but allow yourself to be flexible when editing. When writing the essay you need to develop a strong introduction and conclusion.
The introduction is a platform that will grab the reader's attention and allow you to describe the basics of the problem. As you progress the essay you should use short sharp paragraphs to focus on one clear point at a time. The conclusion should offer the opportunity to tie together the loose strands of your arguments and to offer a point of view that either agrees or disagrees with the original question.
Editing is an important part of any essay. Once you have the basis of the work done it is crucial to read through the work and make any necessary alterations that help to improve the readability and the comprehension of the essay. You should also check for any spelling or grammatical errors as you read.
Finally before submitting the finished essay, it is advisable to ask a friend or family member to proof read your work. It is amazing how one person can completely miss an error, particularly if they are looking at their own and they can be seen easily by another.
Writing an Essay can be a very daunting task, but with a little know-how and organization you can train yourself to be able to write essay papers that always get you the high grades. Why not get started today?
About the Author:
http://www.essaytown.com
Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
The very first thing that you need to do before anything else is to decide upon the topic or question that you want to write the essay on. This sounds straight forward but just because something sounds interesting does not necessarily make it a straight forward question to tackle. You should look into what resources there are available in order to fully investigate the topic. As you engage with the research you should begin to formulate the relevant issues and arguments that relate to the question and ultimately the conclusions that you will finish the essay on.
This is a crucial stage because if you do not properly do the above you may find yourself at the eleventh hour with an essay that lacks a coherent argument and no depth to the discussion. So before you go any further, be sure to fully understand from the start to the finish what it is you intend to write about.
Once you have gathered the research, you now need to develop a plan or structure for the essay. This is important so that the writing is organized and flows naturally as you write. Consequently the reader will be able to follow the arguments that you make and the direct conclusions that you draw from the research.
Once you begin writing the essay, you need to make sure that you follow the plan that you have constructed but allow yourself to be flexible when editing. When writing the essay you need to develop a strong introduction and conclusion.
The introduction is a platform that will grab the reader's attention and allow you to describe the basics of the problem. As you progress the essay you should use short sharp paragraphs to focus on one clear point at a time. The conclusion should offer the opportunity to tie together the loose strands of your arguments and to offer a point of view that either agrees or disagrees with the original question.
Editing is an important part of any essay. Once you have the basis of the work done it is crucial to read through the work and make any necessary alterations that help to improve the readability and the comprehension of the essay. You should also check for any spelling or grammatical errors as you read.
Finally before submitting the finished essay, it is advisable to ask a friend or family member to proof read your work. It is amazing how one person can completely miss an error, particularly if they are looking at their own and they can be seen easily by another.
Writing an Essay can be a very daunting task, but with a little know-how and organization you can train yourself to be able to write essay papers that always get you the high grades. Why not get started today?
About the Author:
http://www.essaytown.com
Keyword tags: term papers, Thesis Writing, writing, Research Papers, Essay Writing, Dissertation, college,
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