With Chicago (Turabian) Style, the bibliography page is where you list all of the sources you used to create your paper. You need to follow a variety of formatting rules when listing the sources. The type of source that you're listing determines the formatting configuration that you'll use, but there are a few formatting rules that work for every listing.
A) ALPHABETIZING. When creating the alphabetical list of the bibliography, sort the list of sources based on the last name of the author. When sorting the list, ignore any spaces in the last name. If you have more than one source from an author, sort them by either the dates in which they were created or by placing the titles of the sources in alphabetical order. Just be certain that once you've chosen a sorting preference for multiple sources from one author, you stick with it.
B) AUTHORS. List the author's last name, followed by the first name and middle name, if the author commonly uses it. If you have more than one author for a source, list each one individually. The first author should be listed by last name, then first name. Subsequent authors should be listed by first name, then last name. When listing more than one author, separate them by commas, with the word "and" ahead of the final author in the list.
C) CAPITALIZATION. Use headline-style capitalization with all titles in your bibliography.
D) INDENTION. After the first line of each source, indent each subsequent line about one-half inch, creating a hanging indention for each source.
E) SPACING. You may single-space each entry in the bibliography, leaving a blank space between entries.
I. BIBLIOGRAPHY EXAMPLES
Here are some examples for listing various sources in Chicago (Turabian) Style. (These examples do not follow the indention rules.)
ARTICLES. When using a newspaper or a magazine as a source, list the author, title of the article (in quotations), name of the periodical (in italics), date of publication, and page numbers used.
* Johnson, Thomas J. "Governments Invest in Technology." New York Times, 29 November 2007, B1.
A journal article requires slightly different formatting. Be sure to include the issue number and the issue date ahead of the page number(s).
* Johnson, Thomas J. "The Economic Impact of Technology." Journal of Economic Growth 6 (June 2005): 110-2.
BOOKS. Include the author's name, the book title (italicized), the publisher's location and name, and the date of publication. Do not use the page numbers used as a source in the bibliography.
* Johnson, Thomas J. and Xavier Quincy Smith. Economic Growth in Africa. New York: Jones Brothers Publishers, 2003.
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT. Because such a document usually doesn't include an author, list the governmental division in the alphabetical list and italicize the title.
* U.S. Department of the Treasury. Economic Growth Forecast, 2006-2010. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 2005.
INTERNET SITE. List the author's name, if known; title of the online article or Web page (in quotations); Web site name; date of publication, if known; Internet address; and date of retrieval (in parentheses).
* Johnson, Thomas J. "Determining Technology's Role in Economic Growth." Economic Growth, August 20, 2006, http://www.economicgrowth.com/johnson/techrole.html (accessed July 20, 2007).
SCHOLARLY WORK. If using a thesis or dissertation as a source, list the author's name, the title (in quotations), the type of paper, the educational institution, and the year of publication.
* Jones, Steven. "Hydrogen Bonding and Water Molecules." Ph.D. diss., State University, 2000.
II. ODD SITUATIONS
Same author, multiple sources. If you end up with several sources from the same author, you may skip repeating the author's name. Instead, use a solid horizontal line to replace the author's name. The horizontal line should be noticeably longer than the hanging indention of the source, probably three-quarters inch to one inch in length. If you have an additional source that lists multiple authors, you will have to enter the original author's name again. The only time you may use the horizontal line is when all of the authors are the same as the previous work in the list. In the four examples below, the first two have the same single author, and the last two have the same pair of authors.
* Johnson, Thomas J. "Governments Invest in Technology." New York Times, 29 November 2007, B1.
* _________. "The Economic Impact of Technology." Journal of Economic Growth 6 (June 2005): 110-2.
* Johnson, Thomas J. and Xavier Quincy Smith. Economic Growth in Africa. New York: Jones Brothers Publishers, 2003.
* _________. Economic Decline in Africa. New York: Jones Brothers Publishers, 2006.
III. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
Finally, for additional information on formatting sources in a reference list, look at either The Chicago Manual of Style or Turabian's A Manual for Writers. Both books cover a large number of situations for listing sources within a bibliography. The chicagomanualofstyle(dot)org Web site also has a large number of helpful resources.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using a Chicago Style formatting software to correctly format and write papers in Chicago Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/chicago-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: chicago style turabian apa style mla style
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Creative Writers – Did You Break Your New Year\s Resolutions?
Creative writers, have you already broken your new year's resolution? Did you want to pursue your talents this year? Write more often? Finish that story? Try poetry? Whatever your resolution, breaking it is only natural.
Life is busy, and it waits for no one. Don't be cross with yourself for "failing". No one really fails. They are just procrastinating, always thinking tomorrow will be different. It happens with diets. It happens with smoking. It happens with writing, too. The main thing is to pick yourself up the next day and make a new resolution. And should you fail that day, too, make a new resolution the following day.
Daily resolutions are the only kind that really accomplish anything. So now is the time to make your daily resolve. Here are a few ideas to help you refocus.
Break your writing time into small chunks that you can work into any day. Fifteen minutes is a good choice. That gives you five minutes to clear your mind and ten minutes to get into the groove. You'd be surprised what you can write in fifteen minutes.
Here's a true story. An unpublished woman wrote and finished a book by writing fifteen minutes a day on her lunch hour. She sent it to an editor. He bought it, and she got it published. Writers, you make your own limitations, and you make your own chances in life.
When you sit down to write, if you don't see any inspiration, don't let that concern you. You can write about your work, your boss, a rude clerk in the store, a nice person you met, your mate, how you want to remodel the house, or what kind of shopping you would like to do. What matters is that you string your words together in proper English, proper punctuation, and good thought patterns. Everything you write has meaning. It shows your attitude, your interest, your opinion, your intentions, your psychological status, and so much more.
Write at the same time every day, if at all possible. That is the key to wanting to write. If you write at the same time every day for a week, you will begin to feel the urge to write. When you resist that urge because you choose to do something else, the urge will be less the next day. Put writing at the top of your priorities.
Writing at the same time every day will bring the muse. If you don't know what the muse it, you will know it when it hits you. It will be hard to type as fast as your mind delivers the content. You won't want to stop. You won't want to be disturbed. You won't want to do anything but write… and that is the muse. Cherish it. Love it. Obey it when it calls. The muse is to a writer what a car is to a driver. It is your vehicle to transport you from this world into the one you create. For more free writing tips, see below.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now! If the sale has ended, write to deborahowen@cwinst.
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Life is busy, and it waits for no one. Don't be cross with yourself for "failing". No one really fails. They are just procrastinating, always thinking tomorrow will be different. It happens with diets. It happens with smoking. It happens with writing, too. The main thing is to pick yourself up the next day and make a new resolution. And should you fail that day, too, make a new resolution the following day.
Daily resolutions are the only kind that really accomplish anything. So now is the time to make your daily resolve. Here are a few ideas to help you refocus.
Break your writing time into small chunks that you can work into any day. Fifteen minutes is a good choice. That gives you five minutes to clear your mind and ten minutes to get into the groove. You'd be surprised what you can write in fifteen minutes.
Here's a true story. An unpublished woman wrote and finished a book by writing fifteen minutes a day on her lunch hour. She sent it to an editor. He bought it, and she got it published. Writers, you make your own limitations, and you make your own chances in life.
When you sit down to write, if you don't see any inspiration, don't let that concern you. You can write about your work, your boss, a rude clerk in the store, a nice person you met, your mate, how you want to remodel the house, or what kind of shopping you would like to do. What matters is that you string your words together in proper English, proper punctuation, and good thought patterns. Everything you write has meaning. It shows your attitude, your interest, your opinion, your intentions, your psychological status, and so much more.
Write at the same time every day, if at all possible. That is the key to wanting to write. If you write at the same time every day for a week, you will begin to feel the urge to write. When you resist that urge because you choose to do something else, the urge will be less the next day. Put writing at the top of your priorities.
Writing at the same time every day will bring the muse. If you don't know what the muse it, you will know it when it hits you. It will be hard to type as fast as your mind delivers the content. You won't want to stop. You won't want to be disturbed. You won't want to do anything but write… and that is the muse. Cherish it. Love it. Obey it when it calls. The muse is to a writer what a car is to a driver. It is your vehicle to transport you from this world into the one you create. For more free writing tips, see below.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now! If the sale has ended, write to deborahowen@cwinst.
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Creative Writers, Make Easy $$$ Selling Interviews
Creative writers can do interviews to make easy money. Local newspapers eat them up. You will make about $15 or $20 on each one, plus $5 for a picture. Resell the same article all over the nation and turn that $20 into $200.
The first question an interviewee will ask you is, "Who are you going to sell this article to?" The last question they will ask is, "Will I get to see this article before it is sold?"
The answer to the first question is, "I am a freelancer, and I sell to different markets. When I sell it, I will send you a copy." (And be sure you do!) The answer to the last question is, "I'm sorry. Editors disapprove of that practice. I can assure you that I will not misrepresent anything you say."
Finding people to interview is no problem. You don't need access to a three-legged person, a unique museum, or the Fountain of Youth's owner. News is all around you. Open your eyes and look at the ordinary.
Maybe you would want to interview a supervisor in a Coca-Cola factory. How much does the machinery cost. How many bottles are broken daily? What does it cost to produce one bottle of Coke?
To find the right person to interview, make a few phone calls. Ask the operator or receptionist who you should ask about thus and so. Get the name of the person, and talk to their secretary. Ask what his hobby is. When you finally gain access to him, after the formal introductions are finished, you can open with, "I hear you are an avid golfer." And you are off and rolling on your interview.
Take a note pad, pen and small tape recorder. Ask if it is okay to use a tape recorder. Most people will be hesitant. A statement such as, "I just want to get the facts straight. Is it okay if I set this over here?" (point to an unobtrusive place) can relax them. Avoid interrupting the flow of the interview and take notes only when you must. Once you have your information, be sure to thank that person and make arrangements for any follow-up questions by telephone or email.
When you're ready to write it out, choose a working title. You can always change it later, and a working title will help you wrap your mind around the subject.
What will the scope and tone of your article be? Will it be an in-depth study, or will it cover only the highlights? Is your objective to instruct your readers, or will you be entertaining them? Will you be using an argumentative approach, or will you write it as a motivational piece? Once you have answered these questions, the research and writing will go faster and easier.
To feel comfortable about writing your article, you must collect more data than you will ever use. It will give you confidence, and that confidence will exude an air of authority and authenticity in the finished product. See below for more free writer's tips.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now! (If sale has ended, write to deborahowen@cwinst.com)
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
The first question an interviewee will ask you is, "Who are you going to sell this article to?" The last question they will ask is, "Will I get to see this article before it is sold?"
The answer to the first question is, "I am a freelancer, and I sell to different markets. When I sell it, I will send you a copy." (And be sure you do!) The answer to the last question is, "I'm sorry. Editors disapprove of that practice. I can assure you that I will not misrepresent anything you say."
Finding people to interview is no problem. You don't need access to a three-legged person, a unique museum, or the Fountain of Youth's owner. News is all around you. Open your eyes and look at the ordinary.
Maybe you would want to interview a supervisor in a Coca-Cola factory. How much does the machinery cost. How many bottles are broken daily? What does it cost to produce one bottle of Coke?
To find the right person to interview, make a few phone calls. Ask the operator or receptionist who you should ask about thus and so. Get the name of the person, and talk to their secretary. Ask what his hobby is. When you finally gain access to him, after the formal introductions are finished, you can open with, "I hear you are an avid golfer." And you are off and rolling on your interview.
Take a note pad, pen and small tape recorder. Ask if it is okay to use a tape recorder. Most people will be hesitant. A statement such as, "I just want to get the facts straight. Is it okay if I set this over here?" (point to an unobtrusive place) can relax them. Avoid interrupting the flow of the interview and take notes only when you must. Once you have your information, be sure to thank that person and make arrangements for any follow-up questions by telephone or email.
When you're ready to write it out, choose a working title. You can always change it later, and a working title will help you wrap your mind around the subject.
What will the scope and tone of your article be? Will it be an in-depth study, or will it cover only the highlights? Is your objective to instruct your readers, or will you be entertaining them? Will you be using an argumentative approach, or will you write it as a motivational piece? Once you have answered these questions, the research and writing will go faster and easier.
To feel comfortable about writing your article, you must collect more data than you will ever use. It will give you confidence, and that confidence will exude an air of authority and authenticity in the finished product. See below for more free writer's tips.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now! (If sale has ended, write to deborahowen@cwinst.com)
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Friday, January 30, 2009
Grammar Capitalization - Examples of Correct Usage!
One question most frequently asked is about grammar capitalization, when to capitalize people's job titles, political names, or quasi-political entities. Writing manuals are mostly nowadays aligned themselves to the tendency of journalistic circles: less is better.
When a title appears to be as a part of the person's name, mostly before the name, then it is capitalized: Professor Theodore. Likewise, when the title appears to be after the name then it is not to be capitalized: Tiffany Theodore, professor of history.
The grammar capitalization of words which refers to government agencies or institutions will depend on who is writing and where or from what perspective. If you will be writing for the city of New York, regarding charter or just preparing in-house documents on exact office decor, you should capitalize the word city for it to be distinguished from the other cities: The City has an extended tradition of individual freedom. If you will be writing for a newspaper not inside the institutions, you should not capitalize it: The city has refurbished its entire government system.
You do not have to capitalize words when used just modifiers. Directions should not be capitalized unless it becomes a part of an official title of a geographical location: He transfers from south L.A. to the place of South Africa.
In e-mail, For some reason, to estimate it few authors whom the email should reproduce the glance and the feeling of the ancient messages of telegraph, and their capital goes the manner of the windmill or they go to the extreme opposite and capitalized everything. It is nonsense. Appropriate capitalization selected facilitates simply things for reading (unless something is profited by error, and then it slows down things). Without small tails and chiefs we obtain in a nice mixture of higher text and of small letter, the words lose their familiar contact and feel. It is extremely difficult to read the text written in all caps and some regard it as unsuitable and coarse, like shouting to somebody. Retain the use of all caps in the email with the solitary words which need more emphasis (use italics or underline the word, if your customer of email envisages this treatment).
Grammar Capitalization associated with Internet is that there is considerable discussion, always, about the way of benefiting from the words related to the Internet. The majority of the dictionaries profit the Internet, the Web, and associated words such as the World Wide Web (usually shortened with the Web), the Web page, the Web site, etc, but the publications of some companies, such as Microsoft, seem to lean starting from such a capitalization.
This is where an advanced grammar checker helps you in various ways. Aside from its main use which is to check for punctuation errors in your work, it can also be a help in saving some of your time. Using professional grammar software, you will definitely spend less time in checking your work for punctuation errors or likely you will spend no extra time at all. It will do the checking, scanning and corrections for you, all in a hassle free way. With correct placement of punctuation marks, definitely it is easier to read and understand your writing. It is a good thing for both your reader and you.
About the Author:
Watch how innovative Grammar checking software instantly can improve your writings on a daily basis and learn how advanced NLP technology can help you to write better English than your English teacher. Visit: http://wwww.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: Grammar Check, Grammar, Grammar Checker
When a title appears to be as a part of the person's name, mostly before the name, then it is capitalized: Professor Theodore. Likewise, when the title appears to be after the name then it is not to be capitalized: Tiffany Theodore, professor of history.
The grammar capitalization of words which refers to government agencies or institutions will depend on who is writing and where or from what perspective. If you will be writing for the city of New York, regarding charter or just preparing in-house documents on exact office decor, you should capitalize the word city for it to be distinguished from the other cities: The City has an extended tradition of individual freedom. If you will be writing for a newspaper not inside the institutions, you should not capitalize it: The city has refurbished its entire government system.
You do not have to capitalize words when used just modifiers. Directions should not be capitalized unless it becomes a part of an official title of a geographical location: He transfers from south L.A. to the place of South Africa.
In e-mail, For some reason, to estimate it few authors whom the email should reproduce the glance and the feeling of the ancient messages of telegraph, and their capital goes the manner of the windmill or they go to the extreme opposite and capitalized everything. It is nonsense. Appropriate capitalization selected facilitates simply things for reading (unless something is profited by error, and then it slows down things). Without small tails and chiefs we obtain in a nice mixture of higher text and of small letter, the words lose their familiar contact and feel. It is extremely difficult to read the text written in all caps and some regard it as unsuitable and coarse, like shouting to somebody. Retain the use of all caps in the email with the solitary words which need more emphasis (use italics or underline the word, if your customer of email envisages this treatment).
Grammar Capitalization associated with Internet is that there is considerable discussion, always, about the way of benefiting from the words related to the Internet. The majority of the dictionaries profit the Internet, the Web, and associated words such as the World Wide Web (usually shortened with the Web), the Web page, the Web site, etc, but the publications of some companies, such as Microsoft, seem to lean starting from such a capitalization.
This is where an advanced grammar checker helps you in various ways. Aside from its main use which is to check for punctuation errors in your work, it can also be a help in saving some of your time. Using professional grammar software, you will definitely spend less time in checking your work for punctuation errors or likely you will spend no extra time at all. It will do the checking, scanning and corrections for you, all in a hassle free way. With correct placement of punctuation marks, definitely it is easier to read and understand your writing. It is a good thing for both your reader and you.
About the Author:
Watch how innovative Grammar checking software instantly can improve your writings on a daily basis and learn how advanced NLP technology can help you to write better English than your English teacher. Visit: http://wwww.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: Grammar Check, Grammar, Grammar Checker
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Chicago Style Citations : How to Cite Sources Inside the Text in Chicago (Turabian) Style
Any time you write a formal paper, such as a thesis or dissertation, it's important that you properly cite any sources that you use. Any time you use an idea that was introduced in another place -- whether it's a book, a Web site, or another scholarly paper -- you must give credit to the original author, by citing the source. If you use a quotation from another source, you also must list the source in your paper. It's important to list the sources you use so whoever reads your paper can find more information, should they need it. A comprehensive source list also shows your instructor and other readers that you've performed the necessary research to develop the position you've taken in the paper.
Citing sources in Chicago (Turabian) Style requires two processes. One citation is required at the position in the main text where the cited material appears, where you have three options: 1) In-text citations, 2) footnotes, or 3) endnotes. The other citation occurs at the end of the paper, in a list of all cited works, called a reference list or a bibliography. If you use endnotes, the bibliography is not required, although most formal pages include one.
In this article, we'll focus on in-text citations, which Chicago (Turabian) Style sometimes calls parenthetical references, within the main text of the paper. Other articles in this series will handle the other types of references.
I) AUTHOR-DATE
You can use a couple of different types of parenthetical references within the text, depending on the structure of the sentence, as shown in these examples.
AUTHOR-DATE (EXAMPLE A).
Include the name of the author within the sentence, followed by the year of publication inside parentheses.
*The Jones study (2003) indicates that technological advancements spur economic growth.
AUTHOR-DATE (EXAMPLE B).
You can place the name of the authors inside the parentheses with the year of publication, depending on your sentence structure. Use no punctuation within the parentheses.
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth (Jones 2003).
AUTHOR-DATE (EXAMPLE C).
If you don't have a date of publication, use "n.d." in place of the date.
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth (Jones n.d.).
AUTHOR-DATE (EXAMPLE D).
With multiple authors, use commas and the word "and" inside the parentheses. If the cited work has more than three authors, use "et al." after the primary author.
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth (Jones, Johnson, and Smith 2003).
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth (Jones et al. 2003).
AUTHOR-DATE (EXAMPLE E).
If you have multiple sources from the same author or sources from multiple authors with the same last name, you'll have to list part of the title of the work or the organization of the author along with the author. You also can add "a" and "b" to the year of publication, should you have two sources from the same author published in the same year.
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth (Jones Economic Growth Study, 2003).
*Other economic studies show that investing in technological research will benefit the economy, too (Jones Technology and the Economy, 2003).
AUTHOR-DATE (EXAMPLE F).
If you need to cite a source with no author, list a shortened version of the title or the organization that created the source. Use the same formatting as with the author.
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth (State University 2003).
II. FOOTNOTES OR ENDNOTES
If you decide to use footnotes or endnotes instead of the author-date style, you'll need to use numbers within the main text to link the material you want to source with the footnote or endnote. Use an Arabic number with each source, either in superscript, in parentheses, or in brackets. Use the Arabic numbers in sequential order.
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth. [1]
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth. (1)
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth.1 (* this number is superscript)
List each footnote at the bottom of the page where the source is cited. Separate the main text from the footnote(s) with a vertical line, called a separator. Endnotes go at the end of all of the pages of the main text. Indent each footnote or endnote and use single-spacing, with a blank space between each footnote or endnote. After listing the source once in an endnote or footnote, you can use an abbreviated version of the author's name and title of the work upon subsequent listings. Use a superscript number or a number with a period to introduce the footnote.
*1. Jones, Xavier. ...
*1 Jones, Xavier. ... (* this number is superscript)
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an Chicago Style writing software to correctly write and format papers in Chicago Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/download-chicago-style-formatting-software.php
Keyword tags: chicago style turabian apa style mla style
Citing sources in Chicago (Turabian) Style requires two processes. One citation is required at the position in the main text where the cited material appears, where you have three options: 1) In-text citations, 2) footnotes, or 3) endnotes. The other citation occurs at the end of the paper, in a list of all cited works, called a reference list or a bibliography. If you use endnotes, the bibliography is not required, although most formal pages include one.
In this article, we'll focus on in-text citations, which Chicago (Turabian) Style sometimes calls parenthetical references, within the main text of the paper. Other articles in this series will handle the other types of references.
I) AUTHOR-DATE
You can use a couple of different types of parenthetical references within the text, depending on the structure of the sentence, as shown in these examples.
AUTHOR-DATE (EXAMPLE A).
Include the name of the author within the sentence, followed by the year of publication inside parentheses.
*The Jones study (2003) indicates that technological advancements spur economic growth.
AUTHOR-DATE (EXAMPLE B).
You can place the name of the authors inside the parentheses with the year of publication, depending on your sentence structure. Use no punctuation within the parentheses.
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth (Jones 2003).
AUTHOR-DATE (EXAMPLE C).
If you don't have a date of publication, use "n.d." in place of the date.
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth (Jones n.d.).
AUTHOR-DATE (EXAMPLE D).
With multiple authors, use commas and the word "and" inside the parentheses. If the cited work has more than three authors, use "et al." after the primary author.
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth (Jones, Johnson, and Smith 2003).
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth (Jones et al. 2003).
AUTHOR-DATE (EXAMPLE E).
If you have multiple sources from the same author or sources from multiple authors with the same last name, you'll have to list part of the title of the work or the organization of the author along with the author. You also can add "a" and "b" to the year of publication, should you have two sources from the same author published in the same year.
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth (Jones Economic Growth Study, 2003).
*Other economic studies show that investing in technological research will benefit the economy, too (Jones Technology and the Economy, 2003).
AUTHOR-DATE (EXAMPLE F).
If you need to cite a source with no author, list a shortened version of the title or the organization that created the source. Use the same formatting as with the author.
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth (State University 2003).
II. FOOTNOTES OR ENDNOTES
If you decide to use footnotes or endnotes instead of the author-date style, you'll need to use numbers within the main text to link the material you want to source with the footnote or endnote. Use an Arabic number with each source, either in superscript, in parentheses, or in brackets. Use the Arabic numbers in sequential order.
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth. [1]
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth. (1)
*Some economic studies indicate that technological advancements spur economic growth.1 (* this number is superscript)
List each footnote at the bottom of the page where the source is cited. Separate the main text from the footnote(s) with a vertical line, called a separator. Endnotes go at the end of all of the pages of the main text. Indent each footnote or endnote and use single-spacing, with a blank space between each footnote or endnote. After listing the source once in an endnote or footnote, you can use an abbreviated version of the author's name and title of the work upon subsequent listings. Use a superscript number or a number with a period to introduce the footnote.
*1. Jones, Xavier. ...
*1 Jones, Xavier. ... (* this number is superscript)
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an Chicago Style writing software to correctly write and format papers in Chicago Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/download-chicago-style-formatting-software.php
Keyword tags: chicago style turabian apa style mla style
Correct Grammar Software - Write Perfect English Out of the Box!
If you are having a problem in English writing because of your grammar, then worry no more because Correct Grammar Software is the solution. English is so complex in fact if English is your first tongue; it is not guarantee that you can write good English. English writing is considered complex because you need to consider so many things. One major frustration in English writing is proofreading. It takes a lot of time, effort, and money for you to be an expert proofreader.
Correct Grammar software and the like, can easily improve your writing skills. The software automatically corrects your common grammar errors, thus making your text clearer and comprehensible. It is nice to note that if you want to improve your English writing skills you should require yourself extensive practice and discipline. With the invention of this sophisticated language processing solutions, it enables you to improve easily your English writing overall performance. If you to know more about this amazing new technology in English writing, you need to read on.
NLP Brief overview:
Natural Language Processing system or NLP, is the system use on Correct Grammar Software. With this new technology, you will instantly notice that the software will automatically check for various text blocks and whole documents for common grammatical errors. It will make your English writing easier because you can now easily correct, transform or edit your text to make it more readable, interesting and professional. Grammar processing tools rely on the ever-growing database and advance algorithms. The software works in different ways: first, it analyzes your text, and then it compares your text to its database and finally corrects your writing. This unique technology offers text editing and proofreading, punctuation analysis, automatic spell checking, and common grammar checking.
Now you know how important this new technology in English writing is, do you think it can offer you more benefits? Natural Language Processing technology brings several clear benefits:
o Boosts your self-esteem in relation to your writing.
o You can easily avoid common writing mistakes.
o You will learn the easy way in proofreading.
o Help you to avoid embarrassment in relation to grammar errors in writing.
o Helps you be like a professional proofreader.
Learning the correct way of English writing does not need to be expensive nor it will hinder you to do your daily tasks.
Learning grammar is not as easy as one, two three. While some are good at it, others are simply the opposite. It is such a dilemma to be poor at grammar because writing is simply unavoidable, whether at school or at work. In order to send the right message, right grammar is obviously needed. These are the reasons for the existence of the online grammar checker. Unlike the old days where you have limited means of checking your grammar, today you have a quite number of ways to do it.
You should still be in control of your time and not catching up with it. With this technology it will not only save you time and money, but you can also learn English writing in the comforts of your own home.
About the Author:
Watch how innovative Correct Grammar Software instantly can improve your writings on a daily basis and learn how advanced NLP technology can help you to write better English than your English teacher. Visit: http://wwww.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: Correct Grammar Software, Correct Grammar, Grammar Software
Correct Grammar software and the like, can easily improve your writing skills. The software automatically corrects your common grammar errors, thus making your text clearer and comprehensible. It is nice to note that if you want to improve your English writing skills you should require yourself extensive practice and discipline. With the invention of this sophisticated language processing solutions, it enables you to improve easily your English writing overall performance. If you to know more about this amazing new technology in English writing, you need to read on.
NLP Brief overview:
Natural Language Processing system or NLP, is the system use on Correct Grammar Software. With this new technology, you will instantly notice that the software will automatically check for various text blocks and whole documents for common grammatical errors. It will make your English writing easier because you can now easily correct, transform or edit your text to make it more readable, interesting and professional. Grammar processing tools rely on the ever-growing database and advance algorithms. The software works in different ways: first, it analyzes your text, and then it compares your text to its database and finally corrects your writing. This unique technology offers text editing and proofreading, punctuation analysis, automatic spell checking, and common grammar checking.
Now you know how important this new technology in English writing is, do you think it can offer you more benefits? Natural Language Processing technology brings several clear benefits:
o Boosts your self-esteem in relation to your writing.
o You can easily avoid common writing mistakes.
o You will learn the easy way in proofreading.
o Help you to avoid embarrassment in relation to grammar errors in writing.
o Helps you be like a professional proofreader.
Learning the correct way of English writing does not need to be expensive nor it will hinder you to do your daily tasks.
Learning grammar is not as easy as one, two three. While some are good at it, others are simply the opposite. It is such a dilemma to be poor at grammar because writing is simply unavoidable, whether at school or at work. In order to send the right message, right grammar is obviously needed. These are the reasons for the existence of the online grammar checker. Unlike the old days where you have limited means of checking your grammar, today you have a quite number of ways to do it.
You should still be in control of your time and not catching up with it. With this technology it will not only save you time and money, but you can also learn English writing in the comforts of your own home.
About the Author:
Watch how innovative Correct Grammar Software instantly can improve your writings on a daily basis and learn how advanced NLP technology can help you to write better English than your English teacher. Visit: http://wwww.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: Correct Grammar Software, Correct Grammar, Grammar Software
Punctuation Software – Write Error Free Instantly!
One of the hardest things in writing English is the use of punctuation. Are you one of those who sometimes are doubtful on what punctuation marks you are going to use? If so, then this article is for you. The Grammar Punctuation Software is the best solution to your problem.
Grammar Punctuation Software is the solution to any problem on basic editing and proofreading. The software enhances these functionalities (proofreading & Editing) of conventional word processors. You should always remember that English writing is a skill that can be improve through practice. If you will always use the software, it is as if you have a virtual teacher in the comforts of your home. If you desire to improve your writing skill level, read further.
According to the developers of grammar punctuation software, this technology is designed to ensure that your English writing matches the basic grammar and punctuation rules. The software automatically identifies and corrects your writing errors and will enable you to further edit your text or document. It is true that language analyzing technology is complex, but in recent years it made a significant progress as databases got bigger and algorithms got smarter. This state-of-the-art writing technology offers the following benefits: grammar check, punctuation and spelling check.
Natural Language Processing technology (NLP) can surely transform English writing easier.
Advantages in using this kind of technology:
* Analyzes sentence structure for correct punctuation and making your writing more comprehensible.
* Automatically corrects sentence construction problems that is miss looked during manual proofreading.
* It will refine your writing style.
* It will amplify your vocabulary.
* Improve your status quo once people will notice that you are a well educated person.
This amazing technology constantly progress through time, and through this (progress of time), newer version and features will be added, thus making it more useful to you and everyone that uses this software. By doing extra research on this solution, it would bring up additional benefits that are not covered in this article.
If you want to be like the experts, having a clear, clean, and professional English writing, use grammar punctuation software. The fact that English writing is very important nowadays, expect further development with this technology.
What can you benefit from using a punctuation checker? It can help you in many ways. It checks for errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar and it also suggests alternative words to make your writing better. Definitely there is no need for you to look for alternative words such as synonyms every once in a while in your dictionary. Doing online grammar check saves a lot more of your time too, it saves you from the extra time of manual proofreading and editing. Overall, it simplifies your writing tasks and gives you more time to do other things you need to do.
If you desire to improve your English writing skills, then do not take chances, avail of this new technology and take advantage of the things you will get out of it.
About the Author:
Watch how innovative English Punctuation Checker instantly can improve your writings on a daily basis and learn how advanced NLP technology can help you to write better English than your English teacher. Visit: http://wwww.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: English Punctuation, Punctuation Software, Punctuation Checker, Punctuation Check
Grammar Punctuation Software is the solution to any problem on basic editing and proofreading. The software enhances these functionalities (proofreading & Editing) of conventional word processors. You should always remember that English writing is a skill that can be improve through practice. If you will always use the software, it is as if you have a virtual teacher in the comforts of your home. If you desire to improve your writing skill level, read further.
According to the developers of grammar punctuation software, this technology is designed to ensure that your English writing matches the basic grammar and punctuation rules. The software automatically identifies and corrects your writing errors and will enable you to further edit your text or document. It is true that language analyzing technology is complex, but in recent years it made a significant progress as databases got bigger and algorithms got smarter. This state-of-the-art writing technology offers the following benefits: grammar check, punctuation and spelling check.
Natural Language Processing technology (NLP) can surely transform English writing easier.
Advantages in using this kind of technology:
* Analyzes sentence structure for correct punctuation and making your writing more comprehensible.
* Automatically corrects sentence construction problems that is miss looked during manual proofreading.
* It will refine your writing style.
* It will amplify your vocabulary.
* Improve your status quo once people will notice that you are a well educated person.
This amazing technology constantly progress through time, and through this (progress of time), newer version and features will be added, thus making it more useful to you and everyone that uses this software. By doing extra research on this solution, it would bring up additional benefits that are not covered in this article.
If you want to be like the experts, having a clear, clean, and professional English writing, use grammar punctuation software. The fact that English writing is very important nowadays, expect further development with this technology.
What can you benefit from using a punctuation checker? It can help you in many ways. It checks for errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar and it also suggests alternative words to make your writing better. Definitely there is no need for you to look for alternative words such as synonyms every once in a while in your dictionary. Doing online grammar check saves a lot more of your time too, it saves you from the extra time of manual proofreading and editing. Overall, it simplifies your writing tasks and gives you more time to do other things you need to do.
If you desire to improve your English writing skills, then do not take chances, avail of this new technology and take advantage of the things you will get out of it.
About the Author:
Watch how innovative English Punctuation Checker instantly can improve your writings on a daily basis and learn how advanced NLP technology can help you to write better English than your English teacher. Visit: http://wwww.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: English Punctuation, Punctuation Software, Punctuation Checker, Punctuation Check
The Easiest, Fastest Way in the World to Make Money as a Freelance Writer
So you want to be a writer? And you want to be paid for your work. This means writing a best selling novel, maybe a screen play, perhaps a series for prime time television. Isn't that how you make your living as a writer? The answer to those questions is definitely 'NO'. There are many other ways to make very good money from your writing skills which take far less time than any of those genres mentioned earlier and which can also be very much more profitable. We're talking today og a writing genre commonly called 'filler writing'.
Fillers are short manuscripts that can be written in minutes and churned out in very high volume and they are sometimes referred to as 'paragraphs'.
Though we shall refer here to most short written pieces as fillers, it should be mentioned that the term has several different meanings. Sometimes it includes readers' letters, sometimes not, and many publications keep their filler sections separate from that featuring paid letters from readers. Among the many categories of writing traditionally termed 'fillers' one finds anecdotes, recipes, poems, odd things children say, press errors, and many more.
It really doesn't matter what you call it, the fact remains that concentrating on these shorter pieces can be extremely profitable, and markets are plentiful.
I'm sure the person does not exist who can not grow a useful first or second income from writing fillers and readers' letters. And there's also no shortage of Internet and offline publications desperate to add new and talented filler writers to their books.
Of course you're probably wondering why publications require fillers and what makes them keen to attract more talented writers to their filler writing team.
The reasons are numerous and include:
* To fill space where a feature falls short of the published page (the traditional meaning of the term 'filler').
* To lighten otherwise dull text and to add interest to the pages of sometimes staid publications, for instance medical journals and import/export bulletins.
* Some short pieces, notably crossword puzzles and brain teasers, arguably lead the purchaser to retain a publication longer, until he has time to do the puzzle. This increases potential circulation for publisher and advertisers.
* People, allegedly, have less time to concentrate on reading longer features.
* Life today is fast. People want to learn as much as they can, quickly and easily. And as cheaply as possible. And fillers fit the bill exactly.
There you have it, lots of reasons publishers want to pay you for short written pieces and probably no good reason why you should not get started as a published freelance writer, starting today. Go on, get on with it, you won't be sorry you did!
Why not become a filler writer today, why not help yourself to payments of just a few dollars or many hundreds of dollars paid for any of dozens of filler types used in most newspapers and magazines today?
About the Author:
Avril Harper is a successful writer and the author of http://www.fillerfactory.com HOW TO BE A FIVE MINUTE WRITER
Keyword tags: writing, writer, write, freelance writer, avril harper, filler
Fillers are short manuscripts that can be written in minutes and churned out in very high volume and they are sometimes referred to as 'paragraphs'.
Though we shall refer here to most short written pieces as fillers, it should be mentioned that the term has several different meanings. Sometimes it includes readers' letters, sometimes not, and many publications keep their filler sections separate from that featuring paid letters from readers. Among the many categories of writing traditionally termed 'fillers' one finds anecdotes, recipes, poems, odd things children say, press errors, and many more.
It really doesn't matter what you call it, the fact remains that concentrating on these shorter pieces can be extremely profitable, and markets are plentiful.
I'm sure the person does not exist who can not grow a useful first or second income from writing fillers and readers' letters. And there's also no shortage of Internet and offline publications desperate to add new and talented filler writers to their books.
Of course you're probably wondering why publications require fillers and what makes them keen to attract more talented writers to their filler writing team.
The reasons are numerous and include:
* To fill space where a feature falls short of the published page (the traditional meaning of the term 'filler').
* To lighten otherwise dull text and to add interest to the pages of sometimes staid publications, for instance medical journals and import/export bulletins.
* Some short pieces, notably crossword puzzles and brain teasers, arguably lead the purchaser to retain a publication longer, until he has time to do the puzzle. This increases potential circulation for publisher and advertisers.
* People, allegedly, have less time to concentrate on reading longer features.
* Life today is fast. People want to learn as much as they can, quickly and easily. And as cheaply as possible. And fillers fit the bill exactly.
There you have it, lots of reasons publishers want to pay you for short written pieces and probably no good reason why you should not get started as a published freelance writer, starting today. Go on, get on with it, you won't be sorry you did!
Why not become a filler writer today, why not help yourself to payments of just a few dollars or many hundreds of dollars paid for any of dozens of filler types used in most newspapers and magazines today?
About the Author:
Avril Harper is a successful writer and the author of http://www.fillerfactory.com HOW TO BE A FIVE MINUTE WRITER
Keyword tags: writing, writer, write, freelance writer, avril harper, filler
Chicago Style Paper Format : What Pages Do I Need With My Chicago (Turabian) Style Paper?
If you are writing a thesis or dissertation or any formal paper using Chicago (Turabian) Style, you have several options for deciding which pages to include in your paper. Some pages are required, while others are optional for your thesis or dissertation. I have listed the page descriptions (below) in the order in which they should appear in your Chicago (Turabian) Style paper. Always start each of these sections on a new page. Most of them will only require one page.
A) TITLE. On the title page, which is required, all text must be double-spaced using uppercase characters. Center the text both horizontally and vertically. Begin with the name of the educational institution, followed by the title. Next, list the committee to which you're submitting the dissertation or thesis, along with the department or college for which you're submitting it. Then include the word "BY" on a separate line, followed by the author's name. Finally, place the city and state where you wrote the paper, along with the month and year of graduation. Place extra horizontal lines between each section on the title page, allowing you to center it vertically on the paper. Keep in mind that the title page is the first of the "display" pages in Chicago (Turabian) Style, but you do not number it.
B) COPYRIGHT PAGE OR BLANK PAGE. This page is immediately after the title page, and you need to either include a copyright notice or leave the page blank. The blank (or mostly blank) page prevents characters on the first main text page from bleeding through the title page. For the copyright, near the bottom of the page, type "Copyright," the copyright symbol, the year the paper was written, and the name of the author. On the next line, indent and type, "All rights reserved" with no punctuation marks. Do not number this page, either, but you do count it in your pagination. The next display page will be "iii" in roman numerals.
C) DEDICATION. A dedication page is an optional page. Simply type "To" followed by the name of the person(s) to which you want to dedicate the paper.
D) EPIGRAPH PAGE. The epigraph page, which may contain a poem or quotation, is optional.
E) TABLE OF CONTENTS. The table of contents is an optional page, and it should be numbered as part of the display pages. It is an organized listing of the contents of the paper, providing page numbers to the various sections and headings in the paper. The reader can use the table of contents to jump to a particular section of the paper. When listing chapter headings in the table of contents, make sure they exactly match the chapter headings in the text. Use a leader to connect the chapter heading or section name (aligned on the left) with the page number (aligned on the right). Type "CONTENTS" or "TABLE OF CONTENTS" centered at the top of the page.
F) LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND LIST OF TABLES. These optional pages are part of the display pages, and you should only use them if you have illustrations and tables in your paper. List each illustration or table with the appropriate title and page number, connected by a leader. Right-align the page number and left-align the title of each table or figure.
G) PREFACE. The preface is another optional display page. The author can list the motivation for the project and acknowledgements.
H) LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS OR GLOSSARY. If you have a lot of odd abbreviations or terms in your paper, you can list them on one of these optional pages.
I) ABSTRACT. Use an abstract page to briefly summarize the contents of the thesis or dissertation. It's an optional display page.
J) MAIN TEXT. Begin numbering the main text with Arabic numerals, and you should no longer use the lowercase roman numerals from the display pages. Each Arabic page number should appear in the upper right corner of each page. If you have a chapter heading or another type of main heading at the top of a page, you may center the page number at the bottom of the page.
K) APPENDIX. Use the optional appendix page(s) for material that doesn't quite fit into the main text, such as complex tables or technical notes. You may have more than one appendix. Each appendix should deal with a different idea or topic. Number them either with letters or numbers, such as "Appendix A" and "B" and "C," for example.
L) BIBLIOGRAPHY OR REFERENCE LIST. Include your bibliography after the final main text page or appendix page on a new page. The reference list page should include all works that you've cited in your paper, listed alphabetically. (We'll discuss citing references in another article.) Make sure you continue the Arabic page numbering throughout the bibliography pages.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an Chicago Style writing software to correctly write and format papers in Chicago Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/download-chicago-style-formatting-software.php
Keyword tags: chicago style turabian apa style mla style
A) TITLE. On the title page, which is required, all text must be double-spaced using uppercase characters. Center the text both horizontally and vertically. Begin with the name of the educational institution, followed by the title. Next, list the committee to which you're submitting the dissertation or thesis, along with the department or college for which you're submitting it. Then include the word "BY" on a separate line, followed by the author's name. Finally, place the city and state where you wrote the paper, along with the month and year of graduation. Place extra horizontal lines between each section on the title page, allowing you to center it vertically on the paper. Keep in mind that the title page is the first of the "display" pages in Chicago (Turabian) Style, but you do not number it.
B) COPYRIGHT PAGE OR BLANK PAGE. This page is immediately after the title page, and you need to either include a copyright notice or leave the page blank. The blank (or mostly blank) page prevents characters on the first main text page from bleeding through the title page. For the copyright, near the bottom of the page, type "Copyright," the copyright symbol, the year the paper was written, and the name of the author. On the next line, indent and type, "All rights reserved" with no punctuation marks. Do not number this page, either, but you do count it in your pagination. The next display page will be "iii" in roman numerals.
C) DEDICATION. A dedication page is an optional page. Simply type "To" followed by the name of the person(s) to which you want to dedicate the paper.
D) EPIGRAPH PAGE. The epigraph page, which may contain a poem or quotation, is optional.
E) TABLE OF CONTENTS. The table of contents is an optional page, and it should be numbered as part of the display pages. It is an organized listing of the contents of the paper, providing page numbers to the various sections and headings in the paper. The reader can use the table of contents to jump to a particular section of the paper. When listing chapter headings in the table of contents, make sure they exactly match the chapter headings in the text. Use a leader to connect the chapter heading or section name (aligned on the left) with the page number (aligned on the right). Type "CONTENTS" or "TABLE OF CONTENTS" centered at the top of the page.
F) LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND LIST OF TABLES. These optional pages are part of the display pages, and you should only use them if you have illustrations and tables in your paper. List each illustration or table with the appropriate title and page number, connected by a leader. Right-align the page number and left-align the title of each table or figure.
G) PREFACE. The preface is another optional display page. The author can list the motivation for the project and acknowledgements.
H) LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS OR GLOSSARY. If you have a lot of odd abbreviations or terms in your paper, you can list them on one of these optional pages.
I) ABSTRACT. Use an abstract page to briefly summarize the contents of the thesis or dissertation. It's an optional display page.
J) MAIN TEXT. Begin numbering the main text with Arabic numerals, and you should no longer use the lowercase roman numerals from the display pages. Each Arabic page number should appear in the upper right corner of each page. If you have a chapter heading or another type of main heading at the top of a page, you may center the page number at the bottom of the page.
K) APPENDIX. Use the optional appendix page(s) for material that doesn't quite fit into the main text, such as complex tables or technical notes. You may have more than one appendix. Each appendix should deal with a different idea or topic. Number them either with letters or numbers, such as "Appendix A" and "B" and "C," for example.
L) BIBLIOGRAPHY OR REFERENCE LIST. Include your bibliography after the final main text page or appendix page on a new page. The reference list page should include all works that you've cited in your paper, listed alphabetically. (We'll discuss citing references in another article.) Make sure you continue the Arabic page numbering throughout the bibliography pages.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an Chicago Style writing software to correctly write and format papers in Chicago Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/download-chicago-style-formatting-software.php
Keyword tags: chicago style turabian apa style mla style
English Grammar Exercises - How to Learn English Grammar Easily!
You have studied for several years, but the test to learn English grammar puts you to sleep. You start to feel relaxed with the language. You understand most conversations and can follow the thread to watch movies, you can carry out their daily activities and can act on one another with the natives, but your English grammar needs work.
This article teaches you how to learn without studying the grammar rules of English grammar. This assumes that the native English-speaking people around with you. You can still apply these tips if you are not surrounded with English-speaking people, but you will have to work harder.
How much time do you spend in reading English books? Do you feel like enjoying while reading in English? If not, then start there. Ask a librarian at your local library to select books in English that match your current capabilities. For example, if your conversational skills are at an intermediate level, like you can talk with familiar matters, make and respond to simple questions, and began responding to simple statements, and continues discussions face to face, then you start with children's books. These are quite short so you do not get discouraged, and the language was varied enough to expose you to a rich platform so you can learn English grammar and vocabulary.
If your English skills are at the advanced level, for example, you can participate freely in the works and something more casual conversations, able to give directions or simple explanations on the job, and able to talk about recent developments and future, after you might want to try the young adult literature.
If your skills are still at a beginner level, do not fret. For example, if you can ask questions and make statements based on simple prayers memorized, understand snippets of conversation and simple commands, then search for readers of principle. These are designed for children who just want to learn to read. These books have short sentences and simple vocabulary.
Once you find the right level of books, begin to read regularly. It is best recommended reading at least twenty minutes per day. As you do so, write down the structure of the mental grammar. Well, you find the constructions of grammar that baffle you regularly watch them on paper to discuss later with a native speaker. Help your pronunciation and fluency if you make at least part of their reading aloud. Keep reading English books and as your skills improve, select books that are more difficult.
Reading will be fun and especially when you are exposed to correct English. Best of all, you will get better in English, and you never have to remember another rule of grammar.
Though the course will not cost you any money when you learn English online free, you have to make an investment of time and commitment. You need to take the course seriously to get the most you can out of it. One of the advantages of taking a class online is that you do not have to arrange their work schedule to allow you to attend classes nor is there a specific time in which you have to do their studying. You can open a session at any time and make the lessons at your own pace, reviewing as you feel is so often necessary. Another advantage of it is that there are no textbooks required to buy. If you want you can have your own notebook in which you make notes and you should have a little device in which you can record your own English speaking.
First you have to commit to your learning so that you will not give up as soon as you start to incur mistakes or you encounter difficulties. There are several resources available to help you with the learning process, including a separate section for those who want to learn English whose first language is Chinese. Qualified teachers designed all the lessons and exercises to practice, so that you receive instruction is very similar to what you would receive if you attended a class.
There are free courses in English grammar, which also has a listening component lessons. The lessons are arranged in easy to difficult and you can pass it again as much time as you need in each lesson. The lessons of the starters are in short dialogues read by a native, with whom you can also follow because the words are on the screen. Then you can proceed to a page of instructions on rules related to this specific structure and then with several pages of practical exercises.
For your ease, you can also use an online dictionary that will translate words from English into a variety of world languages. All you have to do is choose the language you want to and typing the word translated into the word. Then the screen will display the translation for you. This is very useful if there are some words in the dialogues or the instructions that you do not understand. Translating into their native language makes it much easier to learn English. Then there are games and other steps that reading and listening as well as opportunities to find pen pals with whom you can communicate personal or private tutors who quickly you can pay per hour if you want.
About the Author:
Watch how innovative English grammar software instantly can improve your writings on a daily basis and learn how advanced NLP technology can help you to write better English than your English teacher. Visit: http://wwww.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: english software, grammar software, learning grammar, grammar, English grammar
This article teaches you how to learn without studying the grammar rules of English grammar. This assumes that the native English-speaking people around with you. You can still apply these tips if you are not surrounded with English-speaking people, but you will have to work harder.
How much time do you spend in reading English books? Do you feel like enjoying while reading in English? If not, then start there. Ask a librarian at your local library to select books in English that match your current capabilities. For example, if your conversational skills are at an intermediate level, like you can talk with familiar matters, make and respond to simple questions, and began responding to simple statements, and continues discussions face to face, then you start with children's books. These are quite short so you do not get discouraged, and the language was varied enough to expose you to a rich platform so you can learn English grammar and vocabulary.
If your English skills are at the advanced level, for example, you can participate freely in the works and something more casual conversations, able to give directions or simple explanations on the job, and able to talk about recent developments and future, after you might want to try the young adult literature.
If your skills are still at a beginner level, do not fret. For example, if you can ask questions and make statements based on simple prayers memorized, understand snippets of conversation and simple commands, then search for readers of principle. These are designed for children who just want to learn to read. These books have short sentences and simple vocabulary.
Once you find the right level of books, begin to read regularly. It is best recommended reading at least twenty minutes per day. As you do so, write down the structure of the mental grammar. Well, you find the constructions of grammar that baffle you regularly watch them on paper to discuss later with a native speaker. Help your pronunciation and fluency if you make at least part of their reading aloud. Keep reading English books and as your skills improve, select books that are more difficult.
Reading will be fun and especially when you are exposed to correct English. Best of all, you will get better in English, and you never have to remember another rule of grammar.
Though the course will not cost you any money when you learn English online free, you have to make an investment of time and commitment. You need to take the course seriously to get the most you can out of it. One of the advantages of taking a class online is that you do not have to arrange their work schedule to allow you to attend classes nor is there a specific time in which you have to do their studying. You can open a session at any time and make the lessons at your own pace, reviewing as you feel is so often necessary. Another advantage of it is that there are no textbooks required to buy. If you want you can have your own notebook in which you make notes and you should have a little device in which you can record your own English speaking.
First you have to commit to your learning so that you will not give up as soon as you start to incur mistakes or you encounter difficulties. There are several resources available to help you with the learning process, including a separate section for those who want to learn English whose first language is Chinese. Qualified teachers designed all the lessons and exercises to practice, so that you receive instruction is very similar to what you would receive if you attended a class.
There are free courses in English grammar, which also has a listening component lessons. The lessons are arranged in easy to difficult and you can pass it again as much time as you need in each lesson. The lessons of the starters are in short dialogues read by a native, with whom you can also follow because the words are on the screen. Then you can proceed to a page of instructions on rules related to this specific structure and then with several pages of practical exercises.
For your ease, you can also use an online dictionary that will translate words from English into a variety of world languages. All you have to do is choose the language you want to and typing the word translated into the word. Then the screen will display the translation for you. This is very useful if there are some words in the dialogues or the instructions that you do not understand. Translating into their native language makes it much easier to learn English. Then there are games and other steps that reading and listening as well as opportunities to find pen pals with whom you can communicate personal or private tutors who quickly you can pay per hour if you want.
About the Author:
Watch how innovative English grammar software instantly can improve your writings on a daily basis and learn how advanced NLP technology can help you to write better English than your English teacher. Visit: http://wwww.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: english software, grammar software, learning grammar, grammar, English grammar
Software For English Grammar – The Expert Grammar Checker!
Proofreading and or editing for non-professional proofreaders and editors can be a very frustrating thing to do. It is to your advantage if you are a native speaker, but it is not a guarantee that your writing is already very good. For non-native speakers, writing in English can give you headache especially if you wish to write a significantly good letter or article. It simply means that writing in English is not as easy as you think. While it is a smart move to let the professionals do the work for you especially proofreading and editing, but using software for English grammar is a smarter move. You will not only save money but it will also enhance your writing skills.
If you wish to improve your writing skills, then software for English grammar is the solution. This type of software which uses Natural Language Processing system (NLP) can actually enrich your texts. This new technology instantly checks spelling, verifies the proper us of English grammar, and analyzes your complete document to provide you context-based recommendations to enhance your vocabulary with synonyms, adjectives and adverbs.
With this state of the art online software, the smart algorithm of all software for English grammar enriches your English writing skills. All you need to do is simply write normally and the software automatically checks for error in spelling, grammar and punctuation to improve your text. If you will continuously use this software in your writing, you will soon have a wide range of vocabulary, and you will slowly learn the process of proofreading and editing your text. The use of this software program will give you the following advantages:
* Enhance your vocabulary.
* Improves your writing skills
* Boosts your ego as soon as people will recognize how good you are in your writing skills.
* Improves your speaking skills as well as making you a good public speaker.
* You will be trusted more by your boss
* Will get you a high paying job
* If you are a businessman, you will learn how to make letters, emails etc. using correct and proper use of grammar.
* Helps you make your thesis if you are a student
* And more…
For every writing purpose, accuracy is very important for successful communication. According to experts, English is complicated and there are many issues you need to check and take into consideration. Each of the elements in writing (proofreading, grammar rules, spelling, and punctuation) contributes to a solid and comprehensible finish document. Your reader is at risk not to understand what you want to convey once one of the elements is missing or incorrect. This will cause you a lot of trouble someday.
Major word processing programs nowadays include some form of grammar checking software. These handy tools have therefore become the de facto standard of grammar checking tools. However, they are not the ultimate grammar checking tools available in the market today. Actually, there are a lot of grammar checking software available. Some of these grammar checking software are actually better than the more popular ones. Because it is made specifically to provide accurate grammar checking, a specifically made grammar checking software can offer better results than the ones that are found in more popular products.
The impact of grammar checking software is widely felt. In the education sector, grammar checking software has allowed students with only moderate writing skills to submit fairly well done compositions. In the corporate world, grammar checking software has made sure that communications within a company and between the company and the outside world remain clear and precise. Grammar checking software has also made the English language more accessibly to people who do not speak English natively. It has made communications between different cultures much more easier.
So, instead of taking the chance, avail of software for English grammar and let it guide you in all your writing problems.
About the Author:
Watch how innovative software for English grammar instantly can improve your writings on a daily basis and learn how advanced NLP technology can help you to write better English than your English teacher.
Visit: http://wwww.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: software for English grammar, English grammar software, grammar software, grammar
If you wish to improve your writing skills, then software for English grammar is the solution. This type of software which uses Natural Language Processing system (NLP) can actually enrich your texts. This new technology instantly checks spelling, verifies the proper us of English grammar, and analyzes your complete document to provide you context-based recommendations to enhance your vocabulary with synonyms, adjectives and adverbs.
With this state of the art online software, the smart algorithm of all software for English grammar enriches your English writing skills. All you need to do is simply write normally and the software automatically checks for error in spelling, grammar and punctuation to improve your text. If you will continuously use this software in your writing, you will soon have a wide range of vocabulary, and you will slowly learn the process of proofreading and editing your text. The use of this software program will give you the following advantages:
* Enhance your vocabulary.
* Improves your writing skills
* Boosts your ego as soon as people will recognize how good you are in your writing skills.
* Improves your speaking skills as well as making you a good public speaker.
* You will be trusted more by your boss
* Will get you a high paying job
* If you are a businessman, you will learn how to make letters, emails etc. using correct and proper use of grammar.
* Helps you make your thesis if you are a student
* And more…
For every writing purpose, accuracy is very important for successful communication. According to experts, English is complicated and there are many issues you need to check and take into consideration. Each of the elements in writing (proofreading, grammar rules, spelling, and punctuation) contributes to a solid and comprehensible finish document. Your reader is at risk not to understand what you want to convey once one of the elements is missing or incorrect. This will cause you a lot of trouble someday.
Major word processing programs nowadays include some form of grammar checking software. These handy tools have therefore become the de facto standard of grammar checking tools. However, they are not the ultimate grammar checking tools available in the market today. Actually, there are a lot of grammar checking software available. Some of these grammar checking software are actually better than the more popular ones. Because it is made specifically to provide accurate grammar checking, a specifically made grammar checking software can offer better results than the ones that are found in more popular products.
The impact of grammar checking software is widely felt. In the education sector, grammar checking software has allowed students with only moderate writing skills to submit fairly well done compositions. In the corporate world, grammar checking software has made sure that communications within a company and between the company and the outside world remain clear and precise. Grammar checking software has also made the English language more accessibly to people who do not speak English natively. It has made communications between different cultures much more easier.
So, instead of taking the chance, avail of software for English grammar and let it guide you in all your writing problems.
About the Author:
Watch how innovative software for English grammar instantly can improve your writings on a daily basis and learn how advanced NLP technology can help you to write better English than your English teacher.
Visit: http://wwww.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: software for English grammar, English grammar software, grammar software, grammar
Grammar and Writing Software - The Expert\s Text Checking Choice!
Grammar and Writing Software provides a more advance technological solution to any writing problem. If you wish for your writing skills to be enhance without attending any formal education on writing because you do not have the pleasure of time, then you really need to avail of the software. Possibly you write to fulfill your writing needs like your projects that demand writing, making of articles, documents, or simply replying and sending mails or emails. It is really necessary to keep your writing grammatically correct and professional. So, if you wish to know more about you can improve your skills in writing, then continue reading.
Grammar and writing software suggests new and state of the art ways in improving your writing skills and your style of writing. According to experts, this software simulates the human mind by properly reading and analyzing your text. It will then fix it according to a sophisticated self-learning algorithm. With the use of this very sophisticated software you can check your whole document for proper grammar use, spelling, punctuation, and sometimes few software offers you text enrichment capable program. Using this type of technology assures you of a much easier life and gives you a step or more, ahead than those who do not have.
What are some of the advantages you can get in using grammar and writing software? Aside from making your life easier as mentioned awhile ago, it will:
* No more paying expensive fees to professional proofreaders. You can also finish your writing job the earliest possible time, and you will have more time making other writing documents.
* It will enhance and widen your vocabulary.
* Soon you will learn how to proofread like the professionals.
* It will also improve your speaking skills.
* People will know you as very educated person.
* You will be able to communicate well with your colleagues.
You may want to add more but the least common denominator is, it will improve your status not only in writing or speaking but also your status as a person.
If we will closely examine the things you can get from using a grammar & writing software, you might as well find more additional benefits that are not mentioned in this article. As new improvements to this technology takes place, it will also bring you new improvements and ideas in your desire to learn good English writing.
Grammar & Writing Software programs and other Natural Language Processing (NLP) system will of no doubt gain more popularity as we all understand the importance of having high-quality writing. Though this technology is not 100 percent accurate or perfect, however it still provides help for your most common writing problems. As the English demand progress, so will this technology.
If you will do some extra research on this solution, it will probably give you additional benefits that are not describe on this article. Always remember solutions are constantly moving forward, bringing newer improvements and ideas that will help you improve your writing abilities.
Do not take chances because to improve is to take matters properly, and by having a grammar and writing software is the proper way to solve and improve your writing skills.
About the Author:
Watch how innovative Grammar and Writing Software instantly can improve your writings on a daily basis and learn how advanced NLP technology can help you to write better English than your English teacher. Visit: http://wwww.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: Grammar and Writing Software, grammar software, writing software, grammar, writing
Grammar and writing software suggests new and state of the art ways in improving your writing skills and your style of writing. According to experts, this software simulates the human mind by properly reading and analyzing your text. It will then fix it according to a sophisticated self-learning algorithm. With the use of this very sophisticated software you can check your whole document for proper grammar use, spelling, punctuation, and sometimes few software offers you text enrichment capable program. Using this type of technology assures you of a much easier life and gives you a step or more, ahead than those who do not have.
What are some of the advantages you can get in using grammar and writing software? Aside from making your life easier as mentioned awhile ago, it will:
* No more paying expensive fees to professional proofreaders. You can also finish your writing job the earliest possible time, and you will have more time making other writing documents.
* It will enhance and widen your vocabulary.
* Soon you will learn how to proofread like the professionals.
* It will also improve your speaking skills.
* People will know you as very educated person.
* You will be able to communicate well with your colleagues.
You may want to add more but the least common denominator is, it will improve your status not only in writing or speaking but also your status as a person.
If we will closely examine the things you can get from using a grammar & writing software, you might as well find more additional benefits that are not mentioned in this article. As new improvements to this technology takes place, it will also bring you new improvements and ideas in your desire to learn good English writing.
Grammar & Writing Software programs and other Natural Language Processing (NLP) system will of no doubt gain more popularity as we all understand the importance of having high-quality writing. Though this technology is not 100 percent accurate or perfect, however it still provides help for your most common writing problems. As the English demand progress, so will this technology.
If you will do some extra research on this solution, it will probably give you additional benefits that are not describe on this article. Always remember solutions are constantly moving forward, bringing newer improvements and ideas that will help you improve your writing abilities.
Do not take chances because to improve is to take matters properly, and by having a grammar and writing software is the proper way to solve and improve your writing skills.
About the Author:
Watch how innovative Grammar and Writing Software instantly can improve your writings on a daily basis and learn how advanced NLP technology can help you to write better English than your English teacher. Visit: http://wwww.englishsoftware.org
Keyword tags: Grammar and Writing Software, grammar software, writing software, grammar, writing
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
How To Write A Thesis Or Dissertation In Chicago (Turabian) Style
Although several formatting styles exist for college students who are creating a thesis or dissertation, there's one style that works in almost every circumstance: Chicago (Turabian) Style. For a general-assignment paper, Chicago (Turabian) Style works extremely well. Although Chicago (Turabian) Style will work for a thesis or dissertation as well, your instructor might want you to use another, more formal style that's designed specifically for a thesis in a certain area of study. MLA Style, for example, works well with areas of study in liberal arts, and APA Style works well with psychological areas of study. Think of Chicago (Turabian) Style as a flexible option for creating a thesis or dissertation that doesn't quite fit some of the other style options.
Chicago (Turabian) Style requires following several rules for formatting the paper and for listing the sources you used to create the paper. As you look the rules and the large books devoted to Chicago (Turabian) Style, you might be intimidated. After all, if the book describing how to follow Chicago (Turabian) Style is 900 or more pages, how difficult is it for you to learn enough rules to formulate a decent paper? It's not as difficult as it seems. Following Chicago (Turabian) Style requires learning a few basic, common sense rules, and then applying slight variations of those rules throughout your paper.
I. The Origination of Chicago (Turabian) Style
The University of Chicago Press oversees the guidelines and rules for Chicago (Turabian) Style. The main publication devoted to Chicago (Turabian) Style is "The Chicago Manual of Style," which sometimes is abbreviated to CMS or CMOS. The University of Chicago Press created the first Chicago Style Manual in 1906, and the 15th edition appeared in 2003.
The Chicago Style Manual provides advice and guidelines for all aspects of writing; it is not limited to creating formal papers. You'll find tips and rules on grammar, correct usage of abbreviations, and proper punctuation in the Chicago Style Manual. Beyond the printed edition of the Chicago Style Manual, you can visit chicagomanualofstyle(dot)org on the Internet for more information, including a "Quick Guide" to Chicago (Turabian) Style. The Chicago Style Manual is available at the Web site for $55 in a print version and $60 in an electronic version. You also can access the entire Chicago Style Manual through the Web site with an annual $30 subscription fee.
As part of the Chicago (Turabian) Style is "A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations," written by Kate L. Turabian. Turabian served as the dissertation secretary at the University of Chicago for almost 30 years, and she created the Turabian Manual as a complement to the Chicago Style Manual. The Turabian Manual was designed to give students a list of rules and guidelines to follow for various writing projects. The first Turabian Manual was a pamphlet Turabian created in the 1930s describing the correct style for formatting a dissertation. The Turabian manual is now in its sixth edition, which was printed in 1996. Turabian died in 1987.
Turabian Style and Chicago Style are almost identical, which is why they're often referred to in combination. Turabian Style allows for use of footnotes for citing sources, which separates it from many styles of writing formal papers. Papers that use Chicago (Turabian) Style typically are less formal papers not designed for publication. However, Chicago (Turabian) Style is flexible enough to work with almost any type of paper, including a thesis or dissertation.
II. How To Start Your Chicago (Turabian) Style Paper
With any formal paper, including a Chicago (Turabian) Style paper, research is the key to create a strong paper. While performing research, track your sources. With every quotation or idea that you use from a source, you must tell your readers about the source. The type of information you'll need from a source varies, depending on the publication, but most citations of sources require at least the author's name, article title, publication name, publication date, and pages that generated the idea or quotation.
When it's time to write your paper, using a computer with word processing software (such as Microsoft Word or Wordperfect) works well for following the formatting requirements for Chicago (Turabian) Style.
For more in-depth items that are not covered here, you may want to access one of the many books or Internet sites devoted to Chicago (Turabian) Style.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using a Chicago Style formatting software to correctly format and write papers in Chicago Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/chicago-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: chicago style turabian apa style mla style
Chicago (Turabian) Style requires following several rules for formatting the paper and for listing the sources you used to create the paper. As you look the rules and the large books devoted to Chicago (Turabian) Style, you might be intimidated. After all, if the book describing how to follow Chicago (Turabian) Style is 900 or more pages, how difficult is it for you to learn enough rules to formulate a decent paper? It's not as difficult as it seems. Following Chicago (Turabian) Style requires learning a few basic, common sense rules, and then applying slight variations of those rules throughout your paper.
I. The Origination of Chicago (Turabian) Style
The University of Chicago Press oversees the guidelines and rules for Chicago (Turabian) Style. The main publication devoted to Chicago (Turabian) Style is "The Chicago Manual of Style," which sometimes is abbreviated to CMS or CMOS. The University of Chicago Press created the first Chicago Style Manual in 1906, and the 15th edition appeared in 2003.
The Chicago Style Manual provides advice and guidelines for all aspects of writing; it is not limited to creating formal papers. You'll find tips and rules on grammar, correct usage of abbreviations, and proper punctuation in the Chicago Style Manual. Beyond the printed edition of the Chicago Style Manual, you can visit chicagomanualofstyle(dot)org on the Internet for more information, including a "Quick Guide" to Chicago (Turabian) Style. The Chicago Style Manual is available at the Web site for $55 in a print version and $60 in an electronic version. You also can access the entire Chicago Style Manual through the Web site with an annual $30 subscription fee.
As part of the Chicago (Turabian) Style is "A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations," written by Kate L. Turabian. Turabian served as the dissertation secretary at the University of Chicago for almost 30 years, and she created the Turabian Manual as a complement to the Chicago Style Manual. The Turabian Manual was designed to give students a list of rules and guidelines to follow for various writing projects. The first Turabian Manual was a pamphlet Turabian created in the 1930s describing the correct style for formatting a dissertation. The Turabian manual is now in its sixth edition, which was printed in 1996. Turabian died in 1987.
Turabian Style and Chicago Style are almost identical, which is why they're often referred to in combination. Turabian Style allows for use of footnotes for citing sources, which separates it from many styles of writing formal papers. Papers that use Chicago (Turabian) Style typically are less formal papers not designed for publication. However, Chicago (Turabian) Style is flexible enough to work with almost any type of paper, including a thesis or dissertation.
II. How To Start Your Chicago (Turabian) Style Paper
With any formal paper, including a Chicago (Turabian) Style paper, research is the key to create a strong paper. While performing research, track your sources. With every quotation or idea that you use from a source, you must tell your readers about the source. The type of information you'll need from a source varies, depending on the publication, but most citations of sources require at least the author's name, article title, publication name, publication date, and pages that generated the idea or quotation.
When it's time to write your paper, using a computer with word processing software (such as Microsoft Word or Wordperfect) works well for following the formatting requirements for Chicago (Turabian) Style.
For more in-depth items that are not covered here, you may want to access one of the many books or Internet sites devoted to Chicago (Turabian) Style.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using a Chicago Style formatting software to correctly format and write papers in Chicago Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/chicago-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: chicago style turabian apa style mla style
How to Format a Paper in Chicago (Turabian) Style
The basic guidelines for creating a thesis, dissertation or formal paper using Chicago (Turabian) Style are straightforward. Most of them use common sense rules and formatting options. Use some of the guidelines listed here to format your thesis or dissertation using Chicago (Turabian) Style.
A) ABBREVIATIONS. Abbreviations appear more regularly in formal papers now versus a few decades ago. If you choose to use abbreviations, stick with common ones. However, do not use abbreviations for expressions of dimensions, such as "miles." When using abbreviations that contain two periods, such as "U.S.", do not add a space after the first period.
B) ALIGNMENT. Chicago (Turabian) Style requires left justification of all text (minus indentions), but it allows for either ragged right or full justification of text. If you choose full justification, Chicago (Turabian) Style requires you to ensure that the spacing between words is minimal and that hyphens used to break words at the end of a line are used correctly and sparingly. Your word processing software should enable you to follow these two rules for full justification, unless you have numerous extremely large words in your paper.
C) CAPITALIZATION. Beyond typical sentences, Chicago (Turabian) Style allows for two types of capitalization. Headline-style capitalization calls for capitalizing all words, other than articles, certain prepositions, and conjunctions. Sentence-style capitalization calls for capitalizing only the first word, a word after a colon, and proper nouns.
D) CORRECTING FLUID. You may use a white correcting fluid to cover black specks and stray spots on the final paper.
E) DATE. Chicago (Turabian) Style allows for two date formats: 31 March 2008 (day month year) or March 31, 2008 (month day, year). Just be certain that you select one format and stick with it throughout your paper.
F) FONT. If using a word processor, stick with a serif font, such as Times New Roman. Use text in a 10- or 12-point size. A computer-generated font is preferred to a typewriter because the computer can create italicized text more easily than a typewriter.
G) HYPHENATION. With Chicago (Turabian) Style, you may break words with a hyphen at the end of a line in your main text, but you should not hyphenate words at the end of two consecutive lines.
H) INDENTIONS. Indent paragraphs within the main text of the paper one-half inch or five to eight spaces. Chicago (Turabian) Style does not require a specific indention measurement, but it does require that writers use the same amount of indention throughout the paper.
I) MARGINS. For all four sides of the paper, use a 1-inch margin. However, if the paper will be bound on the left, a wider margin is allowed on the left side.
J) NUMBERS. Spell out and use words for all numbers through 100 in Chicago (Turabian) Style. For numbers larger than 100, use numerals. Exceptions include: Spell out all numbers that start a sentence, use numerals for all percentages and decimal numbers, and use numerals for all numbers within a series of amounts.
K) PAGE NUMBERING. Number almost every page in the paper with Arabic numerals, other than the pages that lead into the main text, such as the copyright, dedication, and table of contents pages. All of these pages, which Chicago (Turabian) Style calls "display" pages, should be numbered with lowercase roman numerals. Do not number the title page, but count the title page among the display pages. The next page should be blank or the copyright page, and it is not numbered, either. The page following the blank/copyright page should be numbered "iii" in roman numerals, centered at the bottom of the page. At the beginning of the main text, switch from roman numerals to Arabic numbers and place the number "1" in the upper-right corner of the page. If, however, a page contains a chapter heading or another type of main heading, you can center the Arabic numeral at the bottom of the page. Number all blank pages and any other pages; the pagination should run consecutively. Place all page numbers at least three-quarters of an inch from the edge of the paper.
L) PAPER TYPE. Use standard white, 20-pound bond paper that measures 8.5-by-11 inches. If using a computer, use an inkjet or laser printer to print the paper.
M) SPACING. Use double-spacing throughout the paper's main text. However, block quotation, endnotes, footnotes, headings, and captions may be single-spaced, according to Chicago (Turabian) Style.
N) TITLE. Center all text on the title page, both horizontally and vertically. All text should be uppercase and double-spaced, too.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using a Chicago Style formatting software to correctly format and write papers in Chicago Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/chicago-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: chicago style turabian apa style mla style
A) ABBREVIATIONS. Abbreviations appear more regularly in formal papers now versus a few decades ago. If you choose to use abbreviations, stick with common ones. However, do not use abbreviations for expressions of dimensions, such as "miles." When using abbreviations that contain two periods, such as "U.S.", do not add a space after the first period.
B) ALIGNMENT. Chicago (Turabian) Style requires left justification of all text (minus indentions), but it allows for either ragged right or full justification of text. If you choose full justification, Chicago (Turabian) Style requires you to ensure that the spacing between words is minimal and that hyphens used to break words at the end of a line are used correctly and sparingly. Your word processing software should enable you to follow these two rules for full justification, unless you have numerous extremely large words in your paper.
C) CAPITALIZATION. Beyond typical sentences, Chicago (Turabian) Style allows for two types of capitalization. Headline-style capitalization calls for capitalizing all words, other than articles, certain prepositions, and conjunctions. Sentence-style capitalization calls for capitalizing only the first word, a word after a colon, and proper nouns.
D) CORRECTING FLUID. You may use a white correcting fluid to cover black specks and stray spots on the final paper.
E) DATE. Chicago (Turabian) Style allows for two date formats: 31 March 2008 (day month year) or March 31, 2008 (month day, year). Just be certain that you select one format and stick with it throughout your paper.
F) FONT. If using a word processor, stick with a serif font, such as Times New Roman. Use text in a 10- or 12-point size. A computer-generated font is preferred to a typewriter because the computer can create italicized text more easily than a typewriter.
G) HYPHENATION. With Chicago (Turabian) Style, you may break words with a hyphen at the end of a line in your main text, but you should not hyphenate words at the end of two consecutive lines.
H) INDENTIONS. Indent paragraphs within the main text of the paper one-half inch or five to eight spaces. Chicago (Turabian) Style does not require a specific indention measurement, but it does require that writers use the same amount of indention throughout the paper.
I) MARGINS. For all four sides of the paper, use a 1-inch margin. However, if the paper will be bound on the left, a wider margin is allowed on the left side.
J) NUMBERS. Spell out and use words for all numbers through 100 in Chicago (Turabian) Style. For numbers larger than 100, use numerals. Exceptions include: Spell out all numbers that start a sentence, use numerals for all percentages and decimal numbers, and use numerals for all numbers within a series of amounts.
K) PAGE NUMBERING. Number almost every page in the paper with Arabic numerals, other than the pages that lead into the main text, such as the copyright, dedication, and table of contents pages. All of these pages, which Chicago (Turabian) Style calls "display" pages, should be numbered with lowercase roman numerals. Do not number the title page, but count the title page among the display pages. The next page should be blank or the copyright page, and it is not numbered, either. The page following the blank/copyright page should be numbered "iii" in roman numerals, centered at the bottom of the page. At the beginning of the main text, switch from roman numerals to Arabic numbers and place the number "1" in the upper-right corner of the page. If, however, a page contains a chapter heading or another type of main heading, you can center the Arabic numeral at the bottom of the page. Number all blank pages and any other pages; the pagination should run consecutively. Place all page numbers at least three-quarters of an inch from the edge of the paper.
L) PAPER TYPE. Use standard white, 20-pound bond paper that measures 8.5-by-11 inches. If using a computer, use an inkjet or laser printer to print the paper.
M) SPACING. Use double-spacing throughout the paper's main text. However, block quotation, endnotes, footnotes, headings, and captions may be single-spaced, according to Chicago (Turabian) Style.
N) TITLE. Center all text on the title page, both horizontally and vertically. All text should be uppercase and double-spaced, too.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using a Chicago Style formatting software to correctly format and write papers in Chicago Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/chicago-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: chicago style turabian apa style mla style
MLA Writing Tips : How Do I Write in MLA Style?
Even though MLA Style lacks explicit rules about specific pages to include in your paper and how to organize those pages, it does have many formatting rules that you need to follow.
Following MLA Style shouldn't detract from the overall work of your paper, however. It takes some work to achieve the proper MLA format, but it's important to not allow the paper format to prevent you from focusing on writing the paper. These tips will give you some additional help to follow MLA Style with your paper.
TIP 1. DOUBLE-CHECK ALL CITATIONS.
With MLA Style, it's important to make sure you have properly listed all of the in-text citations, making it easy for readers to find each citation in the Works Cited list. Make sure you spell all authors' names correctly in the Works Cited list, too, so you don't confuse readers about the author.
TIP 2. FOLLOW YOUR INSTRUCTOR'S INSTRUCTIONS.
You may have an instructor who gives you directions for composing the thesis or dissertation that differ slightly from those in MLA Style. Follow your instructor's guidelines in those instances.
TIP 3. GRAMMAR GUIDELINES.
Papers that follow proper grammar are more likely to receive favorable marks from an instructor. For example, always write in active voice, rather than passive voice. In other words, make certain the subjects of your sentences are doing something in the sentence, rather than the subjects having something done to them. Avoid using contractions in your paper, if possible. Do not use slang or jargon in your paper, unless you're writing about a subject that requires such language. Do not write in the first person; in other words, do not use the words "I" or "me" in any sentence. Try to avoid making absolute statements, especially when you are describing an opinion. Do not use numerous quotations just to fill a word count or page count; make sure quotations add to your argument.
TIP 4. PROOFREADING, A NECESSARY TASK.
For most people, proofreading is the least enjoyable task for compiling a formal paper. However, it's a key task. You might have the most compelling argument your instructor has ever seen, but inadvertently, allowing several grammatical and spelling errors to appear in your paper will make it tough to take your argument seriously. Proofread your paper at least a few times before submitting it. If possible, take a few days off between proofreading sessions. A fresh look at the paper after a break will help you catch a few errors that you may have missed the first time around. Remember that, although word processing software spell checkers are handy, they do not catch every error, such as "to," "too," and "two." Proofreading is vital to having a successful paper.
TIP 5. TAKE YOUR TIME.
During the writing phase or the proofreading phase, you need to leave plenty of time to finish the paper. If you force yourself to hurry to meet a deadline, your writing will suffer, and you'll make mistakes. Start early on the paper, set goals for finishing different aspects of it -- initial research, detailed research, first draft, second draft, detailed proofreading, and final draft -- and you'll have a much better finished paper.
TIP 6. WORKS CITED LIST.
Throughout the research process for your paper, it is important to track all of the sources you use. For every idea or quote you use from one of your sources, you will have to cite the idea in the paper and list the source in the Works Cited list. Collect extensive information about each source, which will allow you to cite each source properly in your paper. It's important to give credit for any ideas you use from other people. Citing sources properly will ensure you don't inadvertently commit plagiarism. If you're unsure whether to use an in-text citation for a source, you probably should use it. It's better to be safe than sorry when citing sources.
TIP 7. FINAL TIP.
If you ever are unsure about the formatting style you should follow when citing a particular source, turn to the MLA Style Manual. It has examples and explanations of every type of source that you'll ever encounter.
However, be certain that you're using the latest edition of the MLA Style Manual. The changes in the latest edition are subtle, but there are enough of them that you don't want to make some silly formatting errors, just because you were using an old edition of the MLA Style Manual. If you have a difficult time finding the newest edition of the MLA Style Manual, check with your instructor. He or she might not care if you use the previous edition.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA writing software to correctly write and format papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style
Following MLA Style shouldn't detract from the overall work of your paper, however. It takes some work to achieve the proper MLA format, but it's important to not allow the paper format to prevent you from focusing on writing the paper. These tips will give you some additional help to follow MLA Style with your paper.
TIP 1. DOUBLE-CHECK ALL CITATIONS.
With MLA Style, it's important to make sure you have properly listed all of the in-text citations, making it easy for readers to find each citation in the Works Cited list. Make sure you spell all authors' names correctly in the Works Cited list, too, so you don't confuse readers about the author.
TIP 2. FOLLOW YOUR INSTRUCTOR'S INSTRUCTIONS.
You may have an instructor who gives you directions for composing the thesis or dissertation that differ slightly from those in MLA Style. Follow your instructor's guidelines in those instances.
TIP 3. GRAMMAR GUIDELINES.
Papers that follow proper grammar are more likely to receive favorable marks from an instructor. For example, always write in active voice, rather than passive voice. In other words, make certain the subjects of your sentences are doing something in the sentence, rather than the subjects having something done to them. Avoid using contractions in your paper, if possible. Do not use slang or jargon in your paper, unless you're writing about a subject that requires such language. Do not write in the first person; in other words, do not use the words "I" or "me" in any sentence. Try to avoid making absolute statements, especially when you are describing an opinion. Do not use numerous quotations just to fill a word count or page count; make sure quotations add to your argument.
TIP 4. PROOFREADING, A NECESSARY TASK.
For most people, proofreading is the least enjoyable task for compiling a formal paper. However, it's a key task. You might have the most compelling argument your instructor has ever seen, but inadvertently, allowing several grammatical and spelling errors to appear in your paper will make it tough to take your argument seriously. Proofread your paper at least a few times before submitting it. If possible, take a few days off between proofreading sessions. A fresh look at the paper after a break will help you catch a few errors that you may have missed the first time around. Remember that, although word processing software spell checkers are handy, they do not catch every error, such as "to," "too," and "two." Proofreading is vital to having a successful paper.
TIP 5. TAKE YOUR TIME.
During the writing phase or the proofreading phase, you need to leave plenty of time to finish the paper. If you force yourself to hurry to meet a deadline, your writing will suffer, and you'll make mistakes. Start early on the paper, set goals for finishing different aspects of it -- initial research, detailed research, first draft, second draft, detailed proofreading, and final draft -- and you'll have a much better finished paper.
TIP 6. WORKS CITED LIST.
Throughout the research process for your paper, it is important to track all of the sources you use. For every idea or quote you use from one of your sources, you will have to cite the idea in the paper and list the source in the Works Cited list. Collect extensive information about each source, which will allow you to cite each source properly in your paper. It's important to give credit for any ideas you use from other people. Citing sources properly will ensure you don't inadvertently commit plagiarism. If you're unsure whether to use an in-text citation for a source, you probably should use it. It's better to be safe than sorry when citing sources.
TIP 7. FINAL TIP.
If you ever are unsure about the formatting style you should follow when citing a particular source, turn to the MLA Style Manual. It has examples and explanations of every type of source that you'll ever encounter.
However, be certain that you're using the latest edition of the MLA Style Manual. The changes in the latest edition are subtle, but there are enough of them that you don't want to make some silly formatting errors, just because you were using an old edition of the MLA Style Manual. If you have a difficult time finding the newest edition of the MLA Style Manual, check with your instructor. He or she might not care if you use the previous edition.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA writing software to correctly write and format papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
MLA Paper Format : How to Cite Non-Traditional Sources in MLA Style
In some respects, writing a dissertation or thesis in MLA Style was easier two or three decades ago, at least when it came to compiling the Works Cited list. You might not have used a computer for writing or the Internet for locating more sources, but at least you didn't have to cite many non-traditional sources in a Works Cited page.
When citing non-traditional sources in MLA Style, such as Web pages or electronic media, you need to follow a specific rules, just as you do with traditional print media, such as books and scholarly journals. I have listed some of the more common instances below. When writing your MLA paper, if you encounter any situations not discussed below, you always can turn to the MLA Style Manual, which covers every potential source, both traditional and non-traditional. Just be certain to use the third edition of the MLA Style Manual, as the guidelines have changed for a few types of sources, such as Web sites.
Broadcast. When citing a TV or radio broadcast, start with the title of the episode or segment in quotation marks, if one is available, followed by the title of the program in italics. Then list the network, the local broadcast affiliate, the date of broadcast, the type of broadcast, and any additional information that would be helpful to the reader, such as if you took the ideas or quotes from a transcript. You may list the name of an author, director, or performer at the beginning of the listing on the Works Cited page, if that person was primarily responsible for the content of the entire broadcast. If the primary source was interviewed on a program, list those who conducted the interview, if available.
*Smith, Xavier Z. Interview by Jeffrey T. Jones and Terry J. Thomas. "Economic Times In Africa." Financial Times Worldwide. National Public Radio. KPBS, Omaha, 25 May 2007. Radio.
*"African Economic Struggles." News Hour. PBS. WPBS, New York, 2 Apr. 2006. Television. Transcript.
Illustrations or graphic novels. Unlike most printed books, using an illustration or graphic novel as a source for your paper may present some tough circumstances as far as compiling material for the Works Cited list. For example, many illustrated books have more than one "author." You might have a writer along with multiple illustrators, for example. When listing the source in the Works Cited page, first list the person who had the most influence on the source as you're using it. For example, if you're using the writer's idea in your paper, list the primary writer first before any illustrators or other writers.
*Smith, Xavier Z., writer. Understanding Technologies, an Illustrated Guide. Illus. Quincy X. Smith and Jon Q. Smith. Introd. Travis Johnson. New York: State University Press, 2006. Print.
Web sites. When citing Web sites, the third edition of the MLA Style Manual now allows writers to eliminate the URL, or Web address, if the reader of the paper can easily find the Web site through the other information listed when citing the source. The MLA says because URLs sometimes change, the URL isn't as valuable to finding the source later as is a good description of the source. MLA recommends including the URL if you think your readers will have a difficult time finding the source without the URL.
You'll need to continue to include an author, article name, Web site name, date of creation of the article or Web page, and date when you accessed the Web site when citing a Web site, but the URL is now optional. If you decide to include a URL, list it inside angle brackets. Also, be sure to include the word Web as part of the listing, usually after the date of creation of the Web site. If no date is available, use n.d. in place of the date. Finally, use italics for the title if the article is independent, and use quotation marks if the article is part of a larger work, using italics for the name of the larger work.
*Smith, Xavier Z and Travis Johnson. African Economic Forecast, 2006. State University, 20 Dec. 2005. Web. 27 Jan. 2008. .
As often occurs, if the Web site you're using has no author or editor listed, start with the title of the page or article that you're citing.
*"How Technology Affects Economies." Economic Development Worldwide. Economic Development Worldwide, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2008.
Finally, if you're using material that has appeared in more than one medium, such as a print version and a Web page, cite only the medium that you used primarily.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA formatting software to correctly format and write papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style, mla format, mla writing, mla formatting, mla paper
When citing non-traditional sources in MLA Style, such as Web pages or electronic media, you need to follow a specific rules, just as you do with traditional print media, such as books and scholarly journals. I have listed some of the more common instances below. When writing your MLA paper, if you encounter any situations not discussed below, you always can turn to the MLA Style Manual, which covers every potential source, both traditional and non-traditional. Just be certain to use the third edition of the MLA Style Manual, as the guidelines have changed for a few types of sources, such as Web sites.
Broadcast. When citing a TV or radio broadcast, start with the title of the episode or segment in quotation marks, if one is available, followed by the title of the program in italics. Then list the network, the local broadcast affiliate, the date of broadcast, the type of broadcast, and any additional information that would be helpful to the reader, such as if you took the ideas or quotes from a transcript. You may list the name of an author, director, or performer at the beginning of the listing on the Works Cited page, if that person was primarily responsible for the content of the entire broadcast. If the primary source was interviewed on a program, list those who conducted the interview, if available.
*Smith, Xavier Z. Interview by Jeffrey T. Jones and Terry J. Thomas. "Economic Times In Africa." Financial Times Worldwide. National Public Radio. KPBS, Omaha, 25 May 2007. Radio.
*"African Economic Struggles." News Hour. PBS. WPBS, New York, 2 Apr. 2006. Television. Transcript.
Illustrations or graphic novels. Unlike most printed books, using an illustration or graphic novel as a source for your paper may present some tough circumstances as far as compiling material for the Works Cited list. For example, many illustrated books have more than one "author." You might have a writer along with multiple illustrators, for example. When listing the source in the Works Cited page, first list the person who had the most influence on the source as you're using it. For example, if you're using the writer's idea in your paper, list the primary writer first before any illustrators or other writers.
*Smith, Xavier Z., writer. Understanding Technologies, an Illustrated Guide. Illus. Quincy X. Smith and Jon Q. Smith. Introd. Travis Johnson. New York: State University Press, 2006. Print.
Web sites. When citing Web sites, the third edition of the MLA Style Manual now allows writers to eliminate the URL, or Web address, if the reader of the paper can easily find the Web site through the other information listed when citing the source. The MLA says because URLs sometimes change, the URL isn't as valuable to finding the source later as is a good description of the source. MLA recommends including the URL if you think your readers will have a difficult time finding the source without the URL.
You'll need to continue to include an author, article name, Web site name, date of creation of the article or Web page, and date when you accessed the Web site when citing a Web site, but the URL is now optional. If you decide to include a URL, list it inside angle brackets. Also, be sure to include the word Web as part of the listing, usually after the date of creation of the Web site. If no date is available, use n.d. in place of the date. Finally, use italics for the title if the article is independent, and use quotation marks if the article is part of a larger work, using italics for the name of the larger work.
*Smith, Xavier Z and Travis Johnson. African Economic Forecast, 2006. State University, 20 Dec. 2005. Web. 27 Jan. 2008. .
As often occurs, if the Web site you're using has no author or editor listed, start with the title of the page or article that you're citing.
*"How Technology Affects Economies." Economic Development Worldwide. Economic Development Worldwide, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2008.
Finally, if you're using material that has appeared in more than one medium, such as a print version and a Web page, cite only the medium that you used primarily.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA formatting software to correctly format and write papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style, mla format, mla writing, mla formatting, mla paper
How to Cite Sources in MLA Style
The Works Cited page in MLA Style is important to your thesis or dissertation because it gives readers a list of sources you used to reach your conclusions. A well-researched paper will have high-quality sources. With MLA Style, you list these sources on the Works Cited page(s) at the end of the paper. MLA Style requires that you follow a specific format for listing every source, based on the type of source.
To start the Works Cited page, type "Works Cited" centered at the top margin. Then begin the first source immediately, double-spacing all text on the page. Each source should have a hanging indention, meaning the first line is flush left, and each subsequent line for the source should be indented one-half inch.
You should alphabetize the entire Works Cited list by author's last name. If the author's name is not known, use the title of the source in the alphabetized list, ignoring "A," "An," or "The" on the front of the name of the title.
Here are some examples for listing various types of sources. The examples here only list the information you need about each source. They do not follow the hanging indention or double-spacing rules.
A) BOOK.
List the author's name, the title of the book in italics, the city of publication, the publisher, and the year of publication. You are allowed to abbreviate the name of certain publishers in MLA Style. The MLA Style Manual lists the acceptable abbreviations. Specify the type of publication at the end of the entry, denoting whether the book is a printed version or an electronic version.
*Smith, Xavier Z. Working with a Fledgling Economy. New York: State University Press, 2006. Print.
B) DISSERTATION OR THESIS.
If you make use of a dissertation or thesis as a source, you'll need to list the author's name, the title (in quotation marks), the type of paper, and some information about the publication. For example, many dissertations appear in "Dissertation Abstracts International," usually abbreviated to DAI. DAI requires some specific information, as you can see in the following example.
*Jones, Thomas. "The Relationship Between Economic Power and Technological Innovation." Diss. State University, 2003. DAI 66.17 (2004): item DA4267399. Print.
In MLA Style, you can abbreviate dissertation as "Diss", and master's thesis as either "MA thesis" or "MS thesis".
C) PUBLISHED ARTICLE.
List the author's last name, followed by the full first name and middle initial, if the author commonly uses it. List the title of the article in quotation marks, followed by the publication name (in italics), the issue or volume numbers, the year of publication, and the page numbers for the full article. If you have other information you think would be helpful for a reader, you may list it at the end of the entry. In the following two examples, the first is for a scholarly journal and the second is for a newspaper. Notice how the word "Print" in the newspaper example differentiates between the print edition and Internet edition of the newspaper.
*Smith, Xavier Z. "Economic Growth in Africa." Economics Quarterly 3 (2008): 332-3.
*Johnson, Travis. "African Economic Viability." New York Financial Newspaper 13 Jun. 2008: B3. Print.
D) MULTIPLE AUTHORS.
List the first author by last name, then first name, and subsequent authors by first name, then last name.
*Johnson, Travis, and Xavier Z. Smith. "Economic Downturn in Africa." Economics Quarterly 4 (2008): 413-21.
E) MULTIPLE WORKS, SAME AUTHOR.
After listing the first source with the author's full name, subsequent sources from the same author don't require the author's name. Instead, substitute three hyphens.
*Johnson, Travis. "Africa's Economic Future." Economics Quarterly 2 (2008): 200-3.
*---. "African Economic Viability." New York Financial Newspaper 13 Jun. 2008: B3. Print.
F) MULTIPLE WORKS, MULTIPLE AUTHORS.
If the same author is involved in multiple sources, but some of those sources include multiple authors, you will have to list the full name in every source. If you have multiple works from the same group of authors, however, you can substitute the three hyphens for listings beyond the first listing. In this example, Johnson and Smith combined to write the second and third entries, meaning the three hyphens are appropriate for the third entry.
*Johnson, Travis. "Africa's Economic Future." Economics Quarterly 2 (2008): 200-3.
*Johnson, Travis, and Smith, Xavier Z. "Economic Downturn in Africa." Economics Quarterly 4 (2008): 413-21.
*---. "Nurturing a Fledgling Economy." New York Financial Newspaper 19 Jan. 2008: B1. Print.
G) ANONYMOUS AUTHOR.
If you don't know the author, just skip that part of the listing and begin with the title.
*"Economic Growth on the African Continent." Editorial. New York Financial Newspaper 4 Feb. 2008: B7.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA formatting software to correctly format and write papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style, mla format, mla writing, mla formatting, mla paper
To start the Works Cited page, type "Works Cited" centered at the top margin. Then begin the first source immediately, double-spacing all text on the page. Each source should have a hanging indention, meaning the first line is flush left, and each subsequent line for the source should be indented one-half inch.
You should alphabetize the entire Works Cited list by author's last name. If the author's name is not known, use the title of the source in the alphabetized list, ignoring "A," "An," or "The" on the front of the name of the title.
Here are some examples for listing various types of sources. The examples here only list the information you need about each source. They do not follow the hanging indention or double-spacing rules.
A) BOOK.
List the author's name, the title of the book in italics, the city of publication, the publisher, and the year of publication. You are allowed to abbreviate the name of certain publishers in MLA Style. The MLA Style Manual lists the acceptable abbreviations. Specify the type of publication at the end of the entry, denoting whether the book is a printed version or an electronic version.
*Smith, Xavier Z. Working with a Fledgling Economy. New York: State University Press, 2006. Print.
B) DISSERTATION OR THESIS.
If you make use of a dissertation or thesis as a source, you'll need to list the author's name, the title (in quotation marks), the type of paper, and some information about the publication. For example, many dissertations appear in "Dissertation Abstracts International," usually abbreviated to DAI. DAI requires some specific information, as you can see in the following example.
*Jones, Thomas. "The Relationship Between Economic Power and Technological Innovation." Diss. State University, 2003. DAI 66.17 (2004): item DA4267399. Print.
In MLA Style, you can abbreviate dissertation as "Diss", and master's thesis as either "MA thesis" or "MS thesis".
C) PUBLISHED ARTICLE.
List the author's last name, followed by the full first name and middle initial, if the author commonly uses it. List the title of the article in quotation marks, followed by the publication name (in italics), the issue or volume numbers, the year of publication, and the page numbers for the full article. If you have other information you think would be helpful for a reader, you may list it at the end of the entry. In the following two examples, the first is for a scholarly journal and the second is for a newspaper. Notice how the word "Print" in the newspaper example differentiates between the print edition and Internet edition of the newspaper.
*Smith, Xavier Z. "Economic Growth in Africa." Economics Quarterly 3 (2008): 332-3.
*Johnson, Travis. "African Economic Viability." New York Financial Newspaper 13 Jun. 2008: B3. Print.
D) MULTIPLE AUTHORS.
List the first author by last name, then first name, and subsequent authors by first name, then last name.
*Johnson, Travis, and Xavier Z. Smith. "Economic Downturn in Africa." Economics Quarterly 4 (2008): 413-21.
E) MULTIPLE WORKS, SAME AUTHOR.
After listing the first source with the author's full name, subsequent sources from the same author don't require the author's name. Instead, substitute three hyphens.
*Johnson, Travis. "Africa's Economic Future." Economics Quarterly 2 (2008): 200-3.
*---. "African Economic Viability." New York Financial Newspaper 13 Jun. 2008: B3. Print.
F) MULTIPLE WORKS, MULTIPLE AUTHORS.
If the same author is involved in multiple sources, but some of those sources include multiple authors, you will have to list the full name in every source. If you have multiple works from the same group of authors, however, you can substitute the three hyphens for listings beyond the first listing. In this example, Johnson and Smith combined to write the second and third entries, meaning the three hyphens are appropriate for the third entry.
*Johnson, Travis. "Africa's Economic Future." Economics Quarterly 2 (2008): 200-3.
*Johnson, Travis, and Smith, Xavier Z. "Economic Downturn in Africa." Economics Quarterly 4 (2008): 413-21.
*---. "Nurturing a Fledgling Economy." New York Financial Newspaper 19 Jan. 2008: B1. Print.
G) ANONYMOUS AUTHOR.
If you don't know the author, just skip that part of the listing and begin with the title.
*"Economic Growth on the African Continent." Editorial. New York Financial Newspaper 4 Feb. 2008: B7.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA formatting software to correctly format and write papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style, mla format, mla writing, mla formatting, mla paper
Monday, January 26, 2009
Creative Writers Writing Tips on Dialogue Tags
Dialogue tags are the short insertions that identify the speakers in a written conversation. Without them, the reader would be lost.
Dialogue tags are quick signposts that keep the reader on the right path. When you change paths to another speaker, it is not always necessary to place a tag. Sometimes you can use the character's speech patterns and the natural flow of conversation to identify the change in speakers.
Modern style dictates that all dialogue tags identify the speaker first, and then the action. In other words you should write, "Jason said", rather than "said Jason". If you are selling your work, little things like this show you are up on the latest writing trends.
Don't use tags such as "Jack said mysteriously," or "Crystal said wryly". Avoid the use of adverbs that end in –ly (in any part of your story). This is another writing trend that editors initiated in 2008. Stick to the same ole, same ole, mundane, "Jack said." The reader's subconscious mind will pass over it without flair and never realize they read it.
Readers expect to see tags. They flow with the story and don't distract from the action.
When you endorse conversations into your stories, what may have been just narration and exposition will become dialogue. And with that change will come an exchange of emotion, pace, conflict and the actions of the characters as they progress through the theme.
Challenge yourself to give life and energy to speech. If you want to know what natural dialogue sounds like, quit talking and listen. Eavesdropping will become your best friend. Eavesdrop everywhere you go. Restaurant talk is fabulous. That is conversation at its best!
Can you hear what your character would say in your mind? If you can't, you don't know your character well enough. Make a list of 50 things about your character, and you will know him/her inside out. When you can hear them speaking in your mind and you can view them as real people, you will be better able to hear their normal conversation.
Always address the following questions.
· Does the dialogue reflect the speech of real people?
· Does it bring the reader into the emotion of the scene?
· Does it flow naturally?
The most common failing of authors is writing meaningless dialogue, or too much dialogue. The reader's mind requires frequent rests to absorb the action, and for that reason, you need to break the dialogue into groups and sprinkle short scenes of settings throughout. You can do this with just about anything.
Avoid conversations that are one or two-liners, like this:
"How are you?" Jane asked.
"I'm doing good," Jack said.
"So, what's new?"
"Not much."
This kind of conversation is boring and says little or nothing. Every piece of dialogue should be there to add to the character, reveal something to the reader, further the plot, or introduce new material. If your dialogue is there just to make conversation, do some editing.
For more free writing tips, see below.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now! For more writing tips, sign up for our newsletter.
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Dialogue tags are quick signposts that keep the reader on the right path. When you change paths to another speaker, it is not always necessary to place a tag. Sometimes you can use the character's speech patterns and the natural flow of conversation to identify the change in speakers.
Modern style dictates that all dialogue tags identify the speaker first, and then the action. In other words you should write, "Jason said", rather than "said Jason". If you are selling your work, little things like this show you are up on the latest writing trends.
Don't use tags such as "Jack said mysteriously," or "Crystal said wryly". Avoid the use of adverbs that end in –ly (in any part of your story). This is another writing trend that editors initiated in 2008. Stick to the same ole, same ole, mundane, "Jack said." The reader's subconscious mind will pass over it without flair and never realize they read it.
Readers expect to see tags. They flow with the story and don't distract from the action.
When you endorse conversations into your stories, what may have been just narration and exposition will become dialogue. And with that change will come an exchange of emotion, pace, conflict and the actions of the characters as they progress through the theme.
Challenge yourself to give life and energy to speech. If you want to know what natural dialogue sounds like, quit talking and listen. Eavesdropping will become your best friend. Eavesdrop everywhere you go. Restaurant talk is fabulous. That is conversation at its best!
Can you hear what your character would say in your mind? If you can't, you don't know your character well enough. Make a list of 50 things about your character, and you will know him/her inside out. When you can hear them speaking in your mind and you can view them as real people, you will be better able to hear their normal conversation.
Always address the following questions.
· Does the dialogue reflect the speech of real people?
· Does it bring the reader into the emotion of the scene?
· Does it flow naturally?
The most common failing of authors is writing meaningless dialogue, or too much dialogue. The reader's mind requires frequent rests to absorb the action, and for that reason, you need to break the dialogue into groups and sprinkle short scenes of settings throughout. You can do this with just about anything.
Avoid conversations that are one or two-liners, like this:
"How are you?" Jane asked.
"I'm doing good," Jack said.
"So, what's new?"
"Not much."
This kind of conversation is boring and says little or nothing. Every piece of dialogue should be there to add to the character, reveal something to the reader, further the plot, or introduce new material. If your dialogue is there just to make conversation, do some editing.
For more free writing tips, see below.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now! For more writing tips, sign up for our newsletter.
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Friday, January 23, 2009
MLA Paper Format : What Pages Do I Need With My MLA Style Paper?
Unlike some other formal styles for writing scholarly papers, MLA Style does not specify a large number of specific pages that you must include in your paper. APA Style, for example, requires a title page, an abstract page, and a table of contents, among several other types of optional pages. MLA Style, however, does not even require a title page.
I will discuss optional pages you can use in your MLA Style paper in this article, along with some methods you can use to format your paper in MLA Style.
1) TITLE PAGE. MLA Style makes a title page an optional choice for the writer. If you decide to use a title page, center the text. The title page may contain the title, author's name, mailing address, e-mail address, and contact telephone numbers. Some instructors will require you to include the name of the faculty advisor, the date of submission, and the members of the committee that will accept the work. With MLA Style, a separate title page is not numbered. If you're writing an extremely formal paper, such as a thesis or dissertation, you almost certainly should include a separate title page, unless your instructor specifies differently. If you include the title on the first page of the main text, you should number it, but this format is limited to a less formal paper.
2) APPROVAL PAGE. The approval page, which contains all signatures of approval from members of the thesis approval committee, is optional.
3) ABSTRACT PAGE. The abstract page, which is a short summary of the purpose of the paper, is optional.
4) BIOGRAPHY PAGE. The biography page, which provides a short description of the author and his or her accomplishments, is optional.
5) DEDICATION PAGE. The dedication page, which allows the author to dedicate the thesis to a person or multiple people who helped with the paper, is optional.
6) EPIGRAPH PAGE. The epigraph page, which may contain a poem or quotation, is optional.
7) TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE. If the paper is long enough to have sections, you may include a table of contents page.
8) LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES. This page, if applicable, lists all of the illustrations and tables you used in the paper, sorted by the pages on which they appear.
9) PREFACE. The preface, which is an optional page, may introduce the paper by discussing a related idea that doesn't quite fit within the parameters of the main text.
10) MAIN TEXT. With the main text, simply select a readable font, usually Times New Roman at 12 points. Double space throughout the main text, and indent all paragraphs by one-half inch.
MLA Style does not require headings, chapters, or any other method for breaking up the main text. MLA Style also does not prohibit any methods for breaking up the text, however. If your instructor doesn't specify a method for breaking up the text, you can use a few different optional methods. If you choose to use chapters, you can use the following methods for breaking up the text within the chapters.
You can use an extra blank line to separate ideas. Just hit the Enter key an additional time after completing a paragraph. Keep in mind, though, that this method might be ineffective if the blank line occurs at the end of a printed page. Some writers combat this problem by typing three asterisks, centered on the page, in place of the blank line. Others actually type "[blank line]" flush left in place of the blank line.
You may use headings to break up the text and organize similar ideas. MLA Style prefers using an Arabic number with each heading. You also should type each heading flush left with no extra blank lines before or after the heading. For example:
1. Economic Growth 2006
2. Economic Growth 2007
3. Economic Growth 2008
Finally, you may simply use an Arabic number to signify related ideas in the text. Just type "1" centered on a blank line before the first idea, "2" centered before the second idea, and so on.
11) ENDNOTES. If you choose to list endnotes, you need to use a separate page immediately following the main text. An endnotes page is optional in MLA Style.
12) WORKS CITED. The Works Cited page in MLA Style is a list of all sources you referenced in the main text. The listing of all sources requires you to follow a specific set of rules.
13) GLOSSARY. The glossary page, which is a list of all confusing and unusual terms used in the text, along with definitions, is optional.
14) INDEX. If you choose to include an optional index page, it will list the various proper nouns and ideas that you've included throughout the main text, listed alphabetically and linked to the page numbers on which the items appear.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA writing software to correctly write and format papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style, mla format, mla writing, mla formatting, mla paper
I will discuss optional pages you can use in your MLA Style paper in this article, along with some methods you can use to format your paper in MLA Style.
1) TITLE PAGE. MLA Style makes a title page an optional choice for the writer. If you decide to use a title page, center the text. The title page may contain the title, author's name, mailing address, e-mail address, and contact telephone numbers. Some instructors will require you to include the name of the faculty advisor, the date of submission, and the members of the committee that will accept the work. With MLA Style, a separate title page is not numbered. If you're writing an extremely formal paper, such as a thesis or dissertation, you almost certainly should include a separate title page, unless your instructor specifies differently. If you include the title on the first page of the main text, you should number it, but this format is limited to a less formal paper.
2) APPROVAL PAGE. The approval page, which contains all signatures of approval from members of the thesis approval committee, is optional.
3) ABSTRACT PAGE. The abstract page, which is a short summary of the purpose of the paper, is optional.
4) BIOGRAPHY PAGE. The biography page, which provides a short description of the author and his or her accomplishments, is optional.
5) DEDICATION PAGE. The dedication page, which allows the author to dedicate the thesis to a person or multiple people who helped with the paper, is optional.
6) EPIGRAPH PAGE. The epigraph page, which may contain a poem or quotation, is optional.
7) TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE. If the paper is long enough to have sections, you may include a table of contents page.
8) LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES. This page, if applicable, lists all of the illustrations and tables you used in the paper, sorted by the pages on which they appear.
9) PREFACE. The preface, which is an optional page, may introduce the paper by discussing a related idea that doesn't quite fit within the parameters of the main text.
10) MAIN TEXT. With the main text, simply select a readable font, usually Times New Roman at 12 points. Double space throughout the main text, and indent all paragraphs by one-half inch.
MLA Style does not require headings, chapters, or any other method for breaking up the main text. MLA Style also does not prohibit any methods for breaking up the text, however. If your instructor doesn't specify a method for breaking up the text, you can use a few different optional methods. If you choose to use chapters, you can use the following methods for breaking up the text within the chapters.
You can use an extra blank line to separate ideas. Just hit the Enter key an additional time after completing a paragraph. Keep in mind, though, that this method might be ineffective if the blank line occurs at the end of a printed page. Some writers combat this problem by typing three asterisks, centered on the page, in place of the blank line. Others actually type "[blank line]" flush left in place of the blank line.
You may use headings to break up the text and organize similar ideas. MLA Style prefers using an Arabic number with each heading. You also should type each heading flush left with no extra blank lines before or after the heading. For example:
1. Economic Growth 2006
2. Economic Growth 2007
3. Economic Growth 2008
Finally, you may simply use an Arabic number to signify related ideas in the text. Just type "1" centered on a blank line before the first idea, "2" centered before the second idea, and so on.
11) ENDNOTES. If you choose to list endnotes, you need to use a separate page immediately following the main text. An endnotes page is optional in MLA Style.
12) WORKS CITED. The Works Cited page in MLA Style is a list of all sources you referenced in the main text. The listing of all sources requires you to follow a specific set of rules.
13) GLOSSARY. The glossary page, which is a list of all confusing and unusual terms used in the text, along with definitions, is optional.
14) INDEX. If you choose to include an optional index page, it will list the various proper nouns and ideas that you've included throughout the main text, listed alphabetically and linked to the page numbers on which the items appear.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA writing software to correctly write and format papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style, mla format, mla writing, mla formatting, mla paper
MLA Citations : How to Cite Sources Inside the Text in MLA Style
When citing sources in an MLA Style thesis or dissertation, you'll need to follow two different formats. In-text citations are references to sources that you make within the main text of your paper. "Works Cited" is a separate page at the end of your paper where you list every reference source you used in the paper.
In a formal paper, it's important to cite every source you use. You need to let your readers know that you've performed the proper research to support the position you've taken in the paper. Readers who want more information than what you've provided in your paper can use the cited sources. It's important to credit the researchers who provided the information in your paper.
With this article, we'll focus on MLA rules for citing sources inside the text.
I. BASIC RULES
With MLA Style, an in-text citation is sometimes called a parenthetical citation. Essentially, any time you paraphrase another person's or source's ideas, or any time you use a direct quotation in your paper, you need to cite that source.
By citing the source within the text, you give your readers a chance to find the source material themselves, should they want more information about a particular quote or idea.
II. IN-TEXT CITATIONS
When creating an in-text citation, you want to give your readers an easy method for finding the source material. You only need enough information in the in-text citation to give the reader an easy method of finding the source in the Works Cited list at the end of your paper. Because the Works Cited list will be in alphabetical order, listed by the author's last name first, you only need to list the author's last name for your in-text citation. That should be enough information for your readers to find the source on the Works Cited page.
Here are some examples for in-text citations, based on particular sources and circumstances.
A) One source, author known.
List the author of the source and the page number or numbers that you used in your reference. Place the source material inside parentheses immediately after the material you need to source. Do not separate the author's name and the page number with any punctuation.
*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (Johnson 16).
B) One source, author unknown.
In addition to the page number, list a shortened title for the source, if you don't know the author's name. If the title is for a long work, list it in italics. If the title is for a short work, list it inside quotation marks. Again, use parentheses for the in-text citation.
*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth ("2007 Economic Growth Report" 16).
C) Two or more sources, authors known.
Follow the same rules as you used with one source, but you'll need to separate each source with a semicolon.
*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (Johnson 16; Jones 37-38; Smith 2).
D) Multiple works, same author.
If you have more than one source from the same author, just add a shortened title for the particular source you're using to the author's name in the in-text citation. Separate the author's name and the title with a comma.
*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (Johnson, "2007 Economic Growth Report" 16).
E) Multiple authors, same last name.
You might end up with sources from two different authors who share the same last name. In that case, you may use the author's first initial, first and middle initials, first name and middle initial, or first and middle names. Use as much of the first and middle names as required so it's easy for your readers to find the source in the Works Cited list.
*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (B. Johnson 16).
F) Indirect source.
If you have a quote taken from an indirect source, include the phrase "qtd. in" with the in-text citation. List the actual source where you found the quote in the in-text citation and in the Works Cited list.
*Jones has mentioned that "technological advancements spur economic growth" (qtd. in Johnson 16).
G) Other option.
If it makes more sense in your writing to list the author in the actual text, you can simply list the page number inside the parentheses for the in-text citation.
*The economist Johnson has indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (16).
Although MLA Style allows you to use the author's name in the text of the sentence you're citing, you are not allowed to use the page number or numbers in the sentence. The page number should always appear in parentheses.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA writing software to correctly write and format papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style, mla format, mla writing, mla formatting, mla paper
In a formal paper, it's important to cite every source you use. You need to let your readers know that you've performed the proper research to support the position you've taken in the paper. Readers who want more information than what you've provided in your paper can use the cited sources. It's important to credit the researchers who provided the information in your paper.
With this article, we'll focus on MLA rules for citing sources inside the text.
I. BASIC RULES
With MLA Style, an in-text citation is sometimes called a parenthetical citation. Essentially, any time you paraphrase another person's or source's ideas, or any time you use a direct quotation in your paper, you need to cite that source.
By citing the source within the text, you give your readers a chance to find the source material themselves, should they want more information about a particular quote or idea.
II. IN-TEXT CITATIONS
When creating an in-text citation, you want to give your readers an easy method for finding the source material. You only need enough information in the in-text citation to give the reader an easy method of finding the source in the Works Cited list at the end of your paper. Because the Works Cited list will be in alphabetical order, listed by the author's last name first, you only need to list the author's last name for your in-text citation. That should be enough information for your readers to find the source on the Works Cited page.
Here are some examples for in-text citations, based on particular sources and circumstances.
A) One source, author known.
List the author of the source and the page number or numbers that you used in your reference. Place the source material inside parentheses immediately after the material you need to source. Do not separate the author's name and the page number with any punctuation.
*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (Johnson 16).
B) One source, author unknown.
In addition to the page number, list a shortened title for the source, if you don't know the author's name. If the title is for a long work, list it in italics. If the title is for a short work, list it inside quotation marks. Again, use parentheses for the in-text citation.
*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth ("2007 Economic Growth Report" 16).
C) Two or more sources, authors known.
Follow the same rules as you used with one source, but you'll need to separate each source with a semicolon.
*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (Johnson 16; Jones 37-38; Smith 2).
D) Multiple works, same author.
If you have more than one source from the same author, just add a shortened title for the particular source you're using to the author's name in the in-text citation. Separate the author's name and the title with a comma.
*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (Johnson, "2007 Economic Growth Report" 16).
E) Multiple authors, same last name.
You might end up with sources from two different authors who share the same last name. In that case, you may use the author's first initial, first and middle initials, first name and middle initial, or first and middle names. Use as much of the first and middle names as required so it's easy for your readers to find the source in the Works Cited list.
*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (B. Johnson 16).
F) Indirect source.
If you have a quote taken from an indirect source, include the phrase "qtd. in" with the in-text citation. List the actual source where you found the quote in the in-text citation and in the Works Cited list.
*Jones has mentioned that "technological advancements spur economic growth" (qtd. in Johnson 16).
G) Other option.
If it makes more sense in your writing to list the author in the actual text, you can simply list the page number inside the parentheses for the in-text citation.
*The economist Johnson has indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (16).
Although MLA Style allows you to use the author's name in the text of the sentence you're citing, you are not allowed to use the page number or numbers in the sentence. The page number should always appear in parentheses.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA writing software to correctly write and format papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style, mla format, mla writing, mla formatting, mla paper
Thursday, January 22, 2009
MLA Writing : How To Write A Thesis Or Dissertation In MLA Style
If you're a student in liberal arts or humanities, chances are good your professor will ask you to write a paper in MLA Style. Eventually, you might even create a thesis or dissertation using MLA Style. Writing in MLA Style is one of a few different writing styles you can use to format academic papers that require sources in an educational or professional setting.
Although learning all the rules about MLA Style can seem overwhelming, it doesn't have to be. Many rules of MLA Style repeat themselves as you use them in your paper, meaning you don't have to learn hundreds of rules. As long as you learn the basic MLA Style guidelines, you can create a well-formatted MLA Style paper with great success.
Here are some of my time-tested techniques to help you write that first MLA Style paper. If you run into a situation that I do not cover, then you can always call upon the many MLA Style resources on the Internet and in print that can handle those odd situations.
I. THE ORIGIN OF MLA STYLE
The Modern Language Association of America oversees MLA Style, publishing the first edition of its MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing in 1985. The Modern Language Association (MLA) recently published the third edition of the MLA Style Manual in 2008.
Headquartered in New York City, the MLA is an American professional organization for scholars of literature and language, including professors and graduate students. The MLA began in 1883 at Purdue University, essentially as a discussion group for literature and modern language. Today, several regional associations make up the MLA.
II. WORKING WITH MLA STYLE
By following the MLA Style, as outlined in the MLA Style Manual, students receive advice on a variety of rules for creating and formatting a formal MLA paper, including rules for:
* The size of the font
* The type of font
* The margins of the paper
* Citing references in the text
* Citing references at the end of the paper
* Presenting tables, figures, and illustrations
Rules for creating papers using MLA Style have undergone some changes since the first MLA Style Manual appeared almost 25 years ago. In addition, with the changes in the latest version of the MLA Style Manual, you may have some instructors who prefer the "old" rules of MLA Style. Be sure your instructors clearly define which version of MLA Style they'd like you to follow.
Finally, some instructors might not require the strict formality of the MLA Style Manual in a particular paper. Instead, they might ask you to follow the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, which is a less formal version of MLA Style. For the most part, the MLA Handbook is aimed at undergraduate college students and high school students. Be sure you know which reference guide for MLA Style your instructor wants you to use.
III. HOW TO START YOUR MLA STYLE PAPER
A computer with word processing software, such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect, is the best method for writing your MLA Style paper. A word processor is the easiest way to perform the formatting functions, indentions, and italics text.
As you perform your research for your formal paper, it's important to track your sources. You'll need to cite the sources you've used in your MLA Style paper. MLA Style guidelines will dictate different formatting rules for different types of sources. For most of your sources, you'll need to track the title, author, date of publication, name of publication, and pages used as a source, among other types of information. It's always better to have more information than you'll need when citing a source than to not have enough information.
IV. FINDING MORE ANSWERS ABOUT MLA STYLE
For additional questions about MLA Style, the MLA Style Manual is the best source. This publication includes the rules and advice for formatting a thesis or dissertation. It also includes information on submitting your work for peer review and publication, on copyright laws, on fair use rules, and on contracts.
Keep in mind that the MLA says the guidelines in the third edition of the MLA Style Manual represent a "significant revision" to the documentation style, so you'll want to make sure you have the latest information.
If your university library doesn't have the latest copy of the MLA Style Manual, you can purchase a copy for about $33 from the MLA Web site. Unfortunately, the MLA Web site doesn't offer many tips on using MLA Style. When using other Web sites for information on MLA Style, be sure to use the latest rules.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA formatting software to correctly format and write papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style, mla format, mla writing, mla formatting, mla paper
Although learning all the rules about MLA Style can seem overwhelming, it doesn't have to be. Many rules of MLA Style repeat themselves as you use them in your paper, meaning you don't have to learn hundreds of rules. As long as you learn the basic MLA Style guidelines, you can create a well-formatted MLA Style paper with great success.
Here are some of my time-tested techniques to help you write that first MLA Style paper. If you run into a situation that I do not cover, then you can always call upon the many MLA Style resources on the Internet and in print that can handle those odd situations.
I. THE ORIGIN OF MLA STYLE
The Modern Language Association of America oversees MLA Style, publishing the first edition of its MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing in 1985. The Modern Language Association (MLA) recently published the third edition of the MLA Style Manual in 2008.
Headquartered in New York City, the MLA is an American professional organization for scholars of literature and language, including professors and graduate students. The MLA began in 1883 at Purdue University, essentially as a discussion group for literature and modern language. Today, several regional associations make up the MLA.
II. WORKING WITH MLA STYLE
By following the MLA Style, as outlined in the MLA Style Manual, students receive advice on a variety of rules for creating and formatting a formal MLA paper, including rules for:
* The size of the font
* The type of font
* The margins of the paper
* Citing references in the text
* Citing references at the end of the paper
* Presenting tables, figures, and illustrations
Rules for creating papers using MLA Style have undergone some changes since the first MLA Style Manual appeared almost 25 years ago. In addition, with the changes in the latest version of the MLA Style Manual, you may have some instructors who prefer the "old" rules of MLA Style. Be sure your instructors clearly define which version of MLA Style they'd like you to follow.
Finally, some instructors might not require the strict formality of the MLA Style Manual in a particular paper. Instead, they might ask you to follow the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, which is a less formal version of MLA Style. For the most part, the MLA Handbook is aimed at undergraduate college students and high school students. Be sure you know which reference guide for MLA Style your instructor wants you to use.
III. HOW TO START YOUR MLA STYLE PAPER
A computer with word processing software, such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect, is the best method for writing your MLA Style paper. A word processor is the easiest way to perform the formatting functions, indentions, and italics text.
As you perform your research for your formal paper, it's important to track your sources. You'll need to cite the sources you've used in your MLA Style paper. MLA Style guidelines will dictate different formatting rules for different types of sources. For most of your sources, you'll need to track the title, author, date of publication, name of publication, and pages used as a source, among other types of information. It's always better to have more information than you'll need when citing a source than to not have enough information.
IV. FINDING MORE ANSWERS ABOUT MLA STYLE
For additional questions about MLA Style, the MLA Style Manual is the best source. This publication includes the rules and advice for formatting a thesis or dissertation. It also includes information on submitting your work for peer review and publication, on copyright laws, on fair use rules, and on contracts.
Keep in mind that the MLA says the guidelines in the third edition of the MLA Style Manual represent a "significant revision" to the documentation style, so you'll want to make sure you have the latest information.
If your university library doesn't have the latest copy of the MLA Style Manual, you can purchase a copy for about $33 from the MLA Web site. Unfortunately, the MLA Web site doesn't offer many tips on using MLA Style. When using other Web sites for information on MLA Style, be sure to use the latest rules.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA formatting software to correctly format and write papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style, mla format, mla writing, mla formatting, mla paper
MLA Paper Format : How to Format a Paper in MLA Style
When formatting your paper in MLA Style, you'll need to follow a series of rules that outline all aspects of the creation of the paper. Most people think of MLA Style when trying to determine how to cite sources used as references in the paper. However, MLA Style includes rules for many aspects of formatting the paper beyond citing sources. Here are 15 formatting tips you should follow when creating your MLA paper.
ALIGNMENT. Align the text flush left. If your word processor, such as MS-Word, has a "full justify" setting, which spreads the text and aligns it both left and right, do not use it. Leave the text ragged on the right side.
BINDING. MLA Style calls for binding the pages with a simple paper clip or spring clip. Do not use a staple or other permanent binding system, unless your instructor requests it.
ENDNOTES AND FOOTNOTES. You may use endnotes or footnotes with MLA Style, but they should only be used to further explain a term or a complex idea, beyond what you're able to include in the main text. Endnotes and footnotes should not be used to cite sources. Save those for the "Works Cited" page.
FONT. MLA Style calls for a 12-point font size, along with an easily readable font, such as Times New Roman.
HEADINGS. In MLA Style, headings and subheads that break up the text are optional. Check with your instructor before using them.
INDENTIONS. You'll need to indent the first line of any paragraph by one-half inch from the left margin. If you aren't using word processing software, indent by five spaces.
ITALICS. You should use italics for titles of longer works. MLA Style also allows use of italics within the body of the text for emphasis of a particular word or phrase, but use such items sparingly.
MARGINS. All four sides of the MLA paper -- top, bottom, right, and left -- require a margin of 1 inch. The only items that should appear outside the margins are the page numbers.
PAGE NUMBERING. Place the page number in the upper right corner of every page. Use Arabic numerals for the page numbers. The page number should appear one-half inch from the top of the paper and even with the right margin (1 inch from the edge of the paper). If you choose to use an optional title page, you should not number it. If you choose not to create a separate title page, instead including the title and other relevant information on the first page of the main text, you must use "1" as the number of that page.
PAPER TYPE. Use standard, 20-pound white paper that measures 8.5-by-11 inches.
PUNCTUATION. Follow all standard punctuation marks with just one space, including colons, commas, periods, and semicolons. Some instructors still prefer the old rule of using two spaces after periods that end sentences. MLA Style does allow some flexibility in punctuation when the instructor requests a change from the standard MLA Style.
QUOTATION BLOCKS. Whenever using a quotation that will be longer than four typed lines, set the entire quotation block apart by indenting it from the left margin 1 inch (or 10 spaces). Double-space within the quotation block. You do not need to use quotation marks with a quotation block.
SPACING. You'll need to double-space all of the text within the paper, except in rare special circumstances as directed by your instructor. All quotations, notes, and lists of works cited should be double-spaced.
TITLE. MLA Style doesn't require a separate title page. You can include the information used for the title on the first page of the paper, and begin the paper's main text on the same page. All text should be double-spaced on the first page. You can place the page number in the upper right corner. In the upper left corner, flush left and beginning at the margins, include your name, the instructor's name, the course, and the date. Then center the text for the title, mixing uppercase and lowercase letters. If you choose to skip the separate title page, you can begin the main text immediately after the title text.
UNDERLINING. With the third edition of the MLA Style Manual, the new guidelines have eliminated the use of underlining. Now italicize all published works, rather than using underlining.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA formatting software to correctly format and write papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style, mla format, mla writing, mla formatting, mla paper
ALIGNMENT. Align the text flush left. If your word processor, such as MS-Word, has a "full justify" setting, which spreads the text and aligns it both left and right, do not use it. Leave the text ragged on the right side.
BINDING. MLA Style calls for binding the pages with a simple paper clip or spring clip. Do not use a staple or other permanent binding system, unless your instructor requests it.
ENDNOTES AND FOOTNOTES. You may use endnotes or footnotes with MLA Style, but they should only be used to further explain a term or a complex idea, beyond what you're able to include in the main text. Endnotes and footnotes should not be used to cite sources. Save those for the "Works Cited" page.
FONT. MLA Style calls for a 12-point font size, along with an easily readable font, such as Times New Roman.
HEADINGS. In MLA Style, headings and subheads that break up the text are optional. Check with your instructor before using them.
INDENTIONS. You'll need to indent the first line of any paragraph by one-half inch from the left margin. If you aren't using word processing software, indent by five spaces.
ITALICS. You should use italics for titles of longer works. MLA Style also allows use of italics within the body of the text for emphasis of a particular word or phrase, but use such items sparingly.
MARGINS. All four sides of the MLA paper -- top, bottom, right, and left -- require a margin of 1 inch. The only items that should appear outside the margins are the page numbers.
PAGE NUMBERING. Place the page number in the upper right corner of every page. Use Arabic numerals for the page numbers. The page number should appear one-half inch from the top of the paper and even with the right margin (1 inch from the edge of the paper). If you choose to use an optional title page, you should not number it. If you choose not to create a separate title page, instead including the title and other relevant information on the first page of the main text, you must use "1" as the number of that page.
PAPER TYPE. Use standard, 20-pound white paper that measures 8.5-by-11 inches.
PUNCTUATION. Follow all standard punctuation marks with just one space, including colons, commas, periods, and semicolons. Some instructors still prefer the old rule of using two spaces after periods that end sentences. MLA Style does allow some flexibility in punctuation when the instructor requests a change from the standard MLA Style.
QUOTATION BLOCKS. Whenever using a quotation that will be longer than four typed lines, set the entire quotation block apart by indenting it from the left margin 1 inch (or 10 spaces). Double-space within the quotation block. You do not need to use quotation marks with a quotation block.
SPACING. You'll need to double-space all of the text within the paper, except in rare special circumstances as directed by your instructor. All quotations, notes, and lists of works cited should be double-spaced.
TITLE. MLA Style doesn't require a separate title page. You can include the information used for the title on the first page of the paper, and begin the paper's main text on the same page. All text should be double-spaced on the first page. You can place the page number in the upper right corner. In the upper left corner, flush left and beginning at the margins, include your name, the instructor's name, the course, and the date. Then center the text for the title, mixing uppercase and lowercase letters. If you choose to skip the separate title page, you can begin the main text immediately after the title text.
UNDERLINING. With the third edition of the MLA Style Manual, the new guidelines have eliminated the use of underlining. Now italicize all published works, rather than using underlining.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an MLA formatting software to correctly format and write papers in MLA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/mla-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: mla style, mla format, mla writing, mla formatting, mla paper
Creative Writers Learn Best From Mentoring System
Creative writing is a finely honed skill. We can temper it and study it until we are blue in the face, and we still will not have plummeted its depths. That is what makes it so fascinating.
Many creative writers attend the public educational system to sharpen their prose and poetry skills, and this author certainly applauds all who make such a grand effort. However, the question becomes, is it necessary to invest multiplied thousands of dollars on colleges the average person cannot afford. Is the same thing available for less money? The answer is yes.
The pioneers of yesteryear provided a mentoring system for their children because they understood the need for education and progression. Indeed, many of America's leaders who were instrumental in forming this great nation were tutored at home. Those who dare to challenge the mentoring system should keep this in mind.
·Abraham Lincoln attended school only a few months
·George Washington had the equivalent of an elementary school education
·Davy Crockett, who was elected to the State Legislature, had almost no formal education
·The eloquent diplomat, statesman and scientist, Benjamin Franklin, quit school at the age of ten and
·Thomas Edison, the father of 1,093 patented inventions, only briefly attended school.
As you can see, one's skills are not limited by a mentored education. In fact, today's populace is so disconcerted with traditional education that over one million disgruntled families now mentor their children at home.
We might ask the question: Do parents qualify as mentors? Indeed, some parents are even high school dropouts. Even so, the National Home Education Research Institute reports mentored children outscore their public school counterparts by 30%. As more and more people realize the advantages of private tutoring, the number of home mentored children continues to grow.
Perhaps the real question is, what qualifies a person to teach? According to the dictionary, teaching is "imparting knowledge of or skill in; giving instructions". By definition, mentors would certainly qualify as bonafide teachers.
The traditional system finally sees the need for salvaging children who have fallen between the cracks. They are providing a new system for these children. And who is doing the teaching? Mentors. Is this a silent confession that holding every student equal to a given goal is ridiculous?
Here's what the mentoring system can offer you:
·Instead of being assigned a number like a prisoner in cell bock D, your mentor will know you on a first name basis
·Your mentor will be available daily to answer your questions and guide you through the mire of journalistic rules.
·You compete only with yourself as the mentor escorts you from your present level to your individual highest potential
·The mentoring system is available at nearly half the price you would expect to pay in the traditional system.
·You will be certified in the courses you take
* Educational patterns and rules vary from school to school.
Indeed, the mentoring system is at least equal to traditional teaching. In some cases, it even surpasses it.
See below for more pertinent information on this subject.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now! To receive more free writing tips in The Writer's Cho
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Many creative writers attend the public educational system to sharpen their prose and poetry skills, and this author certainly applauds all who make such a grand effort. However, the question becomes, is it necessary to invest multiplied thousands of dollars on colleges the average person cannot afford. Is the same thing available for less money? The answer is yes.
The pioneers of yesteryear provided a mentoring system for their children because they understood the need for education and progression. Indeed, many of America's leaders who were instrumental in forming this great nation were tutored at home. Those who dare to challenge the mentoring system should keep this in mind.
·Abraham Lincoln attended school only a few months
·George Washington had the equivalent of an elementary school education
·Davy Crockett, who was elected to the State Legislature, had almost no formal education
·The eloquent diplomat, statesman and scientist, Benjamin Franklin, quit school at the age of ten and
·Thomas Edison, the father of 1,093 patented inventions, only briefly attended school.
As you can see, one's skills are not limited by a mentored education. In fact, today's populace is so disconcerted with traditional education that over one million disgruntled families now mentor their children at home.
We might ask the question: Do parents qualify as mentors? Indeed, some parents are even high school dropouts. Even so, the National Home Education Research Institute reports mentored children outscore their public school counterparts by 30%. As more and more people realize the advantages of private tutoring, the number of home mentored children continues to grow.
Perhaps the real question is, what qualifies a person to teach? According to the dictionary, teaching is "imparting knowledge of or skill in; giving instructions". By definition, mentors would certainly qualify as bonafide teachers.
The traditional system finally sees the need for salvaging children who have fallen between the cracks. They are providing a new system for these children. And who is doing the teaching? Mentors. Is this a silent confession that holding every student equal to a given goal is ridiculous?
Here's what the mentoring system can offer you:
·Instead of being assigned a number like a prisoner in cell bock D, your mentor will know you on a first name basis
·Your mentor will be available daily to answer your questions and guide you through the mire of journalistic rules.
·You compete only with yourself as the mentor escorts you from your present level to your individual highest potential
·The mentoring system is available at nearly half the price you would expect to pay in the traditional system.
·You will be certified in the courses you take
* Educational patterns and rules vary from school to school.
Indeed, the mentoring system is at least equal to traditional teaching. In some cases, it even surpasses it.
See below for more pertinent information on this subject.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now! To receive more free writing tips in The Writer's Cho
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
How to Write a “Value\" Based Résumé
If you are seeking employment, a career change, or even advancement in your current career field, the first thing you must do is prepare your résumé. You probably already have a résumé and are quite comfortable with the content. Your résumé may have been prepared just recently, or even many years ago with a few updates along the way. What you may not realize, is that just like your wardrobe, or your home décor changes, so does the labor market. A presentation that may have worked a few years ago doesn't have the same impact in today's market, and with the employers of today.
Employers must consider a variety of factors when they hire new members, to include the prosperity of their business. They look first for value in a prospective employee. They want to know right up front what you can do for them and their business. What "value" will you be able to bring to the organization as a prospective employee?
How you portray your overall "value" to employer is an essential element of an effective résumé. Each résumé you submit to a prospective employer is your personal introduction. The résumé will be your first contact; and the first contact you make with an employer should pack a punch. With that in mind there are numerous things to consider as you prepare your presentation.
Did you know that the average résumé receives only 10-20 seconds of attention? That's right. If you think an employer is going to review and read every word in your résumé, think again. We would all like to think that the words we chose so carefully, each and every one of them will be read and appreciated. The fact is, that 10-20 seconds will pass in a glance, and if something doesn't invite them to read further, your presentation ends up in the "other" pile.
So, how do you write a value based résumé? You have to tell the employer that you are exactly what they are looking for in the first few lines. Typically, you must portray your value in the top third of the first page. Chances are if you have more than one page, the second page will never get a glance.
If the employer is advertising for an Administrative Assistant and you have an extensive clerical background, and feel that you meet the basic qualifications as advertised, then you must incorporate that title right up front. Even if your last employer called the same position a Secretary, or even an Office Manager. If you have the skills the employer is seeking, portray them first thing in your résumé presentation. Your ability to tell the employer that you are exactly what they are looking for is essential to getting closer to the interview, which ultimately is the purpose of a résumé - to get to the interview.
In addition to telling the employer right up front that you are exactly what they are looking for in your job title, consider listing the skills you possess that mirror those in the job description. Instead of including an "objective statement", take this opportunity to list the specific skills the employer is seeking. Review the job announcement carefully, and indicate the skills that match your qualifications. Seriously, do you really think the employer cares about "your" objective? Of course they do not. The employer cares about their business and hiring the best applicant that will help them reach their business goals. If you must include an objective statement, be sure you are specific by using the job title of the position you are seeking.
By the time you have placed your contact information right up top (remembering to make your name bold and memorable), the job title you are seeking, and the exact qualifications that you possess; chances are that you have captured the attention of the reviewer in the first 10-20 seconds as your résumé travels through the selection process. Remember that your résumé is nothing more than a screening tool for employers.
Your value to an employer can be portrayed by focusing on the employer's needs and not your own. In addition to the information you provide in your résumé, consider the information included in your cover letter. Be sure to research the company and let the employer know that you are sincere, knowledgeable, and informed about the services or products the company provides. Do your best not to repeat any information already included in your résumé. Instead, take the opportunity to incorporate new and exciting information about how your skills will contribute to the organization.
If you are still unsure as to how to write a value based résumé, contact a Certified Professional Résumé Writer (CPRW) for assistance. You can identify a résumé writer with credentials through the Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches (PARW-CC). PARW-CC is the original organization of Professional Résumé Writers, and set the industry standard for certification of résumé writers in 1990.
About the Author:
Ms. Parker is a Certified Professional Résumé Writer (CPRW), Owner of Parker-CPRW, http://www.parkercprw.com, Member of The Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches (PARW-CC)and The Association of Online Résumé Writers and Career Professionals.
Keyword tags: resume writer, cprw, lisa parker, resume review, parw-cc, parker-cprw, professional resume writer
Employers must consider a variety of factors when they hire new members, to include the prosperity of their business. They look first for value in a prospective employee. They want to know right up front what you can do for them and their business. What "value" will you be able to bring to the organization as a prospective employee?
How you portray your overall "value" to employer is an essential element of an effective résumé. Each résumé you submit to a prospective employer is your personal introduction. The résumé will be your first contact; and the first contact you make with an employer should pack a punch. With that in mind there are numerous things to consider as you prepare your presentation.
Did you know that the average résumé receives only 10-20 seconds of attention? That's right. If you think an employer is going to review and read every word in your résumé, think again. We would all like to think that the words we chose so carefully, each and every one of them will be read and appreciated. The fact is, that 10-20 seconds will pass in a glance, and if something doesn't invite them to read further, your presentation ends up in the "other" pile.
So, how do you write a value based résumé? You have to tell the employer that you are exactly what they are looking for in the first few lines. Typically, you must portray your value in the top third of the first page. Chances are if you have more than one page, the second page will never get a glance.
If the employer is advertising for an Administrative Assistant and you have an extensive clerical background, and feel that you meet the basic qualifications as advertised, then you must incorporate that title right up front. Even if your last employer called the same position a Secretary, or even an Office Manager. If you have the skills the employer is seeking, portray them first thing in your résumé presentation. Your ability to tell the employer that you are exactly what they are looking for is essential to getting closer to the interview, which ultimately is the purpose of a résumé - to get to the interview.
In addition to telling the employer right up front that you are exactly what they are looking for in your job title, consider listing the skills you possess that mirror those in the job description. Instead of including an "objective statement", take this opportunity to list the specific skills the employer is seeking. Review the job announcement carefully, and indicate the skills that match your qualifications. Seriously, do you really think the employer cares about "your" objective? Of course they do not. The employer cares about their business and hiring the best applicant that will help them reach their business goals. If you must include an objective statement, be sure you are specific by using the job title of the position you are seeking.
By the time you have placed your contact information right up top (remembering to make your name bold and memorable), the job title you are seeking, and the exact qualifications that you possess; chances are that you have captured the attention of the reviewer in the first 10-20 seconds as your résumé travels through the selection process. Remember that your résumé is nothing more than a screening tool for employers.
Your value to an employer can be portrayed by focusing on the employer's needs and not your own. In addition to the information you provide in your résumé, consider the information included in your cover letter. Be sure to research the company and let the employer know that you are sincere, knowledgeable, and informed about the services or products the company provides. Do your best not to repeat any information already included in your résumé. Instead, take the opportunity to incorporate new and exciting information about how your skills will contribute to the organization.
If you are still unsure as to how to write a value based résumé, contact a Certified Professional Résumé Writer (CPRW) for assistance. You can identify a résumé writer with credentials through the Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches (PARW-CC). PARW-CC is the original organization of Professional Résumé Writers, and set the industry standard for certification of résumé writers in 1990.
About the Author:
Ms. Parker is a Certified Professional Résumé Writer (CPRW), Owner of Parker-CPRW, http://www.parkercprw.com, Member of The Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches (PARW-CC)and The Association of Online Résumé Writers and Career Professionals.
Keyword tags: resume writer, cprw, lisa parker, resume review, parw-cc, parker-cprw, professional resume writer
Writing For Textbroker: Is it a Scam?
When starting a freelance writing career online, the beginning of the process can be very confusing. You might spend a few days asking yourself these questions: Which sites are reputable? What sites pay the most? Am I wasting my time?
There are many reputable sites to work for online. Look for sites who ask you to apply and send in a sample of your work. They will usually get back to you in a day or two. If you are approved, be sure to read the FAQ of the site so that you will know the basics and how much you will be getting paid per article. You will also need to note how long your articles need to be and other qualifications that you might need to have.
Sometimes it's hard to find sites who are reputable and freelancers are always sharing information as to which sites are good and which ones are scams. I have been asked at my website many times over the last few months if Textbroker.com was a reputable freelance writing company to work for. Is textbroker a scam? I can answer that question from experience. No, it text broker is not a scam. When you send in your writing sample, you will be given a ranking from 1-5 from the team at textbroker. The lower the ranking, the lower your pay per article will be.
Once you are accepted and ranked, you may log into the site to view available articles that are in your ranking and the rankings below yours. You can choose one article to write and then cannot choose another one until you have submitted the first. The articles are listed by category, so you can see which ones you might be interested in. Once you click on an article, you will get more detailed information from the client, such as which keywords to use and how many words the article needs to be.
Once you submit your article, it is sent to the client for approval. The client may do one of three things. They can reject the article outright. They can email you for a revision. They can accept the article. Once your article has been accepted by the client, you will see the payment show up in your textbroker account.
Textbroker will then pay you by paypal once your account has reached $10.00. This usually does not take very long to achieve. Each article that is accepted is given a ranking by textbroker. Then, your article rankings are averaged and you will be given a new ranking. As your rankings improve, so does your pay scale. Textbroker is not a scam. They pay in a timely manner and there is plenty of work in the assignments area.
If you are looking for other freelance writing sites that will pay you to submit articles, you should visit The Green Ninja at http://www.thegreenninja.org to read about other sites such as eHow, Demand Studios, Bukisa, Today.com and more. There is a wealth of information about getting your articles published and putting money in your pocket.
About the Author:
Jen Brister is a freelance writer who uses the internet to increase her cash flow. To read more about legitimate freelance writing sites, visit Jen over at http://www.thegreenninja.org.
Keyword tags:
There are many reputable sites to work for online. Look for sites who ask you to apply and send in a sample of your work. They will usually get back to you in a day or two. If you are approved, be sure to read the FAQ of the site so that you will know the basics and how much you will be getting paid per article. You will also need to note how long your articles need to be and other qualifications that you might need to have.
Sometimes it's hard to find sites who are reputable and freelancers are always sharing information as to which sites are good and which ones are scams. I have been asked at my website many times over the last few months if Textbroker.com was a reputable freelance writing company to work for. Is textbroker a scam? I can answer that question from experience. No, it text broker is not a scam. When you send in your writing sample, you will be given a ranking from 1-5 from the team at textbroker. The lower the ranking, the lower your pay per article will be.
Once you are accepted and ranked, you may log into the site to view available articles that are in your ranking and the rankings below yours. You can choose one article to write and then cannot choose another one until you have submitted the first. The articles are listed by category, so you can see which ones you might be interested in. Once you click on an article, you will get more detailed information from the client, such as which keywords to use and how many words the article needs to be.
Once you submit your article, it is sent to the client for approval. The client may do one of three things. They can reject the article outright. They can email you for a revision. They can accept the article. Once your article has been accepted by the client, you will see the payment show up in your textbroker account.
Textbroker will then pay you by paypal once your account has reached $10.00. This usually does not take very long to achieve. Each article that is accepted is given a ranking by textbroker. Then, your article rankings are averaged and you will be given a new ranking. As your rankings improve, so does your pay scale. Textbroker is not a scam. They pay in a timely manner and there is plenty of work in the assignments area.
If you are looking for other freelance writing sites that will pay you to submit articles, you should visit The Green Ninja at http://www.thegreenninja.org to read about other sites such as eHow, Demand Studios, Bukisa, Today.com and more. There is a wealth of information about getting your articles published and putting money in your pocket.
About the Author:
Jen Brister is a freelance writer who uses the internet to increase her cash flow. To read more about legitimate freelance writing sites, visit Jen over at http://www.thegreenninja.org.
Keyword tags:
The Creative Writer\s Secret to Making a Living Writing
Creative writers – make a lot of money writing for newspapers. The writing is easy, you don't have to worry about "Show, Don't Tell," and you can resell the articles all over the country with simultaneous submissions.
Most average sized cities have a local newspaper that accepts admissions from amateur writers. This is your market. If you have political views you want to share, the Opinion Editor or Op-Ed section is a good place to start. Write with conviction and zest and the editor will most likely accept your piece. He will, however, edit it for grammar and cut parts he deems unnecessary. If they have a guideline, follow it to the letter.
You will get about $15 for each article, and $5 for each picture they use. A normal 35 mm camera is usually good enough. Most newspapers need a reporter for PTA meetings and sometimes for sports events. Okay, so it's not much, but you can resell one article about an upcoming holiday as many times as you want to. One article can easily make you $200.
Make a file on the newspapers that accept your work. This is your gold mine. These are the people you send Christmas cards to – the people you become personally acquainted with – the people you network with – and the people you become friends with. These people are your livelihood – and this is how writers make a living. Maybe not a plush living, but a modest one. It isn't easy, but it works.
When you write articles, you have to be fast. You don't worry a lot about how you phrase things as long as you use (near) proper English. Most of the rules you learned for writing short stories won't apply there. You can use passive sentences. You can "tell" instead of "showing". You don't have to use graceful sentences, but used jazzed up verbs.
Make your submissions directly to the editor. Call the newspaper to learn his or her name, and write it down. Be sure you get the spelling right. Google "U.S. Newspapers" and you can select the papers by state.
So where do you get your articles? What do you write about? Have you ever wondered how something works, or where certain things come from? How about people who have an unusual talent or a special hobby?
The secret to reselling a newspaper article is that it needs to have a broad appeal – such as an article on how Father's Day began. If you were submitting to a magazine, you would have to submit at least three to four months ahead, but not so with newspapers. Send your article in two weeks ahead.
Still having a hard time thinking of what to write about? Check the latest version of Writer's Market if you have nothing specific in mind. Browsing the non-fiction section will give you an idea of what kinds of articles are being published.
This is enough to get you off to a good start. See below for more free writer's tips!
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now! To receive more free writing tips in The Writer's Cho
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Most average sized cities have a local newspaper that accepts admissions from amateur writers. This is your market. If you have political views you want to share, the Opinion Editor or Op-Ed section is a good place to start. Write with conviction and zest and the editor will most likely accept your piece. He will, however, edit it for grammar and cut parts he deems unnecessary. If they have a guideline, follow it to the letter.
You will get about $15 for each article, and $5 for each picture they use. A normal 35 mm camera is usually good enough. Most newspapers need a reporter for PTA meetings and sometimes for sports events. Okay, so it's not much, but you can resell one article about an upcoming holiday as many times as you want to. One article can easily make you $200.
Make a file on the newspapers that accept your work. This is your gold mine. These are the people you send Christmas cards to – the people you become personally acquainted with – the people you network with – and the people you become friends with. These people are your livelihood – and this is how writers make a living. Maybe not a plush living, but a modest one. It isn't easy, but it works.
When you write articles, you have to be fast. You don't worry a lot about how you phrase things as long as you use (near) proper English. Most of the rules you learned for writing short stories won't apply there. You can use passive sentences. You can "tell" instead of "showing". You don't have to use graceful sentences, but used jazzed up verbs.
Make your submissions directly to the editor. Call the newspaper to learn his or her name, and write it down. Be sure you get the spelling right. Google "U.S. Newspapers" and you can select the papers by state.
So where do you get your articles? What do you write about? Have you ever wondered how something works, or where certain things come from? How about people who have an unusual talent or a special hobby?
The secret to reselling a newspaper article is that it needs to have a broad appeal – such as an article on how Father's Day began. If you were submitting to a magazine, you would have to submit at least three to four months ahead, but not so with newspapers. Send your article in two weeks ahead.
Still having a hard time thinking of what to write about? Check the latest version of Writer's Market if you have nothing specific in mind. Browsing the non-fiction section will give you an idea of what kinds of articles are being published.
This is enough to get you off to a good start. See below for more free writer's tips!
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now! To receive more free writing tips in The Writer's Cho
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Creative Writers Use 4 Easy Steps to Write Short Stories
Learn the DeBowen short story system, the newest writing rage.
Every story has one climactic conflict, and this is where you are going to start your story. You might be saying, huh? What about the setting and theme? What about the plot and resolution? All in due time.
Think of action scenes. The action is what makes the story. Without it, you don't have a story. Think of Stephen King's stories. Someone has a knife and they gain entrance through a window. The woman is in the shower, and their intent is not only to murder her, but also to slaughter her in the most gory way possible. He sneaks through each room making little noises here and there. He stops. Does she hear him approaching? The entire scene is prolonged, drawing out the suspense as long as possible until he actually does the slaying.
The entire story leads up to that point, and then it fades back a little to let the viewer catch his breath. Then it builds again to a resolution with fever pitch excitement, and it finishes with a huge climax.
Writers have a hard time working up to a climax when they don't know what the climax is going to be, so you are going to determine that right now. Things like train wrecks, a parent being murdered, a bomb in a school, someone just inherited ten million dollars, etc. Think of six good or bad action scenes before you read on. The more action, the more drama, the better.
Let's say you think of a person who just inherited a large amount of money. The conflict could be in receiving the money, how he spent all of it foolishly, and went back into credit card debt.
Or think of a boy who was brought to the United States for an education by a charity group. The group houses and feeds him throughout his formative years. Graduation day comes. He's on his way to the ceremony when his car stalls on a train track and he is killed.
1. Now it's your turn. Think of an eye-popping conflict, or a gut-wrenching scene. How would it change a character's life? This scene can be up to 700 words.
After you have written the conflict scene, you will automatically know how many characters are going to be in the story. You should have no more than three main characters, (preferably two), and three secondary characters. All of these characters will not be involved in the conflict scene you are writing, but you will know they are coming at some point.
2. Next, it's time to write the ending scene. How do you want to resolve your conflict? (At this point, these two scenes will not be connected. Keep in mind that you are writing rough drafts – the bare skeleton.)
3. Thirdly, write the beginning of your story to introduce your characters and set the scene.
4. Last, connect the scenes, and edit your story. Yes, it's really that easy!
See below for more free writer's tips.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Every story has one climactic conflict, and this is where you are going to start your story. You might be saying, huh? What about the setting and theme? What about the plot and resolution? All in due time.
Think of action scenes. The action is what makes the story. Without it, you don't have a story. Think of Stephen King's stories. Someone has a knife and they gain entrance through a window. The woman is in the shower, and their intent is not only to murder her, but also to slaughter her in the most gory way possible. He sneaks through each room making little noises here and there. He stops. Does she hear him approaching? The entire scene is prolonged, drawing out the suspense as long as possible until he actually does the slaying.
The entire story leads up to that point, and then it fades back a little to let the viewer catch his breath. Then it builds again to a resolution with fever pitch excitement, and it finishes with a huge climax.
Writers have a hard time working up to a climax when they don't know what the climax is going to be, so you are going to determine that right now. Things like train wrecks, a parent being murdered, a bomb in a school, someone just inherited ten million dollars, etc. Think of six good or bad action scenes before you read on. The more action, the more drama, the better.
Let's say you think of a person who just inherited a large amount of money. The conflict could be in receiving the money, how he spent all of it foolishly, and went back into credit card debt.
Or think of a boy who was brought to the United States for an education by a charity group. The group houses and feeds him throughout his formative years. Graduation day comes. He's on his way to the ceremony when his car stalls on a train track and he is killed.
1. Now it's your turn. Think of an eye-popping conflict, or a gut-wrenching scene. How would it change a character's life? This scene can be up to 700 words.
After you have written the conflict scene, you will automatically know how many characters are going to be in the story. You should have no more than three main characters, (preferably two), and three secondary characters. All of these characters will not be involved in the conflict scene you are writing, but you will know they are coming at some point.
2. Next, it's time to write the ending scene. How do you want to resolve your conflict? (At this point, these two scenes will not be connected. Keep in mind that you are writing rough drafts – the bare skeleton.)
3. Thirdly, write the beginning of your story to introduce your characters and set the scene.
4. Last, connect the scenes, and edit your story. Yes, it's really that easy!
See below for more free writer's tips.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Creative Writers Study Punctuation Tips on the Period, Question Mark, Exclamation Mark
Creative writers rarely study punctuation, but every sentence they write depends on it. Learn it well.
An imperative sentence is a command or request.
Give me a hug.
A declarative sentence states a fact.
She gave him a hug.
Some declarative sentences contain a question. If the sentence as a whole states the question as a fact, it should end with a period.
A question
Would you like to go to a party?
A declaration
I wonder if you would like to go to a party.
Instead of asking if you would like to go to a party, I have stated that I am wondering if you would like to go. You would use a period to end the sentence.
Abbreviated words end in a period.
Mr., Dr., Rev., etc., i.e., and Mrs. are examples of abbreviated words that have periods. If your declarative or imperative sentence that requires a period ends with an abbreviated word, do not add an additional period.
(Yes)
The movie starts at 8 P.M.
(No)
The movie starts at 8 P.M..
A sentence that is a direct question ends with a question mark. Simple, right? A question mark is also used to show that there is doubt or an unknown in the sentence. When the question mark is used in this way, it is usually placed in parentheses. An unknown date on a tombstone would be presented like this.
(1960 - ?)
There is a known birthday but the date of death is unknown.
Look at this sentence.
In her will, the eccentric woman left her pet cat (?) the entire estate.
The question mark indicates the writer is not sure if the pet is a cat.
If there are a series of incomplete questions within a sentence, a question mark is placed at the end of each.
Can you believe the man survived the gunshot? Or the fall from the six-story building? Or hitting the flagpole?
This is an example of a series of incomplete questions in a sentence. Did you notice the question mark after each question? These do not require parenthesis as they do not pose direct doubt.
The Exclamation Mark
Sometimes called an exclamation point, this handy little punctuation is used to indicate surprise or a strong emotion or feeling.
Get out of my room.
Get out of my room!
Look at the different levels of excitement in those two sentences. The first is a simple command. It states someone wants you to leave the room. The second relates a sense of urgency or possibly anger. An exclamation mark at the end of a sentence changes the emotion.
Exclamation marks are rarely used in formal writing unless it is in a quote or the citing of a title. In informal writing, you can use an exclamation point at the end of a sentence or after particularly exciting information.
If the exclamation mark is used to punctuate exciting information within a sentence, it is placed in parenthesis.
Mike won first place (!) in the spelling bee.
See below for more free writer's tips.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
An imperative sentence is a command or request.
Give me a hug.
A declarative sentence states a fact.
She gave him a hug.
Some declarative sentences contain a question. If the sentence as a whole states the question as a fact, it should end with a period.
A question
Would you like to go to a party?
A declaration
I wonder if you would like to go to a party.
Instead of asking if you would like to go to a party, I have stated that I am wondering if you would like to go. You would use a period to end the sentence.
Abbreviated words end in a period.
Mr., Dr., Rev., etc., i.e., and Mrs. are examples of abbreviated words that have periods. If your declarative or imperative sentence that requires a period ends with an abbreviated word, do not add an additional period.
(Yes)
The movie starts at 8 P.M.
(No)
The movie starts at 8 P.M..
A sentence that is a direct question ends with a question mark. Simple, right? A question mark is also used to show that there is doubt or an unknown in the sentence. When the question mark is used in this way, it is usually placed in parentheses. An unknown date on a tombstone would be presented like this.
(1960 - ?)
There is a known birthday but the date of death is unknown.
Look at this sentence.
In her will, the eccentric woman left her pet cat (?) the entire estate.
The question mark indicates the writer is not sure if the pet is a cat.
If there are a series of incomplete questions within a sentence, a question mark is placed at the end of each.
Can you believe the man survived the gunshot? Or the fall from the six-story building? Or hitting the flagpole?
This is an example of a series of incomplete questions in a sentence. Did you notice the question mark after each question? These do not require parenthesis as they do not pose direct doubt.
The Exclamation Mark
Sometimes called an exclamation point, this handy little punctuation is used to indicate surprise or a strong emotion or feeling.
Get out of my room.
Get out of my room!
Look at the different levels of excitement in those two sentences. The first is a simple command. It states someone wants you to leave the room. The second relates a sense of urgency or possibly anger. An exclamation mark at the end of a sentence changes the emotion.
Exclamation marks are rarely used in formal writing unless it is in a quote or the citing of a title. In informal writing, you can use an exclamation point at the end of a sentence or after particularly exciting information.
If the exclamation mark is used to punctuate exciting information within a sentence, it is placed in parenthesis.
Mike won first place (!) in the spelling bee.
See below for more free writer's tips.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Friday, January 16, 2009
Affiliate Marketing For Beginners - How to Write Simply and Clearly
Article Writing with Simplicity and Clarity
Article Writing: Start One Sentence at a Time
Writing for some is a great source of anxiety. For the most part it really has nothing to do with the actual act of putting words to paper, though that is often how it is expressed.
It really has more to do with trying to figure out what to write about. For many the metaphor is sitting there alone on the rock overlooking that overwhelming vista of the canyons and valleys below. What to make of it all? Where do you go from your perch? Vertigo…let me find my way back to low secure ground.
Well maybe the thing to do is pick one point of contact. A house on the hillside below or a flower laden pasture may do just fine. Then get up and find the path that gets you there, one step at a time.
The same holds true for writing your article. Look at your idea, business concept; find your audience through careful observation or research; feel what they feel, know what they are looking for and then start communicating one sentence at a time.
How to Write a Simple Sentence
Your first sentence, usually your headline is the most important. Why you ask? Because it has to have all the right attributes of good communication. A clear subject (usually your reader), a verb (action that relates to the reader) and an object (usually the problem or solution that defines your reader).
That sentence is simple. It has no qualifiers to muddy the idea flow. It is natural in tone. It uses words easy to understand; no fancy spelling or need to explain anything. The reader knows instantly what the message means to him/her and what is expected. The message is clear.
How to Communicate with Clarity
In the words of Professor Strunk, "clarity is not a prize in writing, nor is it always the principal mark of good style. But since writing is communication, clarity can only be a virtue."
In other words, if you want to get cute or metaphorical, be clear about it. When your sentences start running long, you may want to take a break, take a look, and start over.
Getting lost in the fog of a long winded pitch means you have lost your focus and your audience. Go back and read your words aloud. See how they sound and see how they feel. Then re-chart your course and start writing again.
It is not easy to be clear and simple. It took the artist Picasso about forty years to get his depiction of a bull down to three lines on a canvass. It can take more than a few re-writes to craft your message with as few words as possible.
Conclusion
The great achievement of learning how to write simple and clear messages is that you will be in perfect communication with your audience. That means you will understand who they are, what they are thinking, why they are thinking what they are thinking and what they will do to act on your message.
And is not that what your goal is in the first place; to connect with your intended audience and establish a relationship?
So do your thinking up front and build your message one sentence at a time; remember, simple and clearly focused.
May Your Travels Be Prosperous.
About the Author:
Over the past 20 years Claude Pelanne has worked in a series of startup ventures including some of the first commercial webcasts. He is an internet marketer and serial entrepreneur and writes about affiliate marketing. Feel free to distribute this article in any form as long as you include the resource box. For tips and resources to get into internet marketing visit http://affiliatestartingline.com affiliatestartingline or http://www.twitter.com/cpelanne claudepelanne
Keyword tags: Article writing,how to write,writing,how to write an article,affiliate marekting for beginners,writing for affiliatestartingline,writing outline format
Article Writing: Start One Sentence at a Time
Writing for some is a great source of anxiety. For the most part it really has nothing to do with the actual act of putting words to paper, though that is often how it is expressed.
It really has more to do with trying to figure out what to write about. For many the metaphor is sitting there alone on the rock overlooking that overwhelming vista of the canyons and valleys below. What to make of it all? Where do you go from your perch? Vertigo…let me find my way back to low secure ground.
Well maybe the thing to do is pick one point of contact. A house on the hillside below or a flower laden pasture may do just fine. Then get up and find the path that gets you there, one step at a time.
The same holds true for writing your article. Look at your idea, business concept; find your audience through careful observation or research; feel what they feel, know what they are looking for and then start communicating one sentence at a time.
How to Write a Simple Sentence
Your first sentence, usually your headline is the most important. Why you ask? Because it has to have all the right attributes of good communication. A clear subject (usually your reader), a verb (action that relates to the reader) and an object (usually the problem or solution that defines your reader).
That sentence is simple. It has no qualifiers to muddy the idea flow. It is natural in tone. It uses words easy to understand; no fancy spelling or need to explain anything. The reader knows instantly what the message means to him/her and what is expected. The message is clear.
How to Communicate with Clarity
In the words of Professor Strunk, "clarity is not a prize in writing, nor is it always the principal mark of good style. But since writing is communication, clarity can only be a virtue."
In other words, if you want to get cute or metaphorical, be clear about it. When your sentences start running long, you may want to take a break, take a look, and start over.
Getting lost in the fog of a long winded pitch means you have lost your focus and your audience. Go back and read your words aloud. See how they sound and see how they feel. Then re-chart your course and start writing again.
It is not easy to be clear and simple. It took the artist Picasso about forty years to get his depiction of a bull down to three lines on a canvass. It can take more than a few re-writes to craft your message with as few words as possible.
Conclusion
The great achievement of learning how to write simple and clear messages is that you will be in perfect communication with your audience. That means you will understand who they are, what they are thinking, why they are thinking what they are thinking and what they will do to act on your message.
And is not that what your goal is in the first place; to connect with your intended audience and establish a relationship?
So do your thinking up front and build your message one sentence at a time; remember, simple and clearly focused.
May Your Travels Be Prosperous.
About the Author:
Over the past 20 years Claude Pelanne has worked in a series of startup ventures including some of the first commercial webcasts. He is an internet marketer and serial entrepreneur and writes about affiliate marketing. Feel free to distribute this article in any form as long as you include the resource box. For tips and resources to get into internet marketing visit http://affiliatestartingline.com affiliatestartingline or http://www.twitter.com/cpelanne claudepelanne
Keyword tags: Article writing,how to write,writing,how to write an article,affiliate marekting for beginners,writing for affiliatestartingline,writing outline format
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Creative Writer\s Secret to Writing a Professional Query Letter
Editors know what they are looking for in a query letter. This guide follows the teaching of Noah Lukeman, editor, novelist, literary agent and teacher at Writer's University. Ten thousand queries cross his desk every year.
The query letter has but one function - to make the editor want to read more.
Do not address your letter with Dear Editor, To Whom it May Concern, or Dear Agent, or it will be trashed immediately. Always call the magazine to verify the name and spelling of the editor.
Improper formatting, colored paper or print, exclamations, bold print, underlining, cursive script, large font, etc., will be tossed immediately. If you must emphasize, use italics.
Use white or off-white good, quality paper measuring 8 ½" by 11". Invest in good, personalized stationary with contact information in the header or footer. Include your phone number and email.
Use plain black ink and a laser or high quality inkjet. The print should be 12-point font, such as Times or Garamond.
Leave ample one-inch margins all around. Do not use justified margins. Single space, indent paragraphs and double space between paragraphs. If you are pitching a book, use all caps for the title.
Your first paragraph should consist of one or two sentences. That is your hook. The next sentence or two should describe the plot and summary. Just answer the question, "What is my story about?" If you have statistics or demographics, use them here. The last sentence or two should be your biography. Use your credits here, if you have any major credits.
Three to six sentences must suffice. You may use a simple closing, such as: "Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you." Nothing more. Your grand total should not exceed eight sentences for an article, story or essay. For a book, no more than three sentences to three paragraphs, and a brief closing, with no spaces between paragraphs.
Do not use the names of characters. Refer to them as the "main character" or "the antagonist," "the protagonist" or "the narrator."
Do not mention subplots, quote your own work or try anything "cutesy".
Do not mention minor publications, minor awards or endorsements from unknown authors.
Do not say:
1. "I've never read your magazine, but... "
2. "My aunt loved this story... "
3. "You will be glad... "
4. "I don't have any writing credits, but... "
5. "I hope you like my story... "
6. "If you don't buy my story, someone else will."
Do:
1. Show the time period your story is written in.
2. Be specific.
3. Tell the location.
4. If climate plays a large part, mention the climate.
5. Could you say you are writing in the tradition of Thomas Wolfe or some other author? Then say that.
6. Can you accurately compare your story with another well known work?
7. If your life experience is relative to your story, mention it briefly.
8. Be humble.
Your last paragraph will be your biography. If you have no credits, leave them out. Be sure you include a SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope).
If you really want to get the editor's attention, Fed-Ex your story. Fed-exed stories go to the top of the editor's pile.
Expect rejections. Mr. Lukeman says he gets up to 10 rejections every day, but he has written 200 books. It is the persistence that counts.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
The query letter has but one function - to make the editor want to read more.
Do not address your letter with Dear Editor, To Whom it May Concern, or Dear Agent, or it will be trashed immediately. Always call the magazine to verify the name and spelling of the editor.
Improper formatting, colored paper or print, exclamations, bold print, underlining, cursive script, large font, etc., will be tossed immediately. If you must emphasize, use italics.
Use white or off-white good, quality paper measuring 8 ½" by 11". Invest in good, personalized stationary with contact information in the header or footer. Include your phone number and email.
Use plain black ink and a laser or high quality inkjet. The print should be 12-point font, such as Times or Garamond.
Leave ample one-inch margins all around. Do not use justified margins. Single space, indent paragraphs and double space between paragraphs. If you are pitching a book, use all caps for the title.
Your first paragraph should consist of one or two sentences. That is your hook. The next sentence or two should describe the plot and summary. Just answer the question, "What is my story about?" If you have statistics or demographics, use them here. The last sentence or two should be your biography. Use your credits here, if you have any major credits.
Three to six sentences must suffice. You may use a simple closing, such as: "Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you." Nothing more. Your grand total should not exceed eight sentences for an article, story or essay. For a book, no more than three sentences to three paragraphs, and a brief closing, with no spaces between paragraphs.
Do not use the names of characters. Refer to them as the "main character" or "the antagonist," "the protagonist" or "the narrator."
Do not mention subplots, quote your own work or try anything "cutesy".
Do not mention minor publications, minor awards or endorsements from unknown authors.
Do not say:
1. "I've never read your magazine, but... "
2. "My aunt loved this story... "
3. "You will be glad... "
4. "I don't have any writing credits, but... "
5. "I hope you like my story... "
6. "If you don't buy my story, someone else will."
Do:
1. Show the time period your story is written in.
2. Be specific.
3. Tell the location.
4. If climate plays a large part, mention the climate.
5. Could you say you are writing in the tradition of Thomas Wolfe or some other author? Then say that.
6. Can you accurately compare your story with another well known work?
7. If your life experience is relative to your story, mention it briefly.
8. Be humble.
Your last paragraph will be your biography. If you have no credits, leave them out. Be sure you include a SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope).
If you really want to get the editor's attention, Fed-Ex your story. Fed-exed stories go to the top of the editor's pile.
Expect rejections. Mr. Lukeman says he gets up to 10 rejections every day, but he has written 200 books. It is the persistence that counts.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Monday, January 12, 2009
Fountain Pens: An Annoyed Caliph Started it All (To Put it Mildly)
Give Me a Pen Quick!
The first clean writing fountain pen showed up in 953 in ancient Egypt. This is documented in the Kitdb al Majalis wa 'l-musayardt al-Mu'izz, a journal of sorts written by Qadi al- Nu'man al-Tamimi (d.974). The invention was not commercially motivated but was a hurried construction of a writing tool that did not drip ink all over the place. The caliph of Egypt Ma'ad al-Mu'izz had enough of leaking pens.
A pen that had built-in ink reservoir inside was made. The ink in the interior reservoir was delivered to the nib or the tip through capillary action and gravity that controlled ink flow. The invention wasn't perfect yet but was the best around. It was a precursor of the modern day fountain pens but nobody suspected it yet.
With his new pen, the Caliph happily signed hundreds of missives to sultans, rich merchants, and army generals. He did not waste time fussing over leaking ink and raging over ink spills on his expensive robes. He was a relieved Caliph thanks to the invention.
The Evolution of Fountain Pens
Later in the 17th century in another part of the world, Frenchman Nicolas Bion (1652-1733) was busy making instruments for royalty. Although there is no proof he invented fountain pens but he is credited for the oldest pen circa 1802, which has survived through the decades and is now a property of fountain pens collectors.
In the 18th century and early 19th century, several names became associated with fountain pens -- Americans Peregrin Williamson, John Jacob Parker, Lewis Waterman, and Briton John Scheffer.
The idea behind the pens was inspired by the shaft of bird feathers. The stronger the feather, the better it was for writing but using a quill pen was tedious because it had to be dipped in ink several times while writing.
The early quill pens had golden nibs and were quite something to look at but failed to work neatly; users had to put up frequent nib dipping, ink spills, blotched paper, ink stained hands, and worse, missed contracts because the deeds had to be redone because ink blots marred the looks of the legal document.
Modern Fountain Pens
After several hits and misses to come up with a pen that wrote smoothly not scratch the paper, that didn't require much nib-dipping, or didn't drip-leak-blotch any moment, the long-sought writing instrument was perfected.
Modern day "quills" don't need eyedroppers to refill the pens. The refilling mechanism now employs the built-in ink reservoir or cartridge method. Ink is drawn to the nib via a feed while gravity and capillary action draws the ink to the paper to facilitate writing.
Fountain pens are no longer somber or crude writing tools. The new breed of streamlined pens is available in various colors and designs and may have nice full rounded edges. They are smaller and slimmer to fit into a shirt pocket and best of all, these pens take off the stress associated with writing by hand. If the Caliph didn't order a nice pen would the fountain pen story be different?
About the Author:
If fountain pens (http://www.executivegiftshoppe.com/fountainpens.html), a Business Card Holder (http://www.executivegiftshoppe.com/business-card-holders.html) and a money clip wallet (http://www.executivegiftshoppe.com/money-clips-leather.html) can make you a man-about-town get them all from http://ExecutiveGiftShoppe.com now.
Keyword tags: fountain pens
The first clean writing fountain pen showed up in 953 in ancient Egypt. This is documented in the Kitdb al Majalis wa 'l-musayardt al-Mu'izz, a journal of sorts written by Qadi al- Nu'man al-Tamimi (d.974). The invention was not commercially motivated but was a hurried construction of a writing tool that did not drip ink all over the place. The caliph of Egypt Ma'ad al-Mu'izz had enough of leaking pens.
A pen that had built-in ink reservoir inside was made. The ink in the interior reservoir was delivered to the nib or the tip through capillary action and gravity that controlled ink flow. The invention wasn't perfect yet but was the best around. It was a precursor of the modern day fountain pens but nobody suspected it yet.
With his new pen, the Caliph happily signed hundreds of missives to sultans, rich merchants, and army generals. He did not waste time fussing over leaking ink and raging over ink spills on his expensive robes. He was a relieved Caliph thanks to the invention.
The Evolution of Fountain Pens
Later in the 17th century in another part of the world, Frenchman Nicolas Bion (1652-1733) was busy making instruments for royalty. Although there is no proof he invented fountain pens but he is credited for the oldest pen circa 1802, which has survived through the decades and is now a property of fountain pens collectors.
In the 18th century and early 19th century, several names became associated with fountain pens -- Americans Peregrin Williamson, John Jacob Parker, Lewis Waterman, and Briton John Scheffer.
The idea behind the pens was inspired by the shaft of bird feathers. The stronger the feather, the better it was for writing but using a quill pen was tedious because it had to be dipped in ink several times while writing.
The early quill pens had golden nibs and were quite something to look at but failed to work neatly; users had to put up frequent nib dipping, ink spills, blotched paper, ink stained hands, and worse, missed contracts because the deeds had to be redone because ink blots marred the looks of the legal document.
Modern Fountain Pens
After several hits and misses to come up with a pen that wrote smoothly not scratch the paper, that didn't require much nib-dipping, or didn't drip-leak-blotch any moment, the long-sought writing instrument was perfected.
Modern day "quills" don't need eyedroppers to refill the pens. The refilling mechanism now employs the built-in ink reservoir or cartridge method. Ink is drawn to the nib via a feed while gravity and capillary action draws the ink to the paper to facilitate writing.
Fountain pens are no longer somber or crude writing tools. The new breed of streamlined pens is available in various colors and designs and may have nice full rounded edges. They are smaller and slimmer to fit into a shirt pocket and best of all, these pens take off the stress associated with writing by hand. If the Caliph didn't order a nice pen would the fountain pen story be different?
About the Author:
If fountain pens (http://www.executivegiftshoppe.com/fountainpens.html), a Business Card Holder (http://www.executivegiftshoppe.com/business-card-holders.html) and a money clip wallet (http://www.executivegiftshoppe.com/money-clips-leather.html) can make you a man-about-town get them all from http://ExecutiveGiftShoppe.com now.
Keyword tags: fountain pens
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Creative Writer\s 16 Golden Rules of Story Writing
Stories may differ in message, content and characters, but each one is required to have these 16 different elements. By the time you finish this article, you will be well equipped with a checklist that will be worth keeping – albeit, not necessarily written in the proper order.
·Your story must have a theme. It is the thread that runs seamlessly from beginning to end telling what the general story is about.
·It must also have a plot, which is usually encased in the central climax, or possibly in a series of events.
·All stories have an arc. This is the gradual increase of momentum and interest that builds at the beginning, reaches a fever pitch in the middle, and declines into resolutions of story conflicts at the end.
·Some stories move fast and some move slow, but all of them move at some rate of speed – usually a mixture of fast and slow. This is called pacing.
·Whether you do it mentally or by proper analysis, there is always some form of outlining that goes into storytelling.
·And all stories have resolutions at the end, which sum up all of the questions that have been raised during the story.
·Every story must begin with a good hook in the first paragraph, or you won't have a reader to worry about entertaining.
·All stories are told from a point of view; either first person, second person, third person limited or third person omniscient. Right now, editors are mostly buying third person limited.
·Every story has to do with the characters, their problems, and how they resolve their problems.
·Stories also have that little thing where people talk to one another – dialog. The trick is to write dialog that actually sounds natural. Become a good eavesdropper and you write excellent dialog.
·Every story has characters, and each character comes with their own bag and baggage of physical descriptions, emotional hoopla, and psychological concoctions.
·It would be a challenge to write a story without some degree of research. Sometimes it is only defining how insane a person can be, how irate parents can be, or how irresponsible children can be – but it is research, nonetheless.
·There is always a timeline in every story. While some authors may dwell on the same scene for a whole chapter, others will skip years in a single sentence.
·All stories call for settings – and if you're really good at writing, but if you are really good at writing, you can call them imagery.
·And every story has verbiage – like it or not. Out of every 2,500 words, you can cut 300-500 words.
·Not all stories have show, don't tell, but they absolutely should. If I told you what show, don't tell is, I would only be telling and not showing, and that is against the rules. Therefore, it will have to wait for another article.
If you have included all of these things in your story, it may not be good, but it will certainly be complete.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
·Your story must have a theme. It is the thread that runs seamlessly from beginning to end telling what the general story is about.
·It must also have a plot, which is usually encased in the central climax, or possibly in a series of events.
·All stories have an arc. This is the gradual increase of momentum and interest that builds at the beginning, reaches a fever pitch in the middle, and declines into resolutions of story conflicts at the end.
·Some stories move fast and some move slow, but all of them move at some rate of speed – usually a mixture of fast and slow. This is called pacing.
·Whether you do it mentally or by proper analysis, there is always some form of outlining that goes into storytelling.
·And all stories have resolutions at the end, which sum up all of the questions that have been raised during the story.
·Every story must begin with a good hook in the first paragraph, or you won't have a reader to worry about entertaining.
·All stories are told from a point of view; either first person, second person, third person limited or third person omniscient. Right now, editors are mostly buying third person limited.
·Every story has to do with the characters, their problems, and how they resolve their problems.
·Stories also have that little thing where people talk to one another – dialog. The trick is to write dialog that actually sounds natural. Become a good eavesdropper and you write excellent dialog.
·Every story has characters, and each character comes with their own bag and baggage of physical descriptions, emotional hoopla, and psychological concoctions.
·It would be a challenge to write a story without some degree of research. Sometimes it is only defining how insane a person can be, how irate parents can be, or how irresponsible children can be – but it is research, nonetheless.
·There is always a timeline in every story. While some authors may dwell on the same scene for a whole chapter, others will skip years in a single sentence.
·All stories call for settings – and if you're really good at writing, but if you are really good at writing, you can call them imagery.
·And every story has verbiage – like it or not. Out of every 2,500 words, you can cut 300-500 words.
·Not all stories have show, don't tell, but they absolutely should. If I told you what show, don't tell is, I would only be telling and not showing, and that is against the rules. Therefore, it will have to wait for another article.
If you have included all of these things in your story, it may not be good, but it will certainly be complete.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Creative Writers Weave Themes, Arcs, And Resolutions
Creative writing calls for all the talent you can muster. If you don't have very much talent, that's just dandy. No one will notice it for a while anyway. Meanwhile, just lope along with the herd and fake it. And while you're at it, think up a good story theme. What is a theme? It is what the story is about, generally speaking.
The climactic scene in the center is called the plot. Gone With the Wind is a love story from cover to cover. Moby Dick is a tale of revenge. Pinnocchio is a story of morals. The Ten Commandments is about righteousness and judgment. What will your story be about?
Whatever your theme is, every sentence in the story should point to it somehow. If it is imagery or scenery, the intent should be to weave it into the theme. For example, if you are writing a romance story and your opening scene is filled with snow and Christmas lights, it should be building up to something that connects with the theme. It should be introducing a character, or a situation that will tie into the story. If it has no purpose in the story, delete it.
Everything points to the theme, and all of it builds to the center plot that will be unfolded in one huge climactic scene. Everything that the characters say should be necessary to the story. Yes, some of the dialog may seemingly relate to something else, but in the scheme of things, every word must be part of the gluten that glues the whole story together.
Using the romance theme mentioned a moment ago, let's suppose you have a scene where two neighbors are gossiping over the back fence. How could the gossiping scene relate to the romance theme?
· It could be introducing a new character
· It could be building the characterization of an existing personality
· It could be shifting the scene to a closer part of the theme
· It could be the first reference to a new piece of the puzzle.
One piece of the puzzle builds on the other until all the pieces mesh together to form the intended picture. A writer is an artist painting words on a canvas, just waiting for someone to open the cover and see the picture waiting for them. As with all paintings, develop it slowly and meticulously.
As you weave the theme, you will see natural questions emerging, and they must be answered. These questions are like little roads that lead to an unnamed destination. The plot builds on these roads until it finally bursts into the central climax. This process is called arcing. The first part of the story is "flat", the middle of the story arcs, and the last part of the story resolves to a "flat" stage once again.
It resolves with answers to all the questions that have been raised. The end of the theme ties up all the loose ends until you have a nice, neat package with nothing left undone.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
The climactic scene in the center is called the plot. Gone With the Wind is a love story from cover to cover. Moby Dick is a tale of revenge. Pinnocchio is a story of morals. The Ten Commandments is about righteousness and judgment. What will your story be about?
Whatever your theme is, every sentence in the story should point to it somehow. If it is imagery or scenery, the intent should be to weave it into the theme. For example, if you are writing a romance story and your opening scene is filled with snow and Christmas lights, it should be building up to something that connects with the theme. It should be introducing a character, or a situation that will tie into the story. If it has no purpose in the story, delete it.
Everything points to the theme, and all of it builds to the center plot that will be unfolded in one huge climactic scene. Everything that the characters say should be necessary to the story. Yes, some of the dialog may seemingly relate to something else, but in the scheme of things, every word must be part of the gluten that glues the whole story together.
Using the romance theme mentioned a moment ago, let's suppose you have a scene where two neighbors are gossiping over the back fence. How could the gossiping scene relate to the romance theme?
· It could be introducing a new character
· It could be building the characterization of an existing personality
· It could be shifting the scene to a closer part of the theme
· It could be the first reference to a new piece of the puzzle.
One piece of the puzzle builds on the other until all the pieces mesh together to form the intended picture. A writer is an artist painting words on a canvas, just waiting for someone to open the cover and see the picture waiting for them. As with all paintings, develop it slowly and meticulously.
As you weave the theme, you will see natural questions emerging, and they must be answered. These questions are like little roads that lead to an unnamed destination. The plot builds on these roads until it finally bursts into the central climax. This process is called arcing. The first part of the story is "flat", the middle of the story arcs, and the last part of the story resolves to a "flat" stage once again.
It resolves with answers to all the questions that have been raised. The end of the theme ties up all the loose ends until you have a nice, neat package with nothing left undone.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Creative Writers Sometimes Entertain the Wrong People
Creative writers write to entertain. They entertain themselves, and they entertain those who dare to read what they write. This can be both good and bad.
If you write to entertain others, that's good. If some of your family members get hold of your work, that's bad. Of course, the last time they wrote anything was on a postcard in 1958, but they are an expert on writing. Somehow, moms, sisters and all the Aunt Tillies of the world always know exactly what is lacking.
There seems to be a school for writing advisors out there somewhere, and all of your family attended it. No one knows what they learned, or where, or when, but they seem to have graduated at the top of their class. They want you to know what they know because you should have already known it. Capice?
No one would guess these well-disguised editors have such a glowing secret career. Most people would think they are a common reader.
They read a magazine – somewhere – they can't remember where – but it said you should have done it thus and so. You obviously didn't read that article. You probably told too much about one character and not nearly enough about another.
And "while I'm at it," they will say, "I might as well tell you the whole truth." And you're thinking – "No, tell me anything but the whole truth." But they continue anyway.
"The setting was too flowery and frankly, a little boring. You know I wouldn't hurt you for the world, so I'm saying this for your own good… "
And you're thinking, "I'll bet she wants to spare me rejection, humiliation and discouragement."
And of course, they always "say it in love". God help you when someone says something "in love". You know you're about to get both barrels.
Wouldn't you like to "let them have it"? Just once? You might say something like this:
"And just who asked you anything to start with? I said you could read my story, not slice it and dice it and serve it as a sardine soufflé.
"What school did you go to anyway? Which courses did you take? I took Creative Writing 101 and Short Story Writing. I was totally unaware of your expertise. If I had only known of your editing skills, I could have saved a pile of dough. Where did you say you did your intern? I know a lot of people who could use your help. People who would appreciate it a lot more than I do.
"How much did you say you charge? You know what? I'm sorry I ever let you read my work. I'll be most happy to write you a check for your services. Who should I make it out to? Ima Shredder?
"I admit, I really don't appreciate this like I should. Here's your check. And by the way, do you have any stories I could read?"
Just once, wouldn't you like to say that? I would. Maybe that's what heaven is all about.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
If you write to entertain others, that's good. If some of your family members get hold of your work, that's bad. Of course, the last time they wrote anything was on a postcard in 1958, but they are an expert on writing. Somehow, moms, sisters and all the Aunt Tillies of the world always know exactly what is lacking.
There seems to be a school for writing advisors out there somewhere, and all of your family attended it. No one knows what they learned, or where, or when, but they seem to have graduated at the top of their class. They want you to know what they know because you should have already known it. Capice?
No one would guess these well-disguised editors have such a glowing secret career. Most people would think they are a common reader.
They read a magazine – somewhere – they can't remember where – but it said you should have done it thus and so. You obviously didn't read that article. You probably told too much about one character and not nearly enough about another.
And "while I'm at it," they will say, "I might as well tell you the whole truth." And you're thinking – "No, tell me anything but the whole truth." But they continue anyway.
"The setting was too flowery and frankly, a little boring. You know I wouldn't hurt you for the world, so I'm saying this for your own good… "
And you're thinking, "I'll bet she wants to spare me rejection, humiliation and discouragement."
And of course, they always "say it in love". God help you when someone says something "in love". You know you're about to get both barrels.
Wouldn't you like to "let them have it"? Just once? You might say something like this:
"And just who asked you anything to start with? I said you could read my story, not slice it and dice it and serve it as a sardine soufflé.
"What school did you go to anyway? Which courses did you take? I took Creative Writing 101 and Short Story Writing. I was totally unaware of your expertise. If I had only known of your editing skills, I could have saved a pile of dough. Where did you say you did your intern? I know a lot of people who could use your help. People who would appreciate it a lot more than I do.
"How much did you say you charge? You know what? I'm sorry I ever let you read my work. I'll be most happy to write you a check for your services. Who should I make it out to? Ima Shredder?
"I admit, I really don't appreciate this like I should. Here's your check. And by the way, do you have any stories I could read?"
Just once, wouldn't you like to say that? I would. Maybe that's what heaven is all about.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Article Writing Tips From Spongebob Squarepants
Wisdom can be found in the most unexpected places. Today, wisdom bubbled up from a pineapple under the sea. I suddenly realized that everything you'd want to know about writing articles for your website can be taught by SpongeBob SquarePants and his friends.
When you write for your newsletter, blog, or website, which character are you most like?
Squidward: Squidward is B-O-R-I-N-G. When writing articles, are you a Squidward? Do you just get the words down on paper or are you finding a fun twist to entertain your audience and keep them coming back for more? Take time to make your articles stand out from the thousands of other dull articles out there by including personal stories or just having fun while writing. For instance, this article could be entitled "How to Write a Good Article", but would it stand out from the hundreds of other articles about article writing? Probably not.
Mr. Krabs: This crustacean is focused on one thing and one thing only, making more and more and more money. Only a cartoon could actually have dollar signs drawn in his eyes. He thinks of no one, only how he can benefit. Are your articles focused on you or on the reader? Are you providing information or do you have blinders on, thinking only about how you can make money from the article you are writing? If your article reads like an ad or is self-serving or full of affiliate links, you might write like Mr. Krabs.
Patrick: SpongeBob's best friend, the starfish, has a good heart, but isn't the brightest creature in the sea. Do your articles make you sound like an expert? Are you providing valuable content or just pushing out sloppy articles as fast as you can? Always double check for typos and grammatical errors. If you're challenged by spelling and grammar, hire a Virtual Assistant or Copywriter to proofread and submit your article for you. Or slow down, set your article aside for a day and then reread it before you click the "submit" button.
Plankton: The smallest creature in the sea is also the sneakiest. He'll do anything and hurt anyone to steal someone else's work (the Krabby Pattie secret formula). Write your own material. Don't be Plankton. Don't copy and paste someone else's work, edit it, and try to pass it off as your own. You will be caught, and it just isn't worth it. Take the same amount of effort and work on your own thoughts and ideas. Plankton never gets away with his schemes, either. He's on Plan "Z" and is still pathetically failing at his attempts to steal the secret formula.
SpongeBob: This little guy always tries to do the right thing, and is a hard worker. He may not always end up getting the results he hoped for, but he bounces back and tackles his work with a renewed vigor. SpongeBob works very hard, he's a good friend, he always thinks of others, and tries to have fun no matter what he is faced with. Hardworking, friendly SpongeBob is the guy to be when writing articles.
Although this is a silly lesson in article writing, I hope you'll remember the important messages our underwater friends have taught us.
1. Be entertaining. Not boring.
2. Write articles to help others, not with dollar signs in your eyes.
3. Proofread your articles carefully, and provide valuable information.
4. Write your own material. Don't copy others.
5. Be a SpongeBob! Hard work and persistence pay off.
Before you know it, you'll develop a following for having informative and entertaining articles and you'll be King or Queen of the sea.
About the Author:
Nicole Dean, of http://NicoleOntheNet.com uses Article Marketing to get free advertising on websites, in newsletters, and in print worldwide. She welcomes you to visit http://www.WebTrafficBasics.com to find out more.
Keyword tags:
When you write for your newsletter, blog, or website, which character are you most like?
Squidward: Squidward is B-O-R-I-N-G. When writing articles, are you a Squidward? Do you just get the words down on paper or are you finding a fun twist to entertain your audience and keep them coming back for more? Take time to make your articles stand out from the thousands of other dull articles out there by including personal stories or just having fun while writing. For instance, this article could be entitled "How to Write a Good Article", but would it stand out from the hundreds of other articles about article writing? Probably not.
Mr. Krabs: This crustacean is focused on one thing and one thing only, making more and more and more money. Only a cartoon could actually have dollar signs drawn in his eyes. He thinks of no one, only how he can benefit. Are your articles focused on you or on the reader? Are you providing information or do you have blinders on, thinking only about how you can make money from the article you are writing? If your article reads like an ad or is self-serving or full of affiliate links, you might write like Mr. Krabs.
Patrick: SpongeBob's best friend, the starfish, has a good heart, but isn't the brightest creature in the sea. Do your articles make you sound like an expert? Are you providing valuable content or just pushing out sloppy articles as fast as you can? Always double check for typos and grammatical errors. If you're challenged by spelling and grammar, hire a Virtual Assistant or Copywriter to proofread and submit your article for you. Or slow down, set your article aside for a day and then reread it before you click the "submit" button.
Plankton: The smallest creature in the sea is also the sneakiest. He'll do anything and hurt anyone to steal someone else's work (the Krabby Pattie secret formula). Write your own material. Don't be Plankton. Don't copy and paste someone else's work, edit it, and try to pass it off as your own. You will be caught, and it just isn't worth it. Take the same amount of effort and work on your own thoughts and ideas. Plankton never gets away with his schemes, either. He's on Plan "Z" and is still pathetically failing at his attempts to steal the secret formula.
SpongeBob: This little guy always tries to do the right thing, and is a hard worker. He may not always end up getting the results he hoped for, but he bounces back and tackles his work with a renewed vigor. SpongeBob works very hard, he's a good friend, he always thinks of others, and tries to have fun no matter what he is faced with. Hardworking, friendly SpongeBob is the guy to be when writing articles.
Although this is a silly lesson in article writing, I hope you'll remember the important messages our underwater friends have taught us.
1. Be entertaining. Not boring.
2. Write articles to help others, not with dollar signs in your eyes.
3. Proofread your articles carefully, and provide valuable information.
4. Write your own material. Don't copy others.
5. Be a SpongeBob! Hard work and persistence pay off.
Before you know it, you'll develop a following for having informative and entertaining articles and you'll be King or Queen of the sea.
About the Author:
Nicole Dean, of http://NicoleOntheNet.com uses Article Marketing to get free advertising on websites, in newsletters, and in print worldwide. She welcomes you to visit http://www.WebTrafficBasics.com to find out more.
Keyword tags:
To Master Copywriting, Use a Mentor - Here\s Why
In the last few years, I've had a number of people apply to my copywriting program whose work samples showed the same weakness - formulaic writing. Their work showed signs of having adopted many of the trappings of good persuasive copy - headlines, subheads, emotional appeals, call to action, etc. - but the writing did not flow convincingly. Worse, the content was often wildly mismatched with the psychology and motivations of the target audience.
After asking a few questions, I learned that all these applicants had graduated from a popular beginning copywriting course. In inquiring about my mentoring program, they realized that something was awry with their work, but they didn't know what. They also lacked confidence about their writing.
The course in question is a very good one, as far as it goes. But because it includes very little feedback from an experienced copywriter, the students gained knowledge but not the ability to apply that knowledge.
Copywriting is a complex skill. And if you think about it, most highly complex skills are best learned through substantial feedback from someone who is an experienced, skillful practitioner. This is why we don't allow medical school graduates to practice until they have satisfactorily finished an internship and residency. It's why law firms have new law school graduates who have passed the bar work under someone more experienced for several years. It's why most well-known musicians and actors had teachers and attended master classes.
A copywriting mentor helps the budding copywriter bridge the gap between formulas and how/when to apply the formulas, through guided practice and detailed feedback.
With a mentor, the copywriting student can learn to recognize his or her mistakes and shore up his or her weak points. These are idiosyncratic. For instance, one student tends to favor abstract words while another one goes overboard with metaphors and colorful language. Yet another struggles with the proper prepositions or getting paragraphs to flow.
A good mentor spots the weaknesses, communicates them to the student, explains how to remedy the problems and reinforces these teaching points until they stick.
An important part of my work with many of my copywriting students involves guiding them to trust their instincts. When I point out something they apparently missed, they often say, "I thought of that!" And I reply, "And what did you do with that thought?" They just ignored it. By the end of the course, they are confidently paying attention to such valuable inklings. This is the beginning of expertise.
Finally, a good mentor teaches how to think through what a particular client or copywriting assignment or target audience needs. Through guidance and practice, the student learns how to get started on a project, how to ask for the information needed without putting the client or themselves into overload, how to sift through a mess of information and use it to best advantage.
Through a well-structured mentorship program with someone who knows how to teach (not every skilled practitioner can), beginners start out formulaic and finish with a voice of their own. They can move ahead with confidence, knowing how to apply the principles of good copy intelligently and artfully. Those mentored finish well on their way to mastery.
About the Author:
Marcia Yudkin is the author of Persuading on Paper, 6 Steps to Free Publicity, Web Site Marketing Makeover and nine other books. She runs a 10-week, one-on-one mentorship program that trains aspiring copywriters to succeed. Details: http://www.yudkin.com/become.htm
Keyword tags: copywriting,copywriter,writing,writer,career development,freelance,independent,self-employed
After asking a few questions, I learned that all these applicants had graduated from a popular beginning copywriting course. In inquiring about my mentoring program, they realized that something was awry with their work, but they didn't know what. They also lacked confidence about their writing.
The course in question is a very good one, as far as it goes. But because it includes very little feedback from an experienced copywriter, the students gained knowledge but not the ability to apply that knowledge.
Copywriting is a complex skill. And if you think about it, most highly complex skills are best learned through substantial feedback from someone who is an experienced, skillful practitioner. This is why we don't allow medical school graduates to practice until they have satisfactorily finished an internship and residency. It's why law firms have new law school graduates who have passed the bar work under someone more experienced for several years. It's why most well-known musicians and actors had teachers and attended master classes.
A copywriting mentor helps the budding copywriter bridge the gap between formulas and how/when to apply the formulas, through guided practice and detailed feedback.
With a mentor, the copywriting student can learn to recognize his or her mistakes and shore up his or her weak points. These are idiosyncratic. For instance, one student tends to favor abstract words while another one goes overboard with metaphors and colorful language. Yet another struggles with the proper prepositions or getting paragraphs to flow.
A good mentor spots the weaknesses, communicates them to the student, explains how to remedy the problems and reinforces these teaching points until they stick.
An important part of my work with many of my copywriting students involves guiding them to trust their instincts. When I point out something they apparently missed, they often say, "I thought of that!" And I reply, "And what did you do with that thought?" They just ignored it. By the end of the course, they are confidently paying attention to such valuable inklings. This is the beginning of expertise.
Finally, a good mentor teaches how to think through what a particular client or copywriting assignment or target audience needs. Through guidance and practice, the student learns how to get started on a project, how to ask for the information needed without putting the client or themselves into overload, how to sift through a mess of information and use it to best advantage.
Through a well-structured mentorship program with someone who knows how to teach (not every skilled practitioner can), beginners start out formulaic and finish with a voice of their own. They can move ahead with confidence, knowing how to apply the principles of good copy intelligently and artfully. Those mentored finish well on their way to mastery.
About the Author:
Marcia Yudkin is the author of Persuading on Paper, 6 Steps to Free Publicity, Web Site Marketing Makeover and nine other books. She runs a 10-week, one-on-one mentorship program that trains aspiring copywriters to succeed. Details: http://www.yudkin.com/become.htm
Keyword tags: copywriting,copywriter,writing,writer,career development,freelance,independent,self-employed
APA Format : How to Format a Paper in APA Style
The APA Style rules for formatting a thesis or dissertation are specific, ranging from the proper font size to the proper margins to the type of paper you should use. Here are 14 formatting tips you should follow when creating your paper.
Tip 1: ABBREVIATIONS. Try to avoid using abbreviations in your paper. However, if you have an abbreviation that's commonly accepted in language and appears in the dictionary, such as AIDS, you may use it.
Tip 2: ALIGNMENT. Always align the text flush left. Do not use the "full justify" setting on your word processor, which spreads the text and aligns it both left and right.
Tip 3: FONT. If using a word processor, stick with a serif font, such as Times New Roman. Use text in a 10- or 12-point size.
Tip 4: HYPHENATION. Do not break and hyphenate words at the end of a line. Instead, leave one line a little short and place the entire word on the next line, or go a couple of characters beyond the right margin to fit the entire word on the line.
Tip 5: INDENTIONS. Indent paragraphs within the main text of the paper one-half inch, if using a computer word processor, or five to seven spaces, if using a typewriter. However, do not indent in the following special circumstances: The abstract, block quotations, figure captions, notes, reference list entries, table titles, and titles or headings.
Tip 6: MARGINS. Use 1-inch margins on all four sides of the paper: Top, bottom, right, and left. Old rules called for some 1.5-inch margins, but those rules no longer are valid.
Tip 7: PAGE NUMBERING. Number almost every page in the paper, including the title page. Place the number in the upper-right corner of the page, and use only Arabic numerals. Place the number "1" on the title page and the number "2" on the abstract page. The main text should start on page number "3". Do not number pages that contain only figures or artwork.
Tip 8: PAPER TYPE. Use standard white, 20-pound bond paper that measures 8.5-by-11 inches. If using a computer, use an inkjet or laser printer to print the paper; if you must use a tractor-feed printer, be sure to remove the pinhole borders from the edges of the paper.
Tip 9: PARENTHESES. Try to limit parentheses to set apart elements that are structurally independent, such as when listing a figure or illustration related to a sentence. If you're enclosing a complete sentence in parentheses, place the punctuation inside the parentheses. If you're enclosing only part of a sentence inside parentheses, leave the punctuation outside the parentheses.
Tip 10: PUNCTUATION. In most instances, use one space after all typical punctuation marks, such as periods, commas, colons, and semicolons. Three exceptions exist to this rule. First, do not use a space after periods inside an abbreviation, such as when using U.S. for United States. Second, do not use a space after a colon in a ratio, such as 3:2. Third, some instructors prefer the old rule of using two spaces after periods that end sentences. If you're using Courier or another mono-space font, APA Style does allow two spaces between sentences, although one is preferred.
Tip 11: SHORT TITLE. A Short Title, which is a two- or three-word summary of the main title, should appear on every page in the top right corner, other than pages that contain only figures or artwork. The Short Title should appear just to the left of the page number.
Tip 12: SLASH MARK. Avoid using slash marks in your paper. For example, instead of writing "red and/or green," write "red, green, or both."
Tip 13: SPACING. Use double spacing throughout the entire paper, unless your instructor specifically requests single spacing in certain circumstances, such as with block quotations.
Tip 14: TITLE. Center the title on the title page, using a mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters. If the title is long enough to require a second line, double space between the lines. After the title, the student's name should appear, followed by the institution for which the paper is being written. If you don't have an institution to include, you may substitute the city and state of the author of the paper. Double space between every line on the title page. The title page should contain the number "1" in the upper right corner.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style, apa format, apa writing
Tip 1: ABBREVIATIONS. Try to avoid using abbreviations in your paper. However, if you have an abbreviation that's commonly accepted in language and appears in the dictionary, such as AIDS, you may use it.
Tip 2: ALIGNMENT. Always align the text flush left. Do not use the "full justify" setting on your word processor, which spreads the text and aligns it both left and right.
Tip 3: FONT. If using a word processor, stick with a serif font, such as Times New Roman. Use text in a 10- or 12-point size.
Tip 4: HYPHENATION. Do not break and hyphenate words at the end of a line. Instead, leave one line a little short and place the entire word on the next line, or go a couple of characters beyond the right margin to fit the entire word on the line.
Tip 5: INDENTIONS. Indent paragraphs within the main text of the paper one-half inch, if using a computer word processor, or five to seven spaces, if using a typewriter. However, do not indent in the following special circumstances: The abstract, block quotations, figure captions, notes, reference list entries, table titles, and titles or headings.
Tip 6: MARGINS. Use 1-inch margins on all four sides of the paper: Top, bottom, right, and left. Old rules called for some 1.5-inch margins, but those rules no longer are valid.
Tip 7: PAGE NUMBERING. Number almost every page in the paper, including the title page. Place the number in the upper-right corner of the page, and use only Arabic numerals. Place the number "1" on the title page and the number "2" on the abstract page. The main text should start on page number "3". Do not number pages that contain only figures or artwork.
Tip 8: PAPER TYPE. Use standard white, 20-pound bond paper that measures 8.5-by-11 inches. If using a computer, use an inkjet or laser printer to print the paper; if you must use a tractor-feed printer, be sure to remove the pinhole borders from the edges of the paper.
Tip 9: PARENTHESES. Try to limit parentheses to set apart elements that are structurally independent, such as when listing a figure or illustration related to a sentence. If you're enclosing a complete sentence in parentheses, place the punctuation inside the parentheses. If you're enclosing only part of a sentence inside parentheses, leave the punctuation outside the parentheses.
Tip 10: PUNCTUATION. In most instances, use one space after all typical punctuation marks, such as periods, commas, colons, and semicolons. Three exceptions exist to this rule. First, do not use a space after periods inside an abbreviation, such as when using U.S. for United States. Second, do not use a space after a colon in a ratio, such as 3:2. Third, some instructors prefer the old rule of using two spaces after periods that end sentences. If you're using Courier or another mono-space font, APA Style does allow two spaces between sentences, although one is preferred.
Tip 11: SHORT TITLE. A Short Title, which is a two- or three-word summary of the main title, should appear on every page in the top right corner, other than pages that contain only figures or artwork. The Short Title should appear just to the left of the page number.
Tip 12: SLASH MARK. Avoid using slash marks in your paper. For example, instead of writing "red and/or green," write "red, green, or both."
Tip 13: SPACING. Use double spacing throughout the entire paper, unless your instructor specifically requests single spacing in certain circumstances, such as with block quotations.
Tip 14: TITLE. Center the title on the title page, using a mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters. If the title is long enough to require a second line, double space between the lines. After the title, the student's name should appear, followed by the institution for which the paper is being written. If you don't have an institution to include, you may substitute the city and state of the author of the paper. Double space between every line on the title page. The title page should contain the number "1" in the upper right corner.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style, apa format, apa writing
APA Writing : How to Write a Thesis or Dissertation in APA Style
Writing that first thesis or dissertation can be a daunting task on its own. Throw in a need for APA Style guidelines in the paper, and it can be downright intimidating for the student who has never used APA Style in the past.
However, following APA Style doesn't have to be a chore that takes all of the enjoyment out of your writing. A large portion of following APA Style involves common sense writing rules. Dozens of other APA resources can help you with the rest. This set of articles will spell out many aspects of using APA Style.
I. APA STYLE'S ORIGINATION
APA is short for the American Psychological Association. The APA came up with APA Style as a format for its members to follow as they wrote books and journals for the APA to publish. The initial APA Style guidelines appeared in a magazine article in 1929. The first formal APA Style book appeared in 1952.
The format quickly grew in popularity, expanding well beyond APA members. Many educational institutions use APA Style as a guideline for students writing a formal paper, such as a thesis or dissertation.
II. WHAT APA STYLE COVERS
By using APA Style, the student has a comprehensive guideline for formatting all aspects of the paper. For example, APA Style provides rules for the type and size of font to be used, the margins on the paper, and use of punctuation. APA Style also provides rules for citing references, presenting figures or illustrations, and creating tables. Essentially, APA Style rules cover every aspect of the paper that you will be writing.
The APA Style rules have evolved over the years, making subtle changes. Sometimes, you may have an instructor who prefers an old rule and will ask you to break away from the APA Style on that particular rule. Other instructors allow for a few exceptions to APA Style, especially those that make the paper easier to read, such as combining the abstract and title pages.
However, if you plan to submit your thesis or dissertation for publication, you'll want to follow the APA Style precisely.
III. HOW TO START AN APA STYLE PAPER
Using a word processor and a computer makes applying APA Style far easier than it used to be with a typewriter. If you need to add a footnote or insert a quotation at the last minute, it's easy to do with a word processing program, such as MS-WORD.
When writing your paper using APA Style, you start with a title page that contains the title, your name, and your school. The second page is the abstract page, which contains a short description of your paper. The main text begins on the third page. At the end, you'll list all of the sources you used with your paper in the references section.
During your research, as you find sources to use in your paper, you will want to make sure you have the APA Style guidelines handy, ensuring that you collect all of the necessary information about each source. Different types of sources (such as books, reports, and papers) require different types of documentation in APA Style, but the information you'll typically need includes:
* Title of book or article or report
* Author name or names
* Date of publication or creation or retrieval
* Name of publication
* Publishing house or company
* Pages or chapters used as a source
* Short description of source's origination, if necessary, such as a Web site or a conference
Obviously, some citations will not have every piece of information listed above. When collecting information on your sources, a good rule of thumb to follow is: Collect at least as much information as you'd need to tell someone else how to find the exact piece of information you used as a resource in your paper. Take your time to ensure you have all of the information to properly cite the source.
IV. FINDING MORE ANSWERS
If you have specific questions regarding APA Style, the ultimate resource is The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, which is available for about $40. The fifth edition is the current edition. You also can visit the APAStyle (dot) org Web site for some tips and additional information for using APA Style with your paper.
For additional help, your instructor might have some tips or guidelines. Your university library likely has dozens of books devoted to APA Style guidelines. If all else fails, Google can provide dozens of Web sites that provide tips for correctly applying APA Style rules in your paper.
With so many APA Style resources available, you can stop worrying about APA Style and place all of your focus where it belongs: On the substance of your thesis or dissertation.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style, apa format, apa writing
However, following APA Style doesn't have to be a chore that takes all of the enjoyment out of your writing. A large portion of following APA Style involves common sense writing rules. Dozens of other APA resources can help you with the rest. This set of articles will spell out many aspects of using APA Style.
I. APA STYLE'S ORIGINATION
APA is short for the American Psychological Association. The APA came up with APA Style as a format for its members to follow as they wrote books and journals for the APA to publish. The initial APA Style guidelines appeared in a magazine article in 1929. The first formal APA Style book appeared in 1952.
The format quickly grew in popularity, expanding well beyond APA members. Many educational institutions use APA Style as a guideline for students writing a formal paper, such as a thesis or dissertation.
II. WHAT APA STYLE COVERS
By using APA Style, the student has a comprehensive guideline for formatting all aspects of the paper. For example, APA Style provides rules for the type and size of font to be used, the margins on the paper, and use of punctuation. APA Style also provides rules for citing references, presenting figures or illustrations, and creating tables. Essentially, APA Style rules cover every aspect of the paper that you will be writing.
The APA Style rules have evolved over the years, making subtle changes. Sometimes, you may have an instructor who prefers an old rule and will ask you to break away from the APA Style on that particular rule. Other instructors allow for a few exceptions to APA Style, especially those that make the paper easier to read, such as combining the abstract and title pages.
However, if you plan to submit your thesis or dissertation for publication, you'll want to follow the APA Style precisely.
III. HOW TO START AN APA STYLE PAPER
Using a word processor and a computer makes applying APA Style far easier than it used to be with a typewriter. If you need to add a footnote or insert a quotation at the last minute, it's easy to do with a word processing program, such as MS-WORD.
When writing your paper using APA Style, you start with a title page that contains the title, your name, and your school. The second page is the abstract page, which contains a short description of your paper. The main text begins on the third page. At the end, you'll list all of the sources you used with your paper in the references section.
During your research, as you find sources to use in your paper, you will want to make sure you have the APA Style guidelines handy, ensuring that you collect all of the necessary information about each source. Different types of sources (such as books, reports, and papers) require different types of documentation in APA Style, but the information you'll typically need includes:
* Title of book or article or report
* Author name or names
* Date of publication or creation or retrieval
* Name of publication
* Publishing house or company
* Pages or chapters used as a source
* Short description of source's origination, if necessary, such as a Web site or a conference
Obviously, some citations will not have every piece of information listed above. When collecting information on your sources, a good rule of thumb to follow is: Collect at least as much information as you'd need to tell someone else how to find the exact piece of information you used as a resource in your paper. Take your time to ensure you have all of the information to properly cite the source.
IV. FINDING MORE ANSWERS
If you have specific questions regarding APA Style, the ultimate resource is The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, which is available for about $40. The fifth edition is the current edition. You also can visit the APAStyle (dot) org Web site for some tips and additional information for using APA Style with your paper.
For additional help, your instructor might have some tips or guidelines. Your university library likely has dozens of books devoted to APA Style guidelines. If all else fails, Google can provide dozens of Web sites that provide tips for correctly applying APA Style rules in your paper.
With so many APA Style resources available, you can stop worrying about APA Style and place all of your focus where it belongs: On the substance of your thesis or dissertation.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style, apa format, apa writing
APA Style and MLA Style : The Differences Between Paper Format Styles
When writing a dissertation or thesis, your instructor probably will require you to follow one of two popular style formats for your paper, APA Style or MLA Style. Although both formats are similar, they do have subtle differences that you'll need to know.
Generally, you select the style to follow based on the subject matter of the paper you're writing. Each style treats the formatting of the paper a little differently to meet the citation needs for the subject matter.
I. CHOOSING YOUR STYLE
For the most part, your instructor will select the style of formatting that you'll use for your paper. If you have a choice, however, you can follow these suggestions for deciding which style to use.
APA STYLE.
Use APA Style for subjects related to the social sciences, such as business, criminal justice, economics, law, and medical subjects, including nursing and psychology. The American Psychological Association created the APA Style, and you can visit apastyle (dot) org on the Internet to find more information on APA Style. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the full listing of APA Style guidelines and APA formatting rules.
MLA STYLE.
Use MLA Style for subjects related to the humanities and liberal arts, such as literature, mass communications, and media studies. The Modern Language Association oversees the development of MLA Style, and you can visit mla(dot)org on the Internet for more information. For undergraduate students, use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (sometimes shortened to MLA Handbook) as the guide to following MLA Style. For graduate students and professionals, use the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (sometimes shortened to MLA Style Manual) to find official rules and guidelines for MLA Style.
II. THE DIFFERENCES
If you still are not sure which style you should use with your paper, here are some formatting differences between APA Style and MLA Style. Choose the style that will allow you to format your paper and deliver the information to your readers in the most efficient manner.
ABSTRACT.
This difference in this category is pretty obvious: APA Style requires an abstract page, while MLA Style does not. An abstract is a short summary of your paper.
IN-TEXT CITATIONS.
With both styles, use the last name of the author(s) in any in-text citation. With APA Style, you also include the year of publication. With MLA Style, you include the page number of the information you cited along with the name of the author(s), but you do not include the year of publication. By including the year of publication, APA Style gives the readers a chance to decide how much relevancy to place on a particular source, based on its age. With the subject matter used with MLA Style, however, the age of the sourced material usually isn't as vital to its relevancy, so MLA Style doesn't list the year of publication.
With both styles, remember that the in-text citation is simply a method of ensuring that your readers can easily find the full citation in the reference list or works cited page at the end of the paper. You don't need extensive information about the source for an in-text citation.
PAGE NUMBERS.
With both styles, the page number appears in the upper right corner of each page, but each style has different additional information. With APA Style, you must include a running title to the left of the page number on each page. A running title is a two- or three-word summary of the title of your paper. With MLA Style, include the author's name to the left of the page number on each page.
REFERENCE LIST FORMATTING.
With both APA Style and MLA Style, when listing each of your sources on the reference list page (APA Style) or works cited page (MLA Style), use the full last name of the author(s) in each entry. In APA Style, you also list only the initials of the first and middle name of each author. In MLA Style, you spell out the entire first and middle name of each author. (Middle name information is optional.)
TITLE PAGE.
APA Style requires a title page, but MLA Style does not. If you choose to skip the title page with MLA Style, simply include your name, your instructor's name, your course, and the full date in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. Then center the title on the page, followed by your main text.
You'll also find several subtle differences between APA Style and MLA Style in capitalization and punctuation rules. However, those differences are too numerous to list here, and they probably won't affect your decision on which style to use with your paper.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style, apa format, apa writing
Generally, you select the style to follow based on the subject matter of the paper you're writing. Each style treats the formatting of the paper a little differently to meet the citation needs for the subject matter.
I. CHOOSING YOUR STYLE
For the most part, your instructor will select the style of formatting that you'll use for your paper. If you have a choice, however, you can follow these suggestions for deciding which style to use.
APA STYLE.
Use APA Style for subjects related to the social sciences, such as business, criminal justice, economics, law, and medical subjects, including nursing and psychology. The American Psychological Association created the APA Style, and you can visit apastyle (dot) org on the Internet to find more information on APA Style. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the full listing of APA Style guidelines and APA formatting rules.
MLA STYLE.
Use MLA Style for subjects related to the humanities and liberal arts, such as literature, mass communications, and media studies. The Modern Language Association oversees the development of MLA Style, and you can visit mla(dot)org on the Internet for more information. For undergraduate students, use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (sometimes shortened to MLA Handbook) as the guide to following MLA Style. For graduate students and professionals, use the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (sometimes shortened to MLA Style Manual) to find official rules and guidelines for MLA Style.
II. THE DIFFERENCES
If you still are not sure which style you should use with your paper, here are some formatting differences between APA Style and MLA Style. Choose the style that will allow you to format your paper and deliver the information to your readers in the most efficient manner.
ABSTRACT.
This difference in this category is pretty obvious: APA Style requires an abstract page, while MLA Style does not. An abstract is a short summary of your paper.
IN-TEXT CITATIONS.
With both styles, use the last name of the author(s) in any in-text citation. With APA Style, you also include the year of publication. With MLA Style, you include the page number of the information you cited along with the name of the author(s), but you do not include the year of publication. By including the year of publication, APA Style gives the readers a chance to decide how much relevancy to place on a particular source, based on its age. With the subject matter used with MLA Style, however, the age of the sourced material usually isn't as vital to its relevancy, so MLA Style doesn't list the year of publication.
With both styles, remember that the in-text citation is simply a method of ensuring that your readers can easily find the full citation in the reference list or works cited page at the end of the paper. You don't need extensive information about the source for an in-text citation.
PAGE NUMBERS.
With both styles, the page number appears in the upper right corner of each page, but each style has different additional information. With APA Style, you must include a running title to the left of the page number on each page. A running title is a two- or three-word summary of the title of your paper. With MLA Style, include the author's name to the left of the page number on each page.
REFERENCE LIST FORMATTING.
With both APA Style and MLA Style, when listing each of your sources on the reference list page (APA Style) or works cited page (MLA Style), use the full last name of the author(s) in each entry. In APA Style, you also list only the initials of the first and middle name of each author. In MLA Style, you spell out the entire first and middle name of each author. (Middle name information is optional.)
TITLE PAGE.
APA Style requires a title page, but MLA Style does not. If you choose to skip the title page with MLA Style, simply include your name, your instructor's name, your course, and the full date in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. Then center the title on the page, followed by your main text.
You'll also find several subtle differences between APA Style and MLA Style in capitalization and punctuation rules. However, those differences are too numerous to list here, and they probably won't affect your decision on which style to use with your paper.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style, apa format, apa writing
APA Style Writing Advice
Writing in APA Style can be an intimidating task, especially if you've never written a formal research paper previously. APA Style has many rules, guidelines, and formatting requirements for your paper that it can be overwhelming to think about all of the opportunities for mistakes.
However, following APA Style is not as difficult as it sounds. As with almost any educational endeavor, hurrying unnecessarily will lead to mistakes, so take your time to ensure correct formatting. Following the APA Style tips listed here will help, too.
ACTIVE VOICE.
Try to avoid writing in passive voice. APA Style requires active voice, and some instructors will downgrade your paper if you use a lot of passive voice. With active voice, the subject of the sentence does something. With passive voice, the subject of the sentence has something done to it. Passive voice often uses the word "by."
FOCUS ON THE WRITING.
There's no question that following APA Style closely is an important part of creating a successful paper. However, the tight rules and guidelines that govern APA Style should not be your primary focus. Instead, focus on the content of your paper and focus on the writing. If the content of your paper is lacking, it won't matter to your instructor how closely your paper follows APA Style.
LANGUAGE TIPS.
When writing your APA Style paper, avoid using contractions: "Can't" should be "cannot," and "it's" should be "it is." Do not use slang language. Clear, concise language is best. Never write in the first person, either.
PLAGIARISM PROBLEMS.
Obviously, you don't want to plagiarize any part of your paper. To make sure you don't inadvertently commit plagiarism, cite all of your sources. If you're unsure whether to use an in-text citation for a source, you probably should use it. It's better to be safe than sorry when citing sources.
PROOFREAD A FEW TIMES.
You'd be surprised how often a simple mistake sneaks into formal papers because the author didn't take the time to proofread more than once. Proofreading should not be done as a last-minute item; it should be done a few times before the paper is completed. In fact, it's best to set the paper aside for a couple of days between proofreading sessions. If you can take a break from the paper for a couple of days, you'll be surprised how much better your proofreading sessions go with a fresh look at the paper, rather than a harried, last-minute look.
PROOFREAD SOME MORE.
Depending on the importance of the paper, you may want to hire someone to do some additional proofreading for you. Again, having a fresh look at the paper, this time from a different pair of eyes, will only help improve your paper.
REFERENCE LIST.
As you perform the research for your paper, it's important to keep the reference list in the back of your mind. When you pull information from sources, make sure that you collect extensive information about each source. Having a comprehensive list is good for two reasons. First, you must have the information for the reference list, so collecting it as you use each source will save you time when compiling the reference list later. Second, if you need to revisit a particular source to find more information for your paper, you'll have very few problems finding it again with a comprehensive source list.
REPEATABLE RULES.
Once you've mastered a few of the APA Style guidelines, you'll repeat them throughout your paper, making your job easier. This is especially true with citing sources, either inside the main text or on the references list page. Even though there are subtle, slight differences in formatting the citations, depending on the type of source, most the formatting is similar.
YOUR INSTRUCTOR KNOWS BEST.
Finally, if you encounter a dilemma where the instructions for your paper that your instructor provided contradict APA Style guidelines and rules, go with your instructor's preferences. Some APA Style rules are modifiable, giving your instructor some latitude. In addition, because APA Style rules have evolved over the years, you might have an instructor who prefers an old rule to a new rule.
If you encounter a contradiction, just remember this: The last time I checked, the latest edition of the APA Style Manual had never graded a paper. Follow the desires of the person who will be grading the paper.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style
However, following APA Style is not as difficult as it sounds. As with almost any educational endeavor, hurrying unnecessarily will lead to mistakes, so take your time to ensure correct formatting. Following the APA Style tips listed here will help, too.
ACTIVE VOICE.
Try to avoid writing in passive voice. APA Style requires active voice, and some instructors will downgrade your paper if you use a lot of passive voice. With active voice, the subject of the sentence does something. With passive voice, the subject of the sentence has something done to it. Passive voice often uses the word "by."
FOCUS ON THE WRITING.
There's no question that following APA Style closely is an important part of creating a successful paper. However, the tight rules and guidelines that govern APA Style should not be your primary focus. Instead, focus on the content of your paper and focus on the writing. If the content of your paper is lacking, it won't matter to your instructor how closely your paper follows APA Style.
LANGUAGE TIPS.
When writing your APA Style paper, avoid using contractions: "Can't" should be "cannot," and "it's" should be "it is." Do not use slang language. Clear, concise language is best. Never write in the first person, either.
PLAGIARISM PROBLEMS.
Obviously, you don't want to plagiarize any part of your paper. To make sure you don't inadvertently commit plagiarism, cite all of your sources. If you're unsure whether to use an in-text citation for a source, you probably should use it. It's better to be safe than sorry when citing sources.
PROOFREAD A FEW TIMES.
You'd be surprised how often a simple mistake sneaks into formal papers because the author didn't take the time to proofread more than once. Proofreading should not be done as a last-minute item; it should be done a few times before the paper is completed. In fact, it's best to set the paper aside for a couple of days between proofreading sessions. If you can take a break from the paper for a couple of days, you'll be surprised how much better your proofreading sessions go with a fresh look at the paper, rather than a harried, last-minute look.
PROOFREAD SOME MORE.
Depending on the importance of the paper, you may want to hire someone to do some additional proofreading for you. Again, having a fresh look at the paper, this time from a different pair of eyes, will only help improve your paper.
REFERENCE LIST.
As you perform the research for your paper, it's important to keep the reference list in the back of your mind. When you pull information from sources, make sure that you collect extensive information about each source. Having a comprehensive list is good for two reasons. First, you must have the information for the reference list, so collecting it as you use each source will save you time when compiling the reference list later. Second, if you need to revisit a particular source to find more information for your paper, you'll have very few problems finding it again with a comprehensive source list.
REPEATABLE RULES.
Once you've mastered a few of the APA Style guidelines, you'll repeat them throughout your paper, making your job easier. This is especially true with citing sources, either inside the main text or on the references list page. Even though there are subtle, slight differences in formatting the citations, depending on the type of source, most the formatting is similar.
YOUR INSTRUCTOR KNOWS BEST.
Finally, if you encounter a dilemma where the instructions for your paper that your instructor provided contradict APA Style guidelines and rules, go with your instructor's preferences. Some APA Style rules are modifiable, giving your instructor some latitude. In addition, because APA Style rules have evolved over the years, you might have an instructor who prefers an old rule to a new rule.
If you encounter a contradiction, just remember this: The last time I checked, the latest edition of the APA Style Manual had never graded a paper. Follow the desires of the person who will be grading the paper.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style
APA Paper Format : What Pages Do I Need With My APA Style Paper?
When compiling your thesis or dissertation, the APA Style guidelines specify certain types of pages, as well as formatting guidelines for those pages. I have included the primary pages you'll need in your manuscript. Always start each of these sections on a new page. Most of them will only require one page.
* ABSTRACT. The second page in your APA style thesis should be the abstract page, which contains a 100- to 150-word summary of your paper. Do not include any of the main text on the abstract page. It will contain the page header, which is a two- or three-word summary of the title, in the upper right corner, just left of page number "2," as the abstract page is always the second page. Do not indent the abstract and limit it to one paragraph. If you use numbers in the abstract, type them as digits, rather than words, unless the number starts a sentence.
* APPENDIX. Use the appendix, which is optional, to describe complex equipment or to present unpublished tests. Each appendix in your APA paper should appear on its own page, and use letters to differentiate each appendix, such as "Appendix A" and "Appendix B." Some papers will not use an appendix page. Any appendix pages belong at the end of the paper.
* AUTHOR NOTE. In the author note page, which is optional, identify the departmental affiliation for the author. You also can include disclaimers, acknowledgements, and, if desired, contact information for the author. If you received funding for this research, identify it on the author note page. Place the author note page after the dedication page. With some instructors and institutions, this page is called the acknowledgments page.
* COPYRIGHT NOTICE. A copyright notice is an optional page in your APA paper; it signifies the paper is copyrighted material. Place a copyright page immediately after the title page. It should include the copyright symbol, the year of publication, the author's name, and "all rights reserved." Center all of the copyright text on the page.
* DEDICATION. A dedication page is an optional page similar to the author note page, and it allows you to dedicate your paper to someone. Place the dedication page after the copyright page. The dedication page does not need to include the word "Dedication" at the top; simply list your dedication in italics. Center it on the page.
* LIST OF TABLES AND LIST OF FIGURES. Only use a list of tables or a list of figures page if you have at least five tables or five figures in your APA paper. Both list pages should appear after the table of contents, with the list of tables page ahead of the list of figures page. List each table or figure with the appropriate title and page number, connected by a leader. Right-align the page number and left-align the title of each table or figure.
* MAIN TEXT. The main text always begins on page 3. Center the complete title above the beginning of the main text.
* REFERENCE LIST. Include your reference list after the main text page and ahead of the appendix page. The reference list page should include all works that you've cited in your paper, listed alphabetically. Rules for listing references under APA Style are specific, depending on the type of work, and you need to follow them closely. (We'll discuss them in another article.)
* TABLE OF CONTENTS. The table of contents page should appear after the abstract page. It is an organized listing of the contents of the paper, providing page numbers to the various sections and headings in the paper. The reader can use the table of contents to jump to a particular section of the paper. When listing chapter headings in the table of contents, make sure they exactly match the chapter headings in the text. Use a leader to connect the chapter heading or section name (aligned on the left) with the page number (aligned on the right). Type "Table of Contents" centered at the top of the page.
* TITLE. The title page includes more than just the title. In the upper right corner, include the page header and page number "1," as the title page is always the first page. Then center the title on the page. If the title requires more than one line, use double spacing. Include the author's name and the author's educational institution or the author's home city and state.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style, apa format, apa writing
* ABSTRACT. The second page in your APA style thesis should be the abstract page, which contains a 100- to 150-word summary of your paper. Do not include any of the main text on the abstract page. It will contain the page header, which is a two- or three-word summary of the title, in the upper right corner, just left of page number "2," as the abstract page is always the second page. Do not indent the abstract and limit it to one paragraph. If you use numbers in the abstract, type them as digits, rather than words, unless the number starts a sentence.
* APPENDIX. Use the appendix, which is optional, to describe complex equipment or to present unpublished tests. Each appendix in your APA paper should appear on its own page, and use letters to differentiate each appendix, such as "Appendix A" and "Appendix B." Some papers will not use an appendix page. Any appendix pages belong at the end of the paper.
* AUTHOR NOTE. In the author note page, which is optional, identify the departmental affiliation for the author. You also can include disclaimers, acknowledgements, and, if desired, contact information for the author. If you received funding for this research, identify it on the author note page. Place the author note page after the dedication page. With some instructors and institutions, this page is called the acknowledgments page.
* COPYRIGHT NOTICE. A copyright notice is an optional page in your APA paper; it signifies the paper is copyrighted material. Place a copyright page immediately after the title page. It should include the copyright symbol, the year of publication, the author's name, and "all rights reserved." Center all of the copyright text on the page.
* DEDICATION. A dedication page is an optional page similar to the author note page, and it allows you to dedicate your paper to someone. Place the dedication page after the copyright page. The dedication page does not need to include the word "Dedication" at the top; simply list your dedication in italics. Center it on the page.
* LIST OF TABLES AND LIST OF FIGURES. Only use a list of tables or a list of figures page if you have at least five tables or five figures in your APA paper. Both list pages should appear after the table of contents, with the list of tables page ahead of the list of figures page. List each table or figure with the appropriate title and page number, connected by a leader. Right-align the page number and left-align the title of each table or figure.
* MAIN TEXT. The main text always begins on page 3. Center the complete title above the beginning of the main text.
* REFERENCE LIST. Include your reference list after the main text page and ahead of the appendix page. The reference list page should include all works that you've cited in your paper, listed alphabetically. Rules for listing references under APA Style are specific, depending on the type of work, and you need to follow them closely. (We'll discuss them in another article.)
* TABLE OF CONTENTS. The table of contents page should appear after the abstract page. It is an organized listing of the contents of the paper, providing page numbers to the various sections and headings in the paper. The reader can use the table of contents to jump to a particular section of the paper. When listing chapter headings in the table of contents, make sure they exactly match the chapter headings in the text. Use a leader to connect the chapter heading or section name (aligned on the left) with the page number (aligned on the right). Type "Table of Contents" centered at the top of the page.
* TITLE. The title page includes more than just the title. In the upper right corner, include the page header and page number "1," as the title page is always the first page. Then center the title on the page. If the title requires more than one line, use double spacing. Include the author's name and the author's educational institution or the author's home city and state.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style, apa format, apa writing
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Creative Writing in Fantasy
Have you ever wanted to write fantasy, but perhaps did not know where to begin? Then this is the article for you. By the time you finish reading, you will know enough to write your first fantasy story.
Writing fantasy is making an impractical idea into a reality in the mind of your reader. It is using your imagination to find its deepest creative power. It is the ability to visualize things and places you have never seen. What a vast and exciting realm that opens!
Begin by freeing your mind of everything that is real and tangible. Escape this world of gravity and float beyond the ties of places and time. What do you see? Purple beings with six snouts and wings? A planet completely engulfed in water with underworld cities? An atmosphere where the inhabitants breathe gas and explode when they reach maturity? Fantasy is the place of no bounds, no limits – the place where anything is possible.
When you get your first vision of a new world or new life, go to the next step. What characters are in this world? What problems do they encounter? How will they solve the problems?
Remember that your characters must be three-dimensional, even in fantasy. You must have a physical description in mind. How do they typically act and what is out of the ordinary for them?
How do they communicate? How do they move from place to place? Do they fly? Slither? Swim? Waddle? Can they function on their own, or are they dependent on something else for life? Are your characters supposed to be royalty? Are they prisoners? Are they heading up a revolution? How intelligent are they? Do you want to involve some kind of magic? Is it a story of good versus evil? You must know all of this before you can advance your plot.
Take the time to write down fifty things about each of two main characters and the world they live in. What do the inhabitants eat? What things are unacceptable in their world? What is their vocation?
Now decide what your overall story is about – not just the middle conflict scene. The middle climactic scene is called the plot. The meaning in the overall story is the theme, so what will your theme be? Slithering lizards battling dinosaurs over human prey? Colliding worlds that give birth to a new planet?
When you have answered all of these questions to your own satisfaction, begin writing the middle conflict scene of the story. Next, write the ending. (You need not connect them just yet.) By that time you will know what needs to be in the beginning of the story to round it out fully. Develop that last. And finally, connect the three scenes.
This is called the DeBowen system of developing a story and it's very easy. If you will write your story in this order, everything will fall into place naturally, and that which you have only imagined will become a reality.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. This sale is extended until January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Writing fantasy is making an impractical idea into a reality in the mind of your reader. It is using your imagination to find its deepest creative power. It is the ability to visualize things and places you have never seen. What a vast and exciting realm that opens!
Begin by freeing your mind of everything that is real and tangible. Escape this world of gravity and float beyond the ties of places and time. What do you see? Purple beings with six snouts and wings? A planet completely engulfed in water with underworld cities? An atmosphere where the inhabitants breathe gas and explode when they reach maturity? Fantasy is the place of no bounds, no limits – the place where anything is possible.
When you get your first vision of a new world or new life, go to the next step. What characters are in this world? What problems do they encounter? How will they solve the problems?
Remember that your characters must be three-dimensional, even in fantasy. You must have a physical description in mind. How do they typically act and what is out of the ordinary for them?
How do they communicate? How do they move from place to place? Do they fly? Slither? Swim? Waddle? Can they function on their own, or are they dependent on something else for life? Are your characters supposed to be royalty? Are they prisoners? Are they heading up a revolution? How intelligent are they? Do you want to involve some kind of magic? Is it a story of good versus evil? You must know all of this before you can advance your plot.
Take the time to write down fifty things about each of two main characters and the world they live in. What do the inhabitants eat? What things are unacceptable in their world? What is their vocation?
Now decide what your overall story is about – not just the middle conflict scene. The middle climactic scene is called the plot. The meaning in the overall story is the theme, so what will your theme be? Slithering lizards battling dinosaurs over human prey? Colliding worlds that give birth to a new planet?
When you have answered all of these questions to your own satisfaction, begin writing the middle conflict scene of the story. Next, write the ending. (You need not connect them just yet.) By that time you will know what needs to be in the beginning of the story to round it out fully. Develop that last. And finally, connect the three scenes.
This is called the DeBowen system of developing a story and it's very easy. If you will write your story in this order, everything will fall into place naturally, and that which you have only imagined will become a reality.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. This sale is extended until January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Creative Writers\ New Year\s Resolution List
Creative writers sometimes allow the years to roll by and never become aware of the enormous gift that lies within them. Are you allowing work and family to steal what little time you have? Is there any time left for you? By now you know that the only way to catch a dream is to chase it. When your dreams become a priority, then and only then will you realize them.
Learning to write is one of those beautiful dreams. Most people wonder if they have writing skills that could be developed. Two things stop them from finding out: procrastination and lack of time. Procrastination is a self-discipline problem, but lack of time is something you can get by rising 30 minutes early, staying up 30 minutes late, or taking part of your lunchtime.
Knowing what you should study can be part of the challenge. Should you plunge into a short story course headfirst? Or do you need a good punctuation review course to rehearse you on how and when to use commas, semi-colons, colons, and other pertinent punctuation. It doesn't take that much time. Allow 60 minutes of homework per week for each course you take.
Or perhaps you would be more interested in learning the basics of short story writing. If that is the case, Creative Writing 101 would be the class for you. You would receive detailed instructions on piecing a story together by using the five Ws – who, what, when, where, why, and how.
If you already have some writing expertise, you might want to take a more advanced class that will produce a full-length short story at the end of the course – such as Horror Writing, Fantasy Writing, Short Story Writing, or Non-Fiction Writing.
Above all, follow your heart. Don't let another year go by without delving into a new adventure. Don't let anything stop you. Make a list of New Year's Resolutions, and at the top of that list put, "Write 15 minutes every day without fail."
If you don't know what to write, write about what happened that day. Write about your dreams. Write about a vacation you would like to take or something you would like to buy. Write about something that made you mad. Just write.
Writing is nothing more than learning how to string words together. The subject of writing is as deep or as shallow as you want it to be. The hardest part of writing is sitting down to do it.
Even mediocre writers can learn to write articles for newspapers. Do you know that a lot of writers make a moderate living by selling the same articles over and over to various newspapers? One small article sent to five newspapers can yield up to $200 or more.
So take the time to invest in yourself. Discover your writing abilities and present yourself with a gift that will last all year. Just click on the address below to receive your writing classes at the lowest price of the year.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. This sale is extended until January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Learning to write is one of those beautiful dreams. Most people wonder if they have writing skills that could be developed. Two things stop them from finding out: procrastination and lack of time. Procrastination is a self-discipline problem, but lack of time is something you can get by rising 30 minutes early, staying up 30 minutes late, or taking part of your lunchtime.
Knowing what you should study can be part of the challenge. Should you plunge into a short story course headfirst? Or do you need a good punctuation review course to rehearse you on how and when to use commas, semi-colons, colons, and other pertinent punctuation. It doesn't take that much time. Allow 60 minutes of homework per week for each course you take.
Or perhaps you would be more interested in learning the basics of short story writing. If that is the case, Creative Writing 101 would be the class for you. You would receive detailed instructions on piecing a story together by using the five Ws – who, what, when, where, why, and how.
If you already have some writing expertise, you might want to take a more advanced class that will produce a full-length short story at the end of the course – such as Horror Writing, Fantasy Writing, Short Story Writing, or Non-Fiction Writing.
Above all, follow your heart. Don't let another year go by without delving into a new adventure. Don't let anything stop you. Make a list of New Year's Resolutions, and at the top of that list put, "Write 15 minutes every day without fail."
If you don't know what to write, write about what happened that day. Write about your dreams. Write about a vacation you would like to take or something you would like to buy. Write about something that made you mad. Just write.
Writing is nothing more than learning how to string words together. The subject of writing is as deep or as shallow as you want it to be. The hardest part of writing is sitting down to do it.
Even mediocre writers can learn to write articles for newspapers. Do you know that a lot of writers make a moderate living by selling the same articles over and over to various newspapers? One small article sent to five newspapers can yield up to $200 or more.
So take the time to invest in yourself. Discover your writing abilities and present yourself with a gift that will last all year. Just click on the address below to receive your writing classes at the lowest price of the year.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. This sale is extended until January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Creative Writers – Learn Travel Writing
Creative writers have perfect opportunities for travel writing, and usually don't take advantage of it. Why? Perhaps because it takes extra time. Perhaps because they have never done it before and they feel a bit intimidated. Perhaps it is none of the above. Perhaps it is just laziness.
What about you? Travel writing is available to everyone – even those who do not travel. The trick is to look at commonplace locations as though you are seeing them for the first time. Determine to let the reader see it through your eyes.
Start reading travel magazines and pay close attention to how the articles are written. Choose the magazine that uses articles similar to your writing. Do they use a lot of interviews? Pictures? Quotes?
One of the first things you will find is that little "hole-in-the-wall" places make good articles. If you're going to write about a restaurant, you will want to tell more than how it got started. Also tell what is on the menu and at what price. Give your own review of how the food tastes and interview some of the clientele.
Always be armed with a camera, a notepad, pen and a tape recorder. Get in touch with the owner or manager and take a few pictures. Magazines pay extra for pictures and they add a lot of human interest to any story.
The field of traveling is wide open. You can write an article on a park, a museum, a gas station, antique shop, taxidermy studio, an old-fashioned drugstore, a lake – almost anything can become a travel story.
Tell how long it took to travel to that destination. What unusual things do you see there? What do other tourists think of the place? What other places can you compare it to? You can write virtually dozens of articles off one trip.
Most writers don't get their articles published because they don't do the proper market research and because they don't take the proper steps to sell their work.
Always get publishers guidelines from every market you are interested in. Don't bother with query letters. Just send the article and the pictures. Keep a new article in the mail every week.
Search Writers Market on the Internet and get their online edition. It is about $40. The online edition will be updated every month, whereas the book will be updated yearly. You will be able to search for the markets that suit your material best. You will also be able to file your prospects in folders and keep track of your submissions as you make them. All of this comes with your initial purchase. Note the time your articles were submitted, and if you don't hear from the magazine in a few weeks, resubmit them.
The main thing you need for this job is patience. Patience to search out the proper person who will give you all the background information; patience to take good pictures; patience to submit your articles, and patience to find the right market.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. This sale is extended until January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
What about you? Travel writing is available to everyone – even those who do not travel. The trick is to look at commonplace locations as though you are seeing them for the first time. Determine to let the reader see it through your eyes.
Start reading travel magazines and pay close attention to how the articles are written. Choose the magazine that uses articles similar to your writing. Do they use a lot of interviews? Pictures? Quotes?
One of the first things you will find is that little "hole-in-the-wall" places make good articles. If you're going to write about a restaurant, you will want to tell more than how it got started. Also tell what is on the menu and at what price. Give your own review of how the food tastes and interview some of the clientele.
Always be armed with a camera, a notepad, pen and a tape recorder. Get in touch with the owner or manager and take a few pictures. Magazines pay extra for pictures and they add a lot of human interest to any story.
The field of traveling is wide open. You can write an article on a park, a museum, a gas station, antique shop, taxidermy studio, an old-fashioned drugstore, a lake – almost anything can become a travel story.
Tell how long it took to travel to that destination. What unusual things do you see there? What do other tourists think of the place? What other places can you compare it to? You can write virtually dozens of articles off one trip.
Most writers don't get their articles published because they don't do the proper market research and because they don't take the proper steps to sell their work.
Always get publishers guidelines from every market you are interested in. Don't bother with query letters. Just send the article and the pictures. Keep a new article in the mail every week.
Search Writers Market on the Internet and get their online edition. It is about $40. The online edition will be updated every month, whereas the book will be updated yearly. You will be able to search for the markets that suit your material best. You will also be able to file your prospects in folders and keep track of your submissions as you make them. All of this comes with your initial purchase. Note the time your articles were submitted, and if you don't hear from the magazine in a few weeks, resubmit them.
The main thing you need for this job is patience. Patience to search out the proper person who will give you all the background information; patience to take good pictures; patience to submit your articles, and patience to find the right market.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. This sale is extended until January 31, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
How to Convert Readers of Your Articles Into Traffic - Part 2
As an article writer, it is very important for you to get people not only to read your articles but also to view your website. This will allow you to increase traffic on your website. Hence it is very important for you to write such articles that attract people into reading your articles and provide them with the link to your website. However, making people read your articles is not that easy, you will need to be very creative and write articles that are of importance to the masses and are interesting.
The first step in writing articles is to know who will be reading your articles. You should be aware of your audience's preferences and dislikes, only then you will be able to write an article that can best suit your audience's interests and attracts them. Also, your articles should be interesting so that the readers are not bored once they start reading them. Other things that you need to keep in mind include the ranking of your articles directory. In order to get the best out of your articles, you should aim to post your articles on the best article directories available on the internet, which will allow you to get a greater chance of people reading your articles.
Your articles should be aimed at the interests of your masses and written in a very simple and easy to read language. You should avoid using technical terms or make your articles too complicated for your readers. Instead, your articles should be written in a simple language and they should be aimed to keep your readers interested. While writing your articles you should always keep in mind that many people on the internet do not come to read only your articles, hence the moment they get bored with your article, they would just switch to something else that might be quite a loss for you. Hence, you should also aim to have a flow in your articles, which would build the reader's interest throughout.
Since you are using your articles not only for the informative purposes but also for marketing your websites or products, you should provide links to your products or websites in the articles. This would allow the readers to visit your website once they have read your articles and have built their interest and curiosity. However, while writing your articles, you should make sure that they are original and unique. This is because you will get unlisted from the search engines if you have used the copied content or employed any of the black hat techniques for writing your articles. These black hat techniques are those which are against the guidelines issued by the search engines.
Once you have written your articles, you should make sure that you have sufficient number of articles that can provide you with a substantial traffic to your website. In other words, you will only get higher page ranking on the search engines or article directories if you have a large number of articles posted. By keeping these tips in mind, you can write great quality articles that can create interested in the readers and attract them to view your website. This will eventually help you in getting greater traffic on your website.
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to write, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: Articles, Writing, Publishing
The first step in writing articles is to know who will be reading your articles. You should be aware of your audience's preferences and dislikes, only then you will be able to write an article that can best suit your audience's interests and attracts them. Also, your articles should be interesting so that the readers are not bored once they start reading them. Other things that you need to keep in mind include the ranking of your articles directory. In order to get the best out of your articles, you should aim to post your articles on the best article directories available on the internet, which will allow you to get a greater chance of people reading your articles.
Your articles should be aimed at the interests of your masses and written in a very simple and easy to read language. You should avoid using technical terms or make your articles too complicated for your readers. Instead, your articles should be written in a simple language and they should be aimed to keep your readers interested. While writing your articles you should always keep in mind that many people on the internet do not come to read only your articles, hence the moment they get bored with your article, they would just switch to something else that might be quite a loss for you. Hence, you should also aim to have a flow in your articles, which would build the reader's interest throughout.
Since you are using your articles not only for the informative purposes but also for marketing your websites or products, you should provide links to your products or websites in the articles. This would allow the readers to visit your website once they have read your articles and have built their interest and curiosity. However, while writing your articles, you should make sure that they are original and unique. This is because you will get unlisted from the search engines if you have used the copied content or employed any of the black hat techniques for writing your articles. These black hat techniques are those which are against the guidelines issued by the search engines.
Once you have written your articles, you should make sure that you have sufficient number of articles that can provide you with a substantial traffic to your website. In other words, you will only get higher page ranking on the search engines or article directories if you have a large number of articles posted. By keeping these tips in mind, you can write great quality articles that can create interested in the readers and attract them to view your website. This will eventually help you in getting greater traffic on your website.
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to write, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: Articles, Writing, Publishing
Mistakes That Far Too Many Authors Make in the Resource Box That Ruins Their Results
The resource box also plays an important role in the article marketing. The resource boxes can be found towards the end of an article, which show the descriptions about the author and the website and also contains the link to the website. The resource box plays an important part in bringing the traffic to your website. Hence in order to attract a large number of people you should have well designed resource box apart from a well written article.
The major mistake that many article marketers make is that they do not provide accurate links in the resources box of their articles. Since many readers come through the search engines, if you do not provide them accurate links back to the website that relates to the topic of the article, you will have a risk of losing your readers. Hence, if your article is about music, then you should provide links in the resource box that relate to the music section of your website instead of the links relating to the website regarding cooking etc.
The resource box should also contain the keywords relating to the article, so it will be easier for the readers to find your article through the search engines. Many writer do not use the keywords in the resource boxes, it keeps them at the disadvantage as their articles and resource boxes are not search engine optimized. By ensuring the good use of the keywords you can make your resource box visible on the search engines.
The resource box should also provide a good description about the author and the website. This will allow the reader to have some knowledge about the website before going to there. It will help in keeping the reader interested in your article and going to your website. The resource box can play a very important role in attracting traffic to your website, hence you should avoid making mistakes like many authors do and keep your resource box well structured and well designed.
No matter how well your article is written, if your resource box is not effectively designed then you will not have a chance of getting higher traffic to your website. Hence you should always keep this in mind that you need to catch the attention of the readers on the internet in the shorter span of time. The readers on the internet usually do not spend much time on reading stuff, so you will need to make your articles as attractive as possible and they should contain a well designed resource box to enable the readers to go to your website.
If you can keep the abovementioned guidelines in your mind, then you will have a better chance of getting your readers to visit your website. By designing a well-structured resource box that contains accurate links to your website, you can increase the traffic on your website and hence increase your profits.
Mistakes that far too many authors make in the RESOURCE BOX that ruins their results part 2
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to write, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: Articles, Writing, Publishing
The major mistake that many article marketers make is that they do not provide accurate links in the resources box of their articles. Since many readers come through the search engines, if you do not provide them accurate links back to the website that relates to the topic of the article, you will have a risk of losing your readers. Hence, if your article is about music, then you should provide links in the resource box that relate to the music section of your website instead of the links relating to the website regarding cooking etc.
The resource box should also contain the keywords relating to the article, so it will be easier for the readers to find your article through the search engines. Many writer do not use the keywords in the resource boxes, it keeps them at the disadvantage as their articles and resource boxes are not search engine optimized. By ensuring the good use of the keywords you can make your resource box visible on the search engines.
The resource box should also provide a good description about the author and the website. This will allow the reader to have some knowledge about the website before going to there. It will help in keeping the reader interested in your article and going to your website. The resource box can play a very important role in attracting traffic to your website, hence you should avoid making mistakes like many authors do and keep your resource box well structured and well designed.
No matter how well your article is written, if your resource box is not effectively designed then you will not have a chance of getting higher traffic to your website. Hence you should always keep this in mind that you need to catch the attention of the readers on the internet in the shorter span of time. The readers on the internet usually do not spend much time on reading stuff, so you will need to make your articles as attractive as possible and they should contain a well designed resource box to enable the readers to go to your website.
If you can keep the abovementioned guidelines in your mind, then you will have a better chance of getting your readers to visit your website. By designing a well-structured resource box that contains accurate links to your website, you can increase the traffic on your website and hence increase your profits.
Mistakes that far too many authors make in the RESOURCE BOX that ruins their results part 2
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to write, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: Articles, Writing, Publishing
How Article Directories Accept Your Article And Why? Part2
Article writing has become a source of marketing for many companies around the world. This source of marketing is used through the internet. Companies and people submit their articles regarding their business to the article directories in order to get higher ranking on the search engines. However, even after posting so many articles on the article directories, many individual webmasters and the companies do not get much traffic because of several reasons. These reasons include the lack of popularity of the article directory where they have listed their articles and the fact that the people visiting article directory's website are not likely the target audience for your articles.
The webmasters invest a lot of money and time on getting the articles written and published on the internet to market their websites. Hence, it is very important for them to know the effective strategies that they can use to get the most out of their articles. The articles directories look at many features in your articles; however, some of the guidelines that you need to follow include the fact that your articles should not be copied from other articles and that the articles should be written using the white hat writing method. The articles written using the white hat techniques are widely respected by the search engines and the article directories; hence if you need your articles to be on the top of the article directories then you should make sure that your articles are written using white hat techniques.
The other reason that affects the article marketing is the fact that much of the traffic on the article directories is that of other webmasters and people who want to publish their own articles. Hence, it is very unlikely that the newbies or other population on the internet will be viewing or reading your articles. However, if the article directory where you have posted your articles is ranked among the top most on the search engines, then it is more likely that you will receive greater traffic on your website. Also, your articles should be very interesting to read and informative for the newbies who want to know about the topic.
The things that you need to keep in mind while writing the articles and submitting them to the article directories include that you should look for the topics that are interesting and are attractive for many people on the internet. Since many of the articles written and posted on the internet are written by the persons who do not write much often, you are more likely to find thousands of badly written articles. Hence, in order to make your articles interesting and informative, you should use your creativity to keep the people attracted to your website. You should be well aware of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques, which include the use of keyword rich articles etc.
In the end, you should always ensure that your articles are not copied and are written using the white hat techniques, which will keep you on the safe side. This will also allow you to attract more traffic in the long run. Also ensuring the top ranking of your article directory will help you in getting more traffic on your website.
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to write, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: Articles, Writing, Publishing
The webmasters invest a lot of money and time on getting the articles written and published on the internet to market their websites. Hence, it is very important for them to know the effective strategies that they can use to get the most out of their articles. The articles directories look at many features in your articles; however, some of the guidelines that you need to follow include the fact that your articles should not be copied from other articles and that the articles should be written using the white hat writing method. The articles written using the white hat techniques are widely respected by the search engines and the article directories; hence if you need your articles to be on the top of the article directories then you should make sure that your articles are written using white hat techniques.
The other reason that affects the article marketing is the fact that much of the traffic on the article directories is that of other webmasters and people who want to publish their own articles. Hence, it is very unlikely that the newbies or other population on the internet will be viewing or reading your articles. However, if the article directory where you have posted your articles is ranked among the top most on the search engines, then it is more likely that you will receive greater traffic on your website. Also, your articles should be very interesting to read and informative for the newbies who want to know about the topic.
The things that you need to keep in mind while writing the articles and submitting them to the article directories include that you should look for the topics that are interesting and are attractive for many people on the internet. Since many of the articles written and posted on the internet are written by the persons who do not write much often, you are more likely to find thousands of badly written articles. Hence, in order to make your articles interesting and informative, you should use your creativity to keep the people attracted to your website. You should be well aware of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques, which include the use of keyword rich articles etc.
In the end, you should always ensure that your articles are not copied and are written using the white hat techniques, which will keep you on the safe side. This will also allow you to attract more traffic in the long run. Also ensuring the top ranking of your article directory will help you in getting more traffic on your website.
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to write, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: Articles, Writing, Publishing
Article Writing Mistakes Newbies Make That You Must Avoid-part2
The article writing is a useful online marketing technique these days. Many article writers use their articles to promote their websites and generate traffic. However, writing effective articles that can generate higher traffic can be a huge challenge for the newbie writers. But after knowing some basics about the article writing and avoiding certain mistakes that are commonly made by the article writers, being a writer would not seem to be a tough job after all. The newbies will need to express their view in a manner that would attract their readers and create interest in them. Once the readers are interested after reading the article they might visit the website through the resource box available at the end of the article.
The most common mistake that article writers make while writing their articles is that many article writers do not concentrate on having well structured articles. In order to convey your point of view clearly and ensure that your point has been understood, you will need to have a well structured article. The structure of an article will play a very important role in conveying your message accurately. It will also help the readers in clearly understanding your points and building their interest in your article. A well structured article would normally have an introduction, a body and the conclusion as its basic elements. In the introduction section, you should write a brief about your topic and what you are going to discuss in your article. In the body of your article, you can give a detailed description about your topic and tell your readers as to what your article is all about. You can also give any of the points that you want to convey. In the conclusion, you will need to give a brief about what you have written in the article or any of the catchy points that you think will leave an impression on the readers' minds.
The language used in your articles should also be flawless as it will give an impression about your abilities as a writer. You will need to have an excellent proficiency in the language that you using in the article. You should take great care with the spellings and the grammar as it will provide hints to the reader about your language abilities. Also, if your article is full of spelling mistakes or has a bad grammar use, then your reader will get bored while making a sense out of your article and the reader might just close your article or move to some other article.
Apart from the abovementioned mistakes, many writers also make mistakes in the structure of the resource box. These mistakes would cost even more than the mistakes made in the body of the articles, as the resource box plays an important role in guiding the readers to visit your website and hence increasing traffic on your website. So you should also take care in providing accurate links in the resource box and using the keywords not only in the article body but also in the resource box. These guidelines would help the newbie writers to begin their writing career effectively and prove their abilities and enhance their skills of writing.
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to write, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: Articles, Writing, Publishing
The most common mistake that article writers make while writing their articles is that many article writers do not concentrate on having well structured articles. In order to convey your point of view clearly and ensure that your point has been understood, you will need to have a well structured article. The structure of an article will play a very important role in conveying your message accurately. It will also help the readers in clearly understanding your points and building their interest in your article. A well structured article would normally have an introduction, a body and the conclusion as its basic elements. In the introduction section, you should write a brief about your topic and what you are going to discuss in your article. In the body of your article, you can give a detailed description about your topic and tell your readers as to what your article is all about. You can also give any of the points that you want to convey. In the conclusion, you will need to give a brief about what you have written in the article or any of the catchy points that you think will leave an impression on the readers' minds.
The language used in your articles should also be flawless as it will give an impression about your abilities as a writer. You will need to have an excellent proficiency in the language that you using in the article. You should take great care with the spellings and the grammar as it will provide hints to the reader about your language abilities. Also, if your article is full of spelling mistakes or has a bad grammar use, then your reader will get bored while making a sense out of your article and the reader might just close your article or move to some other article.
Apart from the abovementioned mistakes, many writers also make mistakes in the structure of the resource box. These mistakes would cost even more than the mistakes made in the body of the articles, as the resource box plays an important role in guiding the readers to visit your website and hence increasing traffic on your website. So you should also take care in providing accurate links in the resource box and using the keywords not only in the article body but also in the resource box. These guidelines would help the newbie writers to begin their writing career effectively and prove their abilities and enhance their skills of writing.
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to write, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: Articles, Writing, Publishing
Article Writing Where To Start? Part2
Article writing has become an important business on the internet these days. Many people adopt article writing and marketing as a part time job from home. This has also become a good source of income for some of the women, especially the housewives who cannot go to work because of their engagements at their homes. However, being a good article writer is quite a difficult job for some of the people especially the amateur article writers. If want to become a good article writer, you should keep a few things in mind. These are discussed in this article, by following these tips you can also become a better article writer and attract a lot of business.
The thing that is the most important ingredient of good article writing is the language proficiency. It always comes first no matter which language you are writing your articles in, you should have good command over it. This will not only help you produce some good quality articles but also will let you put in some attraction and entertainment in your articles. Hence, if you are planning to start writing the articles, you should try to learn more about the language and dig deeper in it to attain a good proficiency in it. The grammar also plays an important part in any language. It allows you to clearly present your views and ideas. Hence if you are not perfect in the grammar, then you will not be able to convey your views and ideas clearly. You should try to be perfect in the grammar.
The structure of the articles also makes a great difference. The readers would never appreciate fragmented sentences or badly structured paragraphs in an article. You should try to maintain a flow in your articles. The paragraphs in your article should not wander around everything and there should be a separate paragraph for every different point you are talking about. If your articles do not have a flow, it will create annoyance in the reader's mind and will make him confused about the central idea of the article. A good structure would normally include an introduction telling the readers what your article is all about, a body telling the readers what you want to tell them, and a conclusion, which is a summary telling the readers about what has been told to them in the article.
The structure of your article would also become attractive if you use short and concise sentences. The shorter sentences would allow the readers to take the meaning and idea of your sentences accurately and quickly. The spellings also matter while you are writing the articles. If your article contains too many spelling mistakes then if would look quite unprofessional and the readers would lose interest in it and might not read further. However, spelling mistakes is not only about being professional; it will also be a great barrier in conveying your point of view in a clear manner.
If you want to start writing, you can just go on. The thing that bars many of the newbie writers is the thought of the fact that article writing is difficult. But once you start writing you will notice that it is not that difficult at all, and you can even write about something that you don't even know about. Hence if you just sit down and start writing the articles, you will be surprised with your abilities. Just do not assume that you cannot write without even trying it.
About the Author:
For more specific information about Articles Writing Publishing , visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: Articles, Writing, Publishing
The thing that is the most important ingredient of good article writing is the language proficiency. It always comes first no matter which language you are writing your articles in, you should have good command over it. This will not only help you produce some good quality articles but also will let you put in some attraction and entertainment in your articles. Hence, if you are planning to start writing the articles, you should try to learn more about the language and dig deeper in it to attain a good proficiency in it. The grammar also plays an important part in any language. It allows you to clearly present your views and ideas. Hence if you are not perfect in the grammar, then you will not be able to convey your views and ideas clearly. You should try to be perfect in the grammar.
The structure of the articles also makes a great difference. The readers would never appreciate fragmented sentences or badly structured paragraphs in an article. You should try to maintain a flow in your articles. The paragraphs in your article should not wander around everything and there should be a separate paragraph for every different point you are talking about. If your articles do not have a flow, it will create annoyance in the reader's mind and will make him confused about the central idea of the article. A good structure would normally include an introduction telling the readers what your article is all about, a body telling the readers what you want to tell them, and a conclusion, which is a summary telling the readers about what has been told to them in the article.
The structure of your article would also become attractive if you use short and concise sentences. The shorter sentences would allow the readers to take the meaning and idea of your sentences accurately and quickly. The spellings also matter while you are writing the articles. If your article contains too many spelling mistakes then if would look quite unprofessional and the readers would lose interest in it and might not read further. However, spelling mistakes is not only about being professional; it will also be a great barrier in conveying your point of view in a clear manner.
If you want to start writing, you can just go on. The thing that bars many of the newbie writers is the thought of the fact that article writing is difficult. But once you start writing you will notice that it is not that difficult at all, and you can even write about something that you don't even know about. Hence if you just sit down and start writing the articles, you will be surprised with your abilities. Just do not assume that you cannot write without even trying it.
About the Author:
For more specific information about Articles Writing Publishing , visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: Articles, Writing, Publishing
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Is Writing For The Web All That Different Than Writing In General?
Is there a specific manner of writing for the web? Actually, yes, there is. Clear formatting, concise wording and efficient delivery. This is the gist of the protocol for this area of publishing.
Not strange, most would say. Hasn't the Web evolved so as to be part of every person's world now? You can access the Web from your TV, your computer, your phone, your digital gadgets. Whatever is on these pages can be logged into anytime, from virtually anywhere, with whatever you are looking for a few clicks away.
But web readers are not like novel readers. Therefore, someone writing for the web cannot write like someone that is writing a novel.
Here are a few things to consider when writing for the web:
- Layout considerations
- Reading manner
- Attention span
- Relevance of information
All the above affect the way writing for the web differs from writing for print.
- Layout considerations
When words are laid out on paper, the eye tends to automatically take in margins and such bearings to make sense of the layout. This doesn't happen on screen. Words tend to jumble and merge into a big mass of characters that is hard to decipher.
How to address this then? Writing for the web requires using more white space and placing the information in such a way that it is easy for the eyesight to grasp.
A few ways to do this are:
- breaking long paragraphs into smaller blocks.
- inserting a blank line between paragraphs.
- keeping paragraphs short and concise.
- use visual cues such as bulleted lists and tables and graphs, which provide information in one glance.
- use easy-to-read fonts such as Georgia and Verdana, in a legible size, so the eye can grasp it and focus easily.
- Reading manner
It is a fact that people don't read words on screen as they do on paper. Here are a few considerations where reading ease is concerned:
- The top of the page is vital space. A web page usually displays the top third of the page when it loads. The user needs to scroll to read the lower thirds. Therefore, when writing for the web, making use of this top space to catch readers' attention is essential.
The above distinction brings us to an essential aspect of writing for the web – the format. Web writing follows the inverted pyramid format.
Traditional writing makes use of an introduction, a body of information, and finally leads to a conclusion. The reader needs to read the whole thing to get to the conclusion. Basically, this conclusion is what he wants to get to. The format of such a piece then starts with an introduction at the top, very much like the tip of a pyramid, leading down to the conclusion, the foot or the base of the pyramid.
Writing for the web makes use of an inverted pyramid format. Flip the pyramid, with the base at the top and the tip at the bottom. Thus, it starts with the conclusion.
When writing for the web, the first paragraph of any article writing piece for the Web should start with the conclusion of the matter being dealt with. A reader, by reading the first paragraph alone, should already know what the full piece will tell him in more detail.
- Remember, readers skim a page on screen. They won't read everything word by word. They'll scan the page for a general idea of what is being said. Therefore writing for the web means using keywords and displays such as bold or color help to present a better picture for the 'scanner'.
Hyperlinks fall in this category, but beware using too many stylistic devices and too many links, as they detract from the content.
- Attention span & Relevance of information
The attention span of the on-screen reader is very fickle. It is thus better to have short, concise pieces that deliver the information quickly and efficiently.
Information should pertain to the topic being dealt with. Use of examples and anecdotes should be kept to a minimum. Writing for the web should be active, as in they should provide the reader what he is looking for and not digress into unnecessary detours.
On the whole, writing for the Web is not all that different. It is mostly the delivery that has to be adjusted to fit this medium.
About the Author:
Matt Henderson, owner of MyOnlineSuccess, is an affiliate marketing guide and coach for beginners. Let Matt show you how writing for the web and how to use effective article marketing to generate targeted traffic when you visit http://www.myonlinesuccess.com
Keyword tags: writing for the web,write for the web,writing articles for the web,how to write for the web
Not strange, most would say. Hasn't the Web evolved so as to be part of every person's world now? You can access the Web from your TV, your computer, your phone, your digital gadgets. Whatever is on these pages can be logged into anytime, from virtually anywhere, with whatever you are looking for a few clicks away.
But web readers are not like novel readers. Therefore, someone writing for the web cannot write like someone that is writing a novel.
Here are a few things to consider when writing for the web:
- Layout considerations
- Reading manner
- Attention span
- Relevance of information
All the above affect the way writing for the web differs from writing for print.
- Layout considerations
When words are laid out on paper, the eye tends to automatically take in margins and such bearings to make sense of the layout. This doesn't happen on screen. Words tend to jumble and merge into a big mass of characters that is hard to decipher.
How to address this then? Writing for the web requires using more white space and placing the information in such a way that it is easy for the eyesight to grasp.
A few ways to do this are:
- breaking long paragraphs into smaller blocks.
- inserting a blank line between paragraphs.
- keeping paragraphs short and concise.
- use visual cues such as bulleted lists and tables and graphs, which provide information in one glance.
- use easy-to-read fonts such as Georgia and Verdana, in a legible size, so the eye can grasp it and focus easily.
- Reading manner
It is a fact that people don't read words on screen as they do on paper. Here are a few considerations where reading ease is concerned:
- The top of the page is vital space. A web page usually displays the top third of the page when it loads. The user needs to scroll to read the lower thirds. Therefore, when writing for the web, making use of this top space to catch readers' attention is essential.
The above distinction brings us to an essential aspect of writing for the web – the format. Web writing follows the inverted pyramid format.
Traditional writing makes use of an introduction, a body of information, and finally leads to a conclusion. The reader needs to read the whole thing to get to the conclusion. Basically, this conclusion is what he wants to get to. The format of such a piece then starts with an introduction at the top, very much like the tip of a pyramid, leading down to the conclusion, the foot or the base of the pyramid.
Writing for the web makes use of an inverted pyramid format. Flip the pyramid, with the base at the top and the tip at the bottom. Thus, it starts with the conclusion.
When writing for the web, the first paragraph of any article writing piece for the Web should start with the conclusion of the matter being dealt with. A reader, by reading the first paragraph alone, should already know what the full piece will tell him in more detail.
- Remember, readers skim a page on screen. They won't read everything word by word. They'll scan the page for a general idea of what is being said. Therefore writing for the web means using keywords and displays such as bold or color help to present a better picture for the 'scanner'.
Hyperlinks fall in this category, but beware using too many stylistic devices and too many links, as they detract from the content.
- Attention span & Relevance of information
The attention span of the on-screen reader is very fickle. It is thus better to have short, concise pieces that deliver the information quickly and efficiently.
Information should pertain to the topic being dealt with. Use of examples and anecdotes should be kept to a minimum. Writing for the web should be active, as in they should provide the reader what he is looking for and not digress into unnecessary detours.
On the whole, writing for the Web is not all that different. It is mostly the delivery that has to be adjusted to fit this medium.
About the Author:
Matt Henderson, owner of MyOnlineSuccess, is an affiliate marketing guide and coach for beginners. Let Matt show you how writing for the web and how to use effective article marketing to generate targeted traffic when you visit http://www.myonlinesuccess.com
Keyword tags: writing for the web,write for the web,writing articles for the web,how to write for the web
APA Paper : How to Create Footnotes and Headings in APA Style
Within the main text of your thesis or dissertation, you may need to organize the text and information beyond the standard blocks of text. You have a couple of options under APA Style. Footnotes give you the option of adding information about an idea in your text without detracting from the text. Headings allow you to organize the text into sections, similar to an outline.
1. APA STYLE FOOTNOTES
APA Style recommends against using footnotes within the paper, because it is difficult for a publishing company to reproduce the superscript numbers used with footnotes. Footnotes are explanatory notes referenced from the main text. If you need to use footnotes, place them at the end of the paper, after the references list. (Some people call these types of citations "endnotes.") Footnotes should appear on a separate page with the word "Footnotes" centered at the top of the page.
It's worth noting that because APA Style allows for in-text citations, you'll rarely need footnotes, unless you need an in-depth explanation of an item within the text. However, keep the footnote to a maximum of a few sentences and do not discuss more than one idea per footnote. If you need a more complex footnote, you'll want to include the information as an appendix page entry or incorporate it into the main text instead.
APA Style allows for two types of footnotes: Content and copyright permission. A content footnote should include information that would be distracting to include within the main text. It's a good way to point the reader toward additional information. A copyright permission footnote shows the reader that you have obtained permission to use a previously published long quote (more than 500 words), table, or figure.
Both types of footnotes require the same type of formatting, as shown in the following example.
Technological advancements tend to spark economic growth worldwide.1
On the footnote page, indent each footnote as a new paragraph and double space throughout.
1 Johnson defines technological advancements in a variety of ways ...
2. APA STYLE HEADINGS
APA Style allows for you to use headings to better organize your paper. You can think of using headings like creating an outline. You can use up to five levels with headings, although the formatting becomes tricky if you go deeper than three levels.
The headings formatting requirements include:
FIRST LEVEL. The first level headings should be centered above their associated text blocks. Use both uppercase and lowercase words within the heading.
SECOND LEVEL. Type the second level heading in all italics, flush left, and with both uppercase and lowercase words.
THIRD LEVEL. The third level heading should look like a sentence at the start of a paragraph, as it's indented, all lowercase words (other than the first word or proper nouns), and ends with a period. It is italicized, however, to set it apart from the main text.
An example of the formatting for the first three levels of headings looks this way.
First Level of Heading (centered)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Second Level of Heading (flush left)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Third level of heading (indented). Main text should immediately follow the third heading.
FOURTH LEVEL. If you need a fourth level heading, you have to rework your previous headings. The second level becomes italicized and centered, while the old second level and old third level become the new third and fourth levels, respectively.
First Level of Heading (centered)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Second Level of Heading (centered)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Third Level of Heading (flush left)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Fourth level of heading (indented). Main text should immediately follow the fourth heading.
FIFTH LEVEL. Again, adding a fifth level requires reworking of the other levels, beginning with the first level, which now becomes a centered and all uppercase heading. Every other heading moves down one spot. The old first level heading becomes the new second level, and the others follow suit.
FIRST LEVEL OF HEADING (centered)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Second Level of Heading (centered)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Third Level of Heading (centered)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Fourth Level of Heading (flush left)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Fifth level of heading (indented). Main text should immediately follow the fifth heading.
Finally, keep in mind that very few APA Style papers will require more than two or three levels of headings. Typically, the only types of papers that need four or five levels of headings are those detailing complex scientific experiments.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style, apa format
1. APA STYLE FOOTNOTES
APA Style recommends against using footnotes within the paper, because it is difficult for a publishing company to reproduce the superscript numbers used with footnotes. Footnotes are explanatory notes referenced from the main text. If you need to use footnotes, place them at the end of the paper, after the references list. (Some people call these types of citations "endnotes.") Footnotes should appear on a separate page with the word "Footnotes" centered at the top of the page.
It's worth noting that because APA Style allows for in-text citations, you'll rarely need footnotes, unless you need an in-depth explanation of an item within the text. However, keep the footnote to a maximum of a few sentences and do not discuss more than one idea per footnote. If you need a more complex footnote, you'll want to include the information as an appendix page entry or incorporate it into the main text instead.
APA Style allows for two types of footnotes: Content and copyright permission. A content footnote should include information that would be distracting to include within the main text. It's a good way to point the reader toward additional information. A copyright permission footnote shows the reader that you have obtained permission to use a previously published long quote (more than 500 words), table, or figure.
Both types of footnotes require the same type of formatting, as shown in the following example.
Technological advancements tend to spark economic growth worldwide.1
On the footnote page, indent each footnote as a new paragraph and double space throughout.
1 Johnson defines technological advancements in a variety of ways ...
2. APA STYLE HEADINGS
APA Style allows for you to use headings to better organize your paper. You can think of using headings like creating an outline. You can use up to five levels with headings, although the formatting becomes tricky if you go deeper than three levels.
The headings formatting requirements include:
FIRST LEVEL. The first level headings should be centered above their associated text blocks. Use both uppercase and lowercase words within the heading.
SECOND LEVEL. Type the second level heading in all italics, flush left, and with both uppercase and lowercase words.
THIRD LEVEL. The third level heading should look like a sentence at the start of a paragraph, as it's indented, all lowercase words (other than the first word or proper nouns), and ends with a period. It is italicized, however, to set it apart from the main text.
An example of the formatting for the first three levels of headings looks this way.
First Level of Heading (centered)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Second Level of Heading (flush left)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Third level of heading (indented). Main text should immediately follow the third heading.
FOURTH LEVEL. If you need a fourth level heading, you have to rework your previous headings. The second level becomes italicized and centered, while the old second level and old third level become the new third and fourth levels, respectively.
First Level of Heading (centered)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Second Level of Heading (centered)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Third Level of Heading (flush left)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Fourth level of heading (indented). Main text should immediately follow the fourth heading.
FIFTH LEVEL. Again, adding a fifth level requires reworking of the other levels, beginning with the first level, which now becomes a centered and all uppercase heading. Every other heading moves down one spot. The old first level heading becomes the new second level, and the others follow suit.
FIRST LEVEL OF HEADING (centered)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Second Level of Heading (centered)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Third Level of Heading (centered)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Fourth Level of Heading (flush left)
Main text continues as normal (indented).
Fifth level of heading (indented). Main text should immediately follow the fifth heading.
Finally, keep in mind that very few APA Style papers will require more than two or three levels of headings. Typically, the only types of papers that need four or five levels of headings are those detailing complex scientific experiments.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style, apa format
What You Get For Sending In Your Best Quality Original Articles?
When dealing with articles and the writers that create them, there is a system of rewards in place for sending in best quality original articles. Let we explain in plain terms what a best quality original article is. This is an article that is written by you using research, BUT with no plagiarizing. It is well written, originally done, formatted correctly and both spell checked and grammar checked for mistakes. It has the correct word count and is written exactly how the client wants it to be written. That is what this term means.
Now let's talk a little bit about what happens if you DON'T do this. If you are caught plagiarizing any type of work or copying it and making your own, then you can expect the following to happen pretty quickly. All articles are Copyscaped to make sure that there is not any plagiarizing involved. If plagiarizing is found, then you will either be asked to re write it, or depending upon how bad the plagiarizing is, you will be terminated and blacklisted. This will happen especially if you have re written the article, but plagiarized the second article.
This is not a good way to do business. Now let's talk about what happens if you DO follow the rules and submit only your best articles. First of all you get satisfaction for a job well done. Your client is happy and will send you more work. You will build a very good reputation with your clients. Word will spread that you are a good writer and more and more people will want to use your services for article writing. You will then begin to build a business on your reputation as a good, plagiarism free writer.
Your credibility will rise and you will make more money. These are the benefits of creating and sending good quality articles to your clients. The rewards are great and you will be making a lot of people happy that you did this. What clients look for is originality when talking about articles. No one wants a rehashed version of the same old stuff. They want copy that is fresh, inviting and new. No one wants old, stale or copied copy for their sites. That is just bad business for them and for you. No one will keep a writer that cannot produce good copy and will keep instead those who can produce good original copy that makes readers stand up and take notice.
Now, by using your creativity, you are rewarded with a lot of rewards. The better reputation that you have, the more work you get as stated above. It is a win- win situation for everyone involved and makes both the client and you money and solidifies both yours and the client's reputations as producers of good quality writing that can pass Copyscape every single time. Reputations are won and lost on the quality of work that you submit to a client. So always do your best and be rewarded for it!
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to become a writing, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: plagiarizing , copying , quality original. articles
Now let's talk a little bit about what happens if you DON'T do this. If you are caught plagiarizing any type of work or copying it and making your own, then you can expect the following to happen pretty quickly. All articles are Copyscaped to make sure that there is not any plagiarizing involved. If plagiarizing is found, then you will either be asked to re write it, or depending upon how bad the plagiarizing is, you will be terminated and blacklisted. This will happen especially if you have re written the article, but plagiarized the second article.
This is not a good way to do business. Now let's talk about what happens if you DO follow the rules and submit only your best articles. First of all you get satisfaction for a job well done. Your client is happy and will send you more work. You will build a very good reputation with your clients. Word will spread that you are a good writer and more and more people will want to use your services for article writing. You will then begin to build a business on your reputation as a good, plagiarism free writer.
Your credibility will rise and you will make more money. These are the benefits of creating and sending good quality articles to your clients. The rewards are great and you will be making a lot of people happy that you did this. What clients look for is originality when talking about articles. No one wants a rehashed version of the same old stuff. They want copy that is fresh, inviting and new. No one wants old, stale or copied copy for their sites. That is just bad business for them and for you. No one will keep a writer that cannot produce good copy and will keep instead those who can produce good original copy that makes readers stand up and take notice.
Now, by using your creativity, you are rewarded with a lot of rewards. The better reputation that you have, the more work you get as stated above. It is a win- win situation for everyone involved and makes both the client and you money and solidifies both yours and the client's reputations as producers of good quality writing that can pass Copyscape every single time. Reputations are won and lost on the quality of work that you submit to a client. So always do your best and be rewarded for it!
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to become a writing, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: plagiarizing , copying , quality original. articles
Monday, January 5, 2009
Article Writing Where To Start?
If you are looking for a career both as a writer and article writer, you may be asking yourself "How do I start out in article writing?" This article will give you all the information necessary to get started in both article writing and how to write your first article. Let's talk about writing, specifically how to write your first article. One of the first things that you will need to do is have some familiarity with how an article is composed. By this I mean, type face, word count, subject matter and format.
Typeface is basically the font that you are using to compose the article. For example, if a client asks you to create a document with Arial 10 pt. Then you would create a document with that particular typeface in your word processing software. Word count is the amount of words the article should have. If you have an article count for 700, then that means 700 words. Sometimes this does not include the title of the article. Subject matter is our next topic. The subject matter will be varying and has a wide spectrum. For example, if you are asked to do an article on Forex, then this topic would cover all aspects or only some of the foreign exchange market.
Formatting is our last topic of this bunch. Formatting could mean a special way that the article is written. Most articles will require four to six paragraphs with the same amount of subheadings. You may be required to write keywords in red or bold. These are examples only. This is how you format a paragraph. They may also have other special formatting such as hyperlinks. Hyperlinks are created by clicking the hyperlink section in your word processing software and following the directions. The formatting could also be to fit something like a directory or a web page. Each client will be different and the instructions will be different with each article that you write.
Now let's move on to writing the article itself. You have the formatting, typeface, subject matter and word count. Now where do you begin to do research? Why research an article? Simply put, while you can write one off the top of your head, if you have no knowledge of the subject then you must research to get the correct information. You research by using search engines and using keywords or phrases. For example if you are looking for blackjack, you type in Blackjack and hit search. Then results will pop up. You go to a web page and read the information.
A word of warning here that is needed.. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE! If you are caught, you will be dismissed and will not be able to work again. There is a site to go to called Copyscape that you will need to go to and run the article through. After you have the information, then write your article. Once it is finished then submit to your client. Congratulations! You have just written and submitted your first article.
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to become a proofreader, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: articles directory, internet marketing, Article Writing
Typeface is basically the font that you are using to compose the article. For example, if a client asks you to create a document with Arial 10 pt. Then you would create a document with that particular typeface in your word processing software. Word count is the amount of words the article should have. If you have an article count for 700, then that means 700 words. Sometimes this does not include the title of the article. Subject matter is our next topic. The subject matter will be varying and has a wide spectrum. For example, if you are asked to do an article on Forex, then this topic would cover all aspects or only some of the foreign exchange market.
Formatting is our last topic of this bunch. Formatting could mean a special way that the article is written. Most articles will require four to six paragraphs with the same amount of subheadings. You may be required to write keywords in red or bold. These are examples only. This is how you format a paragraph. They may also have other special formatting such as hyperlinks. Hyperlinks are created by clicking the hyperlink section in your word processing software and following the directions. The formatting could also be to fit something like a directory or a web page. Each client will be different and the instructions will be different with each article that you write.
Now let's move on to writing the article itself. You have the formatting, typeface, subject matter and word count. Now where do you begin to do research? Why research an article? Simply put, while you can write one off the top of your head, if you have no knowledge of the subject then you must research to get the correct information. You research by using search engines and using keywords or phrases. For example if you are looking for blackjack, you type in Blackjack and hit search. Then results will pop up. You go to a web page and read the information.
A word of warning here that is needed.. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE! If you are caught, you will be dismissed and will not be able to work again. There is a site to go to called Copyscape that you will need to go to and run the article through. After you have the information, then write your article. Once it is finished then submit to your client. Congratulations! You have just written and submitted your first article.
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to become a proofreader, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: articles directory, internet marketing, Article Writing
The 4 Biggest Mistakes That Professionals Make When Writing For The Web
Everyone makes mistakes. Even seasoned professional writers make them when writing for the web. There are four that are very common even among professional writers who do this for a living. These four are both simple and complex at the same time. Sometimes it is the simplest things that can trip a writer up and cause them to have a bad day. Why don't we take a look at the top four biggest mistakes that professionals make when writing web copy, shall we?
The first mistake and one of the biggest is fact checking. Sometimes when you have a deadline, you will push to get the article out and forget about fact checking. This is a big no-no. Be aware that things have a way of being checked and it will come back to bite you. So even if you are in a rush, take the time to fact check and save yourself a heck of a lot of embarrassment in the process by fact checking. Fact checking also includes plagiarism checks that need to be done to the article in question. This is for your own safety and that of the web site in question.
The second one is oddly enough links checking. Dead links or misspelled links are a sure way to raise the temperature of the site and make them angry at you at the same time. Take the time to really check the spelling and web addresses of all links that are in any type of article or on web copy for a site. This really makes people's blood boil when they click a link and either it doesn't work or is misspelled. Working links provides working dollars... remember that.
Number three on the list is incorrect formatting for web copy for either article directories, or placement on web pages. This is one hell of a problem even with newbies and yes even pros can get it wrong a time or two. With web copy, especially with article directories, there is only one or at the maximum two different ways of formatting copy for web usage. These depend upon where the article is to go when it is made live. When in doubt about format, then ask and refresh yourself with proper formatting procedure for web copy.
And now drum roll please NUMBER FOUR. This is the worst offender of all of them. Spelling, grammatical errors and language errors are the worst of the offenders. This is a separate detail from the number one problem. Sometimes when you are using words in another language in an English speaking context, such as Spanish, the misspelling of the word can really throw off the copy and change the entire meaning of the word in question. When transferring words from another language, check and make certain that the word is spelled correctly. This angers a lot of people who speak the language to think that the writer didn't take the time to get the proper pronunciation of the word in question.
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to write for the web, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: Writing Web, Writing mistakes, Writing mistake, professional writers
The first mistake and one of the biggest is fact checking. Sometimes when you have a deadline, you will push to get the article out and forget about fact checking. This is a big no-no. Be aware that things have a way of being checked and it will come back to bite you. So even if you are in a rush, take the time to fact check and save yourself a heck of a lot of embarrassment in the process by fact checking. Fact checking also includes plagiarism checks that need to be done to the article in question. This is for your own safety and that of the web site in question.
The second one is oddly enough links checking. Dead links or misspelled links are a sure way to raise the temperature of the site and make them angry at you at the same time. Take the time to really check the spelling and web addresses of all links that are in any type of article or on web copy for a site. This really makes people's blood boil when they click a link and either it doesn't work or is misspelled. Working links provides working dollars... remember that.
Number three on the list is incorrect formatting for web copy for either article directories, or placement on web pages. This is one hell of a problem even with newbies and yes even pros can get it wrong a time or two. With web copy, especially with article directories, there is only one or at the maximum two different ways of formatting copy for web usage. These depend upon where the article is to go when it is made live. When in doubt about format, then ask and refresh yourself with proper formatting procedure for web copy.
And now drum roll please NUMBER FOUR. This is the worst offender of all of them. Spelling, grammatical errors and language errors are the worst of the offenders. This is a separate detail from the number one problem. Sometimes when you are using words in another language in an English speaking context, such as Spanish, the misspelling of the word can really throw off the copy and change the entire meaning of the word in question. When transferring words from another language, check and make certain that the word is spelled correctly. This angers a lot of people who speak the language to think that the writer didn't take the time to get the proper pronunciation of the word in question.
About the Author:
For more specific information about how to write for the web, visit http://www.myaboutall.com
Keyword tags: Writing Web, Writing mistakes, Writing mistake, professional writers
Creative Writers, See How Much You Know on This Quiz
Creative writing is so much more than stringing your words together in the proper order. It is the wondrous transport by which you place your own thoughts and fears into the hearts and minds of others. How much do you know about writing? Test your knowledge, and check your answers in the bottom half of the article.
1. The main climax scene is called the ________
2. The main idea of the entire story is called the ________
3. How you phrase your thoughts is called your writing _______
4. The four kinds of conflict are _________
5. Name the four points of view.
6. Name the two kinds of voice.
7. Another word for people "speaking" is _______
8. The first paragraph should set the ________
9. Developing a character is called _________
10. Making the readers see the setting in their minds is ________
11. Use _______, don't tell.
12. When you have finished writing, the final step is _______
13. The end of the story is called the __________
14. Fantasy, horror and romance are three different ____________
15. Don't split an ___________
16. Wordiness is called _________
17. A person who writes an article for someone else and receives no byline is called a ________
18. A writer's pseudonym is his _________ name
19. A writer sends a ________ letter to see if the editor wants to buy his work
20. When a writer submits the same story to more than one place at the same time, it is called a _________ ______________
Answers:
1a. The main climax scene is called the plot.
2a. The main idea of the entire story is called the theme.
3a. How you phrase your thoughts is called your writing style.
4a. The four kinds of conflict are man against man, man against nature, man against self, man against society
5a.. Name the four points of view – first person, 2nd person, third person limited, third person omniscient
6a. Name the two kinds of voice – active and passive
7a. Another word for people "speaking" is dialog.
8a. The first paragraph should set the hook
9a. Developing a character is called characterization.
10a. Making the readers see the setting in their minds is imagery.
11a. Use show, don't tell.
12a. When you have finished writing, the next step is editing.
13a. The end of the story is called the resolution.
14a. Fantasy, horror and romance are three different genres.
15a. Don't split an infinitive.
16a. Wordiness is called verbiage.
17a. A person who writes an article for someone else and receives no byline is called a ghost writer.
18a. A writer's pseudonym is his pen name.
19a. A writer sends a query letter to see if the editor wants to buy his work.
20a. When a writer submits the same story to more than one place at the same time, it is called a multiple submission.
If you got all 20 questions right, yer a genius!
If you got 18-19 questions correct, yer a brainy dude!
If your score was 15-17, you dun good!
If'n you got 13-14 correct, there is hope for you!
Hmm… if you got less than 12 right, you better take the test again.
See below for more free writer's tips!
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
1. The main climax scene is called the ________
2. The main idea of the entire story is called the ________
3. How you phrase your thoughts is called your writing _______
4. The four kinds of conflict are _________
5. Name the four points of view.
6. Name the two kinds of voice.
7. Another word for people "speaking" is _______
8. The first paragraph should set the ________
9. Developing a character is called _________
10. Making the readers see the setting in their minds is ________
11. Use _______, don't tell.
12. When you have finished writing, the final step is _______
13. The end of the story is called the __________
14. Fantasy, horror and romance are three different ____________
15. Don't split an ___________
16. Wordiness is called _________
17. A person who writes an article for someone else and receives no byline is called a ________
18. A writer's pseudonym is his _________ name
19. A writer sends a ________ letter to see if the editor wants to buy his work
20. When a writer submits the same story to more than one place at the same time, it is called a _________ ______________
Answers:
1a. The main climax scene is called the plot.
2a. The main idea of the entire story is called the theme.
3a. How you phrase your thoughts is called your writing style.
4a. The four kinds of conflict are man against man, man against nature, man against self, man against society
5a.. Name the four points of view – first person, 2nd person, third person limited, third person omniscient
6a. Name the two kinds of voice – active and passive
7a. Another word for people "speaking" is dialog.
8a. The first paragraph should set the hook
9a. Developing a character is called characterization.
10a. Making the readers see the setting in their minds is imagery.
11a. Use show, don't tell.
12a. When you have finished writing, the next step is editing.
13a. The end of the story is called the resolution.
14a. Fantasy, horror and romance are three different genres.
15a. Don't split an infinitive.
16a. Wordiness is called verbiage.
17a. A person who writes an article for someone else and receives no byline is called a ghost writer.
18a. A writer's pseudonym is his pen name.
19a. A writer sends a query letter to see if the editor wants to buy his work.
20a. When a writer submits the same story to more than one place at the same time, it is called a multiple submission.
If you got all 20 questions right, yer a genius!
If you got 18-19 questions correct, yer a brainy dude!
If your score was 15-17, you dun good!
If'n you got 13-14 correct, there is hope for you!
Hmm… if you got less than 12 right, you better take the test again.
See below for more free writer's tips!
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Creative Writers – Submit Holiday Articles and Line Your Pockets W/Cash
Creative writers usually get into the spirit to write holiday articles when the holiday is upon them. Unfortunately, that is about four months too late to get it published. Your timing is right, but your organizational system is wrong.
Go ahead and write for the holidays as the spirit moves you, but keep those articles filed away under the name of the holiday and submit them to simultaneous magazines about five months before next year's holiday approaches.
And speaking of holidays, don't just write for some of the main holidays. Write for all of them. Here is a list for the 2009 calendar:
2009 Calendar
1. New Year's Day, January 1
2. Martin Luther King Day – January 19
3. Inauguration Day – January 20, every fourth year
4. Groundhog Day – February 2
5. Abraham Lincoln's Birthday – February 12
6. Valentine's Day – February 14
7. President's Day – February 16
8. George Washington's Birthday – February 22
9. Mardi Gras – February 24
10. Ask Wednesday – February 25
11. Daylight Savings Time starts – March 8
12. St. Patrick's Day – March 17
13. First Day of Spring – March 20
14. April Fool's Day – April 1
15. Good Friday – April 10
16. Easter Sunday – April 12
17. Earth Day – April 22
18. Arbor Day – April 24
19. Cinco De Mayo – May 5
20. Mother's Day – May 10
21. Armed Forces Day – May 16
22. Memorial Day – May 25
23. Flag Day – June 14
24. Father's Day – June 21
25. Summer begins – June 21
26. Independence Day – July 4
27. Parents' Day – July 26
28. Labor Day – September 7
29. Grandparents' Day – September 13
30. First day of Autumn – September 22
31. Columbus Day – October 12
32. United Nations Day – October 24
33. Halloween – October 31
34. Daylight Savings Time Ends – November 1
35. Veteran's Day – November 11
36. Thanksgiving – November 26
37. Black Friday – November 27
38. Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
39. First day of winter – December 21
40. Christmas Eve – December 24
41. Christmas Day – December 25
42. New Year's Eve – December 31
There are many other secondary holidays, too. Do a little research, perhaps cut out a few clippings for some added flavor, and sit down to put it all together. Writing for the holidays is a little like planting tulips. You do the work now and you see the results later.
And don't forget that there are over 300,000 newspapers in the United States alone. You can find a complete list of them by searching "list of newspapers in the United States". You will find them sorted by state and also by circulation. As soon as a magazine buys your articles, sell the same ones again to newspapers. Yes, they will only pay $15 to $20 each, but if you sell one article to 20 newspapers, that is $400. If you submit four holiday articles to various newspapers at the same time, you could make nearly two thousand dollars for the price of a few stamps.
Other holidays include Martin Luther King, Jr., Patient Recognition Day, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Boy Scout Day, Random Acts of Kindness Day, National Pig Day, Texas Independence Day (Texas), Peace Corps Day, and many others. To find all the dates, consult the Earth Calendar.
Submit your material four months before the holiday, and address your letter to the editor. On the front, left hand, bottom corner of the envelope, write "holiday news articles".
It isn't hard to turn your holiday spirits into some ready-made cash, if you put a little thought into it. Start now by purchasing a portable file and labeling the tabs with holidays instead of alphabetical letters.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Go ahead and write for the holidays as the spirit moves you, but keep those articles filed away under the name of the holiday and submit them to simultaneous magazines about five months before next year's holiday approaches.
And speaking of holidays, don't just write for some of the main holidays. Write for all of them. Here is a list for the 2009 calendar:
2009 Calendar
1. New Year's Day, January 1
2. Martin Luther King Day – January 19
3. Inauguration Day – January 20, every fourth year
4. Groundhog Day – February 2
5. Abraham Lincoln's Birthday – February 12
6. Valentine's Day – February 14
7. President's Day – February 16
8. George Washington's Birthday – February 22
9. Mardi Gras – February 24
10. Ask Wednesday – February 25
11. Daylight Savings Time starts – March 8
12. St. Patrick's Day – March 17
13. First Day of Spring – March 20
14. April Fool's Day – April 1
15. Good Friday – April 10
16. Easter Sunday – April 12
17. Earth Day – April 22
18. Arbor Day – April 24
19. Cinco De Mayo – May 5
20. Mother's Day – May 10
21. Armed Forces Day – May 16
22. Memorial Day – May 25
23. Flag Day – June 14
24. Father's Day – June 21
25. Summer begins – June 21
26. Independence Day – July 4
27. Parents' Day – July 26
28. Labor Day – September 7
29. Grandparents' Day – September 13
30. First day of Autumn – September 22
31. Columbus Day – October 12
32. United Nations Day – October 24
33. Halloween – October 31
34. Daylight Savings Time Ends – November 1
35. Veteran's Day – November 11
36. Thanksgiving – November 26
37. Black Friday – November 27
38. Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
39. First day of winter – December 21
40. Christmas Eve – December 24
41. Christmas Day – December 25
42. New Year's Eve – December 31
There are many other secondary holidays, too. Do a little research, perhaps cut out a few clippings for some added flavor, and sit down to put it all together. Writing for the holidays is a little like planting tulips. You do the work now and you see the results later.
And don't forget that there are over 300,000 newspapers in the United States alone. You can find a complete list of them by searching "list of newspapers in the United States". You will find them sorted by state and also by circulation. As soon as a magazine buys your articles, sell the same ones again to newspapers. Yes, they will only pay $15 to $20 each, but if you sell one article to 20 newspapers, that is $400. If you submit four holiday articles to various newspapers at the same time, you could make nearly two thousand dollars for the price of a few stamps.
Other holidays include Martin Luther King, Jr., Patient Recognition Day, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Boy Scout Day, Random Acts of Kindness Day, National Pig Day, Texas Independence Day (Texas), Peace Corps Day, and many others. To find all the dates, consult the Earth Calendar.
Submit your material four months before the holiday, and address your letter to the editor. On the front, left hand, bottom corner of the envelope, write "holiday news articles".
It isn't hard to turn your holiday spirits into some ready-made cash, if you put a little thought into it. Start now by purchasing a portable file and labeling the tabs with holidays instead of alphabetical letters.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Creative Writers – Would You Like to Write For Children?
Creative writing for the little people is not the same as writing for adults. In fact, it may even be more difficult, as the first qualification of writing for children is being able to think like a child. While that may not be a problem for the life of the party who likes to play with flatulence pillows, it is a challenge for most people.
The best research you can do is to play with children and listen to them talk. You will be amazed at their patterns of logic. Once upon a time my daughter asked me whether a zebra had black stripes on white, or white stripes on black. Another time she asked whether there might be a dark blue piece of material across the night sky and it was blocking the sunlight. She asked if the material might have little holes in it, and if we might be seeing the sunlight through those little holes, but that we called the little holes "stars". What an exciting way to see nightfall – but to adults, it is just a midnight sky with stars.
If you want the proper perspective of a child, pretend that you can think clearly but that you have limited expressive skills; then stoop down and twist your neck to look up at a six-foot tall person standing over you.
When you write for children, be ready to paint the unbelievable… such as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny delivering goodies to the world in one night. Fantasy fits into their make believe world perfectly. Think of personification with tables, chairs, marching knives and forks, etc. Look at everything with wonder, and see it as an opportunity for investigation, because this is how children see life.
When you set the scene, set it as though you are looking through a child's eyes. For example, if a little boy walks into a newly decorated living room with a tray of cookies in it, what would he notice first? The new sofa, chair, carpet and drapes? Or the cookies? It would be the cookies, of course. He would be able to tell you every kind of cookie on the try, but it would be unlikely that he would notice the change in furniture until the cookies were gone.
One of the best ways to get into the proper mood is to revisit your own childhood and think in the terms you used then. Remember the things that seemed so important to you at the time? Did you do magic tricks? Did you try ventriloquism? Did you make mud pies and feed them to your dolls? Did you have tea parties? Catch lightening bugs and put them in a jar? Lie in bed and listen to the cricket outside your window?
When you are able to harness your childhood memories and add that mood to listening and watching children of the 21st century, you will do just fine in writing a story for children. For more writer's tips, see below.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tip
The best research you can do is to play with children and listen to them talk. You will be amazed at their patterns of logic. Once upon a time my daughter asked me whether a zebra had black stripes on white, or white stripes on black. Another time she asked whether there might be a dark blue piece of material across the night sky and it was blocking the sunlight. She asked if the material might have little holes in it, and if we might be seeing the sunlight through those little holes, but that we called the little holes "stars". What an exciting way to see nightfall – but to adults, it is just a midnight sky with stars.
If you want the proper perspective of a child, pretend that you can think clearly but that you have limited expressive skills; then stoop down and twist your neck to look up at a six-foot tall person standing over you.
When you write for children, be ready to paint the unbelievable… such as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny delivering goodies to the world in one night. Fantasy fits into their make believe world perfectly. Think of personification with tables, chairs, marching knives and forks, etc. Look at everything with wonder, and see it as an opportunity for investigation, because this is how children see life.
When you set the scene, set it as though you are looking through a child's eyes. For example, if a little boy walks into a newly decorated living room with a tray of cookies in it, what would he notice first? The new sofa, chair, carpet and drapes? Or the cookies? It would be the cookies, of course. He would be able to tell you every kind of cookie on the try, but it would be unlikely that he would notice the change in furniture until the cookies were gone.
One of the best ways to get into the proper mood is to revisit your own childhood and think in the terms you used then. Remember the things that seemed so important to you at the time? Did you do magic tricks? Did you try ventriloquism? Did you make mud pies and feed them to your dolls? Did you have tea parties? Catch lightening bugs and put them in a jar? Lie in bed and listen to the cricket outside your window?
When you are able to harness your childhood memories and add that mood to listening and watching children of the 21st century, you will do just fine in writing a story for children. For more writer's tips, see below.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tip
Creative Writers Use 8 Editing Steps to Perfection
Creative writers – don't wait to edit your work until you know every word by heart – learn to edit the easy way. Do you know what to look for in editing? Have you wondered what should stay and what should go? By the time you read this article, you will know the answers to these questions.
·One of the first things to look for is prepositional phrases. You can identify prepositions easily. They are: in, on, at, to, for, under, before. Prepositional phrases usually tell when or where, such as: "I will meet you in the after life," or "He told his daughter to go into the house." You should never have more than three prepositional phrases to a sentence, and preferably only two.
· Watch for wordiness, also known as verbiage. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines verbiage as "profusion of words, usually of little or obscure content". In other words, excess words that say nothing. Cut your sentences until they bleed. Chop your descriptions down to that which relates directly to the scene, and leave nothing but the most necessary meat.
·You would think it would be unnecessary to mention using the spellchecker, but you would be surprised how many writers fail to use this most valuable tool. However, don't totally rely on it. If you use the word "right" instead of "write", or "blew" instead of "blue", it will not catch the error. To be safe, scan for errors after you use the spellchecker.
· Look for inappropriate punctuation. Be sure your quotations are closed. Use hyphens and colons properly. Don't use a semi-colon when a comma will do. Be sure to use commas properly, ie., to separate two clauses in a compound sentence, between city and state, etc.
· Check that your order of events is stated properly. Unless you are doing a flashback, you will only confuse the reader if you switch back and forth within a given time frame.
· Watch for tense changes. If you begin in past tense, the entire story must be written in past tense, with one possible exception. The only time you can properly change tenses is in dialog, and that is because people normally speak in present, past and future tenses.
· One of the most important parts of editing is dousing all forms of the verb "to be", which would be "is", "am", "are", "was", "were", "be", "being" and "been". These are "dead" verbs that say nothing. According to Wikipedia, allowed forms are: become, has, have, had, I've, you've, do, does, doing, did, can, could, will, would, shall, should, ought, may, might and must. The fact that they are allowed, however, does not make them desirable. Get rid of as many of these as possible. They weaken your work.
· Check every verb in every sentence and see if you can replace is with a jazzy verb. This is the finishing touch that will make your work glow.
So when you edit, watch for these eight things. The end result will be crisp, easy-to-understand writing that is stuffed with meat. What reader can resist that?
See below for more writer's tips!
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tip
·One of the first things to look for is prepositional phrases. You can identify prepositions easily. They are: in, on, at, to, for, under, before. Prepositional phrases usually tell when or where, such as: "I will meet you in the after life," or "He told his daughter to go into the house." You should never have more than three prepositional phrases to a sentence, and preferably only two.
· Watch for wordiness, also known as verbiage. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines verbiage as "profusion of words, usually of little or obscure content". In other words, excess words that say nothing. Cut your sentences until they bleed. Chop your descriptions down to that which relates directly to the scene, and leave nothing but the most necessary meat.
·You would think it would be unnecessary to mention using the spellchecker, but you would be surprised how many writers fail to use this most valuable tool. However, don't totally rely on it. If you use the word "right" instead of "write", or "blew" instead of "blue", it will not catch the error. To be safe, scan for errors after you use the spellchecker.
· Look for inappropriate punctuation. Be sure your quotations are closed. Use hyphens and colons properly. Don't use a semi-colon when a comma will do. Be sure to use commas properly, ie., to separate two clauses in a compound sentence, between city and state, etc.
· Check that your order of events is stated properly. Unless you are doing a flashback, you will only confuse the reader if you switch back and forth within a given time frame.
· Watch for tense changes. If you begin in past tense, the entire story must be written in past tense, with one possible exception. The only time you can properly change tenses is in dialog, and that is because people normally speak in present, past and future tenses.
· One of the most important parts of editing is dousing all forms of the verb "to be", which would be "is", "am", "are", "was", "were", "be", "being" and "been". These are "dead" verbs that say nothing. According to Wikipedia, allowed forms are: become, has, have, had, I've, you've, do, does, doing, did, can, could, will, would, shall, should, ought, may, might and must. The fact that they are allowed, however, does not make them desirable. Get rid of as many of these as possible. They weaken your work.
· Check every verb in every sentence and see if you can replace is with a jazzy verb. This is the finishing touch that will make your work glow.
So when you edit, watch for these eight things. The end result will be crisp, easy-to-understand writing that is stuffed with meat. What reader can resist that?
See below for more writer's tips!
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tip
APA Formatting : How to Create a Reference List in APA Style
In your APA Style thesis or dissertation, the reference list provides an alphabetical listing of all the sources you used to create your paper. When creating an APA Style reference list, which some people call a bibliography, you have to follow specific APA formatting rules, depending on the type of source involved.
First, let's discuss some basic rules about the reference list.
AUTHORS. List the author's last name, followed by the initials. If you have more than one author for a source, list each one individually, until you've listed the sixth author, then use "et al." for any subsequent authors. When listing more than one author, use an ampersand (&) instead of the word "and" ahead of the final author in the list.
INDENTION. After the first line of each source, indent each subsequent line about one-half inch, creating a hanging indention for each source.
ORDERING. Alphabetize the entire list by the authors' last names. If you have more than one source from an author, list the earliest source first.
PUNCTUATION. Capitalize all major words in the titles of the works that you're citing for journals, but not books. With longer pieces of works, such as books and journals, italicize the titles. Do not italicize shorter pieces of work, such as essays.
I. Reference List Examples
Next, here are some examples for listing various sources in APA Style.
BOOKS. Include the year of publication, the book title, the publisher's location and name, along with the author's name(s).
*Johnson, T. J., & Smith, X. Q. (2003). Economic growth in Africa. New York: Jones Brothers Publishers.
ELECTRONIC SOURCES. List the author's name, if known; date of publication, if known; title of the online article or Web page; volume or issue number, if known; date of retrieval; and Internet address. The first example is from an online periodical.
* Johnson, T. J., & Smith, X. Q. (2004). Determining technology's role in economic growth. Retrieved August 20, 2007, from (website address)
If you're simply referencing a standard Web page, use this format.
* Tracking the Economy Web site. (2006). Report on technology's growth. Retrieved May 16, 2007, from (website address)
For sourcing an online lecture or presentation, follow this example.
* Johnson, T. J. (2006). Technology's role in the economy [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from (website address)
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT. Because such a document usually doesn't include an author, list the governmental division in the alphabetical list.
* Department of the Treasury. (2005). Economic growth forecast, 2006-2010 (Publication number 2005-10-0032). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
PERIODICALS. When using a magazine or newspaper as a source, list the author, date of publication, article title, name of the periodical, and page numbers used.
* Johnson, J. T. (2006, November 29). Governments invest in technology. New York Times, p. B1.
A journal requires slightly different formatting. Be sure to include the issue number in italics ahead of the page number(s).
* Johnson, J. T. (2005). Technology controls local economies. Journal of Economic Growth, 7, 423-427.
VIDEO. If citing a movie as a source, list the producer, director, date of publication, title, country of origin, and studio.
* David, L., Bender, L., & Burns, S. Z. (Producers), Guggenheim, D. (Director). (2005). An inconvenient truth [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Classics.
II. Citing a television show follows a similar format.
* Jones, G. (Producer). (2000, Sept. 6). The nightly news [Television broadcast]. New York: Public Broadcasting System.
III. Odd Situations
SAME AUTHOR, SAME YEAR. If you end up with several sources from the same author, some of which were published in the same year, use an "a" and "b" designation to differentiate between the two sources in your alphabetical listing.
* Johnson, J. T. (2006a). Technology in economy. Economist Magazine, 113, 17-18.
* Johnson, J. T. (2006b). Economic conditions worldwide. Economist Magazine, 115, 23.
SECONDARY SOURCE. If you've used a secondary source in your paper that references another work, you should refer to the original work and use a citation for the secondary source in the main text. In the reference list, however, only list the secondary source.
IV. Finally, for additional information on formatting sources in a reference list, look at the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association or visit the APA Web site, where you'll find some online resources designed specifically for formatting online sources.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style, apa formatting, apa software
First, let's discuss some basic rules about the reference list.
AUTHORS. List the author's last name, followed by the initials. If you have more than one author for a source, list each one individually, until you've listed the sixth author, then use "et al." for any subsequent authors. When listing more than one author, use an ampersand (&) instead of the word "and" ahead of the final author in the list.
INDENTION. After the first line of each source, indent each subsequent line about one-half inch, creating a hanging indention for each source.
ORDERING. Alphabetize the entire list by the authors' last names. If you have more than one source from an author, list the earliest source first.
PUNCTUATION. Capitalize all major words in the titles of the works that you're citing for journals, but not books. With longer pieces of works, such as books and journals, italicize the titles. Do not italicize shorter pieces of work, such as essays.
I. Reference List Examples
Next, here are some examples for listing various sources in APA Style.
BOOKS. Include the year of publication, the book title, the publisher's location and name, along with the author's name(s).
*Johnson, T. J., & Smith, X. Q. (2003). Economic growth in Africa. New York: Jones Brothers Publishers.
ELECTRONIC SOURCES. List the author's name, if known; date of publication, if known; title of the online article or Web page; volume or issue number, if known; date of retrieval; and Internet address. The first example is from an online periodical.
* Johnson, T. J., & Smith, X. Q. (2004). Determining technology's role in economic growth. Retrieved August 20, 2007, from (website address)
If you're simply referencing a standard Web page, use this format.
* Tracking the Economy Web site. (2006). Report on technology's growth. Retrieved May 16, 2007, from (website address)
For sourcing an online lecture or presentation, follow this example.
* Johnson, T. J. (2006). Technology's role in the economy [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from (website address)
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT. Because such a document usually doesn't include an author, list the governmental division in the alphabetical list.
* Department of the Treasury. (2005). Economic growth forecast, 2006-2010 (Publication number 2005-10-0032). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
PERIODICALS. When using a magazine or newspaper as a source, list the author, date of publication, article title, name of the periodical, and page numbers used.
* Johnson, J. T. (2006, November 29). Governments invest in technology. New York Times, p. B1.
A journal requires slightly different formatting. Be sure to include the issue number in italics ahead of the page number(s).
* Johnson, J. T. (2005). Technology controls local economies. Journal of Economic Growth, 7, 423-427.
VIDEO. If citing a movie as a source, list the producer, director, date of publication, title, country of origin, and studio.
* David, L., Bender, L., & Burns, S. Z. (Producers), Guggenheim, D. (Director). (2005). An inconvenient truth [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Classics.
II. Citing a television show follows a similar format.
* Jones, G. (Producer). (2000, Sept. 6). The nightly news [Television broadcast]. New York: Public Broadcasting System.
III. Odd Situations
SAME AUTHOR, SAME YEAR. If you end up with several sources from the same author, some of which were published in the same year, use an "a" and "b" designation to differentiate between the two sources in your alphabetical listing.
* Johnson, J. T. (2006a). Technology in economy. Economist Magazine, 113, 17-18.
* Johnson, J. T. (2006b). Economic conditions worldwide. Economist Magazine, 115, 23.
SECONDARY SOURCE. If you've used a secondary source in your paper that references another work, you should refer to the original work and use a citation for the secondary source in the main text. In the reference list, however, only list the secondary source.
IV. Finally, for additional information on formatting sources in a reference list, look at the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association or visit the APA Web site, where you'll find some online resources designed specifically for formatting online sources.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php
Keyword tags: apa style, apa formatting, apa software
Sunday, January 4, 2009
APA Citations : How to Cite Sources Inside APA Style Text
When writing an APA Style paper, it's required that you properly cite any sources you've used. Citing sources is important for a few reasons. First, it allows instructors to check the accuracy of your research. Second, it gives your readers the opportunity to find additional related information. Most importantly, citing sources gives credit for the research and theories that you're citing to the people who've created them.
Citing sources in APA Style requires two processes. One citation is required at the position in the main text where the cited material appears, called an in-text citation. The other citation occurs at the end of the paper, in a list of all cited works, called a reference list.
In this article, we'll focus on materials you'll need to cite within the main text of the APA style paper.
I. CITING A PRINTED WORK IN APA STYLE
Often times, the type of APA formatting used for an in-text citation of printed material will depend on the structure of the sentence, as shown in these examples.
Citation example A:
Include the names of the author within the sentence, followed by the year of publication inside parentheses.
The study created by Johnson, Smith, & Jones (2003) indicates that technological advancements spur economic growth.
Citation example B:
You can place the names of the authors inside the parentheses with the year of publication, depending on your sentence structure.
Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (Johnson, Smith, & Jones, 2003).
II. SUBSEQUENT LISTINGS
Once you have listed a printed source and its author(s) in your paper, you sometimes can abbreviate with subsequent in-text citations of the same work. As shown in these examples, the number of authors determines whether an abbreviation is appropriate.
One or two authors:
On subsequent references, list it as you did the first time, with one or both authors' names and the year of publication.
Additionally, the Johnson & Jones (2003) study indicates ...
Three or more authors:
On subsequent references, you only need to list the first author, followed by "et al." before the year of publication.
Additionally, the Johnson et al. (2003) study indicates ...
III. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
With published works, figuring out the authors' names and the year of publication is a fairly easy process. With some sources, creating the proper in-text APA citation can be a little more difficult.
For example, a Web page might not readily include an author's name. If one isn't available, you can use an editor's name, simply listing it as you listed the author's name in the examples shown earlier.
If no author's name or editor's name is available, just list the name of the organization or institution that's associated with the Web site, as shown in the following example.
An economic organization's study has indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (Worldwide Economists Group, 2006).
You also can use the title of a Web page or publication with the in-text citation, if no author is listed. Remember, with an in-text citation, you're simply trying to ensure that those who read your paper can easily find the full listing of the source in the reference list at the end of the paper.
IV. Quotations
When quoting source material directly within your text, use the same in-text citation formatting we've already described, along with a little additional information.
Short quotations:
For any quotation less than 40 words in length, use quotation marks around the quotation, followed by the page number of the reference.
According to Johnson (2003), "Spending tax dollars on technological advancements spurs growth in the local economy" (p. 43).
Long quotations:
Follow the same APA format for in-text citations, including the page number(s), for a long quotation of more than 40 words. However, you'll want to create a special block of text for the long quotation by indenting about one-half inch from the left margin for all lines of the quotation. Return to the normal left margin after reaching the end of the quotation block. Do not use quotation marks with this long quotation block, and double space throughout the block.
V. MORE INFORMATION
Keep in mind that APA Style says that you should always use past tense or present perfect tense when describing research that requires an in-text citation.
Finally, if you have a particularly tricky source to cite within your text that isn't covered here, you can find the answer in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, which is the ultimate resource for APA Style.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php.
Keyword tags: apa style, apa formatting, apa software, apa paper format, apa citations, apa organization
Citing sources in APA Style requires two processes. One citation is required at the position in the main text where the cited material appears, called an in-text citation. The other citation occurs at the end of the paper, in a list of all cited works, called a reference list.
In this article, we'll focus on materials you'll need to cite within the main text of the APA style paper.
I. CITING A PRINTED WORK IN APA STYLE
Often times, the type of APA formatting used for an in-text citation of printed material will depend on the structure of the sentence, as shown in these examples.
Citation example A:
Include the names of the author within the sentence, followed by the year of publication inside parentheses.
The study created by Johnson, Smith, & Jones (2003) indicates that technological advancements spur economic growth.
Citation example B:
You can place the names of the authors inside the parentheses with the year of publication, depending on your sentence structure.
Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (Johnson, Smith, & Jones, 2003).
II. SUBSEQUENT LISTINGS
Once you have listed a printed source and its author(s) in your paper, you sometimes can abbreviate with subsequent in-text citations of the same work. As shown in these examples, the number of authors determines whether an abbreviation is appropriate.
One or two authors:
On subsequent references, list it as you did the first time, with one or both authors' names and the year of publication.
Additionally, the Johnson & Jones (2003) study indicates ...
Three or more authors:
On subsequent references, you only need to list the first author, followed by "et al." before the year of publication.
Additionally, the Johnson et al. (2003) study indicates ...
III. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
With published works, figuring out the authors' names and the year of publication is a fairly easy process. With some sources, creating the proper in-text APA citation can be a little more difficult.
For example, a Web page might not readily include an author's name. If one isn't available, you can use an editor's name, simply listing it as you listed the author's name in the examples shown earlier.
If no author's name or editor's name is available, just list the name of the organization or institution that's associated with the Web site, as shown in the following example.
An economic organization's study has indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (Worldwide Economists Group, 2006).
You also can use the title of a Web page or publication with the in-text citation, if no author is listed. Remember, with an in-text citation, you're simply trying to ensure that those who read your paper can easily find the full listing of the source in the reference list at the end of the paper.
IV. Quotations
When quoting source material directly within your text, use the same in-text citation formatting we've already described, along with a little additional information.
Short quotations:
For any quotation less than 40 words in length, use quotation marks around the quotation, followed by the page number of the reference.
According to Johnson (2003), "Spending tax dollars on technological advancements spurs growth in the local economy" (p. 43).
Long quotations:
Follow the same APA format for in-text citations, including the page number(s), for a long quotation of more than 40 words. However, you'll want to create a special block of text for the long quotation by indenting about one-half inch from the left margin for all lines of the quotation. Return to the normal left margin after reaching the end of the quotation block. Do not use quotation marks with this long quotation block, and double space throughout the block.
V. MORE INFORMATION
Keep in mind that APA Style says that you should always use past tense or present perfect tense when describing research that requires an in-text citation.
Finally, if you have a particularly tricky source to cite within your text that isn't covered here, you can find the answer in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, which is the ultimate resource for APA Style.
About the Author:
Brian Scott is a professional freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He recommends using an APA formatting software to correctly write and format papers in APA Style, available at http://www.masterfreelancer.com/apa-writing-style-software.php.
Keyword tags: apa style, apa formatting, apa software, apa paper format, apa citations, apa organization
Eleven Top Notch Tips to Write Content at Turbo Speed
Startling Facts:
* Unnecessary interruptions consume about 30 percent of an average knowledge worker's working day.
* It takes about 25 minutes to get back your attention to something you have been writing about or working on, if distracted.
* Whenever an interruption ends, we wander off in another direction approximately 40% of the time.
* The Attention Span of humans has fallen to an average of 5 minutes and 7 seconds, from a record of 12 minutes about 10 years ago.
* Every time you get interrupted or distracted, your mind is getting trained to reduce your attention span.
What does all this mean? If you still haven't figured out what these points mean, let me spell it out – "If you want to write at turbo speed, a focused, undivided, concentrated attention is the most important factor responsible than everything else, combined."
Multitasking in the kitchen is a useful skill, but in writing, it is a huge detriment. While we cannot eliminate all the interruptions and distractions we come across our working time, it does make sense in reducing them as much as we can. So if you're writing articles, a book, a report, or anything else, ensure that you're fully prepared and get the maximum return for the time you have invested. Below are few tips you can implement to speed up your writing capacity:
1. Begin with a very moderately full stomach and an empty bladder. You don't want to feel hungry or visit the loo. Heavy food intake will not only make you drowsy, your stomach will use more energy in digestion, leaving you with insufficient energy for work. Keep a water bottle at hand to maintain optimum hydration.
2. If writing means "typing on a computer screen" as in most cases today, ensure that lighting is even and sufficient in your room, without direct reflection to your eyes.
3. Your sitting arrangement should be as comfortable as possible, with the table at the right height. Ensure sufficient space to stretch without requiring to get up. Use chairs with proper arm support.
4. Switch off your mobile or give it to someone else for answering. Try not to take any phone calls and arrange to inform them you will call back later.
5. Close your outlook express (or whatever email client you use) as well as your instant messenger clients.
6. If your room is not insulated by sound and you face disturbance, use ear plugs.
7. Write only when you're in the right frame of mind. Don't force yourself to write just because you have deadlines – be them created by yourself or by a boss. Instead, cultivate a habit of making small notes whenever you can. These can be on paper, digital storage (text file) or even simply recording as audio. Then when you're ready to write, just keep them at hand for ready reference. "Writer's block" is a common problem faced by writers who write for the sake of writing, write on subjects that they're not interested in, write in a frenzy only to reach targets, and write in the wrong frame of mind. Once you suffer from writer's block, it could take you a few days and sometimes even a few months to recover from it.
8. Depending on your capacity, writing takes time. Sometimes you can write very fast and sometimes very slow, depending on the need to take thinking breaks and the topic of interest. Don't let this affect you. Quality will also be important and not just quantity, so bear that in mind.
9. Let your family, friends and well wishers read what you write, regularly. Ask them for honest opinions and suggestions for improvements. Appreciation and praise is very encouraging to writers. Don't be intimidated by negative views, instead, get a professional to verify the quality of the content in question if you have any doubts.
10. Find out what is your best time for writing in terms of quality and quantity through experience and testing, and then stick to that time. Some like to write very early in the morning when they are rested while some prefer to burn the midnight oil when it is quietest. Devote at least 2 to 4 hours at a stretch, depending on how much you're comfortable with. It's important to maintain the flow of thoughts with the writing.
11. If you need to refer other information resources like CDs, books and the internet, ensure that all your research material is kept handy.
If you find these tips useful and would like to learn more about writing, hop over to http://www.bharatbhasha.com/writing.php where we have hundreds of free articles dedicated to writing.
About the Author:
Nirjara Rustom moderates the Writing Tips Section of http://www.bharatbhasha.com at http://www.bharatbhasha.com/writing.php - a free resource for information on writing.
Keyword tags: writing,writing tips
* Unnecessary interruptions consume about 30 percent of an average knowledge worker's working day.
* It takes about 25 minutes to get back your attention to something you have been writing about or working on, if distracted.
* Whenever an interruption ends, we wander off in another direction approximately 40% of the time.
* The Attention Span of humans has fallen to an average of 5 minutes and 7 seconds, from a record of 12 minutes about 10 years ago.
* Every time you get interrupted or distracted, your mind is getting trained to reduce your attention span.
What does all this mean? If you still haven't figured out what these points mean, let me spell it out – "If you want to write at turbo speed, a focused, undivided, concentrated attention is the most important factor responsible than everything else, combined."
Multitasking in the kitchen is a useful skill, but in writing, it is a huge detriment. While we cannot eliminate all the interruptions and distractions we come across our working time, it does make sense in reducing them as much as we can. So if you're writing articles, a book, a report, or anything else, ensure that you're fully prepared and get the maximum return for the time you have invested. Below are few tips you can implement to speed up your writing capacity:
1. Begin with a very moderately full stomach and an empty bladder. You don't want to feel hungry or visit the loo. Heavy food intake will not only make you drowsy, your stomach will use more energy in digestion, leaving you with insufficient energy for work. Keep a water bottle at hand to maintain optimum hydration.
2. If writing means "typing on a computer screen" as in most cases today, ensure that lighting is even and sufficient in your room, without direct reflection to your eyes.
3. Your sitting arrangement should be as comfortable as possible, with the table at the right height. Ensure sufficient space to stretch without requiring to get up. Use chairs with proper arm support.
4. Switch off your mobile or give it to someone else for answering. Try not to take any phone calls and arrange to inform them you will call back later.
5. Close your outlook express (or whatever email client you use) as well as your instant messenger clients.
6. If your room is not insulated by sound and you face disturbance, use ear plugs.
7. Write only when you're in the right frame of mind. Don't force yourself to write just because you have deadlines – be them created by yourself or by a boss. Instead, cultivate a habit of making small notes whenever you can. These can be on paper, digital storage (text file) or even simply recording as audio. Then when you're ready to write, just keep them at hand for ready reference. "Writer's block" is a common problem faced by writers who write for the sake of writing, write on subjects that they're not interested in, write in a frenzy only to reach targets, and write in the wrong frame of mind. Once you suffer from writer's block, it could take you a few days and sometimes even a few months to recover from it.
8. Depending on your capacity, writing takes time. Sometimes you can write very fast and sometimes very slow, depending on the need to take thinking breaks and the topic of interest. Don't let this affect you. Quality will also be important and not just quantity, so bear that in mind.
9. Let your family, friends and well wishers read what you write, regularly. Ask them for honest opinions and suggestions for improvements. Appreciation and praise is very encouraging to writers. Don't be intimidated by negative views, instead, get a professional to verify the quality of the content in question if you have any doubts.
10. Find out what is your best time for writing in terms of quality and quantity through experience and testing, and then stick to that time. Some like to write very early in the morning when they are rested while some prefer to burn the midnight oil when it is quietest. Devote at least 2 to 4 hours at a stretch, depending on how much you're comfortable with. It's important to maintain the flow of thoughts with the writing.
11. If you need to refer other information resources like CDs, books and the internet, ensure that all your research material is kept handy.
If you find these tips useful and would like to learn more about writing, hop over to http://www.bharatbhasha.com/writing.php where we have hundreds of free articles dedicated to writing.
About the Author:
Nirjara Rustom moderates the Writing Tips Section of http://www.bharatbhasha.com at http://www.bharatbhasha.com/writing.php - a free resource for information on writing.
Keyword tags: writing,writing tips
How to Improve Your Article Proofreading Skills in 3 Simple Steps
You've worked your way through an article, an essay, a book... with the written word, but what comes next is perhaps even more hard work in terms of making your piece more readable. To achieve this, you'll want to ensure that it flows well, and that it is grammatically correct and free of typographical errors; has good diction; and succinctly delivers the message you want delivered. You'll need to proofread your work! This article will offer tips on how to improve your proofreading in 3 simple steps.
Whenever I write, it is the proofing that takes up the bigger chunk of my time. Indeed, it takes me more man hours to proofread than it does to write. But I enjoy it, so it is a joy to do ... for me. But I am well aware that it isn't everybody's cup of tea. So unless you're going to hire someone to proof your work -- which can be costly, the next best thing is to learn how to do it yourself -- but, more meticulously and with less stress and frustration on your part.
Writing is fun. I've always enjoyed writing and that's why I took it up as a profession. But what defines a good writer and sets you apart from the rest of the pack is a well written article devoid of the typos, inappropriately thrown-together words, and clumsy sentences that neither sit nor flow well with the piece. They're easy to spot during the proofing phase of assembling your article. This is where you get to clean up your work so that it is well refined and enjoyable to read.
You should begin by putting all of your ideas down on paper, or as the case may be, on your computer. You need the idea behind the piece you're working on to be laid out on an assembly line so that you have the entire story you want to tell right in front of you. This will enable you to objectively evaluate your article's content. As you write, don't stop to think. If you can help it. Get everything you want to say written down. That should be your first objective. Once you've completed your article, it is time to dissect it piece by piece to see how it reads, and most importantly, how it delivers your message.
As you read through it the first time, you'll want to correct typos, missing words, sentences and phrases that don't cut the mustard, so to speak, and so forth. And don't be afraid to add new material to your content during this process. Ideas will spring to mind ... stick them in before you forget, and keep going as you continually review your work. I use the word 'continually' here because to be thorough with your proofreading you will have to reread your article many times. Don't make the mistake of limiting yourself to a limited number of rereads. I've reread my work over a hundred times -- in some instances -- just to get it right. It get's easier with time, and you get more proficient with time. Focus on getting it right. That should be your primary goal.
The final phase in your proofreading should aim to improve the quality of your article. This is where you prune out words and phrases that sound a bit repetitive (or could be phrased differently to sound better); and where you pay due diligence to refining your punctuation... as nothing brings the written word to life more expressively than good punctuation. What I like about the English language is that there are so many different ways of saying the same thing. It is a very colorful language, so the more you express yourself using well thought through prose, the more your readership will be entertained and impressed with your work.
About the Author:
Anthony J. Namata is an approved volunteer proofreader at http://www.PuffRead.com - a community of readers and writers working together to make this world more readable. He is also a freelance Creative Writer and successful entrepreneur who publishes http://www.diaryofaninternetmarketer.com
Keyword tags: writing articles,proofreading,articles,essays,literature,punctuation,sentences,proofread,proofreader
Whenever I write, it is the proofing that takes up the bigger chunk of my time. Indeed, it takes me more man hours to proofread than it does to write. But I enjoy it, so it is a joy to do ... for me. But I am well aware that it isn't everybody's cup of tea. So unless you're going to hire someone to proof your work -- which can be costly, the next best thing is to learn how to do it yourself -- but, more meticulously and with less stress and frustration on your part.
Writing is fun. I've always enjoyed writing and that's why I took it up as a profession. But what defines a good writer and sets you apart from the rest of the pack is a well written article devoid of the typos, inappropriately thrown-together words, and clumsy sentences that neither sit nor flow well with the piece. They're easy to spot during the proofing phase of assembling your article. This is where you get to clean up your work so that it is well refined and enjoyable to read.
You should begin by putting all of your ideas down on paper, or as the case may be, on your computer. You need the idea behind the piece you're working on to be laid out on an assembly line so that you have the entire story you want to tell right in front of you. This will enable you to objectively evaluate your article's content. As you write, don't stop to think. If you can help it. Get everything you want to say written down. That should be your first objective. Once you've completed your article, it is time to dissect it piece by piece to see how it reads, and most importantly, how it delivers your message.
As you read through it the first time, you'll want to correct typos, missing words, sentences and phrases that don't cut the mustard, so to speak, and so forth. And don't be afraid to add new material to your content during this process. Ideas will spring to mind ... stick them in before you forget, and keep going as you continually review your work. I use the word 'continually' here because to be thorough with your proofreading you will have to reread your article many times. Don't make the mistake of limiting yourself to a limited number of rereads. I've reread my work over a hundred times -- in some instances -- just to get it right. It get's easier with time, and you get more proficient with time. Focus on getting it right. That should be your primary goal.
The final phase in your proofreading should aim to improve the quality of your article. This is where you prune out words and phrases that sound a bit repetitive (or could be phrased differently to sound better); and where you pay due diligence to refining your punctuation... as nothing brings the written word to life more expressively than good punctuation. What I like about the English language is that there are so many different ways of saying the same thing. It is a very colorful language, so the more you express yourself using well thought through prose, the more your readership will be entertained and impressed with your work.
About the Author:
Anthony J. Namata is an approved volunteer proofreader at http://www.PuffRead.com - a community of readers and writers working together to make this world more readable. He is also a freelance Creative Writer and successful entrepreneur who publishes http://www.diaryofaninternetmarketer.com
Keyword tags: writing articles,proofreading,articles,essays,literature,punctuation,sentences,proofread,proofreader
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Creative Writers - At What Point Do You Call Yourself a Writer?
According to the dictionary, a writer is one who writes. Yet most writers don't consider themselves "real" writers unless they have been published. Is it because the literary world is responsible for dubbing a person a "writer"? Or is it because writers lay that definition on themselves? I think it is the latter.
I remember the first time I ever heard "a writer is one who writes". To test the theory, I started calling myself a writer. Of course, the first question people asked was, "Where have you been published?" or "How many books have you written?" My own mother said, "Until you've had something published, don't call yourself a writer." You will probably run into the same thing, but let me give you a clue:
Friends and family will never look upon you as a writer, no matter what you do.
If you were to ask them how many shoes a cobbler would have to make to be a shoe cobbler, they would answer "one". Or if you asked how many ships a company had to make to be known as a ship builder, they would say "one". So why is it that you can write a journal, memoirs, poetry, etc., and are not recognized as a writer in their eyes? Perhaps it is because you don't see yourself as a writer in your own eyes. Doesn't your writing hold value for you? If it does, you are indeed a writer.
Journaling is described as a written account of your daily life. Many writers develop their style and form while writing a journal. Any kind of writing will develop you in some way.
A memoir, on the other hand, is a written account of your life. You will find that most documentaries are founded on either journals or memoirs. Although yours may never make it to print (and most of us would not want it to), that doesn't make your writing any less important.
In my younger years, my mother was always scribbling out poetry. The verses were the kind that you could never find in a card shop – you know the kind – the ones that really say what is in your heart. She is 90 years old now and she still says she is not a writer, although one of her poems was just published on a greeting card. Isn't that just too sad? Sad that she cannot see her own potential and take pride in what she does.
So the next time someone asks what you do in life, don't answer, "I work at Walmart," or "I'm a technician." If you write and you love writing, say with pride, "I'm a writer." And when they ask what you write, don't be embarrassed to say, "I develop my style and form with journaling." (Style = the way you express yourself. Form = what you like to write about.)
Say it with pride and conviction, and you will notice a marked air of respect, and perhaps that will be because you respected yourself first.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
I remember the first time I ever heard "a writer is one who writes". To test the theory, I started calling myself a writer. Of course, the first question people asked was, "Where have you been published?" or "How many books have you written?" My own mother said, "Until you've had something published, don't call yourself a writer." You will probably run into the same thing, but let me give you a clue:
Friends and family will never look upon you as a writer, no matter what you do.
If you were to ask them how many shoes a cobbler would have to make to be a shoe cobbler, they would answer "one". Or if you asked how many ships a company had to make to be known as a ship builder, they would say "one". So why is it that you can write a journal, memoirs, poetry, etc., and are not recognized as a writer in their eyes? Perhaps it is because you don't see yourself as a writer in your own eyes. Doesn't your writing hold value for you? If it does, you are indeed a writer.
Journaling is described as a written account of your daily life. Many writers develop their style and form while writing a journal. Any kind of writing will develop you in some way.
A memoir, on the other hand, is a written account of your life. You will find that most documentaries are founded on either journals or memoirs. Although yours may never make it to print (and most of us would not want it to), that doesn't make your writing any less important.
In my younger years, my mother was always scribbling out poetry. The verses were the kind that you could never find in a card shop – you know the kind – the ones that really say what is in your heart. She is 90 years old now and she still says she is not a writer, although one of her poems was just published on a greeting card. Isn't that just too sad? Sad that she cannot see her own potential and take pride in what she does.
So the next time someone asks what you do in life, don't answer, "I work at Walmart," or "I'm a technician." If you write and you love writing, say with pride, "I'm a writer." And when they ask what you write, don't be embarrassed to say, "I develop my style and form with journaling." (Style = the way you express yourself. Form = what you like to write about.)
Say it with pride and conviction, and you will notice a marked air of respect, and perhaps that will be because you respected yourself first.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Creative Writers, Beware of Selling Your Rights
Most new writers are so eager to sell their work that they don't stop to consider what rights they are selling. "Rights" refers to how a publisher can use your work. "Rights" has nothing whatever to do with what you are paid or the copyright of your work.
· First North American Serial Rights, or FNASR, are the most common rights purchased. The purchasing magazine has the right to publish the author's work for X amount of dollars, while the author grants the magazine permission to publish his story (or article) one time in North America. If you are offering these rights to a magazine, you will want to place "Offering First North American Serial Rights" at the top of the document.
· One Time Serial Rights – If you are simultaneously offering your story or article to several publications, you will want to place "One Time Serial Rights" at the top of the page. This grants the first magazine that snaps up your work the right to publish your story or article one time.
· Second Serial Rights – If you have previously sold the story or article, you will be offering Second Serial Rights to the next magazine. They will be able to publish your work once.
· All Rights – Unless someone is hiring you to develop a work for them, such as developing a course for a school, shudder at the sight of these rights. It means you are signing away "all rights" to whoever bought your work. You may never sell the work again, publish it, copy it, download it, or transfer it. You have no rights whatsoever left.
· Work for Hire – This is another "right" that you should shiver at. Work for Hire can only exist in two ways: Either you have created a document as an independent contractor and you are selling the rights to it, or you are being paid as an employee and your work was created during your work time – which gives your boss all rights.
· Non-Exclusive Rights – This one is not desirable either. Although the "rights" refer back to you after one year and you can sell it again, the original buyer may continue to use the work and reproduce it in syndication without sharing the profits with you.
· Exclusive Rights – If you sign these rights, you have given away the farm. An example of this would be Associated Content and other like places that assume full rights when they buy your work. You will not be able to reproduce it or sell it again. It's gone. Ker-plunk! Down the toilet.
· One-time rights – You can sell one time rights simultaneously to as many people as you want. Columnists use this right to sell their articles to multiple markets.
As you can see, there is only the difference of a hair's breadth on some of these rights. Keep this article in your safe and don't sign anything without referring to it!
There are many more types of rights as well, but this covers the most prom
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: Which rights are best for you? What can you do if you sell your work under the wrong rights?
· First North American Serial Rights, or FNASR, are the most common rights purchased. The purchasing magazine has the right to publish the author's work for X amount of dollars, while the author grants the magazine permission to publish his story (or article) one time in North America. If you are offering these rights to a magazine, you will want to place "Offering First North American Serial Rights" at the top of the document.
· One Time Serial Rights – If you are simultaneously offering your story or article to several publications, you will want to place "One Time Serial Rights" at the top of the page. This grants the first magazine that snaps up your work the right to publish your story or article one time.
· Second Serial Rights – If you have previously sold the story or article, you will be offering Second Serial Rights to the next magazine. They will be able to publish your work once.
· All Rights – Unless someone is hiring you to develop a work for them, such as developing a course for a school, shudder at the sight of these rights. It means you are signing away "all rights" to whoever bought your work. You may never sell the work again, publish it, copy it, download it, or transfer it. You have no rights whatsoever left.
· Work for Hire – This is another "right" that you should shiver at. Work for Hire can only exist in two ways: Either you have created a document as an independent contractor and you are selling the rights to it, or you are being paid as an employee and your work was created during your work time – which gives your boss all rights.
· Non-Exclusive Rights – This one is not desirable either. Although the "rights" refer back to you after one year and you can sell it again, the original buyer may continue to use the work and reproduce it in syndication without sharing the profits with you.
· Exclusive Rights – If you sign these rights, you have given away the farm. An example of this would be Associated Content and other like places that assume full rights when they buy your work. You will not be able to reproduce it or sell it again. It's gone. Ker-plunk! Down the toilet.
· One-time rights – You can sell one time rights simultaneously to as many people as you want. Columnists use this right to sell their articles to multiple markets.
As you can see, there is only the difference of a hair's breadth on some of these rights. Keep this article in your safe and don't sign anything without referring to it!
There are many more types of rights as well, but this covers the most prom
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: Which rights are best for you? What can you do if you sell your work under the wrong rights?
Creative Writers Do the Twist
Wikipedia defines a twisted ending as an unexpected conclusion or climax to a work of fiction, which may contain a surprising irony, or cause the audience to review the story from a different perspective by revealing new information about the characters or plot. A twist ending is the conclusive form of plot twists. This literary device is also referred to as a surprise ending.
Alfred Hitchcock was the first master of twisted endings. In only half an hour, he could develop a plot and mislead the viewer into jumping to the wrong conclusion. It was something akin to the game of "Clue" where the viewer was left to draw his own conclusions, but the clues lead in the wrong direction. This type of twisted ending is called a "red herring".
In the movie Moby Dick, Captain Ahab spends his life searching for the white whale that bit his leg off. The twisted ending comes when Ahab becomes ensnared in ropes attached to the great white and the whale drags him through the sea, drowning him.
Let's suppose a man has murdered a woman and her husband is out to catch the killer. Let us further suppose that the husband finally catches the murderer, and just when hubby is about to kill him, the police arrive on the scene and take the man into custody. While the husband wishes with all his might to see the murderer die, we can make a twisted ending. Imagine that the murderer goes to trial and his plea is to be put to death. But instead of executing him, the judge feels he would suffer more by going to prison without chance of parole. The husband is happy that the killer is miserable instead of dead. The reader is satisfied.
The secret to a twisted ending is finding the point where you can veer off to an alternative resolution.
In the last illustration, the point to veer off was when the police arrived and took the killer into custody. From that point on, anything could have happened. The murderer could have tried to escape while in the courtroom and the police could have killed him; a prison inmate could have killed the murderer while he was serving his time; the murderer could have served X number of years and then was paroled, only to be hit by a car on the way to a hotel.
But the best ending of all is when you twist the ending, and then you twist it again. For example, the murderer could have served his prison time, been paroled, and been hit by a car, as we said. When the reader begins to think the murderer will die at the scene of the accident, we could change the ending so that the murderer will be paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life. As long as the reader feels satisfied in the end, you can do all sorts of things with the ending.
Now you try it! See below for more writing tips.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Alfred Hitchcock was the first master of twisted endings. In only half an hour, he could develop a plot and mislead the viewer into jumping to the wrong conclusion. It was something akin to the game of "Clue" where the viewer was left to draw his own conclusions, but the clues lead in the wrong direction. This type of twisted ending is called a "red herring".
In the movie Moby Dick, Captain Ahab spends his life searching for the white whale that bit his leg off. The twisted ending comes when Ahab becomes ensnared in ropes attached to the great white and the whale drags him through the sea, drowning him.
Let's suppose a man has murdered a woman and her husband is out to catch the killer. Let us further suppose that the husband finally catches the murderer, and just when hubby is about to kill him, the police arrive on the scene and take the man into custody. While the husband wishes with all his might to see the murderer die, we can make a twisted ending. Imagine that the murderer goes to trial and his plea is to be put to death. But instead of executing him, the judge feels he would suffer more by going to prison without chance of parole. The husband is happy that the killer is miserable instead of dead. The reader is satisfied.
The secret to a twisted ending is finding the point where you can veer off to an alternative resolution.
In the last illustration, the point to veer off was when the police arrived and took the killer into custody. From that point on, anything could have happened. The murderer could have tried to escape while in the courtroom and the police could have killed him; a prison inmate could have killed the murderer while he was serving his time; the murderer could have served X number of years and then was paroled, only to be hit by a car on the way to a hotel.
But the best ending of all is when you twist the ending, and then you twist it again. For example, the murderer could have served his prison time, been paroled, and been hit by a car, as we said. When the reader begins to think the murderer will die at the scene of the accident, we could change the ending so that the murderer will be paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life. As long as the reader feels satisfied in the end, you can do all sorts of things with the ending.
Now you try it! See below for more writing tips.
About the Author:
Private tutoring, $185 for 8 wks. at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com - the only fully mentored writing school on the net. Take your classes any time in the next year. Sale ends Jan. 1, 2009! Only 15 to a class. Reserve your space now!
Keyword tags: creative writers,creative writing course,writing sites,writing tutor,writing assistance,writing tips
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Six Effective Writing Tips for the Internet
Any one that is running an online business that needs good website content such as articles for e-books, e-zines, article directories, etc. will find themselves doing quite a bit of writing. This is true if they are writing from scratch or even if they are just rewriting someone else's written work and calling it their own. Those that are not that comfortable with their writing skills and feel lacking capability, need not be overly concerned. It is possible to improve one's writing skills measurably and be able to produce clean, clear, and effective copy. The trick is to understand what makes your audience tick and keep your reader in mind whenever you are composing something. Here are some good tips to keep in mind when you need to do some writing.
Make Sure Your Thoughts Are Organized
The creation of a well thought out outline first in your head, and then written, for the creation of your article or site will save time, energy, and allow you to do a much better job. Use that outline for the creation of every sentence, paragraph, and page. Create a flow of thought that enables you to start out writing in generalities and then lead your audience into more detailed and specific ideas and thoughts as you move on. Attack your subject in an organized way that leads the reader to your conclusion in a logical, easily perceived way so that it is very clear to the reader what the only logical conclusion to the article can be. Lead them to a logical conclusion.
Make It Easy To Read
It is a known fact that it is more difficult to read text off of a monitor than on the printed page. Don't go on and on with lines of text that seem like they have no end in sight. Try to separate your work into sections and paragraphs that concentrate on specific ideas. Use formatted text in columns. They are easier to read then lines going from one side of the monitor to the other. To highlight your important ideas and points, use headings that capture ones attention.
Don't Let Your Thoughts Wander
Use your opening paragraph to tell the reader the point you are trying to make. Don't be afraid to say what this is all about and how it will make them wiser by knowing this. You need to get your viewers attention from the get go in the opening paragraph and make them want to continue reading. Give them the motivation to keep on reading. Don't think that people have nothing better to do with their time than read your work. Make it worth their while to stick around and read the whole thing. There is plenty of competition out there for their time and attention. Do your best to get your share of it.
Have Your Readers In Mind When You Write
Think and write with your reader's perspective in mind. People are going to your website to find a solution to a problem and they don't have all day to find it. Give it to them as quickly as possible. Give them what they want, not what you want to tell them. Again, focus on them, not on you. Think in terms of what the person that will be reading your writing will be like, write for your targeted audience. Don't use any complex or technical words that your target audience will have difficulty reading or will not understand. You want to be an authority figure for these people, but not come across as pompous and arrogant by writing over their heads. People hate to read things that they do not understand or that are too complex.
About the Author:
Mark Barkow is a CPA affiliate promoter for enticements to people in exchange for just an email address or zip code. Get the complete setup for a very profitable FREE CPA campaign ready for you to copy in a step-by-step video tutorial, and start making money today. http://www.Make-Money-Easily.com
Keyword tags: Home based business,work at home,work online, make money from home,internet work,work over internet
Make Sure Your Thoughts Are Organized
The creation of a well thought out outline first in your head, and then written, for the creation of your article or site will save time, energy, and allow you to do a much better job. Use that outline for the creation of every sentence, paragraph, and page. Create a flow of thought that enables you to start out writing in generalities and then lead your audience into more detailed and specific ideas and thoughts as you move on. Attack your subject in an organized way that leads the reader to your conclusion in a logical, easily perceived way so that it is very clear to the reader what the only logical conclusion to the article can be. Lead them to a logical conclusion.
Make It Easy To Read
It is a known fact that it is more difficult to read text off of a monitor than on the printed page. Don't go on and on with lines of text that seem like they have no end in sight. Try to separate your work into sections and paragraphs that concentrate on specific ideas. Use formatted text in columns. They are easier to read then lines going from one side of the monitor to the other. To highlight your important ideas and points, use headings that capture ones attention.
Don't Let Your Thoughts Wander
Use your opening paragraph to tell the reader the point you are trying to make. Don't be afraid to say what this is all about and how it will make them wiser by knowing this. You need to get your viewers attention from the get go in the opening paragraph and make them want to continue reading. Give them the motivation to keep on reading. Don't think that people have nothing better to do with their time than read your work. Make it worth their while to stick around and read the whole thing. There is plenty of competition out there for their time and attention. Do your best to get your share of it.
Have Your Readers In Mind When You Write
Think and write with your reader's perspective in mind. People are going to your website to find a solution to a problem and they don't have all day to find it. Give it to them as quickly as possible. Give them what they want, not what you want to tell them. Again, focus on them, not on you. Think in terms of what the person that will be reading your writing will be like, write for your targeted audience. Don't use any complex or technical words that your target audience will have difficulty reading or will not understand. You want to be an authority figure for these people, but not come across as pompous and arrogant by writing over their heads. People hate to read things that they do not understand or that are too complex.
About the Author:
Mark Barkow is a CPA affiliate promoter for enticements to people in exchange for just an email address or zip code. Get the complete setup for a very profitable FREE CPA campaign ready for you to copy in a step-by-step video tutorial, and start making money today. http://www.Make-Money-Easily.com
Keyword tags: Home based business,work at home,work online, make money from home,internet work,work over internet
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