Writing Inrochester

When writing fiction, the author must rely upon his/her instincts and experiences to create a story. This article will provide an overview of 7 of the major elements of writing fiction in good form, i.e., the form editors expect.

Plotting
Plotting and characterization carry the other elements of the book. The plotting must be believable, plausible, and interesting. It is a sequence of events connected in a cause-and-effect manner. Generally the plot consists of a series of increasingly more intense conflicts, a climax (the most intense part of the book), and a final resolution. The plot must advance as the book unfolds. Usually the closer to the end of the book the climax is placed the better.
Long works like novels can have many subplots and secondary climaxes and resolutions. Avoid using subplots in order to have cliché characters. Avoid too many coincidences.
Flashbacks have been overused. A book is stronger when it runs chronologically.

Characterization
The reader should be able to identify with and care about the characters in the sense that the characters seem real to the reader. The characters must do something, and what they do must seem reasonable for them to have done it.
Characters should be introduced early in the book. The more often a character is mentioned or appears, the more significance the reader will attach to the character. Also, the main character should be introduced before setting, so that the setting can be introduced from the point of view of the character.
The nature of characters can be brought out through minimal description and the actions, thoughts, and dialogue of the characters. The author should allow the reader to make judgments about the characters; the author should avoid making the judgments for the reader. The feelings of the character should be demonstrated rather than told by the narrator.
Yet, there are some very good books in which much of the narrative voice is about a character’s feelings and thoughts or in which the narration goes into great detail and analysis of a character’s feelings and thoughts at some point. So one rule about writing fiction is that there are no rules, or maybe: If it works, it works.

Scene
Scene includes the place and time in which the book takes place. The scene should be described in specifics to make the book seem real, to set the atmosphere and mood of the book, to place limitations on the characters, or to help establish the basic conflict of the book. Weather can be an important part of a scene.
The scene can be used for contrast, having something taking place in an unexpected place. Also, the more unfamiliar the reader is with the setting, the more interesting the scene.

Dialogue
Dialogue makes fiction seem real. However, dialogue that copies reality may actually slow down a book. Avoid unnecessary or repetitive dialogue.
Dialect in dialogue can be difficult to read. A small amount of it can be used to establish the nature of a character, but overuse will intrude on the book. The level of use of language by the characters- pronunciation, diction, grammar, etc.- is often used to characterize people in a book. Most often the main characters use the best English.
Profanity and vulgarisms can be used where they seem appropriate. Overuse amounts to author intrusion and can interrupt the reader’s belief in the book.
Too much exposition through dialogue can slow down a book. Characters should not repeat in dialogue events which have already happened in the book.
Also, one character should not tell another character what the second character should already know just so the author can convey information to the reader.
The form of dialogue should be varied to keep the reader interested. However, don’t try to find too many different ways to say “said.”
Interior dialogue is what a character is thinking. Dramatic dialogue is a character thinking out loud, without response from other characters. Indirect dialogue is the narrator telling what a character said.
Dialogue should be used to develop character or to advance the book. It should not be used just to hear characters talk.

Point of View
First person point of view has the main character telling the story or a secondary character telling the main character’s story. Everything that happens in the book must be seen or experienced by the character doing the narration. The reader’s judgment of other characters in the book will be heavily influenced by the narrator. This can be very limiting. Also, a book written in first person usually means that the main character won’t die in the plot. However, first person point of view gives a sense of intimacy to the book.
Third person point of view can be objective or omniscient. An objective narrator describes actions but not the inner thoughts or feelings of the characters. An omniscient narrator can describe all the actions of all of the characters but also all of their inner thoughts and feelings as well.

Genre
Genre is the main category into which a book fits. Most stories meet the criteria for multiple genres, but you should have some focus, identifying a market before you begin writing fiction.

Narrative Voice
Narrative voice is the way the author uses language. The longer the work the less important language becomes. Above all, the author’s work must tell a story. The author should not be more concerned with the words used than with the tale the author is trying to tell. Don’t be a fanatic about words. The language is less important than characterization and plotting. However, a combination of a good story and good narrative voice will be a delight to read. Mistakes in English amount to author intrusion and detract greatly from the book. The most effective writing uses the active voice, and nouns and verbs so specific that they require no modifiers. The choice of words can help set the tone of the book.

Beginning authors often miss one critical fact about writing fiction. It is up to the author to please the reader, not the other way around.

Patrick Dent
Author of the new covert ops thriller, Execution of Justice, at:
lulu.com/EOJ lulu.com/EOJ

For the best online resource for new authors, visit:
creativewritingfiction.com creativewritingfiction.com

Article marketing is such an effective method of generating web traffic, and yet there are two ways to do it effectively, and without knowing which of the two you are doing and how to do them most effectively, it is easy to have wasted efforts.

With either of these two methods of article marketing, each is best utilized with a full-force effort, and if you combine the two haphazardly, I do not believe you gain the full effect.

So what are the two different methods of article marketing. One is article marketing for direct traffic by submitting multiple articles to a small database of article directories that get the bulk of the article directory traffic online.

The second is article marketing for backlinks which improves your search engine ranking so you get indirect traffic via the search engines. To do this, you write a few articles with your links inside and submit them to at least 100 of the article directories.

You may be thinking, well aren’t those two methods just about the same?

Well, in fact, they are very different. When you use one or the other you get very specific results, and when you mix the two, sometimes you get less powerful results because each method works best when used in force.

In the first case, you are writing multiple articles but it is senseless to submit them to more than the top 3 or 4 web sites out there, because they don’t get enough traffic to help you with direct traffic.

With the second method, you really need to submit to multiple web sites to get your url out there, but you only need to submit about 1 article per month – you just have to submit it to a lot of directories.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide‘

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I thought it might be a good idea to talk about over-used phrases in romance novels and short stories. This isn’t just for me to have a moan and groan, but for you writers to consider avoiding over-use.

We’ve all done it at some time or another — picked up a book by a well known or even not so well known author and put it down again, wondering if it is worth carrying on reading it through to the end.

Why? We′ve got fed up of over-used phrases. I’ll give you an example. Recently, I got into the writing of a popular romance novelist. Her books excited me, I couldn’t put them down. After reading 3 of them, I purchased yet another, only to be very disappointed. I had the impression that this was a book she had written in haste.

Why? She had used the same phrase over and over. She used it so much in her book that now it’s my most hated phrase. What was it? “She rolled her eyes.”

I know a lot of writers have used this phrase from time to time. I think they can get away with it if it’s used very sparingly. Personally, I don′t like the phrase, as to me, it conjures up visions of two disembodied eyes being rolled across the floor.

The author had used this phrase so much, that I even found it used twice in the same sentence! I got the impression that the book she had written, although the plot was excellent, was written in a hurry.

Another phrase I′ve noticed popping up in romance novels is the ‘over-stuffed armchair’. To be honest, I′m not even sure what an over-stuffed armchair looks like. Is a chair like this so bad that polyester filling oozes from its insides? Do customers have a right to complain if they have purchased an ‘over-stuffed armchair’?

“Dear Sir:

The armchair I purchased from your store last week looks decidedly over-stuffed. If you do not send someone around to remove some of the stuffing, then I shall be forced to contact the ‘Armchair Police’, who will investigate the case.

Yours,

Mrs. Couch Potato.”

Other readers have their say:

* How did she manage that?

Ami Weaver says the phrase she dislikes is: “She schooled her features…” Ami goes on to say: “How do you school your features? This one is perhaps not overly common, but there is one author in the category romance arena that uses it constantly. And it makes me cringe.”

* How ridiculous!

Hilary Evans from Iowa says: “I review erotica on a regular basis, and I have to say my pet peeve is any pair of ‘moist panties’ throughout the novel. It’s the most ridiculous saying, and some authors just use it over and over and over. Ugh!”

* Was she right or was she wrong?

Heather Truett says: “I recently read Queenmaker by India Edghill, and she ended almost every chapter with ‘She thought she knew, but she was wrong.’ Now, I notice that kind of phrase everywhere. Every character always thinks they know…”

* Over-active head movements

Amie Cleghorn says: “I read this book one time where ‘She tossed her head’ all the time. When she wasn’t tossing her head, she was shrugging her shoulders. And, yes, she could speak!”

What over-used phrases do you dislike when reading a novel or short story? If you have any, send them to me at: peaceful_writer@yahoo.com

Well I’ll just get back to my over-stuffed armchair, sit down for a read, toss my head and roll my eyes, thus schooling my features. Hopefully, I won’t have to step over any moist panties en route!

Note: Lynette Rees lives in South Wales with her husband and two teenage children. She has been widely published, both online and in print. Her debut romance novel, “It Happened one Summer”, is due for release with Wings Press Inc., in May of 2006. To purchase Lynette’s e-book for beginners, CRAFTING THE ROMANCE STORY IN A NUTSHELL, click here: ebookad.com/eb.phѣ?ebookid=20996 ebookad.com/eb.phѣ?ebookid=20996

Lynette Rees has had many articles and short stories published. Her debut novel, IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER will be published by Wings Press Inc., in May 2006. Visit author’s website here:
silverlady00.tripod.com/ silverlady00.tripod.com/

Are you crazy? If you’re shaking your head yes, smiling to yourself or laughing aloud, honestly wondering when you will stop talking to the walls in your office on those days that you stare at a blank computer screen for hours hopelessly trying to find a flawless opening sentence for a perfect beginning or a clever combination of words to carry you to the ultimate ending of your work in progress - You’re definitely already a writer by my definition…

If you think I’m crazy for suggesting you′re crazy for wanting to be a writer, you′re probably right. I am admittedly not a completely sane person. I am a writer. I do love being a writer. I also know that being a writer can be one of the most rewarding professions some days and one of the most frustrating pursuits other days.

A perfect day in my life occurs when my fingers bang on the keyboard furiously trying to keep up with the surge of ideas and words flashing in my mind as some exceptional creative thoughts connect with my ability to put it all into words effectively. I treasure those hours when inspiration, insight, talent and determination merge together to allow me to write proficiently.

Unfortunately, many days do not develop that way. Picture this - A blank computer screen, a blank stare, a glance out the window, a curse whispered to yourself, a bathroom break, a day dream in progress, a mind devoid of creativity, a lack of artistic emotion, a discussion with yourself aloud, a little scream of frustration, a request for input from the walls that surround you, a demand for a solution to get your writing started on this day when no words seem to work together - no feelings seem to want to flow from within your frustrated brain… The harder you try the less you accomplish.

Why is writing so difficult for you today? You ask the question aloud. You wait for the walls to answer. They fail you too…

As long as you don’t answer yourself, you′re not certifiably insane. You′re just experiencing the dreadful dilemma commonly known as “Writer’s Block.”

How can you deal with this annoying obstacle? There are no solutions guaranteed to succeed for everyone. I can offer a few simple suggestions that have worked for me. Idea #1 - Turn off your computer. Get out of your office. Go for a walk outside.

Idea #2 - Walk away from your computer. Read a book, your favorite newspaper column, or a new magazine article that you′ve been meaning to look over.

Idea #3 - Get up from your desk and stretch. Close your eyes. Slowly extend your arms to reach for the stars. Breathe. Relax. Concentrate on reducing the tension in your muscles. Clear your mind. Repeat until you feel less stressed and ready to re-focus your energy.

Idea #4 - Leave your office and shut the door. Get out the vacuum cleaner. Clean your bathroom. Wash your dishes. Scrub your kitchen floor. Do some sort of housework that will make you feel like you accomplished something worthwhile today.

Idea #5 - Get out of your office. Turn on the television, kick back in a comfy chair and watch your favorite soap opera. Turn on the radio or pop in your favorite CD and dance or sing along. Let it out.

Feel free to adjust these remedies to suit your personal preferences. Whatever works is the bottom line.

Resource Box - © Danielle Hollister (2004) is the Publisher of BellaOnline Quotations Zine - A free newsletter for quote lovers featuring more than 10,000 quotations in dozens of categories like - love, friendship, children, inspiration, success, wisdom, family, life, and many more. Read it online at - bellaonline.com/articles/art8364.asp bellaonline.com/articles/art8364.asp

Your sales copy is the life source of your business. If your sales copy isn’t pulling in a decent conservation rate, then your business is suffering.

In this article, we are going to go over an effective way to test the body of your sales copy for weaknesses. If there are any, you will be able to pinpoint exactly where they are. Once you are able to identify the weaknesses in the body of your sales copy, then you will know where to make the necessary improvements and workout the weak areas of your sales copy.

How It Works

The only way to know if the body of your sales copy is weak is to test it. The conventional way of testing your sales copy is to have multiple copies and test them individually, or you can use software like split hit, which will divide your traffic up and send it to multiple sale copies at once.

Eventually you will be able to determine which sales copy pulls more, but you won’t know exactly where the weaknesses are in your other sales copies. Especially, if you have a long sales copy. Moreover, conventional ways of testing your sales copy will not identify where the weakness actually is, until now.

A good sales copy will have several links throughout the body of it, to display examples and ordering purposes. Since the links are already in the body of your sales copy, you can take advantage of them by tracking all of the links. Why? By tracking the links you will know what your visitors are clicking on and what they′re not. By using this technique you will know precisely where your weak spots are, so all you’ll have to do is tweak them.

Applying It To The Body Of Your Sales Copy

Applying this technique to the body of your sales copy is very simple, but first you will need to have a dependable tracking system. If you do not have a dependable tracking system, then I recommend that you use Adtrackz. Once you have a dependable tracking system, then you want to track every link on your sales copy. You want to have your links set up in a numerical order, such as, link 1, link 2, link 3, etc. That way you have your links set up in an organized fashion, making them easier to recognize.

If you don’t have this technique set up correctly, it won’t do you any good, that’s why your links need to be in numerical order. Let me give you an example, let’s say that you are receiving clicks on your links in the body of your sales copy up to link 4. Then, all you have to do is tweak your sales copy after link 4, because you already know you had your visitor’s attention up to link 4. In this case, you know what your weakness is and that is after link 3, because your visitors haven’t been clicking on link 4. So, link 4 is the best place to start making some improvements and test it again.

Let me give you another example, so that you can clearly understand this technique. Going back to the previous example, let’s say your visitors where not clicking on link 4, but where clicking on links 5 & 6. In this case, if the number of clicks on link 3 are equal or close to the number of clicks on links 5 & 6, then you will find that the weakness will be after link 6. If you are wondering why your visitors are not clicking through link 4 it is, because the link may not be captivating enough for them.

If you find that your visitors are not clicking on your first few links, than it safe to assume one of two things. One is, your headline, sub-headline, and/or opening statement may be weak. You probably haven′t grabbed your visitor’s attention or established their interest enough by compel them to read on. The other is, the traffic going to your web site is untargeted, therefore, you should concentrate on generating traffic that is more targeted.

Test And Repeat The Process

Once you are able to identify where the weakness is, then all you have to do is tweak it and test it. Testing is the only way to know if the changes you have made have increased or decreased your visitors clicking patterns. In other words, did your visitors clicking patterns increase by surpassing the previous link number they have been clicking on, or did the click throughs decrease because the traffic didn′t click trough beyond the previous link number.

After you are able to determined that the changes you have made have either increased or decreased the clicking patterns of your visitors. You will need to repeat the complete process until you have a strong click through rate through the entire body of your sales copy.

About The Author

Rich Hamilton, Jr is the CEO/President of ElitesMarketing.com″ target=”_new ElitesMarketing.com and the Author of Inside Internet Marketing. His book will show you how to ignite your sales by unlocking the absolute truth to internet marketing and how you can aggressively promote your web site without paying a cent for advertising. InsideNetMarketing.com″ target=”_new InsideNetMarketing.com

Another great way to attract consumers to your products is targeted sales letter writing. There are a variety of tools that can help you write effective, compelling sales letters that work. Here are 6 key ways to create targeted sales letter writing.

1. Determine your targeted market. Many people unwittingly make the mistake of overlooking who exactly will be reading their sales letter. Targeted sales letter writing is only effective if it is designed to reach a certain group of people. It helps to know what these people are looking for.

2. Include a testimonial. There is a reason that you always see testimonials on sales brochures: they work. It is a proven fact that testimonials give targeted sales letters an air of credibility that they would otherwise lack. Of course, it is necessary to find credible people to provide testimonies as well.

3. Include the company profile. This may sound cheesy, but people like it when they can get a basic idea of the company that is trying to sell them something. If that identity is attractive, your targeted sales letter writing is more likely to be effective.

4. Quickly get to the facts. Believe it or not, people don’t want to spend their whole date reading your targeted sales letter. That is why it is essential to catch them with the credible facts very quickly before they lose interest.

5. Make your sales letter memorable and stand out in some way.

6. Include a call to action. This is an advertising essential that cannot be forgotten in targeted sales letter writing.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide‘

Download it free here:

Article writing and article marketing go hand in hand in my mind. In fact, when I talk about great article marketing, in my mind this phrase includes article writing.

At the same time, a very good discussion occurred recently on the Ezine Articles blog, entitled “Writers vs. Marketers, Who Should Win?” I made this a mandatory reading assignment for my mentees in my Article Marketing Mentor Program, because this is a discussion to which any serious article writer and marketer should contribute.

My take on it is that it does not have to be either or, though it often is with most writers and marketers. Since I am both, I know that you can be a writer and a marketer.

The question I ended up asking on the Ezine Articles blog was which one is more powerful, a writer that knows how to market or a marketer that knows how to write?

My answer is the marketer that knows how to write wins every time. Why? If you use one of the definitions of marketing that says marketing is simply letting others know what you do, then you can see how the marketer will be better able to get the word out about his or her article than the writer who writes an article and then tries to figure out how to market the article.

In addition, a marketer that writes will know how to leverage an article into many different consumable forms of content, while the writer typically falls in love with his or her writing and just expects other people to show up and read their article.

Would you like free access to two of my Article Writing Templates? You can download them by going to TheArticleGuy.com/bonustemplates.htm TheArticleGuy.com/bonustemplates.htm

Would you like to get in on our free weekly Article Guy TeleSeminars? Visit TheArticleGuyTeleSeminars.com TheArticleGuyTeleSeminars.com to get started today!

From Jeff Herring - The Article Guy

“First, you gotta get real. As I journaled, I kind of defined authenticity for myself as I allowed myself to own my thoughts and dare to put them into writing.”

These are the words of Bryan Beller, whose emergence as a popular magazine and web writer came as a surprise to him. After all he was a professional musician, not a wordsmith. He played bass in Dweezil Zappa’s band, “Z”, and later with Mike Keneally—among many others—and began sending his friends emails to describe his life on the road. This was all before the Internet or blogging was big and his pre-blog, email journaling became his stream of consciousness, which he entitled “The Life of Bryan”.

“This honesty generates action in me,” he continued. “Truthfulness about where the thoughts come from and what action they provoke generate my writing and how I exploit it.” Bryan found out that the more vulnerable and transparent he was as a person and a writer, the more readers swarmed around him. Buzz happens!

Bryan’s truthful, quirky style grabbed the attention of the Editor of Bass Player Magazine, who wrote an article about him as a musician and writer. Further impressed, the Editor asked Bryan to write a regular column for the magazine, using his journaling voice and blending his humor, love of political satire, and personal observations. He was given complete freedom to write on subjects of choice, and recently got the chance to interview superstar “Tool” bassist Justin Chancellor. After a stint in the corporate world with SWR, during which he eventually took over responsibility for writing the company’s entire catalogue, Bryan realized his true calling in his roots as a freelance writer and musician. The last six months have seen him as Contributing Editor for “Bass Player”. He now gets to see his name on the magazine masthead.

“Second, you gotta converse. Writing is a conversation. If you have a clear presence as the writer and are intentional, then you can have a conversation with yourself and with readers. The voices in my head are part of the natural human condition they reveal inner discussion which can be shared. Of course, if you can also turn off your internal agenda as a writer, you can become far more versatile. You can have a lot more conversations.” Paradox loves dialog!

Bryan recently put himself out there for “At the Table,” a weekly teleconference sponsored by Writers of the Round Table Inc. where participants have the opportunity to hear insider information from successful writers, producers, editors, and agents.

“Third, you gotta have a reason. Why write? Because, unless an event is documented, no matter how momentous or horrible or wonderful that event may be, it soon becomes only a memory to the participant(s)…and a fading one at that. And until something is documented, one can debate as to whether or not it actually occurred at all.”

As Bryan described his early journaling experience, he shared about the vulnerability of auditioning for a band and his false assumption of getting the position, followed by the processing, analysis, and acceptance of not succeeding the way he had hoped. He discovered that he was becoming more and more transparent and authentic in how he processed life, understood himself, and put himself out there for anyone to accept or reject.

“Fourth, you gotta use a process. Put your fanny in the chair, write for several hours without using the back space, put yourself out there, print it out, let it rest 15-30 minutes, read it out loud, and then edit.” Find the process that works for you. Work it, and work wonders!

To backtrack a bit, Bryan has formed a specific definition of himself as a writer. Realizing that the writing process required him to confront his unique and personal truths, he began to understand himself and the power of his unique and intentional voice. In the late 90’s he cloistered himself away and wrote a 625 page novel over about 18 months. He never published it, but says that the process of completing the novel allowed him to call himself a writer because the act of writing transformed his style and honed his craft and strengths. He found his style and the self-editing process that works for him.

His friend, Martha C. Lawrence - the award winning, blockbuster zodiac mysteries writer - mentored Bryan. She offered tough, alternative ways to approach writing. Bryan refers to the lessons learned as a “writers’ group for one.” The writing process she showed him resulted in few edits when publishing. He learned to not overwrite or describe too much and to allow the reader to fill in the blanks.

Bryan’s website will give you more writing advice and a plethora of fun reading: www.bryanbeller.com Feel free to subscribe to “BellerBytes”, too!

So, remember:

1. Get Real 2. Converse 3. Have a Reason 4. Use a Writing Process.

In the meantime, keep your rear in the chair, your fingers on the keys, and your writing reaching for the stars!

Writers of the Round Table Inc. is a literary development and author management company providing expert collaboration in crafting significant written works and bringing them to the market. Listen to our free teleclasses and view articles on the writing process at writersoftheroundtable.com writersoftheroundtable.com Click on “Teleclasses”. Be sure to join us every Wednesday for an enlightening and entertaining hour.

Ask anyone that you meet if they’ve ever had an idea to write a book and I bet that 99% of the time their eyes light up and they say ‘Yes.’

Everyone has numerous wonderful book ideas. My experience and conversations with thousands of people tell me that this is true. The difference between those that actually write a book and those that don’t is simple. Those that don’t write a book don’t believe that they can.

That’s simply not true. Anyone can write a book.

If you can talk, you can write.

Take a look at 5 of your favorite books, fiction or Non-fiction it doesn’t matter. In fact, grab a few of each. Now, open each book and read a few paragraphs. What do you see? What you’ll likely notice is that there is a common theme running in all of them.

They’re written conversationally. They’re written like you talk. Conversational style is the best style because it is easy to read, easy to understand and easy to write.

Take a look at some of the most prolific authors, both fiction and Non-fiction. Stephen King comes to mind as a very prolific fiction writer. Non-fiction writers might include the Chicken Soup series and co writers Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. All of those books are written conversationally. They’re accessible to readers of all ages, income levels, and IQ’s.

Conversational style eliminates jargon. It eliminates large words that people have to rely on a dictionary to understand. Conversational style also uses the word ‘you’ often. It’s written as if you were writing a letter or telling a story to a friend.

Basically, if you can write a letter to a friend, then you can write a book—I promise. Of course you need to be able to plan a book too but all that requires is a plan or an outline. Once your outline is established, writing the book can take as little as a month to complete.

Bob Burnham
Entrepreneur, Consultant and Author of ‘101 Reasons Why You Must Write A Book’

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