Writing Inrochester

Here’s the challenge for today’s authors: The number of books published each year is increasing (195,000 titles in 2004 alone), books sales are decreasing, and only brand-name authors are getting the necessary support to market their books. The unfortunate result is that most authors aren’t going to see even modest book sales.

The solution for authors is the Internet. With today’s sophisticated targeting capabilities of the web, an author can promote his or her book directly to readers who are interested in the subject matter or genre of that book. And readers are responsive to discovering new books online because they are increasingly using the Internet to help them decide what book to buy next.

The growth of the Internet has created an enormous variety of websites that attract highly specific audiences. For instance, there is a website dedicated to the history of corrective horseshoes. If your book is about corrective horseshoes or specialty horseshoes or even simply horseshoes you better be promoting your book on that website because you’re not likely to find such a concentration of likely buyers anywhere else. This is an extreme and overly-focused example (except for the author with such a book), but this highlights the power of the Internet - reaching out to the smallest of niche markets that are related to your book and letting that audience know your book is one they would value owning.

Authors can use the power of the Internet to break through. The writer Natasha Munson did it with amazing success for her book, Life Lessons for My Black Girls. She sent a carefully crafted email to friends announcing the book and asked that the email be forwarded to others. More importantly, she bought well-placed advertisements online to let her target audience learn more about the book. Natasha achieved great sales success on the Internet without even working with a traditional publisher. The book was first published by the print-on-demand (POD) firm, iUniverse, and did so well that Hyperion Books offered her a contract to publish the book. Many self-published and POD authors who hit the 2,000 mark in book sales are approached by traditional publishing houses. Some take it while others do not (the reasons why is another article).

My online book marketing firm, Book Premieres, used the Internet to reinvigorate the sales of a book that had already been on the market for 21 months. The book, No Regrets: A Ten-Step Program for Living in the Present and Leaving the Past Behind by Dr. Hamilton Beazley (Wiley & Sons, 2004), jumped from an Amazon.com sales ranking of over 100,000 to a high of 8,115 only three weeks after the campaign launched in September 2005. Preliminary estimates indicate that - at a minimum - there was of a 20 percent increase in sales during the month of the campaign.

Book Premieres promoted No Regrets online to targeted readers, which were defined as people seeking their own path to letting go of regrets and finding forgiveness. More specifically, these were people interested in self-improvement and looking to get the most out of each day. The campaign included a custom-designed website, paid placements on Yahoo! and Google, and ads in online marketplaces. In addition, graphical banner ads were placed on the home page of a website that attracted people similar to those who would be interested in reading No Regrets.

With time, some technical-savvy, and the willingness to learn, authors can create a marketing-oriented website, launch a targeted marketing campaign, and do online promotions for their book. Authors who would rather have experts design and execute their book’s online marketing campaign can utilize the services of firms that specialize in marketing books to targeted readers via the Internet. Regardless of how you implement an online marketing campaign, get started releasing the power of the Internet for your book. Not every book will breakthrough, but it’s worth knowing how far your book will go.

David Tortorelli
President and founder of Book Premieres, LLC
BookPremieres.com BookPremieres.com
An author services firm specializing in effective online book marketing campaigns. David is an expert of Internet strategies that help others create new opportunities online. He has also been recognized for his review of manuscripts that became works published by Wiley & Sons, Inc. and Hazelden, Inc.

What is an articleversary? Well an articleversary is a term and new buzzword used in the online Internet article marketing sub-sector and this buzz word was coined by Jeff Herring, the Article Guy, who is actually celebrating his articleversary, which is the date at, which he started writing online articles. So, how many articles did he write? 780 articles.

His one-year Articleversary is truly a time for celebration and shows other authors that it is possible to write over 780 articles in one year. That is an average of a little over TWO articles per day for 1 whole year. This is truly magnificent and Jeff Herring has shown that any human can do it, if they just put their mind too it. WOW. Spectacular indeed.

Way to go Jeff! And way to go to the online article submission sites for showing us all what is possible in article marketing by using Jeff as an example. Hopefully we all can follow Jeff’s lead and become more like him and learn from his brilliant marketing techniques, ideas and concepts in the real world.

How does Jeff write so many articles? Well he has some secrets to his success. Luckily for all of us he has written an eBook with templates and tricks of the trade to help others reach their article goals too. Maybe others can also reach 780 articles in less than one year?

“Lance Winslow” - Online WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; WorldThinkTank.net www.WorldThinkTank.net/

Last time I talked about setting goals, and sticking to them. I thought it appropriate to revisit this topic and see how you’re going.

First of all, did you print out and complete the goal worksheet? If not, why not?

If you did complete the worksheet – congratulations! Well done! Once completed, did you display it somewhere visible for your family and friends to see and read?

You may recall that being accountable is one of the main motivators. So having your goals prominently displayed is an extremely important step in the process.

Achieving goals is a step-by-step progression. You won’t go from A to Z in one giant leap. It takes lots of planning and baby steps along the way. And of course, patience. (You know, patience - that annoying little creature that all writers must possess if they’re going to make it in this industry!)

Because I really want you to achieve your writing goals this year, I’m going to walk you through my goal worksheet.

Here goes:

*What do you want to achieve?

My goal for 2006 is to complete two books – one fiction, one non-fiction. I also want to double my writing income.

*What date do you want to achieve your goal by?

The deadlines are mid-April, mid-July, and 31 December 2006 respectively.

*What steps are needed to achieve that goal? Write down each necessary step.

Since two books need to be completed, I’ll work on one at a time. (Trying to write more than one book at a time has been my downfall in the past.)

The novel needs immediate attention, so I’ll start on that. Writing 2,000 words every day will move my word-count up quickly. That should yield 20,000 words in two weeks. (Ten working days.)

The word-count is currently around 20,000 words, so that should mean the book will be finished by mid-April at the latest – including editing and polishing.

The non-fiction book has a deadline of September and is already 18,000 words written. If I start on that book as soon as the novel is completed, and write at least 2,000 words per day, it should be totally written, edited, and polished by end of July.

To double my writing income, I need to do more freelance work. To this end, I’ve sent out a number of queries to both fiction and non-fiction magazines. I’ve targeted national (Australian) magazines. Apart from the name recognition factor involved with these, the payment is generally higher.

*What obstacles would stand in the way of achieving your goal? List them in the table below.

1) Due to the state of my health, pneumonia is always a possibility.

2) Family issues with either my elderly mother, or my small grandchildren who live with me.

3) Being disorganised.

*How can you overcome these obstacles? List the steps you’ll take to overcome your obstacles.

1) Resting often, and keeping away from sick people. De-stressing will also help. This could be achieved by incorporating relaxation techniques (i.e. Yoga) or exercising for at least minutes per day.

2) This is not something that is predictable, so I just have to keep ahead of my projected word-counts in case something unavoidable comes up.

3) My plan is to organise my workspace on a daily basis. Twenty minutes per day for a week or so will get the space sorted and workable, then ten minutes per day should keep it that way.

*How convicted are you to meeting your goals? (i.e. Very, not very, not at all.)

Very, extremely, absolutely!

*What difference will it make to you and your writing career to achieve those goals? List the end result/s.

Meeting my goals will make a big difference to my writing career. To start with, the novel was started before I became very ill. I want to finish it as I believe it’s a worthwhile project.

The non-fiction book should be a boon to my career because of the publisher involved.

In regard to doubling my writing income, this is more personal satisfaction. If I’m more organised, I’ll put out more work, which is turn means more sales, which then means more money. It all works in sync.

*Make a list of each step needed to achieve what you’ve set out to do, including anticipated time frame for each.

1) Finish novel – by mid-April

2) Continue with non-fiction book. Finish by mid-July.

3) Send out regular queries, and write more short stories with a view to selling more regularly.

* * * *

I can’t guarantee this plan will work, but I’m sure ready to give it a shot. I’ve already sent out several queries and introductory letters, and have so far received one positive response.

I’m currently writing a minimum of 2,000 words a day, endeavouring to finish my novel.

I still have to hear back from other markets, all of which have three months or more response time, and have a number of others bookmarked to contact.

Sending queries is not as time-consuming as it sounds, and if you work this into your daily schedule it can help a lot. (And the more you send, the easier it gets.)

Set specific days for tasks and you will be more organised. For instance, Monday: website update day. Tuesday: send out queries, and so on.

Setting goals is not a task only for January, it’s a year long process, and needs to be monitored and reviewed often.

When thinking about the goal/s you have set for yourself, ask this question: “Where will I be in one year’s time if I don’t reach my goal?”

Only you will know if you need to continue.

Cheryl Wright is an award-winning Australian author and freelance journalist. In addition to an array of other projects, she is the owner of the Writer2Writer.com website and the Writer to Writer monthly ezine for writers. She is also the author of a series of ebooks for writers. Her romantic suspense novel “Saving Emma” was released January 2005 by Whiskey Creek Press. Check out Cheryl’s website: cheryl-wright.com” target=”_new cheryl-wright.com

Back in the 1950s, rural communities existed all across the USA. In fact, more than half of all Americans were growing at least some – if not all – of their own food at that time, and agriculture was an enterprise that was as common to Americans as the Internet is to today’s generation. One of the publications that was widely distributed to those farming families was Grit, a small newspaper that carried helpful and practical articles about things related to live in the countryside. And in 2006, the out-of-print Grit paper reincarnated as a magazine, complete with color pictures and a glossy cover.

Whereas the original publication was mostly sold door-to-door by young people who could purchase issues of it and then resell them for a 10 or 20 cent profit, the modern version is found in stores across the nation such as Barnes and Noble. And although the market demographic has changed, the content of the Grit magazine is not unlike the 1950s Grit newspapers. There are articles about things like how to raise rabbits, how to grow corn and vegetables and then can them for winter, how to purchase farm equipment, and how to vaccinate livestock. Many of the writers for the magazine are themselves farmers, homesteaders, or gardeners, and most of the articles and features are based on personal experience and know-how.

Grit has always stood as a symbol of retro culture and has long been a traditional Americana institution, so those who used to sell the copies in early days are thrilled to see it taking on a whole new life in the 21st Century. And while many expected it to go the way of other publications, and either die out completely or sell out completely to more contemporary interests or advertisers, the publication has managed to stick to its rural roots, continuing to do what it has always done best.

Whereas urban readers might want to find out about their astrology predictions for landing a new job or getting a new love interest, the rural readership of Grit can still depend on almanac info that talks about predicting the weather and the time of year to plant crops. And while urban readers may pick up a magazine to find out the latest Hollywood gossip or New York fashions, those who tend to subscribe to Grit magazine may be much more tuned in to the goings on at the state fair, the produce markets. But in the magazine world, it is “to each his own” and that is how it should be.

Jeff Lakie is widely recognized as an expert in all Plastic Surgery related circles. Jeff boasts over thirty years experience in

Looking for a publisher? In North America, there are hundreds of thousands of people who dream of becoming a published author. They write in their spare time, on their days off and well into the night. Most of them, however, are reluctant to step into the ‘war zone’ that is the publishing world. “Do I self-publish? Can I get Random House to take me seriously? Should I use a Print-On-Demand publisher?” The war is on!

There is a ‘war’ going on in the publishing industry. Some people believe a writer should only approach publishing houses like Harper, Bantam or TOR. Other people believe that smaller, independent or POD publishers are the way to go. One thing is for sure; there are many aspects to contemplate when looking for the right publisher. First, what is right for one person may not be right for another. In order to make a well-informed decision you must consider the differences between the three main types of publishing.

Traditional publishing is the writer’s dream. A ‘big house’ publisher contacts you and loves your manuscript. You sign a contract a few months later. Approximately two to three years later, your book is in print and on the shelves. If you self-publish (or use a vanity press), you invest a hefty sum of money―usually $10,000 or more. You must store hundreds of books in your basement or pay for warehousing. Your book is in print and usually on the shelves in less than six months. If you use a Print-On-Demand publisher (POD), you invest a minimal amount―usually less than $2000.00. You receive 2 - 40 FREE books to do with as you please, and your book is in print in about two months.

Traditional Publishing:
With traditional publishing, a writer must abide by strict guidelines and every publisher has their own specific preferences. Some of the ‘big houses′ such as Berkley, and Random House will not even consider looking at an author if the writer does not have an agent. Most will not accept unsolicited work (which means simply that they have to request to see your manuscript, whether through an agent or as a result of your query letter).

The most important step is the query letter, and there is one rule to follow. The same rule applies to any piece of work you write, and is what I call The Three Firsts – first sentence, first paragraph and first page. The first sentence must grab your audience (even a potential publisher) and should contain the title of your work. It must give them a reason to read further and ‘hook’ them into wanting to read more. The first paragraph must give an even stronger hook; otherwise, your query will be filed…in the trashcan. The first and ONLY page in a query letter should answer the 5 W’s (who, what, where, when, why) and how. Who will buy and read your work? What is the plot? Where does the story take place and where do you see it going? When will it be finished? Why will the public be interested and why should that publisher invest their time and money in you and your work? And how are you going to help promote your work after it’s finished?

Once you’ve sent a query letter, you may be required to wait up to 6 months for an answer. If you have not already been published, or if your query letter did not grab their attention, you will receive a standard form letter, a.k.a. the rejection letter. If the publisher is interested, he may ask you to submit a proposal or plot summary and a few sample chapters. This may sit on his desk for months before he digs through the slush-pile of submissions he receives daily.
During the editing stage, the editor assigned to you will ruthlessly cut, shred and tighten your story, to their satisfaction. Sometimes you may agree with their editorial scissoring, and other times you may not. Some editors will work with you and help you churn out a top-notch novel. Others may wield their power over you until you feel someone else has written your story.

With a traditional publisher your book could take years before it sees the bookstore shelves. In the process, the publisher will determine the cover design (you may have some input, but usually the publisher makes the final decision). In most cases, you will make less than a dollar per book sold.

There are, however, undeniable benefits to being published by a traditional publisher. These books are accepted and found on most bookstore shelves. These books are returnable; this is an advantage for the customer but a disadvantage for the author as a large percentage of traditionally published books are returned or damaged. A ‘big house’ publisher will spend money on promoting you and your work; they will often arrange for interviews, appearances and booksignings. Your work will qualify for more contests, be considered more readily for movie options and, in general, you will be regarded as a professional author.

Self-Publishing:
You can self-publish your book by taking your files to a printer, having them do a large run of copies, and finding a bookbinder to bind the cover or using a vanity press self-publisher to do everything. Years ago I self-published three books. I hired a layout editor, a printer and a bookbinder to publish my children’s books. By the time I was finished, I had paid $150.00 for 18 hardcover, picture book prototypes&amp#8213;$150.00 each! My childcare directories were cheaper to publish (they cost about $5.00 each for about 100 copies) They sold for $5.99 so I made very little from them. (I still have unsold copies sitting in my basement.)

With self-publishing the biggest drawback is that you will usually have to invest thousands of dollars to publish a large print run of your book. You can print off smaller runs of your book but that will affect your retail cost and profit. Some people have invested $10,000 to $20,000 (especially with vanity presses) for thousands of copies of their book, as this reduces the individual copy price drastically. This means that when you sell your book, the profit margin is greatly higher than what you would receive from a traditional publisher.

The downside to this is that these thousands of books must be packaged (usually shrink-wrapped and boxed) and then stored. This leads to additional costs and often to a basement loaded with boxes of books. Some authors who chose this method are still wading through the boxes of unsold books, after years of trying to market their work.

When you self-publish you must constantly find ways to market your own books. This means either hiring someone or spending hours per day organizing booksignings and trying to get your book onto a book distributor’s list. Most distributors will not even look at self-published books. Then there are the constant trips to the local bookstores, where even they will not look at you unless you are listed with a traditional publisher or a recognized POD publisher.

The advantages of self-publishing are that you have complete control over every aspect of your product―your book. You can design your own cover, layout the pages exactly the way you want, have the end product the size that you desire and market it wherever and however you feel. You can hire a publicist to help you, advertise any way and anywhere you want and schedule booksignings on your own schedule.

POD Publishing:
Print-On-Demand is becoming the wave of the future in the book publishing industry. POD publishers are sprouting up all over the world because there is a huge demand for publishing companies that will take anything the public can crank out. Consequently, anyone who wishes to be published CAN be published. While this is terrific for the person who simply wants to write his memoirs and keep it in the family, or for the grandmother who wants to leave behind a collection of family recipes, this method of publishing has its drawbacks for the serious author.

For a Canadian author, POD publishing requires a payment amount that ranges between $500.00 to $3500.00. This will usually pay for a specific package. Every POD is different in what they offer in their packages, and you must be careful of POD’s that do not disclose all fees up front. Many POD’s will charge for every process: ISBN numbers, printing costs, cover design, layout services, listing services, and internet or regular marketing services. A few companies actually give you your money’s worth―Trafford Publishing is one.

With Trafford Publishing, the largest POD company in Canada, they offer comprehensive packages, and even allow you to upgrade later by paying the difference. They promise to deliver a completed product in four to six weeks. I have personally used Trafford Publishing twice and have found their services beyond compare. There were no hidden charges, no waiting for email responses, and no issues with the finished products. In fact, both books were comparative to anything you′d find published by a ‘big house’ publisher.

Trafford was recently featured in PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success and ranked 5th in the Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies in Canada. Over 4000 authors (representing 5500 titles) from more than 75 countries use Trafford’s service. 2% of all new titles published in North America, and about 250 new titles every month, come from Trafford Publishing.

There are other POD companies, as mentioned above. 1st Books, iUniverse, XLibris, and many more use the Print-On-Demand technology. You should always compare services. And there are things to look for before deciding which one to use. How long has this company been in business? This is a very important factor, especially with all the ‘fly-by-night′ POD’s that have come and gone. In general, you should not even consider a company unless it has a track record of at least 5 years.

The best way to find out how a company rates is to go directly to the source. Read testimonials from other authors that have used their services. Then ask the publisher for three names and email addresses not on the testimonial list. If the publisher will not release that information, check their site. Research their authors, find email addresses and contact them. It’s amazing what you will learn about a company by talking to the people who actually use their services. You will find out if the company is slow, if they return emails promptly, if there are unusual contract clauses, and if that company is worth your investment.

You should also thoroughly research the publisher online. Look for complaints or articles about the company and look especially for the publisher’s site. Warning: If the publisher does not have his own .com, .net or .ca website―STAY AWAY. Never deal with a “publisher” who uses a sub-site address. A serious, respectable publisher will always invest in a proper website! Otherwise you will be using “Joe-Blows″ service or “Grandma Mae’s In-Home Publishing”. If a POD publisher expects to be taken seriously, they will invest in a professional site, hi-tech equipment and experienced staff.

Remember to ask the 5 W’s and How:
Who owns the company? Are they experienced as a publisher? Do they have the contacts to promote you? How many years have they published books?

What have they published so far? Do they have hundreds of satisfied customers…or two or three? Some ‘publishers’ have advertised their services when they have only self-published their own work. What technology do they use for their printing, or do they hire out?

Where will your books be promoted? Will you be listed with book distributors? Will your book appear on Amazon.com and other prestigious websites?

When will you have a complete final product in your hands? Some POD’s take up to six months before you have a finished product.

Why should you trust this company? What do they offer that is over and above the other POD’s? What are their policies? Ask for a copy of the agreement or contract ahead of time. Take it to a lawyer if you must.

How much is their service going to cost? What is the total cost involved from beginning to end? Are there any hidden charges? Is it a safe risk and a realistic investment?

The advantages with a POD publisher are varied, depending on the company and their package deals. By choosing Print-On-Demand, you’ll be helping the environment and saving thousands of trees. Your book will be printed as each order comes in; therefore, less waste. With a POD publisher, you can supply your own cover or hire someone to design a cover for you. You are free to promote yourself and your books any way you want. You can walk into a bookstore, speak with a manager and arrange for your book to appear on their shelves. A professional POD company will be on all the right ‘lists’, so you will not be as limited in what you can do with your book.

Of course, for an author the best reason to go with a POD publisher is that you will not get a rejection letter, your book will finally be published and will be available to the public in less than six months, and you can finally call yourself a “published author”.

So, you want to be a published author. Do you have talent and can you actually write something worth reading? Have you researched your market and target audience? Do you have the wisdom to have all your work edited by at least three other pair of eyes? Are you willing to ’shamelessly promote’ yourself? If you have answered ‘yes’ to all of these questions, you can be published. With today’s technology and new outlook on the world of publishing, ‘getting published’ is easy! Choosing the right method of publishing is the difficult part. Trafford was ‘right′ for me, but it may not be ‘right′ for you. The war continues―the publishing war.

Note: This article reflects the viewpoint of the writer. It is a culmination of years of research and various publishing experiences (either the author’s or those she interviewed). It is up to you, the reader, to glean what advice you can, to research on your own and to make your own informed decision. Although Trafford Publishing is highlighted in this article, there are other professional, well-respected POD publishers in all areas of publishing. And there are certainly pros and cons to all three types of publishing. ~ CKT

©2004 Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Cheryl Kaye Tardif is the author of Divine Intervention, the ‘psi-fi’ suspense thriller that was compared to Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb’s ‘In Death’ series. She also wrote Whale Song, an emotional mystery novel suitable for all ages. Whale Song is being considered by a leading Canadian film producer.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif was featured in The Edmonton Examiner, and appeared on Shaw TV Red Deer, RDTV, and Shaw TV Edmonton. In November 2004, she was a guest on CJSR′s “Liquid Chatter Talk Radio”. Cheryl Kaye Tardif was recently featured in Real Estate Weekly (Edmonton). According to photojournalist, Heather Andrews Miller, who interviewed Tardif for the REW article, Cheryl Kaye Tardif is a “gem in the literary world”. She appeared on Global News Morning Edition on December 22, 2004. She will be in an upcoming issue of Edmonton Woman Magazine, a review of Whale Song will appear in Alberta Native News, and she will guest on New Age Radio.

members.shaw.ca/cherylktardif Cheryl Kaye Tardif ~ Author

Long ago, movie directors mastered the technique of creating a convincing fight scene. Bodies crash to the floor.. chairs are upended… viewers are treated to closeups of terrified or furious faces… and the punches thrown are enough to make us wince and close our eyes. (No more of those prissy punches that fooled nobody in the early films - sneaky camera angles to hide the fact that the fist didn′t really connect; loud thuds to suggest a knockout punch when anybody could see it wouldn′t knock a gnat out of its flight path.)

Movie-goers are treated to multiple camera angles and sophisticated sound effects. We feel as though we’re right in the middle of that fight.

Authors have it a lot harder. How can you throw the reader in the middle of the scene and feel every punch? How can you show the action without falling into the trap of sounding like a school kid enthusiastically detailing a fight, punch by punch; kick by kick?

There are just two things to keep in mind.

Remember you’re a writer, not a choreographer.

Pack your fights with EMOTIONAL punch.

That’s it. So simple - yet so effective.

What does a choreographer do? Plans a series of movements, step by step. He/she teaches the people performing the movements how to perform each one, and then how to put them together into a smooth routine.

Too many fight scenes in books look like a choreographer’s notebook. You’ll see something like this:

Briggs planted a right hook on Smith’s chin. The other man reeled backwards, his arms windmilling. Briggs followed up his advantage, breathing hard. In quick succession he landed several more punches on Smith’s body.

Smith fell to the ground and rolled away. “Bastard!” he grunted, and rolled again to avoid a well-aimed kick from Briggs. Cat-like, he leapt to his feet and circled Briggs, not taking his eyes off his nemesis.

“Come on!” Briggs taunted, darting in to land another punch then ducking back out of reach. “Is that the best you can do?” He feinted and laughed.

Infuriated, Smith attacked. Briggs danced back and around Smith, and in two deft moves had him on the ground, one arm up behind his back.

“Had enough?” he panted.

There are so many things wrong with the above scene it’s hard to know where to start. In brief:

We have no idea who the viewpoint character is. We seem to be looking on from a distance. That means there is very little emotional involvement from the reader. To really involve your reader, do everything you can to make sure he or she ‘becomes’ the viewpoint character. If he gets hurt, so does the reader. If he loses… so does the reader.

The writer is “telling” rather than showing. A did this then B did that so A did this in response and B followed up with this… boring! (Can you see the choreographer at work?)

The writer uses the characters’ names a lot: “Smith” and “Briggs”. This tends to add distance too. The problem is that both characters are men, so constant use of “he”, while not so distancing, can be confusing. It’s easier to avoid these problems if you are deeply in the viewpoint of one of the characters.

The excerpt is filled with tired old expressions such as “in quick succession he landed two more punches”; “a well-aimed kick”; “cat-like, he leapt to his feet”; “in two deft moves”. Expressions like this save the writer from doing much work - they roll off the tongue so easily because they’ve been around for so long.

How do you avoid these pitfalls and write a fight scene that works?

You forget (for the most part) the physical punches and add emotional punch. Get deep into the viewpoint of one of the characters - preferably the main character; the one the reader really identifies with. This way, readers look out through the eyes of that character. They desperately want him to win; they feel every punch. Therefore, there’s a lot more emotional investment in the outcome of the fight.

Most writers seem to feel that fight scenes have to be filled with fast movement, grunts and moans and shouted epithets to telegraph the action. They feel that if you stop to tell the reader what’s going on in the head of the main character, this slows things down too much.

That certainly can be the case… but in the hands of a skilled writer, tension actually builds when the action is slowed down. You need to remember that time-on-the-page is not the same as real time. Since you can’t actually show the reader what is going on in real time as you can in a movie, you have to compensate by spending some time in the mind of the main character. Show us the character’s thoughts. Show us the character’s emotions. Help us to “feel″ our way into the fight.

The easiest way to show how this works is to use an example from a published book. Here’s a fight scene from ECHO BURNING by Lee Child (Bantam Press, 2001). The hero, Jack Reacher, tries to avoid the fight… and the tension builds beautifully until he is forced into a confrontation.

The guy was wearing a white tank-top shirt and he was eating chicken wings. The wings were greasy and the guy was a slob. He was dripping chicken fat off his chin and off his fingers onto his shirt. There was a dark teardrop shape right between his pecs. It was growing and spreading into an impressive stain. But the best bar-room etiquette doesn’t let you linger on such a sight, and the guy caught Reacher staring.

“Who you looking at?” he said.

It was said low and aggressively, but Reacher ignored it.

“Who you looking at?” the guy said again.

Reacher’s experience was, they say it once, maybe nothing’s going to happen. But they say it twice, then trouble’s on the way. Fundamental problem is, they take a lack of response as evidence that you’re worried. That they’re winning. But then, they won′t let you answer, anyway.

“You looking at me?” the guy said.

“No,” Reacher answered.

“Don’t you be looking at me, boy,” the guy said.

The way he said boy made Reacher think he was maybe a foreman in a lumber mill or a cotton operation. Whatever muscle work was done around Lubbock. Some kind of a traditional trade passed down through the generations. Certainly the word cop never came to his mind. But then he was relatively new to Texas.

“Don’t you look at me,” the guy said.

Reacher turned his head and looked at him. Not really to antagonize the guy. Just to size him up. Life is endlessly capable of surprises, so he knew one day he would come face to face with his physical equal. With somebody who might worry him. But he looked and saw this wasn’t the day. So he just smiled and looked away again.

Then the guy jabbed him with his finger.

“I told you not to look at me,” he said, and jabbed.

It was a meaty forefinger and it was covered in grease. It left a definite mark on Reacher’s shirt.

“Don′t do that,” Reacher said.

The guy jabbed again.

“Or what?” he said. “You want to make something out of it?”

Reacher looked down. Now there were two marks. The buy jabbed again. Three jabs, three marks. Reacher clamped his teeth. What were three greasy marks on a shirt? He started a slow count to ten. Then the guy jabbed again, before he even reached eight.

“You deaf?” Reacher said. “I told you not to do that.”

“You want to do something about it?”

“No,” Reacher said. “I really don′t. I just want you to stop doing it, is all.”

The guy smiled. “Then you’re a yellow-bellied piece of shit.”

“Whatever,” Reacher said. “Just keep your hands off me.”

“Or what? What are you going to do?”

Reacher restarted his count. Eight, nine.

“You want to take this outside?” the guy asked.

Ten.

“Touch me again and you’ll find out,” Reacher said. “I warned you four times.”

The guy paused a second. Then, of course, he went for it again. Reacher caught the finger on the way in and snapped it at the first knuckle. Just folded it upward like he was turning a door handle. Then because he was irritated he leaned forward and headbutted the guy full in the face. It was a smooth move, well-delivered, but it was backed off to maybe half of what it might have been. No need to put the guy in a coma, over four grease marks on a shirt. He moved a pace to give the man room to fall, and backed into the woman on his right.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” he said.

The woman nodded vaguely, disoriented by the noise, concentrating on her drink, unaware of what was happening. The big guy thumped silently on the floorboards and Reacher used the sole of his shoe to roll him half onto his front. Then he nudged him under the chin with his toe to pull his head back and straighten his airway. The recovery position, paramedics call it. Stops you choking while you′re out.

Then he paid for his drinks and walked back to his motel…

Of course, this scene just shows a quietly escalating fight and it shows a hero who has the ability to take a fight to a quick conclusion. You’re going to have to use a slightly different approach if you have several people involved and if you have a fast and furious fight with two more evenly matched aggressors. But the principle is the same.

Don’t let the reader watch the fight from a distance. Get them into the skin of the main character, privy to his thoughts and his emotions. Let readers feel the impact of fists and feet; let them experience the adrenaline (or irritation, depending on the level of provocation). Then your fight scenes will pack the kind of punch you want.

(c) copyright Marg McAlister

Marg McAlister has published magazine articles, short stories, books for children, ezines, promotional material, sales letters and web content. She has written 5 distance education courses on writing, and her online help for writers is popular all over the world. Sign up for her regular writers’ tipsheet at writing4success.com writing4success.com/

There are several speed reading techniques that speed readers employ to read very fast and comprehend what they are reading. One of them is the Returning Eye Sweep movement technique. This is a method that allows the sweeping movement of the eye across words, sentences, and paragraphs. As the eye moves from one end of the sentence to the other end, it rapidly jumps to the second line, and third line and so on as it tries to capture useful details along its way.

This is a diagramatic representation of how the returning eye sweep movement technique works.

The eyes movement ———————-> The eyes moves downwards here
*****************************************************************
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Continuing from the second line.

As the eyes browse smoothly through all words in a straight sentences, it quickly picks up vital details and move on to the second line without stopping or hesitation. The reader has practiced to naturally pass through difficult terms that may not be initially clear to him and thus nothing stops him on the way as he reads.

Any speed reader who uses this method learns to initially review the material by first pausing, then once he starts, nothing stops him, he puts his eyes in continuous motion and the eyes searches for relevant details to the intentions of the reader. To achieve this type of speed you will need to learn how to fast read using this strategy. You may want to practice using any of journals, magazines, newspapers, or any material that you are good at. Once you read such material leisurely, try using the returning eye sweep method and see how well you go. Let’s take an exercise and read it together.

Use of Eye Sweep movement technique to speed read the sentence below:

The Hazards of fireworks in the U.S:
One of the very remarkable events that mark independence day is the use of fireworks display to celebrate. However, the use of fireworks has caused serious injuries and health harzards to over 80,000 kids within a period of a over a decade and three years. Consequently, the U.S government is reconsidering the use of fireworks for celebration purposes of any type. Thus there may be new laws strictly prohibiting the use of fireworks in any event.

Now with a stop watch in your hand time yourself:

How rapid is your return sweep?
How long did it take you to complete reading the sentence above using this method?
What did you understand in this time period?

To effectively test your comprehension level on the above, answer the following:

A. What is the title?
B. Why is fireworks being reconsidered?
C. Who is reconsidering fireworks?
D. What categories of people has been hurt by this development?
E. What is the amount of people and over how long?
F. What future possibility is there about fireworks with the U.S government?

When you are using the eye sweep movement, try to keep a progress chart handy. This will be useful in checkmating how well you are doing. Record the time, comprehension level and the type of speed reading techniques you are using at every time you are practicing.

It should be noted that there are other eye techniques that can be used to achieve an amazing speed in reading. such methods as eye fixation method, and others are techniques that are unique to each and every individual who is speed reading. The secret here to masterfully use any one is to practice and practice and practice more. There is no magic weapon greater than this.

Joe Okoro writes about Speed Reading in his free reports. You can sign up for his courses and get additional information by visiting: speedreadingguideonline.com speedreadingguideonline.com

Well-written material allows the reader to see, hear, and feel what is happening rather than being told what happened. This show, don’t tell idea makes stories, whether fiction or non-fiction, and poetry live in the mind of the reader. News stories haven’t yet come under the umbrella of showing, but the purpose of straight news items is different. Let’s look at the difference between telling and showing through the following examples:

Telling:

The couple walked down the road until they reached a house. The man hurried around the side of the house to peek around the corner as the woman knocked on the door. When an elderly man opened the screen, the hidden man jumped onto the porch with a gun in his hand, shooting the older man in the chest.

Showing through dialogue and action:

“Jason, I don’t think we should be a doin’ this.” Marla pulled against the scraggly-haired man forcing her along the country road. “Look, we can manage some other way, can’t we?”

With a sharp curse, Jason jerked her to a stop. “We’ll do what we planned to do. You better not back out now. Don’t even be thinkin’ that way, or I’ll make you hurt real bad.”

Tears pooled in Marla’s eyes as she shuffled along the side of the dusty road. She wiped her nose on the arm of the faded sweatshirt she wore with tattered jeans. “Okay, okay, I’ll do it. Jest don’t hurt me any more.”

With a rough push in her back, Jason caused her stumble a few steps before she caught her balance. “Jest get on up the drive to the house, and don’t knock on the door until I get hid.” He ran ahead of her, up the steps to the wrap-around porch, and behind the corner of the house from the door. He waved for Marla to knock on the door when she paused at the top of the steps. When she hung her head without moving, he hissed until she glanced toward him. Once he had her attention, he glared at her and shook a fist in her direction before jabbing a finger toward the door.

Marla’s shoulder rose as she took a deep breath. She stepped to the door and lightly rapped with her fist. She started to turn away when the screen creaked open. An wizened man with wisps of gray hair standing away from his head stood in the opening.

“What’s ja need?” he asked, leaning against the door jam.

Jason leaped from behind the corner of the house, a gun in his right hand. The elderly man jumped back and tried to slam the door, but he couldn’t move as rapidly as the younger man. Jason fired the gun twice. Marla stood staring at the blood squirting from the man’s narrow chest.

He doesn’t look like he could of had that much blood, she thought as she backed away, a hand at her throat.

Showing through action:

The couple moved in stops and starts down the country road. The young man with the stringy hair would pull the stumbling woman, no more than a teenager, and she would resist. They stopped, and the man shook the girl, yelling at her. The girl’s shoulder heaved, but she no longer fought him as they proceeded to a house set back from the gravel road.

The man hopped onto the wrap-around porch and hid behind the corner of the house. He motioned to the girl to knock on the door. She hesitated. He pumped his fist in her direction and pointed to the door. She lowered her head but did as directed.

When an elderly man opened the screen, the younger man leaped from behind the corner of house, a gun in his right hand. The elderly man jumped back and tried to slam the door, but the younger man was faster. He fired the gun twice. The girl stared at the blood squirting from the older man’s narrow chest.

Showing in poetry:

Anger

Black, billowing smoke, fed by blazing flames,
Twists the mid and soul like a blade
Turning within a blast furnace of molten steel
Thought becomes muddled with eruptions of agony;

Nothing is clear or positive, but all confrontational,
Filled with the desire to hurt, to maim, even kill.
The pounding of one’s heart closes his ears
To reason, to the cry of control, of restraint.

When the final explosion destroys all reason,
What is left is ashes of physical insanity,
The remains of emotional destruction,
The exhaustion felt by losing all inhibition.

Joy becomes a dim memory lost in violence.
(copyright 2006 by Vivian Gilbert Zabel)

If we, as writers, try to write as if the narrator is an observer recording the actions, behavior, and story as it unfolds before him, then we are showing, not telling.

Vivian Gilbert Zabel taught writing for twenty-five years, honing her skills as she studied and taught. An author on ( Writing.Com/ Writing.Com ), her portfolio can be found at Writing.Com/authors/vzabel Writing.Com/authors/vzabel Her books, Hidden Lies and Other Stories, Walking the Earth, and The Base Stealers Club, can be found through book stores or Amazon.com.

Don’t let overwhelm hold you back— follow this expert advice and start writing your promotional article today.

As a writing coach, I frequently work with independent professionals who have great ideas for promotional articles, but no idea how to start writing them. Here are the first three of six essential steps to help you get clear about your subject, kick-start your process, and ensure your article is ready to go.

1. Have something you really, really want to say. It seems obvious, but before you write, make sure there’s a point you want to make, a story you want to tell, advice you just have to give. You’ve got to be a little bit burning to write, or your message will ramble, you’ll be bored, and there’ll be no connection with your reader.

Before you write, see if you can state the kernel of what you want to say in one sentence. If you can make it intriguing, all the better:

“Here are six guaranteed ways to kick-start your writing.”

“Here’s why my divorce was hell and how you can avoid that experience.”

“The best way to have a tidy office is to get rid of your office.”

If you can’t state your premise in one sentence, either you’re not clear on your message or you have more than one topic. Take some time and get clear on that single thing you want to say. We want one topic in depth, not skimming the surface of several.

If you′re stuck on your article, or getting bogged down or confused as you write, you can be sure you need more focus. So take a deep breath and put your article away until you can state your one-sentence premise.

2. Create an outline. I used to be one of those “jump in, bang ahead and follow your nose″ type of writers. And guess what? Every time I tried to write, I’d run out of steam. I’d lose focus, so I wouldn′t finish or, if I did finish, I’d have to edit a huge, rambling mess. Ugh. The whole process took weeks and was extremely discouraging.

You see, I was writing fiction, and I had this idea that it was more “creative″ and “artistic” to just jump in. Making an outline seemed so predictable and dull.

My awakening came when I began writing non-fiction articles. Here’s why: I had to communicate a message, and communicate it clearly. I had to write coherent, logical paragraphs, in strong, simple language. And I couldn’t take weeks to write every article, or I’d be, well, pretty darn old before anything was ready.

So, give me predictable and dull (for process, that is—not results!). Starting with an outline frees up my energy and attention for the actual writing and saves me one to two complete days of editing per article.

A great way to create an outline is to read other people’s articles, analyse their structure, and use that structure for your own. Be sure to choose well-written articles by established professionals in your field.

Here’s an example of an outline I created by deconstructing an article I’d read:

intriguing introduction

statement of the problem

case history to demonstrate your solution

list of practical tips

upbeat conclusion

Fill this out in point form, making sure that there’s a logical progression of thoughts. Then flesh out your points. You can write a first draft of a 1,500-word article in a day or two, put it away for a day, go back and tighten it up. You’re done.

Please note—using an article’s structure is fine, using someone else’s words is plagiarism (theft of their intellectual property).

Here’s the great part: You can simply use the same structure over and over. No one will notice, or care, because the content will be different each time.

3. Consider using lists. People love to know the 10 best ways, the five secrets, the 12 essentials. Be honest—don′t you always take a peek at an article whose title promises “Five ways to enhance your love life” or “10 secrets to financial independence”? There’s something almost addictive about reading these lists, like nibbling popcorn or potato chips.

Here’s my take on what makes lists enticing:

Readers love the tidbit form. The items in the list break up your article into manageable chunks of information, and also provide visual clues for skimming the page. Face it, you’ve done some of the reader’s work for her (and who isn’t grateful for a bit less work?).

Lists create an air of authority and credibility. After all, it takes confidence to promise “the 10 best ways” to do something.

This format creates a ready-made action plan for the reader.

For you, the writer, a list makes the process much less daunting. It’s less stressful to tackle writing your article if you know that you can divide it into five or 12 info-bytes comprising a paragraph or two each. And lists force you to be concise and direct.

You can use a list as the structure for your entire article, or you can include a list within a longer, more narrative-style piece of writing. One way to do this is to offer your reader a concluding list of practical tips coming out of your article’s premise.

This is a great strategy for staying connected with your readers. If you’re discussing “big” concepts that threaten to become too vague, give your reader an agenda:

“Now that we’ve discussed the importance of being organized at work, here are five actions you can take.

About The Author

David Roddis, The Writers’ Coach, helps independent professionals write killer marketing copy, promotional articles and information products that attract more clients. Go to coachdavid.ca/fasttrack1″ target=”_new coachdavid.ca/fasttrack1 to join his mailing list and receive a free copy of “12 questions to fast-track your article”. For more information, visit coachdavid.ca” target=”_new coachdavid.ca.

Let your script breathe

Let a script breathe? Come on. A script isn’t human (not before your shoot it) so how can it breathe?

Think of it as a child, your child. You must have at least nine months of pregnancy to have a child. There is no instant child. The same is with a script. There is no time limit when you write it unless you are professional and someone hires you to write it. For a freelance writer it can take months or years to have one ready and even then it is not finished until the film is shot and edited.

You started writing knowing &ampndash; more or less &ampndash; what is the concept, where you are heading, what is that you want to express. The urge that made you put everything else aside and dedicate your life to writing the script.

You finally managed to finish a draft of the script - all 90 or 100 pages of it. You have now earned the right to sit back and relax. What now? What would be the next step? You probably can not wait to open the window and shout to the world &quotI did it!! My script is finished!!&quot

My advise – Don’t. Don’t print it and don’t distribute free copies to family members and close friends. Why? because your creation is still a long way from being completed. Now you got to put it aside for at least a month or even more. Try to put it out of your mind as if you never wrote it. Let the script breathe for one month before you look at it again. Now read it. You will then realize that your first draft is not exactly a masterpiece. Scenes and dialogues have to be changed or deleted in whole or partly. Some of them are pure shit. You can’t believe that you were the one to create them. Why does it happen after a month? The lapse of time gives us a much better perspective of the script. A distance. You were detached from it for a certain period and can now be much more realistic. The first draft is written from the guts. All your feelings – and fewer thoughts – are in it.

You are now ready to start rewriting the 2nd draft which is very painful process to a writer. Writing the 1st draft you fell in love with your words and now you realize that in order to make it a better script you got to be merciless and delete scenes and dialogues. I had a 100 pages script which I thought – after the 1st draft – was great. 30 pages were deleted when I worked on the 2nd draft to be replaced by other 10 pages. As a result the script looked much better and tighter.

How many drafts should you write ? No one can tell you that because the rewriting goes on even during the shooting of the film. But you still have a very long way to go before your script reaches the shooting stage. In Hollywood each draft of the script has a different color. In some scripts they ran out of colors. But do not let this discourage you because the roads from the 2nd draft to the other ones are much easier. It is a matter of fine tuning &ndash just like a car.

Yair Packer has been writing scripts for theater and movies as well as participated in several feature film productions. Yair’s scripts are being adapted to both theater and cinema all over the world. Find out more about Yair’s scripҌall.com Short Scripts in his site scripҌall.com scripҌall.com