Writing Inrochester

Many college professors and other writing mentors will advise new writers that it is of utmost importance to “Write every day…”

Although I believe in the value of this advice, I also believe that in order to be creative and productive, you have to follow your own instincts.

Some days I just don′t feel inspired to write about anything. No matter how hard I may try to motivate myself on those days, I usually end up making myself more frustrated and less creative.

The time spent trying to get inspired is wasted, which only adds to my discontent, knowing that those hours could have been utilized more effectively to clean the house, read some magazines that have been sitting on my coffee table for weeks untouched, surf the net for new resources or personal stimulation, or (the honest truth) just lay on the sofa watching soap operas or talk shows that require no thinking and may even make me laugh, learn something new or relax my mind for few hours…

As with any profession, if you work all the time and don’t take some time off to just be a person, a mom, or a wife, you may lose your mind, burn out or become out of touch with the rest of the world.

My experience as a stay-at-home, single mom, and freelance writer working out of my home office, has proven to be a very satisfying, but solitary, arrangement. I love being home with my son and would not have it any other way. He will only be a little boy for a few years and the days when he goes to school and I must be away from him for eight hours a day will arrive too soon.

But sometimes I do miss the interaction with adults that other people have built-in to their daily lives by going to an office to work every day. Another aspect of working from home as a writer that is both a benefit and a challenge is not having a boss by your side.

It’s wonderful to have the freedom to do what you want when you want without anyone looking over your shoulder every day, but it’s also easy to be distracted or to procrastinate when you have only yourself to answer to. You alone are responsible for meeting your deadlines, making a living, organizing your time and ensuring your success. If you do not feel like working, nobody is going to tell you that you have to write or edit your articles in progress on any given day.

You must establish your own guidelines and be committed to fulfilling these self-imposed requirements. It’s easy to put things off when you’re not getting a push from your boss sitting in the office next to you. It’s also easy to forget that you’re not the only writer, who can deliver the article to the publisher.

When you’re working in a newsroom with other writers all around you, you can feel the competition. It’s easy to forget this feeling when you’re sitting in front of your computer at home alone. Another critical advantage to working in an office with other writers is the opportunity to bounce ideas and words off of each other.

Getting feedback from fellow writers is usually helpful for your creativity, self-esteem, and focus. One way to keep yourself connected to the competition and get opinions from your peers, is to join a writers group or take a writing class. There are many such opportunities available online now that don’t require you to leave your home or get a baby-sitter to participate regularly.

See “Professional Associations” at bellaonline.com/articles/art2583.asp bellaonline.com/articles/art2583.asp for links to related resources.

Posting your advice and/or sharing your thoughts in open forums and writing message boards online is another good way to keep in touch with other writers and get ideas to inspire your own creativity or improve your productivity.

I believe we can learn a lot by listening to each other. Remember what we share as women writers is truly unique. Not many people have our desire or our gift for communicating with the written word, thus making it difficult sometimes for others to understand where we’re coming from…

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

I am twenty three years old, have sold over four thousand copies of my first book in a matter of a month after it’s release and recently been contacted for contracts with Random House and Harper Collins for two new titles. I think a good deal of my recent success is highly correlated with my Reading for Charity Contest and the attention it has drawn. I’ll explain the entire background, but as pre-thought I think it first manifested itself through a combination of my looking for a good way to market my first book, while balancing out my karma a bit. A way to interweave my love of novel writing, increase my book’s visibility and provide a benefit to society in some way shape or form. All of these tasks have seemed to be accomplished- although my karma could still probably use some more balancing.

What is the Reading for Charity Contest?: Over sixty organizations, a group of corporate sponsors, and a handful of volunteers are the result of the charity contest. I took my very recently published book and decided to give away a certain percentage of it’s profits to charity. There was a catch though, the charity I will give my book profits to is being voted on, by the readers. So once you read my book, you can go to my webpage or find me at one of my book tours and vote for your favorite cause and the highest voted cause receives the profits (Which should be quite a bit). That was the reading for charity contests basic beginning. It’s the focal point of everything else that now surrounds the contest and of course my book. The contest was than expanded on by a few different means which, furthered the accomplishment of my goals.

1) Rather than your basic book tours I turned my book tours into a way to highlight the organizations participating in the contest. I have a large stand representing all of the participating organizations with their information and donation cards. Next came along a couple of benefit events- a silent auction, a couple of benefit dinners etc… Things that were really quite easy to put together, but could have a great benefit for the charity groups I was working with. Now this may seem like a good deal of work, which it was, but the benefits for the organizations had been huge, and the benefits for me personally has been equally spectacular.

The benefits all of this had for me: I was able to get involved with over sixty non-profit organizations and use my book and contest as a way to highlight their efforts and eventually provide them with a financial benefit as well. There is no truer statement that giving is a two way street. In return for my help with the organizations the organizations did their best to help out me. I am featured with my book in over fifty non-profit newsletters, on a large number of webpages, as well as postings and fliers from the organizations. Some organizations have newsletters with readers in the ten of thousands. It is equivalent to being featured in fifty newspapers across the country that are targeted directly to the reader.

2) The book tours are not only philanthropic, but also bring in a good deal of people and create a lot of buzz. After some attention a number of companies offered to sponsor the events. I was able to receive all of my marketing material for my book and contest for free from corporate sponsors. T-shirts, fliers, book marks, posters, business cards, mail outs, coffee cups, even mousepads with my book cover on them. My entire marketing plan which is now pretty extensive costs only about five dollars a month to cover the price of my website, that is it and nothing more.

3) When you have a purpose and are providing aid you directly relate with the community you are assisting. Since the organizations I have involved are spread out throughout the entire United States it has proved to be an excellent source of publicity, from radio, to newspapers, to magazines, even a couple of upcoming television shows. It has given my book an unbelievable pr hook in a market where it is difficult to get a story in a paper just because you recently published a book..

4) In basic when people read my book they are doing more than just being entertained, each copy bought goes directly to a great cause. The readers of the book are allowed to interweave their love of reading with a greater purpose in an interactive fashion. Once again a win-win situation.

I would like to expand a bit on the reading for charity contest idea. I think there are a world of ways to further the efforts and provide the joint benefit for some organizations out there, and assist me in my publication and book marketing endeavors. As a model however it has been incredibly successful, I think there are a lot of incredibly creative ways to market a book on a low budget like I originally had and turn it into a success. Once again I will state that giving something always brings in something, and in my case, it brought in an incredible book career.

About The Author

Zachary Weiner is 23 and has been published in numerous magazines and newspapers. He is the author of the recent novel “City at Night” and the upcoming novels “A Simple fate of twists” Ballantine Books “The Experts Speak” Harper Collins.

The words “Writer’s Block” can strike fear into the heart of writers young and old, form the virgin wordsmith to the veteran novelist.

For many of us, suffering from writer’s block at certain points in our writing careers feels as inevitable as the fact that the sun rises each morning and sets again each night.

And that’s the biggest danger of writer’s block.

The way we actually buy into this collective idea that if we’re a writer then yes we will be afflicted by writer’s block and yes it’ll be hard to overcome.

So it makes sense that to banish the dreaded block, we need to shatter this belief.

To help you, here are 5 reasons why in fact writer’s block is NOT a terminal condition:

1. We can choose what we focus on. The human mind has a few major blind spots in its logic. One of them is dealing with negatives. Even if we think “I will NOT suffer from writer’s block”, our mind tends to pick out the words: “Suffer. Writers. Block”.

The more we focus on NOT being blocked, the more we attract the state of being blocked. So instead, we can choose to focus on words and states like being creative, productive, inventive and flowing.

2. We can take preventative action.You know the old saying prevention is better than cure? Totally true in this case too. We can notice the times we’re more likely to feel stuck and find it more difficult to write.

Then we can take action and precautions to ensure we don’t put ourselves in these kind of situations and circumstances. By avoiding these times when we’re more likely to struggle to create, we increase our chances of writing freely.

3. We can practice being more creative and having more ideas. Adopting a mindset that you’re a creative person and that ideas are in everything around you is essential to banish writer’s block.

The more you get used to seeing ideas and finding inspiration in the tiny details of everyday life, the more of a readily available stockpile of ideas you have to call upon and develop with your writing.

4. We can change our beliefs. If we believe we’re likely to suffer from writer’s block, we will. Our beliefs are more powerful than we often realise, and can influence every part of our life.

Take a good look at the beliefs you hold about creative writing – both in general about how you think writers are, and more specifically what you believe about yourself as a writer. Weed out those negative beliefs and replace them with ones more positive and supportive.

5. Ultimately, it’s a state of mind, not an external force. We are not slaves to writer’s block, quivering in fear with each word we write, in case it suddenly strikes us and renders us helpless to write anymore.

Writer’s block is as real, and as big an issue, as you want to believe it to be. You’re the only person who can overcome this false idea that writer’s block is something you are at the mercy of.

These are 5 powerful reasons why writer’s block need not be a terminal condition for you and your creative writing.

What action can you take today to start putting to rest the beliefs and mindsets that hold your writing back?

Here’s a bonus tip to overcome writer’s block: Sit down, get a pencil and a sheet of paper and just write…

Want to find out how more about how to overcome writer’s block and unlock your creative writing potential? Then sign up for your FREE 5 part youareacreativewriter.com creative writing ecourse right away at YouAreACreativeWriter.Com YouAreACreativeWriter.Com

Creativity Coach and keen creative writer Dan Goodwin helps people who are frustrated they’re not using their creative talents as well as they could be. See more at his website: CoachCreative.com CoachCreative.com

Writing for the public is a discipline. And that means WORK. Do not be daunted though - you do not need a University Degree to write well. You just need to apply yourself. If you follow the Tips below you will soon be on the right track to turning out good professional copy.

· Read as much as you can, concentrating on quality writing.
The more you read well-written material, the better you will write. Bookmark the websites of people who write well and check back often to soak up their style. Analyse what it is that makes them good writers and how they grab your attention.

· Go over your work with a fine toothcomb at least 5 times before you consider it done.
Never, ever, EVER (and this is the most important Tip of all) write something once and consider it finished. I can assure you that no good writer ever does that. This process should ideally be spread over several days at least, to allow the passage of time to give you a more objective view of your new creation.

Here is what you are looking to do:

o Prune those words.

After a while, you will become an expert at this. The first time we write our thoughts down we tend to type as the thoughts come into our heads. That is not good enough for the finished product. Get your delete key ready and strip out all the superfluous words and phrases that clutter the flow of thought. Don’t do this just once - keep at it until you are satisfied that every word left in there deserves its place.

o Establish a clear, logical flow.

That first draft represents the thoughts tumbling into your head - not always in the best order. Try to see where you can move, delete or rewrite paragraphs and sentences so they form a clear, logical sequence. Your readers will thank you for it, and you will reap the rewards. If people are struggling to see what you are driving at they will click away very quickly.

o Do not allow your sentences to get too long.

Long sentences are attention-losers. Watch out especially for the “and” trap - many inexperienced writers use “and” to string multiple ideas into long-winded sentences that lack sparkle and lose the reader’s interest.

o Keep paragraphs short.

Long paragraphs are a give-away of amateur writing. Remember also that people unconsciously shy away from reading great blocks of text. Examine any long paragraphs you have to see if they can be broken down logically. This will also help the flow of thought - we all need to be told where an idea ends. When we finish reading a paragraph we have a momentary pause to assimilate the idea it presents. Help your readers to do this.

· Create a compelling headline for your piece.

This is very important. You have a few seconds only to grab your visitor’s undivided attention, so make full use of the impact potential of your headline. Craft your headline around a powerful Benefit Statement and embed that in action words.

Remember, visitors come to your site asking, “What’s here for me?” They do not want or need a lecture on how good your business is. They want to know how to solve a problem or need they have. Offer an answer or product they want, right up front, and they are likely to stay.

· Get to the point quickly.

Don′t let your good headline down - strike while the iron is hot by keeping up the momentum. Briefly develop the headline concept before moving on to your main message.

· Do not leave people hanging.

Be very sure what you want your visitors to do next and tell them to do it, nicely of course - but firmly. If you are giving directions make them clear. People like to be told what to do - with an explanation. It’s easier to remember what to do if you know why. Follow the format used here and you will not go wrong.

· Spelling and grammar.

In the computer age, there is no excuse for spelling errors or bad grammar. Use the spell check for peace of mind every time you write. It’s so easy!

· Do not succumb to “Writer’s Block”.

We have all sat poised over a keyboard wondering where to start. Don’t wait for hours for the perfect intro to drop from the sky. Don’t cry “writer’s block” and put the job off for another day - that is not how the Pros operate.

Overcome the problem by ACTION. Start to type - just get started. Put down anything relevant to the topic that comes into your mind, without worrying about whether it’s great copy or not at this stage. Keep typing in this mode of “suspended judgement” until you run out of steam. You will be surprised at how much copy you have come up with.

NOW, sit down and start working on it as outlined above. Prune and reorganise it until your copy takes on a real shape and flow that conveys your message. More ideas are likely to surface once you start this process.

It is very satisfying to use this method. I have done so many times when under a deadline to produce and it has never failed me.

Start putting these Tips into action right away. Armed with this knowledge, you will soon feel more confident about what you write. We all have our own style, which is what makes our writing interesting – yours will develop the more you use your keyboard. Just be sure to follow the instructions in this guide and you will not go wrong.

Patricia Howitt
Webmistress, Web and Graphic Design, Author
Patricia’s career has been as a government lawyer working on the medico-legal field. She now indulges her passions for art and writing as a graphics and web designer.

Visit webfeet.biz webfeet.biz for web design and graqphics.
Visit healthnews-nz.com healthnews-nz.com for information to empower you in making decisions about your health.
Visit 1stclassweb.info 1stclassweb.info for Internet marketing and web development insights.

A professional biography or overview, showcasing your background, experience and expertise, is a necessity for every business owner. This often overlooked marketing tool is an excellent way to introduce you and your business to potential clients and possible strategic business partners. Potentially, it might open up opportunities for speaking engagements, radio or television interviews, or a feature print article. While any information about you and your business is helpful, information that is presented in a professional, well-polished manner can make all the difference in how others perceive you. Consider these important points as you craft your own professional biography.

1. One page wonder.

Your professional biography should be a few paragraphs and kept to one page or less. One page is perfect for copying on the reverse side of a handout or flyer. Several paragraphs, left justified make it easier to read and skim.

2. First, second, or third person?

Always write your biography in the third person. That is, refer to yourself by your name or she/he as appropriate. It sounds more professional as it appears that a third party wrote the text. For example, “Alexandra has been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, Newsweek, and Time magazines.”

3. Business in brief.

Not only do readers want to know what you do, but also they want to know who you work with – because they might want to work with you! A professional biography should include a sentence or two about your business niche (or niches) as well as the types of clients you serve. A modified version of your 30-second elevator pitch might be perfect.

4. And the winner is….

Make sure that you include a list of awards that you have received. Readers are interested in knowing about your talents and the organizations that recognize you for them.

5. Organizations.

Include names of the organizations, clubs, or associations to which you belong. A reader’s interest might be highlighted at seeing that you belong to the same alumni association or professional business group. Again, these connections might possibly lead to some interesting and exciting business opportunities.

6. Certifications and designations.

Include any professional certifications or designations you hold. Make sure you write out their names in full, rather than use abbreviations. Not everyone might know that CMA stands for Certified Management Accountant. And, perhaps, in a different discipline, it might represent something else – like a Certified Materials Analyst. If you no longer hold a particular designation, but it has played a major role in who you are and what you do, don’t hesitate to make a reference to it. For example, “Ann is a former Certified Data Processor and spent the last decade as an adjunct faculty member teaching higher mathematics at the University of Colorado, Boulder.” Don’t include abbreviations of college degrees, like MBAs as it looks unprofessional. The only exception to this would be for a Ph.D. designation.

7. Published?

Have you written any articles, books, e-courses or e-books? Self-published or not, your works add to your level of professionalism and credibility. Showcase them in your biography and you might earn additional royalties in terms of new clients or other opportunities.

8. Did I mention the media?

Have you been a guest on talk radio or television? Were you or your business featured or even mentioned in a newspaper article? If so, readers want to know. Again, these types of “mentions” add to your credibility and presence.

9. Call me any time.

People who want to know about you will read your biography for just that reason. And, if its compelling, rich, and includes the information they’re interested, in, they’ll want to contact you. Include complete contact information like your title (if any), name, address, telephone, fax, email, and website address. Make it easy to find this information by including it in the last paragraph of your professional overview.

10. Write, rewrite, and do it again.

After you have written your biography, edit, edit, and edit again. You may need to do a dozen or so revisions before you get it just right. Eliminate extra words, use descriptive words, keep the sentences short but varied in length, and write in the third person. Ask some friends to provide input as well. Make sure to revise your biography regularly to keep it up-to-date and refreshed.

Copyright 2004 by Tara Alexandra Kachaturoff.

Tara Alexandra Kachaturoff is a business consultant, writer, speaker, Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach and producer/host of Michigan Entrepreneur Television. Drawing on over 15 years of corporate experience, she coaches executives, professionals, and entrepreneurs on business and lifestyle issues and has been featured in print, radio and television. Her websites include virtualleverage.com virtualleverage.com, tarakachaturoff.com tarakachaturoff.com, and michiganentrepreneurtv.com michiganentrepreneurtv.com

Writers like to quote the classics and the famous. Often, though, through misinformation or poor research, they end up misquoting-and sometimes misinforming. In some cases, they attribute a statement to someone who never made it. Because they’ve heard the quotation misquoted so often, they don′t bother checking the authenticity. Everyone pretty much knows by now that Marie Antoinette never said, “Let them eat cake,” even though she gets the blame. And Sherlock Holmes, in the books, never said, “Elementary, my dear Watson.” (But, then, he never smoked a calabash pipe, either.) Beatrice Hall, who wrote a biography of Voltaire admitted that he never said, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” He did say, “Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too,” but that doesn′t imply anything to die for.

In other instances, a common way to misquote is to attribute a statement to the author when it was something said by a character in a play, poem, or book. Famously, Shakespeare didn’t say, “First, let’s kill all the lawyers.” It was Dick the Butcher’s line in Henry VI, Part 2. Greta Garbo’s character in Grand Hotel said, “I want to be alone,” but Garbo never did. There are sources that quote her as saying, “I want to be left alone,” but there’s a world of difference. “Anyone who hates dogs and little children can’t be all bad,” wasn’t said by W.C. Fields. It was said about him by Leo Rosten. [For other good examples, Google Words Used Right - No. 5: An Accurate Quote Can Be a Misquote.]

Probably the most frequent way to misquote is to change the wording slightly as in Winston Churchill’s “We have nothing to give but blood, sweat, and tears.” [The line: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.] or Alfred Hitchcock’s “Actors are cattle.” [The line: Sometimes, actors need to be treated like cattle.] Lines from movies are notoriously misquoted. Many of the misquotes have become part of the culture. Bogart’s “Play it again, Sam.” [The line: You played it for her. You can play it for me. If she can stand it, I can. Play it! Play it, Sam.], Cagney’s “You dirty rat, you.” [The line: Mmm, that dirty, double-crossin' rat.], Weissmuller’s “Me Tarzan. You Jane.” [The line: Jane. Tarzan. Jane. Tarzan.], and Dumbrille’s “We have ways of making you talk.” [The line: We have ways of making men talk.] get cited all the time, but they’re close to the actual lines and don’t change the intent of what was being said.

When the original intent is changed along with the words, it becomes a question of intellectual honesty. This is often what happens when writers quote the Bible without actually having read it. Money is not the root of all evil. [1 Tim. 6:10 "For the love of money is the root of all evil."] And pride doesn’t go before a fall. [Prov. 16: 18-19 "Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall."]. Sparing the rod has nothing to do with spoiling the child. [Prov. 13:24 "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him."]

This kind of misquoting also happens often when historic sources or persons are used to shore up an argument. Does power corrupt as Lord Acton is quoted as saying? Not quite. [The line: Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.] Marx wasn′t really comparing religion to drugs, so he didn′t call it the opiate of the masses. [The line: Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.] This statement is a bit more subtle than the misquote and not as damning.

The Bard certainly gets his share of being misquoted. Juliet never asked about Romeo’s location. [The line: Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?] In this usage, “wherefore” means “why,” and putting a comma before the last Romeo totally messes with what Shakespeare meant. All Hamlet said was that he was acquainted with Yorick but not how well. [The line: Alas poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio.] And Macbeth didn’t need a guide, so he didn’t say, “Lead on, Macduff.” He wanted the fight to start [The line: Lay on, Macduff, and damned be he who first cries, Hold! Enough!]. Sometimes, the misquote seems a bit silly. Shakespeare never mentioned gilding a lily. [The line: To gild refined gold, to paint the lily.] What’s really accomplished by dropping the middle four words? In the same vein, there’s Falstaff’s actual line, “The better part of valour is discretion,” not “Discretion is the better part of valour,” and Gertrude’s real words, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” being rendered, “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.” Why bother to rewrite Shakespeare if you’re going to say the same thing?

So, why do writers do it? For political correctness as when Congreve’s “Music has charms to soothe savage breast” gets “cleaned up” to “soothe the savage beast?” Or could it simply be ignorance and indifference? I don′t know, and I don′t care. I do know, though, that if you want to be taken seriously as a writer, you need to check your sources and not rely on hearsay-no matter how many times you hear someone say it. Who knows, we may discover some day that Nathan Hale’s last words were actually, “I was misquoted.”

Bill Moore is the author of Write Rite Right. This compendium of homophones, homonyms, and frequently misapplied words is a necessary resource for anyone who writes for others to read. (Available on backoftheroom.com, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com)
Bill works with businesses, focusing on organizational development and corporate training with emphasis on communications and product presentation. He helps his clients sharpen communication and selling skills and reach targeted audiences effectively.
He’s a freelance trainer, researcher, and technical writer with over 30 years professional experience.
Visit his Website, WriteRiteRight.com WriteRiteRight.com for more information on words and writing. You can contact him personally at mailto:bill_moore@WriteRiteRight.com bill_moore@WriteRiteRight.com

In a recent consultation a client, who is a business owner, asked questions about writing compelling letters and adverts.

In this last article he wanted to know if how he collated his mail package would make any difference to the response he gets…

QuestionYou emphasise that even with a great letter and response form you could still ‘shoot yourself in the foot’ if your mail out package is not right. What do you advise should go into a mailer, how should it be collated and why?

Answer

This is the minimum that’s proven to be really effective in a mailing package, although you must remember everything should be tested.. It should contain 5 or 6 pieces:

1 - The main letter describing the offer

2 - A lift letter. From a 3rd party endorsing or recommending the product or service in the offer. This could be a satisfied customer or a professional in your industry or a business colleague recommending you to their clients.

3 - A well-designed response form. Use the right quality of paper to match the offer being made. Even if the offer is a ‘free’ report or booklet, the quality of the paper will ‘position’ your service or product in the recipient’s mind – “Is this a valuable offer is it worth spending my time responding?”

4 - A Business Reply Envelope / freepost address/ other mechanism for easy response – e.g. faxback number or freephone number your prospect can call.

5) A descriptive leaflet – (optional). Make sure it contains information that is reader focused – not just text saying how wonderful your product and company is.

6 - The envelope you send the mailer out in.

If your lift letter has the contact details mail-merged onto it that faces the front of the envelope in a window envelope.

Your main letter faces out at the back, with your response form, leaflet and envelope following and facing in the same direction. Doing it this way means your recipient sees the headline if they pull the letter out with the back facing them, or the lift letter if they pull it out with the front facing them.

If you have a powerful response form it is worth testing having that facing the back with your main offer letter following the lift letter.

©2005 Original Work by Carol Bentley

Do you have a Question you want answered? Visit CarolBentley.com″ target=”_new CarolBentley.com and Click on Got a Question?. I’ll send you an answer and might include your Q&A in a future article.

Carol Bentley; author of ‘I Want to Buy Your Product… Have You Sent Me a Letter Yet? (How to create powerful sales letters, advertisements, flyers, brochures, web pages and newsletters that persuade hundreds, or even thousands, of additional customers and clients to buy from you!)***** Rated 5-star on Amazon.co.uk by 7 reviewers.

I’ve had years of experience in the technical publishing world so I was skilled in a lot of areas when I first started down the path to becoming a novelist. But the 3 areas where I had to get up to speed were: (1) how to craft a novel, (2) how to get an agent, and (3) how to promote/market my book. Since I started down this path 5 years ago, I’ve learned a lot about the craft, I learned how to hire and fire an agent, and I’ve even managed to learn a few things about marketing. And while there is more than one way to market yourself, I wanted to share what I’ve learned that works for me.

The latest tool for marketing yourself as an author is the blog, of course. Some take the route of having many blogs, either because they love to blog or they see it as the most effective way of getting the word out there. I started down that route just because I love to blog. But then I noticed 2 things: (1) I was too focused on blogging and wasn’t spending enough time creating work that could possibly sell and (2) I seemed to be more successful when I focused on just being myself and being in one place where people could find me. Hence, the redirection of my blogging efforts.

A quote that caught my attention recently was this: “To market yourself as an author, you should brand yourself and not your book.” Bodacious Mary says this, “Every woman entrepreneur should watch American Idol.” Why? Her advice is to “Watch this show and notice what makes the contestants stand out. Their passion and self-confidence gives the viewer an experience.” How did that happen? They were being authentic–they were being who they were meant to be.

I’ve had the biggest hits on my blog–not when I traipse all over the internet–but when I’m just being myself, speaking out about things I feel passionate about. As a result, other bloggers, touched by what I say, talk about me on their blog (thankfully, it’s all good so far), and the next thing I know, my hit counter is spiking. Suddenly, I’m big in Malaysia, Australia, South Africa and other countries I never would have thought to find me. Now that’s an incredible experience. Why do they link to me? They love my attitude. After all, “attitude is just how you see things.” Wow! I’m just being myself and people are drawn to that. I’m very flattered and I’ve learned from it.

It’s interesting that one of my friends from 8th grade in my southern California junior high school said a few years back that what she liked about me when she met me was that I stood up for what I believed in. I never knew that, but I realized we show who we are at an early age. And that’s something we need to remember: be authentic, show who you are, and life will be much more rewarding in so many ways.

Suddenly, I’m hearing Bobby Flay say, “Go out there and eat America.” And I say, “Go out there and be yourself.” Be passionate, be self-confident, be authentic. And that’s much more important than checking off any “Things To Do Before I Die” list.

Kathy Holmes writes women’s fiction with attitude, a believer in second chances and every little girl’s need to know her daddy. She has published her first novel, “Real Women Wear Red,” set on a Caribbean cruise and a free companion Ebook, “Cyn’s Fabulous Guide to Cruising.” She has also published a nonfiction book, “Myths of the Fatherless,” about her journey to find and meet her father. To find out more, see her web site and blog at kathyholmes.net kathyholmes.net

Creative writing is considered to be one of the most perplexing forms of articulating thoughts and ideas on paper. It turns out to be a hard nut to crack because it requires the ability to think freely, giving thoughts a modicum of leeway, and express ideas and experienced feelings sincerely and openly.

That’s why putting wind in the sails with creative writing is not within every writer’s grasp. It means that a person, who succeeded in process writing approach that is all about planning, revising, re-arranging, and deleting text, re-reading, and producing multiple drafts before producing finished documents, will have the same good results in creative writing.

Surely, it does not imply that creative writing process does not need proper planning and preparation, it means that creative writing permits the author to deviate from the specific writing styles and not to be consistent with all the standards of this style. In a word, creative writing gives the author leeway in terms of presentation and development of a piece of writing.

Since creative writing is not simply a matter of sitting down, putting pen to paper, following smart instructions of emeritus pundits, commence at the beginning and write through to the end. Creative approach treats all writing as a creative act that requires time, positive feedback, and inspiration to be done well. People who engage in creative writing do not merely think freely; they view the world from free-thinking perspective.

Without a doubt, creative writing is not only about inspiration and gift of the writer, and it is far from coming easy to the writer, it also needs a lot of elbow grease in order to produce a piece of writing worth the attention of the readers.

The key to success in creative writing lies in the author’s ability to be frank with his readers and honest with himself. Don’t be afraid to step aside from the established standards of the particular writing style, and open the door of your brain to the new ideas that cross the threshold of your imagination and knock around your mind.

Remember that process and explorations are the keystones in creative writing, rather than the finished product. Let yourself release your inner genius and vent on paper the most bizarre ideas that amassed in your mind. The source of ideas for your creative writing can be various kinds of resources of creativity such as oral tradition, dreams, childhood memories, sense perceptions and intuition.

Katrina Crosbie, a tutor of creative writing in Edinburgh University’s Open Studies programme, asserts that getting in touch with subconscious mind is the key to original and creative writing. She also claims that every writer can harness three simple techniques to enhance his creative writing abilities, they are mental focusing techniques, harnessing the power of your dreams and journal writing. Harnessing these techniques takes hard work; so, if you are ready, roll up your sleeves and follow these simple strategies.

I. Mental focusing techniques

Mental focusing techniques involve focusing on the positive outcome. It implies that you should concentrate and regulate your mental activity in order to enter a quiet state of your mind. The key point in mental focusing is to get rid of all the stray thoughts and replace it with one thought; this process should gradually induce a calm sensation. The procedure is very simple, you make yourself comfortable in a cozy armchair, and in all possible ways try to awake creativity inside of you.

You should say something like “I’m getting in touch with my creativity source”, and imagine physically how the stream of creativity comes into your mind. Remember the sensation of clear, cool water on your face, or a stream of fresh breeze, which is blowing in your face. Then imagine yourself sitting at your word processor, typing fluently, and writing avidly. After several minutes open your eyes and commence writing.

II. Harness the power of your dreams

Dreams have tremendous power. The subconscious memory can be the direct cause of the certain dreams. “When the mind is centered on certain things, the sleeper goes over his life again and again in phantom fashion. He lives over the experiences of his daily life.”

Overall, your daydreams can be important, just write them down after waking up in the morning. Perhaps, later on, re-reading the notes of your dreams will prompt you some interesting ideas for your creative works.”These can be triggers for an especially imaginative piece of work. American writer Joyce Carol Oates has said that her novel Bellefleur was inspired by a dream of a walled garden which haunted her for years ’till she felt she had to write about it.”

III. Keep the writing journal

This technique of enhancing your creativity is very simple and at the same time highly productive. Buy yourself a notebook, so that you can always have it at hand and write some brief narratives in it on a daily basis.

Don’t focus on the style, mistakes, and, in general, in the way you write. Just write down the first things that occur in your mind, even if you think that this is junk. The main idea is to keep your hand moving and to feel a growing sense of inspiration and confidence. In the course of time, you will become a practiced hand in writing. Surely, you will find your journal notes a rich source of inspiration and ideas.

If you really want to enhance you creative writing abilities, give a try to these simple techniques, and bring your craft as a writer into play!

Linda Correli is a staff writer of CustomResearchPapers.us/ CustomResearchPapers.us/ and an author of the popular online tutorial for students “What Teachers Want: Master the Art of Essay Writing in 10 Days”, available at GјEssay.com/ GјEssay.com/ Visit Linda’s web log at
custom-research-papers.blogspot.com/ custom-research-papers.blogspot.com/

Writing for sales and marketing purposes is not primarily about “good writing.” It’s about human behavior, the psychology of sales and using words that sell your product or service.

Think about it…it’s not organizations that buy your products. It’s not government entities. It’s not anonymous faces. It’s people.

People do business with people they know and trust: this is as true when writing as when you’re talking to someone in person. How do you begin to establish that trust? By writing in a form and language that they can relate to quickly, that make them feel they’re having a cozy chat with you over a cup of coffee.

- When you speak, you don’t always honor the rules of grammar. Often you don’t speak in full sentences.

- When you read, you hear the words in your head as you read them. If your writing is conversational, the reader will hear it as if you’re having a conversation with them.

Dangling participles, contractions, and sentences ending with prepositions: these are some of the things that were drilled into us at school as forbidden. And in good literary writing, that’s correct. However, for our purposes in marketing, breaking those rules is often a step in the direction of conversational copy.

Or course, the language also has to be appropriate to the audience and the product. But in the end it doesn’t matter how flowery, elegant or beautifully poetic your language. If it doesn’t affect your audience and make them feel that you know and understand them, chances are it just won’t work.

Here’s a really famous example of bad grammar that works. The Rolling Stones had a major hit called “I can’t get no satisfaction.” Would that have been as appealing if they’d followed the rules of good grammar and written, “I cannot get any satisfaction”? I don’t think so. Because good grammar destroys the rhythm that made the title catchy to begin with.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting you throw away your grammar books, or never open Strunk and White again. What I am suggesting is that hanging onto the rules of good grammar out of principle may make your marketing materials less attractive to your ideal clients than you’d like them to be. Be flexible. Be willing to overlook the rules in favor of the effect.

Remember the old adage that there’s an exception to every rule? Create your own exceptions! And watch how response shifts.

Maggie Dennison provides street-smart marketing and writing solutions for sole entrepreneurs and small businesss. She helps them streamline and simplify their marketing and find hidden profits in their businesses, and she writes compelling marketing materials that have clients clamoring to know more. She is the author of “11 Steps To Marketing Materials That Get You Clients NOW!” (available on her website). Maggie holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Psychology, and is fascinated with what triggers people to do the things they do. Pick up a free report at her website MyMarketingMessage.com MyMarketingMessage.com