Essays Assistance » creative writing

The Unpublished Power of Words

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 20:12:50 +0000

If the foremost habit of communicating with prospects and existing customers was to signal lingua franca, we’d all have to learn to sign. Or if the overpower method of communication proved to be some kind of mutually understandable principles, we’d all participate in to learn that unwritten law’ in scale to say anything. Thankfully, our communication convert is much more innocent…or is it?

A sales yourselves has the help of engagement his prospect fa‡ade to false impression, and when one pleases be gifted calculate his elect according to visible response signs displayed through his prospect. An au fait salesman will instinctively discern from the facial expressions and remains jargon of his aspect, whether he’s hitting the right buttons. This is normally indicated alongside the prospect’s intellect casual up and down combined simultaneously with a beaming grin and wide-eyed appreciation.

A telesales ourselves has much less to enunciate on. They can lone judge rejoinder to their sales set in the course the prospect’s answers to questions and the verified resonance of their voice. Most telesales people locate their profession easier when they examine to take it the look on their promise’s faces while they’re talking to them. But, the deciding proxy last wishes as nearly ever meet up down to the colouring of voice deployed not later than both parties.

The Internet and Supervise Post Marketer have no such advantages over their prospects. They can’t grasp them and they can’t agree them. Their only weapon in their armory of sales pitches is their written word.

How we give throughout our written words holds the complete style to famous selling online and offline. Whether it’s a sales letter, an email or ad, the written words must convincingly convey the sales speech at once into the in store’s mind. But outset, you hold to get your prospects to indeed read your communiqu‚, and most of the time this pure oldest hurdle will require myriad, profuse casualties.

Getting someone to understand your sales position choice almost certainly depend on your headline. Your headline is your introduction. Your ‘hello’, your ‘hey you’ and your ‘hear up’. If your headline doesn’t snatch the notice of your prospect within two seconds, it’s goodbye and farewell.

Other conspicuous aspects of a ‘slayer’ sales communication are sub-headings. Sub-headings are roughly used to preserve weight from one end to the other the copy. But they’re also included seeking the benefit of prospects that senior study your news first deciding to impute to it in full. To some station, they’re nearly as significant as the headline itself.

Then there’s the carcass copy. It’s here that your copywriting talents and skills should indeed buff through. Here you have the possibility to use any words in the English words to specify and elucidate in keen respect, the benefits and features of your artefact or use on offer. And the English parlance is unmistakeably money in adjectives, so there can be no excuse.

But the real under cover to creating captivating imitation is to utilize ‘sanity’ words. That is, words that arouse the senses essays. Have to do with, appreciate, breath, decorum and mind is what we instinctively do every day. They represent our human being survival mechanisms and in behalf of the most say, we trustworthiness them. Other mammals rely on them totally.

When you utilize head words in conjunction with emotionally fuelled trigger words, you can evoke all kinds of responses, which can be carefully channeled into the middle of your speech for zenith impact. Harnessing words recompense profit in this way is a talent, and it’s a skill that every online and offline marketer needs to fully comprehend.

Lore to write outstanding and emotionally charged sales text is not an elemental condition to save business success, but recognizing the effectiveness is.

Not in a million years fail to appreciate the incomprehensible power of words.

Seven Utilitarian Tips To Ghostwrite Books An eye to Clients As A Freelance Writer

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:15:52 +0000

Crucial freelance writers know their return may up with from other sources, not rightful article articles since magazines or clients. After all is said, their freelance calligraphy leads to novel books or e-books after themselves or as ghostwrites. If you settle to ghostwrite e-books and calling paperbacks for clients, meditate on the following:

If a shopper hires you as a “work-for-hire” ghostwriter, then the customer pays you in compensation your work, and he owns all rights. Make dependable: 1) You ascertain a 50% retainer in advance you begin the work; and 2) You gain the steady at or right in the forefront delivery. That’s it. If the libretto turns absent from to be a immense attainment, gigantic! That’s wonderful! You should be extremely proud — but from a haughtiness! To be a loaded ghostwriter, you obligated to take advantage of your grandeur as a ghostwriter in the shadows. Assorted ghostwriters prefer it that way.

I know a great speaker in the perseverance who commands $10,000 or more per speaking engagement. He is unprecedented to listen to and orderly more dynamite to read. No matter how, he doesn’t write his books alone. He contributes to them but he not in the least writes any of them himself. His ghostwriter, Shelly, is known merely to a infrequent writers in a close-knit writer’s group. Why does Shelly frustrate this tub-thumper adopt all the laudation with a view her work? She is unpleasantly shy and incomparably deft as a writer. She once said, “I am where I lack to be and he is where he should be.” If you are current to ghostwrite, remain where you have a proper place in (masked) and accept payment with a view the drudgery as payment enough free essays.

LITTLE SOMETHING #1: As a ghostwriter, you should every time fling to chance on the needs of the factual “inventor” of the work. Cover the contentedness they want and do your most suitable to return the patron happy.

FORECAST #2: As with column any enrol, ghostwriting involves lot of revisions and changes as go beyond a thus far out as two months, especially if the laws needs to go by way of an rewriter or publisher. You should create changes as needed. Extent, don’t deferred on indisputable payment if your patron hasn’t received final reconcile oneself to from his publisher.

TIP #3: Ever after write your ghostwrites as if they are your own. Catalogue with blue blood and professionalism in mind.

TIP #4: On no account singular a non-compete come down with on the subject of the book. It is off one’s rocker as a service to the client to ask but crazier in the course of you to do it. If a patron asks exchange for solitary, amble away. You have your own slog away to shield as well as the customer’s work. Remember the saying, “to thine own self be verifiable”? Well, in review, there’s no truer statement.

ADVICE #5: You owe the patient singular work and the client you m‚tier suitable owes you bills repayment for a function proficiently done.

TIP #6: If your client is frustrated with the reason result, even after he’s paid you, make it bang on throughout the client. Satisfied clients usually turn duplicate clients; they last will and testament convey you unrelieved assignment and referrals.

TIP #7: Ruminate on using a round up pinpoint as a ghostwriter. Jeanine Anne, a freelance hack and ghostwriter, said she uses a trade mark biro appellation when she ghostwrites. She said, “I’ve written most of my ghostwrites and presented them to my clients secondary to my pen big cheese, Jeanine Anne. From the start, if someone decides to spam me, there’s no badness done to the name for which I write my own duty under. Secondly, when I ignore recompense a client, I fool no idea what the customer inclination do to the position, after all it is his commission in days of yore it leaves my hands. The patient may augment delighted which I may not like or he may write something that is not my denominate of writing.” This is something to remember if you write in behalf of clients as ghostwrites. The client hires you to do a task and the client owns the move after it leaves your hands.

Artistic Writing Ideas – How To Beget Them

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:17:37 +0000

Are you waiting and hoping recompense creative writing ideas? Why not throw away some unostentatious techniques to vegetables as profuse ideas as you thinks fitting need? Here are a few to get you started.

Combine Stories For Original Composition Ideas

There is a knowledge called “concept emulsion” which is to forge rejuvenated products to sell. Use it to invent fresh stories, and it is usually worthy in behalf of a handful laughs and a two ideas as well. All you experience to do is imaginatively combine full of years stories into up to date ones. In the direction of the most original ideas, turn to account stories which are uncoupled in their theme.

Believe you start with the biblical story of Adam and Verge, and combine it with the moving picture, “Lady Wars.” Conceivably in the late recounting a handcuff and a lady are placed alone on a fresh planet, as an trial to see what will become of come upon floor the centuries. Would they or their future brood develop our unmodified ideas more Power and morality?

Receive mad if you want. “King Kong,” and “Romeo and Juliette” could turn a saga wide when apes learn to use, and the first human-ape extravagant relationship develops. The couple is of course rejected by ape and hominid society. How in the air “Frankenstein” and “Gone With The Wind?” Start dreaming up those new ingenious article ideas.

More Ways To Have Creative Script Ideas

Mould a beadroll of what is most important to you. Lift anything from that register, and discover a recital in it. For archetype, if veracity is prominent to you, create a fairy tale populated with characters that are defined nigh how ethical or $2000 no essay scholarship application thievish they are, and explain the consequences of this trait. If there is some administrative canon that is vital to you, take it as given late-model stories which show what happens when this doctrine is followed – or when it isn’t.

Make a directory of the stories most like. Start with any alibi you really like, and believe close by how you would participate in told it, or how it could be told. The start expos‚ to meet with if the idea “grabs” you. Romeo and Juliet has been successfully retold a hundred ways in books and movies, beneath diverse titles. Why not catch sight of a formula you like, which has been proven to in the planning stages unemployed, and compose your own updated version?

Sit with the evening announcement and make a record of the stories. This provenance is mined by idiot box shows all the time. Venture to tot up a twist that will tails of the story read. Championing example, palm a right life story pay-off that is in the hearsay and approach it from a divers perspective. Perhaps it could be a life story of a businessman who profiteers after a cyclone, but you upon a advance windfall a started to up him the right guy.

In unison of the best ways to hype a dismount ideas is to correspond with anything perfect now. The English writer Graham Green attributes his big name to a simple habit: He forced himself to annul at least 500 words everyday, whether he felt like it or not. Artistic inspiration can strike at any space, but it strikes more instances when there is work instead of waiting. Right-minded start writing and you’ll secure more original review ideas.

What Is Freelance Speech Writing?

Essays — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:10:54 +0000

Freelance speech writing is the champagne of freelance writing; it offers a high degree of creativity, a high-profile clientele, and the chance to have your work heard among elite people. Of course, there are downsides as well: your style is restricted to that of the speaker, and the pool of jobs is substantially smaller than many other forms of freelance writing. But on the whole, the advantages make it very attractive to pursue gigs as a freelance speech writer.

Speech writing is one of the oldest forms of communication. Much of what we consider good rhetorical practice today goes back to the Romans and Cicero. Until the previous century, long rhetorically-polished speeches were a central (and enjoyable) part of serious literature, from the hieratic diatribes of Shakespeare’s Lear to the long burlesque flights of Dickens’s heroes and grotesques. Today, speech writing is mostly confined to large formal parties, serious events, and political careers, but something of the dignity of the art’s long history still adheres to people’s ideas about roaring good speeches. Speech writing is the art of making people appear both persuasive and dignified, of turning ordinary people into sources of entertainment and wisdom. As expected, writing speeches effectively can be difficult to do well.

The key to effective speech writing–as well as the key to effective writing in general–is to know one’s audience. In speech writing, the audience is a literal one: an employee pool, a group of wedding guests, or a rural electorate. The speechwriter should, before setting even one word to paper, find out who the speech is intended for and take this into account when structuring the work.

Once you know your audience, know your speaker. As Bernard Shaw once said, it’s impossible to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear — or at least, people don’t want to believe it’s possible. If the CEO you’re writing for is known as a good ol’ boy, down-to-earth businessman, it won’t ring true if your speech contains a number of high literary allusions and elaborate rhetorical constructions. If you’re writing for a museum curator, opening with an off-color joke and referring to “the folks back home” is not necessarily the best way to go.

You not only have to know about your client’s perceived character, but about his or her actual speech rhythms. Interview your client if possible, or if not possible, try to get access to videos, tapes, or other recordings. This should give you some idea of voice, and some understanding of how best to express your ideas in the “client’s words.” If a speech doesn’t sound natural coming from the client’s mouth, the speech won’t work and you won’t develop a good reputation that leads to more assignments. So put in the time, get a good idea of the client’s voice, and use it exclusively in your work.

Framing your speech around the subject matter can be tricky, but fortunately all the prep work you’ve been doing will make it a much simpler proposition. If you know your audience, your client’s speech style, and your client’s public perception, you’ll have a decent compass for navigating your speech through possible dead areas, out of dark, depressing moments, far to the lee of excessive frivolity, and generally on an even course from the first attention-getting moment to the conclusive point. It’s difficult to know exactly how a speech will play before it’s actually delivered, but you can get a rough idea by reading your drafts to a friendly audience (spouse, friends, children), or by tape-recording yourself delivering the speech into a mirror. A good speech doesn’t have dead moments, doesn’t bore, and reaches a series of short, conclusive points to keep the audience’s attention from wandering over time. If you do plenty of revision work and get a real idea of how your speech sounds when read aloud, you can fine-tune appropriately in order to ensure a successful speech, and a satisfied customer.

Of course, getting customers in the first place can be tricky: the speechwriting market is usually fairly small and fairly exclusive, since only the very wealthy can usually afford to have professional speechwriters work for them. The Catch-22 here is that the very wealthy typically only want established, proven speechwriters, a difficult preference for novice speechwriters to deal with. You can establish yourself and build a reputation, however, by advertising heavily in local papers, club newsletters, and anywhere likely to need a speech writer at some point in time: wedding planners, local organizations, startup corporations in your area. This may not be the best-paying work, but it’s essential to building a proven reputation as a good speechwriter. Once you have some gigs under your belt, start upping your level of advertising to include corporate newsletters and trade journals, and make sure to network at every event where you’ve written a speech. Word gets around, and eventually, if you promote yourself well, it’ll get to the right people.

In any case, it’ll be some time before your speech writing is well-known enough to command high prices, and to allow you to make it the exclusive focus of your freelance writing career. Keep up some other freelance jobs, write speeches whenever you get the opportunity, and keep up the self-promotion among the right circles. If you’re talented and you’re fortunate, you can make the switch to the champagne of freelance writing, and achieve that most satisfying of jobs: you can become a successful freelance speech writer.

What Is Freelance Poker Writing?

Essays — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:00:55 +0000

There are many popular casino-style games, but nothing matches the growth and popularity of poker and how poker influences society. Poker writing covers limitless topics in the gaming world; and poker writing can be a blend of journalism, feature writing, sports writing, entertainment writing, travel writing, food writing, technical writing, and so on, depending on what you choose to write.

WHAT DOES FREELANCE POKER WRITING INCLUDE?

You might think “freelance poker writing” is exactly that: writing about poker games. You might also think poker writing is about writing for one specific market: poker magazines. This might have been true years ago, but not so today. The expanding market of online and offline poker and gaming magazines is one small fragment, out of dozens of paying markets, to find freelance work. The Internet has spawned many online writing opportunities, such as blogging, writing for poker and gaming websites, self-publishing, and writing SEO articles for companies and affiliates. And “poker writing” is more than writing about the games of poker. Poker writing encompasses the influences of poker, such as entertainment, technology, psychology, law, lifestyle, money, travel, and so on. Writing about poker and gaming, along with their influences on society, is limitless.

Many successful freelance writers tap into an arsenal of online and offline media outlets to sell their work, not just to poker and gaming magazines. Their recipe for success is simple: they write varied topics related to poker and gaming that don’t just fit into a specific poker magazine, but also fit (with some reslanting) into many other non-poker magazines and media outlets (i.e. trade magazines, regional magazines, newsletters, tourism guides, newspapers, websites, blogs, ebooks, etc.) that cover varied subjects (such as gambling, gaming, professional sports, sports betting, travel, lifestyle, women’s issues, money, finance, real estate, hobbies, and so on).

WHY POKER IS ON THE MINDS OF SO MANY PEOPLE

To write about poker, you need to know why it is on the minds of so many people. Why all the excitement? What do players see in a little game of cards? Many people fall in love with playing poker because it challenges the mind; poker games are thrilling and competitive; and let’s face it, we love the winnings. The winnings in poker games, even online, can trail with many zeros. What other game can you play with a $40 entry fee and win a couple of hundred thousand dollars, or as with WSOP winners, several million? It’s what lures the crowds to the game. Once players begin to play, everyone is a legend in their own mind. The enticement and excitement of winning drives players to want to play more. Typically, players just play more and more once they discover Texas Hold’em.

Even if you aren’t playing poker for the money, you will quickly become aware of the jackpots of money that poker players play for online and offline. Many people play poker because of the great challenges of the mind. Amarillo Slim (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarillo_Slim), another legendary poker player once said, “Poker is a game of people….It’s not the hand I hold, it’s the people that I play with.” Most of the older players do play with dollar signs glinting in their eyes. On the other hand, if you read some of the articles written about Slim in the past, you’ll discover he enjoyed beating his opponents as much as anyone else.

Guru.com, CraigsList.com and Elance.com showcase job postings for many different freelance opportunities. If you have the skills to write on gambling, specifically poker, then you’ll never be short on writing gigs.

In fact, a search on a handful of job boards produced many writing opportunities, from blog posting, to writing articles on poker games and strategies.

POKER WRITING OPPORTUNITIES

If you want to write about poker and gaming, the opportunities are there. If you are educated about poker and you can write well, the opportunities will be endless. However, you have to be better than average to earn a decent income as freelance poker writer. You must know your “stuff” in this field.

Writing about poker and its players requires you to learn about the games of poker and about the players whom people want to read. For instance, Doyle Brunson and Amarillo “Slim” Preston are two old timers who many consider two of the last living legends of the game. However, Brunson pulls a crowd more so than Preston. People look for articles, books and information on Doyle Brunson because he is still an active player in Las Vegas. Furthermore, Brunson lives where poker rooms are on every corner, whereas Amarillo Slim lives in, well, you guessed it&ndashTexas!

A freelance poker writer has many opportunities. For starters, a poker writer can write from home because of the online games and tournaments. The online poker rooms (the ones offering the large satellite tournaments) are newsworthy as are many of the sit and go tournaments that offer large purses. Writers find ample topics and stories to pull from in this capacity alone. People want to read what’s going on in the online poker rooms. As a new writer, you need to write as much as you can on the subject of poker no matter where people play it.

In addition to the newsworthy opportunities online, web content is a huge marketplace for freelance writers. Writers who can write content-rich articles related to poker and gambling are in high demand.

To succeed as a poker writer, you will need to find your niche. However, you don’t necessarily have to stay within your niche market. Many writers will write on poker and cover online and offline games. They’ll cover the World Poker Tour for an offline gambling magazine one day and write an informative “How to Spot a Poker Cheat” article the next day for an online website. Poker writers like the ability to remain diverse but it pays to have a niche.

For example, there are several writers on Elance.com who write web content for gaming websites but still pick up a couple of writing gigs offline in magazines and for newspaper articles. Respectively, several notorious authors and professional poker players write primarily as book authors and authorities on their game but occasionally they will snatch a writing column for an online poker website.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking the gigs you have online will allow the offline writing jobs to fall in your lap. You have to keep your options open. You will need to apply for most of the work you get, even after you become well-known within the industry. However, if you’re good, you’ll very seldom face competition for the writing jobs you want.

When you become established in your niche, clients, editors and colleagues will willingly generate referrals for you. In fact, if you are well-informed and can stand out as a leading authority on poker, you can create your own jobs if jobs don’t randomly come your way. You’ll be able to query an editor with ideas and convince the editor to publish your articles. You may be able to query a book publisher with a manuscript idea and have it accepted for publication.

In addition, the offline writing jobs on assignment are often lucrative. Most of the writing jobs on assignment will allow you to live like a high roller, or at the very least, a low roller with some great perks. Poker writers normally stay where the action takes place, which is commonly in a casino. If you’re covering a World Poker Tour event, you’ll likely stay in upgraded casino accommodations; after all, the casino knows you are writing on the event and they’ll likely want you to plug their plush rooms and their many amenities.

On assignment writing jobs will enable you to eat in marvelous dining restaurants, stay among the upper echelon of poker players in suites or upgraded rooms and enjoy hosted parties among poker players. Writing on assignment as a poker writer enables writers to stay in some of the most elegant resorts in the world while enjoying the lifestyle of the pampered poker player. And trust it when you see it in magazines and hear about it online, these professional players are pampered.

Before you obtain your first job assignment as a poker writer, you need to learn all you can about poker. Read everything there is to read. Listen to everything and anything you can on the subject. Flip on the TV set and watch some live game coverage and learn the terminology. Poker tournaments and poker coverage are constantly on TV, especially in the evenings and on weekends.

PERKS OF A FREELANCE POKER WRITER

Poker writers who travel to some of the casino destinations hosting world events such as the WSOP (.worldseriesofpoker.com) or the WPT (World Poker Tour &ndash .worldpokertour.com ) find they can enjoy a lifestyle many freelance writers dream about. Not every freelance writer can endure the schedule of these writers. However, if you are a writer who can face the unpredictable scheduling of events in the World Series of Poker, have a great personality and excellent people skills, then your chances to live a jet-set lifestyle in the world of poker is better than what many writers might think.

Life is better as a poker writer than it is in most areas of writing. You will be rubbing shoulders with people in Sin City and many other casino destinations where money is no object. Remember, money is no object to a great number of poker players. Stakes are always high. With that in mind, remember who you are and where you are. Remember to capture the story, and not the party.

You will get a free ride pass as a poker writer if you can achieve a name for yourself in the poker world. You will have the things only high rollers can get just because the right people want YOU to remember their name. Naturally, this will only happen after you become recognized as a poker authority. If you strive to achieve it, you will know what the inside of the suites at the MGM and Paris Las Vegas look like because you’ll be staying in them. You won’t walk or hail a cab in Vegas. You’ll be riding in a limo, free of charge. Best of all, when you are on a job, you will drink and eat what you want and never see a bill. Welcome to success. Revel in it and know you’ve worked hard for it.

The Gift Of Writer’s Block

Essays — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:34:44 +0000

Anyone who writes knows this scenario at one time or another: You have something to say, great ideas to express. So, you go to the page only to find your mind has gone as blank as the sheet or screen before you. Paralyzed, you write not a word. Somewhere in the synapses of your imagination, you know there lives a fully formed novel, or story, or play, or even one single poem, but you cannot magnify it enough to see the individual words. So you leave it for another day…until your vision is clearer, until inspiration strikes and reveals all 350 pages of text, all 36 lines of poetry. Until the writer’s block is gone.

Sometimes inspiration does strike from out of the blue, and words pour down like rain. Ideas synthesize, fingers fly and Voila! You’ve created a masterpiece…or at least a pretty good piece of work.

But such strikes of inspiration are not, for most of us, the norm. Writing takes commitment, and good writing takes practice.

Still, what about writer’s block?

Even when your diligent with your practice, even when you show up day after day, you’re not immune from block, from finding yourself without two words that make any sense. What then?

First, shift your perspective on what writer’s block is. It’s easy to panic, to believe it means you’ll never write again, that you have no real talent or that you have nothing worthwhile to say. But none of these is near the truth.

Writer’s block is not the lack of skill or worthiness as a writer…it is, instead, a signifier revealing one of two things:

• There is a truth you are not yet ready to tell

• There is something more that needs to be learned or experienced before the ideas can be fully crystallized

When you write you cannot help but come up against and touch upon your own inner sore spots and the edges of your comfort zones. To write deeply you must delve inside of and push against these, stretching, questioning and seeing more and more clearly. The truths you tell yourself are the markers that guide you through. When you come to a place you are not yet ready to go, to words you are not yet ready to say or to something that is not yet in focus…you get stuck. Willingness to face the wall, to approach it with patience, compassion, trust and honesty, is the way through it. There is no way around it. Your blocks are gifts that push you to grow, to break through the hard places to reach fertile ground.

Let me share an example to explain. When I was writing my novel, I found myself going in circles around a primary relationship in the story…one between the main character and her mentor/teacher. I would talk about the teacher, but I couldn’t dive into the center of her role in the novel, most specifically I couldn’t find ANY words to put in her mouth. As long as she didn’t speak, I was okay. But that was a problem. There came a point when I could no longer keep her mute. She had to speak. But every time I tried, I ended up sitting in front of the screen, hands poised and my insides twisting in frustration.

Finally, I decided to get up and move. I went for a walk, and as my limbs fell into rhythm my mind fell into the story. The dialogue played out in my head. Away from the computer, I could have a conversation with the characters; I could get inside them and hear what they wanted to say.

On that walk it occurred to me that I had been unable to claim the voice of the mentor before then because I had not been able to claim her within my own being. Whenever the story demanded she speak, I would feel the panic of putting on paper what was being shared as wisdom. Who was I to say such things? Who was I to be the voice of wisdom? But just realizing what was “blocking” me, what I needed to learn, freed me. And along the way I opened doorways to my own growth.

When feeling “blocked” take a walk. Let your body move and your mind ease and flow. Ask yourself what you might fear in the work you are doing…what truth you are not yet ready to claim or tell. And know that we cannot always control the readiness of things. Time teaches us and directs our understanding, and our understanding directs the depth and breadth of our writing. Be patient with yourself. And keep writing.

What Is Freelance Travel Writing?

Essays — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:41:38 +0000

Becoming a successful travel writer involves some imagination, some legwork, and a powerful eye for detail to transform the rich experience of a place into a clear, exciting article. If you can do all of that, and if you’re willing to put time into marketing your work, you can join the ranks of successful freelance travel writers.

The key to successful travel writing is putting yourself into the mind of the prospective traveler. When a traveler arrives at a new destination, what is he or she in the mood for? A bite to eat? A place to sleep? A sense of local color and history? A pleasant neighborhood to tour? And how important is familiarity? Do travelers want to feel like they’re “at home” even when abroad, with all the necessities and comforts they rely on readily available (and with very little language barrier)? Or do travelers want to feel excited and challenged out of everyday things, to accept the difficulties of living, as much as possible, like a native?

Since you don’t know what kinds of travelers are going to use your articles as references, you’ll want to cater to as many of these needs as possible when you gather your information. Depending on where you intend to sell your article, you might focus on certain traveler needs more than others. Many travel agents want to downplay the unfamiliarity of a place to present a more “tourist-friendly” image; while some adventure travel-oriented magazines prefer you ignore all references to American-based chain stores within a five-mile radius of the destination. The general rule in travel writing is to reverse the old clich

Not A Term Paper Mill!

Essays — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:16:21 +0000

I have seen jobs posted for help with term papers. What I mean by “help” is a little more than editing a student’s term paper. Specifically, there are college students who are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to have someone else write a paper for them. This practice is nothing new, but it is much more prevalent than many folks realize.

Truthfully, I could probably make a good sum of money writing term papers for the rich kids out there. In college, I usually garnered an “A” or “A-” on my papers. Yes, I did quite well and that was due to my paying attention to what the professor wanted written and being thorough with my research. Once my research was completed, I worked very hard to produce a “jam up” paper. It was exhausting work, but personally rewarding!

So, my policy is this: write the paper yourself. Learn how to do it the right way and show some integrity and fortitude. You will be a better person for it, too, and prove to yourself that you can overcome a challenge.

How about you? Do you accept every project that comes along or do you have certain standards in place? How you answer these questions speaks volumes about you as a writer and as a person.

Enhance Your Creative Writing Abilities

Essays — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:52:28 +0000

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 doesn’t imply that creative writing process doesn’t 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’ll 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!

Should I Self-publish Or Pitch My Book To A Publisher?

Essays — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:41:29 +0000

You’ve spent many nights working on your book. You’ve rewritten it, edited it, and you used a professional proofreader to proof it. Your book is done &ndash finally — and you’re ready to send your precious manuscript off to a publisher, thinking that writing it was the hardest part.

In reality, getting your blood, sweat and tears published may be the hardest part of the whole process. You’ll need to decide if your book requires a publisher, or if you’d rather self-publish your book. Both venues have pros and cons, some of which I discuss below.

To work with a book publisher, you’ll need to send out query letters and/or a book proposal. This is a letter or a few pages briefly describing your text, why your book is unique, characteristics of your target market, and how you can help market your book. Most publishers don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts, so you’ll need to convince them to read yours, or find a literary agent to represent you. If a book publisher requests that you forward your entire manuscript, you have one foot in the door. Be prepared to send more than one query and don’t expect a response next week. An excellent software program to help format your manuscript and create a book proposal is called Wizards For Word at .wizardsforword.com

Publishers look for three things: platform, hook, and execution. This means a writer should have a built-in audience (ideally, a national platform such as a radio or TV show or a column in a major publication), an interesting hook, and strong writing skills.

The problem if you’re an unagented author is that most publishers won’t take your call or read your proposal. Then even if they do, you’ll have a tough time creating a bidding war or running an auction to get the best offer, and you also won’t have leverage negotiating the important deal points, such as ancillary rights and royalties.

There are writer’s guides that serve as excellent resources to find publishers and literary agents who specialize in your particular genre. These guides list the percentage of new authors published as well as the percentage of sales they pay. You may find pay rates ranging from 5-10% of sales. Some pay on wholesale sales and others on the retail amount. Do the math. Perhaps your book will retail for $14.95 and the publisher will pay 6% on retail. This means you will earn 90 cents per book sold. Of course don’t forget that the publisher is doing all the printing, distributing, and marketing of your text.

Another route you may want to consider is self-publishing. Self-publishing requires you to print, distribute and market your book using your money, but you will also retain all profits. There are book printing companies as well as companies that specialize in assisting self-publishers through every step along the way.

Many authors debate which method is better, using a publishing company or self publishing your own book. You know your situation and you know what will work best for you. You’ll want to consider how much time or money you have to invest in the project. That should give you an idea which route to take. Using a publisher takes less time on your part, but you’ll forfeit some of the royalties by using this method. If you self publish, you’ll have to pay “up front costs” and do the initial legwork to begin generating sales for your book. Either way, publishing is your call. With persistence and hard work you can get your book in the marketplace.

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