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Recommendation Letters Demystified There is a lot of confusion about recommendation letters. Mixing and Mingling: The Door to Publication? Mixing and mingling with industry professionals is an opportunity that you should NEVER let slip by. Here are some tips from my own experience to help you make the most of your conference: Discover the Writer Hiding Inside You Has the thought run across you mind that you might want to write a column or two? Maybe you thought about writing your own material for your company newsletter. Maybe someone asked you to share your expertise with others by writing a how-to paper. Then the voice of fear spoke up and you decide maybe not this time. "I'm not ready to make that step. I could never write something meaningful. I'm no writer." You say. Well you are dead wrong if you think that way. There is a writer in everyone. Apostrophe Usage Made Simple According to one of my previous articles, whenever a Southerner says "Y'all watch this," get out of the way because those are probably the last words he will ever say. Writers Block is No Longer a Problem "If you're like me, than I'm sure you're pretty familiar with the well-known writer's block. 14 Tips On Writing The Short-Short Story The short-short story has been likened by some as being closer to writing a poem than a story. And that makes sense-every word has to be packed with power; every line has to move the story along. Novel to Screenplay: The Challenges of Adaptation ADAPTATION 101 A New Way To Self Publish More and more good authors are turning to the Internet to self publish. There are several reasons for that. All of them are probably well known to every writer by now, so we'll not go into them here. What we'll talk about here is a new way to self publish. Which Comes First - Short Story Or Novel? A writer writes. Bet you've heard that one before. Or maybe this one: if you want to be a writer, first you write one word, then you write the next. Both of these old clich�s are true, of course. That's how they turned into clich�s. But there's another dilemma a beginning creative writer often finds himself facing: do I write short stories or novels? Writing novels is almost always the end goal. You'll find exceptions---such as Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison, who primary built their careers writing short stories---but the vast majority of successful storytellers are novelists. The real question then is this: do I jump into novel writing with both feet or do I test the waters first by writing short stories? Generally, beginning writers don't understand that these are two very different forms. They see writing a short story as easier, less intimidating. At a cursory glance, it's hard to argue with that. But if you ask a writer successful in both forms, he'll almost always tell you that short stories pose a much more difficult task. Why? Because you're working on a small canvas. The novel is a wall mural. It's expansive. You have time to fully develop your characters. There's room for movement, for growth and change, for surprises and insights, for looking back as well as looking forward. The short story is an 8x10 landscape. It's a moment in time when your character faces a critical point in his or her existence, a moment that changes everything. In a glimpse, readers must believe in your characters, in the crisis they face, in the choices they make. It's a tiny, one-dimensional surface that must appear three-dimensional. With that understanding, starting out writing short stories can still be a good proving ground for a writer. You learn quickly what works and what doesn't. You learn to write tight, to pack as much meat into as few words as possible. You learn to capture the core make up of your characters. All very valuable lessons for both the short story writer and the novelist. The Writers Identity: Exploring the Writer Within Les Edgerton writes in his book, Finding Your Voice, that the best way to find your voice is to write autobiographically. "Writers will never find a powerful, evocative voice until they learn to be bone-deep honest with themselves, open and vulnerable." I believe that Mr. Edgerton is on to something. In my experience, the best writers are the ones who dig deep within themselves and pull out the rawest pieces of who they are, filling their pages with words that leave their audiences wanting more. If I could interview an author whom I admire, I would most want to know what helped him or her get to that magical place. Tips On Writing A Killer Sales Letter Writing a sales letter doesn't have to be that difficult all you need is the right writing style and some tips to knock out a killer sales letter How to Outline your Book and Chapters with Mindmapping Mindmapping is better than linear outlining because authors can use flexible thinking and relativity in writing their book. One can add and subtract a thought or phrase from a mindmap easily. Mindmapping is an excellent way to start, organize, and finish your book. How To Break Into Print Publishing The big question. Do you submit directly to the publishers, or do you find an agent who will do that for you? Based on anecdotal evidence I've heard, it can work either way. The bottom line is, if a publisher reads what he can sell, he'll buy it. It doesn't matter if it comes from an author or an agent. The trick is getting him to read it. That's always your focus. Writing the Chapters of Your Life: Surprising Insights Using This Special Journaling Technique List-making is a favorite journaling technique and is often used to quickly jot down a numbered record on topics like "my beliefs," "my pet peeves," "the things I hate about myself," or "my strengths." However, there's a special type of list technique that moves beyond a simple itemization and into the realm of significant self-awareness. Pairs/Groups Of Words Often Confused - Part 4 of 6 LATER, LATTER Turbo-Charging Your Writing Career - 6 High-Yield Strategies Hands up all those who'd like to have a successful writing career. Cheap Therapy I call it cheap therapy. That gushing, near-religious, poured-from-the-body stress release that comes after writing my heart out for hours each day, delivers more balm to my soul than years of psychoanalysis. How I Became a Syndicated Columnist -- And You Can Too! Real Estate has "Location, location, location," and writing has "Clips, clips, clips." Getting Past The Shoulds To Write During the past few months I have received many questions as to how I have gone from an unknown writer to over coming society's adversarial thoughts on what writing should be and become a well known writer. So, today, I was inspired to write on this. Let me present a gist of my story. And like all stories there's always more depth. Pairs/Groups Of Words Often Confused - Part 3 of 6 ELICIT, ILLICIT |
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