Ten Tips For Budding Authors

1. For me the most important tip is to write, write every day, 365 days a year. Remember practice makes perfect.
2. Very few authors are published on their first attempt; it’s a hard slog and you’ll often want to pact the whole writing business in. It’s then you’ve got to remember patience and perseverance.
3. If you are serious about writing as a career then treat it as such. If you wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, plumber, chef then you’d expect to have to learn the trade. Why should writing be any different? It will pay you to visit workshops and listen to what successful authors have to say. Learn from the masters.
4. I’m a member of a writers group and for me it is essential it helps feed me

What Is Persuasive Copywriting And How Can It Help Your Business ?

by: Niall Cinneide

Persuasive copywriting is what draws the attention of prospective customers. They see your product and are drawn it. But what makes this happen? What words can win a customer over without having them laugh at overstatements and hype? Persuasive copywriting is the style of writing that every business needs in order to get customers to purchase something.
Online, there is a large market for individuals who can write in a persuasive style. Sure, everyone has their own specific style, but the only thing that truly matters is sales. Unless the words draw the customer in and help them to make a purchase, the words are wasted. If the customer has a dollar to spend, he will spend it on your website or on another. The words that are on that page are what will make the ultimate decision as to whether the customer stays or goes. It is that simple.
But what makes the sale to the potential buyer?

Becoming a Writer

by: robparnell

The urge to write fiction seems God given for some, a learned skill for others.
One thing is certain – it requires practice and a particular mindset. But, if you’re a beginner, where do you start?
The following 10 tips will help kick-start your writing habit, whether you’re a complete novice, or perhaps a pro who has lost their way!
1. Step Away From the Car, Sir.
Slightly detach yourself from your surroundings. Stop participating and begin observing. In social situations, watch people, see how they act and – more importantly - interact.
Don’t pass judgment. Take it all in – and draw on it later when you write.
2. Look Harder, Homer
Stop and look around you. Consciously notice the buildings, what’s underfoot, overhead, and what’s right in front of you.
At home, look at something you take for granted. An iron, for instance. Find yours and study it.
3. Write Thinking Will Be Rewarded.
A simple technique. Your mother is making tea and you are chatting to her. Take a mental step back and describe the scene.
Similarly, when you’re outside, describe your environment as though you were writing it down.
4. What Reasons Do You Need?
Don’t wait for inspiration – just write!
Force yourself to write anything at all. A shopping list. An overheard conversation. Describe your bedroom.
It doesn’t matter how personal it is, or how trivial, just get it down!
5. Wakey Wakey!

The Secret to Good Writing

by: Marie-Claire Ross

Skilful business writing involves getting your message across simply and quickly. This often means writing in a style that is easily read and understood by a broad audience.
Yet, writing simply is often difficult for most of us.
Why? The answer lies in our school education. We learnt that if we used big words and complex sentences, we were more likely to get an ‘A’ by our English teacher or University lecturer. The education system taught us that people who use a broad range of vocabulary are more intelligent that the rest of us.
There is nothing wrong with writing beautifully pieces of prose that feature a stunning range of vocabulary knowledge. However, such writing is unsuitable for a business market.
No business manager has the time to wade through material that meanders and weaves before a point is made. They are even less likely to have time to grab a dictionary to work out what the writer is trying to say.
When I used to work as a market research consultant, I had the impossible task of trying to write market research reports that seemed interesting. My immediate response was to write a report that would make my University lecturer’s proud. Sadly, my colleagues all felt the same way.
It wasn’t until we had a business writing consultant come in to train us about how to write at the level of a Year 8 student that we realised the folly of our ways.

Write A Picture!

by: Nick Smith

It can take quite a leap to get from the written word to a movie screen.
A screenplay, for all its clear descriptions of where characters are and what they say, has to work hard to meet the dramatic immediacy that we expect from films.
1. Stick To The Present Tense
Writing in the present tense helps, keeping the text direct and different from the prose you’ll find in most novels or short stories.
2. Add Sound Effects
Sound effects can be effectively replicated on the page, using onomatopoeia such as BANGS for gunshots and SCREAMS of characters in danger.
3. Keep It Tight
Keeping the whole script tight is one of the best ways to capture the in-your-face nature of a modern movie. Concise dialogue and snappy scene descriptions will help you to avoid a novel’s tone.
4. Write Pictures

Write Strategy: Think, Believe, Attack

by: Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ

Think of writing like karate...it's about DISCIPLINE.
Writing, like other forms of art, work or talent, requires discipline. It won't ever be enough that you say to yourself that you are a writer. Only when you write and write with discipline can you call yourself one. Before you can earn a black belt in karate, you have to dedicate yourself, practice and instill discipline in yourself to learn the moves and techniques.
The same goes for writing. Don't just read books. Devour them. Ray Bradbury, author of Zen in the Art of Writing, suggests books of essays, poetry, short stories, novels and even comic strips. Not only does he suggest that you read authors who write the way you hope to write, but "also read those who do not think as you think or write as you want to write, and so be stimulated in directions you might not take for many years." He continues, "don't let the snobbery of others prevent you from reading Kipling, say, while no one else is reading him."
Learn to differentiate between good writing and bad writing. Make time to write. Write even though you're in a bad mood. Put yourself in a routine. Integrate writing into your life. The goal is not to make writing dominate your life, but to make it fit in your life. Julia Cameron, in her book The Right to Write, sums it best: "Rather than being a private affair cordoned off from life as the rest of the world lives it, writing might profitably be seen as an activity best embedded in life, not divorced from it."

How To Find Freelance Jobs - Writing About Food

by: Niall Cinneide

Did you know that jobs writing about food are available? These opportunities are available in a variety of areas. Employment in these fields is an exciting concept. For many, getting their foot in the door is the most important and most challenging first step. In order to succeed, a wide range of knowledge is needed as well as a good base of experience.
These jobs are available in all sorts of media. The internet is full of postings for good quality writers in a variety of fields. Some in this field write for magazines, newspapers, or even books. Others work right online. There are several avenues a prospective writer can take.
The first step in getting into any of these, though, is getting a good base of knowledge. There are courses that can be taken to give a good base of knowledge for the food aspect of the business. But, for the writing, grammar, and compiling of the articles and pieces, you will need at least a few years of schooling. Writing is the foundation of the work you will do, after all.

For Beginners: 10 Ways To Prepare To Get Published !

by: Jill Nagle

(Skip directly to ten for the fastest shortcut!)
Like any field, excellent writing requires study, practice and mentorship. Very few successful authors ever published their first draft of their first work. Nearly all had to expend considerable effort to improve their craft. Here are some ways to prepare for that moment of publication. These tips also help keep you on your toes after publication for better and better writing results as your career develops.
1) Read, read, read in your field. You can never read too much when you’re trying to excel as a writer. Reading in your field helps you develop a discerning eye. You need this discerning eye for when you step back and look at your own work.
2) Cultivate role models. Know who the top-selling authors are in your field. Find out more about them. How did they get to where they are? Do searches in the Internet (available in most libraries-ask your librarian how to use a search engine) for information about particular authors whose careers you admire. Let your role models inspire rather than daunt you. There is no competition, only inspiration, potential teachers and opportunities for cooperation. That author you envy this year may be writing a blurb for your first novel next year.
3) Research your markets. If you want to publish in periodicals, whether literary fiction, journalistic writing, or anything else, realize publication standards serve a purpose other than to frustrate new authors.
4) Take classes. Many cities offer writing classes through community colleges or local writing groups. Online writing classes are popping up everywhere. If possible, choose a writing teacher who has published in a field you’d like to enter. Even better, find someone you already consider a mentor. Not every published author has what it takes to offer beginning writers what they need, but many do.

Wake Up Your Writing Spirit

by: Shelley Wake

The Blogfest 2005 Writing Contest has only been running for two weeks and already the results are overwhelming. And not because we’re getting far more entries than we expected. It’s because along with entries, we’re also getting heartfelt messages from writers all over the world. I’ve run a few contests before and received quite a few entries, but I’ve never been personally emailed and thanked by so many writers.
What’s the difference with this contest? I think the main reason is that the idea actually came from writers. Even though the writers at our company work in publishing, they find it a little sad that there’s so much focus on writing what can sell instead of writing what truly matters to you. They wanted a contest that would allow people to write whatever they wanted to write.
From that idea came Blogfest, a contest designed to encourage all writers to get the project of their dreams done. Unlike most contests, we decided not to offer publication and not to pay the prize for a completed work. Instead, we decided to offer the prizes based on how much the writing project means to the writer. This is one contest that isn’t about whether or not your work can sell or about what your writing will mean to someone else. It’s about what it means to you.

Succeeding in the Business of Freelance Writing

by: Amber McNaught

Something that's always surprised me about the freelance writing business is just how many writers there are out there who don't seem to realize that they're running a business.
Succeeding in the Business of Freelance Writing
Of the freelance writers who send quotes to prospective employers through my website, http://www.WritingWorld.org, it never fails to surprise me just how many make no effort whatsoever to try and "sell" themselves. Some simply post a quote and nothing else: no information about themselves, no indication about their skills and experience, nothing. Others post a quote with a short message saying, "I don't know what a 'search engine optimized article' is, but please pick me anyway", or "I have no experience in this, but hopefully I'll be able to do it."
Needless to say, the writers who don't bother to sell themselves never get the gigs. So why don't they make the effort? Because they fail to realize that they're running a business.
Some – not all, but some – of the freelance writers we encounter seem to have somehow picked up the idea that all they have to do to succeed is to be good at writing. Unfortunately, it's not quite as simple as that: to really succeed as a freelance writer, you have to be good at selling yourself. And you have to be aware that you're running a business.

How To Make Real Money From Writing?

by: Linda Correli

The significance of writing skills is emphasized far and wide over and over again. Writing skills are called mandatory, indispensable, crucial and drastic ability, a ticket to the thriving future of the person.
The overwhelming majority of instructors and employers which were surveyed recently stressed that writing skills are critical both for academic and career success. The survey carried by Lin Grensing revealed that 79 percent of respondent executives cited writing as one of the most neglected skills in the business world, yet one of the most important to productivity. They also admitted that approximately 80 percent of their employees at all levels need to improve their writing skills.
To master good writing skills means not only to become well-educated and competent person, but as well taps you into the wealth of lucrative opportunities. It exactly means that you can turn your gift of eloquence into sideline and perhaps steady income. The money earned from writing can become a good support for you, so you can spend them on different insignificant trinkets, which will significantly reduce your general outcome.
Practically anyone can make fortune writing and selling simple information. The only question is how to market your skills for profit-making results. The best advice for those who are willing to earn extra money and have the ability to express their ideas coherently is turning their writing skills into regular decent income and enjoining the independence and freedom everyone can earn in addition to the tidy sums of money.
Here are some easy-to-follow techniques and tested principles, which will reveal you how to make money from writing immediately and on regular basis. So let’s single out top 7 winning principles of how to make money from writing.

The Unwritten World Of The "Reality" Of Letterwriting

by: Tamara Stevens

The unwritten “reality” of letter writing
You may wonder why I have chosen this title of this post. Well from my experience is that it is really hard to put the feeling into words about what letter writing means to me. Letter writing is becoming a lost art on many levels. It is fading into the background of society. It is still practised by many people. It is those people that I am looking to connect with. I have been told by many people whom have read my posts that they feel the same way about letter writing as I do. I want to hear from those people what they feel; I want to hear their words.
I think that it is so important that we embrace the things that we are passionate about. In this case, I want people from all walks of life, all over the world. Put a pen to paper that is letter writing; pen pals, snail mail whatever it is you call it and tell your story about what writing and receiving actual physical mail in the mail box means to you.
For me I love the whole process from finding kwel and interesting stationary, note cards, ticklopes (they are so cute) to stickers, to colour full envelopes to tuckins to put in the envelopes. For me it is to make others happy to see a letter to them in their box.
I want to hear from you yes you the one reading this post. I know you love to get a letter addressed to you? Who doesn’t?

Could You Write Performance Reviews For Money?

by: Niall Cinneide

Writing performance reviews can be an excellent way to earn a living. Who wouldn’t want to go from place to place watching actors, singers, and chefs perform at their best (and maybe their worst)? Getting paid to do something like this just seems like fun, doesn’t it? But, in reality, these jobs are not easy to come by nor are they easy to do. A writer will need to have many qualifications and have to write very well in order to establish themselves as worthy candidates of this type of work. Writing reviews is a little more complicated than just telling what you thought of the show.
For example, writing play reviews can be a challenge. Sure, the overall show may be interesting and exciting, but what about the individual characters? In writing the reviews, the writer must have strong understanding of how the play works, who is who, and why certain things are done in certain ways. They must be fluent in the arts and understand what is good and what is bad. It is not simply their opinions that matter but their opinions will in fact determine how well the play does. Who will come see a poorly reviewed play? But, if the writer’s ideas are wrong and misguided, who will look to them again for advice on whether or not to see that play?
There is a lot of weight on the shoulders of individuals who do this type of work. Writing reviews for large newspapers and organizations may take a long time to get into.

Writing and Walking – Beating Writer’s Block

by: Rick Chapo

Writing and walking are a seemingly odd mix of topics for an article, but they go well together. Particularly if you write during breaks in your walk.
Writing Journals
Whether you are writing articles or the great American novel, you will inevitably suffer from writer’s block. A good way to defeat the block is to go for a walk or hike in a park or open local area. Walking gives you a chance to think through things, let your mind wander and clear out the riff raff.
As you walk, your subconscious will be working and kicking out ideas to get you going again. You don’t want to lose these ideas, which can be a problem when you are a few miles from home and your computer. Frankly, nothing is more frustrating than getting an idea and then losing the thread while you hustle home.
I primarily write information articles for web sites. Unlike a novel, the pure volume of articles is problematic. Coming up with hundreds of unique topics can be maddening, particularly if the subject matter is rather dry. Just imagine trying to write 100 articles on tax issues! One tends to end up staring at the wall for hours on end.
I come up with my best ideas while walking on the beach here in San Diego, California. While the beach and tax articles might seem an odd mix, the ghosts of IRS agents apparently congregate on the beach and ideas become plentiful. I’ve tried two methods of keeping track of ideas while walking.
I first tried taking a dictation machine with me, but it didn’t really work out. You would be surprised how loud the ocean is on the recording. I also found it difficult to pick up the thread again when I sat down to listen to my ramblings. Fortunately, writing journals turned out to be a better option.
An author friend of mine that publishes novels suggested taking a writing journal with me on the beach strolls. He apparently had great success working out plot twists for his novels while hiking around Palomar Mountain, a good hiking spot to the east of San Diego.

Guidelines For Reviewing Writing

by: The StoryMaster

Writing detailed reviews is time well spent.
Reviewing itself is a writing exercise. At Writing.Com, creating detailed feedback for a fellow writer is one of the best tools available for improving your own writing. That said, if you're going to spend the time to do it, helping the author is important. There is a better chance for the ideas in a review to get through to an author if they are well presented.
Key Characteristics For Reviews
* Reviews should be honest. Helping writers improve their craft should be the mission of any reviewer. Honest opinions are what help writers improve. Giving false feedback doesn't help anyone and can lead an author down a long road to bitter disappointment.
* Reviews should be encouraging. Everyone at every level should be encouraged to continue writing! Encouraging reviews are more likely to be used by an author which means the time creating the review was well spent. Whether the author decides to use the reviewer's honest suggestions or not, the review should be motivating and encourage the author to keep writing.
* Reviews should be respectful. Regardless of an author's level of skill or talent, a reviewer should always respect that the author is an individual person. A reviewer flaunting that they are better than the author they're reviewing is not respectful and is counter productive.

How To Find Writing Work ?

by: Niall Cinneide

Are you looking for new writing work? It can be a challenge to build a career in any area, but it is often even harder to do so when you are in a smaller town. Sure, there may be a huge market for talented freelancers in your area, but let’s face it, it is not New York where you can find countless job vacancies in your field of freelance writing. When you are looking for freelance writing work, it is important to look outside the box as well as trying the tried and true employment options.
As writers work to build their career, it can be challenging to do so if they do not live in an area that is known for having publishers. So, when you get an assignment, you need to ensure that you do it thoroughly and right on task for what the client is looking for. Do not present a piece of work without making sure that it is the best you can give.

New Recipe For Your Fresh Paper Pie

by: Linda Correli

Many writers aspire to create original and incomparable works, so that to stand them out of heaps of previously written stuff. They resort to crafty tricks to grab the attention of readers and eagerly try to find an unoccupied niche, undeveloped idea or some lurid news to make their papers one of a kind. Catchy titles, simple and persuasive language, personal apply to the reader and intricate plot are only some clever dodges authors harness in writing.
No matter what the purpose of the written work is writing presents a kind of competition with unstated rules, where the strongest survives. These are writers who find the appropriate appeal to the reader, winning, controversial and topical theme, which proves to be helpful, instructive or explanatory. In a word, a paper which makes readers tick and turns to be useful for them.
In chase of complete satisfaction of readers the majority of writers forget that writing is a creative process rather than fitting of different variables into the existed templates and search of the burning issues of vital importance which can be easily harnessed.
A boilerplate paper is one of the major premonitions, a kind of taboo long-established and experienced writers beware tyros of.

You Could Be An Author!

by: Joaquin de la Sierra

I started writing when I was 16 years old. To this day I love writing; I love the fact that we can translate words into images. It is incredible when I think about it. Everyone should write, writing is a way to express your feelings, what you want, what you are.
There is no excuse. With word processors, which are a godsend by the way, you can just start writing and you don’t have to worry about spelling mistakes, having to retype anything, and many other things. If you are reading this is probably because you want to write, but for some reason you haven’t done so.
If you think that writing will only take time away from you, you are wrong. Writing improves you in every way you can imagine. So what are you waiting for? Grab your copy of Microsoft Word, and start writing!
Before you do that, there is something you must ask yourself. Would you write even if nobody read it? If you answered yes to that question, you can be a great author. It is true that writing doesn’t become real until you have an audience, but remember that at first no one will want to read what you have to say. Perseverance is the key. If you want to write well, you have to practice, practice, and practice.
For your writing to be successful, you also need to read a lot. Reading is great. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. If you are deciding whether you want to be an author or not, keep reading.
I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about authors such as Stephen King and Dan Brown. You probably think that they are the only authors that really make $$$, well that’s simply not true. When you go to a bookstore, you see thousands of books. That means that there must be at least a few thousand successful authors out there. That’s without counting e-books, online articles, newspapers, etc. And you can be part of that! The internet is growing like never before, people from all over the world are starting to read whatever you write. It’s just an incredible opportunity.
So what do you think now? Writing is not only good for making money. Writing is also good for advertising purposes. A teacher of mine once told me “There are only two useful skills in life; to read and to write.” That’s one of the smartest things I’ve ever heard.
You are probably thinking that if you want to write, then you will have to put aside other activities. That’s completely wrong. This day I write, I work, I have a beautiful wife, I study and I’m as happy as anyone can be. You tell me if you can’t do anything other than writing. I consider writing a hobby.
So now you are probably thinking what kind of author you want to be. That’s totally up to you. Remember that you must write about a subject that is familiar to you. Ideas will just flow through your mind if you write about something you like. If you decide that you want to write a book, do so. Perhaps write about something that happened to you, or about something that you thought about at some point in your life. The things you can write about are endless! If you write a good war book, be sure to tell me, because I’m going to buy it.
Remember that success is achieved by 99% of failure. So if you were to fall, remember this and keep writing. Never stop writing. One thing that the world lacks of are good authors, there are so many open positions. If you start now, who knows, in a few years you could be making more money than Bill Gates can count. There are more and more people every day that like to read. Not because of the TV, which doesn’t help at all, but because education is greatly increasing all around the world. And since you are reading this you know how to read English and therefore, you can take advantage of this revolution.
So the bottom line is that you should start writing, and keep writing until you think about writing when you are not even writing.

Making Freelance Writing Niche Types Fit

by: Roxanne McDonald

Our Freelance Writing Needs Defined
We must make freelance niche types fit our needs, wants, values and lifestyles, and we also must make ourselves fit freelance niche types. Of our waking hours, we work more than we do anything else. I keep this in mind when college students come to me concerned about what to do for a living, and I tell them (because I want them happy) to do what they love. I also tell them (because I believe in the truth) to do what they are good at.
The same goes for freelance writers. If we are talented, we have a chance. If we have a severe work ethic we have a better chance. And if we are devoted enough and relentless enough (and—ahem--masochistic enough) about writing for a living, we will be able to put on our vitaes that we are indeed professional writers. But in order to do and be so, we best find the freelance writing niche types or type we will be spectacular at, staking out a corner in the niche market, one which we’ll bring passion to every morning as that damned alarm (later a wonderful thing) sounds.
Niche Defined
From the Italian-derived French for nicchia, "a shell-like recess in a wall," a niche is an inset, concave enclosure. It is this little enclosure we freelance writers need to find, study, practice, and own. It is the small area of specialty we make ours and offer to those in need. So the smaller (and therefore the less competitive) the better.
We in the freelance writing business and those of us working to get into it have plenty of industries to work with:

• Advertising
• B2B (Business to Business)
• B2C (Business to Customer/Client)
• Entertainment
• Finance
• Medicine

How To Find Freelance Copywriting Jobs

by: Niall Cinneide

Your goal is to land a few nice, secure freelance copywriting jobs, but how do you get them? The most important factor in finding these jobs is that you pursue the job you are looking for with all of your ducks in a row, so to speak. Here are a few things you need to do in order to get the freelance copywriting jobs that you have been looking for.
Prepare yourself through schooling. Most people in the copywriting industry have at least a two year degree. If you can afford to do this, do it. It will benefit you for a long time down the road. Often times, getting a four year degree is beneficial to getting into the bigger companies. Some schools offer internships which can be an outstanding way to get your foot in the door. Hopefully, they will hire you right after the internship and you’ll be set. If not, you will need to pursue other companies,