Dreading the Writing Assignment? Outlines to the Rescue
December 31, 2006
Writing technical articles is a challenge. There you sit, surrounded by reams of research, notes and interviews. Where do you start?
Remember 5th grade English? You start with an outline.
Outlining has fallen on hard times lately. Mind mapping and brainstorming are much more fashionable. These techniques are great when generating ideas, but once you’ve got your ideas germinating you’ve got to outline them. Without an outline, your article will:
Don’t let this happen to you ? outline. If it’s been a while since 5th grade ? or if your "progressive" school didn’t stoop to teach you actual English skills ? let me remind you why it’s important and how to do it.
How To Write Direct Mail That Really, Really Works!
December 31, 2006
So, you have something you want to sell. It may be a product, a service, or a cause. It could be a membership, a subscription, or a motor car. It might be paper, health products or the idea that the humane society or the Alzheimer’s association is worth giving money to. It could be computer equipment, hand-sewn dolls clothes or garden gnomes.
Whatever it is you are selling, you need to let the right people know you’re selling it. And one of the most effective ways of doing that is through direct mail.
Direct mail works best if you know the type of person who buys your product or service. For instance, if you sell to building contractors or pet owners you can get a targeted, personal message to them quickly and easily.
What’s more, computers make it possible for small businesses to produce professional looking mailings at a very attractive price. They make it possible to select names from mailing lists by demographic classification, frequency of purchase or by amount of purchase. Computers allow every letter in a mailing to include the name of the addressee, not just the salutation but several times throughout the body of the letter.
Success Starts with Articles
December 31, 2006
No one can logically argue against the fact that content is king. Web sites that are nothing more than glorified link farms or ad spiels must work harder and invest more money to gain visitors-almost none of them return. To keep users returning, there must be a reason. Articles can serve two major roles in maintaining a successful website-content and promotion. Just minutes from now you could be on your way to building a more successful business. Article creation and submission is one of the greatest promotional tools ever.
CONTENT
Every web site that wants to succeed at competing for eyeballs must have solid content to offer. Otherwise, the visitor is off in mere seconds-never to return. Make the visitor glad they visited and you have potentially created a loyal user.
Think about some of the more popular web sites on the Internet. Why would you visit them? Why would you return? Let’s look at a popular news site, FoxNews.com. I visit Fox News to read the latest news stories. I go back because I know there will be fresh articles waiting for me. I visit my favorite writing web site because I know there are great articles there and new ones appear often.
The Hard Facts About Editing
December 30, 2006
Whether you’re interviewing for a new job, trying to woo a love interest on a first date, selling your work on the Internet, or submitting a query to an editor, you can never make a second first impression. It’s true. It’s just one of life’s hard facts.
To sell your article, novel, product, or yourself, you need to work on that very critical first impression–and a surefire way to make a bad impression is to present poorly edited work. All the hours of researching, outlining, and writing are squandered if the final version of your manuscript is not tightly written and error-free.
How can you possibly convince an editor, agent, or customer that you can produce a great product when there are errors in your queries, on your web site, or in your marketing materials? I don’t know about you, but I lose trust in what I’m reading once I’ve seen more than one error. In some cases (e.g., a web site for an editing service) even that one error is enough. I think it’s careless and it leads me to wonder if the creator is as careless with the quality of his products or services.
Beginnings
December 30, 2006
Just about everyone is familiar with this beginning: "In the beginning God created the heavens and earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep . . ." (Genesis 1: 1-2 RSV) In a sense we’re playing God when we write a story. We create the characters, plot, and setting, turning a blank page-nothingness-into a compelling story.
Not only is your first scene the first impression of a story, it is the doorway that invites your reader on a journey. First scenes are what determine whether or not your reader is going to follow your characters to the end.
Your beginning must accomplish several things:
Introduce your characters
Establish the place and time the story occurs
Introduce the conflict or point at which change begins.
Your opening sets the tone, mood, situation or problem. It actually begins in the middle of things.
Looking at the first lines of Genesis from a purely literary standpoint, the first lines introduce God as the protagonist. The time and setting (simply) is the moment of Creation, same as the point of change. Before God created the world there was nothing. For the purpose of this illustration from a literary standpoint, Nothing was what happened before the story begins. It starts in medius res-in the middle of things.
Writing Tips For Novice Authors
December 30, 2006
If you are reading this article then you probably have asked yourself at some point in your life, “Do I have what it takes to become an author?”
I believe that successful authors, those who actually write and finish that novel, or book of poetry, or even that book of short stories, and see it all the way to publication, have certain characteristics.
Characteristics of Authors
1. They like to sit for hours in front of a computer screen (or with pen and paper), typing (writing) away.
2. They think about their book, even when they’re not writing.
3. They are motivated to finish their book.
4. They are motivated to proofread, edit and revise their finished book until it is the best it can be.
5. They are motivated to publish their book.
6. Once they publish the first book, they are already working on the next one.
Search Engines Can Be The Online Writers Best Friend
December 29, 2006
It’s an exciting time for online writers, with a wide array of options. With desire and well-directed effort, a good writer can end up with a variety of work. However, as we know, there is much more to the writing biz than the meat and potatoes of the actual writing. Research, record-keeping, finding markets, composing and sending queries, dealing with rejections and self-promotion all factor in, and it all takes up a great deal of time. But the actual money, and the greatest satisfaction, comes from the writing itself and seeing your by-line posted on some well-trafficked site.
So, the question becomes, “How do I make more time for writing and spend less time on the “other stuff’”? That “other stuff” is vital to being a successful writer, so the trick is to find the easiest and most simplified ways to accomplish the “not writng stuff.”
I have given it much thought - and spent a great deal of time - and as a cyber-writing veteran I have discovered there is timesaving value in search engines. Eight years ago I would not have believed that the time- consuming search engine could be my friend. But now I know better!
Finding Your Way Through Online Articles
December 29, 2006
For me, to decide to start a home business was easy. Learning how to do it wasn’t. With a plethora of resources and information, starting one seemed like a big headache. Well, when you have guidance from someone who has been there, you have an edge. All the struggles, false information, scams, and money spent on my online adventure will no doubt benefit you by not making the same mistakes I made.
My website is about caring for my subscribers. You’ll find out that by helping others succeed, you also succeed. So I’m here to mentor you into succeeding with your online business no matter what it may be.
When you subscribe to my weekly Business Tips Newsletter at www.madh4ttr.com,the information you receive gives you the right information at the right time to systematically build a profitable business online. It doesn’t matter what you sell, it will work for any business.
In addition to the weekly tips, I will be sending you a series of ebooks and reports about things like search engine secrets, powerlinking, traffic generation and much more. But first, we start with the basics in your first issue of the newsletter.
Characters In A Romance Novel
December 29, 2006
Before you even begin writing your novel, you need to know who your characters will be. Minimally, you would want two major characters, the hero and the heroine. They will interact mostly with each other throughout the novel. How they interact with each other will determine the outcome of the story. Will they resist each other in the beginning of the story and by the end, fall in love? Or will they fall in love in the beginning of the story and then be driven apart by conflict? Once you’ve chosen them, then you need to decide what age they are, their personality traits, and their names.
AGE
Age-appropriate actions are paramount to development of the character. If the heroine is in her teens, she will react differently to situations than if she is in her late twenties. The same goes with the hero. In a romance novel, the typical heroine is in her early twenties, while the hero is older. If he is in his twenties, he shouldn’t be shown as a tycoon, unless of course, he inherited the wealth. If he is in his thirties, he shouldn’t be shown doing activities that are immature for his age.
Promote Your Books on Talk Shows and Make More Money
December 28, 2006
Successful authors are convinced that radio interviews are the very best way to reach large audiences and publicize their books. Interviews give authors an opportunity to expound on the topic of their book and disclose personal feelings. While not actively selling, they entice listeners to want to learn more. If you are willing to speak about what you have written, you will certainly make more money. Here’s how:
1. Get on all the talk shows you can, especially if you are going to do a book signing! Local, regional, and national prime-time venues, whatever it takes, get on the air as much as you possibly can, as often as you can.
2. Use a great news release, something that grabs attention, holds the reader’s interest, and leads them to take positive action. These releases will become part of the media kit you send to book stores and may be faxed to hundreds of radio and television hosts and producers.
3. Send news releases to specific talk show producers and hosts. If you will be doing a book signing in their area, highlight that fact and provide details. There are many sources for lists of television and radio talk shows on the Internet.
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