Showing posts with label Writer. Show all posts

Thursday, 3 April 2014

6 Tips For Your Writing Journey

by: Laura Hickey

So, you’d like to be a writer? Congrats! Writing not only is a great way to express yourself, but can provide an income. Keep in mind not all writers make a fortune, some still cant quit their day job. Below are some tips to start your writing journey.

1. Start Writing

Okay, so this tip is obvious. For some, it’s a question of what to write about, for others how to write. Write how and what you want. What kind of books do you like to read? Fiction, Mystery, science fiction, how to books? How about articles, reports, maybe you’re interested in journalism. Whatever the case may be, to get your creative juices flowing, start writing! Don’t worry about how it sounds, grammar or other mistakes, you can go back to fix these.

2. Join online and offline groups/message boards and chats

If you already know what you want to write about, consider joining writer groups at your local library, or online groups, along with message boards and chats. It’s a great way to network with other writers and published authors. It’s also a good place to share your work and receive feedback. Many places online are free to join, some require a membership which usually consist of a user name, e-mail address and password for your user name. Some request more information such as a name, address and sometimes phone number.

3. The Library

You’ve probably heard about some books that writers refer to, this could be writer markets, e-book publishing, self publishing and generally how to improve your writing. Bu what do you do when you can’t afford to buy these books from your local bookstore or online? A trip to your library is the key. Many libraries carry writer resource books, which if you have a library card, are free. If you’re living out of the area, the library may require a fee for membership. The book you’re looking for may not always be at your local library, however libraries borrow from other libraries in and out of state. The method of receiving outside books is called Inter-Library Loan. Later on, if you find the book to be a great resource, you may be able to purchase a used copy online.

4. Researching

The Internet is also another good resource for information. Keep in mind that not every resource you find online is going to be an honest good resource. It will take time to sort out which websites are useful. Most information is free, so you can sit back and research in the comfort of your home. If you don’t have a computer with Internet access, check your local library and see if you can use one of theirs.

5. Workshops

Workshops taught by experts is a great way to learn from the professionals, but only if you can afford it! Make sure the topic of the workshop is based around your interest. For instance, if you love fiction..it wouldn’t be a good idea to go to a workshop based only on non-fiction. It’s a good idea to register early to ensure a spot at the event. Bring a new legal pad, plus a few writing tools to take notes.

6. Contents

After writing a while, you may want to enter contents. Some require an entry fee. I suggest staying away from the entry fee contents until you’ve entered some other free ones. That way you can get a feel for how contests work. Spend some time writing and re-writing your entries. If you’ve written your entry in 5 or so minutes, th judges will notice it immediately. You wouldn’t want a reputation for sloppy work.

Source

Welcome to the World of Writing: My Advice for New Writers

How to Run a Writing Group: Gathering Members

After the convention, a prospective writer’s report

A Guest Post: What I’d Change About My Writing Journey

50 Writing Tips

Tips from the Pros: Stephanie Reed

AME Blog Carnival: Tips and Tricks for Writers and Authors, January 21, 2013

Five essential qualities writers need

London Book “The Best in International Publishing” Awarded Lynn Cook Henriksen’s “TellTale Souls Writing the Mother Memoir” 2nd Place Honors in the “How-To” Category

Guest post: Understanding the Writing Journey by S J Wardell

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The post 6 Tips For Your Writing Journey appeared first on Robert JR Graham.

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

10 Tips to Writing a Good Story

Ten Steps to Writing a Good Story

By Alvah Parker

“Tell me a stowy, Daddy.” My father loved to hear me say this when I was a child and quoted it to me frequently when I was growing up. I guess I always liked a good story! Even now one of the exercises I do with clients looking for meaningful work is to have them write their life stories. We look for clues of strengths, talents and values that show up throughout their lives. In those autobiographies are many stories. Frequently we find one that is the basis for their new career.

Being a good story teller is an important asset for everyone. It enables you to easily make a memorable point for your audience. Lately I’ve been thinking about ways to tell a good story especially for people who are not natural story tellers. Here is a list of 10 steps for you to try.

1. What is your story about? Think of a situation you have faced during your life, a failure, an experience where you were doing meaningful work, an awkward moment, a difficult decision

2. How can you capture the story? Stories are meant to be told so tell the story to someone else i.e. a friend, a coach, or a mentor. If you are alone record your story as you tell it. It is often easier to tell the story initially than to begin writing immediately.

3. What is missing in your story? Let your friend, coach, or mentor ask you questions about the story. If you are alone ask yourself some questions about the story. For example ask what was significant about what happened, what was meaningful to you about it, what was the result, why is the story significant and how did you feel? The questions and answers might become part of the story or you might want to work on creating the story in a way that others feel and see what you do.

4. Why are you telling this story? Look for a point to your story. Don’t make the story fit a point! Let the story tell you what it is about.

5. How will you remember the story? It is now time to write down your story. Incorporate all that you have learned from the questions you asked yourself and others asked you into the story.

6. How can you be sure not to bore the audience? Now read the story out loud. Ask others to listen to it too. Eliminate any unnecessary details and leave only what matters to make your audience see the point. Ask for feedback.

7. How can you make the story come alive? Use colorful descriptions, drama and creative tension to make the story more meaningful. Try to get the listener to feel what you felt. If there is a turning point in the story create the tension needed before the final resolution.

8. What is the theme of your story? Find a universal theme for your audience. Here you are giving them the reason for telling them story. It has to do with the point you are making but in fact may be more global.

9. Is your story complete? Write a final draft of your story. Keep editing until you are pleased with the result.

10. How can you make the story seem like a natural part of the conversation? Practice it by reading it over and over until you know it well enough so you can tell it easily in conversational style while still creating the tension and feeling of the story.

StoryTellers: Britni Danielle

Dream logic

Story Telling

The silent comic

PLAYLIST YA: Author Interviews

The world is your stage ─ just don’t miss your cue

Ten Tips for Becoming the Teller of Tales

Learning to tell my story

How I Write: Part 1

What makes a person creative?

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The post 10 Tips to Writing a Good Story appeared first on Robert JR Graham.

Monday, 3 March 2014

An E-Book in 72 Hours

Don’t Wait Until You Have it All Figured Out to Start Your E-Book

By Lance Winslow

iStock eBookReader1 225x300 An E Book in 72 Hours

If you are planning on writing an a nonfiction or fictional e-book then I have a question for you; why haven’t you started? It doesn’t take long to write an e-book, and I can tell you after writing 10 of them, I generally can finish one in about 72 hours, and then start editing. The longest it ever took me to write an e-book was five days, and it ended at 240 pages. But if you are still going to procrastinate starting your E-Book then let me give you a little bit of advice.

You need to just start writing, you don’t have to worry wait until you have perfectly controlled all the ideas, which you wish to cover in the book before you start. Not long ago, I read an interesting article, and I remember reading this quote; “You do not need it all in your head before you start,” says Lisa Sherin in a recent article at Writer’s Digest. Lisa is a great author in her own right, and she was mostly speaking to fictional works, but as I thought more about what she was describing, and I realized the same thing happens to people who write nonfiction e-books.

In fact, I remember struggling with this very issue myself; putting off until tomorrow what I should have done that day, and that was to start. All you really need to do to start an e-book is take a 3 x 5 index card or perhaps, five of them. And write the chapter headings that you wish to describe, one at the top of the card, and four or five lines of sub-chapters that you think are necessary. And then open Word files for each of the sub-chapters, and write a paragraph about each, and then close the files. See, you’ve already started.

Then each day complete one of the sub-chapters. Then put it all together create your table of contents from your 3 x 5 index cards, write an introduction make a title page, and start listing all your references in the back. All the rest is just editing. It’s not that difficult, you just have to start. So start today. Do it, turn off your computer, go get some 3 x 5 index cards, and do exactly what I just mentioned. And then go ahead and e-mail me for any additional tips you might think you need. Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes in giving information in the world to help humans. Note: All of Lance Winslow‘s articles are written by him, not by Automated Software, any Computer Program, or Artificially Intelligent Software.