From the monthly archives: December 2009
Introduction
Sometimes it may be beyond a companies or individuals budget to hire a professional writer to address their technical documentation. Although in an ideal world all technical documentation should be produced by a highly trained expert, unfortunately we do not live in an ideal. In the same way that many people will attempt to repair their own home appliances, many people will attempt to write quality technical documents. Just as fiddling with a toaster can result in electrocution, attempting to write technical documents from scratch without prior advice will ultimately result in failure. As a rough rule of thumb you should always seek to employ a specialist, but if for whatever reason you can’t and you are the poor unfortunate that has had documentation duties foisted on them, don’t despair. This brief guide outlines some of the core skills you will need to bring to your writing, technical conventions to be aware of, software packages you can consider, and definite things to avoid. Hopefully even if you have never written a sentence in your life about anything vaguely technical you will have at the very least, a broader picture of what technical writing entails.
What is Technical Writing?
Technical writing unsurprisingly enough, refers to writing that is technical. Although this may seem like a fallacious definition, it’s an important one to remember. Too many technical authors make the mistake of creating documentation that is either too technical, or too ‘literary’. A good technical author should be able to adjust the balance between the two to suit the end user of the documentation. Technical writing is a lot like fresh air, pervasive and yet pretty much invisible. In the weird wired world in which we find ourselves, technical writing is everywhere. Software manuals, user guides for home appliances, instructional leaflets, emails, letters, reports, technical news reports, statistics and biographies on television sports shows all are examples of technical writing to which people are exposed to on a daily basis. If you have ever tried to program the time settings on a home video recorder and flung the manual across the room in disgust, you threw a piece of technical writing (although obviously not a very good one!).
Too many times technical literature is produced by writers with not a large enough grasp of technology, or technologists that lack an ability to write. As a prospective technical author you must tread the very delicate line of being technically knowledgeable in your specialist field(s) as well as being a ‘good’ writer (as opposed to ‘bad’ writers who can usually be found mugging sweet old ladies or something). Technical documentation is usually produced for two distinct user groups, namely expert level users, and naive users. As a technical author one of your first tasks is to sort out what audience you are writing for, which brings me deftly to:
Know thy foe
As the old clich goes, everyone’s a critic. This is particularly true of most sane people’s reaction when faced with technical writing. As was highlighted in the example of the video recorder above, technical writing can be impenetrable to the end user. If this is the case, it is because whoever wrote the documentation, didn’t bother to identify their audience and write to their level. It seems an obvious point to make, but one that is often overlooked, that the user of the documents your are creating, may not actually be an expert. Obviously if you are creating a document on a particular specialist product for a particular advanced user group (a good example could be auditing software for computer system administrators) then you will need to compose this is an entirely different way than if you are creating for example, a technical manual for mass market computer software aimed at the inexperienced home user. One of the first tasks you must accomplish before you even put pen to paper, of finger to keyboard, is to identify who the user of your documents will be and construct documents aimed at that particular target group(s). If you get this stage correct, it should avoid your documents being thrown across rooms in annoyance!
Planning for perfection
Once you have identified the target market for the documents you will be creating, you will need to start to plan how the documents will be organised. This process is largely dependent on what documentation is being produced, but you can follow a few rough rules of thumb. Firstly, if the documents are to support a particularly detailed product (such as a computer application) get your grubby hands on it as quickly as you can. By examining the product in detail you can formulate a plan of attack and begin to compose an organisational structure. Whilst you are exploring the product in detail, take copious notes, as doing this during the initial exploratory stages can save you time which can be absolutely vital if you are working to deadline. Even at the planning stage you must ensure there is a consistency to layout, and organisational structure for the document. Select numbering conventions, paragraph styles, and generate rough ideas for layout purposes now, and save vital time later.
Let a Draft in
Before diving headfirst into creating the documentation, draft out each section first. This will allow to reorder if the documents being created do not have a logical ‘flow’ without seriously having impact on the project. Many technical documents (especially for more detailed products) are made up of numerous (and in some cases practically countless) iterations. This is because the product shifts and changes over time, and one of the principal duties of a technical author is to keep abreast of these changes, and to ensure that they are all well documented. Good technical authors will always push their documents through as many drafts as humanly possible, refining on each draft, until they reach a position whereby they (and their employer) is satisfied that the documentation is timely, accurate and a true reflection of the product or process it documents.
The devil is in the detail
As already identified, technical writing is called that because it is technical in nature. Part of being technical is to be precise, and part of precision is to be as detailed as humanly possible. Even if the documents you are creating are for an advanced and technologically sophisticated user group, your documentation must focus on the details of a process, or in using a product. This can be a difficult feat to accomplish, but not if you write to your audience. Never assume that the reader knows anything about the product or process be documented, but in the case of advanced / expert users at least have the common sense to recognise the fact that they probably do not need to be told how to use the equipment they operate on a daily basis. When describing how to carry out a particular activity or task, identify each stage involved (number them if this fits the conventions of the document type you are creating) and to ensure the accuracy of what you have written test it yourself, or even better, rope in a volunteer of the same skills level as the end user.
Choose the right tool for the job
Although it is possible to create technical documents using parchment and blood, it’s not advisable. Many specialist software applications exist to help you create powerful documentation, and part of your duties as a technical author, include selecting the right tool for the job. Largely this depends on the nature of the documents being produced, and the nature of their eventual distribution. If the documents can be delivered using the Internet, this is certainly an avenue to consider. To that end make use of packages such as Flash MX and Dreamweaver to achieve this goal. For integrated online help, you may wish to create raw HTML documents, or alternatively select a specialist package such as RoboHelp or similar. In the case of print based documents, you will need to select a software package powerful enough to handle what you will throw at it.
Many inexperienced technical authors instantly turn towards Microsoft Word (as it is ubiquitous in may commercial and private environments). Unless your documentation is going to be beneath 150 pages, and you know how to create templates and make macros, avoid MS Word. As any technical author will tell you it has nasty habits all it’s own, and can often be an unstable package to work with. If you are creating graphics heavy documentation, you may wish to consider Quark Xpress, or choose potentially the industry leader in the field, Adobe Framemaker. Whatever software you select, you must ensure you become incredibly proficient with it, either by investing in training, or by using it day after day after day!
Communicate – that’s what you are paid to do!
Many people will tell you that creating technical documentation is tedious and repetitive. These people, are wrong, and possibly morons too. Although you may find the process of creating technical documentation ‘boring’ (if you do you are in the wrong job!) it isn’t. Creating quality technical documents is a vital stage in allowing people to adequately and correctly use technology. Although no user will approach the documentation you create in the same way as they approach a novel, you can ultimately help them achieve what they want to achieve using technology. No matter how ‘dull’ the process may appear to be, allowing users to achieve their goals by reading your documents should give you a rush of pride and indeed, happiness. As long as you remember the positive effects that technology can have on people’s lives, when you create your documents you can communicate more effectively, as you will be happier in the communicative process. Throughout the documentation life cycle, you should seek to liaise with colleagues as often as possible (if applicable). Let them read your documents, listen to their criticisms, and adjust your documents (if you can’t argue your corner!). A technical author is paid to communicate, make sure that you do, and never forget why your are communicating, and to whom, in the documents themselves.
Common Mistakes to avoid making
When creating technical documents there are a number of fatal flaws you can make. Although by no means exhaustive, this section details some of the more common mistakes new authors make, in the hopes that you will avoid making them too:
Being Patronising – Although technical documentation should be clear, it should never be patronising. You are not creating documents to be read by morons but consumers and clients. You should always write to the skills level of your audience, but no matter what technical level people are on, they are not morons. Even children get offended when patronised, don’t make that mistake with someone who is paying your salary, child or otherwise.
Overuse of humour – People do not read technical documents to be entertained, they read them in the hopes of successfully completing a process, or extracting information. Unless it is relevant to the end user, avoid humour wherever possible. If you are writing a book, fine and good. If you are writing a manual, avoid humour like the plague, as more often than not users will miss the joke and just end up loathing the patronising idiot that wrote the documentation.
Inconsistency – Even at the drafting stage, you should ensure that all the elements used in your document are consistent. This applies as much to the ‘tone’ of the document as to the layout of it. Ensure you use consistent senses (first person, etc.) as well as page layout, pagination elements, headers and footers, and all other textual elements.
Proof read – By the end of creating a piece of technical documentation, you will probably be sick of the sight of it. That doesn’t matter. What matters is what leaves your office or home, is accurate. To that end proof read the document throughout all it’s drafts, and before it is distributed proof read it again, and again, and again. Never rely on spell checkers (they never work) and if you can avoid it, never rely solely on your own judgement. Get your document read by as many pairs of eyes as possible prior to distribution, after all, they could spot the one thing you have been missing throughout the creation process.
Conclusion / Shameless self promotion
Technical writing is not regardless of what you may think, an easy job. It requires expertise, patience and a very odd mixture of skills. Just like any other job, you can learn how to do it, but even that tuition will not necessarily make you any good at it. To be a good technical author, you have to be anal yet creative, focussed yet communicative, and a flexible expert. This, as you can probably imagine, is no simple task. Although you may think creating technical documents is easy, creating accurate, consistent and timely documentation to a high commercial standard is a highly challenging role. Regardless of your budget, in the long run it will provide significant ROI if you hire a specialist. After all, they will be able to do in days, what you tear your hair our attempting to accomplish in weeks if not months.
Author: M. Kemp
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cool mobile gadgets
These days, you can find freelancers to perform many different IT related jobs online. Writers, programmers, proofreaders, and virtual assistants can all be found online, and they are easily found through the freelance job sites. IT Freelancers who know what they are doing never lack for work.
There are very reliable sites for freelancers to find work online. One such site, Rentacoder, works to protect both the clients and the freelancers – called buyers and coders respectively. This is done through a series of checks and balances, and Rentacoder does not charge buyers or coders to be members of the site. Their money is made by taking a percentage of the revenue for each job that is completed.
This arrangement works out well for everyone. The buyers don’t have to pay any additional fees to search for coders to complete their work. The coders are protected because the buyer’s funds are escrowed as soon as they accept the coders bid, and on top of this, they do not pay a fee to be a member of the site. Rentacoder gets their money as soon as the funds are released to the buyer. Everyone wins.
Unfortunately, there are also sites online that aren’t really very good. They look like Rentacoder, and in some ways, they operate the same as Rentacoder, but when it comes down to it, there are some major differences – none of which benefit the coders in anyway. As a freelancer, it is important that you learn to recognize these sites, and to walk away from them.
Many individuals who have programming knowledge come across the Rentacoder website, and see quite a bit of potential. They look through it, and see how it operates, and then they decide that they can do the same thing, but make more money from it. They decide to get things set up, then charge the coders fees to become members, or to get premium listings.
They may even have a free membership option, but save the best jobs for their premium (paying) members. The buyers may be charged fees as well. They may be charged an overall fee to use the site to find freelancers, or they may be charged a fee for ‘premium’ membership, which will allow them to see extended resumes, or the resumes of ‘premium’ freelancers.
On top of these fees, these sites still take their cut of each job that is completed through the site. They may even charge additional fees for handling the payments that go from the buyers to the freelancers. They envision themselves making money hand over fist, from every possible direction.
But this is a lose-lose situation. The freelancer loses by having to pay membership fees, payment fees, and a fee for each job that they complete through the site. The buyer loses by having to pay membership fees, and by not getting a large group of coders to choose from. The greedy individual who had the idea for the site to begin with loses as well when everyone figures out what is going on and quits using the site – or when they find a site like Rentacoder that doesn’t charge all of those fees.
Sadly, what that greedy individual did not realize to begin with is that sites like Rentacoder are already making money hand over fist due to the sheer volume of coders and buyers that use their services – simply because they are not charging all of those additional fees. There are currently over 100,000 coders signed up with Rentacoder. Even if only 10% of those coders do one job per month, at minimum $3 per job, Rentacoder is making a minimum $30,000 per month. They don’t feel the need to cheat any hardworking freelancers out of money for ‘membership fees’ or any other fees. The coders don’t mind paying that 15% to Rentacoder because of the service that they are getting.
On top of the fact that these greedy sites rip off the freelancers, they also lie to them often. It is hard for a new freelancing site to get coders and buyers – especially when sites like Rentacoder exist. But to attract freelancers, they often post fake jobs that appear to pay well. A few other real buyers will also post jobs, but the real attraction is those fake, well paying jobs.
The coder arrives at the site, and sees these jobs, and decides to sign up and make some money. They go through the sign up process, only to be presented with a form asking for their credit card information. They see that they have a monthly payment option or a yearly payment option. Many think they have made a mistake and that they pushed the button for the software buyers. But it’s no mistake. This site really expects you to pay for the privilege of working.
They may not even ask for payment right away. You go through the signup process, then get back to the page where the ‘good’ job was listed, click on the link and you then find out that this job is reserved for ‘premium’ members. They may call this a subscription fee, a membership fee, or a registration fee. Whatever they call it, it means that it is going to cost you money to bid on that job.
In many cases, the membership fee will be small, and when it is compared to the amount of money that you can make from that job that you’ve been trying to bid on for the past hour, you decide that you will pay the fee. Unfortunately, by the time that you get through the process of entering your credit card information and paying your fee, the job will magically already be awarded to another freelancer, or after a period of time it will be awarded to another freelancer. You can bet that it wasn’t really awarded to anyone – but they got the fee that you paid!
Think about this. If one of these sites charges a membership fee of even $5.00 per month, and it has 500,000 freelancers who renew their membership month after month in hopes of winning a job, they are making 2,5 million dollars every single month – on membership fees alone. But, you won’t know that, and you won’t be able to figure it out. They will never tell you how many subscribers they have, or how many jobs are posted or completed through the site each month.
Rentacoder, on the other hand, makes this information publicly available – even to non-members. You can see how many coders are registered, how many buyers are registered, how many jobs were posted, how many jobs were awarded, and how many jobs were completed through the Rentacoder website every single month: http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/misc/About/ThePulseOfRentACoder.asp?txtFromURL=AId_61230
Rentacoder never asks their coders, or buyers, to pay any type of membership or subscription fees. They just quietly take their percent – which coders happily pay – every time a job is completed. So, with a site like Rentacoder, why would any self-respecting freelancer want to use a site that takes their hard earned money for no reason? There is no reason to work with a site like that, when there is plenty of work to go around at Rentacoder!
Copyright 2005 – Sergey I.Grachyov
Author: Sergey Grachyov
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty tariff
As a book reviewer, I get anywhere from fifty to one hundred review requests a week. Of these, I might accept five or so. While I do occasionally take nonfiction books, most of what I accept will be in the genre known as literary fiction. But just what is literary fiction?
What differentiates literary fiction from what most publishers class as commercial or genre oriented fiction, and why am I biased towards it? Its a question I get asked regularly. Some, like author David Lubar (“A Guide to Literary Fiction,” 2002) equate the label with work that is pompous, dull, plotless, and overly academic: “If you’re ever in doubt about whether a story is literary, there’s a simple test. Look in a mirror immediately after reading the last sentence. If your eyebrows are closer together than normal, the answer is yes.” Publishers often use this label for work which defies other genre distinctions, eg it isnt romance, isnt “chick-lit,” isnt science or speculative fiction, isnt a thriller, action, or political drama. It is meant to denote a fiction which is of higher quality, richer, denser, or, as the literary fiction book club states, work which “can make us uncomfortable or can weave magic.”
These distinctions arent always clear, and there are some superb exceptions to the genre rule, such as Margaret Atwood or China Mieville, whose high quality work fits the speculative fiction genre, or Umberto Eco and Iain Pears, whose work is full of mystery and suspense. All writers feel that their work is high quality, and most write fiction with the goal of producing great work. So how can we ensure that our work is literary fiction rather than some other form? Here are five tips to guide writers who are inclined to produce literary fiction:
1. Aim for transcendency. The one quality which seems to be present in abundance in literary fiction and much less so in other forms, is what agent and author Noah Lukeman calls transcendency. It isnt easy to define, and in his exceptional book, The Plot Thickens (St Martins Press, 2002), Lukeman presents a number of points, such as multidimensional characters and circumstances, room for interpretation, timelessness, relatability, educational elements, self discovery, and lasting impression. I would say that transcendency equates to depth, to writing which does more than entertain its readers, and instead, changes something, however small, in the way they perceive themselves. How do you get transcendency in fiction? With a deep theme, deep and powerful characters, complex plots, and exceptional writing skills. Sound easy?
2. Read quality literature. This is a lot easier than transcendency, though not unrelated. Since achieving literary fiction is a subtle and difficult thing, youve got to develop your literary senses. The best way of doing that is to read books which fit this genre. If you want to create literary fiction, chances are, you probably are already reading it. These are books by the writers we call “great.” Your list of names may differ from mine, but these are the writers who win prizes like the Booker, the Pulitzer, the Commonwealth Prize, and the National Book Award to name just a few. The more great literature you read, the better able you will become at recognising the elements which make a fiction literary.
3. Dont get defensive! Lubars article is lots of fun, but literary fiction isnt meant to be snobbish, academic, plotless, or boring in any way; just well crafted. That may be daunting if you are a writer, but it won’t help your work to shrug off quality by calling it dull or unachievable.
4. Re-write. This may be the single most important distinction between literary and other types of fiction. Work which is timeless takes time. Theres no other way to achieve literary fiction than re-writing, dozens, and maybe many more, times. It isnt glamorous, nor is re-writing dependent on a muse or inspiration like the first draft is. It is just going over and over a work until every word is relevant and integral to the story. This process cannot occur solely in the fingers of the author. Every writer of literary fiction requires an ideal reader, a critique group, a mentor, or someone who can provide the kind of objective advice which will transform your inspiration into a stunning creation.
5. Don’t stress about it! Of course there is no point in worrying so much that you get writer’s block (and if you do, get hold of Jenna’s terrific book on the topic 
. If you read great books, write fiction which is true to your own creative vision, and revise (with feedback from others) until the work is as perfect as you can make it, you will produce literary fiction. Thats all there is to it. Writing a novel is about as hard as writing gets. Writing literary fiction can take years, often with little reward, at least until the book is completed (and in many instances, thankless even after publication, assuming you are published). But if you cant stop yourself; if the desire for producing something truly beautiful outweighs utilitarianism, then you are really and truly a literary writer and your work will have transcendency. Ill look forward to reading and reviewing it!
Author: Maggie Ball
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty rate
Can Quick Grammar Guide & Checker solve our grammar writing problems once and for all? English writing is one of the most important forms of communication today, it is necessary to maintain it correct and professional. Let’s take a look and see how recent technological improvements can help us on improving our writing skills.
Quick introduction
What is Quick Grammar Guide & Checker all about? Well, it is one of these innovative solutions that technology keeps bringing in order to make our life easier – in our case it is about fixing our English writing. By simulating the human mind, this technology analyzes your writing by comparing it to a dynamic large database that contains proper variations of your text. Sophisticated language processing solutions usually offer the following: editing and proofreading, checking on spelling and typos, and most importantly – analyzing our grammar writing.
Important benefits
We can easily find several important advantages while using this technology:
* Significantly enhancing the capabilities of our existing text editors.
* Improving our self confidence with our writing.
* Improving the image we want to project through our writing.
Extra research on this solution would probably bring up additional benefits that aren’t mentioned here, as this important webmarketing technique keeps changing, bringing us fresh solutions that help us on improving our English writing and editing skills.
Quick summary
If we summarize the main benefit provided by this powerful Quick Grammar Guide & Checker – it is helping us on identifying possible writing errors before we deliver or publish our writing assignments. Everyone agrees that it cannot completely eliminate our writing problems; however, it can significantly help us on improving our writing skills. Undoubtedly we can expect this exciting technology to further develop itself, for one simple reason: writing is one of the most important tools that help us achieving many of our goals.
Author: Gil Lavitov
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Mobile device news
You may have read the article I posted recently on receiving an invitation out of the blue to address a targeted audience of 500 couples and thereafter engage in a book signing ceremony.
It sounds too good to be true and it almost turned out that way.
I arrived at the venue to be informed that my books had failed to show.
Oh, 500 hundred copies of a book had arrived okay but not my book Your Retirement Masterplan.
Someone at the distribution warehouse had highlighted the wrong ISBN, clicked, and provided the dispatch department with erroneous delivery details.
So what do you do when you are confronted with a nervous client, an inflamed public relations consultancy and 500 copies of some other authors book?
o I assuaged the client and their PR representatives and assured them that events would pan out satisfactorily;
o I requested permission to re-jig the program and tag a 30-minute Q & A session onto the end of my talk;
o I telephoned the warehouse and demanded they courier PDQ 500 hundred copies of the correct book (fortuitously, the warehouse was only 25 miles away from the venue).
As it happens, the Q&A session went down a bundle with the audience and lasted for almost 60 minutes which was just as well because thats when the copies of my book arrived.
Hardly a JIT delivery but welcome nonetheless.
What goes around come around and all in all I was pleased with the days work – and I got what I set out to achieve.
1. I earned 10 percent in royalties from this bulk book purchase
2. I got to sign 500 copies individually
3. I got the opportunity to pass around my business cards
4. I got to address the retirees in a 20-minute talk on the third age adventure with the added bonus of a 1 hour Q&A session.
5. I got the opportunity to promote my next book
6. I got 500 potential new customers for my future books
7. I got an all-expenses paid trip to the venue
8. I got a substantial appearance fee
9. I got exposure from local television covering the seminar
Best of all to come out of the crisis was the fact that I won the trust of both the client and the consultancy and ended up with an invitation to repeat the exercise (minus the wrong books factor) on four separate occasions during 2006.
What helped me talk my way out of trouble at this major book signing event is the fact that I spent the bulk of my working life at the sharp end of marketing and I had seen it all before and worse.
Author: Jim Green
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Netbook, Tablets and Mobile Computing
Being a freelance writer means you can do quality and skilled work and be successful at it. If you want to be a success in freelance writing you need good command over the language you choose to write. You can write your own script, article and many different kinds of papers.
Nowadays many people choose freelance writing as a profession in which they can get flexible schedules and work easily. You dont have to be an established writer but all you need to start as a freelancer is background research on the subjects that need to be written. Writing has many different dimensions to it. It can be media scripts, academic papers, business reports or short stories. If you are looking at a part time job you can opt for freelance writing and work out of home. The challenge of freelance writing is constant flow of work. It is a huge field and there are a variety of jobs available which provides lots of opportunities for freelancers. It is the best way to connect with the worlds fastest growing market in any profession.
You can work for publishers, corporations and the whole range of other clients on a truly global scale, irrespective of whether you are in the heart of big city or in a remote village. All you need is just a computer and a broadband internet connection for starting your freelance work. Freelance writing is a fantastic opportunity for a writer and you could enjoy your life without the 9-5 grind. Freelance writing jobs are available over the Internet. You have online marketplaces where clients post their requirements and as a service provider you can bid for the projects. If your bid is selected you need to deliver the writing jobs according to the clients specification. The payment is made through online payment mechanisms such as Paypal, E-Gold or credit cards.
If you have a client who offers you assignment regularly you can slowly withdraw yourself from bidding. This gives you much more time to focus on your core work. Freelance writing work has got immense opportunities in the future and it is only growing. Analysts estimate that the present market for freelance work is $250 million annually and it is expected to reach $2 billion by the year 2015. With such a wide scope there are no reasons why you should not start off as a freelance writer.
You can write articles for magazines and newspapers, creating scripts for video, documentaries and film projects, copywriting for marketing, advertising, editing books, articles and other publications, proofreading for corporate clients, speech writing for political, government and commercial clients, creating contents for web-sites and magazines, ghost writing for celebrity authors. Freelance writing jobs are for writers who are talented, have good command over the language, skilled in writing and hardworking. The process is simple and you need to put efforts in the right direction. You will definitely get more interest in this field and earn a very good amount of money.
Author: Dave Modie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Now that you’re older, how would you like to start writing that book you’ve always wanted to write, or even just write to tell your story for posterity’s sake? No, you don’t need to be a computer whiz nor do you need to know computer lingo. Here are some exclusive writing tips, for you, the older generation with limited to no exposure to computers.
Exclusive Writing Tips for the Older Generation:
Start getting warmed up by writing to your friends and family. Gather up those addresses and start writing. When you write to them be aware of how you are using your words to describe events and family. Good grammar is great if you have it, but don’t be embarrassed if you don’t; that will come later as your friends begin to respond and you read their writings. Thank goodness ‘snail mail’ is still alive and I hope it never dies.
Make your way to the Library to look through books about what you would like to write about. If you’re writing about family history, look for books on the history of where you grew up; look for maps and records available at the library. If you’re serious about writing your novel or even a children’s story, look for similar books that can inspire your creativity. Just looking at some of those book covers can inspire your creativity.
Being on a fixed income doesn’t mean you have to miss out on writing conferences or author training. The Library is an excellent resource for information on writing and you don’t need to buy your own subscriptions either. Writer’s magazines are packed with valuable writing tips and samples. You can go even further with this; ask the information desk for condensed versions of writer’s seminars or even transcripts from writer’s conferences.
When you start writing on that blank sheet of paper, pretend that you are already writing your manuscript. It will give you a sense of confidence and boost your writing enthusiasm. So what if it’s not perfect, and so what if the grammar is incorrect, there is an array of affordable writing services to do the rest of the job for you.
Our society as a whole may be geared towards the computer savvy individual, but the maturing adult still has a lot to share with us. Dr. Wayne Dyer says, “Don’t die with your music still in you” and for that reason I am a writer today; I agree whole-heartedly with his statement. So have fun with these exclusive writing tips and start working on your book title, believe me, it will change a few times, and that’s half the fun.
Author: Krystalina Soash
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cellphone news
We all have those dreams of great accomplishments from time to time. Of climbing Mount Everest, skydiving, or writing the great American novel. Maybe that is you, the writer who is ready to break out. Or maybe you just want to give it a shot. Regardless of the setup, you are reading this article because you are either writing a novel or you want to write a novel. I understand you because I am you. I am on the journey of writing my first novel and hope to finish my first draft soon. However, the pages I have written in my novel only account for a portion of my writing over the last year.
It is just as important to study the current methods, techniques, and technology of marketing novels as it is to write your novel. Why? Because once you are published (think positive), your publisher is not the primary push behind marketing your novel or you as an author. You will be the primary marketing department for all of your creative work. This is a shock to many writers once they become published authors, and probably results in many one time novelists who sell five hundred copies and fade away.
But knowledge is power, and now you know.
So what do you do about it? Read and learn. There are literally hundreds of free online information sources dedicated to online marketing and the more narrow discipline of marketing fiction, both online and through other mediums. I will just lay out a few of the things I did for starters as a baseline.
1) Choose your author name
I know, sounds silly. But if you try Googling your name, you may quickly find that it is very serious. Most people have at least three names, first, middle, and last. You want to find the combination of those names and/or initials least represented in a web search. This will allow people to find articles and websites about you with much less competition from others. For example, I searched for Hugh Thomas and found a well known historical writer by that name listed for pages on end. Then I searched for “J Hugh Thomas” and found no writing competition. Therefore, as a writer I am always J Hugh Thomas.
2) Buy your domain name
It is cheap and in today’s world, it is pretty much expected. This also factors into your decision on your author name, because ideally you want to choose that name as your domain, in my case jhughthomas. It is best to get the .com domain, but if it is not available you can always go with something like .net or .info instead. Buy the domain from a company that will allow you to put up a simple website without a hosting fee. This means that for less than $10 per year, you can have a searchable presence on the web with some basic information about you and your novel.
3) Start a blog
In the past you could write a great novel and either academics or media figures would fall in love with it causing old style viral marketing. Today, users are coming to expect a new level of access and interaction with the producers of fiction. This combined with the fact that blogs are probably the single best way to develop a web presence makes your blog critical. My recommendation is to blog about writing your novel, or blog about parts of your novel. The reason is to keep you from being overwhelmed going in too many directions at once. Just write about what you are learning and doing. And post regularly. The best way to lose followers is to post sporadically. Once a week is usually a good schedule. Many free blogging sites exist but I use blogger.com.
4) Feedburn your blog
Now we are getting into some real marketing. By using feedburner.com, you are optimizing your blog to be delivered through RSS feeds to whatever platform the user chooses. In addition, you can give users the option of subscribing to your blog by email. You can setup feedburner to ping Google every time you post a new entry causing it to be instantly indexed for search. There are more features than I can cover here, but I think you can see that this step will go a long way to making you very searchable on the internet. Remember, every skill you learn now will be applied in new ways once your novel is complete. This is a time of education with some side benefits.
5) Blog or podcast some free fiction
I have not reached this stage yet, but I think it is the next logical step. When you are trying to sell a $10-$15 soft cover or a $25-$30 hard cover book, why will a reader choose your novel? Once you are established you have your brand name, like Stephen King or James Patterson, and the brand is what attracts the buyer. The reader does not see a Stephen King book as being a big risk. You do not have that luxury. If you are willing to write some great fiction and give it away, you have a bigger chance of developing readers who will buy your books. The key here is “great fiction,” not just your leftover ideas. Spend as much time, if not more, writing multiple drafts and editing your free fiction as you do with your novel. This is your first impression so dazzle your readers so they will come back for more.
This only scratches the surface of all the ways you can market yourself while writing your novel. I hope that these ideas will help you as you complete your novel, get published, and market like crazy to drive up sales.
Author: J Hugh Thomas
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Latest trends in mobile phone
Writing for womens magazines is a lucrative and easy way of getting into print. Most National magazines have readerships in the thousands some in the millions so your name can gain huge exposure through this medium. Indeed, many writers who have had stories published regularly by womens magazines go on to build their careers in writing through short stories and novels, helped by the exposure gained from stories theyve had published in womens magazines.
Is it simple to do?
The process of submitting a story couldnt be more straightforward: firstly write your story, secondly send it to the fiction editor of the magazine of your choice and in a few weeks youll know if its going to be published! No agents, no publishers, no mystifying contracts, advances or royalties! Womens Magazines usually pay a one-time fee for your story and you retain copyright. That means that you are free to sell the story again sometime to another magazine! Payments range usually between 100 – 300 (approx. $200-$600) per story, depending on the magazine and story length. And as the story length seldom exceeds 2,000 words, thats a great rate of pay!
Thats fine, I hear you say, but what do I write about?
Thats a good question. All womens magazines have target markets. For some lets say UK Best, its younger women who enjoy stories that are young, fresh and lively their words, not mine! Not too clear, is it? Ive found that the very best way indeed, some writers for womens magazines say the only way to find out the type of story required is to buy the magazine. Thats right! You dont have to subscribe for a year, just get hold of a few recent copies and theyll give you an idea of what it is the editors looking for at the moment. And thats important, because womens magazines requirements for stories can change maybe they have had a run of twist in the tail type stories and are now looking for light romance, or more humorous tales. So its good to know whats hot right now.
Are there any storylines that dont sell?
Not many, but there are some things to remember when writing stories for this market:
The main character is usually a woman.
Stories dont often contain more than three or four characters.
Any story containing explicit sex, violence or any form of cruelty will be REJECTED!
Ghost stories are fine as long as theyre not too frightening or horrific.
Stories containing divorce-in-process storylines are unlikely to succeed.
Although many womens magazines say that they dont expect good old-fashioned boy-meets-girl kind of storylines, this type of story is still a favourite. Most stories are quite simple after all, you just havent got time in 1,000 words for a complex plot! and easy to read. Dont baffle your reader with jargon or use overlong words or flowery prose be simple, direct and write your story for your reader not for you.
Why do stories have to be a certain length my stories are longer!
Here we hit a fact of life point. Womens magazines and all other newspapers and periodicals assign a certain amount of space for each feature, article and advertisement. The reason that stories are usually either 1,000 or 2,000 words is simply because 1,000 words fits comfortably onto a single side of one page of the magazine, 2,000 onto two sides, and so on. And thats it! If you write a story thats 1,500 words long youre in a very uncomfortable zone as far as they are concerned you simply dont fit! It then means one of two things must happen either you edit the story down ruthlessly to 1,000 words or pad it to 2,000.
There are a few exceptions. These apply to UK womens magazines but are common to this type of publication in the USA, Australia and anywhere else this type of magazine is printed. Theyre usually called Fiction Specials and are normally printed in Summer, near Christmas and other times dependent on the magazine in question. One of note in the UK is My Weekly. These Fiction Specials are just that little in the way of advertising or regular in-house features are to be found instead, they are cover-to-cover short stories and, as such, are a goldmine for writers! Here word lengths can vary from 1,000 to 6,000 or more, with no absolute length required though if you take my tip you should still stick to multiples of 500 words.
So its easy to get my story published, then!
I didnt say that! Its easy to submit your story and youll get a quick decision but competition is fierce and only the best make it. Ive had literally dozens of stories rejected but I still write them. Why? Well, as a writer you have to learn to take rejection. Its not personal. It doesnt mean you cant write or that your story was terrible (although both of these might be a factor!). No it could be any of the following
The magazine recently accepted a story on much the same lines as yours.
They may have a full book of stories like yours.
They just dont feel it fits in with what they want to print right now.
Your story might have been targeted at the wrong readership for them
And a variety of other reasons. One thing: please if your story is rejected do not call the editor to ask for an explanation/berate them for a fool/tear them a new one or anything else. It will do no good and I can personally guarantee that you will never, ever have a story published with that magazine ever!
So what do I do if my story does get rejected?
Simple. Re-read it. Could you have written it better? Is the word-length right? Did you, in fact, send it to the right magazine? If thats No, yes, yes then put it away for a while and write another. It may well be that its been rejected for any one of the reasons above. If you cant honestly answer No, yes, yes – and be honest with yourself then get to work. Re-write it. Edit it. Send it to a magazine more in tune with your storyline. And one day you will get that acceptance letter!
Are there any purely story-content womens magazines out there?
In the UK and thats my market I know of only one, and its world-famous. Its called The Peoples Friend and is published by D.C Thompson & Co. of Dundee, Scotland. Its been going for many, many years and has a (justified) reputation of helping fledgling writers with their craft. Their story requirements are a little different to most other womens magazines highly valued are the principles of honesty, loyalty and respect for others. If you can adapt your style to suit them its a great magazine to work with.
So how do I begin?
Read the magazines! They are your very best source of information. The stories they publish will tell you how long they must be, generally what theyre looking for in a story, the kind of plots that get published and the standards of writing they expect. And theres more! Write to most of them and ask for a copy of their fiction guidelines and theyll send them to you free! (Dont forget an SAE, though!) Honestly, this is one of the very few writing markets where publishers are actively looking, all the time, for fresh talent unpublished writers who want
Their first break! So just DO IT!
Author: Steve Dempster
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera Information
During your study at college, many eyes will evaluate your essay, many heads will be thinking about its content. And your aim is not to disappoint them, not to hand in just another ordinary essay. There are some fundamentals common for all the essays we want to share with you. Though it may appear too obvious to you, but please DO read the essay topic very attentively and thoughtfully. One of the most common mistakes I come across when checking the essays is misinterpretation of the topic. Some students stick off the point, others dont answer the target problem of the essay. Avoid this mistake.
Some tutors assign their own topics and very often they might be too abstract. Others offer the choice of the topic to the students, mentioning the necessary type of the essay (e.g. comparison/contrast essay). In either case dont despair! Your tutor wants you to demonstrate your abilities in thinking and your skills in committing them to paper. Impress him, because you can. Though essay excludes plagiarism, you cant do with referring to useful literature. Read a lot, read diverse literature Then you will put down all the sources into your reference list.
It is a good thing to discuss your topic with someone. An ideal variant is your tutor, because he will give you useful advice and will clarify his own opinion on the subject. If he is not available, discuss your issue with a person you respect. The essay answers the question WHY? (E.g. a persuasive essay answers the question WHY do I have such an opinion on the point?). In other words, essay can be defined as some kind of a letter to your imaginary friend (your perspective reader) who asked you the question WHY?. So, the first section of your letter is – introduction. Here you inform the reader about the essence of the problem and prepare him for the course of the discussion.
Then you continue your discourse in supporting paragraphs. Your aim is to gain the reader over and to capture his imagination. How can you do it? Examples: A lot of sound, pertinent examples make a convincing and effective essay. Especially rich in the examples must be expository essays expository essay which aim at explaining something to the audience. Last sentences of the essay make up a conclusion. It is your final word with the reader. So, use it efficiently and make a strong notable conclusion. Though essay is not the easiest task, but if you give a conscious approach to it, if you treat it with spirit, then your essay will help you to win the tutors respect. And what is more important you will believe that you are creative and inventive!
Author: Keith Adams
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera News