From the daily archives: Friday, January 22, 2010

Learning how to write a romance novel in a year is no easy task even for the most experienced writers. A newbie writer will find this task quite a difficult objective to meet within a year. However, with adherence to a strict time schedule, self-discipline and clear goals and objectives, it is possible to write a romance novel in a year. Furthermore, it would be much easier to do so if you love reading romantic novels and watching movies, not to forget, writing articles.

A romance novel revolves around matters to do with love, relationships and sometimes even intimate escapades. Some of the novels are written based on a true story but most of the romantic novels are works of fiction. Most people have read a romance novel at least once in their lifetime. This offers you as a writer, the opportunity to cash in on such a big market for romance novels, although you will have to contend with the high competition from experienced writers. However, this should not hinder you from testing your ability, for readers will go for quality rather than quantity.

Many romance novel writers get the wrong notion that writing only requires some inspiration, a storyline mainly based on experience and a good editor. There are completely wrong, for writing is an art that needs total dedication, good research skills, conceptualization and the ability to give a concise account. It is advisable that you learn how to write by studying the works of great novel writers. Observe the quality of the novels, taking a keen interest on how they develop their scenes and plots, how the characters relate, how subsequent events relate to each other and the flow in the whole novel.

When you start writing the romance novel, you have to ensure that you have done enough research before jotting down your first few sentences. This is very important for it will determine the overall success of the entire novel. The research work includes the selection of the plot, themes and characters. The main character of the novel should have a natural appeal to the prospective readers. You should learn how to twist and turn the events of the story, without losing the natural flow of the novel. It is advisable that you use clear and concise statements that the prospective readers can easily relate to and understand. As a writer, you should try to challenge the readers mind but at the same time make the novel as enjoyable and exciting as possible.

The main element of a romance novel is the attraction between the main characters. This attraction should not be as obvious as a scenario where a boy meets a girl and they fall in love to live happily ever after. It should be unique, to include many thrilling scenes and twists to the story, creating a high level of suspense to the readers. Considering the fact that there are numerous romance novels in circulation, you should be in a position to be as creative as possible and avoid all forms of copying others’ work.

The conclusion of a romance novel has to be very dramatic and captivating, leaving the reader yearning for more. A good dramatic ending may even give birth to a series or sequel of the romantic novel thereby opening up the market for you, for better monetary gains. However, you should not engage in writing only for the monetary gains that come along with it, but also because you have a passion for it. If you focus on the financial side rather than the work at hand, you may end up producing a poor piece of work and consequently lose even more. If you follow all these tips diligently, you are sure to complete writing your romance novel in a year.

Author: Sid R Poudyal
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

 

Go to any newsstand, bookstore or drugstore and you’ll see rows of magazines lined up with enticing titles and intriguing articles. After standing there for a few minutes, you’ll feel yourself drawn to one or two that capture your attention. You browse through them and land on a few interesting articles – maybe you quickly read through them.

The power of magazine articles is what brings in the bacon for major publishers, and all magazines thrive on getting people to buy a copy in order to read the articles. This means that each publication must find talented writers who can create articles for their particular theme.

Freelance article writing for magazines has been the staple of independent writers for decades, and it’s still going strong. The upside for writers is that there are hundreds of magazines to submit articles to. The downside is that there is fierce competition from thousands of quality writers who also want to see their names featured in these glossies.

If you are lucky enough to have your article accepted by a magazine then you will be in privileged company. The magazine will send you a nice check and, after a few months, you’ll get to see your article in all of its full, graphic glory. Great!

Now what?

Well, you’ve got to do it all over again. Research magazines and topics, work on your article for hours on end to get it just right. Submit it to the magazine and hope it gets a serious look.

Can you make money writing articles for magazines?

Absolutely.

Can you make enough each month to pay your rent, food expenses and bills?

Hmmm. Maybe not. For many people, writing for magazines is more like a nice hobby. The pay can be really good, when you get an article accepted, but it sure isn’t going to be enough steady work to keep you afloat.

Okay. Does that mean you have to give up your dream of pursuing magazine freelance writing positions?

No, but you do need to adjust your thinking about freelance writing in order to make a realistic income from this type of career. Open yourself up to doing other types of writing jobs like: online article writing, web site content writing, blog writing and even ghostwriting books. There’s a world of writing for pay opportunities that exists in addition to magazines.

If you just limit yourself to magazines, you may find yourself slaving away in a cubicle or other work type situation where you don’t get to spend the majority of your time doing what you love.

If you are willing to become a real professional freelance writer and establish a business around your writing, then you can build up a clientele that will pay you again and again for doing something that comes natural to you. Oh yeah, and you can still get your work published in magazines, which will only serve to build up your reputation as an excellent writer worth your weight in gold.

Author: Nikki LeRoi
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty on LCD/Plasma TV

 

Writing the perfect essay can be a nightmare! No matter how well you know your subject matter, if you are unable to successfully structure your response to the posed essay question, you are at risk of scoring a big fat F! That’s hardly a fair trade for all the hard work you have put in to learning your subject material.

But don’t worry – there is no need to panic quite yet! Follow these simple steps and all your essays will always be wonderfully structured!

1- Understand the Question – What are you really being asked to do?!

One of the biggest mistakes people make when answering essay questions is THEY DON’T ANSWER THE QUESTION. Instead of taking some time to digest the question posed, they jump straight in and regurgitate everything they know about the subject. And whilst this approach may illustrate that you know your subject, it also suggests that you haven’t read or understood the question. This then just leads to the examiner stamping your work with a bright red F.

So the most important thing you can do when writing an essay is really get to grips with the question posed. Establish exactly what you are being asked to do, and then constantly keep checking your answer to make sure you are ANSWERING THE QUESTION!

Take a look at the questions below; what words do you think are the most important? What are each of them asking you to do?

- Critically compare Austin’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’ with Bronte’s ‘Northanger Abbey’.
- How important was Churchill in raising the morale of Wartime England?
- ‘Darkness’. Discuss.
- Which character is the most pivotal in keeping the character’s in ‘Friends’ bonded together?

The most important words in all of these questions are the ones that tell you what to do! These words are, ‘Compare’, ‘How’, ‘Discuss’ and ‘Which’.

Therefore, your essay relating to the first question must COMPARE the works of the two authors. Simply writing about both books would not be sufficient. You would need to take specific sections of each novel and demonstrate how they are similar, and potentially, how they are different.

Similarly, in a response to the second question posed above, you would need to focus your essay on HOW Churchill’s actions and behavior impacted on the morale of England during the war, and make an assessment as to HOW MUCH of an impact these actions had. This is very different to just talking about Churchill’s wartime actions, or stating the morale of England at this time.

Spending time getting to grips with the essay question, and constantly reminding yourself of the question whilst you write your essay will save valuable time, and is the fastest way to improving your essay marks!

2 – Structuring your essay – Like most things in life, their needs to be a Beginning, Middle and End!

Now that you fully understand the question that your essay needs to answer, you can set about structuring the perfect response!

It doesn’t matter how long or short your essay is going to be, it MUST contain three main sections:

- An Introduction
- The body or main argument of the essay
- A Conclusion

The Introduction should set the scene. It should provide any necessary background information, and state the intention of the essay. This is where you want to show the examiner that you understand the essay question. So state that you are going to compare two novels, discuss a concept, explore the impact of a character, etc.

The body of the essay should contain the main argument of the essay. Put simply, this is where you would compare the novels, discuss the concept, explore the impact of the character, etc.

The Conclusion should do just what it says! It should conclude your argument and pull together the main threads of your essay. You should use the conclusion of your essay to make a real impact and firmly state once again the main points of your essay. Go back to the question posed, and make sure your conclusion succinctly answers it!

3 – The content – Make sure you know what you’re talking about!

And finally, the essay has to have some substance! The content is obviously pivotal to the success of your essay – you can get away with waffling through the introduction and conclusion, but the body needs to consist of some subject matter! So make sure you know the subject you are writing about! And ensure you have sufficient examples to support any opinion or statement you make.

Good Luck!

Author: Samantha Pearce
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable Pressure Cooker

 

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: Duty tariff

 

What is all the fuss about plain English? And while were at it, what is plain English? Taking away all the grammatical terms loved by linguistics teachers and, lets face it, no-one else, plain English is simply the most straightforward way of writing something. Its not formal, flowery or fancy writing, its just, well, plain.

That might sound boring, but plain English is the proven best way to get a message across. It makes the writer look professional and intelligent without appearing pompous, and it is easy for people to understand, even if they come from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Originally, plain English was developed as a tool for improving public communication, but it was quickly applied to many other forms of public, corporate, business, marketing and personal writing. Today in Australia, it is represents the closest we have to a standard register. Plain English was specified in Australias federal legislation in 1983 and continues today.

To improve the clarity, consistency, professionalism and readability of your writing, use the following checklist to bring your writing into line with the very useful parameters of plain English.

1. Be concise & precise

Its best to keep things short, so get to the point quickly. Unless youre writing a novel, people are not likely to be reading what you write for the fun of it they want to get the information they need from you, then get on with their own lives.

2. Keep it simple

Try to stick to one subject per sentence or paragraph. Read over what you have written: if there are two subjects in the one sentence, your text will be overly clumsy. Break it up into two sentences. For example:

I went to Grandmas place to find out what type of brick was used on her house because I received a big enough bonus from work to build my own home, and Ive always loved the bricks there.

This sentence is clumsy and unnecessarily complicated. Try:

My bonus this year was enough for me to build my own home. I had always loved the bricks on Grandmas house, so I visited her to find out exactly what they were.

3. Avoid jargon & acronyms

Keep your content professional, but avoid (or explain) jargon, and spell out acronyms. (Acronym, by the way, is a jargon word used in the writing industry: its used when a name or phrase is shortened into just capital letters. So, for example, NSW is the acronym for New South Wales).

This assists the people reading your copy to understand what you are talking about, and they will therefore be more likely to respond positively to what you have written. Moreover, it is simply a professional courtesy and a sign of good writing.

One exception:

Do you personally know every person who will read what you have written? Even if you send an email to just your supervisor, do you personally know those to whom your supervisor might forward on your email? If you know everyone who will read what you have written, and you can be sure that they will understand the jargon that is specific to your team or industry, you may use it though with caution. However, is still a good idea to spell out acronyms the first time you write them followed by the acronym in brackets, then use just the acronym from then on.

4. Choose the simplest word

Try to use the most plain, everyday word to say what you mean, rather than lofty, formal or old-fashioned words. Dont worry this wont make you look unintelligent or make your writing boring, quite the opposite. Choosing simple, straightforward words brings a clean elegance to your writing, and makes your document purposeful, professional and smart. For example:

Use start or begin rather than commence

Use buy rather than purchase

Use team members or staff members rather than personnel

Use among and while rather than amongst and whilst

If you are good at languages, it may help if you aim to use words that are Anglo rather than Latin derivatives.

5. Be active, not passive

The terms active voice and passive voice are more jargon terms used in the writing industry. But once you understand and master the difference between them, your writing will instantly become more alive, more interesting and more professional.

In writing, as in life, being active means you are doing something, while being passive means you are sitting back while something is being done to you. For example:

She hit him is active, while He was hit by her is passive.

It happened yesterday is active, while It was happening yesterday is passive.

The dog chased the ball is active, while The ball was chased by the dog is passive.

In each case, both versions mean the same thing, but the active version is more direct, less complicated, and easier to read. In other words, the active version is Plain English.

6. Keep tenses consistent

As a general rule, stay in the same tense throughout any document. So if you start in the past tense, stay in the past tense. If you start in the present tense, stay in the present tense. For example:

He heard that she is better, starts in the past (heard) and ends in the present (is), so it is incorrect.

He heard that she was better, remains in the past tense, so it is correct.

This is a difficult rule for people to follow, because it often feels right to mix tenses. In the above example, if the person is better right now, the first sentence may feel correct to you. This is one of those rules youll just have to trust even if you disagree, until you get used to it.

One exception:

You should always aim to keep your tenses consistent. However, there is room for you to stretch the boundaries, just a little. It is acceptable to start a sentence in the present tense, then move back to the past. But it is never acceptable to start in the past, then move to the present or future. And dont chop and change between the tenses.

You essentially have two choices when it comes to tenses:

a) Pick a tense and stick with it for the entire document;
b) Start in the present or future (usually this is done to give your copy some punch or a sense of immediacy), then progress to the past tense, and stay there for the rest of the document

7. Limit adjectives & adverbs

In brief, an adjective is a word used to describe a noun (a thing). So if you have a playful puppy, the adjective is playful. An adverb is a word used to describe a verb (an action). So if you go for an exhausting jog, the adverb is exhausting.

These types of words are helpful descriptive tools, but they are often over-used. Even in fiction, writers are often told to show dont tell in other words, limit the use of adjectives and adverbs. For example:

Marie returned home from an exhausting and over-tiring jog.

Marie returned home from her jog and collapsed on the couch.

In both cases, we know that Maries jog was exhausting. But the first example uses two clumsy adverbs to get its meaning across (it tells), while the second uses no adverbs or adjectives, and creates a much more vivid picture of Maries exhaustion (it shows).

This distinction is even more important in corporate and business writing. In these cases, the use of adjectives and adverbs can make your document look juvenile and unprofessional. Take another look at what you have written and ask yourself: is there any other way I could describe this, removing most of the adjectives and adverbs?

8. Avoid marketing speak

Research shows that most readers are not interested in marketing speak or hyperbole, and dont trust it. In particular, writers frequently make the mistake of using marketing speak on the Internet. What we mean by marketing speak is writing like an advertisement. In other words, claiming that you are the best, the biggest, the most influential, the most popular etc, without being able to support those claims. All you need next is to offer your readers a free set of steak knives.

This kind of writing turns readers off. Avoid it in all corporate, business, Internet and even marketing writing, unless it is specifically required (ie. you are writing an ad for a product and plan on offering a free set of steak knives).

9. Engage with your readers

Unless you are writing a very formal document, such as a legal policy, try to engage with your readers. A good way to do this is to use personal pronouns, such as we and you. For example, in the first sentence of this section, weve said try to engage with your readers. A more formal (and less in line with the principles of plain English) version of this would be, writers should try to engage with their readers.”

Author: Naomi Hulbert
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cool mobile gadgets

 

If youve read any of my work before, you probably know that I’ve been in publishing since 1987, have been a freelancer since 1993 and ran an editorial staffing agency in New York City from 1996 through 2004.

Some lessons Ive learned from this crazy journey are as follows:

1. Staying abreast of technology is crucial: Back in 1998, I was pushed to get a website for my company because clients and candidates were asking questions like, Can I apply online? Can I download the contract from your site? Can I post a job to your website?

Well, as we didnt even have a website, I would embarrassingly say no. The loud silence, especially from clients, on the other end of the phone line got to be too much.

Going through the process of getting a website taught me the value of staying on top of technology. I learned that while I dont need to be a hard-nosed techie, to stay competitive, I had to know enough to be able to stay competitive. This meant not only getting a site, but learning how to update it myself.

One of the wonderful things about technology is that new tools are constantly being developed for those of us who are NOT tech-savvy, eg, FrontPage software for building websites, autoresponder software, listserv software for building mailing lists, etc.

2. Writing is a skill: Obviously, you mutter. However, many writers dont treat their craft like it. I single out writers because, in my experience, proofreaders, copy editors, indexers, editors, graphic designers, illustrators, etc. all seem to see intrinsic value and take pride in their work.

Many writers take their craft for granted. Maybe its because society views writing as just words on paper. After all, once you know your ABCs, you can write, right? Well, editorial professionals know better than anyone that this is not so.

One thing I advise all professional writers to do to combat this lackadaisical attitude is to treat their writing like a business skill. Just like being a professional coder, artist or web designer when you put yourself out there, market and treat your skill like the highly valued commodity it is.

Let it be reflected in your perfectly prepared marketing materials eg, your website, brochure, postcard, etc. Also, when you speak with potential clients, be sure to use a professional tone. No one is going to believe that you write professionally if you dont talk like it as well.

3. Freelancing full-time is not hard: Its not easy, to be sure. But, building a successful, full-time freelance career is not terribly difficult, if:

a. You have experience within your discipline. Most successful freelancers Ive encountered have worked full-time within their discipline at some point.

b. You are willing to work fulltime and freelance on the side for a period of time. Many freelancers leave their jobs once they got too burned out doing both, or secure a big project that allows them to make the leap.

c. You plan for it. Some freelancers (the most successful ones I might add) are more calculating about their careers.

What I mean by this is that they plan a year or two out knowing that they are going to leave their jobs. So, they save 6 months or a years expenses, pay off credit card bills, buy equipment while working full-time, etc.; then, they make the leap.

The ones I know who followed this path are, not surprisingly, the most successful meaning, they have gone on to hire employees. A few even opened offices and became official businesses because their client load demanded it.

Can you build a freelance business if you dont have these three things? Absolutely! However, it is even more critical that you devise a plan of how youre going to go about it. Having experience and industry contacts makes it easier, but the web makes it easier than ever today to start a freelance business.

4. Marketing is a skill that must be developed: When most freelancers start out, they may have two or three clients who keep them pretty busy. BUT, the day comes when the projects dry up (it always happens) and you have to scrounge for business.

Its at this point that many panic and start looking for a full-time job again. When I was recruiting, I received more than a few panicked calls, eg, I have to find something — quick!

Invariably, I was unable to help them (see Point #5 below). It usually was a moot point though because within a month or so, some project would come along and they would no longer be interested or available for a full-time job.

It was during this time that I got interested in the whole topic of freelancing as a business. Most freelancers focus on their craft and not the business of freelancing. However, as I preach ad nauseam on InkwellEditorial.com, to be successful as a freelancer, you must, must, must learn how to market if you want a full-time, sustainable career as a freelancer.

5. Employers dont like to hire freelancers for full-time jobs: It was my experience when I was recruiting that if you freelanced full-time for a year or more, employers were very hesitant to hire you as a full-time employee. Why?

Because most think that you are only seeking full-time work because you have hit a rough patch financially. Logically, it just makes sense. I mean, who gives up a successful freelance career to go back to the 9-5 grindstone? Most employers figured that as soon as the next big project came along, their new hire would be out the door.

I have seen it happen on many occasions so much so that when I was recruiting, I would screen out those with a significant freelance history because the chances that they would leave was just too great.

I once lost a $6,000 placement fee because the employee quit 10 days before the 90-day guarantee. [Most recruiting firms give employers a 60 or 90-day guarantee that the employee will stay put for at least this amount of time, or they dont have to pay.]

6. You cant change your rates every year: Charge enough that you dont have to change your rate for three years. I know some make take umbrage with this, but Ive found editorial (eg, writing, copy editing, proofreading, indexing, editing, etc.) to be a very static industry. It is not one where you can raise rates yearly.

Some of the companies I freelanced for back in 1993 still pay the same rates today Im not kidding! So, I advise all freelancers who are just starting out to start out charging enough so that they dont have to change their rates for three years.

Its been my experience that after this period, you can increase rates without worrying about losing even one of your clients. Putting forth the argument of, we havent raised rates in three years somehow seems to make it fair for them.

Working on this time schedule, I dont ever remember losing a client. I think its a combination of clients being comfortable with your work and them thinking, after three years, an increase is only fair.

7. You must develop a niche: Ive known a few freelancers who did several things successfully (eg, designed websites and wrote the copy for them), but this was the exception, not the norm.

Most successful freelancers niche it. What I mean is, they develop a niche and stick to it. In my opinion, it is far easier to become successful like this than being a generalist.

Trust me, those sites where you see freelancers touting that they do everything from writing to web design to illustration are not making that much money, or they are farming the work out to other freelancers.

Most clients like to know that they are getting a knowledgeable professional who has a history and body of work within the discipline they are being hired for. If it is a pharmaceutical company, they want a writer who has done this type of writing before.

So, develop a niche and market the hell out of it!

8. Patience is a virtue: Even after all of my years in the industry, Im amazed by how difficult it can be to be patient while I grow my business. I have lists and lists of ideas that I want to implement and there just never seems to be enough time.

This is easily a career where you can work nonstop all the time. An idea for an article pops in your head and instead of jotting down the idea, you find yourself writing the whole article; you go online to do some research, and before you know it you have spent two hours surfing the net on an unrelated matter; you log on to check email, and in an instant, you find yourself redesigning a section of your website; the list is endless.

This is an issue I still struggle with; although, I have gotten better about stopping. So, instead of browsing for 2 hours, it might be 30 minutes before I literally make myself stop and go back to my original task.

The best advice I can give to stop this kind of behavior is to think of your long-range goals and ask yourself if what youre doing this very minute is getting you closer to them. If not, stop and get back on track.

9. Retirement is not planned for: I can count the number of times on one hand that Ive had conversations with freelancers about retirement. Most small business owners (and thats what freelancing is, small business ownership) have an exit strategy, or a day where they envision doing something else.

For some reason, editorial and creative freelancers dont think this way. Well, while you may be able to write or design websites from anywhere at any age, whos to say youre going to want to when youre 70?

In my quest to get freelancers to think of themselves as businesses, one of the things I wish more would do is plan for retirement. This includes looking into 401K plans, buying investment real estate, building a sellable business, etc.

Again, just because you might be capable of churning out material long past retirement age does not mean that you are going to want to. So, plan for the day when you wont have to.

10. Longevity pays: The longer you freelance, the easier it gets. My business mentor said to me once, when you first start out, you are just greasing the pipes. After two or three years, clients will not be quite so hard to come by.

Its just like search engine positioning — the longer your site is on the web, the more frequently it is spidered by search engine bots, the more results it shows up in, the more popular it is, more people find it and voila! you have a popular site.

If you are constantly marketing and networking, eventually, it will seem effortless and referrals will flow in. Thats because you build traction just by being around. Many freelancers dont hang in there long enough to get this type of seamless recognition.

In conclusion, freelancing is a wonderful career — if, like anything other venture you enter, you take it seriously enough to work it like a business.

Author: Yuwanda Black
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty tariff

 

Just think about what would happen if essay editing tips were ignored? To make any essay readable, it is important to give it the right focus, writing style and direction.

The purpose of essay editing is to:
* Improve flow
* Check common grammatical and language errors
* Address incorrect composition or organization of ideas

Essay Editing Tips and Some Common Writing Errors

Before citing some essay editing tips, it is necessary to understand the common errors.

In case of a college application essay, here are some tips:
* Do not reiterate the same points throughout the article as it will make it redundant and repetitive.
* Excessive praise of the institution will appear artificial. It is more effective to state your abilities which qualify you as a candidate to gain admission to that college.
* Avoid drawing attention to one’s own weaknesses.
* Lack of a proper structure can make an essay very disorganized.
* Grammar and spellings errors must be avoided.
* Over-confidence or under-confidence should not be evident in the essay.

The following are some business school essay writing errors:
* Not writing to the point.
* Not showcasing one’s potential.
* Not demonstrating clarity of purpose regarding one’s growth prospects.
* Being unsure about the reason for applying to a particular school.
* Not aligning one’s goals with that of the business school.

Essential Essay Editing Tips

These essay editing tips will help to produce a flawless essay:

* First check for grammar and spelling errors. Check the subject-verb agreement and the verb tenses.

* Check the essay’s stylistic aspects, fonts used, where headings are bolded and spacing between headings and paragraphs.

* The essay should have an introduction, a body with supporting paragraphs and a conclusion to sum up the main topic.

* A logical flow of thoughts is essential otherwise the paragraphs will seem disconnected.

* An element of humor is good but should not sound boastful.

* A successful essay must be engaging and interesting to read.

* Documenting personal growth and professional goals is important.

Author: Alice Shown
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty rate