Archive for February 15th, 2010

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: Cool mobile gadgets

I love the internet. Within a short 10 year span
the internet has changed the whole way we can
communicate with each other. For someone like me
who thrives on communication, I love it.

If you are a small business owner, having a good
website to market your business is essential.
If you are like me, when you want to hire someone
you go to their website and have a look. In one
short moment you either read on or click off.
It’s that fast!

Your website has to be sharp, speak to your
potential customer, and have an easy way for
someone to give you their e-mail address. The
common way is to offer a free downloadable
special report.

I have heard my clients say, ” why should I give
away all my secrets or tools for free?”
My answer: Marketing is all about giving.

Opening your heart and giving, is what helps
people to get to know you, trust you, and like
you. Your free report needs to speak spot on to
your customer’s wants and needs.

I worked with a naturopath recently who specializes
in children. Her special report was titled, 10 Easy Ways to
Get Your Child to Eat Healthy Foods. When she
added that report to her website her sign-ups
quadrupled. And as a result of that, her new
patients also increased because people trusted
her.

Here are a few tips for writing a good, free special
report.

1. Know who your ideal customer is. You cannot
write something for everyone. Your report needs
to be focused toward your niche market.

2. Know what problem. issue, or concern your
ideal customer is facing. What do they need help
with? No one will trade their e-mail address
for a report unless it is really good.

3. Find a way to get people involved. Offer an
exercise or ask questions they can ponder. An
interactive report is much stronger than an
article. It will be more fun for the reader and
will help build the relationship as well.

If you feel you are not a good writer this is not
an obstacle. Jot down your ideas the best you
can and then hire a copywriter or editor. I
guarantee it will pay for itself. And oh yeah-
and have a look at their website before you hire
them.

Author: Kaya Singer
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty tariff

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.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that successful freelancers, eg, those who make their living entirely from freelancing (writing, editing, copywriting, web design, etc.), have the following seven traits in common.

1. Write/design every day: Many freelancers are drawn to their particular career because they love it. They love to write, design, draw – whatever it is, they would do it for free.

Once they decide to freelance full time, most work at it every day. They write articles, design sites, doodle illustrations, etc. In other words, they don’t stop working on their craft just because there is no paying client.

Benefit to their career: These professionals always have a body of work to sell, show, update their portfolio with, etc. Beyond that, it keeps their skills fresh and allows them to work that much faster once they are being paid for a project.

As a personal example, when I first started to write articles to promote my business, it would take upwards of two hours to complete one. Now, I can knock one out in 30 minutes if I have to.

Side Note: I have run across more than a few freelancers who don’t exactly love what they do. BUT, because they like the life of freelancing, they discipline themselves to do what it takes, eg, (work at it steadily) to make a living at it.

2. Don’t wait for markets to come to them: Building on this first habit, when you are constantly churning out new material, you don’t have to wait for clients to come to you, you can pitch to them.

If you’ve written a great article on the benefits of yoga, why wait for a national exercise magazine to take months to get back to you. Pitch your local newspaper journalist who covers health. You’ll usually know within a week or two if they can use your story.

Your neighborhood paper can’t use it? Pitch the neighboring county’s newspaper, a popular e-zine dedicated to women’s health, a new health website that needs fresh content, etc.

Successful freelancers are this proactive. When I was recruiting, I was constantly amazed at the type of assignments successful freelancers were able to ferret out for themselves.

When I’d ask, “How did you get that assignment, come up with that idea?”, the comments ranged from, “I couldn’t sleep last night so I start doing some digging online because I just wrote this great article and wanted to get it published,” to “I was just doodling and came upon this great design; I knew it would make a great logo for this niche, so I put it on a t-shirt and pitched a few boutiques in my neighborhood …”

Successful freelancers are not only creative in their work, they’re creative in how they locate markets to sell their work.

3. Have more than one stream of income: By this, I do not mean that they have second jobs. Most successful freelancers do more than one thing.

For example, a writer may design a line of themed t-shirts with their witticisms on them. Illustrators, in addition to creating logos, may sell paintings or drawings. Web designers may also create online games.

I don’t know how many more brain cells creative types use than the rest of the population, but editorial and creative professionals usually dibble and dabble in more than one sector – and quite successfully I might add.

4. Have a niche: While this may seem to contradict the previous habit, it doesn’t. Most successful freelancers do one thing – and do it very well. Eg, they are a medical writer, a direct mail copywriter, a web designer.

This is because successful freelancers usually have a professional background in the discipline in which they freelance. Usually, they have built up a reputation and client list based on their expertise/experience.

Benefit to their career: This works well because once clients are comfortable with you on one level, you can approach them about doing other types of projects. In some cases, they will even approach you.

For example, if you are a web designer, you can approach a client about doing some logo design work. Most web designers are familiar with other tools of the trade like logo design software, that makes it easy for them to offer peripheral services to clients.

In the retail trade, this is known as upselling. BUT, you can only upsell if you have established a level of trust and professionalism in your base (niche) skill.

5. Have a website: Without fail, all successful freelancers have at least a basic website. They realize the need to present a professional image to clients and have invested in an online presence.

Every once in a while, I am still asked by those just starting out if they need a website. Invariably, I ask, “Would you do business without a telephone?” I think websites have progressed to this point.

Benefit to their career: Websites save freelancers time – which is at a premium if you are a successful freelancer. You can direct potential clients there to see samples of your work, get pricing info, your professional credentials, your client list, etc. Many times, this is how clients will find you to begin with.

So, is having a website a must to succeed as a freelancer? In my opinion, absolutely. And, it doesn’t have to be fancy and cost a fortune. Most web surfers are seeking information.

A basic site will serve your purposes just fine. Just make sure it is professional looking, is easy to navigate, is free from grammatical errors and has your contact info on every page (or a “Contact Us” button on every page).

6. Are savvy & consistent marketers: Revisiting habit three, successful freelancers are masters of marketing their services. They have to be.

When you are a freelancer, you have to remain hungry – for the next assignment, the next gig. By being proactive and consistent marketers, successful freelancers don’t wait for one project to be done before looking for the next one.

To this end, these professionals use many marketing tools (free and paid) to get the word out about their business, eg, search engine optimization, article marketing, press releases, e-book giveaways, speaking engagements, seminars, workshops, etc.

In other words, successful freelancers treat their careers like a start-up business – which is what freelancing really is.

7. Put in much more than 40 hours/week: Face it, you may be able to go to the grocery store at 2pm when everyone else is stuck in an office, but you probably didn’t log off until 2am, finishing up a project for a client who needed it at the last minute.

Freelancing is not a static career. Sometimes you will have weeks with nothing to do and then you will get slammed with three or four projects at once. It’s some type of weird Murphy’s law at work.

Projects never come when you want or need them too. They invariable come at the most inopportune time (eg, when your kid is sick, when YOU’RE sick, two days before vacation, on a Friday afternoon and needed by Monday).

So, while you may be able to work in your jammies – you may also not be able to go to the beach, hang out with your friends as much, take the afternoon off. Like anything in life, it’s a trade-off (a worthwhile one in my opinion).

Just know, while your time may be your own, it will be on an unconventional schedule.

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

So who would like to be a great screenplay writer? More than likely, every single person that has even remotely fathomed the idea of writing a screenplay aspires to greatness. It is simply the common nature of the muse. Of course, wanting to be a screenplay writer and becoming a great screenplay writer are two different things. Screenplay writing can be quite difficult although this difficulty can be diffused through understanding a few simple scriptwriting tips that can aid in boosting a screenwriter’s potential. Not surprisingly, many of these scriptwriting tips derive from the process of reading screenplays.

Read as many good scripts as you can get your hands on. When a script has succeeded on aesthetic and commercial levels, it will provide a treasure trove of information on how to craft a solid narrative. Yes, being a prolific screenplay reader is often overlooked on the journey to becoming a good writer. As such, reading as many solid scripts as you can get your hands on are of paramount importance.

Read a few bad scripts while you are at it. No, reading a bad script is not a waste of time. Often, the flubs, flaws, and errors found in poor scripts can provide an insight into where the script went wrong and how to avoid such mistakes. Few scriptwriting tips mention that there is value in bad scripts. Yet, the truth of the matter is there is a tremendous amount of value in them. You just have to know where to look and this will become apparent as you comprehensive of screenplay devices

Looking over a shooting script while simultaneously watching the film it is based upon on DVD. This is an old trick many screenwriting professionals employ. By reading while watching along with the film allows you to see how the visual elements of the screenplay are translated onto the silver screen. To say this will open doors of perception as to how the movie is crafted from a screenplay would be an understatement. Consider this among the most helpful of scriptwriting tips.

Look at how screenwriting format is presented in the screenplay you are reading. Yes, screenplay format is standardized as any screenplay analysis will tell you. But, how does a particular master screenwriter weave his narrative into the confines of screenwriting format and make it work for him? When you can figure this out, you can apply such principles to your own writing and improve it immensely.

Try to get your hands on as many screenwriting coverage reports as possible. These are not always easy to procure but they are valuable. Such coverage reports give you an insight into how a script reader works and thinks which aids you in developing your own screenplay in a positive manner. Here is an important scriptwriting tip: when you know how readers think, you increase the odds of getting positive coverage from them.

Procure a few quality books on the subject of screenwriting and devour them. Some books are truly stunning and well worth looking into. Pick up a few of the good ones and see for yourself!

Author: Paul V. Warner
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Mobile device news

Writing an outline for your novel, at least a tentative outline, generally helps to make it much easier to write your novel. A novel outline reveals the contents, organization, and structure. It should be written with particular attention to the principals of drama and conflict. That is, each chapter and scene ought to have a specific purpose or goal. These goals and purposes will be determined primarily by your characters — antagonists and protagonists.

Since novel writing is about expression of a writer’s views to a reader, either as an informative process or as a form of entertainment, the novelist should ensure that the plan presents action in a way that is increasingly dramatic, building upon each previous scene and leading to a climax. The specific events in your novel will depend on your main characters, their goals, and how they work with or conflict with one another. It is helpful to let the main protagonist and antagonist lay the basic plot outline.

It is certainly helpful to read innumerable novels and even listen to audio novels. However, all too often readers lose focus of the basic plot outline and the essence of each scene or chapter. This happens by becoming bogged down with all the details and losing sight of the chapter’s main idea or goal. One novel writing tip that may be useful is to supplement your novel reading and writing with summaries and chapter outlines of other novels. This will help you to better understand the structure of a novel, which is at the heart of writing the outline. Without a plan, many aspiring novelist find that their writing is unfocused and that they end up writing many random paragraphs and scenes, which have no business in the novel. When writing your rough draft and creating the first outline, begin with what is absolutely essential to each chapter.

Selectivity and focus on character goals are key when learning how to write a novel outline. It is important for writers to know how to write an outline for their novel because it helps to focus writing efforts. Novel writers who are equipped are knowledgeable about structuring a novel and outlining, will be more likely to write a creative work that is concise and a pleasure to read, rather than disjointed and anticlimactic.

Author: John Halasz
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Netbook, Tablets and Mobile Computing

Eager to see your byline in magazines like Smithsonian, National Geographic, Parade or Outside? Here are 10 tips on getting past the threshold of “Maybe” to “Yes” at top magazines.

1. Put timing on your side. You can change a perennial story, where there’s no special reason to do it now rather than next year, to one that prompts an immediate assignment by adding a connection to some upcoming season or event. For instance, “the disposable versus cloth diaper debate” lacks any time element. But you can peg it to Earth Day, coming up in April, or specific future environmental powwows. You can get the same effect by tying a perennial topic to recent front-page news. If devastating floods are lingering in North Carolina, use that to make a piece on adequately insuring a business sound timely.

2. Freshen up perennial topics. Some magazines revisit the same topics again and again because relationships, or toilet training, or camping in national parks lie at the core of the magazine’s mission. Hunt back about four or five years in the magazine’s archives for these central topics and update them.

3. Create cover-worthy article titles. Editors sweat over the blurbs that go on the magazine cover. If you study the kinds of blurbs they favor, and give a similar title to your proposed article, you may score an assignment from a title that is exactly on target.

4. Be brief and detailed. This combination of skills has great value in the magazine world, and a query offers a perfect setting to demonstrate your mastery of rich compression. Let every sentence sparkle with detail, but say just enough to get the idea across.

5. Stay ahead of the pack. I once heard someone say that if you’ve read about an issue in Time or Newsweek, you’re too late to query other top magazines on it. Spend energy pursuing stories that seem both trendy and unexplored.

6. Get your details right. Nothing kills confidence faster than factual errors! Recheck all information in your query before sending it.

7. Be truthful. Don’t exaggerate the facts of a story, don’t present fiction as real and don’t inflate your credentials. This should go without saying, but not long ago a freelance writer sold an article in which she had presented a story she heard from a fellow airline passenger as something that had happened to her. She claimed she didn’t realize that that was unethical.

8. Don’t have a hidden agenda. Forget about any kind of revenge story, or about hyping a company in which you have some sort of covert financial interest.

9. Show enthusiasm. Make sure your writing feels alive and flavorful, not parched and pinched. I’ve heard a number of editors say they like to work with writers who show enthusiasm for their work.

10. Flatter an editor. A good number of editors write on the side for other publications, and if you happen to spot his or her freelance work and mention it in your query, you win points. Mentioning that you liked a particular issue of the magazine, or a certain cover story, helps build rapport, too. Make sure that any praise is specific and sincerely enthusiastic.

Author: Marcia Yudkin
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital TV, HDTV, Satellite TV

Writing is considered as the most common process of expressing one’s opinions and point of view. Writing a five paragraph essay is usually a very hard task for a lot of people. There are particular things that one must know which would help in achieving excellence in writing and the best part is that they are not hard to learn. As soon as you get to learn about them, it only requires a bit of practice to become proficient.

Practice makes perfect is what can be said about gaining expertise over essay writing. In order to produce good essays, one has to be grammatically correct and follow a particular format of writing. A great amount of quality research is also required to write a good essay. Essays can be written on any topic whatsoever ranging from history to current affairs. Some essays are very small, while others are extremely detailed and large. One kind of essay is known as the five-paragraph essay.

Five Paragraph Essays – How to Write?

Writing a five paragraph essay is truly not a daunting task. All it requires is a bit of practice and certain basic skills along with a bit of effort. As obvious, a five paragraph essay consists of five paragraphs. The first paragraph is gives an introduction, while the second, third and fourth paragraphs form the body of the essay and are support paragraphs, and the fifth is the concluding paragraph.

First Paragraph

The introductory paragraph is used to present the background of the topic. This is considered the heart of the essay and is the most important part of your entire writing. Remember that this is considered as the heart of the essay due to the fact that it provides direction and life to the entire essay.

Make note that the introduction and conclusion paragraphs are linked with each other. Whenever these two paragraphs are taken together, they can make anyone understand the problem and solution that are being offered in the essay. Working in sequence on both of them would make the task easier for you.

Second, Third and Fourth Paragraphs

The following paragraphs are the body of the essay or support paragraphs. They should be dedicated to solely support the idea of the essay and must not vaguely discuss the topic of the paper. These must be integrated to assure that they do not move away from the main point of view. They may consist of concrete statistics, facts, figures and examples so as to uphold the first paragraph.

They should mainly offer a discussion on the points presented in the introduction. You must also remember that there has to be a clear transition between paragraphs so as to create a flow in the essay. Transition between paragraphs should only be made when it is really required and for that one needs to end the present paragraph with a transitional sentence to open the way for the next one. The skill of transition can be mastered via practice. Make sure that each paragraph ends with a concluding statement so as to create interest for the reader. They should be solely focused on presenting facts and evidence. Avoid the use of informal words and keep your writing and vocabulary simple.

Fifth Paragraph

In the fifth or concluding paragraph, you must begin with restating the idea and then connecting it with the entire discussion presented in the body of the essay. Do not present any new piece of information in the conclusion, rather review the entire essay and summarize it.

Following the above tips will help you write the perfect five paragraph essay. All it takes is a bit of practice!

Author: Terence Reed
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cellphone news