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I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions. ~James Michener

Writing has always been a highly pleasurable form of art for me. I find it surprising that many people view it as something to avoid as much as possible. The most baffling thing to me is how people complain of “writer’s block.” I’ve also heard of metaphors like “squeezing blood from a stone.”

Not only is it a delicious experience to read and to write, but it’s really easy. After all, it’s talking and expressing your view of the world. Sometimes your views, like that of Nelson Mandela’s, can even change the course of history.

Through writing I can convey my entire experience so that someone else can benefit from it and learn from that experience without having had to be there. So, by writing I can give others much more than I can in person. In addition, writing bends time and I can convey my experience to someone centuries away.

Anyway my point is not to wax eloquent on the joy and gift of self-expression. Rather it is to demonstrate how easy it is to write quickly and with delight.

Here are five simple things that you can do to make your writing effortless.

1. Read. Enjoy your favorite book, luxuriate in the imagery, and allow yourself to drift into someone else’s experience of the world. When you read, your brain starts to warm up. It starts to hum and sing. It discovers the pleasure of its own function.

2. Write. After getting inspired by the writings of others, it’s time to cut your own piece of the pie. Sit down and write. Let the words flow; fall into a reverie; and go swimming in the river of your own cogitations.

3. Edit. Go over what you’ve written. Cut out extra words and tighten sentences and rearrange paragraphs. Make it a game. Play with the idea of how you can make it shorter, simpler, or more expressive.

4. Proof. Read over what you’ve written. See if there are any typos or spelling mistakes. See if there are any grammatical errors or awkward sentences. Prune, correct, and shear.

5. Publish. Get it out there. Do a blog. Post a letter. Gather it into a volume and pack it off to a publishing house or post it as an e-book.

Finally, bless the work and let it go. Don’t be attached to the outcome. Your pleasure was in writing. You can’t do anything about how others respond or fail to respond.

Writing can be a chore only if you set about it the wrong way.

Here are five ways that people like to turn pleasure into pain:

1. When you confuse the inner editor with the inner writer, you feel confused and pained and blocked. First, let the writer show up. Then, the editor can do its thing. Keep both functions separate.

2. When you write under pressure, with no sense of beauty, and with no sense of magic within. This is easily cured by reading a good book. Let the flow of language carry you. Your subconscious will then be attuned to replicating the beauty.

3. When you spend hours editing, trying to get it perfect, and upsetting yourself because it’s impossible to read it through and not make a correction. Words are plastic and they can always be molded better, and each time you read you can see more to shape. Hence, just edit it once and let it go.

4. When you cling to the outcome. When your work is not published and you feel rejected. When it is read by “friends” who make comments that have nothing to do with what you wrote. When you expect something for your efforts and nothing comes back to you. After you write and send it out, let it go.

5. And when you’re unclear on an idea and it never comes out right. You can’t get it right because your thoughts are all jumbled up. In this case, outline or wait for inspiration.

In conclusion, write. It will do your soul a world of good.

Saleem Rana got his masters in psychotherapy. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world. Discover how to create a remarkable life

Copyright 2005 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this
article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or
newsletter. It’s a shareware article.

The short story market often demands tight word counts from the writer. Here are some tips on how to keep that word count under control!

Short stories written specifically for inclusion in weekly or monthly magazines are a lucrative source of income for any writer. The pay rate per word is often high and the returns are good for the length of time devoted to any one story.

Yet this market has its own disciplines and one cardinal rule that aspiring writers must obey is the word count. This is the required number of words demanded by magazine editors for any story submitted and, whilst there may be some leeway, it generally isn’t great. For ‘five minute fiction’ type stories it may be as little as fifty words.

This discipline is often found by new writers to be one of the hardest to master. They write a story - and it may be a very good story - then find it is two or three hundred words ‘heavy’. I’ve done this myself many times when I started writing fiction and articles. It can be very disheartening to complete a story, sit back in satisfaction and hit the word count button only to see it ring up several hundred words ‘over the limit.’

How, I asked myself at the time, can I possibly reduce my story by that sort of length? Let’s face it, a ‘five minute fiction’ type story may only have a word length requirement of 1,000 words - to try and cut 1,300 down to 1,000 seemed to me, at that time in my writing career, a stark impossibility. How to do it?

That’s when I began to learn about things like wasted words. Although in this article I certainly don’t have space to discuss every aspect of this subject, at least I can list some of the worst culprits that new writers seem to use time and time again - like I did!

Many words and phrases rarely add anything to a sentence. Avoid these whenever you can. A very short list of some of these offenders:

Quite, very, extremely, as it were, moreover, it can be seen that, it has been indicated that, basically, essentially, totally, completely, therefore, it should be remembered that, it should be noted that, thus, it is imperative that, at the present moment in time.

These are fine in their place, but they often find their way into your writing with the sinister purpose of tempting you into the sin of padding your sentences.

I am convinced that the habit of padding sentences has at its root academic and, in particular, bureaucratic writing. Never have I seen one of these types of prose without the most outlandish and rambling sentences included - you probably know the sort of thing I mean. Such horrors as ‘It should continuously be remembered that’ and ‘Morover and not withstanding anything to the contrary, it has been previously indicated’ abound.

Since such letters are read by people in our ever-freer reading society, the tendency is to think that they are not only correct but also desirable within any sort of writing. Rubbish. Unless for effect, they should be excluded. Short stories are lean and fit, not bloated and slow.

S0 - how to ‘lean-off’ your story? Firstly check for any of the phrases above in the ‘list of offenders’. Strike them out. Next read through your story and ruthlessly delete any and every word that you can whilst still preserving grammatical sense. I guarantee that you’ll be amazed at the number that go.

Check in particular for adverbs and adjectives. I’m talking about sentences like ‘How would I know?’ he asked angrily. Much better is ‘How the hell should I know?’ The second sentence (without the adverb) implies anger in its use or words and is much stronger anyway - and shorter. In the same vein, ‘a very light wind’ should be ‘a breeze’. Not only are you saving wordage by adopting this correcting tactic, you are strengthening your writing.

When you have finished these tasks read your story again. If my own experience is anything to go by, not only will you have dumped those excess words to bring your story into its wordage ‘window’ but also you will almost find that it reads a lot better. Congratulations - you have just mastered a basic facet of self-editing!

In conclusion, just remember these few points:

The adjective is the enemy of the noun. (choose a stronger noun instead of using an adjective.)
The adverb is enemy of the verb. (Try to convey meaning via word usage instead of using an adverb.)
Do not use any of the list of ‘wasted words’ above.
Never use a long word, or two words, when a single short word fits the bill.

Keep these four points in mind and watch your short story writing improve!

Steve Dempster writes fiction and informative articles for the web. Learn more about how to kickstart your writing career here!

The main or lead character in any story is a lynchpin and has very definite qualities. Miss one of these and your story may well grind to a halt! This article takes a look at three crucial aspects of the main character.

The main character in any work of fiction is the one around which the entire story revolves. He or she must possess certain values or abilities if your story is to work, yet many aspiring writers miss one or more of these vital points and become frustrated when their story fails to work as it should. Let’s look at these three key ingredients to our main character:

1. The main character is the one who suffers most as a result of your story’s events.
2. The main character is the one who has the power to change things within the story.
3. The main character is the one with the freedom to change things if they so wish.

In more detail:

1. Let’s say that your main character, Jake, suffers most in your story. He has the freedom of choice to change this suffering but not the power to make it happen. Pretty soon your readers are going to realise that Jake is inept and weak, can’t change a thing and that he must, in the end, surely fail.

2. If on the other hand Jake is the one who suffers most and possesses the power to make it stop but lacks the freedom to do this, the story will fall flat on its face because Jake cannot act and the plot can go nowhere.

3. Finally, if Jake has both power to change things within the story and the freedom to do so but isn’t in jeopardy or doesn’t suffer, the story will lack any form of tension. Jake will also lack any real motive to make any changes you have him perform as he isn’t under any threat or duress. In this scenario the reader is left wondering why Jake has to do anything at all and usually gets bored pretty quickly!

What does this tell us as writers? Answer: that the main character must have a truly proactive role within your story - or he simply cannot be the main character! However, does this make the main character the protagonist? Usually the answer is yes, provided that the main character also acts in a proactive manner.

The protagonist must make things happen. If in your story you merely let the main character react to what his adversary, ‘the opposition’ (the bad guy) is doing, you risk the bad guy becoming the protagonist and your main character slipping into what is essentially a secondary role. This is a danger if the bad guy is particularly charismatic or has very powerful dominating character traits.

The danger here is that the bad guy becomes the lead character, an ‘anti-hero’. This is a very, very difficult line to follow and I would not advise beginners to go down this route. The anti-hero can work if handled expertly - think of Paul Kersey in ‘Death Wish’ or Lestat in ‘The Vampire Chronicles’. Both are anti-heroes but both work due to the expertise of the author. If you have any doubt as to your abilities to pull this off, stick to a good guy hero!

Therefore the main character must seek his story goal, overcoming the bad guy who seeks to thwart this. He must call the shots as to what happens in the story, driving it by being proactive. Incidentally, the bad guy isn’t there just to cause your hero trouble - he has to have his own goal that, to him, is just as valid as the one your lead character has or he risks becoming a ‘cardboard cut-out’ villain whose only role within the story is to give your hero trouble.

This set-up, with main character as the good guy and also acting as the protagonist, is the most popular in fiction simply because it works so well. All other types of main character require a much greater effort to make them work well (if at all) and so seldom work effectively unless handled by a very skilled writer.

In conclusion: for beginners, choose the easiest set-up for your main character as descried above. Learn to do the simple things well - after all, a straightforward plot with good, strong and conventional characters will for a beginner ultimately produce a better finished work than trying to manipulate character types and work with a difficult, laborious storyline. Keep it simple and write it well!

Steve Dempster writes fiction and informative articles for the web. Learn more about how to kickstart your writing career here!

If you have decided to write a novel, the story that exists within it extends way beyond the book itself. This ‘backstory’ is what helps give your book depth: here are a few points to keep in mind about the ‘past’ of the book you’re writing.

A novel may encompass any period of time, from an hour or two to many centuries. Yet this span of time, no matter how great, is finite; it has a beginning and an end that coincide with the start and finish of your book. Yet we all know that time itself is limitless - so what happened to make your story happen?

This act - the incident that sends your hero or heroine zooming along their roller-coaster ride through your book - is not the start of your story, though it is the event that starts your story. Let me try to explain this, on the face of it, baffling statement.

The event that starts your story is the one that turns your lead character’s life upside down. This event, decided upon by you, can be almost anything, depending on the story you wish to tell - aliens land and invade earth; he or she loses their job; war breaks out unexpectedly; they are kidnapped and have to escape - virtually anything at all. Its sole reason for happening is to jump-start your story into life and set the ball rolling - without it, there would be no story to tell.

Yet the story doesn’t start at this point. You see, your story is made up of two main elements. The first is your plot - the second is your characters. In order for these characters to be believable and to have ‘life’, they cannot just spring into existence from nowhere. Now I realise that your characters only have the life you give them but you, in your book, are only writing about a certain part of their life - not usually all of it (unless you are writing another Forsyte Saga!).

It therefore follows that your characters must have had a ‘life’ before we meet them within the pages of your book. All of them were born somewhere, grew up, went to school, fell in love, got married, had kids - the normal, everyday things that happen. Or maybe not. Maybe that even-tempered guy who in your book runs a floristry business once did time for robbery. Or that little old lady who you have decided will sell coffee in the mall was a member of the French Resistance during WW2.

Crazy? Hey, much crazier things have happened, believe me! The point, however, is that suddenly these two characters have added depth. They now have a ‘backstory’ - something that happened to them in the past that shapes their life now. It’s imperative that all your main characters, certainly, should have a comprehensive backstory, or there’s a chance that your story may lose it’s reason for being. Imagine:

Chris bangs open the batwing doors in the saloon, stalks inside and comes to rest in front of Bart. ‘Your time’s up, pal’ he snarls, pulls out a big .45 revolver and shoots Bart dead. Dramatic, yes - but why did he do it? People don’t usually behave this way, even in times when life was counted as cheaper than it is now. However, consider this:

Chris has known Bart for years. Maybe Bart stole something belonging to Chris? Land? A gold mine? A girl? He’s given Bart many chances to make amends because once, years ago, they were good friends. Bart won’t give the thing he stole back and just recently he’s added insult to injury by stealing something else belonging to Chris. Result - Chris shoots him dead.

This embryonic plotline shows how Chris and Bart’s backstory is essential. Without it, the scene above would have had one man shoot another for no reason we could think of - baffling for a reader and, in the end, uninteresting. As the opening scene in your novel it would also be mystifying but, when the backstory is fed to the reader, the reason becomes clear.

The backstory to a character - and the way each character relates to another - is the mortar that cements the bricks of your novel together. Bring your characters to life by giving them a past and you will ensure that your readers will see them as real people. Once this happens, your readers start to care about your characters - and you have the makings of a novel that no-one will be able to put down until the last page!

Steve Dempster writes articles for the web and works of fiction. If you would like to get the know-how a novelist needs to write professionally, take a look at this.

The crazy world of publishing can be a scary and confusing place for a new book writer, and it can be nice to get a little bit of guidance on how to navigate around things like writer guidelines, publishing houses,literary agents, and such. While most first time book writers think the hard work was done once they typed the end at the bottom of the last page, it turns out that there is still a whole lot left to do. For those who want to see their words in print, this article will help offer some advice on how to get moving in the right direction.

First of all, let us assume that the book writer is not interested in trying to self publish, and let us focus instead on how to shop the manuscript around to those whose job it is to do such things. One of these people is the literary agent. A book writer does not have to use the services of a literary agent, but sometimes having one on your side really is an asset.

This person will know the appropriate markets to send the manuscript and will have the expertise to negotiate a contract with a publisher on the writers behalf. In return, of course, he or she earns a portion of the negotiated fee. For this reason, it is in the agents best interest to get the book writer the most money for the project. Unfortunately, finding an agent to represent an aspiring author can be almost as daunting as finding a publisher would have been!

When trying to secure a publisher, book writers should consider using all of the writing resources available. This includes publications like Writers Market and the information distributed by the publishing houses themselves. A little early research can save a lot of time in the long run. A novel writer who sends his manuscript to a childrens book publisher has not done himself, or the publisher, any favors. Nothing annoys publishers and editors more than receiving manuscripts that just do not fit their genre.

In addition to finding the right publisher, it is also important to be sure that the work is sent to the right department. Since there is a high rate of turnover in the publishing world, it is always a good idea to double check that the envelope is addressed to the current editor of the department. This can be accomplished with a quick, polite phone call to ensure that the editor is still with the company and that the name was spelled correctly on the website.

One other important tool for the book writer is the proposal. While some publishers request only a short query letter from writers, others are going to insist on seeing an entire proposal. Many writers make the mistake of sending their whole manuscript, but the writer guidelines will very often stipulate that they only want to see the complete proposal.

We say only, but creating a book proposal is a big endeavor that will likely take much of a writers creative writing skills in order to appropriately sum up not only the book itself, but also the market into which is would be released. It is an interesting mix of writing fiction and creative marketing. There are a lot of writer resources out there to help create a strong book proposal that will have the publisher asking to see the entire manuscript.

It is true that fulfilling your dream of becoming a book writer can really be a labor of love. The unfortunate reality of getting that book published, however, is that it is just plain labor. With some hard work and determination, the above suggestions can help turn an amateur book writer into a published professional writer.

Caterina Christakos is the author of several how to books and childrens novels. To learn step by step how to get past writer’s block, find the write outlet for your book and write your own children’s book in 30 days or less go to: http://www.howtowriteachildrensbook.com

Why do people buy non-fiction books? Most readers buy books to solve problems or help with fulfilling a need. For example, when I started speaking for a fee I went out and bought a couple of popular books about speaking. Browsing in the bookstore, I was attracted to Lilyan Wilder’s book “7 Steps to Fearless Speaking” I read the back cover. I noticed she could help with 7 easy steps. I skimmed the table of contents, read a few lines and immediately liked her easy to read style. It went in my purchase basket.

Because I wanted to hear from several authorities on the subject, I picked up another book by Nido R. Qubein, “How to Be a Great Communicator: In Person on Paper, and on the Podium.” His cover design was white with clean lines and a personable picture of him on the front. His style of writing was not as easy to read but it still went in my purchase basket as well. Which brings us back to my original point; people buy non-fiction books to solve problems. To identify your targeted market, pinpoint a problem they have and the solution of course.

Problems come in all shapes and sizes. Usually a general category problem applies to all types of markets.

HOBBIES. Is your tennis game, golf game, bridge game as good as you’d like? Are you considering taking up horse-back riding? Want to improve your computer skills? What ever the case may be, your desire to improve or change your level of performance is considered the problem.

HEALTH. The first thing you do when your doctor diagnose your cholesterol is high and you need to lose 20 pounds. You go look for a book that will walk you through step by step to lose weight or lower cholesterol. You turn to someone that has solved the problem to learn from their experience.

MENTAL STATE. Are you feeling stressful about the economy? Are you noticing unexplained physical symptoms possibly related to stress? Once again, you have a problem and you are looking for a solution in book form. Someone who has outlined easy steps or ways to de-stress in our society.

PERSONAL FINANCE. Worried about lay-offs, down-sizing, retirement? Books that offer financial solutions to economic problems during shaky times are guaranteed to succeed.

MARKETING. We live in a competitive society. Small business owners and managers everywhere need a growing database of customers and clients. Therefore, they seek out how to books that offers solutions on improving their advertising copy, improving their business image or their website.

Each of the problem categories describes a problem and a need for a solution. The main goal of your marketing plan is to identify the problem your book solves and then present the solution. The more intense the problem and the easier you can make your solution, the more readers will seek out your book.

Your task becomes to re-structure your knowledge into bite-size reader solutions. Appeal to the masses, by letting them know what’s in it for them and how easy the solution is with your book. For example, let’s consider the book title I mentioned earlier about speaking. The title could have been: “How to Overcome Your Fear of Speaking” instead of “7 Steps to Fearless Speaking” The latter is more appealing because it alludes to only 7 steps to my solution.

Don’t put it off any longer. If you wait, you can be this time next year without fulfilling your dream of writing a successful book. You have the solution. Now write it down. While you’re at use the tips above and write a book that sells well. Make it different. Make it count. Make it yours.

Earma Brown, 11 year author and business owner
helps small business owners and writers who want to write their best book now! Earma mentors other writers and business professionals through her bi-monthly ezine “iScribe.” Send any email to iscribe@bookwritinghelp.com for free 7 lesson mini-course “Jumpstart Writing Your Book” or visit her at http://www.bookwritinghelp.com