Top Four Summer Reads

August 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

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What’s better than a breezy summer day and a good book? Well, being on vacation on a breezy summer day with a good book certainly comes to mind, but not everyone gets to take a leisurely summer vacation from the dullness of daily life.  No matter where you are, though, books make for a fantastic “getaway.”

You probably have your personal favorites, but here’s a look at some of the summer’s best reads. You can find these books on eBay and in various retail stores. Pick up one (or a few), sit back, and let the escape begin!

The Storm At the Door, by Stefan Merrill Block
Great love stories are popular any time of year, and this book fits the bill as a great love story. Based on the author’s grandparents’ stories, the book is a compelling look at a love torn apart. Katherine Merrill loves her husband, Frederick, but he is becoming increasingly erratic. After an arrest, she realizes he must be committed to an asylum. The book goes between the perspectives of Frederick and Katherine, and the reader will rejoice in the ending.

The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein
One of Starbucks’ summer picks is a wonderful novel told from a canine’s point of view. Some may find this approach to be a bit maudlin, cute and contrived, but the book is actually quite compelling in its story line. There’s love, marriage, children and heartbreak. Anyone who has ever loved a dog will surely enjoy this book.

Love the One You’re With, by Emily Giffin
Any hopeless romantic will tell you there’s always that question that lingers: “Have I really found ‘The One’?” This lovely book poses that question just as the main female character, who is supposedly happily married, runs into a former boyfriend. Because this ex is the epitome of the “bad boy” stereotype, readers will enjoy the ride.

Before I Go To Sleep: A Novel, by S.J. Watson
Summer thrillers are always worth the time, and several may find their way onto your reading list. However, this is the one you’ll remember. Christine, the main character, has a bit of a problem: She goes to sleep and forgets not only her name, but her identity, location and even who her spouse is. She uses a journal and her husband to help keep some details straight. The reader discovers that her husband may be harboring secrets from her. You’ll be torn between truth and fiction, real and the invented, which makes this a terrifying read.

Give yourself over to one of these books in a quiet corner and discover what it means to enjoy your summer!

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Filed Under: Books, Reading

The First Time of Edward Bass Producer

August 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Surviving of writers, producers, and directors in the film industry is either to back out or continue. There’s a big competition out there. It’s like survival of the fittest, but there are those who make it and continue forward such as Edward Bass, producer of independent films. He’s been in the industry for a long time. His patience and determination leads him to his first directorial debut. Few like him would not make it. Since he’s financed movies with big actors and big stories, you will not wonder why he continued his steps forward.

He is directing “Belle,” it’s a biopic about a famous female serial killer in America. He even used some Alfred Hitchcock techniques in making the film. It is his inspiration. He is using framed shots so that the emotions of the actors can be clearly seen, since the film is a psychological thriller. Edward Bass, producer of the film does not only limit himself to what everybody knows instead, he also sees to it that he uses his own creativity.

He wouldn’t have a hard time to be looking for actors and actresses since he’s worked with them. Big names such as Sir Anthony Hopkins, Ashley Judd, Sharon Stone, Elijah Wood, are just some of the stars that he has worked with. Edward Bass producer of the films like “Bobby”, “While She Was Out”, “Slingshot”, “Chlorine”, and others are even viewed and acclaimed from those international film festivals. Most of them were nominated in the Toronto, Venice, Berlin, and Sundance Film Festivals. This is a big break for him to try and make a movie of his own. He was even nominated in the Golden Globe Awards.

Before he became a producer, he managed some personalities such as Ballerina and Boxer. The boxer was Caesar Chavez, noted as the highest boxer paid in the history of boxing. Edward Bass, producer also of some musical plays such as “Stardust” and “Great moments on Stage” is a talent that must be never be forgotten. He got his own ways of being creative and not being swallowed by fame. He chose independent films so that there would be freedom in what he wants to share to the world. There are different ways on how you should watch a film. He decided to do one because he knows that he can do it just like others who have been on the same path before. This is his passion. This is his art. He will continue to awe the audience in a different way and not just the usual.

Filed Under: Books

Write the way people like to read

July 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Plain writing or informal writing is the new-age writing style. Times have changed. People do not have lots of time to read. For those who can manage some time to read, they want something that is informal and easy to understand.

People like to read on the move. They might not get enough time to read at home. Travelling time is the best time for them to catch up on some reading. E-book readers satiate this need of people by providing a mobile platform that supplies them with thousand of books.

But at the end of the day, people want to read information that is written like you spoke it. Sometimes such a writing style might not adhere to rules of perfect English. But does anyone care? Is effectiveness more important?

Modern communication has gone through a lot of changes. Preferences of people have changed dramatically. They do not enjoy reading something that is esoteric and full of words that makes one run for a dictionary. They want to read information that is written plainly and purely.

Thus, the need of the hour is for writer to communicate interactively. The power of communication in such a way is so effective, that is can influence people in a positive way. Writers need not think of losing their ability to use the language flamboyantly. They can do such self-indulgence for a niche audience. But what about the mass audience?

Writer the way people like to read. When you write, speak to them through your words. Don’t just write to them.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Becoming a Better Writer, Books Tagged With: , ,

Conducting an audience analysis before writing

July 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Example of how to capture different Audience T...

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Writers need to understand their audience before even attempting to write something. Audience analysis might sound frivolous and often a bit over-rated. But audience analysis is an important component of the writing process. It simplifies a writer’s objective on writing an informatory article.

What is audience analysis? Audience analysis is analyzing the tastes and preferences of a target audience to which the writer is writing for. It includes a set of parameters on which the writer will base the article on. The article’s writing style, information design, and presentation will depend on the results derived from the audience analysis.

Here’s how to perform an audience analysis.

Classify the audience

Who is the audience? Are they doctors, lawyers, truckers, chemists, hustlers…?

Knowledge

How much does the audience know about the subject? Are they totally unaware about the subject or do they have an intermediate knowledge on it? Or are they experts on the subject?

Demographics

What is the average age group of the audience? Where are most of them located? Which language do most of them speak? What food and clothing do they wear? How educated are they?

Interest

Why do I need to write for them? How can this help them? How will they help themselves with this? Do they even need this?

Medium

How do they read information? Do they read online, on print, or do they read at all?

Objectives

What is the expectation of the audience from the information you are writing for them.

Tailoring

How would I need to customize the content to meet their needs?

Filed Under: Blogging, Books Tagged With: , ,

The Necessity of Collaboration

July 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Writer’s block is an old enemy, and it strikes every writer at some point. No ideas flow, no new creativity abounds. For a writer to carry on his work, he has to get around the block and carry on. This is where collaboration comes in.

Bouncing ideas off someone else can get both your imagination and theirs working. With so many ideas flying around, chances are you’ll find one that gets the magic going again.   While some may shrink from the idea of sharing their work-in-progress with someone else, it really does help. A collaborator can give you suggestions, ask questions that point out issues that need to be addressed, and catch inconsistencies or errors.

Just as the picture shows, having multiple people work on a project can help move things along. Even if you want to retain a final say on the creative genius of the project, it can be beneficial to have others give you “what ifs?” to get your blocked mind going again.

Collaboration doesn’t have to be with another person in the room. Collaborate with authors and artists that you admire, by gaining inspiration from their work. Read a book you love or watch a movie. Go to an art museum, anything that will jar your mind and refill your empty tank of creative juices.

A famous author stated that writers don’t get blocked, they just get empty. You need to restock your mind’s shelves with creativity and imagination. Once you’ve done that, you can carry on to completion of your project.

Filed Under: Becoming a Better Writer, Books, Writing For Kids Tagged With: , ,

Becoming a Better Writer

June 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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There are many ways to becoming a better writer. Like many things, not one set path gets you there. Determine what you want your goals to be, and then set out to accomplish them, not goals that someone else gives you. If an English professor is training you to become a reporter and you want to be a novelist, drop the class. Become the writer that you want to be.

Just like riding a bicycle, cooking, doing autopsies, or painting, writing takes practice. So practice!  Look for any opportunity to write, and do it. Are you in school? You get to write papers? Does your school have a newspaper? Go into their offices and say “I want to write for you.”  Look online. With the Internet revolution, websites after website has to have content on each page, and they need someone to write all of that. There are plenty of organizations that hire content writers and provide them with work online, or you can approach companies alone and offer your services. Writing never goes out of style.

Writing is how we communicate, and the human race will never need to communicate less, quite the opposite in fact, it needs to improve. And as a writer, you get to help the rest of us improve!

Practice, practice, practice. Take advice from others, but remember that you get to set the rules for your writing education and how you go about doing what you do.  So go and do it!

 

Filed Under: Becoming a Better Writer, Books, Writing For Kids Tagged With: , ,

Becoming a Published Writer

June 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Being published is seen as the Holy Grail of writing, the Medal of Honor of authors. To be published is to have arrived, to have ascended the peak and reached the summit. In actuality, it’s just another step, although engratiating, on the road that writers walk.

First, you need to have a good product. That could be a screenplay, a novel manuscript, a book of poems, or a play. This needs to be in tip-top shape, the absolute best it can be. Once the actual, final product is in hand, you can start shopping around to publishers.

There are any number of good publishers, and obtaining lists of these establishments isn’t hard at all, especially given the ease with which the Internet allows us to access information. This next step calls for some fortitude and nail-biting patience.

Send your manuscript off to them. Send it to lots of these publishers. Include a cover letter summarizing your manuscript and explain why they should publish it. Then sit back (it’s recommended you start working on something else) and wait. And wait. And wait. If you are anything like most writers, you will not hear back for a bit. You won’t hear back at all from many of these publishing houses. But hopefully one, and maybe just the one, will get back to you and say they are interested in publishing it. And then you start the process of meetings and discussions and final copies that makes up the home stretch of publishing.

And after you are published….you start the process all over again.

Filed Under: Books, Copywrighting Tagged With: , ,
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