Arts

Reading is feeding. Why reading is a writer?s fodder.

July 8, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Many writers do not read. Yet they are writers. It is quite surprising. You might have heard plenty of stories of writers who have not even read a full book in their lives. The reasons for this are many.

Writers are by nature imaginative. Another writer’s imagination might invoke awe in a non-writer’s mind, but it might not do the same for a writer. Because it might seem ordinary. It’s almost like saying why Michael Jordan might consider a slam dunk by another basket-baller a normal thing, while it is awe-inspiring for the spectator.Certain writers also feel that reading the works of other writers might destroy their original writing style.

Most writers want to think originally. But this is wishful thinking. Although there are writers who are original in their writing approach, most writers in the world work on inspiration. In most cases, knowingly or unknowingly, it is another writer’s work.

Reading is a writer’s fodder. When a writer reads a variety of information and a variety of books from various authors, a writer will not be influenced by anyone. A common mistake writer’s make is when they become loyal to only one medium of information, and one author. They do not seem to like many information sources, or read many books from many authors.

To become a better writer, writers need to feed themselves with various influences. There is no harm in doing so. The only harm will be to not get exposed to what other writers are writing. This would be akin to living like a lone hermit in fool’s paradise.

Filed Under: Becoming a Better Writer, Blogging Tagged With: Arts, Author, Michael Jordan

Motivate Yourself to Write

May 25, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Hands collaborating in co-writing or co-editin...

Image via Wikipedia

When it comes to writing, motivation can be difficult to find. Writing a story takes time and effort, but the end result can be extremely satisfying. Many people have fragments of stories floating around in their heads that just need to get down on paper. There are several ways to get motivated when you know it is time to write down your story and share it with the world.

1) Say it out loud.

A story can sometimes seem disjointed when it is still in your mind. It is not until you start structuring the story that you see the potential. Get a small tape recorder and record yourself telling the story and making any changes to it. Let the recordings sit for a week, and then listen to them again. The inspiration to organize them could hit you at that point.

2) Use an outline.

When you have parts of a story in your head, you avoid writing it down because it may be missing key pieces. Create an outline of your story, and then start filling it in. Once you have the main ideas on paper in outline form, your mind can start to see what is missing and help you get your story off the ground.

3) Get a collaborator.

Sometimes it just takes the ideas of another person to make your ideas start flowing on to the page. Work with a close friend or family member to bounce ideas off of her or get input that will help your story come to life.

Everyone has a story to tell. It is the ones that find motivation that get their stories heard.

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Arts, Motivation, Writing

Procrastinators NeverProsper

February 19, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Writing can be tricky. Whether you are supposed to write a paper forschool, a novel to be published and distributed around the world, or a newspaper article in a small town’s newspaper it can bedemanding work and take a lot of time and research. There are a thousand tricks on the Internet to help you to have less trouble writing papers, books, and everything else. Some of these tricks help, some do not; however, there is one trick that seemsto always help, even outside of the field of writing. Simply put, the trick is to avoid procrastinating. While this might seem simple or elementary many people will be honest enough to tell themselves that they have a problem with putting off work until a more convenient time. Unfortunately, it never seems like that more convenient time ever arrives until the month, week, oreven night before you need to be finished working. Also unfortunate is the fact that most people do not do their best work when they are rushed and have to work double-time to finish what they are doing.While there is a chance that you are one of the few gifted people that can work at full capacity the night before a deadline, most people need to work on getting work done before the last minute. Usually there is a drastic and noticeable improvement inmost people’s work after they address their issue of procrastination. And, if that is not enough reason to stop procrastinating and do work when you first get the chance, you also avoid the feeling of having a project hanging over your head, making youworry all the time. There are few feelings as good as knowing that you have all your work done and can take it easy for a little while after putting in some hard work on finishing a project.

Filed Under: Becoming a Better Writer Tagged With: Arts, Procrastination, Writers Resources

Writing as Therapy

December 6, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

: Image by unprose via Flickr

If you are having a hard time with life, you may need an outlet to get out all of those feelings you are having. With a writing journal, you can use it as your guide to self-healing. If you don’t want to visit a therapist or a counselor, try using a journal in order to get help.

First, check the top affiliate programs to see what kinds of programs are available in your area for help. You may find that you can join a support group to get the help that you need. If none are available, then maybe using a journal is the right option for you.

You want to make sure you pick out a journal that feels comfortable for you. You should shop in a few different stores until you find one that you like. Remember, this is going to become your best friend and the thing that you tell everything to.

Once you find the right journal, you need a good writing utensil. Keeping a journal will be pointless if your writing utensil causes you pain or is hard to write with.

After you find the best writing tool, decide what you want to write about. Do you want to tell your journal everything? Or are you afraid that if you write everything down, that someone will see it? Remember that you won’t be able to heal if you are afraid what other people will think or find out. Try to write everything down in your journal, because that’s the first step in getting better.

Write in it every day if you have to. Whenever you are feeling bad or conflicted over something, you can always turn to your journal. Writing down your feelings really does help.

Filed Under: Becoming a Better Writer Tagged With: Arts, Journal, Support group, Writing implement

Imagination Costs A Lot

November 9, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Most writers struggle to make ends meet and the public does not always see their talent as early as one might hope. Writers are artists the freedom from stress let their imaginations flow. This means that artists are free to write just about anything that is important and entertaining. While you may feel that you work is perfect for everyone, there are bound to be critics who will find your work offensive. But as an established writer, you should be able to handle criticism and use it to your advantage to improve your skills.

However we all know the kind of suffering any talented artist goes through, especially financial, so even as a writer you need to find a way to protect yourself. If you were ever in legal trouble for expressing your thoughts or for an unfortunate mistake, you could end up with extremely high legal fees and fines. While you may not have the kind of money you need to pay these fines, you should consider a protection plan to handle such an unfortunate scenario. Try to get professional indemnity insurance, which will protect you so that in the event there are problems, you will have a solution.

You never expect to be sued for your own work, but the reality is that there are people out there who don’t share your opinions and beliefs. You, like any other writer, can easily become a victim and without the proper support, you could be left on the street. Get the insurance you need to protect yourself and your work so that you do not have to worry about how you choose to express yourself as a writer. Your imagination and talent must be protected so that you are always able to pursue your craft.

Filed Under: Becoming a Better Writer Tagged With: Arts, Writer, Writers Resources

What Kind of Writer Do You Want to Be?

October 23, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

For people who love to write and want to make it their career, there are serious considerations. One of the biggest ones is what kind of writer you actually want to be. Some people are generalists and can write about all kinds of things, but most of them are more specialized in what they focus on. They might write Internet content with great SEO skills, or they might be a copywriter. Maybe they write sales letters, or they work only on fine literature. They could write book or movie reviews, too, or go to places and review them when they get home.

Some writers make more than others, but it’s not just about the money. It’s also about liking what you do and being able to do it on a consistent basis. If you choose a writing specialty that you really don’t like, you may find that you burn out quickly and don’t enjoy what you do. Most people who work as writers get into it because they have a serious love of the written word. They aren’t writers because they get paid for it. They’re writers because they have to write. They can’t imagine doing anything else.

Because they’re so dedicated to their craft, they gravitate to the specialty within their field that they feel the most comfortable with. You should do that, too, if you’re going to work as a writer. If you don’t do the kind of work that you’re comfortable with, you won’t be as good at it and you won’t have as much fun. A job can’t all be fun and games, but working as a writer should never, ever stop you from loving to write. If it does, you’re doing the wrong kind of writing.

Filed Under: Becoming a Better Writer, Books Tagged With: Arts, Writer, Writers Resources, Writing

How to Find the Best Literary Magazine for Your Writing

October 18, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

There are few skills that equal the prestige of great writing. If you can master it, being a writer opens so many opportunities for not only employment, but for self-satisfaction and the boost in ego that having your writing recognized provides. A literary magazine is a great place to start if you haven’t gotten published yet.

The first hurdle is motivation. Rejection is extremely common in the writing world, but with so many places to take your stories, articles, poems and whatever writing outlet you have, you can keep trying at pretty much a constant rate. Historically, libraries and colleges were the best places to find a literary magazine suitable for your writing. Right now, the search does not have to go beyond your Web browser.

It’s good to know your options are open. There are still many, many journals that publish writing from around the country, and in many places, the world. You have to narrow down your choices by looking into what each literary magazine publishes, such as the types of stories or poems they prefer, and whether they accept unpublished writers or demand that the applicant has previously published work to show.

The process of researching these magazines also involves reading the guidelines. Almost every one has a list of guidelines that are expected to be followed; and which editors will look for even before reading the submission. You have to follow them or else your time preparing the work is wasted. It’ll just get thrown out.

The top literary magazines expect the best of writing and you cannot make any mistakes. If you’ve been published, you’re familiar with the process and the fact that the journal is looking for you to prove that. Many smaller scale publications accept unpublished writers and can open the door to opportunities that can be the beginning of a long and prosperous career.

Filed Under: Professional Writing Tagged With: Arts, Literary magazine, Publishing

Why Writing Is Something You Can’t Overlook

October 15, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Writing exercises in school can be slow and boring. The homework just seems to take up time and you’d rather hang out with friends or watch TV. It is very important to be able to write well, and writing is something you can’t overlook because it can open so many doors in your career.

No matter what grade you are in, you should pay careful attention to every writing assignment, and take the criticism of your teachers. Writing is something that you’ll need to do at every level of school, from Kindergarten to medical or law school. You’ll always have to write papers and essays throughout school, but also think about your career.

Many times when you apply for a job, the employer may ask for writing samples. These are a good judge of your level of writing, and how well you are able to communicate. Even things as simple as emails require good writing communication skills and judgment. Both your grammar and cohesiveness of your ideas go toward the employer’s decision as to whether you are a good candidate for the job.

While most jobs entail some form of writing, others almost exclusively exist around it. If you cannot write well, you’ll never have the opportunity to ever work for a newspaper, marketer, business executive and certainly never a teacher. Many writers can even end up working on their own as freelancers, away from the office. Now, there’s something to think about!

Writing is something you can’t overlook also because it provides an outlet to creativity express your ideas. If you’ve got stories running through your head, and perhaps daydream about them, you can write, or type them (another important skill), and eventually try to submit it to magazines or publishers. You never know, you may end up a famous novelist, journalist or songwriter someday.

Filed Under: Becoming a Better Writer Tagged With: Arts, Communication, Writers Resources

Managing Time When Multiple Freelance Writing Gigs Come In

October 3, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Freelancing can be difficult at times, even when you are a good writer. Being an expert sometimes comes with an additional stress factor: dealing with multiple projects and managing your time. When multiple freelance writing gigs stack up, you can manage them efficiently without being stressed out. It just takes a little organization.

Deadlines are the first thing you need to look at. No client is going to praise your work if you don’t submit it in time. Write out all of the deadlines on a bulletin board near your work desk. The due date of your work is the first consideration in deciding what you need to do first, along with of course, the size of the project and the amount of research you need to do.

Coming up with ideas is the first roadblock many writers hit. Realize that it is okay to brainstorm or even write out ideas that don’t quite fit together initially. You can always edit later, or copy and paste from files where you are just keeping a list of ideas.

A great piece of writing does not have to take a great deal of time to accomplish. If you can organize your ideas and have the structure of the copy in your head, then the project can come together quickly. Using work from the past is possible, but specific ideas should be re-written. Even plagiarizing your own work can be detrimental, especially online. The best way to manage multiple freelance writing gigs is to be able to do each assignment efficiently.

In your research, always ask yourself about what topics are hot at the moment, or what kind of information would be useful to the reader. This will narrow down your writing focus and lessen the time it takes to come up with an idea.

Finally, manage your downtime. Working constantly will cause you to burn out and make mistakes. Set a schedule for breaks or take short ones when you feel tired; you’ll be more acute afterward and better manage your multiple freelance writing gigs.

Filed Under: Professional Writing Tagged With: Arts, Freelancer, Writers Resources

Techniques for Creative Writing to Get Great Stories

October 2, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

Almost anyone can do creative writing, because you are pretty much free to say whatever you want. This form of writing includes fiction, non-fiction, poetry and other organizations of words on a page that tell a story. To be good at it, however, you need to consider several techniques for creative writing in order to catch the interest of readers.

First, a story needs a point of view. You can narrate the story from your own perspective, or have a character in the narrative do so. The prose can be narrated in first person or third person, while an omniscient character can tell the story as a whole from their perspective or of all the characters involved. It is your decision to make. You should make it before you even begin writing, along with knowing who the main characters will be.

Creative writing stories are made more realistic by using dialog. It makes it more interesting too. You can even strengthen the personalities of characters by giving them dialects and by providing the reader with a picture of how they talk and interact.

Techniques for creative writing come no more engaging than description. You can describe any setting, what a particular situation is and even the weather. The better you are at description, the more the reader can visualize the story. It can be distracting if there is too much described, but you don’t want to end up with too little description either. Finding a balance can be trial and error, but you can end up with a great story just by getting feedback and editing the text.

What’s going on in the present doesn’t have to be the sole focus of the story. You can fill in details by providing flashbacks. These can detail events in the past that are important to the plot or the life of a character. You can also hint at things that might happen in the future by using foreshadowing.

By mastering all of these techniques for creative writing, you will keep readers engaged in your stories, and can strive to someday become a published author.

Filed Under: Becoming a Better Writer, Books Tagged With: Arts, Creative writing, Writers Resources