When I go through bouts of writer’s block, my fingers stiffen,and my brain goes as blank as the snowy screen of a television on the fritz.
I don’t know about you, but I picture writer’s block as somethingcold–like the frozen engine of a car in the dead of winter,or the way your PC sometimes “freezes up” [...]
Written on July 1st, 2009
Read more articles on Become a writer.
When I go through bouts of writer’s block, my fingers stiffen,
and my brain goes as blank as the snowy screen of a television
on the fritz.
I don’t know about you, but I picture writer’s block as something
cold–like the frozen engine of a car in the dead of winter,
or the way your PC sometimes “freezes up” on you when your system
gets too busy.
Looking at it that way actually helps to overcome it. Rather than
feeling like you are grasping at fog, visualizing writer’s block as
something three-dimensional can provide you with both the strength to
confront it, and the weapons to conquer it.
How can you thaw your writer’s block of ice? Try any or all of
the following:
1. Chip away at it. No need to write “War and Peace” in one sitting;
Tolstoy certainly didn’t. Fifteen minutes a day are all you need
to give your writing dream some life and structure. Use them to
write anything, anything at all–as many article ideas as you can
think of, a synopsis of a story idea, a climactic scene in your
novel, a limerick, a character sketch, step by step instructions
for making the perfect omelet or what you would do if you won the
lottery.
Have some fun with these 15-minute exercises, and you’ll probably
rediscover the truth in the adage that “time flies” when you do.
2. Light a match to it. By this I mean, don’t think about the fact
that you are not currently writing; rather, think about why you ever
wanted to be a writer in the first place. Better yet, *write* about
why you want to be a writer. Do you have stories burning inside you
that need to be told? Or do you see writing as your key to personal
fulfillment or freedom? Melt away writer’s block by reigniting your
passion for writing–the old daydreams, the past feelings of triumph
or accomplishment when you finished a piece of work.
3. Carve a sculpture out of it. If you simply can’t break it down or
melt it away, make something from your writer’s block of ice. As I
did above, write about how you feel when you experience writer’s
block, or what you think writer’s block looks like. Maybe look for
humor in it (”What did one writer’s block say to the other?” “Nothing-
-it couldn’t find the right words!” Okay, that’s a bit lame, but you
get the idea).
Whenever writer’s block tries to come between you and your writing
aspirations, don’t try to avoid it. Instead, face it head on. Play
with it, laugh at it, scoff at it, or befriend it. Make it something
that you can take into your hands and deal with.
Turn it into one more tool that you can use to achieve your writing
success.
Mary Anne Hahn is editor and publisher of “WriteSuccess,”
THE biweekly ezine of ideas, information and inspiration for writers.
To subscribe, mailto:writesuccess-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
WRITING YOUR WRITING JOB DESCRIPTIONMary Anne Hahn
Have you ever heard about the “motivational” concept of writing your
own obituary?
The idea is, you write what you would like your obit to say, by
summarizing all those accomplishments that you most want to achieve
during the course of your life. Motivation gurus suggest that this
enables us to focus on what’s most important to us, while discarding
those activities that truly don’t matter in the long run.
Along similar–but less morbid–lines, I believe that we writers
might find it helpful if we took the time to write our own writing
job descriptions. If we could lead the writing lives of our dreams,
what types of writing would we be doing? Who would our customers
and/or readers be? In what niches would we specialize? What would
we consider to be our strongest skills, our areas of expertise?
Or let’s say that you want to diversify your writing goals. You
could develop a job description for each niche. In this way, you
could identify the experience and skills you already possess, and
which ones you still need to work on.
Here’s an example: suppose one of your writing career goals involves
writing profile articles–of celebrities, politicians, business
leaders, scientists, or just ordinary people who do extraordinary
things. What attributes would such a writer need to possess?
Excellent interviewing skills, obviously. Research skills would help
as well; you certainly wouldn’t want to walk into the interview with
absolutely no background knowledge of your interviewee or his/her
subject matter. Attention to detail would come in handy, too. What
is your interviewee wearing? What can you say about his smile, or
her vocal qualities? What does the interviewee’s home or office tell
us about him?
So your profile writing job description might look like this:
Job Title: Profile Article Writer
Job Description: Interview famous, influential and or interesting
people, and write article profiles on them for publication in local
and national magazines.
Skills/Experience Needed: Excellent writing skills and attention to
detail required. Experience in conducting interviews with people in a
wide variety of occupations. Proven online and library research
skills. Knowledge of publications with a track record of running
article profiles.
Do you see how creating a writing job description for yourself might
help direct you towards the kinds of writing assignments that you
want to land? If so, spend some time today developing your own.
Mary Anne Hahn is editor and publisher of WriteSuccess, the free
biweekly ezine of ideas, information and inspiration for people who
want to launch and maintain successful writing careers. To
subscribe, mailto: writesuccess-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
TWENTY FIVE TIPS IN WRITING ARTICLES FOR THE WEBCraig Lock
Writing articles can provide you with enormous amount of exposure on the Web. You are branding yourself on a shoestring budget – it hasn’t cost you a cent, but a little time and effort Writing a free content article is simple and follows a similar professional approach as an article for a standard, paying market.
People want quality content : for their ezines and their web sites .; however, the competition for content is fierce. Every Web site owner wants content and hundreds of writers want their content visible on the Web It’s FREE promotion through your signature file at the end of your article* Articles that give good information or explain how to accomplish something are usually best, and will be read most often.
Here are some pointers in writing articles for the www:
Firstly,
1. Accept that writing for the web is different to writing for the off-line world. People tend to skim and scan (note alliteration) when reading online. They read quickly scrolling down the page.
2. Identify your target audience.
3. Give your article a catchy title that will grab attention and make people want to read.
4. Keep your title reasonably short. Put some thought and effort into your heading – again to get your reader’s immediate attention.
5. Be professional and take your article writing seriously. Write about something you know professionally. Don’t be overly casual in your writing (ie. don’t write exactly as you speak)
6. Keep your paragraphs short.
7. Get to the point quickly (enough waffle with maple syrup, Craig!).
8. Target your article to your audience with “focussed information”.
9. Be brief, if you are a “waffler”, like this writer. People want immediate information online and have limitedtime usually – it’s the “instant coffee, sorry generation.
10. Write briefly and concisely (redundant words, meaning the same thing, Craig!) Try to keep your article under 1,500 words. Most paying markets usually only accept between 500 and 2,000 words… and with a bit of luck they may even “pick up” your great article. Try to be concise in your wording. Brevity is the hall-mark of good writing…or so say many of the teachers of writing!
11. Use the OCCASIONAL exclamation mark (!) to get your readers attention. Forget the ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation points!!!
12. Be credible (big word, eh?) at all times.I try to write my articles in a “conversational style with dashes of my funny humour”.
13. Use HUMOUR. People like to have a bit of fun with the occasional laugh, whilst being informed on a serious subject. At least I believe so!
14. Write from “your heart”, so that you come across as a REAL person. Just write what comes naturally with INTEGRITY…and BE YOURSELF.
15. Be totally honest in your writing and don’t “borrow” too much from others content. It’s so easy to “steal” on the www – so do your own work and if you “borrow ideas or material, ACKNOWLEDGE. “Incidentally, I have borrowed some ideas in this article from some good writers and well-known internet marketers – thanks a lot, David, Michael, John, Meredith, Joe and Edward).
16. Be humbleand don’t talk down to your readers.
17. Use bullets (not live, please) in your articles – it makes the points easy to follow.
18. Don’t forget your byline …or your “business card”. Make sure that you resource box at the end of the article provides enough information to identify yourself and provide contact information. It’s FREE advertising.
19. Offer a free report with your article – this is an easy way to collect a list of adresses for marketing your product(s). An instant target market.
20. Check all the links in your article before submitting it.
21. Offer your articles by autoresponder
22. Conclude with a strong message. Your final point (and paragraph) should be a message that summarises your article or gets your reader to take further action, like “GET STARTED” (as I’ve done in this article).
23. Finally, make sure your layout is good (not one of my strong points!), as this greatly enhances your prospects of getting published Use a spell-check. Go over your article carefully and be an editor yourself.
24. Make sure your article flows properly.
25. Re-read and re-read, until you get it “just right.” “Aim for perfection, but settle for excellence” in your article writing.
SUMMARY:
The internet is such an amazing medium for communication and SHARING information. I’ve just submitted this article and it’s been published almost instaneously (big word!) in a few places. So YOU TOO can write articles on yourchosen subject in your internet marketing efforts. MORE TRAFFIC = INCREASED SALES
Writers and internet marketers – Grab this moment in history well. “Carpe diem” (seize the moment!).
Why not start writing articles for the www in 2002?
A New Year is a new beginning.
YOU CAN DO IT.
Craig Lock
Creative Writing Course http://www.nzenterprise.com/writer/creative.html Craig’s first five books are available at: http://www.nzenterprise.com/writer/books.html
Written on July 1st, 2009
Read more articles on Become a writer.