Sodafone

I am sure that there would have been a moment in your life when you would thought of writing a poem, an article or a book. You may have not written so far BUT YOU CAN.

By writing an article, a book or alike, you bring your knowledge, experience, thoughts and ideas into words. In return, you get fame and money sometimes but the biggest SATISFACTION comes when people benefit from your knowledge and thoughts.

If above sentences motivate you enough then you have inclination towards writing. Keep it up and start writing. You may think that you are not trained for this but infact you are. In school, you were asked to write 5 or 10 sentences on particular object or event. Later, this graded to writing essays. And in college, you may have written technical or project reports. So, if you can do at that time then you can write this time also and definitely, in a better way.

As far as topic of writing is concerned, so you can write on anything. You can write on ‘what you feel about life’, ‘how you handled a particular situation’, ‘Any suggestions on organizing oneself’, ‘Any tips for new parents’ and this list goes on. If you are a techie person then you can write on hot buzz in your industry like if you are an IT guy then you can write on ‘wireless networks’, ‘RFID’, etc.

Once you have written, comes the need of publishing it. You can contribute your writings in your local newspapers and magazines. If it’s a book then contact a publisher with a sample copy of your writing. But, the latest trend is EZINES and EBOOKS. It is a very fast and cost-effective way of publishing your writings. Also, if you publish it in e-zine or e-book then you have large reader base across the world. Infact, I got my first article “10 ways of learning a software” published in EZINEARTICLES (www.ezinearticles.com). It is a nice and popular website for publishing your articles on various topics.

As you write more and more articles, your vocabulary and command over grammar will increase. Your way of expressing your knowledge and thoughts will get polished. The writing style can be further improved by the reading the work of others. And sooner or later, you will fall in love with WRITING.

So, all the best of your article endeavor and I hope to read article written by you soon. If my writing really helps you in writing then please drop a mail at zainvi.sf@gmail.com (Remember, SATISFACTION that comes if readers are benefited…)

Syed Feroz Zainvi has obtained M.Tech. (Comp Sc & Engg) degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (INDIA). His areas of interests are distributed computing, computer graphics and Internet Technologies. Currently, he is involved in Software Project Planning, Development and Management. His other interests include writing for magazines and contributing utility softwares on Magazine’s CDs. He also have flair for teaching computer science with new teaching methodologies. His web-page URL is http://www.zainvi.tophonors.com

A 10-point checklist to help you be real with your idea
first!

1 Can you make money from this idea? What is available in
the marketplace now? Is your market large enough to
generate the revenue you want? Do you have the contacts to
make that happen?

2 Do I have enough attraction to the idea? You don’t need
to have all the answers. You don’t need to know exactly
what you are going to write about yet or all the answers on
how to create this. What you want is to collaborate with
the Universe on this idea and allow all what you need to
emerge when you need it. Yes, you need trust in this and
you might need to dance around the fears and doubts as well.
Give the idea enough trust that either it will be a complete
idea upon itself or it will emerge itself into another idea
to be upon each other. Walk from a curious state of mind
and enjoy the journey. The journey itself is a story that
others want to hear as well.

3 List of 10-20 places where you can market this idea. If
you don’t have the places to market, then your focus needs
to change to finding those places first and having them
written down and ready to go when you need them. When this
foundation is set the creativity of ideas flows more
naturally and the fears and doubts are much quieter.

4 List of resources where you can research the topic. When
you list search engines — Yahoo, Goggle, what keywords or
phrases are you going to search on? Begin a list of those
keywords. Complete the research stage before drafting. You
will want to outline and draft first and use this technique
to fill-in. If you are unable to find enough information,
can you interview experts? Call local colleges or
university.

5 Identify at least five problems or challenges this
market is experiencing now? Make a list of each problem or
challenge. Next, draft up the solutions that you have for
those problems. Do you have exercises, stories that you can
share, or forms?

6 List of five to ten benefits they will receive from reading
this information. Then flush out (writing) what you will
tell them in response to those benefits. Complete this
process one-by-one. This point and identifying the problems
and solutions will develop into your outline.

7 List of your competitors on this topic. Who are
they? Read all their material, or print it out and save it
for the research stage. What angle are they using? Do you
have a different angle? If so, what is it? Clearly, define
that angle.

8 Create a unique domain name if you plan to be set up
a one-page marketing web site.

9 List of people that you can discuss the idea with
that will listen positively. Schedule time to explain your
idea to them. This will help flush out the idea and some
angles or features you haven’t thought of yet. Allow the
energy on the call to flow freely by recording the
conversation and catching additional details when you listen
again.

10 List five to ten people that you can receive testimonial
support from, and then ask them. Ask before forwarding the
infoproduct. Always tell them your timeframe so they can
evaluate their schedule before committing.

Catherine Franz, a Certified Professional Marketing &
Writing Coach, specializes in product development, Internet
writing and marketing, nonfiction, training. Newsletters
and articles available at: http://www.abundancecenter.com
blog: http://abundance.blogs.com

The Hero’s Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon - understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.

The Hero’s Journey:

Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

Interpreted metaphorically, laterally and symbolically, allows an infinite number of varied stories to be created.

The Hero’s Journey is also a study of repeating patterns in successful stories and screenplays. It is compelling that screenwriters have a higher probability of producing quality work when they mirror the recurring patterns found in successful screenplays.

The Interdictor

One element of the Hero’s Journey (during the stage of the Refusal) is the common presence of the Interdictor - a figure of authority prevents the hero acting under threat of some punishment. The Interdictor is separate and distinct from Threshold Guardians:

In Star Wars (1977), uncle Owen prevents Luke from embarking on his adventure. The reason is legitimate but when Luke disappears to find R2D2, uncle Owen explicitly states that “there will be hell to pay.”

In The Incredibles (2004), both the government and Mr Incredible’s boss prevent Mr Incredible from acting on his instincts. His boss explicitly states that there will be punishment if Mr Incredible does not do as he is told.

In The Matrix (1999), Agent Smith interviews and interrogates Neo, offering him incentives not to involve himself in the adventure. In an explicit act, Neo sticks his two fingers up at Smith.

In Out of Africa (1985), a soldier explicitly tells Karen not to venture out from the farm and find her husband. In fact, he orders he to move to town under threat of physical removal.

The detailed, complete deconstruction and the Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and FREE 17 stage sample and other story structure templates can be found at http://managing-creativity.com/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://managing-creativity.com/

We all need a cheer squad.

We all need people to say ‘Good on you!’; ‘Way to go!’; ‘You’ve done a great job’; ‘You’re really on the way.’

We need people to say ‘Don’t worry, this is just a temporary setback’; or ‘Of course you can do it’ when we encounter obstacles. (Hey, you think nothing of putting plenty of hurdles in your character’s way-why should you get through unscathed?)

Writers tend to get depressed and give up when nobody appears to care whether they write or whether they don’t. Sure, it’s really up to us if we feel that urge to create-in one way, we shouldn’t have to rely on the support or approval of others. But let’s get real. Most of us do care. We feel so much more inspired to go on if there’s someone who believes in us; someone to urge us to take the next step.

Most of us are lucky in that we have supportive families or partners. They might groan at the idea of extra responsibilities - or seeing less of us because we’re hiding away tapping at a keyboard - but they know how much it means to us. They rejoice in our successes. They commiserate when a rejection arrives or when life gets in the way and we can’t write for weeks (or months). It makes a difference to have someone who’s in your corner.

Unfortunately, not everyone has a ‘cheer squad’ like this. What if your family couldn’t care less if you never wrote another word? What if they resent the time you spend writing, and create obstacles rather than help you overcome them?

First, you have to decide to claim that time for yourself-even if you have to leave the house to do it. Find a corner where you can write undisturbed. (More than one writer has penned a novel over long-lasting cups of coffee in a restaurant.)

But the most important thing is to get yourself that cheer squad.

Find someone who does care about you and your writing.

Someone who will buoy you up when times are bad.

Someone who will break open the champagne when you succeed.

It could be a friend… it could be the owner of the coffee lounge… it could be someone from a writer’s group you join or establish. There’s someone out there who cares.

Make it your mission to find that person.

(c) Copyright Marg McAlister

Marg McAlister has published magazine articles, short stories, books for children, ezines, promotional material, sales letters and web content. She has written 5 distance education courses on writing, and her online help for writers is popular all over the world. Sign up for her regular writers’ tipsheet at http://www.writing4success.com/

How do you choose a name? Do you put down the first name that pops into your mind? Initially that’s what I used to do, until someone pointed out to me that there are a few things to take into consideration when choosing a name…

1. You Have To Be Comfortable With It

We associate names with people we know. If you like a certain name but know and dislike a person who bears it, will you feel comfortable using that name in your story?

Will you mentally shut that person out or will you be reminded of them each time you type that name?

Our characters have to be likable to us before they can become likeable to our readers. Will your dislike for that person transfer to your character?

2. It Must Be Easy To Pronounce

The English language can be, at times, misleading. How many words, and even names we spell one way and pronounce another? If the name you have chosen falls into this category, will your readers know how to pronounce it?

For years I use to pronounce the beautiful name ‘Sean’ exactly how it’s written ‘Seen,’ when it’s pronounced by the much nicer sounding ‘Shorn.’ Will the name you choose bear the same problem?

If you choose a difficult pronouncing name for your character and worse, one that’s not widely known, you stand to lose the effect of that name. A beautiful sounding name can be utterly destroyed if your reader doesn’t know how to pronounce it.

Your story has to flow. If the name you’ve chosen is not easy to pronounce, the readers will constantly stop each time they come across it. This will disrupt the flow of your story.

3. Foreign Sounding Names

The same as the above applies to foreign sounding names. They must be easy to pronounce. Consider the following:

• Yahiya

• Indihar

• Gschu

• Lyudmila

These names sound exotic but they don’t exactly roll off the tongue. Should you compromise the flow of the story for the sake of a name?

4. Does The Name Suit Your Character?

Not all names suit all people and not all names will suit all characters. Like clothing and hairstyles, names go out of fashion too.

For example…

Let’s say your heroine is a lively, upbeat, modern lady. Will it suit her type of personality if we choose the name ‘Mabel’? ‘Mabel’ we usually associate with an elderly aunt or grandmother.

What about your hero? Let’s say he’s a young man who possesses a powerful personality. Will the name ‘Hubert?’ suit him? ‘Hubert’ would suit an elderly character or perhaps a ‘quiet’ character.

5. They Shouldn’t Start With The Same Letter

If you’re going to have two main characters in your story and their names start with the same letter, it will read a little awkwardly.

Example…

• David and Debra

• Sam and Sue

• George and Gina

6. Surnames

Like we carefully choose the first name for our characters, we have to be careful when selecting their surnames. Just like first names, there are certain surnames, which sound better than others.

When selecting a surname, make sure it has a pleasant ring, when used with the first name. Using names, which rhyme like, Jeff Jefferson, sound amusing. If this is the effect you wish to create then using it is fine.

7. Stereotype Names

Are you thinking of naming your character Adolph or Judas? There’s nothing wrong with these names, except for the fact that we tend to associate them with that single person in history who bore them. Will your reader trust your hero if you name him Judas?

8. Famous Names

I recall a quote I once read which went something like this…

“Nothing grows under the shade of a tree.”

If you name your character Elvis, Madonna etc.. Will your character be able to outshine the ultra famous person of whom the world knows? I doubt it.

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When naming characters there are also a few other points to consider…

Naming them will not only depend on what kind of people they are, but who their parents or guardians were (if the parents or guardians play some sort of role in your story). After all, we don’t name ourselves, do we? So take into consideration the following…

1) What kind of people are the parents?

a) Free spirited?

Unusual names will rank highly amongst people like this.

For example,

• The seasons of the year

• Or perhaps a month in the year

• Or an object

• Etc

b) Conservative?

These types of people tend to use the full name rather than an abbreviated version of it.

For example,

• Kathleen instead of Kat

• Michael instead of Mike

• Etc

2) What Is The Parents/Guardians Nationality?

If they’re traditional, they will choose a name, which is popular in their country. Also traditional parents/guardians tend to give their children the names of their own parents or other relatives.

Look at the name you chose for your main characters. Does the name suit them?

About The Author

Besides his passion for writing, Nick Vernon runs an online gift site where you will find gift information, articles and readers’ funny stories. Visit http://www.we-recommend.com

Finding a publisher can be very strenuous. In fact, it may even be harder than actually writing the book itself.

There are three things to remember when finding a publisher for your book:

1) These things take time, even Stephen King was not signed the first night. Be patient, book publishers are quite busy and may take a while to get back to you. Just keep positive, if your book is good a publisher will sign you.

2) Start big and work down. Submit your book to the largest publisher first, then work yourself downward. Chances are, if a large publisher signs you the more money you will see in return. However, don’t get too stressed when the first notice comes and says you are not signed, there are many other publishers who would love to see a new book come their way.

3) An easy way to get started yourself, if you do not wish to mess with publishers, is to find a publishing company who will do it for free without the advertising. A great place to start looking is at cafepress.com. They have a great selection of book styles and offer a great pricing for self publishing.

The most important thing to remember while looking for a publisher is to stay positive and keep trying. There are many publishers in this world and at least one is bound to sign you.

Gary R. Hess is a writer and owner of Love Poetry along with numerous articles, essays and poems found around the web.