Friday, July 31, 2009

Discover How Article Marketing Can Increase Your Wealth

Article marketing has become a very strong advertising medium in modern society. No other media can reach as far and as wide as this method which is probably the reason behind its popularity. This method is not exclusive to businesses alone though, it could be tapped by individuals as a means of significant profit. Understanding what goes on behind the medium can help you discover how article marketing can increase your wealth.

Article marketing's main principle is writing content that is both concise and interesting and including information that allows the target audience to avail of the product. In this perspective one may look at article marketing as the predecessor of a press release or an advertorial, the only difference being the span of coverage. Press release write ups and advertorials remain to only be found on traditional sheets like newsprints or magazines, while article marketing reaches as far as the Internet being able to capture a global audience. Despite this major difference the similarities these media have with each other are actually pretty close.

Article marketing similar with a press release and an advertorial are usually quite short going anywhere between 200 - 500 words in length. It is written in a very concise manner to insure that readers get the facts straight and fast. The titles are usually arresting and written in a very smart way so as to pick on the curiosity of a potential reader just enough to get him or her to read through the article. Also the information is given in a very subtle way not as in-you-face as other marketing or advertising media. The whole article is written in a seemingly neutral point of view though in actuality focuses on pushing the product or service for at least a trial.

Getting into article marketing can indeed be a profitable endeavor. There are many systems available over the internet or from third party companies that can provide you with the necessary tools to get into writing marketing articles and give you a stable foundation in the industry. Adding these tools to the basic skill set of being able to effectively communicate through writing then you might as well have the formula that can turn coal to diamonds.

There are many businesses willing to hire writers for article marketing. You can seek for part time employment and do your work on top of your regular day job or you may choose to go full time and handle multiple clients a day. It can be a very promising enterprise for people who are gifted with being very organized and patient. It is however a kind of enterprise that eats a lot of time and should not be considered as a work at home scheme that are famous for allowing people to allot less time in work.

With the proper tools and the right kind of motivation anyone can hit it big in the world of article market. If everything mentioned sounds interesting to you then maybe it's high time you got into it and discover how article marketing can increase your wealth.

And now I would like to invite you to learn how the experts get articles written, it's not as hard as you might expect. Find out how easy it is to get original articles written.

Learn more about how easy it is to have custom articles created for you. http://GetOriginalArticlesWritten.com.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Map Making For Fantasy Writers

Maps are a wonderful addition to any fantasy novel. They give the reader an added level of information that helps them visualize and experience the world you have created. A good map can also help you in the writing of your novel. Here are some resources and tips to help you make good maps as a supplement for your writing.

Travel and the Size of your World

One of the biggest questions you have, which is also one of the biggest obstacles to good map making, is getting the size of your world right. If you are writing a fantasy novel the sky is the limit and you can create a world of any size you want (it is your world!). But if you want to stick to some sort of traditional measure you might want to consider the traveling speeds of horses and humans. This will give you a good foundation for how big your world is and how far apart the various landmarks are.

Some very loose rules of thumb are that an average healthy person can walk about twenty miles a day. This is roughly the pace of Roman soldiers on the march -depending on the amount of available daylight. You could of course stretch this in your writing. The distance horses can travel in a day also varies but a well-trained and healthy horse might do around fifty to sixty miles on a good day. Exceptional horses could do more than this, and potentially up to a hundred miles, but this would be a one day feat only and would require weeks of rest and rehabilitation.

The novel you are writing is fantasy and you can make any rules you want but just keep in mind typical travel distances so you can maintain a good sense of scale. It is generally not good to have your travelers walking several hundred miles in a day. Keep this in mind with your writing and with your map making.

If you want to use Leagues as a measure of distance one league is considered to be the distance a man can walk in one hour which is approximately three miles.

The Map Key: Elements to include

The key of a map is a box of information that helps the reader fully understand the map. Here are some key elements you should include with your map.

A Compass - A compass is a small drawing somewhere on the map that shows the four major directions. You should include one on your map. It helps orient the reader and is particularly helpful if you use directions in your writing. If one of your character says something to the effect of "We will reach the Lucky Dragon Tavern by nightfall and in the morning we will set out East toward the Brine River" your reader is able to look at the map and get an instant understanding of what is happening and where the travelers are heading. A detailed compass will show all four map directions of North, South, East, and West. And a scaled down compass will just point out North, which is often sufficient.

A Scale - A scale is a line drawn on the map that shows distances. You can calculate the scale on your map by first measuring the overall size of your map. You divide the distance the map covers by the size of your drawn map in inches. If your map covers 1,000 miles and it is 10 inches in size 1 inch = 100 miles. You create the scale by drawing a 1 inch line then marking it as 1 inch = 100 miles. You can make the scale larger by extending the line another inch and marking the end point as 200 miles.

Making your map more visually appealing - You can make your map more attractive and interesting by drawing in major landscape details. Mountain ranges can be drawn in, small groups of waves can be put in bodies of water, and small trees can be drawn into forested areas. You can even draw small buildings to represent cities and towns.

Writing Names of locations on your map - Here is a good rule of thumb to follow when writing the names of major landmarks on your map: The more important the landmark the bigger the text should be. Use larger letters for big cities and important places, and use smaller letters for less important landmarks. This helps your reader identify major points easier.

The map itself can be made more visually appealing by adding parchment curls at the edges or medieval style borders around the edges. You can even add small drawings of creatures. Whales in the oceans and horses in the plains are common. These are aesthetic improvements that would be done for the final map that goes into the book.

Using your map as you write

Your map can become a useful tool in your writing. Is your main character traveling from one town to another? Check your map. What kind of terrain is between the two towns? Is there a river that needs to be crossed? Is there a desert or heavily forested area? These things can generate new ideas for your story. And remember your scale. Does your map show the distance to be 200 miles? If so, did you write it as a one day journey? And be sensitive to the landscape and how it affects the creatures, races, culture, and plant life in your world. If your map has a variety of eco systems like mountains, forests, deserts, and swamps the life forms in these eco systems has to reflect that. And travelers passing through these systems have to face the challenges that each eco system poses.

Keeping two maps - one for your and one for your readers.

I recommend you create two different maps. The first, and larger map, is for your own use and it should be very large - poster board sized if possible. You can add lots of details and even include important notes and plot points on it; and it is imperative that you do it completely in pencil so you can erase and modify it as your writing progresses. Once your novel (and map) is completed you can use this first map to create the second, pared down map that will be included in the novel - usually as a two page spread in the beginning of the book.

Map first or novel first?

Maps and stories go hand in hand and I recommend you develop both simultaneously. The story dictates how the map will be drawn and the map will help you keep things correct in your writing. As you write your story it will bring about changes in your map. The two should develop simultaneously.

You don't have to be a cartographer or artist to make a great map to go along with your book. But you do have to know some rules of thumb to make sure your map is understandable by your reader. A good map will add to the readers experience by helping to make the world you created more vivid and real. And it will be a great tool to help you write a better fantasy novel.

Will is the author of two Epic Fantasy Novels and he is currently working on his third. For lots more articles on the art of writing fantasy visit his website:

Fantasy Writing
If you like to read fantasy visit his site devoted to the best fantasy books: The Fantasy Guide - Your guide to fantasy books, stories, news, and art on the web.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

A Children's Writer's Guide to Critiquing Manuscripts

If you've just joined or started a critique group for writers but no one seems to know what to do next, maybe this guide and checklist will help. If you aren't in a critique group, you can still use it to critique your own writing.

CRITIQUING MANUSCRIPTS (For Critique Groups)

Begin with some basic procedural guidelines for critiquing:

1) Start with something positive - Point out at least one thing that worked really well in the manuscript.

2) Be specific in your comments and suggestions - For example, saying "I liked your story" is flattering to the writer, but doesn't really mean much. Saying something like, "I felt the dialogue sounded exactly like something two teenagers would say and advanced the plot well" is more specific.

3) Use the checklist (below) - This will help you be more specific in your comments and suggestions. And, if you use the checklist to critique your own writing it will help you recognize weak points in your story before you share your work with anyone.

CHECKLIST FOR CRITIQUING MANUSCRIPTS

I. Character

__ Are my characters well-rounded? Do the major characters have both positive and negative traits?

__ Is my main character someone readers can care about? Does he/she want something important?

__ Have I revealed character through action?

__ Does my main character take action? Or is she too passive?

__ Is each character's voice distinctly his/her own?

__ Have I avoided stereotypes and stock characters?

__ Does my main character solve his/her own problem? Is he or she different in some way from how he or she was at the beginning of the story? (this doesn't always have to happen, but usually it means your story has some depth to it)

II. Point of View

__ Have I stayed with my POV character throughout the story?

__ Would the story be stronger if I switched from third person to first person or vice versa? Would the story be better told from a different character's point of view?

III. Plot

__ What is the basic conflict of my story?

Beginning

__ Do I introduce my characters and the conflict right away? Or do I take too much time revving up? Could I chop off the first paragraph and start with the second?

Middle

__ Have I put complications in the middle that get worse and worse and build to a climax?

__ Does my character have to work to reach his/her goal?

End

__ Does my main character solve his/her own problem?

__ Does the ending grow logically out of the rest of the story?

__ Is my ending satisfying without being predictable?

IV. Language

Description

__ Are my details specific, not generalized?

__ Have I bogged down the action with tedious passages of description? (One way to check this is to see how many "ing" words are used; very many usually means there is too much description)

__ Would that description work better if I wove it gradually into the story rather than presenting it as a block?

__ Have I described with more than one sense (i.e. sight, sound, touch, taste, smell)?

Action

__ Have I used strong and specific verbs and nouns?

__ Have I successfully avoided passive voice?

__ Can I cut out redundancies? Small talk? Clutter? Meaningless qualifiers such as "just" and "very"? Passages that bog down the action? Have I used too many different dialogue tags that attract attention?

Mechanics

__ Are there awkward or confusing sentences or scenes that need to be cleaned up?

__ When I read my story out loud, does the rhythm sound right? Is it choppy? Too wordy? Monotonous?

__ Are my transitions smooth?

__ Have I avoided clichs?

__ Does each sentence sparkle with my own voice? Is that voice strong and credible?

V. Purpose

__ 1. Does each character and action in the story have a definite purpose?

With these specific points to look for when critiquing a children's story, it should be much easier for you and your fellow writers to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of each and every manuscript.

For more helpful tips for writers, visit http://www.workingwriterscoach.com and sign up for the mailing list. When you do, you'll receive a free ebook for writers, plus every weekday morning you'll get The Morning Nudge, a few words to motivate and inspire you to get a little writing done.

Visit the National Writing for Children Center at http://www.writingforchildrencenter.com and find out how you can learn to write for kids. Suzanne Lieurance is a fulltime freelance writer, children's author, and founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center.

Moving Objects With Your Mind

Medical Business Marketing - How to Unleash the Power of Ghostwriting

Ever wonder how on earth those "other" doctors manage to write articles, books and "how to" courses, AND successfully take care of their patients too? It's as if these individuals are everywhere. In many cases, what they've managed to do is discover the secret power of hiring a ghostwriter.

I know, maybe you don't consider yourself a writer, and even if you CAN write, you don't have the time because you're too busy running your practice or letting it run you. Think for a moment. Do you really believe celebrities with book deals write those best sellers themselves? Some do. Most don't. Like you, even if they have the talent, they don't have the time.

What's a ghostwriter? A professional writer who helps you find your voice and writes your material for you. She allows you to then be the "author" of whatever you need to get out, even if you lack writing skills. Your name is on it, not hers. The writer you've hired is a "ghost."

BENEFITS While you actually live the experience of BEING a medical professional, your ghostwriter writes about it for you. What a concept! Imagine unleashing the synergy of "communications manpower" that's all about you. A ghostwriter will be your voice, resulting in:

- Your increased visibility.

- Branding your expertise.

- Enhancing your career.

- Your promotional productivity on auto pilot AND in hyper-drive.

- Your profile raised and profitability increased.

Professional writer, Lisa Robertson, who has a client base featuring a growing roster of Michigan-area doctors, shared, "Over time, your ghostwriter knows you well and goes beyond being merely a hired gun to become your trusted ally and your written voice. What you're really getting is a specialized alter-ego."

HOW TO FIND A GREAT GHOSTWRITER FOR YOU

Remember, a ghostwriter is simply a writer who doesn't put her name on the work she creates for you. Instead, you get the byline (your name goes on it). So you're looking for a writer first. You can easily find potential ghostwriters by:

- Searching online article directories and contacting authors whose work appeals to you.

- Contacting local (or national) journalists whose articles you've enjoyed. (Many, if not most, journalists are available as freelancers.)

- Contacting professional writing placement services and agencies.

- Asking colleagues and business people you know for referrals.

- Having your (or hiring a) publicist to double as your ghostwriter.

There are countless article submission directories, blogs and resources online where you may publish or distribute your material. Your goal in assigning this effort is not to earn direct income for your content, but to gain priceless exposure for your expertise.

Oh yeah, and when you've produced enough artcles or installments of an online column, say 25 or so, you can always edit and compile them into that book you once thought was such an amazing feat.

In short, when you hire a ghostwriter, you don't have to be a marketing genius to enjoy brilliant results causing others to marvel at how on earth YOU manage to be everywhere, while successfully providing health care.

If you enjoyed the article, "Health Care Practice and Medical Business Marketing: How To Unleash The Secret Power of Ghostwriting," by Alysyn Curd, and you'd like access to even more specified strategies, information and expertise about online marketing for medical professionals, then visit: http://www.Scrubsation.com for your FREE download of, "Health Care Practice and Medical Business Marketing: How To Elevate Your Brand by Publishing an Online Column Using A Ghostwriter."

Since 1998 Alysyn Curd served as creative director, principal designer and head consultant for creative communications agency, Art Impact Marketing. An artist who has always loved marketing, Curd has developed a passion for Internet business and marketing which she now shares with clients through a growing portfolio of net brands and services. She serves as marketing director for Scrubsation.com.

Scrubsation.com, "...provides a broad range of affordable merchandise and resources to health care professionals and the medical community."

http://www.scrubsation.com/joinscrubsationcom.html

Figure Out What You Want In Life

Monday, July 27, 2009

Best Types of Writing Worksheet

Teachers and parents basically are the primary users of worksheets. It is an effective tool in helping children learn how to write.

There are many types of writing worksheets. There is the cursive writing worksheets and the kindergarten worksheets. The latter is more on letter writing and number writing. This is typically given to kids of aged four to seven to first teach them how to write. Through these worksheets, they learn muscle control in their fingers and wrist by repeatedly following the strokes of writing each letter.

These writing worksheets have traceable patterns of the different strokes of writing letters. By tracing these patterns, kids slowly learn how a letter is structured.

When you are a parent, and you want to teach your kids ahead of time just before he would go to school, you can use the free online worksheets. There are lots of them available. You can let your kids learn online. Through this, your kids will be ready for school.

These online materials are readily downloadable and can be printed for use. And the good thing about this is that you can produce as many copies as you want, until your kid learns and perfect the craft of writing.

There are also teachers who use these kinds of techniques to teach in a more animated manner. The idea is to keep children interested because without their attention, it is difficult to make them absorb what you are trying to teach.

There are many types of worksheets you can use as a teaching aid. First is coloring pages. This is good in teaching kids the different colors and their names, and the proper way to color. With First Crafts, kids learn how to make simple crafts and enjoy the fruits of their hard work.

There are also worksheets that teach how to read. It includes the basic sounds each letter produce. Kids try to read the words displayed before them. In the First Alphabet worksheet, kids learn how to write the alphabet. And in the First Animals worksheet, kids try to recognize the animals in the picture and learn the names of these animals.

There are many more worksheets available. They vary in complexity of the activity depending on the age and grade level of a child.

Other activities for kindergarten include jigsaw puzzles. There are also worksheets that teach children about some biblical characters, and how to help a community. These activities are not limited to individual work. There are also worksheets that require a group effort to finish the task. This way, children learn to work in a team. This is a very effective group activity in helping them realize the importance of cooperation and teamwork.

At a young age, kids are first taught to write letters in print only. When kids reach the age of eight to ten, they are taught how to write in cursive. They may find this quite difficult and boring at first. But one fun way to teach them this is to use worksheets also.

The basic cursive worksheets that you can use are Rockin' Round Letters, Climb'n' Slide Letters, Loopy Letters, Lumpy Letters, and Mix 'n' Match.

Worksheets are now being used in most schools as they are proven effective in fostering a children's learning process. There were studies that show children responding better to worksheets compared to other boring and strict methods of teaching.

For more information on cursive writing worksheets and kindergarten writing worksheets, please visit our website.

Inerrancy Of The Bible

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Ezine Publishers Want These 5 Things From Article Authors/Writers

Want your articles to get picked up and reprinted by top name brand ezine publishers?

While there is no shortage of authors willing to give their articles away for free with hopes of attracting ezine publishers who will pick up your article to send to their list as supplemental content or 'guest expert' - there is a gap between two very different types of articles:

Type 1: Those That Get Reprinted

Type 2: Those That Get Passed Over

Article marketing can help you achieve fame, traffic, credibility, sales, referrals and much more, but not if your articles don't make it into viral distribution.

Here are the top 5 factors that ezine publishers look for when they decide which articles to publish:

1) Does the article have zero self serving links in the article body? If so, good.

Loading up the body of your article with affiliate links or other obvious self-serving links is a liability. Your short-term thinking or scarcity based thinking (that you need to get an immediate return from your article) will keep your article from ever seeing top results.

2) Does the article have no more than 2 self serving links in the resource box? If so, good.

Your resource box at the bottom of your article should be short, sweet, succinct, to the point, and be less than 10% of the total word count of your article. Ezine publishers don't mind giving you name credit and a link for sharing your article with them, but they don't want to look like a fool by being required to reprint a short novel about all of your websites and accomplishments.

3) Is the article short (250-700 words)? If so, great.

We live in a 'sound byte' economy. No one has time to really go deep when it comes to reading email newsletters. It's proven that the shorter articles achieve a much higher distribution than the longer ones.

4) Does it deliver quality original content with numbered lists, bullet points or easy to glean information that their audience would find valuable? If so, good.

Key point: Make sure your articles are 100% original content. Anything less is really an insult.

5) Is the author well recognized or respected within their market niche. If so, excellent!

Ezine publishers have an ego just like you do. They want to use articles in their email newsletters that make them look good. The more you use your articles to help yourself gain credibility for your unique expertise within your niche, the greater the chances you'll find your articles getting picked up by your ezine publishing peers.

Hint: You'll need to write at least 100 or more articles before a top dog takes your credibility seriously. The greater majority of authors think they can put 1-6 articles into distribution and that's all that they will need to make it big. How erroneous their thinking is... You can quickly separate yourself by putting 100 more articles into distribution before this quarter is over. Yes, it is possible; Yes, it has been done; and Yes, you can do it.

There are many other considerations that ezine publishers look for, such as:

  • Relevancy of the article to the ezine publisher's core focus

  • Timing of the article and its relevance to current market dynamics

  • Grammar, spelling, punctuation and sentence structure are perfect

  • Simple, clean, neat and no abuse of the bold/italics/underline attributes

  • Formal approach to the article vs. blogging loose style

  • How well referenced the article is
  • About The Author:

    Christopher M. Knight invites you to submit your best quality original articles for massive exposure to the high-traffic http://EzineArticles.com/ expert author community. When you submit your articles to EzineArticles.com, your articles will be picked up by ezine publishers who will reprint your articles with your content and links intact giving you traffic surges to help you increase your sales. To submit your article, setup a membership account today: http://EzineArticles.com/submit/

    (c) Copyright - Christopher M. Knight. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

    Starting With Simple Things

    Best Types of Writing Worksheet

    Teachers and parents basically are the primary users of worksheets. It is an effective tool in helping children learn how to write.

    There are many types of writing worksheets. There is the cursive writing worksheets and the kindergarten worksheets. The latter is more on letter writing and number writing. This is typically given to kids of aged four to seven to first teach them how to write. Through these worksheets, they learn muscle control in their fingers and wrist by repeatedly following the strokes of writing each letter.

    These writing worksheets have traceable patterns of the different strokes of writing letters. By tracing these patterns, kids slowly learn how a letter is structured.

    When you are a parent, and you want to teach your kids ahead of time just before he would go to school, you can use the free online worksheets. There are lots of them available. You can let your kids learn online. Through this, your kids will be ready for school.

    These online materials are readily downloadable and can be printed for use. And the good thing about this is that you can produce as many copies as you want, until your kid learns and perfect the craft of writing.

    There are also teachers who use these kinds of techniques to teach in a more animated manner. The idea is to keep children interested because without their attention, it is difficult to make them absorb what you are trying to teach.

    There are many types of worksheets you can use as a teaching aid. First is coloring pages. This is good in teaching kids the different colors and their names, and the proper way to color. With First Crafts, kids learn how to make simple crafts and enjoy the fruits of their hard work.

    There are also worksheets that teach how to read. It includes the basic sounds each letter produce. Kids try to read the words displayed before them. In the First Alphabet worksheet, kids learn how to write the alphabet. And in the First Animals worksheet, kids try to recognize the animals in the picture and learn the names of these animals.

    There are many more worksheets available. They vary in complexity of the activity depending on the age and grade level of a child.

    Other activities for kindergarten include jigsaw puzzles. There are also worksheets that teach children about some biblical characters, and how to help a community. These activities are not limited to individual work. There are also worksheets that require a group effort to finish the task. This way, children learn to work in a team. This is a very effective group activity in helping them realize the importance of cooperation and teamwork.

    At a young age, kids are first taught to write letters in print only. When kids reach the age of eight to ten, they are taught how to write in cursive. They may find this quite difficult and boring at first. But one fun way to teach them this is to use worksheets also.

    The basic cursive worksheets that you can use are Rockin' Round Letters, Climb'n' Slide Letters, Loopy Letters, Lumpy Letters, and Mix 'n' Match.

    Worksheets are now being used in most schools as they are proven effective in fostering a children's learning process. There were studies that show children responding better to worksheets compared to other boring and strict methods of teaching.

    For more information on cursive writing worksheets and kindergarten writing worksheets, please visit our website.

    Developing Wealth Building Habit

    Tuesday, July 21, 2009

    Some Quick Tips to Make You a Better Press Release Writer

    It's relatively easy to create a press release. In fact, you can spend 20 minutes in front of your computer, start pounding on your key board and you'll be able to produce a press release or two. However, if you aim to create something that will grasp an audience, you will need more time and you will need to discover these 6 proven secrets so your copies will come out as compelling and enticing.

    1. Create an outline. It is very important to ensure that your content will flow smoothly. Before you start writing, brainstorm and list down all the things that you would like to discuss. Then, decide how you want them to flow throughout your content. This simple task will help you make your press release sound organized because it will not let your ideas go off on tangents.

    2. Deliver only newsworthy content. Before you write your press release, ensure that the topic you would like to write about is newsworthy. You cannot write just about anything under the sun. To capture the attention of your readers, you need to ensure that your news is worth their time and energy. You may talk about the recent changes in the leadership ladder within your company, events or charity that you are sponsoring, milestones that you have reached, recognition that you have received, and your partnership with other companies and entities.

    3. Deliver timely information. Avoid writing about something that has happened two years ago. Nobody will surely want to read about something do not have impact on their lives. Keep your eyes open on new issues or new activities that involve your company. If there is nothing newsworthy to share, then don't write a press release.

    4. Focus on one topic. If there are so many activities within your company, ensure that you discuss them separately. Don't try to gather and put all the information on one press release as this can cause information overload to your readers.

    5. Use hyperlinks. If you are distributing your copies, ensure that you insert anchor texts on your content. These will take your readers to your website so you can boost your page views in no time.

    6. Leave your contact information. Although you may have answered all the who, what, why, when, and where questions of your readers, they might still other concerns in mind. Make it easier for them to contact you by leaving your email address, phone number, website's URL, and fax number at the end of your copies.

    Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article writing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

    Download it free here: Secrets of Article Writing

    Do you want to learn how to build a big online subscriber list fast? Click here: Secrets of List Building

    Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 9034 articles in print and 14 published ebooks.

    Backup Plans Feel Good

    The Death Diary - (A Short Story)

    The Death Diary of
    Troy Burroughs

    Extract #2
    Day Three and Four of Troy Burroughs

    Day Three

    Being dead is going to take some getting used to. According to earth time this would be day three of my so called, death. I keep looking down on North America, I guess it's still home to me for the moment anyway. A few hours ago, I caught a comet, the tail end of it and I noticed it was quite slow compared to my form of travel, that is, I think I was going as fast as 200,000-thousand miles an hour, and it somehow zigzagged, and jumped off or out of its orbit and fell back into it somehow-kind of speaking-by an asteroid belt is where I was, I'd estimate somewhere around twenty to fifty million miles from earth, who can say, surely not me for certain.

    I thus far, have learned something in this new development of mine, that being, traveling in space in what I call shape-traveling, for that is all I am, simple a shape with some kind of energy source to me, one could even call it residue, soul or whatever they wish, a part of another dimension with substance: I used the thrust of the comet, the velocity-I used it somehow, not quite knowing how, allowing it to push me, that is, more likened to throwing me-hurdling me I would guess, out into the empty part of space, the black airless cold space...I actually felt something to my shape: I sensed something also, something like. the several world surrounding me produced other forms of life, ghosts maybe, demonic being trying to escape earth's hell, other aliens looking down through their portholes, through layers of time and space and echoes, and so forth. I felt like a new born baby learning everything all over, I do think I have some source of natural feeling to my movements, should I want to use them, up to now its been more on the order of the elements in space moving me you might say. I, at this point cannot name it but I'd like to kick it, to see if how much control I have here in this new environment.

    Nevertheless, what I was going to say, had on my mind to say, before I got into what I just mentioned, was-here I am, back where I started from, the day I died, overlooking earth, but again, here I am, in this asteroid belt-if you get what I mean, think-travel and there you are, among really simple, big fat rocks everywhere in space, and earth is no exception, other than it is more colorful.

    Well, to make a diary note shorter, once seen is enough, and so it was a good visit, but I must learn how to control it. It is like going to the Rocky Mountains or possibly I could qualify it to equal the Bad Lands in South Dakota, going back there back and forth like a yoyo. But again, once seen, that is enough, unless this kind of thing is your thing, and it is not my thing by far: I mean, I'm only on day three, and this is what you get. I think that area is best for campers, not me. I'd prefer hotels, but I suppose you don't need them out here. The more I think of it, something is missing. Oh well, I'll investigate. Now it's becoming evening time over Minnesota (St. Paul, is my home town (where my wife lives, Rosa), the sun is going down.

    Day Four

    Morning time in Minnesota, the sun is coming up, I got an inkling, I got to go back to see how my little wife is doing, Rosa. I know for a few hours after I died, she was upset, crying, hysterical. I didn't know what to do for her, she couldn't see me, and I did not know how to communicate with her other than trying to set a mood, by way of producing calmness about her immediate space: prayer helped.

    She got me to the hospital, and I know I was getting better, a heart attach I heard them say. Then she stayed overnight, and I died in the middle of the night, she had fallen to sleep. I was happy about that, happy because she was so tired: everyone thought I was in a coma, but I was really between life and death, a new kind of order they didn't anticipate, one that is dreamy like, a stage before death, one you can see about you, hear sounds and sense people, but cannot talk, it is not a coma, although folks think it is, or could be, it is in-between where you touch the hand of Christ, but cannot feel it, only see it, and where your pours are filled with the light of God. Then I died, and got sent here, not sure for how long thought.

    For the longest moment, I hovered over the bed, looking at her, but I had no power to say or do anything-that was of course after the in-between period, where I was in a dream like world. Now that I think of it, I was in shock-kind of shock, after the in-between took on pure death, then she woke up, and as I was saying I was hovering over her, looking down, I didn't feel the grief as she was feeling, but a separation from my body, in the sense of emptiness from a shell: So many experiences at once.

    That little Inca wife of mine just cried and cried, and hugged me, I wanted to comfort her, but she'll have to go through it like me someday, if the Lord willing I'll be there to comfort her.

    Anyways I am now in my old house, hovering about. She's got my urn next to my mother's, she had me cremated today. I missed the funeral; I guess they had a small one at the cremation area. No one showed up from my side of the family, as expected, no problem; it was all grieved out long ago, and better for it, I prefer quite times. I think Rosa is going to take my urn, and my mother's and put it into the Huancayo, Peru, and Cemetery, in one of those vaults, she was a good wife.

    She's crying again. I wonder if I can somehow let her know I'm here, and all right. I should pray, matter of fact, I thought I would get to see the Lord by know, Jesus Christ, but first things first, I heard a voice say that, It think it was Serr'el, my guardian angel, he had a hell of a job with taking care of me, guarding me while on earth, I hope I don't get a job like his, too much grief and wondering. I get the chills just thinking of his name. I also get the feeling I have to polish myself up to meet the Lord, you know, kind of take care of business, Elvis used to say that. I know he is not far away, -and I thank Him for his patience.

    Now back to my little Rosa, she is sitting in my big sofa chair in the living room, tears are still coming down. Let's see if I can do something to let her know I'm present (I told her once, we cry-during our grieving period, or time, for the great times we had, that is called sadness, not depression, sadness says, those times were all worth while, I hope she remembers that).

    As I said, and I shall repeat, there she is, sitting in the sofa chair, I know what I'll do, I'll make noise like walking on the floor, footsteps, not too creepy, just light enough for her to know I am with her. But how do I do that, I don't weigh anything? Too many questions for simple things; but you know I felt the thrust of the comet; yaw, yaw, that's it, creates energy from energy. As I step one foot in front of the other, you can hear my footsteps, and see the rug impressions of my feet, it is taking all my energy to produce these footsteps, she's looking up, now she looking around: look down, down little wife, look down. She doesn't look down. She's getting a little scared, I better stop. Now she rests back into the chair, she's thinking though.

    She got up to check the hallway, now the window. I can't do that again, I got to practice; I guess a spirit can even loose energy. She went back to the chair; it's dark outside, the TV is on, it is drowning out my footsteps. For her the day is young, for me, now sure, I guess down here it's as it would be, forever long, just a day but with light and darkness, I don't feel the heat or cold. I'm going to try something else. I'm going to stand in the archway to the living room and try to make my configuration, my spirit form light up, just a bit, just a slight emotion, if I darken it, it might scare her. I noticed I had one in outer-space.

    [A long pause]

    It's morning now, dark morning, so it must be pretty early, she is cleaning the house, getting ready to face the day, she notices my chair, the dinning room light is off so is the kitchen light, she turns it on and a little electric heater emitting heat she turns off in the bedroom, she is facing the mirror in the bathroom. This will be my best try think, if only she focuses hard on the mirror; I'll try to reflect my shape.

    Here I go, MMMMMMMM-Materializing [light starts to fill the mirror a faded light, dull but pronounced nonetheless in a spiritual form. She's looking at me, rubbing her eyes, I'm loosing my energy source, and it is like holding your breath trying to get this light out. She's leaning forward, squinting her eyes.

    [Middle of the Night]

    Got a new idea, I'll enter her dreams, slowly, if this is possible, and I heard the nightmare demon can do it all the time, unless you pray for them not to. Therefore, why cannot a good spirit like me do it? That of course a question for me, one I'll answer by trying to do, what I'm not sure I can do.

    I'm not sure how you do it, but I got a sense of how will come-I'll sit by her and just whisper in her ears, and try to create a sense of me, and she will picture me, and I will let her know all is well: "Rosa, Rosa, Rosa, Rosa, Rosa..., all is well, I love you, always have, it is me, I'm all dressed in fogy white, I'll be waiting for you and we'll travel around the world, no, better yet, around the worlds, and into new galaxies."

    She sees me, visualizing me says, in her dream world (I hope she remembers and writes it down): "...yes, yes, I DO see you," she says.

    "I'm fine Rosa, I'm doing ok, I miss you and I'll be around should you need me, just call on me. Like my mother used to do, remember how she kept us from the fire?"

    She's crying in her sleep, says: "...no, no don't go.'"

    "But I can't stay too long; it takes too much whatever it is, energy and like the bee, remember the bee in the bottle, he lost his energy to fly, then he could hardly walk trying to climb that glass bottle, then I set him free and he nourished himself in the grass, and he regained his power, and flight, and few away; perhaps for another day."

    She went back to sleep, she's stop crying. She's breathing better now. I think she'll remember this dream as more realistic than non-fiction, or symbolic, I hope.

    Originally written, 7-3-2006
    10-22-2008 (Revised and reedited)

    See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

    Habits To Prevent Losing Things

    Audio Book Downloads - The Gutenberg Killers

    Audio books are here to stay, say the experts. Judging by their steady year-on-year growth, this is not a marketing statement, but a fact. Now these same experts are predicting a dramatic upsurge in the sale of audio book downloads over the next two years.

    The prediction makes sense in view of the following:

    * The market penetration of MP3 and iPod devices is significant. This penetration is set to increase as some publishers are giving away MP3 players free of charge with purchases in order to encourage future downloads.

    * Such downloads are quite a bit cheaper than printed books.

    * Current generation readers enjoy the convenience of books which they can download from the comfort of their homes - even at 2 o'clock in the morning!

    Purchasing an audio book online doesn't mean that you will only be offered older books or that you will have to make do with a limited variety. On the contrary, all the latest and greatest print releases are freely available as downloads nowadays. The same applies to all-time favorite novels, such as Harry Potter and all-time favorite authors such as Stephen King.

    Harry Potter audio books

    In spite of the controversies surrounding the six Harry Potter books, it became an overnight success: All these books have been translated into 47 languages with millions of copies sold worldwide; the seventh book is due for release; the fifth Harry Potter movie is in production; and all these titles are available in download format.

    The readability of the Harry Potter series precludes children under the age of ten from comfortably reading it in print. This makes purchasing these books in digital format a worthwhile consideration. The popularity of Harry Potter's books has resulted in the series becoming available in most digital formats.

    Jim Dale, the narrator, has won a Grammy Award, two Grammy nominations, and two AudioFile Earphone Awards for his work on the Harry Potter series.

    A further plus-factor for purchasing the Harry Potter books in digital form is the price. You could save as much as 25% per book! The seventh book in the series, The Deathly Hallows, can now be pre-ordered. It may be a good time to order this pending release when you purchase the other Harry Potter books in the series.

    Stephen King audio books

    Stephen King is a firm favorite. Since his first book "Carrie" was published in 1973, Stephen King has written more than 60 novels, short stories, plays etc; twenty of his stories were made into films; and all his best selling books are available in digital format.

    Of significance to the Stephen King fans, is the fact that he is about to retire, so in view of this imminent retirement, it could be worth considering purchasing one of the 'Stephen King Live' audio downloads available on the internet.

    It is a live recording made in 1998 of a reading he made at London's Festival Hall, with Stephen King himself as the narrator. The recording is available on CDs or as an online download, but interestingly enough, not in printed format at all.

    The unavailability of Stephen King Live in the printed media is an interesting phenomenon. What if emerging authors had to decide not to publish in print? Offering book downloads instead, could mean a wider reach, better sales and improved margins.

    Audio books to download

    There are literally thousands and thousands of these, and the numbers are increasing exponentially every day. So Who knows? Only the future can tell whether book downloads will one day rule. In other words, is the tyranny of the printed word coming to an end in a future near you? Bye-bye Gutenberg?

    Boualem Amrouche is a successful Internet publisher, owner of the site
    http://www.spoken-books.com where you can find thousands of audio books to download, some being FREE.

    Please note that this article can be freely reproduced as-is, as long as the contents of this box are also published unaltered.

    Spending 15 Minutes Each Day

    Monday, July 20, 2009

    Before You Write

    A writer writes, by definition. We often imagine that professional writers sit down and simply write, with beautiful strings of elegantly crafted words simply streaming onto the page or screen with an inhuman grace. Such a mental image couldnt be further from the truth. The reality of it is that writing is real work, a labor of care and love and obsession, with anything remotely graceful coming only after hour (if not days) of painstaking, plodding work. Even for most professionals, the art of writing is one filled with multiple drafts, numerous revisions and countless edits. Despite all of this, a few simple steps can reduce the time lost to labor and increase the speed with which completed articles go out the door.

    The keys to efficient writing arent necessarily used when youre actually writing the article or polishing it for publication; instead, efficient writing begins before the writing even starts. The two keys to more efficient writing are planning and preparation. While such words may cause the artistic free spirit to balk, these two elements will often mean the difference between an extra week of writing the same article, or a fat paycheck for an article thats in under the deadline. The steps are simple, and just need to be followed.

    Selecting a Topic Before you can write effective non-fiction, you must select a topic. Without a topic, you dont even have a direction in which to go. Very often, when a non-fiction writer speaks of writers block, that writer is really speaking about a lack of topic. Once a topic is chosen, fleshing it out is more a matter of cold logic than anything else.

    Clarifying the Topic Once you have a topic, you have a broad, general direction to go in. While this may be enough to get you going, its rarely enough to base an article on. Often, our topics may be either too broad, encompassing too much information, losing any potential impact, or it may be too narrow, not leaving enough room for development. Ask yourself the following questions, with example answers given describing the article you're reading now:

    - What is the general topic? (writing)

    - What differentiates it from the rest of that topic (the pre-writing process)

    - Who is my audience? (writers, mostly experienced amateurs, non-professionals)

    - What is the purpose? (instruct writers on pre-writing)

    - What does my audience need to know? (Details regarding the steps of the pre-writing process)

    - What questions are there about the topic and the needed information?

    Doing the Research Once you have clarified what your topic is, youll now have the beginnings of your information gathering. Continue asking yourself questions, looking at your topic from as many ways as possible. Looking at this list of questions, identify potential sources of information that you can turn to for answers. These may be individual experts, reference books, websites, and many more. As you answer the questions, look for additional questions that the audience wouldnt even know to ask, but still should know. As your information accumulates, you may find that some questions become unimportant, or unnecessary; other questions, like the original topic, may be either too broad or too narrow. Continue to research and revise until you are satisfied that every base has been covered.

    Thinking and Planning Looking now at your clarified topic, your refined list of questions and the information youve accumulated through expert research, its time to think about your article. Bearing in mind both the intended audience for this article and the purpose, how might this information meet those needs? How should it be presented for maximum effect? How can this raw information be shaped into a marketable work of art? Now is the time to ponder these questions, and to find answers.

    Making a List Finally, with all your prior work completed, make a list of the points that must be covered in your article. Sequence this list in the most effective manner you can so that it wont confuse readers or misrepresent your topic. List the points again, this time in sequence. Ta-da! You now have a step by step blue print for your article, with all of the necessary information laid out for you. Without a single visit from your muse or even one case of artistic distemper, youve built the majority of a great article, and youve done it quickly, and effectively.

    Brian Westover is a freelance writer. In addition to writing articles for publication in standard print venues (such as magazines and newspapers), he is also a skilled copywriter, offering a variety of services to anyone who needs great online content, polished business writing in a professional format and editing and coaching to improve your own writing. In addition to his professional site, Brian also runs WriterSpot, a website dedicated to finding and organizing online resources for either the beginning writer or experienced writing professional.

    Starting With Simple Things

    Be a Successful Freelance Writer

    These days, anybody can be a writer. With the amount of freelance writing jobs available over the Internet, you don't even have to set a foot out of your house to earn some extra cash. And if you're hardworking and skillful enough, you'll probably earn more than many day job workers.

    Freelance writing jobs are not as daunting as they used to be. Offers can range from anything and everything under the sun. In fact, there are plenty of people looking out for writers right this very moment.

    And if you hang around long enough, you'll learn how to avoid basic mistakes and spot golden opportunities. Here are some helpful tips to succeed in freelance writing.

    Surf the Net and Be Observant.

    You can start making money by typing freelance writing jobs on your favorite search engine. As impossible as it is to believe, that's how easy it is. Of course, most of the links will then lead you through blogs, forums and Web sites.

    As mentioned earlier, topics to write about can range from anything and everything. It could be something as common as travel, or something as technical as manipulating graphics.

    Stick to What You Know.

    Aside from their obvious popularity, blog articles are also easier to write. They're less formal and use a more easygoing tone.

    For a beginner, it's the best place to start your career as a freelance writer. If you're fond of cooking, you can look for a blog that focuses on that subject. If you're into marketing, there are hundreds of blogs out there which deal with your interest.

    Accept Payments.

    Payment transactions are usually done online. You'll need to set up an account at a credible online money transferring company or payment processor in order to receive your money.

    Personally, all I earn from my freelance writing jobs are wired through Paypal. It's easily one of the most popular and credible companies out there. If your country is not included in Paypal's list, another good alternative would be 2Checkout.

    Freelance writing jobs may seem easy-and they are-but they also require proper working habits. You might think that it's okay to slack off since you don't exactly have a superior watching over you like a hawk; however, how you work can determine where your next paycheck comes from.

    If your employer decides that he or she likes your writing style as well as your work habits, you'll be the first person he or she will call up the next time a project pops out.

    Want to earn a 5-figure monthly income through freelance writing jobs? Go to http://www.20daypersuasion.com/5figurewriter.htm and discover how to earn massive amounts of money by becoming a freelance writer

    Structuring Your 24 Hour Day

    A Children's Writer's Guide to Critiquing Manuscripts

    If you've just joined or started a critique group for writers but no one seems to know what to do next, maybe this guide and checklist will help. If you aren't in a critique group, you can still use it to critique your own writing.

    CRITIQUING MANUSCRIPTS (For Critique Groups)

    Begin with some basic procedural guidelines for critiquing:

    1) Start with something positive - Point out at least one thing that worked really well in the manuscript.

    2) Be specific in your comments and suggestions - For example, saying "I liked your story" is flattering to the writer, but doesn't really mean much. Saying something like, "I felt the dialogue sounded exactly like something two teenagers would say and advanced the plot well" is more specific.

    3) Use the checklist (below) - This will help you be more specific in your comments and suggestions. And, if you use the checklist to critique your own writing it will help you recognize weak points in your story before you share your work with anyone.

    CHECKLIST FOR CRITIQUING MANUSCRIPTS

    I. Character

    __ Are my characters well-rounded? Do the major characters have both positive and negative traits?

    __ Is my main character someone readers can care about? Does he/she want something important?

    __ Have I revealed character through action?

    __ Does my main character take action? Or is she too passive?

    __ Is each character's voice distinctly his/her own?

    __ Have I avoided stereotypes and stock characters?

    __ Does my main character solve his/her own problem? Is he or she different in some way from how he or she was at the beginning of the story? (this doesn't always have to happen, but usually it means your story has some depth to it)

    II. Point of View

    __ Have I stayed with my POV character throughout the story?

    __ Would the story be stronger if I switched from third person to first person or vice versa? Would the story be better told from a different character's point of view?

    III. Plot

    __ What is the basic conflict of my story?

    Beginning

    __ Do I introduce my characters and the conflict right away? Or do I take too much time revving up? Could I chop off the first paragraph and start with the second?

    Middle

    __ Have I put complications in the middle that get worse and worse and build to a climax?

    __ Does my character have to work to reach his/her goal?

    End

    __ Does my main character solve his/her own problem?

    __ Does the ending grow logically out of the rest of the story?

    __ Is my ending satisfying without being predictable?

    IV. Language

    Description

    __ Are my details specific, not generalized?

    __ Have I bogged down the action with tedious passages of description? (One way to check this is to see how many "ing" words are used; very many usually means there is too much description)

    __ Would that description work better if I wove it gradually into the story rather than presenting it as a block?

    __ Have I described with more than one sense (i.e. sight, sound, touch, taste, smell)?

    Action

    __ Have I used strong and specific verbs and nouns?

    __ Have I successfully avoided passive voice?

    __ Can I cut out redundancies? Small talk? Clutter? Meaningless qualifiers such as "just" and "very"? Passages that bog down the action? Have I used too many different dialogue tags that attract attention?

    Mechanics

    __ Are there awkward or confusing sentences or scenes that need to be cleaned up?

    __ When I read my story out loud, does the rhythm sound right? Is it choppy? Too wordy? Monotonous?

    __ Are my transitions smooth?

    __ Have I avoided clichs?

    __ Does each sentence sparkle with my own voice? Is that voice strong and credible?

    V. Purpose

    __ 1. Does each character and action in the story have a definite purpose?

    With these specific points to look for when critiquing a children's story, it should be much easier for you and your fellow writers to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of each and every manuscript.

    For more helpful tips for writers, visit http://www.workingwriterscoach.com and sign up for the mailing list. When you do, you'll receive a free ebook for writers, plus every weekday morning you'll get The Morning Nudge, a few words to motivate and inspire you to get a little writing done.

    Visit the National Writing for Children Center at http://www.writingforchildrencenter.com and find out how you can learn to write for kids. Suzanne Lieurance is a fulltime freelance writer, children's author, and founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center.

    Developing Wealth Building Habit

    Sunday, July 19, 2009

    7 Mistakes in Article Writing

    The most important thing to remember about article marketing is building trust between you and your potential customers. Your primary concern is to establish yourself as an expert in your niche so every word, sentence and paragraph of your articles should subtly communicate this to your readers through quality writing.

    Unfortunately, too many authors think it's all right to bang out article after article hoping that quantity will override quality. The opposite is true. If you cannot avoid the following 7 mistakes in your article writing, you will sabotage your own efforts at article marketing.

    Article Writing Mistake #1: Poor title

    This is your headline and it needs to catch your reader's attention as well as potential publishers. Try to work in keywords but don't overdo it. Of all places, don't misspell or have a grammatical error here as it only makes you look as if you don't care. If that's true, why should readers care to read any more of the article. Make sure the title accurately reflects what the article is about.

    Article Writing Mistake #2: Badly written summary

    Most article directories allow for a summary of your article but this is not the place to stuff your keywords or repeat a keyword phrase ten times. You would be surprised how many authors think this will help when all it does is get their article immediately rejected. Create a summary that expands upon the title and draws in the reader with a little more information and a possible tease that makes them think, "Yes, I need to read more about this." One to three sentences is all it takes. I tend to write my entire article first before coming back to the summary to make sure it's the best it can be.

    Article Writing Mistake #3: Failure to edit

    The following was the opening of an article submitted to my site:

    "Instantly, let's start at the very starting out, what's the first thing you have to do before starting a..."

    The author obviously wants to stress the importance of what is to come but failing to correct this rhetorical abuse through editing defeats the purpose entirely. Remember: First drafts never make good reading. Editing is what makes good writing.

    Article Writing Mistake #4: If you hire a ghost writer, check their work

    I see way too many articles where a ghost writer is hired and English is not their native language. There's nothing wrong with hiring someone to write articles for you but if you don't review and approve the results, then I have no sympathy for you. Turning over the entire process of writing and submitting articles on your behalf is a sure way to make your company look stupid.

    Article Writing Mistake #5: Use the preview button

    Article directories don't have any time to format your articles for you. If you can't take the time to properly format your article into paragraphs with spacing, don't count on getting your articles published very much. After pasting your article into the submission form, use the preview button to see if its properly formatted. If not, go back and make the corrections.

    Article Writing Mistake #6: Writing in the passive voice

    What separates great writing from the rest is writing in the active voice.

    Passive: The boy was bitten by the dog.

    Active: The dog bit the boy.


    Eliminate words such as was, were, been, have, has, and had. Replace them with an active verb or direct voice. Your articles will stand out head and shoulders above the rest if you edit with this in mind.

    Article Writing Mistake #7: Failure to deliver

    Perhaps the most common, this mistake is surely the deadliest of all. Each part of a submitted article is designed to pull the reader further along a path of information that eventually leads to your website. The title grabs, the summary teases and the article body delivers. But if it doesn't, what makes you think the reader will click for more information? They won't if you fail to deliver on what was promised.

    If you ignore the advice given in this article, I can guarantee mediocre results from your article marketing efforts. Will you take this article to heart and eliminate these mistakes from your article submissions? If so, you can be sure that your article marketing will achieve maximum results.

    Charles Gregory is a freelance writer and owner of Ezine Article Exchange where submitting quality articles means free website advertising for you.

    Backup Plans Feel Good

    Be a Freelance Writer

    Are you a housewife or a college student or a retired professional with a flair for writing? Why not use your creative skill and be a freelance writer? The World Wide Web is filled with opportunities for freelance writers to write articles and other content for websites. There is want of words and dearth of talent!

    And being a freelance writer isn't only a vent of your ideas, it is also highly rewarding. You can earn while you spell your creativity out. Freelance writers can earn anywhere in the range of $1,000 to $10,000 depending on their skills and time devoted. Websites, companies and other businesses are always on the look out for writers who can put their creativity to words and write content for their websites.

    The pen is mightier than the sword, they say. And how true it is when it comes to promoting your website on the internet. It is the word that you pen down that matter for internet promotion. Getting higher ranks on search engines can depend on the way important words are used in a site. These important words also known as keywords are the ones that determine how high a site features on search engines. The number of times these keywords are used is a highly important thing.

    So it is the words that matter and being a good freelance writer can be a very sought after job. You can be very much in demand if you crack the way these keywords are used and can become a highly paid freelance writer.

    Wasanis Global is a content provider that provides creative writing solutions to high end businesses. The team at Wasanis comprises of writers, copywriters, proofreaders and translators who work in association with SEO consultants to provide content to websites of all genres.

    Developing Wealth Building Habit

    An Analysis of the Birth-Mark by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    As in all of Hawthorne's writings when one finishes reading his stories you come up with more questions than answers. No other writer makes you question like Hawthorne. The philosophical question of what is true perfection and can it be achieved through physical means or is it a state of the spirit is the heart of Nathaniel Hawthorne's story The Birth-Mark.

    Aylmer, the main character of the story is a brilliant scientist/alchemist. He posses a belief in "man's ultimate control over nature", and thinks there is nothing man can't master or achieve. His obsession with his wife's small imperfect birth mark, which resembles a hand, begins shortly after they become married. Aylmer is fixated with his wife Georgiana's perfection; he believes that in order for him to experience perfect love, he must have a perfect woman to love. His obsession gradually becomes Georgiana's obsession at which point she becomes so distraught that she tells Aylmer "Remove this dreadful hand, or take my wretched life". Aylmer sits down and tells his wife that there may be risk involved but he is confident that he shall remove the mark and his beautiful bride will be perfect in every way. He sets up comfortable surroundings for his wife described as "beautiful apartments, not unfit to be the secluded abode of a lovely woman". After the alchemist attempts and fails numerous methods for removing the mark from his wife he develops a "perfect elixir" that will without a doubt cure her and make her completely perfect. He administers this elixir and to his great delight sees the cursed hand start to fade and disappear; only to have his wife tell him "Aylmer-dearest Aylmer-I am dying!"

    Georgiana achieved perfection in Aylmer's eyes in her dying moments; so did he Aylmer achieve what he set out to accomplish? I believe he did. Aylmer was a man who loved his work; he loved science more than he could ever love any human being. He was a man riddled with his inadequacies and imperfections, and as a result of his low view of himself, he demanded perfection in his wife. This is exhibited when Georgiana is reading out of his ledger which is described as a "sad confession, and continual exemplification, of the short-comings of the composite man". Aylmer was a self serving individual whose only goal is to make his wife perfect for his own sake or perhaps for science's sake. All these things being true; I do believe he loved Georgiana, and in his own bizarre way he wanted her to be perfect for her sake, because he believed that she deserved no less. In his quest for her perfection (which is impossible in the purely material sense) he destroyed her.

    Aylmer's wife Georgiana was at first a happy woman; married to someone she believed to be a great man, until one day her husband tells her that the mark upon her cheek might be removed. This of course is the beginning of her as well as her husband's obsession with removing her one imperfection. The first thing that stuck out in my mind about Georgiana was her undying love, loyalty and desire to please her husband. This was very much a mark of the time. The fact that she would rather die than meet his disapproval I found significant. She seemed to me, to be the ultimate exemplification of love and unselfishness, to an insane level, which is exhibited in the line "You have aimed loftily! - You have done nobly! Do not repent, that, with so high and pure a feeling, you have rejected the best earth could offer." Georgiana does not feel ill towards her husband because she believes his feelings to be those of pure love.

    The Birthmark touches on similar themes as Marry Shelly's Frankenstein in the idea that humans can possess a supernatural power to undo and make perfect what is imperfect. Aylmer does not believe in God or the natural laws he created, which is obvious by his belief in man's ultimate control over nature. God created man as a part of nature and we are not above nature but integrated with it. Just as today we are fighting the ethical issues of an increased understanding of science versus what we know to be natural law. Hawthorne's story The Birth Mark is just as relevant today as it was when written in 1843 if not more so. Today we are struggling with issues such as cloning, stem cell research and other aspects of science that seem in contradiction with God's and nature's laws. If confronted with the modern day issues we now face Hawthorne's opinions would probably be the same as he has set forth in this short story; that when man tries to accomplish what he was not intended to accomplish disaster will be the ultimate result. The hand was not only a birthmark but an integral part of Georgiana's soul, and removing this mark in the quest for perfection was her demise.

    Hawthorne is telling us that humanity is imperfect, there is no perfection in the physical sense, and the only way to achieve perfection is through the spirit in death. The Christian parallel is clear here; none of us are perfect and the only way to become perfect is to become one with God, in death, which results in our going to heaven. This goes back to what makes us who we are; we are not pure flesh and blood, our psyches and our true selves go so much further beyond that.

    Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story The Birth Mark touches on philosophical and ethical issues valid in his time, as well as ours. His work makes us think about what is perfection and is it desirable in the physical state. In the end we discover that if we overstep our bounds and try to make perfect that which is imperfect, death will be the final result, for only in death through God, can we achieve perfection.

    by John Schlismann

    John Schlismann has an interest in American Literature.

    To read the Birthmark goto:
    http://www.online-literature.com/hawthorne/125/

    Habits To Prevent Losing Things

    Saturday, July 18, 2009

    All About Freelance Technical Writing Jobs

    If you have specialized knowledge other than how to be a great writer, then technical writing may be for you.

    Technical writing combines your writing talent with a specific area of expertise, such as IT, graphic design, education, engineering, the automotive industry, etc. You could be writing for others who are already familiar with the field, or you could be writing to teach others.

    How much does technical writing pay?

    Technical writing freelancers often get paid very well, anywhere from $40 to $100 per hour or more. Technical writers command a higher rate of pay because it takes much more than polished writing skills to do the job.

    Where can I find technical writing jobs?

    The Internet is the ideal resource, especially if you're just getting started. Check out websites like computerjobs.com, IFreelance.com, or rentacoder.com. These sites offer many postings by companies seeking freelance technical writers in a variety of industries.

    I also recommend you post your resume on an employment site like CareerBuilder.com or Workopolis.com. Because you have a specialized skill set, know that there will be people actively looking for you. Having your resume on this type of website will greatly increase your chances of getting a well-paid technical writing gig.

    Another technique is to do some brainstorming. Ask yourself if you have a specialized skill set or knowledge base. If so, what companies are in your area that could use a writer with skills like yours? Contact those businesses directly with your resume and a letter explaining how difficult it can be to find a good technical writer and that you're available to help with any upcoming projects they may have.

    What type of work will I be doing?

    In IT, technical writers are often creating software or hardware manuals from scratch, or writing about coding. In the education field, you may be writing textbooks or creating PowerPoint slides for online learning programs. You could also be writing assembly manuals for machines, preparing reports for a pharmaceutical company, or creating do-it-yourself manuals for home repairs, etc.

    In any technical writing job, you'll need to have good writing and communication skills on top of your area of expertise. Technical writing projects are often collaborative, meaning you'll have to deal with other people and complete the project as a team. Even if you're working alone, your client will want to know how you're progressing and whether you're on track with what he or she is looking for. Expect lots of communication, either over the Internet or by phone.

    How do I properly respond to an ad for a technical writer?

    To maximize your chances of success, your response should include:

    - A note about how valuable you feel the company is
    - A summary of your qualifications in the field of expertise
    - An overview of your superior writing ability
    - Any related experience you may have

    This response could be in a cover letter accompanying your resume or in your bid on a freelancing website. Read the sample ad below to see if you could make a compelling candidate:

    We are an online learning company specializing in business skills. We teach administrators, HR people, etc. to effectively coach employees and streamline day-to-day business. We design online courses and downloadable presentations. We need a writer to help us with our upcoming courses for next year.

    In order to make maximum impact, your response needs to hit each of the four points above. For example, you might respond like so:

    Dear Sir/Madam,

    I've taken a look at your website and I must say that your material is very impressive! It's clear that you provide a lot of value to the businesses that use your services, and I would welcome the opportunity to join your team.

    I hold a Bachelor of Commerce with a Human Resources designation. Throughout my education I designed various studies of employee behavior. Recently, I've been working as a consultant helping companies optimize employee productivity. I believe my skills may be of benefit to your company.

    In addition, I am an accomplished writer. I have written articles, reports, and web content. My clients are always pleased with my work because it is grammatically flawless, concise, and easily accessible to readers.

    Thank you for considering me for this position.

    Sincerely, (name)

    That's it! Just remember that you have a unique combination of highly sought-after skills, and you'll have your first technical writing job in no time.

    Brian Scott is a full-time freelance writer with over a decade of experience. He finds many of his paid freelance technical writing jobs at Online Writing Jobs (http://www.online-writing-jobs.com), a free jobboard that lets you search thousands of freelance writing jobs.

    Creating A Habit

    Article Writing Service to Help Lighten Your Workload

    As an Internet business owner, you are sometimes too caught up with all kinds of business related tasks to pay much attention to article writing. Daily tasks such as Internet marketing, product development, meetings, etc. may take up so much of your time that you simply don't have time to look at content creation.

    However, your Internet business will need content. Sooner or later, you will find yourself having to come up with some content. You will need articles for your own websites, your sales letters, your blogs, or to execute some article marketing campaigns. For whatever the reason, there is no denying that content is king on the Internet.

    As the owner of an Internet business, it is your responsibility to come up with a way to overcome this challenge - the challenge of content creation. A heavy workload is an obstacle, never an excuse. To make things worse, there are other obstacles.

    Some business owners find writing to be time consuming. That may be because some people are not native English speakers, or they do not grow up in an English speaking/writing environment. Hence they face great difficulties when they find that they have to write. In this case, article writing becomes a painful task.

    Fortunately, there is a ready solution to such obstacles. Simply outsource all your article writing to processional writing service providers. Usually, such providers have a team of writers to write for you. They are usually native English speakers, who are able to write naturally. Writing is almost second nature to these writers, and they are able to complete articles in a much shorter time span than most people.

    Besides, since they are professional writers, they are expected to be more knowledgeable than the average layman about the subjects that they write about. On some occasions, they may be stumped by certain rare topics. But that can be easily overcome with some research.

    Overall, professional writers can deliver high quality articles very quickly. The best writers even possess Internet marketing knowledge and experience. That means when they write, they will keep the theme of the articles tightly focuses so that the search engines can determine the context of the articles easily.

    Most business owners decide to outsource all article writing activities simply because writing just takes up too much time. Even for a prolific writer, writing an article of decent quality can take as much as 15 minutes. Imagine setting up a website with 10 pages of content. That's 150 minutes dedicated to content alone. For any business owner, a lot can be done within 150 minutes. Hence, most just decide to outsource. After all, quality writing services come at highly affordable prices these days.

    Just by spending a few extra dollars, business owners find themselves left with a lot more time for more important tasks.

    Professional article writing service and article submission services available. Fully featured - Fast turnaround, back up articles to local hard drive and more!

    30 Days To Creating Super Habits

    Best Internet Content Writer

    On the Internet, SEO and Copywriting are highly competitive fields. Nonetheless, opportunities abound across a broad spectrum. If you're new to content writing, courting prospects, or need a writer for your blog or website, some research of the fields of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Copywriting is the most vital asset you can acquire before making a decision. On the other hand, some basic understanding of both initially can be very helpful in simplifying your research.

    There is a mix of confusion on the Internet in terms of defining content writers. Content is a general term used to define writing for websites, blogs or other Internet based media. The greater misconceptions appear to be Copywriters verses SEO writers. Avoiding the misconceptions will help you attain a firm footing to write content with SEO or copy in mind or, to be able to hire a professional suited to your specific needs. There are similarities between the two but understanding the distinctions may provide more clarity.

    Copywriters have been around for a few centuries as long as there has been print media. Their basic job description is writing copy that promotes strong actions among consumers. The objective is to cause an action around the buying or selling of a product, service or even increasing a subscriber base that may lead to sales.

    SEO writers are a unique effect of the Search Engine Industry. If there is one distinction that separates the two fields it is this.

    Copywriters would exist with or without the Search Industry online. Their origin is in Print media, marketing and advertising. This field has exploded with the presence of commerce and marketing on the Internet.

    When an SEO writer is hired to produce content the objective is to cause a blog or website to increase it's visibility on the Web in search engine results pages (SERPS). It can be part of a whole campaign offered to a client or the work of an individual or freelance writer.

    An intense technical back-end knowledge of blogs or websites are not necessary for an SEO writer but it can't hurt to know as much as possible about it.

    Primarily, whether involved in a campaign or working individually with a client, they are not expected to cause an action resulting in sales.

    Their job is to improve the position of a website or blog in search engine results pages, as well as its attractiveness with search engines. The result being more targeted traffic. The best scenario being the first page, in the number one position. This is not always possible because of a number of other factors that come into play. An optimal result can also be a great improvement over where the client may be currently positioned on the Web.

    In both fields, keywords are one of the important tools used skillfully to write content and command the attention of search crawlers or bots scanning content to index within search engines. They may also offer analysis based on the overall look, design and flow of a website or blog and offer advice of how to improve a site to attract more targeted traffic, but it is not required.

    A copywriter must produce an action that results in sales, while the SEO writer must cause an action that results in the best possible position on search engine results that can be attained. Other factors could impede or assist in attaining that goal.

    Not all websites and blogs have a core purpose involving products or services. They may desire targeted traffic for equally important reasons other than monetary profits. SEO content is about attaining the best optimal position on the Web, to attract targeted traffic for a wide array of goals suited to an individual's online mission.

    It is not unusual to find both fields over lapping and that can be an asset for a client if a writer has both skills. Additionally, it could cut budget costs which is always good news for the client.

    On the other hand, knowing the difference between the two is necessary given the fair chance that a writer may be excellent in one field but not the other. A Client should hire a writer according to their need of either Copy: Increased sales and a growing subscriber database or, SEO: an optimal position on Search Engine Results Pages to attract targeted traffic.

    Vanessa D. Alexander writes, edits and publishes the daily blog column 52 Signals, exploring the signals and noise of organic search, optimization, traffic, tools and bits of other stuff in user simple terms. http://52signals.blogspot.com

    Creating A Habit

    Friday, July 17, 2009

    Omnibus of Science Fiction

    Forty-some years ago my uncle gave me a science fiction anthology, a thick red hardback that I read from cover to cover. It inspired a life long love of the genre. The stories in that book made me think outside the box. They filled me with awe for the imagination it took to write them and sometimes they scared the hell out of me. That book remained in my collection for many years. At some point it disappeared, but not from my memory. Recently I had a desire to read it again and thanks to Alibris.com I was able to purchase a used copy.

    The title is OMNIBUS OF SCIENCE FICTION, edited by Groff Conklin, a well-known and prolific editor of the genre. It was published in 1952, the Golden Age of Science Fiction. It's a hefty tome, 562 pages, with 43 stories divided into sections relating to a common theme. Some stories are fun, some are thought-provoking and some are adventurous. I love them all.

    Part I. Wonders of Earth and of Man

    Katherine MacLean's "And be Merry" originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction in February, 1950. When her husband takes off on an archeology trip, a biologist does rejuvenation experiments on herself. Believing she'll be immortal if she can avoid accidental death, she becomes afraid to live. Her husband realizes he must convince her she's dying in order to get her to live again, and he tells her she has a slow growing tumor that is inoperable.

    Other stories in this section are:

    "John Thomas's Cube" by John Leimert

    "Hyperpilosity" by L. Sprague de Camp

    "The Thing in the Woods" by Fletcher Pratt & B.F. Ruby

    "The Bees from Borneo" by Will H. Gray

    "The Rag Thing" by David Grinnell

    "The Conqueror" by Mark Clifton

    Part II. Inventions, Dangerous and Otherwise

    The intriguing short story, "A Subway Named Mobius," by A.J. Deutsch was published in Astounding Science Fiction in December, 1950. The Boston Subway Authority builds an addition to the subway system and a train disappears with three hundred passengers. The closed system became so interconnected and complex that it turned into a Mobius strip, that continuous loop with one side made famous by M.C. Escher.

    Other stories in this section are:

    "Never Underestimate ..." by Theodore Sturgeon

    "The Doorbell" by David H. Keller

    "Backfire" by Ross Rocklynne

    "The Box" by James Blish

    "Zeritsky's Law" by Ann Griffith

    "The Fourth Dynasty" by R.R. Winterbotham

    Part III. From Outer Space

    In "The Colour Out of Space" By H.P. Lovecraft a surveyor discovers an abandoned farm with an old well at the center. The land is devoid of life and he inquires about the name - the blasted heath. An old hermit tells him the story. In the 1880's the farm was productive until a meteorite of indescribable color crashed beside the well. After hearing the terrifying circumstances that befell the farmer and his family the surveyor ends by saying he won't be coming back and wouldn't recommend drinking the water.

    Other stories in this section are:

    "The Head Hunters" by Ralph Williams

    "The Star Dummy" by Anthony Boucher

    "Catch That Martian" by Damon Knight

    "Shipshape Home" by Richard Matheson

    "Homo Sol" by Isaac Asimov

    Part IV. Far Traveling

    "Kaleidoscope" by Ray Bradbury is a heart-breaking tale of astronauts drifting through space after their ship is destroyed. They have contact with each other but no hope of being rescued. One man laments the fact he has accomplished nothing worthwhile but as his life ends he becomes a shooting star visible to a child on earth.

    Other stories in this section are:

    "Alexander the Bait" by William Tenn

    "Nothing Happens on the Moon" by Paul Ernst

    "Trigger Tide" by Wyman Guin

    "Plague" by Murray Leinster

    "Winner Lose All" by Jack Vance

    "Test Piece" by Eric Frank Russell

    "Environment" by Chester S. Geier

    Part V. Adventures in Dimension

    "Spectator Sport" by John D. MacDonald was first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories in February 1950. A man travels into the future and discovers nothing much has changed. Shortly after he left someone invented virtual reality and the entire population is permanently wired into it.

    Other stories in this section are:

    "High Threshold" by Alan E. Nourse

    "Recruiting Station" by A.E. van Vogt

    "A Stone and a Spear" by Raymond F. Jones

    "What You Need" by Lewis Padgett

    "The Choice" by W. Hilton-Young

    Part VI. Worlds of Tomorrow

    "History Lesson" by Arthur C. Clarke was first published in 1949. In the future a final ice age looms. A tribe of nomadic humans travels toward the equator but gets caught between two advancing glaciers. They hide a few 21st century relics in a cairn. Five thousand years later Venusian reptiles travel to Earth and recover the relics. They try to learn about life on the Third Planet - by analyzing a cartoon film reel

    Other stories in this section are:

    "The War Against the Moon" by Andre Maurois

    "Pleasant Dreams" by Ralph Robin

    "Manners of the Age" by H.B. Fyfe

    "The Weapon" by Fredric Brown

    "The Scarlet Plague" by Jack London

    "Heritage" by Robert Abernathy

    "Instinct" by Lester del Rey

    "Counter Charm" by Peter Phillips

    Omnibus Of Science Fiction

    Groff Conklin

    Publisher: Crown Publishers 1952

    Pages: 562

    ASIN: B000NZ56FQ

    Gail Pruszkowski reviews for "Romantic Times BOOKreviews" magazine and her work has been published in the "Cup of Comfort" Anthologies

    http://mysite.verizon.net/bookworm.gp/
    http://write-juncture.blogspot.com/

    Starting With Simple Things

    Make Steady Money As a Travel Writer by Jack Adler

    How to Find Your Niche as a Travel Writer

    Jack Adler, professional travel writer and columnist has now published key secrets as a travel writer in the book "Make Steady Money as a Travel Writer." The book is packed with suggestion for articles, marketing tips, and key steps on improving your writing skills or putting a new edge of excitement in your articles.

    Adler talks about the changing world of travel writing. He shows the reader how to discover marketable topics, with suggestion for hundreds of themes. He discusses marketing, the value of entering contests, as well as how to organize travel writing as a business and important IRS issues.

    There are dozens of sample articles included from the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Sun Times, and several popular magazines. These samples demonstrate how to organize an article and how to develop your own personal writing style.

    I personally found the chapters on initiating a travel column practical and motivating. The tips on setting up and conducting an interview were also helpful to me. Another special interest was the additional insight I received on queries and how to determine a special niche within the vast possibilities of travel writing.

    A comprehensive resource list includes: Tourist offices, trade and travel associations, government service agencies, and a listing of other valuable websites for further exploration and research. A travel terminology glossary and an editorial glossary are extras that add to the importance of the book as a resource guide for future repeated reference.

    Jack Adler writes with authority and clarity. "Make Steady Money as a Travel Writer" is a must for every travel writer's library.

    Robert D. Reed Publishers, 978-1934759226

    As Reviewed for Midwest Book Review

    Richard R. Blake, Christian Education Consultant, Book Store Owner

    Finding Something You Don

    Writing Using What is Around Us - Finding Inspiration

    Go on a scavenger hunt through a favorite book. Look for outstanding adjectives, sentences that grabbed your attention and for physical descriptions that were especially good. See what the structure of the story was and what kept you reading the chapters through to the end. Look for the events that inspired you as you read.

    This information is excellent to gather so you can begin to use it as a guide to help you improve your own writing skill. See if you can take an idea and write a story using the new approach. Your characters may seem more real to you and the content more appealing to your reader when you enhance your story lines with inspirational events.

    Adding richness to your overall story is so important to keep your reader interested in following the story to the end. I enjoy stories that are inspirational and most other people do also. They are all around us in the stories of the friends, family and people we meet at the grocery store, mall and in other actives in our lives.

    It is like a treasure hunt when you find things in your favorite books and are aware enough to notice the treasures in the people you meet. They can be used in whole or in part as you develop your characters and begin to see your story unfold, perhaps in a new way.

    You feel less pressure to produce a story if you can start with an idea and allow it to help you jump start the current story line you are working with at the moment. Allow your reader to go on a scavenger hunt and find the treasure in what you have written. It can make learning how to improve your writing more fun and you also get to discover the treasures you have in yourself as you share with the others around you.

    And now I invite you to join me for a series of writing exercises to help you discover your areas of interest in writing as well as increasing your creativity. You may access these exercises by visiting http://www.freecreativewritingstrategies.com.

    You also may enjoy visiting my blog at http://www.creativewritingmadeeasy.com

    Creating A Habit