Feb

24

Creative Writing Tips

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If you’re a writer, you’ve stared at a blank computer screen, or paper for what seemed to be hours, contemplating the first sentence. It seems like the most difficult task to do, especially when it comes to the creativity of your own imagination. What’s needed, more than anything, when doing the first draft of your manuscript? Inspiration. Constant inspiration will keep the creative flow churning throughout the creative writing process.

There are many ways to pump up your creative writing momentum, and plunk out, at least, the first chapter with confidence that the rest will be easy as riding a bike; it may be hard to do at first, by once you learn, you never forget.

Have Fun

Yes, the first thing you should do is begin to have fun. Make sure that you enjoy yourself throughout the writing process. The beautiful thing about a writer is they can be inspired by just about anything. The children playing on a sunny Sunday morning at the park or the bus-load of people on the bus cruising down a street can inspire a writer to create dazzling characters, and realistic, yet effective storylines. Here are a few ideas to have fun:

Spend Time with Friends-

Have a great time with the people you care most about. Often times, writers are inspired by the people who are around them. The people that they love. Many famous characters from books and movies were inspired by a combination of different people from the writer’s life. It’s no wonder the saying, “Art imitates life,” rings so true. Make a commitment to have dinner with friends, or maybe simply watch a movie with your closest pals. Study the atmosphere, the voices, the mood, and record it in your mind. This, fellow writer, is the act of researching.

Spend Time Reading-

What else, but reading sparked your appetite to craft wondrous prose with a pen? Naturally, it would be a great idea to pick up a book and begin to read it. Devour it, and enjoy it at face value. Then, read the book again, this time paying attention to as many details in the plot, character development, story structure, and pacing. This will give you a zest for the art, and help you to study what the professionals are currently doing.

Spend Time Watching Movies-

Movies would not exist without the seed of a brilliant writer drafting an excellent script. Every department within the film’s production reads the script in order to get an idea of what the story is, what the atmosphere seems like, and who the characters are. Notice the pacing of the movie as well. Though the original script is altered by editing, the pacing is still enhanced. Try to imagine how your book would appear as a movie on screen. You must become the director and writer of your creative writing fiction manuscript and set a tone and vision for the story you wish to tell.

What Story will you tell?

Now it’s time for you to decide what story you want to tell. Writers get their inspiration from many different sources, such as newspapers, movies, and even events in their personal lives. Whatever story it is, it must have a beginning, middle, and an end. No story in history was ever completed, or can even be considered a story, without those three key elements. Once you know the story that you wish to tell, you can go on to creating the heroes and villains that will inhabit the story and your made-up world.

The Heroes and Villains

Every good story has a good guy and a bad guy. In some stories, the villain, or bad guy, is represented not by human beings, but by animals, personal objects, and even spirits. Your heroes have to have an obstacles on the way that blocks them from reaching their desired goals. Your readers want to follow someone that they like and can relate to, as they travel on a journey. The journey could be anywhere, and it could involve anything. For example, read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings book, and pay attention to the many wonderful adventures he takes his characters on. We could even look at a book such as The Devil Wears Prada, by Lauren Weisberger, the main character is sent on a wild rush of a ride by the boss from hell. Flush out your good guys and your bad guys to help you create a great story.

Write from the Heart

Now that you’ve been reading, watching movies, talking with friends, and birthing heroes and villains, you can approach the blank page with zest and confidence. You’ve gotten past the hardest part, coming up with an idea and placing it on paper. You can do it. Simply begin to type and forget about the rules. Throw out the questions of whether you’re writing perfect or not, and write the damn thing. Let your characters speak, express themselves, and interact with their environment. The story will begin to unfold, if you have a nice grasp on who your characters are, and what they want. Of course, your hero, or protagonist wants something, and conversely, your antagonist, the villain, always wants something as well. The drama, plot, and story begin to take place, all from this humble beginning in inspiring your creative writing.

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Feb

17

Which Are The Best Article Directories?

Filed Under Writing and Speaking | Leave a Comment

There are an ever increasing number of article directories springing up, attemting to take advantage of the popularity that has become of writing articles as a form of web promotion and have in the past even used a manual article submission service. What people can be unsure of however, is which of these sites to post their article to. In this article I write about the article directories which I use.

EzineArticles

The first directory that I ever posted an article to was the ever popular ezinearticles. It seems so long ago now, where in truth it was probably only around ten months ago. This directory was recommended to me by a friend who is a jobs in foster care expert and he also offers Voucher Codes. In my opinion is certainly one of the best. Each article is reviewed before being accepted, this is not true of many of the other directories, especially the newer sites.

When you search for the title of your article a few days after it has been accepted in for example the search engine google, you are normally able to see it highly placed in the results. One of the first articles I submitted was called stuttering and its effects, this article is still placed in the top ten of google after many months.

If you are only planning on submitting your article to one directory this is the one I would advise that you use.

Goarticles

Many people, including a business contact who writes articles about obtaining cheap calls, have told me that they prefer to use goarticles when looking for an article to add to their site. For this reason alone, I always ensure that I submit my article to this directory.

Articlealley

One of the main things that impresses me about article alley is the fact that they also publish your articles on a couple of their other websites. What is more you do not even have to do any additional work. Additional exposure is always good.

Articledasboard

I been reading on some of the SEO forums that this particular directory could be the next “big thing”; I will keep my eye on its progress. The site has a page rank of six which is always a good sign.

Ideamarketers

This directory is my fifth choice in order of merit and has many interesting articles.

It is hard to know how many of these directories people should be submitting their article to. I have been given lots of different advice on this subject and have decided to come up with my own conclusion. I personally normally submit my articles to around twenty of these sites but always the five above.

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