Short Story Writing: Don’t Waste Your Words on Wasted Words!
The short story market often demands tight word counts from the writer. Here are some tips on how to keep that word count under control!
Short stories written specifically for inclusion in weekly or monthly magazines are a lucrative source of income for any writer. The pay rate per word is often high and the returns are good for the length of time devoted to any one story.
Yet this market has its own disciplines and one cardinal rule that aspiring writers must obey is the word count. This is the required number of words demanded by magazine editors for any story submitted and, whilst there may be some leeway, it generally isn’t great. For ‘five minute fiction’ type stories it may be as little as fifty words.
This discipline is often found by new writers to be one of the hardest to master. They write a story - and it may be a very good story - then find it is two or three hundred words ‘heavy’. I’ve done this myself many times when I started writing fiction and articles. It can be very disheartening to complete a story, sit back in satisfaction and hit the word count button only to see it ring up several hundred words ‘over the limit.’
How, I asked myself at the time, can I possibly reduce my story by that sort of length? Let’s face it, a ‘five minute fiction’ type story may only have a word length requirement of 1,000 words - to try and cut 1,300 down to 1,000 seemed to me, at that time in my writing career, a stark impossibility. How to do it?
That’s when I began to learn about things like wasted words. Although in this article I certainly don’t have space to discuss every aspect of this subject, at least I can list some of the worst culprits that new writers seem to use time and time again - like I did!
Many words and phrases rarely add anything to a sentence. Avoid these whenever you can. A very short list of some of these offenders:
Quite, very, extremely, as it were, moreover, it can be seen that, it has been indicated that, basically, essentially, totally, completely, therefore, it should be remembered that, it should be noted that, thus, it is imperative that, at the present moment in time.
These are fine in their place, but they often find their way into your writing with the sinister purpose of tempting you into the sin of padding your sentences.
I am convinced that the habit of padding sentences has at its root academic and, in particular, bureaucratic writing. Never have I seen one of these types of prose without the most outlandish and rambling sentences included - you probably know the sort of thing I mean. Such horrors as ‘It should continuously be remembered that’ and ‘Morover and not withstanding anything to the contrary, it has been previously indicated’ abound.
Since such letters are read by people in our ever-freer reading society, the tendency is to think that they are not only correct but also desirable within any sort of writing. Rubbish. Unless for effect, they should be excluded. Short stories are lean and fit, not bloated and slow.
S0 - how to ‘lean-off’ your story? Firstly check for any of the phrases above in the ‘list of offenders’. Strike them out. Next read through your story and ruthlessly delete any and every word that you can whilst still preserving grammatical sense. I guarantee that you’ll be amazed at the number that go.
Check in particular for adverbs and adjectives. I’m talking about sentences like ‘How would I know?’ he asked angrily. Much better is ‘How the hell should I know?’ The second sentence (without the adverb) implies anger in its use or words and is much stronger anyway - and shorter. In the same vein, ‘a very light wind’ should be ‘a breeze’. Not only are you saving wordage by adopting this correcting tactic, you are strengthening your writing.
When you have finished these tasks read your story again. If my own experience is anything to go by, not only will you have dumped those excess words to bring your story into its wordage ‘window’ but also you will almost find that it reads a lot better. Congratulations - you have just mastered a basic facet of self-editing!
In conclusion, just remember these few points:
The adjective is the enemy of the noun. (choose a stronger noun instead of using an adjective.)
The adverb is enemy of the verb. (Try to convey meaning via word usage instead of using an adverb.)
Do not use any of the list of ‘wasted words’ above.
Never use a long word, or two words, when a single short word fits the bill.
Keep these four points in mind and watch your short story writing improve!
Steve Dempster writes fiction and informative articles for the web. Learn more about how to kickstart your writing career at http://www.howtobeawriter.co.uk
Fiction Writing: 3 Crucial Points For Your Main Character
The main or lead character in any story is a lynchpin and has very definite qualities. Miss one of these and your story may well grind to a halt! This article takes a look at three crucial aspects of the main character.
The main character in any work of fiction is the one around which the entire story revolves. He or she must possess certain values or abilities if your story is to work, yet many aspiring writers miss one or more of these vital points and become frustrated when their story fails to work as it should. Let’s look at these three key ingredients to our main character:
1. The main character is the one who suffers most as a result of your story’s events.
2. The main character is the one who has the power to change things within the story.
3. The main character is the one with the freedom to change things if they so wish.
In more detail:
1. Let’s say that your main character, Jake, suffers most in your story. He has the freedom of choice to change this suffering but not the power to make it happen. Pretty soon your readers are going to realise that Jake is inept and weak, can’t change a thing and that he must, in the end, surely fail.
2. If on the other hand Jake is the one who suffers most and possesses the power to make it stop but lacks the freedom to do this, the story will fall flat on its face because Jake cannot act and the plot can go nowhere.
3. Finally, if Jake has both power to change things within the story and the freedom to do so but isn’t in jeopardy or doesn’t suffer, the story will lack any form of tension. Jake will also lack any real motive to make any changes you have him perform as he isn’t under any threat or duress. In this scenario the reader is left wondering why Jake has to do anything at all and usually gets bored pretty quickly!
What does this tell us as writers? Answer: that the main character must have a truly proactive role within your story - or he simply cannot be the main character! However, does this make the main character the protagonist? Usually the answer is yes, provided that the main character also acts in a proactive manner.
The protagonist must make things happen. If in your story you merely let the main character react to what his adversary, ‘the opposition’ (the bad guy) is doing, you risk the bad guy becoming the protagonist and your main character slipping into what is essentially a secondary role. This is a danger if the bad guy is particularly charismatic or has very powerful dominating character traits.
The danger here is that the bad guy becomes the lead character, an ‘anti-hero’. This is a very, very difficult line to follow and I would not advise beginners to go down this route. The anti-hero can work if handled expertly - think of Paul Kersey in ‘Death Wish’ or Lestat in ‘The Vampire Chronicles’. Both are anti-heroes but both work due to the expertise of the author. If you have any doubt as to your abilities to pull this off, stick to a good guy hero!
Therefore the main character must seek his story goal, overcoming the bad guy who seeks to thwart this. He must call the shots as to what happens in the story, driving it by being proactive. Incidentally, the bad guy isn’t there just to cause your hero trouble - he has to have his own goal that, to him, is just as valid as the one your lead character has or he risks becoming a ‘cardboard cut-out’ villain whose only role within the story is to give your hero trouble.
This set-up, with main character as the good guy and also acting as the protagonist, is the most popular in fiction simply because it works so well. All other types of main character require a much greater effort to make them work well (if at all) and so seldom work effectively unless handled by a very skilled writer.
In conclusion: for beginners, choose the easiest set-up for your main character as descried above. Learn to do the simple things well - after all, a straightforward plot with good, strong and conventional characters will for a beginner ultimately produce a better finished work than trying to manipulate character types and work with a difficult, laborious storyline. Keep it simple and write it well!
Steve Dempster writes fiction and informative articles for the web. Learn more about how to kickstart your writing career at http://www.howtobeawriter.co.uk
Writing Fiction from Experiences
Life is a book. No saying can hold more truth than that one short quote. Life is indeed a book waiting to be written. Ideas for the best novels and stories often come from the authors past experiences, what they observe, or what they hear from people around them. Stories often start with an idea that gets stuck in your brain after hearing or seeing something of interest to you and expanding it with other ideas you might have stored in your memory. These ideas may also be figments of your imagination, stemming from dreams, hopes, ambitions, and the what-ifs we tend to ask ourselves every now and then.
Experiencing life is one great story in itself, but having the tenacity to mix it up and write it down takes some skill, some hard work, and a lot of creativity. To come up with a story that is both coherent and interesting, one has to be a bit of a dreamer with an eye for detail and a strong sense of reality. Writing from past experiences also lends some reality to your work of fiction since it is based on different events in different peoples lives or even just one life in particular. Emotions can be expressed accurately enough, depending on how you felt when such an event happened or how you would have felt if that happened to you.
Although some research also needs to be done to give a story some backbone, this may sometimes depend on the storys setting, character orientation, and the places where the events take place. Oftentimes, locations for fictional stories are replicas of real-life locations, mixed and matched with other real places and venues, then renamed. People in the stories can be derived from people you meet in real life, people you admire, people you abhor, or even people you come across once or twice in your entire lifetime.
Writing from experiences can reflect past hurts and disappointments as well as hidden fantasies and dreams. It is, in effect, like putting down your heart and soul on paper. It is a writers legacy to share with his reader part of who he is by writing from the heart, for in doing so, the story becomes more real and more captivating due to the realism that people can relate to. Falling in love, falling out of love, falling from your bike, falling from a tree all these events can be used to a certain extent in writing, with modifications to who, what, when, and where to suit the needs of the story being penned.
Digging through past experiences to use as elements for your story can sometimes be dangerous. While rewriting these into a fictional story, some of the real events tend to blur into the one being written, which can then warp your own memories of what really happened to you and what is just an elaboration or an add-on to the scene in the tale. Taking care to differentiate one from the other can be somewhat tricky and is a skill that any author has to learn.
Characters in fictional stories, when based on real people you are close to or even people youve only seen from afar, come to life easily if you can picture them in your head. Descriptions come to you in a flash since their picture or image is embedded in your memory. Their personality may or may not be based on the model and could be derived from another person altogether. The main point of writing from experience being mixing and matching events, people, places, and imagination to come up with a story that isnt exactly pure fiction in feel, but fiction in the coming together.
Talkinmince article directory submission, to find more articles and resources on Writing Fiction from Experiences go to http://www.talkinmince.com and our blog http://www.talkinmince.com/tmblog/ for more information.
Is There A Book In You? Ten Points That Will Help You Decide
The desire to have a book with your name on the cover seems universal - yet how many would-be writers really know if they have what it takes to succeed? Here are ten points that every beginner should consider.
Writing a book - and getting it published - is an ambition that is not hard to understand. Breaking into the ranks of published writers means that others, experts in the business, have decided that your talent is worth investing in. A book is a permanent thing: years from now you can take it down off a shelf and say ‘I did that’. It’s a solid, lasting achievement.
So, with this goal in mind, why is it that some writers get into print and others never make it? Of course you need to be able to write but it’s not always the ‘best writers’ that get published - sometimes it is those who have the greatest determination to get into print, or who are most businesslike in their approach to publishers.
So some qualities (other than writing ability) are obviously desirable; below are ten that every writer should possess. Read through them carefully and be honest with yourself. If you know (and you will know, deep inside) that on some points you are weak, work to strengthen that aspect of your writer’s persona. If nothing else, this will ensure that you are more capable as a person and the writer in you will grow also. The first point is, perhaps, the most crucial:
1. Determination. Let me be brutally frank. If you lack this quality you will simply not make it as a published writer. Remember that there are scores of people out there who are competing against you to get their own book published. Also, writing - especially novel writing - is hard and takes lots of time; most writers don’t earn much money and there will be plenty of people telling you to give up as it isn’t worth the effort. You must grit your teeth, tighten your belt and keep your nose to the grindstone. Nothing should matter to you more than getting your work published. Nothing! This is an absolutely core attribute for any writer - if it does not come naturally to you then work at it: take life coaching classes, read positive mental attitude books - anything to help your determination to succeed become an intrinsic part of you.
2. Support. This comes in various guises and means different things to different writers, yet the most important support is financial. Again it’s a stark truth: if you have a partner willing to bankroll you during the first hard years you are far more likely to get there than if you have the additional worry of wondering how you’re going to pay the rent. Perhaps the second most valuable support is that of being appreciated. If you have someone who knows how hard you work - and shows it - the difference can be crucial. They help through the blank, dark periods that all writers suffer, when self-belief can ebb away like wine from a cracked jug. On a more general level, some writers thrive in a chaotic environment, others need tea and sympathy. Whatever form it takes, you need support: never refuse it and let people know how important it is to you.
3. Presentation. Here I’m not talking about your work; I’m talking about you, the writer. Always, always think of yourself as a writer. Take lessons in self-assertiveness if you feel the need. It’s part of the self-belief system that you must instil within your character so that, when you sit face to face with your first publisher, they think of you as a professional, not a nervous amateur.
4. Knowledge of your market. Most writers are avid readers and publishers will expect you to have your finger on the pulse of your chosen genre - who’s hot right now? Whom do you consider the best in the field? Who’s beginning to fade? Ask yourself this: do you really expect to be taken seriously as a writer if you have little or no knowledge of other published writers in your field?
5. Rejection. Every writer suffers this - the dreaded ‘pink slip’ dropping through the door. For the aspiring writer this can be a very bitter pill to swallow yet you must learn to accept it. It’s not personal and it does not mean you cannot write. What it does mean is that this piece or work is either not right for this publisher or that you have sent it to the wrong one altogether. It can also mean that the publisher already has a full ‘book’ of this kind of work. So assess your manuscript, improve it if you can, make sure it’s the best it can possibly be - then take a deep breath and send it to the next suitable publisher. Never give up!
6. Habit. The habit of writing, that is. It’s very easy to start writing and then, a few days later, get side-tracked into something else, or your great-aunt Ethel calls round, or there’s a good movie on the television. You can always write later, can’t you? No. There lies the road to ruin as a writer. So prioritise your writing, write at certain set times that you let be known to all during which you can’t be disturbed. Get into this routine, stick to it mercilessly and it will soon become - habit. Surprisingly, it will to others also and they will then know that you are indeed serious about ‘this writing business’.
7. Subjects. Ideas for a book don’t often spring into your mind in one fell swoop. I have mentioned in another article the importance of your notebook and getting into the habit of always having it with you. Write things down that interest you - maybe an overheard conversation on a train, or an advertisment that strikes you as odd or interesting. Newspaper headlines sometimes offer headlines that are downright bizarre and an idea might spring from that. Try writing about someone you know well or admire - if you like a character yourself, chances are your readers will too! Use your notebook; never let it out of your sight. It’s your data mine for future work.
8. Creativity. Whilst it is true that a certain amount of imagination aids creativity, intelligent thinking also plays a significant part. The ability to present an old theme in a new way requires the creative spark to burst into flame, yet not everyone has the imagination of a Robert Heinlein or a J. K. Rowling. If you find imagination lacking then try thinking about how a situation can be presented differently - perhaps there never was a truer home for the old saying that ‘there’s more than one way to skin a cat’! How you put your ideas forward in your writing is entirely up to you but this is a vital part of your writer’s skillset - putting your work across in the way that is of most interest to your reader.
9. Targeting. If you write what people want to read, you’re halfway to getting your work published. It’s essential, however, that your would-be publisher understands from the outset where your work lies in relation to others within the same field. Tell him that if people like reading writer ‘A’ that he has published, you reckon he’ll like your work as ‘A’ has influenced you and your work exhibits style and content traits similar to ‘A’s’ best work. Maybe your book is a sci-fi work that has more than an echo of a popular TV series - make sure the publisher knows the viewing figures. Don’t ever be scared of presenting your case - it’s all part of getting into print.
10. Publishing. Try to realise that publishing is a business. Editors are responsible to their bosses for making money on the books they accept for publishing, not to make you feel good about writing a book. Study the publishers - what kind of books are they printing? Are they right for you? Are you right for them? The more you know about how a publisher might view your work, the greater are your chances of success.
Some may find these ten points a bit ‘uncomfortable’. Yet if you really serious - and I do mean really serious - about making a career from writing, or just getting that first elusive published piece under your belt, they should be the core of your attitude towards what you are doing as a writer, besides the physical act of putting words on paper. I wish you all success in your efforts - but in the end it is you alone who must make the effort in order to be a writing success!
Steve Dempster writes fiction and informative articles for the web. Learn more about how to kickstart your writing career at http://www.howtobeawriter.co.uk
Fiction Writing: Why You Should Get A Good Agent
To get an agent or not? This decision is a crucial one in your writing career so in this article we’ll examine some of the ‘fors’ and ‘againsts’ of agents for fiction writers.
There is no doubt that getting a good agent can have a significant impact on your literary career. There is also no doubt that a bad agent can have an impact too - but not the kind you want. Any agent that you may contact must feel ‘right’ for you in the first place or the chances are good that the relationship will at best be strained and at worst be useless to you. To help you decide, we’ll examine what a good agent should do for you - and what you shouldn’t expect them to do for you.
A good agent should keep you in front of the right kind of editor for your kind of writing. They should be able to negotiate the best possible deal for you, the writer, and ensure that the business side of things runs as smoothly as possible. This allows the writer to get on with what they should be doing - writing. The agent should also be able to oversee your book as it goes through the publication process, then keep an eye on such things as foreign right, radio rights, TV rights and the writer’s holy grail - film rights.
A good agent has a distinct advantage over a writer in that they have - or should have - far more contacts within the publishing industry. This allows them to ‘think outside the box’ of your existing publisher - who may only have negotiated or wanted limited rights - and approach other members of the publishing world to offer them the remainder as mentioned above.
The role of agents has expanded over recent years, partly due to the fact that editors inside publishing houses tend to change around far more frequently than in years gone by. The activities of many agents now include those of business partner, concept editor and trusted friend, who helps the writer’s career forward over the years by being an active part of it.
On the other side of the coin, there are some things that a writer shouldn’t expect an agent to do: in fact any expectation from the writer in the following list may well strain the relationship to breaking point. Agents therefore shouldn’t be expected to:
Sell bad or unsaleable work
Lend the writer money or give him or her ‘advances’
Be a legal representative for the writer
Be a secretary or ‘gopher’
Become involved in the writer’s personal life and problems
Be at the writer’s constant beck and call - especially outside office hours
Teach the writer how to write
Be the writer’s private taxicab driver
Arrange publicity stunts or campaigns (that’s down to the writer and/or publisher)
As a writer, you should remember that, although your agent may well become your friend, the writer/agent relationship should always be regarded as a professional one. Keep this in mind when tempted to make it otherwise - unless by mutual agreement, of course.
A bad agent will not only not do any of the things mentioned above - they may well do very little or nothing at all to get you into print. It may be that they simply don’t possess the contacts or the skill required to persuade a publisher that you’re the Next Big Thing. It may be that they are inherently lazy or habitually do just enough to keep you hanging on - though goodness knows why as it earns them nothing.
Finally, it may be that the personalities of the agent and writer just simply clash. A very businesslike writer may not get on too well with an agent who has a laid-back approach to their work, or vice versa. Although it may well be difficult for an unpublished writer to get an agent at all, it’s no good signing up with someone you cannot ‘get on with’. The temptation may well be great to grab any offer of having an agent with both hands but beware - it could turn out to be a case of ‘marry in haste, repent at leisure’ - something any writer can seriously do without.
So, before approaching agents, ask yourself this question - is this agent the one for me? Do they handle my kind of work? What reputation do they enjoy? Will I be able to work with them? And - do they ‘feel’ right? Getting an agent is an important business and career step for any writer to take, so don’t take it lightly.
There’s a myth in writing circles that you can’t get published without an agent - and that you can’t get an agent without being published. True, getting an agent may be no easy task - there are many aspiring writers out there vying for agency status and notice. However, if your work is good and your approach professional and businesslike, any writer can get an agent - although it may well take a whole mountain of persistence and self-belief.
Ask people you know who have links into publishing - no matter how tenuous - if they know any agents. Ask members of your writing group. Ask bookshop owners, publishers’ salespeople, librarians. Someone, somewhere will know an agent, or someone who knows one. Then, if the agent fits with what you want from them, approach them with your reference - you’ll be a lot closer to having the agent read your work than another writer who has gone in ‘cold’.
In conclusion, the decision to get an agent is one only the individual writer can make. Just remember that writing is one task, publication another. A writer’s job is frequently hard enough as it is without the added pressure of dealing with a publisher. A good agent bridges the gap between the creative and commercial process and should, in my opinion, be regarded as an invaluable asset to any writer wishing to make a career for themselves.
Steve Dempster writes fiction and informative articles for the web. Learn more about how to kickstart your writing career at http://www.howtobeawriter.co.uk
Why Write A Novel? Here Are Three Good Reasons Not To!
For many aspiring writers, the novel is the chosen path to publication. Yet with so few achieving this goal, why not consider some other pathways to success? This article lists three reasons why not to write a novel and gives some alternatives!
1. Novels take a long time to write.
On average, a novelist will spend a year on researching and writing their novel. Don’t forget that this is full-time work too! Any novel is a major undertaking in writing terms and for a new writer it can be a monumental undertaking. So here are a few alternatives for you:
Fillers: Plenty of magazines accept short (100-200 word) fillers that can be slotted in to fill a blank space on the page and, considering their length, are very well-paid. Don’t dismiss them as being ‘not writing’ - they are, believe me.
Feature Articles: These range from what you did on holiday to your favourite meal to how your dog means so much to you. Again, payment is generally good considering word length.
Short Stories: I’ve mentioned these so many times before but I make no apology for including them here. If you can crack the magazine short story market you may never feel the need to write a novel! It’s a lucrative and respected market full of ‘real writers’ - some of whom have also never written a novel and probably never will!
2. Novels face tough competition to get published.
This is very true. The reason? Simple - every aspiring writer, it seems, wants to write a novel. Many see it as the way to fame and fortune. Others regard the novel as ‘real’ writing and anything is is just playing at it. However, here again are a couple of real alternatives:
Factual Books: If you have in-depth knowledge and experience of a subject, a factual book may well be your way into print. It could be a book on your time in the armed services. Maybe you have for years been a keen gardener and want to share your knowledge, or perhaps you would like to write your biography. Factual books are one field of writing that new writers seem to ignore - yet they are a much more likely route to publication than any but the very best first novel!
Ebooks: There’s a lot of uncertainty amongst new writers concerning ebooks and yet it’s one of the easiest ways of getting into print via the self-publishing route. There are many online magazines, fanzines, e-zines and so forth that are always on the look-out for new, fresh material. Just because your book isn’t printed on paper doesn’t mean to say it has no value (you’re reading this article, aren’t you?). In fact many writers have started their career by writing ebooks and then ‘graduating’ to the print-on-paper variety after they have established a ‘track record’.
Short Stories: Yes, I know I’ve already mentioned these but the competition to get your short story published, whilst still intense, is nowhere near the pressure that exists within the new novelist encampments. True, you have to be good to get short stories published. Consider, though: A short story maybe will take a few days to write - not a year. If it doesn’t get accepted - write another. Then another. Repeat until you get accepted (and you will if you’re persistent and a half-decent writer).
The point with short stories is just that - they’re short. It’s the difference between strolling down to the local park and hiking around the world. An added bonus is that, with every short story you write, you get that little bit better. It’s true, trust me. So any stories that don’t make it can be shelved and looked at again later - maybe six months. I guarantee that you will want to edit and re-write them into better form!
3. Novels are technically difficult.
Although this is not strictly true, it is easy to get lost within the pages of your novel. Why? Well, a novel is not only quite long (the shortest is about 60,000 words), it also has many more characters and, normally, a far more involved plot than a short story or novelette (a long short story, if you know what I mean). Novels must be planned by new writers or their chances of completion are limited. So whilst novels aren’t always technically difficult to write, they are much more complex than shorter works. Alternatives to the novel? As always I fall back on:
The Short Story. Though often seen as the springboard to novel writing, the short story is a writing form in its own right - not just a ‘mini-novel’. Far from it and, although it’s true that the disciplines learned by short story writing can be transferred (at least to some degree) to novel writing, the short story stands alone in its form and composition. Write a novel? Why, when you can do any of the above? And yet, were I to recommend one form for the new writer it would of course be the short story. Get into this particular market and you should never really look back as a writer!
Steve Dempster writes fiction and informative articles for the web. Learn more about how to kickstart your writing career at http://www.howtobeawriter.co.uk
Novel Writing - It’s All In The Preparation!
Despite all the competition, most new and aspiring authors want to write a novel. This article take s a quick look at some points to consider before you put pen to paper!
In the past I have written a good many articles extolling the virtues of writing that time-honoured writing form - the short story. Yet it seems that virtually everyone who has ever entertained the slightest yearning to be a writer wants to write a book - otherwise known as a novel.
Novel writing is for some writers the snow on the mountain’s peak, the highest point to which a writer can aspire or hope to reach. For others, it’s a challenge akin to crossing a desert without water - a long hard slog that can only be endured by using the utmost in grit and determination.
The truth about novel writing really lies somewhere between these two extremes. Fiction writers have written novels for years and years and, oddly enough, most seem to have survived the ordeal more or less unscathed.
Now why is this? One reads everywhere that it’s either (a) simple to write a fiction bestseller (which is of course nonsense) or (b) it’s so hard to get a novel published that only a certain bit of magic software can do it for you (again, total rot). The real way to write a novel that will (hopefully) ultimately sell and set the writer on the road to fame and fortune lies as much in attitude and know-how as it does in raw talent.
So what does this statement mean? Well, take a young boy who can run pretty fast. That’s his raw talent. Let’s say he’s pretty good at jumping low fences too. Take this boy and train him, shape his mental attitude and show him how to do things professionally and maybe, just maybe you then have an Olympic-level hurdler on your hands.
On the other hand, don’t show him anything, don’t tell him what to look out for or what not to do and chances are he’ll grow up into a man who can - you guessed it - run pretty fast and jump low fences . . .
Now I’m not suggesting that merely by training a writer in the realities of novel writing and by showing said writer the way forward that they’ll be the next John Grisham or Terry Pratchett. They may never be published at all. Yet by knowing the way to write a novel, how a writer’s life works and how to be a professional in outlook, that writer stands a much better chance of winning through than one who has just started the task with little or no preparation.
There’s an old saying that goes: forewarned is forearmed. If a budding writer is given the know-how that enables him or her to reliably and consistently write good fiction, especially if it’s for the right market and at the right time, then that writer is streets ahead of the pack. Being a writer isn’t just about putting a story down on paper. It’s as much about deciding on what your niche is going to be within the writing world, what books you want to write and how long it’s all going to take to get done.
The decision to write a novel is, therefore, a big one and not to be taken lightly. Make sure you have all the tools and know-how you need at your disposal before you start and there’s a much, much greater chance that you will finish that book - and get it published!
Steve Dempster writes articles for the web and works of fiction. If you would like to get the know-how a novelist needs, visit his site at http://www.howtobeawriter.co.uk/page11.html
The Game
Best-selling book The Game was written by writer and the (self-titled) greatest Pick-Up Artist in the world, Neil Strauss. The Game charts the author’s rise as he delved into the sub-community of Internet-based seducers and Lotharios facing up to his own fears and anxieties about interacting with women- even if only to ask directions on the street- to bedding adult film stars and Hollywood celebrities.
The Game featured the most prominent Pick-Up Artists and Seducers from across the globe and though not intended to be interpreted as a ‘how to’ guide to picking up women it still managed to capture acclaim by featuring on the New York Times best sellers list during September and October 2005 and was the best selling book on Amazon.com in a short space of time after its release. Others making guest appearances of note include socialite Paris Hilton and pop star Britney Spears- who Strauss actually claims to have exchanged telephone numbers with during an interview for then employers Rollingstone magazine.
Sub-plots and adjacent story lines are integral to The Game with the author chronicling his pursuit of a military-style sleep regime and overt references to pop culture such as the alignment of the plot to the film Fight Club- incidentally, a famous Pick-Up Artist takes the pseudonym Tyler Durden in an apparent homage to the film’s main character.
Publication of The Game was wrought with harsh criticism from many diverse interest groups. Members of the seduction community at the heart of the book became increasingly anxious that their sub-community would have the glare of the mainstream shone upon it highlighting their practices leaving them open to inspection by the very audience they wished to keep their activities hidden from. Some went so far as to suggest that Strauss’ intentions were geared towards and influenced by the financial rewards of the book’s publication as well as the opportunity to further his own writing career.
Criticism was also leveled from feminists who claimed that The Game was written with undertones of misogyny as the rating of the appearance of women using a scale of 1-10 to judge their value in the eyes of Pick-Up Artists objectified women. This was, however, countered by Neil Strauss who argued the claim that men were, in the same vein, ‘valued’ according to attractiveness by women using signals such as wealth and that rating a woman’s appearance was merely an attempt at verbalising an evolutionary process that men undertake when assessing the suitability of potential mates.
The Game led the way amongst established media in terms of projects such as documentaries concentrating on the seduction community, one such project aired on British Television called ‘Seduction School’ featured 2 commercial Pick-Up Artists from the United States and their attempts at turning around the lacklustre love lives of 3 Brits.
PUATraining.com is the only UK-based seduction company that teaches men how to approach and date the women they desire.
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The Quickest, Surest Path To Fiction Writing Success
There is a path to fiction writing success that is quick and sure, even obvious. It’s a path that’s simple to explain. In fact, I’m going to explain it in this short article. And when I’m finished, most of you who read this will nod and say to yourselves, “I knew that.” Then you’ll move on without giving it another thought. And you won’t do it.
And that will be a shame.
As with any profession, writing good fiction requires a learning curve. It begins with the very basics - the rules of proper grammar. From there, you’ll want to learn all the aspects of storytelling. These can include everything from setting to character development, from dialogue to plot, and more. And when you become comfortable in your knowledge of storytelling, you’ll want to learn about the business end of writing … how to build your career, working with agents, what all those contract clauses mean, etc. Learning will be a life-long journey.
But if you learn all of the above, inside and out, even become an expert at it, it won’t mean a thing toward writing successful fiction unless you do one more thing.
You know what it is, don’t you?
Yes.
You have to write, and you have to write everyday.
It doesn’t matter how knowledgeable or how talented you are. If you don’t write regularly you’ll never be successful. Having edited a newsletter, a small press magazine, and several anthologies, I can tell you from experience, it’s not the most talented writers who succeed. It’s the most persistent writers. The writers who work on their craft with a passion. Who pour their souls into their work.
And it’s not how much time you have, it’s the routine that matters. Writing success comes from placing your butt in the chair and putting words down on a piece of paper or your computer screen on a daily basis. It doesn’t matter if you only have fifteen minutes a day, as long as you fill that time writing.
The best way to do this is to make an appointment with yourself, set a specific time everyday that’s reserved for nothing but writing. It might be the first thing in the morning before the rest of the family wakes up. It might be during your lunch hour, or late at night after everyone else is in bed. It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s the same time everyday, and the only thing that happens is that you write.
By the way, researching isn’t writing. Plotting isn’t writing. Developing a character isn’t writing. Those are all important aspect of developing good stories, and they need to be done, but they are not writing. Don’t let them get in the way. It’s easy to get caught up in all the details of your story without ever actually putting a word on paper.
So there you have it.
The quickest, surest path to fiction writing success.
Write everyday.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it?
And you already knew it, didn’t you?
So now the question is this: what are you going to do about it?
David B. Silva is the author of numerous short stories and novels. Currently, he serves as the webmaster for The Successful Writer (http://thesuccessfulwriter.com), a website designed to provide information and resources for new and upcoming writers.
Three Key Points To Consider Before You Write That Book!
According to recent surveys, over 70% of people questioned said they would like to write a book. This article touches on three key points that just might help them - and you - do just that!
First key point: willpower. Although 70% of people questioned may well have said they would like to write a book, figures aren’t available for the number who actually did anything about it. It’s an unfortunate truth that wanting to do something and actually doing it are very often a long way apart from each other. Part of this problem lies in the fact that, for the vast majority of people, writing a book is something they have no idea how to start.
It’s all very well having a great idea for that blockbuster novel but turning that idea into a finished book is normally quite an undertaking. A writer must have the willpower to carry it through to a conclusion and even the strongest will can fail if the writer does not have a clear plan of what lies ahead.
Writing a book is a big task. Having your end in mind at all times enables you to focus on the task before you and, perhaps surprisingly, can bolster your willpower significantly.
Second key point: planning. There’s an old saying - ‘fail to plan, plan to fail’. Originally found in books on positive mental attitude back in the 1980’s, this sort of mantra-style catchphrase still has plenty of validity in all sorts of situations, not the least in writing a book.
A book - be it a novel or factual book - must be planned from the outset. It’s very tempting to start off willy-nilly, trusting to luck that all will be well and that, at the end of a writing frenzy, your magnum opus will be finished, polished and ready for the reading public. Maybe it will - if you have a truly massive slice of luck.
In reality, you will in all probability manage to get to about 10,000 words before running out of steam altogether. How do I know this? Easy - it comes from painful experience. The realisation that your story has fallen apart can come as a crushing blow - in fact, it can lead to your giving up on the idea of writing a book entirely. Don’t be caught out by lack of planning!
Third key point: Marketability. An awkward word for a possibly awkward concept - especially if you have never considered the fact that your book (when finished) must be a saleable product. I’m not for one minute trying to stifle the creative outpourings of any writer but, come to crunch-time, it has to be accepted that what you write has got to sell; if it is not saleable then, as a commercial proposition, you have failed in your endeavour.
Consider this: is the book you propose to write targeted at a specific audience? If not - why not? It has been said that writing for a target market stifles ‘the creative mind’. Well, I’m sorry but I do not agree. Emphatically. In my opinion, it is much easier to write a book on any subject you fancy than to write one that fits snugly into a market niche. The real task is writing for your reading public - after all, they are the ones who part with their hard-earned cash to read something they like to read!
To write a book that is marketable and will sell is very much part of a writer’s skill portfolio. The vast majority of published writers are those who, whilst creating entirely original and valid work, conform to very tight and targeted publishing guidelines within their chosen genre or book type. If you can master this skill you are, believe me, well on the way to being published.
So what can be learned from this brief article? In a nutshell, it can be realised that commercial creative writing is written for a target audience; that planning is all-important if you wish to finish what you have started and - not least by any means - iron willpower is a prime requisite for the committed novelist. Put these three together and this ‘writers triangle’ can be the foundation for a professional approach to your writing career.
Steve Dempster writes articles for the web and works of fiction. If you would like to get the know-how a novelist needs, visit his site at http://www.howtobeawriter.co.uk/page11.html