Six Writing Traits for Success

Writing Traits - This article is based on an article in "Teaching That Makes Sense." Although the article was geared for teaching students, the tips that are included are great for bloggers and adult writers as well.

I am an avid blogger and write at least three posts a day. My style is rapid involves rapid communication of ideas. Because, I am such an analytical person, I find myself self censoring quite a bit. I find that rapid writing (what I call power blogging) allows me to get out my best ideas before my analytical mind shuts down the creative process.

However, there are challenges with this style because it puts me at risk of not communicating ideas succinctly or in a way where an audience will be able to easily identify what is being communicated. You may be a rapid writer or a methodical writer and there are pros and cons to each style.

The tips listed below will provide a general guideline of what you should look for in your writing and the writing of others.

Ideas that are interesting and important. Ideas are the heart of the piece - what the writer is writing about and the information he or she chooses to write about it.

Organization that is logical and effective. Organization refers to the order of ideas and the way the writer moves from one idea to the next.

Voice that is individual and appropriate. Voice is how the writing feels to someone when they read it. Is it formal or casual? Is it friendly and inviting or reserved and standoffish? Voice is the expression of the writer's personality through words.

Word Choice that is specific and memorable. Good writing uses just the right words to say just the right things.

Sentence Fluency that is smooth and expressive. Fluent sentences are easy to understand and fun to read with expression.

Conventions that are correct and communicative. Conventions are the ways we all agree to use punctuation, spelling, grammar, and other things that make writing consistent and easy to read.

Now like anything else, you can focus on these traits while you are planning your writing and in the review process. I would suggest reading through the traits before you start each writing session. Do not worry about committing it to memory.

You can even verbalize the traits and say something like - During this writing session, my writing will include the following traits. After a while, your subconscious mind will actually take over and start improving your writing to include these traits.

After your writing is done, when you can detach from the writing, go through and rank yourself based on each of the traits. The rankings do not need to be perfect but if you commit them to paper, you can see which areas may need more attention and which areas are improving over a period of time. This will allow for an objective evaluation of what you are writing.

Work on improving on the six writing traits that are listed and you will find that you are getting a much greater response to what you are committing to paper.

Breaking All of the Rules With Your Writing

This is about hanging out on the skinny branches with your writing and your writing efforts. Now, if you have spent anytime online you know that one of the best ways to get traffic is through search engine optimization.
The formula is pretty simple -
1. Create great content.
2. Create on page optimization.
3. Get links to your site.
4. Support people in commenting on your site.
However, this model is becoming less and less important as we move forward. The search engines are getting smarter and smarter and are picking up when people are gaming the system.
All that is going to matter in the future is 1 and 4, or at least that is where I am putting my money.
This article is not being typed by somebody that I paid and I have paid for a lot of articles in the past. You land on those articles and they are not only useless but they are also not real and are not created with care. This article comes from the heart.
The things that I share are things that matter to me and they are completely real and come from my perspective in the moment. Now, the truth of the matter is that I have no idea if this will work or if this will be worth reading.
Even if people read what I have to say, will it make a difference for them? I really do not know and am not sure. However, what I do believe is that natural expression always wins out in the end.
Now, the truth is that I will not read this article after it is written and I do not even know if the ideas in this article makes sense, but I am imagining the day where I can earn a fulltime living just sharing about the things that I care about.
You see, I can take other ideas and write on a keyword. However, I really do not enjoy doing and do not think that this will make a difference for me or for somebody else.
Who knows, this experiment could be a complete failure but if it is not a complete failure and is a success, then life as we know it will change.
All I do is pull out my laptop whenever I can and I start to rage on the keyboard. I get the sentences out as quickly as I can because there is always another one right behind that is great.
Could I slow down and think through what I am doing? I guess but I have spent too much time (or should I say) wasted too much time thinking.
I am not talking about the deep pondering that causes great results. I am talking about the thinking that takes in circles and back again. That stuff is not fun and really does not make a difference for people.
Break all of the rules with your writing. You may fail and you may not get what you want but you will know that you brought yourself to the game and that is what really matters in the end.
Please start to rage on your keyboard. We can play together.

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Writer's Block Is a Scourge - How to Get Rid of It

In the world of writing, nothing seems to get in the way of a good writer. Everything they write is just flowing through their fingertips at the speed of light, and pure genius is born in the form of words!

Well that is not always the case when it comes to the dreaded writers block. If you're a writer that might be all to familiar to you.

Here are some tips for writing, to avoid that awful experience known as "the writer's block."

1. Let the Words Flow

Writing in general, is a long process that takes a couple of hours or more just to generate ideas. Sometimes it's a good idea just to let the words flow, whether on paper or on a keyboard. The best way to do this is to get a pencil and paper, and write down whatever comes to mind.

2. Make an Outline

Starting off with a plan can be helpful. Making an outline is a good way get the main ideas of your paper, such as characters, plot twist, and a general idea of what the main theme of the paper is going be (this can be very helpful for science fiction writers).

3. Research Your Favorite Book

Inspiration can come at any time, even reading. Try taking notes of your favorite books and get a general idea of how it was constructed. For instance, if you're a science fiction writer, try reading your favorite Steven King novel to generate some ideas.

4. Local Library

What better place to go for books then the library. You can find books on the subject you are most passionate about. Books even on the subject of writing. The library also contains a wide verity of periodicals, and research material for any writer writing on subjects like history, science. For non-fiction writers, the library is a good place to start.

5. Take a Break

It's a good idea to just take a break from writing. Try another activity; take at least a 10 minutes to do something else or relax. If you have been working an hour take a break.

Remember writing takes time, concentration, and everything in between. Don't let writers block discourage you! If you have to, go outside and write about trees, write about how they look. Go with what you know, do a basic free-write. Like any profession, writing takes time and dedication.

Tips To Faster Writing

One thing to keep in mind when writing articles is that only about 10% of it is the actual content on your main points and the other 90% is filler words. So essentially in a 400 word article about 40 words are the main or essential points. The other 360 are filler words. Knowing the main points will put you at about having 90% of your article already written. The only work that generally needs to be done is to find and research your main and supporting points. Everything else will be to "fill in the gaps." Even with practice researching your topic you can be done in about 5 or 10 minutes.

How Do You Research a Topic

Well there are any some ways to finding a topic to write about but from my research the best way is to pull your topic and supporting points from multiple sites. You can do this by, heading to any search engine typing in an idea you want to write about, attempt to grab the first 3 or 4 results you get from your search and pull your main and supporting points from there. Once your finished, your about 90% percent finished with your research, the rest is just creating a template that you can use for future use, find 90% percent of filler words and your article is complete. The hardest part of this is getting started and disciplining yourself to write from a template as oppose to all from conscious thought. Mastering this will allow you to write an article in 5 minutes instead of spending hours trying to write your next "compelling" article.

Why People Struggle To Write

For most experienced and novice writers, we often hear the phrase "writers block." It's a state of mind in which we mentally block ourselves from writing because the information we want to put on paper is not there. The best way to get over writers block is to simply write. Write about anything that comes to mind even if it doesn't make sense. Why you ask? Because what will begin to happen is that you'll start to realize that as writers we can't completely depend on conscious thought alone to write. We have to use our intuition and then can we truly have the ability to write compelling articles in about half the time which will save us hours of frustration and it can produce work that we are proud of.

When to Edit, and When to Proofread

One of the biggest frustrations I hear from editors and book layout people is that authors don't understand what proofreading means.

As a simple definition, proofreading is reading an already finished and polished manuscript to look for any last errors that might have been missed when editing. If a manuscript is ready for proofreading, then the errors found should be fairly minor and probably not more than one per page, hopefully far less. Proofreading does not include editing or rewriting.

Many an editor has had an author approach him with a manuscript that is said to need proofreading but really needs editing. Editing is far more substantial than proofreading-it can involve rewriting sentences, deleting unnecessary content, writing in new content, moving around sentences, paragraphs, and even chapters, and also fixing grammatical and punctuation errors. Many editors will differentiate between copyediting, developmental editing, or other types of editing. A good editor hopefully will do all of them for you, but remember that not all editors are the same. You might find a great editor who can do a developmental edit to improve your book's content, to develop your characters or help to strengthen your plot, but he might not be so great at knowing comma rules, how to catch split infinitives, or at fixing subject-pronoun agreement issues.

Every book needs editing. If an author says a book needs proofreading, it most likely needs editing unless the author has already had someone else edit the book, and even then, only if that person is qualified as an editor.

Most editors will do a free sample edit of a few pages of a manuscript so the author can see what needs to be done in terms of editing-sentence structure, organization, grammar, and punctuation-and after the sample edit is done, the author will generally agree it is editing, not simply proofreading that needs to be done, if the editor knows what he's doing. It doesn't hurt to get a few editing samples before choosing an editor to make sure you find an editor who will give the book the full attention to detail that it needs.

After the editor finishes editing the manuscript and the author is happy with the edits, it's important to find a third party who is really good at proofreading to go through the manuscript to catch those few errors the author and editor did not catch; your editor might proofread for you, but a third set of eyes is never a bad idea. Just make sure the person is a qualified proofread-your wife or best friend are most likely not.

Once the proofreading is finished, the manuscript is done and ready for layout. Here is where "proofreading" again becomes a term that authors fail to understand and that can frustrate both the editor/proofreader and the layout person.

It's been said many times that no book is ever finished. We simply choose at some point to abandon it-which often means we believe it is ready for publication. No book that has ever been written has been perfect, and no book has ever suited everyone's tastes. You might produce a beautifully written, grammatically correct, perfectly punctuated book, but it could still have some rewriting done to make it better. The problem is, once the book is sent to the layout person, the author must restrain himself from rewriting. An author should be absolutely confident that the book is ready for publication when it is sent to the layout person. If it's not, then keep editing and proofreading. Just don't do it after the book is laid out.

Layout people do not read the books they lay out; they are not editors or proofreaders, and they will not fix your typos and other errors unless you find them and ask for them to be fixed.

The layout process includes converting the manuscript into a new program. Today, authors generally write books in Microsoft Word or some other word processing program, and editors will edit the book in the same program. But when the book goes to the layout person, the text is converted into a design file, such as InDesign, a program made specifically to design a book.

The layout person will send the proofs-the completed laid out book in pdf format (or occasionally paper)-to the author to approve. At this point, only proofreading should be done. The pdf is not the book but a copy of the book, and it cannot be edited directly. I know many editors and layout people who have been extremely frustrated with authors who decide at this point that they need to insert sentences and paragraphs, reword phrases, and flip around chapters. Once the author receives the proofs, whether as a pdf or in paper form, the author should only look for typos, and every change should be deemed absolutely necessary. Only the layout person, not the editor, can make any changes the author wants, although any changes should be run by the editor to make sure grammatical errors, of which the author might be unaware, will not be introduced into the text.

It can be very time-consuming for everyone involved if the author decides to make changes to the proofs beyond fixing a few typos; a paper printout of the laid out book must be marked up, or a separate document created in which are written down all the requested changes with page number and page placement for easy reference. The more corrections requested and more extensive they are, the more likelihood that further errors will be introduced into the book. Stylistic preferences do not count as corrections and should not be made at this point-only the correction of serious errors. In short, after the book is laid out is not the time to rewrite.

Many layout people, and especially the print-on-demand subsidy publishing houses, will charge authors for any changes they make to the book because so many authors have failed to understand that once a book is laid out, rewriting is not appropriate. Other layout people will allow a set number, such as twenty-five or fifty, corrections for free, and anything over that will be charged by the hour or by the individual correction. Some layout people will even request the author make the changes in the Word document if major rewriting is needed, and then the book will need to be laid out again, and the author will be charged accordingly since it may well be less time-consuming for the layout person to lay out the entire book again than individually have to insert a couple of hundred small changes-and again, don't forget that each correction made has the potential for introducing a new typo.

Authors, make your life easier and your layout person and editor's lives easier. Learn the difference between proofreading and editing and when one or the other is needed. When you sign off on that manuscript as finished and send it to the layout person, make sure it is as perfect as it's going to be to save everyone time, money, and frustration. Then the last stage of the book's production will go easily and the book can quickly be sent to the printer.

How to Start Freelancing in 2012

I've been Freelancing. Yes I have. I mentioned this several days ago in my post Ah, Here we Go Again, that I have begun to write stuffs for moneys. For years I've wanted to know to do this; I've searched through writing forums, read books, and queried, queried, queried! For a nineteen year old with no Freelance credits behind me-the path wasn't even. I've found that there are 5 necessary things for the aspiring freelance writer to do in order to secure some job offers and further build their portfolio.

Warning! I am not a super rich professional nor am I someone who has built up a massive portfolio- I have been freelancing for the past month and have secured several clients throwing a couple hundred bucks in my bank. Here we go!)

1. Assemble your Resume'

Before I began to look up job offers I knew within myself that I needed to have something to show. I had one or two publishing credits, but I knew this wouldn't matter and I had a resume`, but I bet that wouldn't do either. I started from scratch. I assembled a resume` listing my blogging experience, my current degree pursuit in college (Creative Writing), and an article I had published at Bookkus Publishing and a guest post. I tooted my own horn at my blog and it's audience, picked a sweet template from Google Docs (I guess Google Drive now bleh), and saved it as a.doc file ready to send it out to any one I thought would be a good fit.

2. Samples of Your Work

This is the one step that troubled me when I first started. How can I send samples of my work if I've never written any content for a client? See the general rules of thumb for samples of your work are broad: I generally use a nice guest post I've written, or a single article on publishing I've written, or even some of my better blog posts. Granted each of these gets a fresh edit and is assembled at its finest. Granted for a themed publication, the best bet is to show work on something similar, but I've noticed that some just wish to see your ability to write. If they require a link rather than an attachment direct them to your blog or even E-zine Articles. Remember the prize is in the pudding.

3. Finding the Gigs

Where do you find these gigs? Below I'll leave a list of places where the majority of work may be found, but remember this is a business. You may find prospective clients on the internet, at your local coffee shop, or through friends and family.

Elance (High paying jobs, but you will be competing with top notch professionals)
Guru (Same as Elance. Just remember persistence is key).
Text Broker (Just started using this, seems promising; haven't landed a client yet).
Craigslist (Some may find it slightly sketchy, but I've landed 3 clients and one ongoing one $$)
Loads and loads of others! Just Google it!
Remember that if something seems odd, don't continue. This is the internet and of course, sometimes people don't have your best interest in mind.

4. Research your Assignments

For my ongoing client I write about online slot games and occasionally I review online casinos. Now prior to this gig I had no idea about this! I can't even legally gamble! However, through loads and loads and loads of research I have become quite knowledgeable in this field and I knock out assignments with ease. To make things easier for myself I use Evernote to clip information from the web and then I refer to that throughout my writing. Trust me- this will save you tons of time and frustration!

5. Stick to a Deadline

Remember time is money and so is each of your assignments. Upon receiving your assignments get to work! Nothing is worse than being dropped by your client because you can't stick to deadline. Of course things in life come up and a well placed email can easily ask for more time and if applicable you may just as well receive that! As of right now I have three assignments sitting in my mailbox and will get to work on them the second this post is published. Don't hesitate. Your best bet is to set a side a certain part of the day to complete your assignments- mine is in the morning after my daily walk and as I drink down my coffee. Sticking to deadline will relieve stress and assure you complete your assignments. Remember this is business.

Well here are just five tips to get you Freelancing in 2012. Depending on how this post does and how you readers like this, I will post more on freelancing.

Farewell everyone and good.

How To Write a Product Review

The reviews for products are a major part of internet writing, as webmasters and other internet investors are always looking to sell something. For this, product reviews are needed. In a land-based store, the client could actually see the characteristics of a product, but in the online world, the same user would want to examine the photos of the product, to read the reviews made by other people, and to compare it with other similar products. For this, the internet article writing services produce reviews for their clients, reviews that are now common even on Amazon or eBay.
Internet writing for products
If you want to write a good product review, you should put yourself in the shoes of the reader. What would you expect from the product? What are its advantages or disadvantages? Would you buy it? Is the price affordable? By answering those questions for you, it is also possible to answer those questions for the reader, and you will have a good article in your hands.
However, the majority of article writing jobs for product reviews are requested by clients which want positive reviews about the respective products, and they want it written from the perspective of a person that have already used the product. If you don't want to cheat the reader, you can refuse the project, bout you should know that many of the reviews on the internet are made in the same way, and that the internet article writing business for product reviews is strongly developed now.
You can also read the reviews made by other users of the same product. This way, you will be able to determine the positive and negative characteristics of the product. A product review that talks only with superlatives for the respective item can't be trusted, and even if a client asks for positive reviews from the article writing service, the writing company must be able to write some articles where the disadvantages of the item are presented a little, but not so much. Usually, a negative opinion must contain a "But".
"It is true that this MP3 player is a little more expensive than other players on the market, BUT the characteristics of this product recommend it as a good acquisition".
Good internet writing means to put the product in a favorable light, but most importantly, to present the negative aspects of a product as being good, or at least negligible.
If you are looking for article writing jobs, you will have to know how to write product reviews, as an important part of the job of the article writing services is composed of reviews. We are also talking about relatively cheap articles, as those are not creative, therefore they can be written by writers with less experience.

A Guide in Writing 5 Articles A Day

The art of writing online articles is certainly effective to market your products and services on the internet. Well, while this may seem simple, there are a few important aspects. For instance, it is imperative to create quality and rich content daily. Many individuals struggle with this aspect. You should not blame someone else or come up with excuses. Instead, how about opting for an easy and effective method? Become familiar with every theme and get going. Read on to find out a simple "formula" that will allow you to write 5 articles daily minimum.

1. Select a topic. If you are a newbie, your article topic could be your own niche. Of course, this theme must contain potential for at least 5 articles. It is certainly a fabulous starting point.


2. Proceed by listing around 5 sub-themes, characteristics, sub-topics, or specific concepts that are related to that theme in particular. Below is a good example: Training a dog is a common topic. Thus, how many dog activities exist? How can you feed your dog? How can you motivate your dog to obey? What about vaccines? How to feed your dog properly'? If you feel dubious, do not panic. Look around, gather data, venture onto your library and browse online. Do not forget the original goal. Avoid distractions by any means. Stay focused and move onto the next step.


3. Decide on specific points that you wish to develop. You can easily expand on every theme. Yet, it is up to you! The sky is never the limit. Think ahead, prepare a fun theme and opt for the perfect approach. It is recommended to go for 5 or 7, but, it is possible to write less. Remember that rich content is a must, thus do not compromise quality. Limit the article to a single topic and do not forget to focus on your niche. Your audience will be delighted!


4. Once you have your mind clear, create a detailed outline for every article. Several individuals believe that this is worthless. They fail to understand how it works. They actually believe that outlines are just for kids. But, this could not be further from the truth. It is never too late to learn. Implement the best techniques! Truth is the fastest writers consider an impeccable outline. Most often, the fastest online writers are those that organize every fact and care to analyze relevant information.


5. Last but not least, you must connect every dot. How? This is not hard. You need to place all the points together. Make sure you focus on every sentence relationship. How is everything intertwined? Thus, as soon as you identify the main connection, move onto the next one and proceed carefully. Your goal is to show your current expertise while writing an interesting and cohesive piece explaining your original idea.

Unleash your maximum potential. Combine the above points and impress your clients. Increase your profit and get to know the latest writing techniques. If you want to climb to the top, you cannot ignore any key aspect.